Evaluation and demonstration of the use of cryogenic propellants /oxygen/hydrogen/ for reaction control systems. Volume 2 - Experimental evaluations and demonstration Final report

Evaluation and demonstration of cryogenic propellant /oxygen-hydrogen/ use for spacecraft reaction control system

An Information Theoretic Investigation Of Complex Adaptive Supply Networks With Organizational Topologies

Supply networks exist throughout society in manufacturing and knowledge-intensive industries as well as many service industries. Organizations have been noted to behave as complex adaptive systems or information supply networks with both formal and informal structures. Thoroughly understanding supply network structure and behavior are critical to managing such organizations effectively, but their properties of complex adaptive systems make them more difficult to analyze and assess, forcing researchers to rely on unrealistic data or assumptions of behavior. This research proposes an information theoretic methodology to discover such complex network structures and dynamics while overcoming the difficulties historically associated with their study. Indeed, this was the first application of an information theoretic methodology as a tool to study complex adaptive supply networks. Moreover, managing these complex networks with formal and informal structures poses additional challenges because the effects of intervention can result in even more unpredictable effects. Noting that two primary functions of organizational networks are to transfer information between nodes and store information in the network, this research quantifies the effects of increased and decreased node performance on the ability of multiple organizational network topologies to accomplish these tasks. Multiple qualitative observations from previous researchers are quantitatively analyzed using information theoretic modeling and simulation. Results show an increased ability in local teams to store information within the network as well as a decreased ability by core-periphery networks to respond to increased information rates

Delivery Systems- Is the Lates Technology the Greatest?

High-tech delivery systems, such as distance-based learning and on-line resources, are increasingly popular among Extension organizations, but are they preferable to traditional delivery systems? In the study reported here, the author surveyed Extension agents (with agriculture and natural resources responsibilities) and natural resources professionals in state agencies to determine which delivery systems were most preferred for wildlife management information. Regardless of the respondent group, printed fact sheets and bulletins were among the most preferred sources of information for wildlife-related topics. These findings illustrate the importance of including traditional printed delivery systems into our high-tech programs

Interagency Collaboration on Wildlife Management Issues: Opportunities and Constraints

The researcher used mail surveys to evaluate the potential for partnership between Ohio\u27s Extension and state organizations on wildlife management issues. Respondents rated wildlife topics according to perceived importance and their own knowledge about topics. Extension and state personnel did not differ in the perceived importance of 72% of topics, suggesting similar programming needs. However, knowledge values were higher for state than Extension personnel for 83% of topics. Thus, state agencies seem better poised to deal with wildlife management issues. Extension organizations should enhance the wildlife training of Extension agents and promote additional collaboration with state agencies

(Mis)representation at the movies: film, pedagogy, and postcolonial theory in the secondary English classroom

This thesis examines the potential role of film study in the secondary English and Language Arts classroom. Highlighting the frustrated current pedagogical relationship between most secondary instructors and film, it seeks to provide educators with resources to assist them in weaving motion pictures into their classrooms. Specifically, it describes using film to teach secondary students fundamental concepts of postcolonial critical theory. As a result, the thesis addresses three overarching questions: 1) To what extent can the study of film serve as a pedagogical tool in the secondary English classroom? 2) What strategies and concepts can instructors use to make the study of film in their classrooms a reality? 3) How can the study of film be used as a means of postcolonial theory? Three films comprise the thesis’s central focus: Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). By focusing on the medium’s ability to develop visual literacy skills—stressed by both NCTE and IRA as vital for students in the twenty-first century—the thesis provides ways that film can serve as a rich topic of analysis that both challenges and engages students. In addition, it focuses specific attention on using films to help students visualize and connect with postcolonial critical theory. The three films selected for examination in both the critical essays and the corresponding curricular design, in particular, embody and represent several areas of focus common to postcolonial analysis. A comprehensive literature review of film pedagogy and two critical essays on the selected films are paired with a curricular design consisting of ten lesson plans, complete with handouts, assessments, and instructional notes for educators to use in their own classrooms. Combined, these artifacts provide cogent arguments that film both can and should be included in the secondary curriculum as it links students’ inherent interest in multimedia content with the essential analytical and critical thinking skills that make up the heart of every English classroom

Conserving Biodiversity in Urbanizing Areas: Nontraditional Views from a Bird’s Perspective

We review common population and community-level responses of wildlife to urbanization, and discuss how: (1) the amount and configuration of land cover and land use, and (2) the alteration of resources (e.g., type of vegetation, presence of food and water) and processes (e.g., natural disturbance regimes, species interactions, intensity of human recreation) within built environments influence animals, with special emphasis on birds. Although each landscape presents unique opportunities and constraints, we suggest that all urban areas have the potential to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. The ecological value of urban areas may be promoted if planners, managers, and homeowners consider ways to (1) encourage retention and protection of natural habitats within urbanizing landscapes, (2) plan explicitly for open spaces and natural habitats within new subdivisions, (3) use a variety of arrangements of built and open space within developments, (4) enhance and restore habitat within open spaces, (5) improve quality of developed lands (i.e., the urban matrix) rather than directing management efforts only towards parks, reserves, and open areas, and (6) celebrate urban biological diversity to foster connections between people and their natural heritage

Hacia un marco para la conservación a largo plazo de paisajes en terrazas en Suiza: casos de estudio en antiguas terraza con cultivos y viñedos

Terraced landscapes are among Switzerland’s most expressive cultural landscapes and have a high ecological, cultural, identificatory, and recreational value. But in many regions they are threatened because farmers are abandoning marginal agricultural land and are no longer maintaining the terraces. In this article, we propose a framework of basic formal and procedural conditions that have to be considered when developing and operating landscape conservation projects, and illustrate and validate them with examples from three case studies. The results show that a broadly anchored and locally and externally accepted governing body is decisive for a project to be successful over the long term. Such a body is in a position to deal with the complexity of management, financing, project coordination, and cooperation while promoting coherence among actors and integrating relevant local and interested external actors into communal structures. This, in turn, helps to enhance other success factors, such as ecological integration and habitat conservation, generation of funds to cover operating costs, and inclusion of communal work.Los paisajes de terrazas se encuentran entre los paisajes culturales más expresivos de Suiza con un alto valor ecológico, cultural, identificativo y recreativo. Pero en muchas regiones, estos paisajes están amenazados, porque los agricultores están abandonando las tierras agrícolas marginales y ya no mantienen las terrazas. En este artículo, proponemos un marco de condiciones básicas formales y de procedimiento que debe considerarse al desarrollar y operar en proyectos de conservación del paisaje, e ilustrarlos y validarlos con tres casos de estudio. Los resultados muestran que un organismo rector ampliamente aceptado (local y externamente) es decisivo para que el proyecto tenga éxito a largo plazo. Dicho organismo está en condiciones de abordar la complejidad de la gestión, la financiación, la coordinación del proyecto y cooperación, al tiempo que promueve la coherencia entre actores e integra a los actores externos locales e interesados en las estructuras comunales. Esto, a su vez, ayuda a mejorar otros factores de éxito, como la integración ecológica y la conservación del hábitat, la generación de fondos para cubrir los costes operativos y la inclusión del trabajo comunitario