The influence of parents, places and poverty on educational attitudes and aspirations

This report aims to better understand the relationship between young people 19s aspirations and how they are formed. There is a high degree of interest among politicians and policymakers in aspirations, driven by two concerns: raising the education and skills of the UK population, and tackling social and economic inequality. High aspirations are often seen as one way to address these concerns, but how aspirations contribute to strong work and educational outcomes is not well understood. Based on longitudinal research in three locations in the UK, the report investigates aspirations and contributes empirical evidence to the debate

Pittsburgh's Failed Industry Targeting Strategy of the 1960s

In the 1960's and early 1970's, public and private leaders made a substantial effort to promote Pittsburgh's existing transportation industry as a center for the emerging urban transportation market. The selection of the rapid transit industry for targeting in the 1960's purportedly addressed two issues. Despite national acclaim for its Renaissance redevelopment since World War II, the metropolitan region still needed an effective mass transportation system. Moreover, industrial development efforts had not substantially diversified the region's manufacturing base that still specialized in primary metals. Operating in the region's Renaissance tradition of a public and private partnership, corporate executives and public officials pursued a three-pronged strategy: build an innovative rapid transportation system for Allegheny County, use it as a showcase for testing and marketing rapid transit hardware of regional corporations, and promote the city as a center of the rapid transportation industry. They settled on Westinghouse's automated, rubber-tired vehicle running on a separate cement guideway, known locally as "Skybus," for the demonstration project and the region's mass transit solution. The mass transit plan and industry targeting strategy foundered by the early 1970's because leadership weakened in both poles of the partnership. The Westinghouse technology divided the corporate community, while populist political sentiment diminished the ability of the Democratic party's political machine to deliver key public decisions. The Pittsburgh case suggests that a successful industry targeting strategy may depend more on effective leadership and local politics than on the quality of the selection process and vigorous pursuit of traditional economic development programs in support of the targeted industry

Lunar soil properties and soil mechanics

The long-range objectives were to develop methods of experimentation and analysis for the determination of the physical properties and engineering behavior of lunar surface materials under in situ environmental conditions. Data for this purpose were obtained from on-site manned investigations, orbiting and softlanded spacecraft, and terrestrial simulation studies. Knowledge of lunar surface material properties are reported for the development of models for several types of lunar studies and for the investigation of lunar processes. The results have direct engineering application for manned missions to the moon

Rendering Co-Products as Electron Donors for Subsurface Remediation

Chlorinated solvents are a widespread groundwater contaminant across the United States and worldwide. Bioremediation strategies for chlorinated solvents in groundwater environments often involve electron donor amendments to stimulate reductive dechlorination. Electron donor amendment technologies have evolved over time, utilizing varying lipid or carbohydrate based compounds. Several popular electron donor amendments contain soybean based emulsified vegetable oil (EVO), or low molecular mass organic acid compounds including acetate and formate. This project seeks to develop a group of novel electron donor amendments based on animal co-products to outperform conventional products. These co-products are comprised of waste generated in the animal rendering process such as feathers or bone. The now patented technology will lead to considerably lower cost electron donor amendments compared to commonly used substrates. Experiments were conducted in a batch setting on a laboratory scale. Serum bottles were assembled with 50 grams of sediment collected from a local site contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE). The bottles were dosed with various animal co-products at different concentrations (3.2mg/L – 1g/L). Additionally, 20 ml of aquifer water and 20 Mols of TCE were added to each bottle. Bottles were then sealed and headspace was replaced with nitrogen. Control bottles were assembled with no electron donor, Lactate, and EOS. Headspace samples were taken on a weekly basis, and dechlorination was measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Measurements continued until stoichiometric ethene generation was observed (our operationally defined point of “success”). Further batch experiments were then conducted based on results of feasibility experiments. These experiments focused on optimization of co-product concentration, utilizing mixtures of different co-products, and replicating feasibility with diverse soil samples. The data collected in this project highlight the potential for animal co-products to be utilized as a novel electron donor for in-situ chlorinated solvent remediation. Many co-products rendered for this study display comparable dechlorination rates to lactate and EOS controls. Mixtures of co-products also display similar dechlorination rates compared to controls. Further research of these co-products could lead to significantly lower cost electron donor amendment strategies. Traditional soybean based electron donors cost between $0.25-3.00 per pound, while animal co-products based electron donors cost between$0.005-0.225 per pound. Considering many sites may require thousands of pounds of electron donor amendment, the savings potential is significant. Furthermore, by lowering the cost of the electron donor substrate, many more sites could potentially benefit from access to this technology

3-D Model System

The purpose of the 3-D Model System Integrative Project is to recommend an alternative to the 2-D Drawing System. The satellite industry uses 2-D drawings to illustrate the mechanical design of spacecraft hardware. The 3-D Model System Integrative Project analyzes the use of 3-D models to illustrate the spacecraft mechanical architecture. The project compares the currently used 2-D Drawing System against the 3-D Model System. The project begins by defining twelve requirements and performing a trade study analysis. Six mission requirements and six top level requirements are defined. The trade study analyzes how the 3-D Model System and 2-D Drawing System satisfy the six mission requirements. The project showcases the lean principles and quality methods carried out in the 3-D Model System. An assessment of software used and an evaluation of risks associated with the 3-D Model System are performed. A requirements verification plan, ethics review, cost estimation, and lessons learned from similar systems are included in the project analysis. The project analysis concludes that the 3-D Model System exceeds the capabilities of the 2-D Drawing System. The 3-D Model System assists concurrent engineering, provides infinite viewpoints, identifies interference fits and accessibility limitations, reduces costs, and improves quality. The research results imply that satellite system manufactures shall implement the 3-D Model System into their system engineering design process

Models for pattern formation in somitogenesis: a marriage of cellular and molecular biology

Somitogenesis, the process by which a bilaterally symmetric pattern of cell aggregations is laid down in a cranio-caudal sequence in early vertebrate development, provides an excellent model study for the coupling of interactions at the molecular and cellular level. Here, we review some of the key experimental results and theoretical models related to this process. We extend a recent chemical pre-pattern model based on the cell cycle Journal of Theoretical Biology 207 (2000) 305-316, by including cell movement and show that the resultant model exhibits the correct spatio-temporal dynamics of cell aggregation. We also postulate a model to account for the recently observed spatio-temporal dynamics at the molecular level

Investigation of Hole Caving Due to Vibrations

Foundations for a power plant were constructed by drilling holes in cemented sand for 36 piers. The boreholes in the cemented sand did not cave. A major design change required the demolition of the original piers and pile caps with large hoe rams and the drilling of new 36 boreholes in the same location. The new drilling contractor experienced widespread caving, which he was unable to remedy. The authors first investigated the possibility that the second contractor used inferior equipment or techniques. Then the authors investigated the possibility that a loss in soil cohesion occurred due to the vibrations from pier/pile cap demolition and casing installation. Analyses performed included (1) peak particle velocity evaluation, (2) laterally loaded pile/fatigue analysis, and (3) finite element analysis. It was concluded that significant loss of cohesion due to these vibrations was plausible and that the loss of cohesion could account for the bole caving

Ecological studies on moorland ground beetles (coleopteran : carabidae)

Not availabl