NASA gateway requirements analysis

NASA devotes approximately 40 percent of its budget to R&D. Twelve NASA Research Centers and their contractors conduct this R&D, which ranges across many disciplines and is fueled by information about previous endeavors. Locating the right information is crucial. While NASA researchers use peer contacts as their primary source of scientific and technical information (STI), on-line bibliographic data bases - both Government-owned and commercial - are also frequently consulted. Once identified, the STI must be delivered in a usable format. This report assesses the appropriateness of developing an intelligent gateway interface for the NASA R&D community as a means of obtaining improved access to relevant STI resources outside of NASA's Remote Console (RECON) on-line bibliographic database. A study was conducted to determine (1) the information requirements of the R&D community, (2) the information sources to meet those requirements, and (3) ways of facilitating access to those information sources. Findings indicate that NASA researchers need more comprehensive STI coverage of disciplines not now represented in the RECON database. This augmented subject coverage should preferably be provided by both domestic and foreign STI sources. It was also found that NASA researchers frequently request rapid delivery of STI, in its original format. Finally, it was found that researchers need a better system for alerting them to recent developments in their areas of interest. A gateway that provides access to domestic and international information sources can also solve several shortcomings in the present STI delivery system. NASA should further test the practicality of a gateway as a mechanism for improved STI access

Exciton Dissociation Dynamics in Model Donor-Acceptor Polymer Heterojunctions: I. Energetics and Spectra

In this paper we consider the essential electronic excited states in parallel chains of semiconducting polymers that are currently being explored for photovoltaic and light-emitting diode applications. In particular, we focus upon various type II donor-acceptor heterojunctions and explore the relation between the exciton binding energy to the band off-set in determining the device characteristic of a particular type II heterojunction material. As a general rule, when the exciton binding energy is greater than the band off-set at the heterojunction, the exciton will remain the lowest energy excited state and the junction will make an efficient light-emitting diode. On the other hand, if the off-set is greater than the exciton binding energy, either the electron or hole can be transferred from one chain to the other. Here we use a two-band exciton to predict the vibronic absorption and emission spectra of model polymer heterojunctions. Our results underscore the role of vibrational relaxation and suggest that intersystem crossings may play some part in the formation of charge-transfer states following photoexcitation in certain cases

Financial reporting for the Georgia colony

Stewardship reporting was an important tool in the establishment and development of the American Colonies. In 1732 the King of England created the Colony of Georgia as a haven for England\u27s worthy poor. A corporate trust was established to implement this purpose, and it was necessary for the trustees to account for the many private contributions to the cause as well as the grants from the crown. This article discusses the early history of the Georgia colony, presents a thumbnail sketch of Harman Verelst, the Trust\u27s accountant, and illustrates by example the financial reporting he developed for the Georgia Colony

Artifact Simulating Fracture on Cervical Spine Computed Tomography

We present the case of a 31-year-old trauma patient with computed tomography concerning significant C3–C4 subluxation. The abnormality is due to an artifact with which emergency physicians should be aware

From Compliance to Engagement: Lessons Learned from Applying a Transformational Approach to NCATE Standard 4-Diversity

In March 2007, Florida Atlantic University hosted a joint NCATE/Florida Department of Education site visit. This successful site visit and following Unit Accreditation Board report resulted in full NCATE accreditation with only one weakness cited

A hedonic analysis of factors impacting the value of planters on the used machinery market

A hedonic model was employed to examine factors that influence the resale price of row crop planters on the used machinery market. Planter sale data from 2016 to 2018 were utilized to conduct the analysis. Results suggested that the primary factors impacting planter resale prices were make, age, condition, planter configuration, row number, and row spacing. As a function of age (depreciation), planter values were generally determined to decrease at a decreasing rate. Finally, it was determined that there was a significant interaction between the variables make and age, suggesting that different planter makes depreciate differently

The Political Philosophy of Campaign Finance Reform as Articulated in the Dissents in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

The 1992 presidential candidacy of Jerry Brown, who called for campaign contribution limits, has reignited the issue of campaign finance reform. Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has recognized the importance of campaign finance reform as a judicial issue. The importance of this issue is marked by the Court’s continued willingness to address the regulation of campaign finance since the 1976 landmark case of Buckley v. Valeo. The case of Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce emphasized the somewhat confused nature of the Supreme Court’s campaign finance reform decisions. The Supreme Court and state legislatures will likely continue to address the important relationship between campaign financing and political corruption. These bodies will continue to wrestle with the issues of equality in the political process. Finally, the dissenting Justices in Austin are quickly becoming representative of the Supreme Court’s majority. The Supreme Court Justices’ decision to adopt the powerful metaphor that money is speech and deserving of constitutional protection allows the Justices to appear as champions of free speech and civil liberties. The dissenting Justices in Austin, by conflating money and speech, fail to heed a distinction made by John Stuart Mill who argues the “doctrine of Free Trade … rests on grounds different from, though equally solid with, the principle of equal liberty.” Mill warned society not to confuse the regulation of the economic marketplace with the marketplace of ideas. According to Mill, to regulate trade is to limit ideas which do not harm another, but which are suppressed for their own sake. If money is allowed to commodify goods such as free speech and if society does not accept the logic found in the dissents of Austin, the political philosophies may gradually be reduced to what will be most important and unfortunate, our political philosophies of money