Trust, regulatory processes and NICE decision-making: Appraising cost-effectiveness models through appraising people and systems.

This article presents an ethnographic study of regulatory decision-making regarding the cost-effectiveness of expensive medicines at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England. We explored trust as one important mechanism by which problems of complexity and uncertainty were resolved. Existing studies note the salience of trust for regulatory decisions, by which the appraisal of people becomes a proxy for appraising technologies themselves. Although such (dis)trust in manufacturers was one important influence, we describe a more intricate web of (dis)trust relations also involving various expert advisors, fellow committee members and committee Chairs. Within these complex chains of relations, we found examples of both more blind-acquiescent and more critical-investigative forms of trust as well as, at times, pronounced distrust. Difficulties in overcoming uncertainty through other means obliged trust in some contexts, although not in others. (Dis)trust was constructed through inferences involving abstract systems alongside actors’ oral and written presentations-of-self. Systemic features and ‘forced options’ to trust indicate potential insidious processes of regulatory capture

Groups, organizations, families and movements: The sociology of social systems between interaction and society

Kühl S. Groups, organizations, families and movements: The sociology of social systems between interaction and society. Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 2020;37(3):496-515.In enhancing a proposal by Luhmann, this contribution shows that it is possible to locate different types of systems between ‘face‐to‐face‐interaction’ and ‘society’: groups, organizations, families and protest movements. The common ground of these is that they use membership to attribute persons to the system or not. However, they differ fundamentally in regard to how they understand membership. In contrast to Luhmann's differentiation between interaction, organization and society, it is not only possible to imagine different types of interlocking systems but also coequal combinations of and transitions between the different types of social systems

Special features of the CLUSTER antenna and radial booms design, development and verification

CLUSTER is a scientific space mission to in-situ investigate the Earth's plasma environment by means of four identical spin-stabilized spacecraft. Each spacecraft is provided with a set of four rigid booms: two Antenna Booms and two Radial Booms. This paper presents a summary of the boom development and verification phases addressing the key aspects of the Radial Boom design. In particular, it concentrates on the difficulties encountered in fulfilling simultaneously the requirements of minimum torque ratio and maximum allowed shock loads at boom latching for this two degree of freedom boom. The paper also provides an overview of the analysis campaign and testing program performed to achieve sufficient confidence in the boom performance and operation

A Comprehensive View of the 2006 December 13 CME: From the Sun to Interplanetary Space

The biggest halo coronal mass ejection (CME) since the Halloween storm in 2003, which occurred on 2006 December 13, is studied in terms of its solar source and heliospheric consequences. The CME is accompanied by an X3.4 flare, EUV dimmings and coronal waves. It generated significant space weather effects such as an interplanetary shock, radio bursts, major solar energetic particle (SEP) events, and a magnetic cloud (MC) detected by a fleet of spacecraft including STEREO, ACE, Wind and Ulysses. Reconstruction of the MC with the Grad-Shafranov (GS) method yields an axis orientation oblique to the flare ribbons. Observations of the SEP intensities and anisotropies show that the particles can be trapped, deflected and reaccelerated by the large-scale transient structures. The CME-driven shock is observed at both the Earth and Ulysses when they are separated by 74$^{\circ}$ in latitude and 117$^{\circ}$ in longitude, the largest shock extent ever detected. The ejecta seems missed at Ulysses. The shock arrival time at Ulysses is well predicted by an MHD model which can propagate the 1 AU data outward. The CME/shock is tracked remarkably well from the Sun all the way to Ulysses by coronagraph images, type II frequency drift, in situ measurements and the MHD model. These results reveal a technique which combines MHD propagation of the solar wind and type II emissions to predict the shock arrival time at the Earth, a significant advance for space weather forecasting especially when in situ data are available from the Solar Orbiter and Sentinels.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures. 2008, ApJ, in pres

The magnetic state of the lower ionosphere during Pioneer Venus entry phase

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95051/1/grl7136.pd

Parachute Swivel Mechanism for planetary entry

A parachute swivel mechanism (PSM) for planetary entry missions such as a Mars probe (MARSNET) or return of cometary material samples (ROSETTA mission) has been developed. The purpose of the PSM is to decouple the spin of the probe from the parachute, with low friction torque, during both the deployment and descent phases. Critical requirements are high shock loads, low friction, low temperatures, and several years of storage in the deep space environment (during the cruise phase of the probe, prior to operation). The design uses a main thrust ball bearing to cope with the load requirement and a smaller thrust ball bearing for guiding of the shaft. Except for use on the Viking and Galileo swivels, it appears that this type of bearing has very rarely been employed in space mechanisms, so that little is known of its friction behavior with dry lubrication. A slip ring assembly allows the transfer of electrical power for post-reefing of the parachute. A test program has been conducted covering the environmental conditions of Mars entry and Earth reentry. This paper describes requirement constraints, model missions of planetary entries, a bearing trade-off, analyses performed, design details, the lubrication system, and test results (friction torque versus load/spin rate). In addition, the design of the test rig is addressed

Sociological and Communication-Theoretical Perspectives on the Commercialization of the Sciences

Both self-organization and organization are important for the further development of the sciences: the two dynamics condition and enable each other. Commercial and public considerations can interact and "interpenetrate" in historical organization; different codes of communication are then "recombined." However, self-organization in the symbolically generalized codes of communication can be expected to operate at the global level. The Triple Helix model allows for both a neo-institutional appreciation in terms of historical networks of university-industry-government relations and a neo-evolutionary interpretation in terms of three functions: (i) novelty production, (i) wealth generation, and (iii) political control. Using this model, one can appreciate both subdynamics. The mutual information in three dimensions enables us to measure the trade-off between organization and self-organization as a possible synergy. The question of optimization between commercial and public interests in the different sciences can thus be made empirical.Comment: Science & Education (forthcoming

The nightside ionosphere of Venus under varying levels of solar Euv flux

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94789/1/grl7103.pd