Ice conditions and ice forecasting in the Beaufort sea

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityIntroduction The purpose of the thesis is; to develop and explain the location and extent of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea, and to describe methods in use and proposed by the science of ice forecasting to aid ship movements in the area. Much of the data in the thesis camas from unpublished or widely scattered papers, and the thesis is an attempt to assimilate such data into cohesive form. Chapter I. The Newly Acquired Importance of the Beaufort Sea Region and the Status of Ice Forecasting. Prior to World War II the area of the Beaufort Sea was little known or exploited. A few explorers occasionally had joined the native eskimos as inhabitants of the area. After the war, a program of oil exploration was undertaken on the southern shores of the Sea by the U.S. Navy. Discovery of oil and the newly feasible means of making trans-polar flights across the Arctic waters suddenly catipulated the area into a position of strategic importance to our national defense. Research programs devoted to gathering data on how to live in such a hostile climate bacame a natural outgrowth of this new importance. With the construction and resupply of the DEW line a vital necessity, methods of coping with sea ice had to be developed. In this respect, the Russians were far advanced over the Western Allies, having devoted much time and effort on the problem since the 1920's. Nonetheless, U.S. and Canadian scientists, under an accelerating research program, are well on the way to equality in the fields surrounding sea ice research. [TRUNCATED

Reinforcement Learning for Predicting the US GDP Output Gap

If a bank can successfully predict the economic fundamentals of the country they operate in, they have a significant advantage when determining interest rate risk against their competitors. This in turn is advantageous when determining investment risk against their competitors. This paper explores using Reinforcement Learning (RL) as a method for predicting The United States\u27 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a quarterly basis. Various RL algorithms are compared based on how accurately they predict the GDP output gap for the following quarter. This research was unable to accurately predict the GDP output gap on a quarterly basis, but further research could be done by including additional features and reward functions. Limitations for these findings are likely due to the small quantity of data on economics in the United States

Training standardized patients to provide effective feedback: development, implementation, and its effect on the efficacy of medical students’ education.

Introduction: Standardized patient (SP) encounters are a pivotal part of medical student training and provide essential feedback on student performance. Optimizing the quality of SP feedback allows educators to provide students with focused comments on performance, leading to personal development and better patient care. This project hypothesis states SPs receiving feedback training have greater confidence and offer more effective feedback during student encounters. Methods: SPs were taught to give quality feedback through a training workshop following a feedback model. Surveys were administered immediately prior to and after training for evaluation. Data gathered included demographics and questions relating to confidence in providing feedback and knowledge of communication skills. Performance was evaluated by observing SPs during encounters using a standardized checklist. Results: Attitude assessment between pre- and post-training surveys demonstrated statistical significance for the following items: I have strong knowledge base regarding giving feedback. (p=0.0006), I can easily identify learners’ areas that need improvement. (p=0.0007), I am comfortable reading and interpreting learners’ nonverbal messages. (p=0.0152). Multiple choice question knowledge assessment between pre- and post-training surveys showed statistical significance (p\u3c0.0001). Performance assessment showed the lowest mean completion for the following required feedback tasks: Gave at least one constructive comment (70.19%), tied constructive comment to feeling (57.17%), gave recommendation for next time regarding constructive comment (55.99%). Conclusion: SPs gained knowledge from the training course implemented. Attitudes and self-confidence when providing feedback improved after training. Feedback performance improved over subsequent days and the most difficult feedback to give was related to constructive criticism

Efficiency Benefits Using the Terminal Area Precision Scheduling and Spacing System

NASA has developed a capability for terminal area precision scheduling and spacing (TAPSS) to increase the use of fuel-efficient arrival procedures during periods of traffic congestion at a high-density airport. Sustained use of fuel-efficient procedures throughout the entire arrival phase of flight reduces overall fuel burn, greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution. The TAPSS system is a 4D trajectory-based strategic planning and control tool that computes schedules and sequences for arrivals to facilitate optimal profile descents. This paper focuses on quantifying the efficiency benefits associated with using the TAPSS system, measured by reduction of level segments during aircraft descent and flight distance and time savings. The TAPSS system was tested in a series of human-in-the-loop simulations and compared to current procedures. Compared to the current use of the TMA system, simulation results indicate a reduction of total level segment distance by 50% and flight distance and time savings by 7% in the arrival portion of flight (~200 nm from the airport). The TAPSS system resulted in aircraft maintaining continuous descent operations longer and with more precision, both achieved under heavy traffic demand levels

A conceptual design study of the reusable reentry satellite

Experimentation leading to an understanding of life processes under reduced and extremely low gravitational forces will profoundly contribute to the success of future space missions involving humans. In addition to research on gravitational biology, research on the effects of cosmic radiation and the interruption and change of circadian rhythms on life systems is also of prime importance. Research in space, however, is currently viewed by biological scientists as an arena that is essential, yet largely inaccessible to them for their experimentation. To fulfill this need, a project and spacecraft system described as the Reusuable Reentry Satellite or Lifesat has been proposed by NASA

Farmers Markets and the Local Food System: The Case of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

In order to examine and obtain a better understanding of the local food system within Adams County, Pennsylvania, this study explores the characteristics and perspectives of the customers and vendors at the farmers markets in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Survey findings from the Gettysburg Farmers Market and the three Adams County Farmers Markets include customer demographic information, perspectives and shopping behavior as well as vendor product information, farm size and location and preference for market management. Introductory background information on the Farm Bill and the influence of agricultural practices on the environment, human health and nutrition and the relationship between farmers markets and the local economy are offered in order to emphasize the value of a well-managed local food system. Conclusions provide evidence that lower income and lower education levels are not sufficiently represented at all the markets and food stamp programs are being underutilized. This study suggests employing additional marketing to target underrepresented demographic groups, public transportation to potentially inaccessible market locations and increased advertisement and encouragement of food stamp programs at all markets in order to expand the customer base and increase access to healthy, local foods for less advantaged citizens. The results from this study are intended to offer evidence that will promote and facilitate market management, strengthen customer/vendor relationships and encourage better ties between the local community and local food systems at the farmers markets within Gettysburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania

Virtualization - A Key Cost Saver in NASA Multi-Mission Ground System Architecture

With science team budgets being slashed, and a lack of adequate facilities for science payload teams to operate their instruments, there is a strong need for innovative new ground systems that are able to provide necessary levels of capability processing power, system availability and redundancy while maintaining a small footprint in terms of physical space, power utilization and cooling.The ground system architecture being presented is based off of heritage from several other projects currently in development or operations at Goddard, but was designed and built specifically to meet the needs of the Science and Planetary Operations Control Center (SPOCC) as a low-cost payload command, control, planning and analysis operations center. However, this SPOCC architecture was designed to be generic enough to be re-used partially or in whole by other labs and missions (since its inception that has already happened in several cases!)The SPOCC architecture leverages a highly available VMware-based virtualization cluster with shared SAS Direct-Attached Storage (DAS) to provide an extremely high-performing, low-power-utilization and small-footprint compute environment that provides Virtual Machine resources shared among the various tenant missions in the SPOCC. The storage is also expandable, allowing future missions to chain up to 7 additional 2U chassis of storage at an extremely competitive cost if they require additional archive or virtual machine storage space.The software architecture provides a fully-redundant GMSEC-based message bus architecture based on the ActiveMQ middleware to track all health and safety status within the SPOCC ground system. All virtual machines utilize the GMSEC system agents to report system host health over the GMSEC bus, and spacecraft payload health is monitored using the Hammers Integrated Test and Operations System (ITOS) Galaxy Telemetry and Command (TC) system, which performs near-real-time limit checking and data processing on the downlinked data stream and injects messages into the GMSEC bus that are monitored to automatically page the on-call operator or Systems Administrator (SA) when an off-nominal condition is detected. This architecture, like the LTSP thin clients, are shared across all tenant missions.Other required IT security controls are implemented at the ground system level, including physical access controls, logical system-level authentication authorization management, auditing and reporting, network management and a NIST 800-53 FISMA-Moderate IT Security plan Risk Assessment Contingency Plan, helping multiple missions share the cost of compliance with agency-mandated directives.The SPOCC architecture provides science payload control centers and backup mission operations centers with a cost-effective, standardized approach to virtualizing and monitoring resources that were traditionally multiple racks full of physical machines. The increased agility in deploying new virtual systems and thin client workstations can provide significant savings in personnel costs for maintaining the ground system. The cost savings in procurement, power, rack footprint and cooling as well as the shared multi-mission design greatly reduces upfront cost for missions moving into the facility. Overall, the authors hope that this architecture will become a model for how future NASA operations centers are constructed