Active Missions and the VxOs with THEMIS as an Example

The Virtual Observatories (VxOs) provide a host of services to data producers and researchers. They help data producers to describe their data in standard Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) terms that enable scientists to understand data products from a wide range of missions. They offer search interfaces based on specified criteria that help researchers discover conjunctions, prominent events, and intervals of interest. In this talk, we show how VMO services can be used with Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) observations to identify magnetotail intervals marked by high speed flows, enhanced densities, or high temperatures. We present statistical surveys of when and where these phenomena occur. We then show how the VMO services can be used to identify events in which two or more THEMIS spacecraft observe specified features for more detailed analysis. We conclude by discussing the current limitations of VMO tools and outline plans for the future

Kinetic Theory and Fast Wind Observations of the Electron Strahl

We develop a model for the strahl population in the solar wind -- a narrow, low-density and high-energy electron beam centered on the magnetic field direction. Our model is based on the solution of the electron drift-kinetic equation at heliospheric distances where the plasma density, temperature, and the magnetic field strength decline as power-laws of the distance along a magnetic flux tube. Our solution for the strahl depends on a number of parameters that, in the absence of the analytic solution for the full electron velocity distribution function (eVDF), cannot be derived from the theory. We however demonstrate that these parameters can be efficiently found from matching our solution with observations of the eVDF made by the Wind satellite's SWE strahl detector. The model is successful at predicting the angular width (FWHM) of the strahl for the Wind data at 1 AU, in particular by predicting how this width scales with particle energy and background density. We find the strahl distribution is largely determined by the local temperature Knudsen number $\gamma \sim |T dT/dx|/n$, which parametrizes solar wind collisionality. We compute averaged strahl distributions for typical Knudsen numbers observed in the solar wind, and fit our model to these data. The model can be matched quite closely to the eVDFs at 1 AU, however, it then overestimates the strahl amplitude at larger heliocentric distances. This indicates that our model may be improved through the inclusion of additional physics, possibly through the introduction of "anomalous diffusion" of the strahl electrons

Autoplot: A browser for scientific data on the web

Autoplot is software developed for the Virtual Observatories in Heliophysics to provide intelligent and automated plotting capabilities for many typical data products that are stored in a variety of file formats or databases. Autoplot has proven to be a flexible tool for exploring, accessing, and viewing data resources as typically found on the web, usually in the form of a directory containing data files with multiple parameters contained in each file. Data from a data source is abstracted into a common internal data model called QDataSet. Autoplot is built from individually useful components, and can be extended and reused to create specialized data handling and analysis applications and is being used in a variety of science visualization and analysis applications. Although originally developed for viewing heliophysics-related time series and spectrograms, its flexible and generic data representation model makes it potentially useful for the Earth sciences.Comment: 16 page

Yttrium bismuth titanate pyrochlore mixed oxides for photocatalytic hydrogen production

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The Semantic Web in Federated Information Systems: A Space Physics Case Study

This paper presents a new theoretical contribution that provides a middle-of-the-road approach to formal ontologies in federated information systems. NASA’s space physics domain, like many other domains, is relatively unfamiliar with the emerging Semantic Web. This work offers a new framework that garners the benefits of formal logic yet shields participants and users from the details of the technology. Moreover, the results of a case study involving the utilization of the Semantic Web within NASA’s space physics domain are presented. A real-world search and retrieval system, relying on relational database technology, is compared against a near identical system that incorporates a formal ontology. The efficiency, efficacy, and implementation details of the Semantic Web are compared against the established relational database technology

Kilpailua vailla voittajia : Tarpeeton ja haitallinen verokilpailu

OECD-valtioiden yritysverokannat ovat laskeneet 1980-luvulta alkaen. Tässä tutkielmassa selvitetään tämän empiirisen ilmiön syitä ja seurauksia. Yhdenmukaisesti valtavirran kanssa tutkielma selvittää valtioiden välisen verokilpailun aiheuttavan verokantojen alenevan trendin. Verokilpailu tunnistetaan tutkielmassa tiedon ja poliittisen toiminnan ylläpitämäksi sosiaaliseksi prosessiksi, kun valtavirrassa verokilpailu selitetään ekonometristen mallien kautta yksiköiden väliseksi kilpailuksi liikkuvasta tuotannontekijästä. Valtavirtatutkimukset analysoivat verotuksen vaikutusta pääoman liikkeeseen. Tutkimukset olettavat yleistä säännönmukaisuutta verokantojen ja investointien suhteelle, jossa verokanta liikuttaa pääomaa. Taustaoletuksena säännönmukaisuudelle on pääoman rajakustannuksen keskeisyys yritysten investointipäätöksille. Tämä tutkielma ei löydä empiiristä evidenssiä tällaisesta yleisestä säännönmukaisuudesta, eikä teoreettisella tasolla usko investointien stimulointiin pääoman rajakustannusta alentamalla. Tutkielman näkökulmasta investoinnit määräytyvät kokonaisuuden tasolla kokonaiskysynnän ja yritysten tulevaisuuden odotusten perusteella. Tämän takia tutkielma arvioi valtavirtatutkimusten esittämän verokantojen ja investointien välisen yleisen säännönmukaisuuden epäpäteväksi teoriaksi. Poliittisen talouden kontekstissa hallitusten päätökset alentaa yritysverokantoja linkittyvät maailmantalouden usean vuosikymmenen stagnaatioon ja uusliberaalin poliittisen ohjelman globaaliin leviämiseen. Uusliberaalin poliittisen ohjelman taustalla oleva valtavirtatalousteoria on keskeistä myös verokilpailuprosessin ylläpitämisessä ja talousteorian tuottama tieto verokantojen ja investointien välisestä säännönmukaisuudesta leviää poliittiseen prosessiin osaltaan globaalien instituutioiden kautta. Kotimaan kontekstissa toimijan subjektiivinen usko asioiden tilaan ja siihen, kuinka maailma toimii, on välttämättä intentionaalisen toiminnan taustalla. Tällöin kokemukset ja tieto rakentavat poliittisten toimijoiden käsityksiä tarvittavista toimista investointien stimuloimiseksi. Tutkielman argumentissa verokilpailu on tarpeetonta, koska investoinnit eivät lisäänny kokonaisuuden tasolla verokantoja alentamalla. Lisäksi voittojen siirtely valtiosta toiseen voidaan lopettaa valtioiden välisellä yhteistyöllä, ja tämän asian suhteen globaalit instituutiot ovat tehneet paljon työtä viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana. Tutkielma perustelee verokilpailun haitalliseksi, koska hallitusten päätökset alentaa yritysverokantoja ovat hyödyttäneet vain (suur)yrityksiä, vähentäneet valtioiden tuloja ja osana uusliberaaleja reformeja hieman madaltaneet investointiasteita kokonaisuuden tasolla. Analyysin johtopäätöksenä tutkielmassa tunnistetaan verokilpailun peliasetelma vangin ongelmaksi, jossa valtiot toistavat egoistista ratkaisua tavoitteenaan saavuttaa hetkellinen suhteellinen etu pääomaan nähden. Peliasetelmaa ylläpitää globaalien instituutioiden ja valtavirtateorian tuottama legitiimi ja objektiivinen tieto verokantojen ja investointien suhteesta eikä pelin sosiaalinen konteksti suosi pelin ratkaisemista, koska keskeisten toimijoiden intresseissä on peliasetelman ylläpitäminen. Viimeisenä tutkielma esittää kritiikin verokilpailua ylläpitävää kausaalikompleksia kohtaan. Johtopäätöksenä ideologiakritiikistä tutkielma toteaa verokilpailun lopettamisen vaativan rakenteellista muutosta sosiaalisessa toiminnassa. Käsitteellistettynä vangin ongelman kautta solidaarinen toiminta edellyttää uuden oppimista ja toimijoiden tietoisuuden kehitystä strategista rationaalisuutta korkeammalle tasolle. Muutoksen aikana verokilpailua ylläpitävä tiedollinen perusta muuttuu, jolloin toimijat ymmärtävät verokilpailun tarpeettomana ja haitallisena toimintana

Prison Industries Metering at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: Two Years of Operational Experience

In 2001 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Utilities and Energy Department (TDCJU& E) completed the installation of an extensive energy consumption metering system for their prison industries system. As the second largest state prison system in the nation, TDCJ facilities are scattered over many locations around the state and cover a diversity of prison industries and agricultural operations. The Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL), with New Horizon Technologies, Inc. (NHT) and eComponents Technology, Inc. installed a state-ofthe- art sub-metering system with the intent of meeting the needs of the TDCJ-U&E group well into the future. The system uses a web-based data acquisition interface and is capable of near real-time data acquisition and display. Fifteen-minute interval utility and sub-metered energy consumption data have been continuously collected since the system was commissioned. This paper describes the varied applications for these data at the TDCJ-U&E department. Significant improvements in the quality of energy use reporting and unit accountability have been obtained. Prison industries now receive monthly energy consumption reports and are responsible for the cost of their sub-metered energy consumption. Additionally, the operations and maintenance staff have found the data to be very useful for energy systems and equipment operational diagnosis

SPEAKING CONFIDENCE AMONG GE 2 COMPLETERS: BASIS FOR INTERVENTION PROGRAM

This study focuses on students' speaking confidence and the lack thereof, which is one of the challenges that students encounter during class discussions. This occurrence motivated the researchers to determine the level of speaking confidence of GE2 completers at UM Digos College as the basis for the intervention program. Quantitative-descriptive research was carried out to determine the speaking confidence of UM Digos college students involving 383 randomly chosen students from 1st year to 4th year. Results revealed that UM Digos College students possess low speaking confidence. Moreover, statistical evidence showed a significant difference in year level, where first-year students significantly differ from third-year and fourth-year students since the first year has the lowest mean score. Thus, this research recommends implementing a program that addresses students' speaking challenges and provides intervention to improve their speaking confidence and participate in the classroom without hesitation.  Article visualizations

Interplanetary Magnetic Field Power Spectrum Variations: A VHO Enabled Study

The newly reprocessed high time resolution (11/22 vectors/sec) Wind mission interplanetary magnetic field data and the solar wind key parameter search capability of the Virtual Heliospheric Observatory (VHO) affords an opportunity to study magnetic field power spectral density variations as a function of solar wind conditions. In the reprocessed Wind Magnetic Field Investigation (MFI) data, the spin tone and its harmonics are greatly reduced that allows the meaningful fitting of power spectra to the approx.2 Hz limit above which digitization noise becomes apparent. The power spectral density is computed and the spectral index is fitted for the MHD and ion inertial regime separately along with the break point between the two for various solar wind conditions . The time periods of fixed solar wind conditions are obtained from VHO searches that greatly simplify the process. The functional dependence of the ion inertial spectral index and break point on solar wind plasma and magnetic field conditions will be discusse

State of the Art Energy Submetering at Texas Department of Criminal Justice Industries

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Utilities and Energy Department (TDCJ-U&E) has completed the first phase of a detailed energy use submetering system that will be one of the largest such installations in the United States at the second largest state prison system in the nation. Through responsibility accounting, TDCJ unit wardens and other staff needed to be able to monitor and justify the utility and energy use and expenses for the various prison industries and agricultural operations. These facilities are scattered at many locations around the state and cover a diversity of prison industries and agricultural operations from meat packing operations to metal fabrication, furniture restoration, garment and shoe factories, vehicle restoration, soap and detergent plants, mattress making and graphics that include sign and license plate manufacturing. The Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) with New Horizon Technologies, Inc. (NHT) proposed to install a state-of-the-art submetering system that would meet the needs of the TDCJ system well into the future. Upon award of the contract, TDCJ-U&E assisted the ESL and NHT in conducting numerous surveys of the proposed metering locations, coordinated installations of the equipment with local unit wardens and staff, then installed the system hardware and software. The system uses a web-based user interface and is capable of real-time data acquisition and display. SquareD supplied the components for the field metering installation and local plumbing contractors either retrofitted existing gas meters or installed new meters as required. Preliminary testing began in late summer of 2000 and the system is collecting 15 minute interval utility and energy consumption data. This paper will describe the issues involved in implementing a project covering such a large geographic area, tight security issues and using inmate labor