1,720 research outputs found
Methodology for the comparative assessment of the Satellite Power System (SPS) and alternative technologies
The energy systems concerned are the satellite power system, several coal technologies, geothermal energy, fission, fusion, terrestrial solar systems, and ocean thermal energy conversion. Guidelines are suggested for the characterization of these systems, side-by-side analysis, alternative futures analysis, and integration and aggregation of data. A description of the methods for assessing the technical, economic, environmental, societal, and institutional issues surrounding the development of the selected energy technologies is presented
Social media, protest cultures and political subjectivities of the Arab spring
This article draws on phenomenological perspectives to present a case against resisting the objectification of cultures of protest and dissent. The generative, self-organizing properties of protest cultures, especially as mobilized through social media, are frequently argued to elude both authoritarian political structures and academic discourse, leading to new political subjectivities or âimaginariesâ. Stemming from a normative commitment not to over-determine such nascent subjectivities, this view has taken on a heightened resonance in relation to the recent popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. The article argues that this view is based on an invalid assumption that authentic political subjectivities and cultures naturally emerge from an absence of constraint, whether political, journalistic or academic. The valorisation of amorphousness in protest cultures and social media enables affective and political projection, but overlooks politics in its institutional, professional and procedural forms
Daylighting Prediction Software: Comparative Analysis and Application
Daylighting is a beneficial design strategy since
it may provide energy savings and contribute to a
more sustainable design. In recent studies,
daylighting has also been shown to increase staff and
student productivity and to decrease absenteeism.
The consulting engineer is often faced with the
dilemma of how to design a daylighted building.
What tools are available to predict the amount of
daylighting? What are the design limitations and
parameters? How much time is required? How does
the data compare to the âreal worldâ?
The purpose of this paper is to answer these
questions and provide useful information for the
design of daylighted areas with the assistance of
software-based simulation. A survey was made of
the available software programs for the calibrated
modeling of light scattered in enclosed spaces. These
software packages used algorithms based on either
total radiosity (flux transfer) computations or
physically accurate ray tracing. A summary of this
survey along with the selection criteria used in
selecting a software program are presented.
âRadianceâ, a reverse ray tracing method
software package, was chosen for use in the
simulations. An existing school was modeled with
the Radiance software and predictions of daylighting
contributions were compared with actual data taken
at the site location.
The use of daylighting also requires a highly
specialized lighting system. This system incorporates
the use of controllable ballasts and lighting sensors to
maximize the daylighting contribution to the overall
required illumination. Some design criteria for this
system is also discussed
Improving Practice Accessibility Through MyChart Utilization
Aims for Improvement Increase patient portal MyChart activation for a cohort of approximately 2,000 patients at JFMA by 1% from February to April 2021. Demonstrate evidence of utilization including appointment scheduling, results review, and communication with providers through MyChart after activation
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Exploring Martian Impact Craters: Why They are Important for the Search for Life
Fluvial features and evidence for aqueous alteration indicate that Mars was wet, at least partially and/or periodically, in the Noachian. Also, impact cratering appears to have been the dominant geological process [1] during that epoch. Thus, investigation of Noachian craters will further our understanding of this geologic process, its effects on the water-bearing Martian crust, and any life that may have been present at the time. Impact events disturbed and heated the water- and/or ice-bearing crust, likely initiated long-lived hydrothermal systems [2-4], and formed crater lakes [5], creating environments suitable for life [6]. Thus, Noachian impact craters are particularly important exploration targets because they provide a window into warm, water-rich environments of the past which were possibly conducive to life. In addition to the presence of lake deposits, assessment of the presence of hydrothermal deposits in the walls, floors and uplifts of craters is important in the search for life on Mars. Impact craters are also important for astrobiological exploration in other ways. For example, smaller craters can be used as natural excavation pits, and so can provide information and samples that would otherwise be inaccessible (e.g., [7]). In addition, larger (> ~75 km) craters can excavate material from a potentially habitable region, even on present-day Mars, located beneath a >5-km deep cryosphere
Identification and Description of a Silicic Volcaniclastic Layer in Gale Crater, Mars, Using Active Neutron Interrogation
The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument aboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been used to map a stratigraphically conformable layer of highâSiO² material in Gale crater. Previous work has shown that this material contains tridymite, a highâtemperature/lowâpressure felsic mineral, interpreted to have a volcanic source rock. We describe several characteristics including orientation, extent, hydration, and geochemistry, consistent with a volcaniclastic material conformably deposited within a lacustrine mudstone succession. Relationships with widely dispersed alteration features and orbital detections of hydrated SiO² suggest that this highâSiO² layer extends at least 17 km laterally. Mineralogical abundances previously reported for this highâSiO² material indicated that hydrous species were restricted to the amorphous (nonâcrystalline) fraction, which is dominated by SiO². The low mean bulk hydration of this highâSiO² layer (1.85 Âą 0.13 wt.% waterâequivalent hydrogen) is consistent with silicic glass in addition to opalâA and opalâCT. Persistent volcanic glass and tridymite in addition to opal in an ancient sedimentary unit indicates that the conversion to more ordered forms of crystalline SiO² has not proceeded to completion and that this material has had only limited exposure to water since it originally erupted, despite having been transported in a fluviolacustrine system. Our results, including the conformable nature, large areal extent, and presence of volcanic glass, indicate that this highâSiO² material is derived from the product of evolved magma on Mars. This is the first identification of a silicic volcaniclastic layer on another planet and has important implications for magma evolution mechanisms on singleâplate planets
Schools and civil society : corporate or community governance
School improvement depends upon mediating the cultural conditions of learning as young people journey between their parochial worlds and the public world of cosmopolitan society. Governing bodies have a crucial role in including or diminishing the representation of different cultural traditions and in enabling or frustrating the expression of voice and deliberation of differences whose resolution is central to the mediation of and responsiveness to learning needs. A recent study of governing bodies in England and Wales argues that the trend to corporatising school governance will diminish the capacity of schools to learn how they can understand cultural traditions and accommodate them in their curricula and teaching strategies. A democratic, stakeholder model remains crucial to the effective practice of governing schools. By deliberating and reconciling social and cultural differences, governance constitutes the practices for mediating particular and cosmopolitan worlds and thus the conditions for engaging young people in their learning, as well as in the preparation for citizenship in civil society
Observation of electron-antineutrino disappearance at Daya Bay
The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment has measured a non-zero value for
the neutrino mixing angle with a significance of 5.2 standard
deviations. Antineutrinos from six 2.9 GW reactors were detected in
six antineutrino detectors deployed in two near (flux-weighted baseline 470 m
and 576 m) and one far (1648 m) underground experimental halls. With a 43,000
ton-GW_{\rm th}-day livetime exposure in 55 days, 10416 (80376) electron
antineutrino candidates were detected at the far hall (near halls). The ratio
of the observed to expected number of antineutrinos at the far hall is
. A rate-only analysis
finds in a
three-neutrino framework.Comment: 5 figures. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
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