Counting What Is Measured or Measuring What Counts? League Tables and Their Impact On Higher Education Institutions in England

This report investigates league tables and their impact on higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. It presents findings from two strands of research: – an analysis of five league tables selected for the study, their methodologies and the underlying data employed, and – an investigation of how higher education institutions respond to league tables generally and the extent to which they influence institutional decision-making and actions. The purpose of the research is to stimulate informed debate about the approaches and limitations of the various league tables, and greater understanding among the users and stakeholders of the implications of making decisions based on these sources of information

The Relationship between Cost Analysis and Program Management

Cost analysis if often viewed as applying basic principles and cost methodologies to determine total system cost. These finished estimates then flow into a decision making process and the cost estimator leaves the stage. Reality shows that the cost estimator is actually one of the main contributors to the decision making process. Our introduction to this special issue explores the areas where cost estimating plays a major role in program management in areas beyond the normal program estimate. We have included articles that show the key role estimators can play in source selection strategies and evaluation; cost of delay analysis for management decisions, earned value management methods to predict program costs; decision criteria to rank competing projects that complement traditional cost-based methods; and a new methodology for determining research and development budget profiles

The Economic Development Impacts of Streetcars: Measuring the Impact of Streetcar Projects and Identifying the Factors Necessary For Stimulating Development in Streetcar Corridors

In the past decade, streetcars dramatically increased in popularity with high expectations for stimulating economic development in the aftermath of the recent recession. Since 2009, 14 streetcar projects began construction in large and mid-sized cities and received over $500 million in federal funding. But the actual development impacts of these new streetcar projects are not well understood or studied. The academic literature on the impacts of streetcar systems is nearly non-existent and most of the expectations for streetcars are based on the experiences of lines in Portland and Seattle. Given the substantial amount of investment from localities and the federal government, great expectations for new development, and wide array of cities attempting to construct streetcar systems, the economic development impact of streetcars is important to study and understand. This study found: • Many cities base their economic development projections either on the experiences of transit-oriented development on other types of rail, like heavy rail, which may have different development potential or they are based on the experiences of Portland and Seattle, which may have different planning and development environments from other cities. • Federal agencies award streetcar projects primarily on a qualitative analysis that contains very little quantitative rigor or analysis. Furthermore, federal officials do not distinguish between different transit modes when it comes to potential development impacts, despite research showing varying levels of development from different modes. The development impacts promised by these projects are left largely unchallenged and, instead, cities create narratives of the transformative effects streetcars may have for their communities. • Some streetcar corridors do see substantial growth in development, but not all. Using property values to demonstrate economic development progress, I measured development impacts for recent streetcar lines in Tucson and Atlanta. Tucson demonstrated the largest impact in property values with an over 75% increase in value from two years before the streetcar announcement to 2014. This increase is impressive compared to another corridor in downtown Tucson, which actually saw a slight decline in property values, overall. The Atlanta streetcar corridor, though, saw no increases in property values and saw a significant decline in value that corresponds to the same decline most of the city experienced during the recession. And compared to a comparable corridor in the city, the streetcar corridor did not demonstrate substantially fewer losses in property value. Atlanta illustrates that streetcar investments alone do not stimulate development. • Using Tucson and Atlanta, along with Portland and Seattle, I found a number of other factors that may contribute to streetcar corridor development. Existing and growing real estate demand, large property owners, zoning, tax incentives, and other related investments in infrastructure are all necessary components of stimulating economic development in streetcar corridors. Additional data analysis in Tucson found that the streetcar corridor was already seeing large increases in property values prior to the construction of the streetcar. • More robust metrics and analysis of streetcar corridors are necessary for communities and the federal government to better understand the potential development impacts of these projects and weigh their costs and benefits. Furthermore, communities should understand that streetcars likely will not stimulate development without the presence of other investments and factors.Master of City and Regional Plannin

Valence band offset of InN/AlN heterojunctions measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The valence band offset of wurtzite-InN/AlN (0001) heterojunctions is determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to be 1.52±0.17 eV. Together with the resulting conduction band offset of 4.0±0.2 eV, a type-I heterojunction forms between InN and AlN in the straddling arrangement

Surface electronic properties of undoped InAlN alloys

The variation in surface electronic properties of undoped c-plane InxAl1−xN alloys has been investigated across the composition range using a combination of high-resolution x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and single-field Hall effect measurements. For the In-rich alloys, electron accumulation layers, accompanied by a downward band bending, are present at the surface, with a decrease to approximately flatband conditions with increasing Al composition. However, for the Al-rich alloys, the undoped samples were found to be insulating with approximate midgap pinning of the surface Fermi level observed

Robotic-Movement Payload Lifter and Manipulator

A payload lifter/manipulator module includes a rotatable joint supporting spreader arms angularly spaced with respect to one another. A rigid arm is fixedly coupled to the joint and extends out therefrom to a tip. A tension arm has a first end and a second end with the first end being fixedly coupled to the tip of the rigid arm. The tension arm incorporates pivots along the length thereof. Each pivot can be engaged by or disengaged from the outboard end of a spreader arm based on a position of the spreader arm. A hoist, positioned remotely with respect to the module and coupled to the second end of the tension arm, controls the position of the spreader arms to thereby control the position of the rigid arm's tip. Payload lifter/manipulator assemblies can be constructed with one or more of the modules

Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carriers are not Required for Adipogenesis but are Regulated by High-Fat Feeding in Brown Adipose Tissue

© 2020 The Obesity Society. Objective: The objectives of this study were to assess the role of mitochondrial pyruvate carriers (MPCs) in adipocyte development in vitro and determine whether MPCs are regulated in vivo by high-fat feeding in male and female C57BL/6J mice. Methods: This study utilized small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown to assess the requirement of MPC1 for adipogenesis in the 3T3-L1 model system. Treatment with UK-5099, a potent pharmacological MPC inhibitor, was also used to assess the loss of MPC activity. Western blot analysis was performed on adipose tissue samples from mice on a low-fat diet or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. Results: The loss of MPC expression via small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown or pharmacological inhibition did not affect adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells. In vivo studies indicated that expression of MPCs was significantly decreased in brown adipose tissue of male mice, but not female, on an HFD. Conclusions: Although MPCs are essential for pyruvate transport, MPCs are not required for adipogenesis in vitro, suggesting that other substrates can be used for energy production when the MPC complex is not functional. Also, a significant decrease in MPC1 and 2 expression occurred in brown fat, but not white fat, of male mice fed an HFD

Development of a Tendon-Actuated Lightweight In-Space MANipulator (TALISMAN)

An invention of a new and novel space robotic manipulator is described. By using a combination of lightweight truss links, a novel hinge joint, tendon-articulation and passive tension stiffening, this new robotic manipulator architecture achieves compact packaging, high strength, stiffness and dexterity while being very lightweight compared to conventional manipulators. The manipulator is also very modular; easy to scale for different reach, load and stiffness requirements; enabling customization for a diverse set of applications. Novel features of the new manipulator concept are described as well as some of the approaches to implement these design features. Two diverse applications are presented to show the versatility of the concept. First generation prototype hardware was designed, manufactured and has been assembled into a working manipulator that is being used to refine and extend development efforts

Application of a Novel Long-Reach Manipulator Concept to Asteroid Redirect Missions

A high priority mission currently being formulated by NASA is to capture all or part of an asteroid and return it to cis-lunar space for examination by an astronaut crew. Two major mission architectures are currently being considered: in the first (Mission Concept A), a spacecraft would rendezvous and capture an entire free flying asteroid (up to 14 meters in diameter), and in the second (Mission Concept B), a spacecraft would rendezvous with a large asteroid (which could include one of the Martian moons) and retrieve a boulder (up to 4 meters in diameter). A critical element of the mission is the system that will capture the asteroid or boulder material, enclose it and secure it for the return flight. This paper describes the design concepts, concept of operations, structural sizing and masses of capture systems that are based on a new and novel Tendon- Actuated Lightweight In-Space MANipulator (TALISMAN) general-purpose robotic system. Features of the TALISMAN system are described and the status of its technology development is summarized. TALISMAN-based asteroid material retrieval system concepts and concepts-of-operations are defined for each asteroid mission architecture. The TALISMAN-based capture systems are shown to dramatically increase operational versatility while reducing mission risk. Total masses of TALISMAN-based systems are presented, reinforcing the mission viability of using a manipulator-based approach for the asteroid redirect mission