Space Test Program Small Satellite Initiatives

The Department of Defense (DOD) Space Test Program (STP) has been and will continue to provide spaceflight for DOD experiments on small satellites. STP past, present and future small satellite missions will be described. The currently planned small satellite missions, P87-2 STACKSAT, P89-1 Independent Space Experiment System (lSES). P89-A Profile and SIlO on Scout (PASS), and P90-1 Space Test Experiments Platform (STEP) will be highlighted

Do not put all your eggs in one basket: social perspectives on desalination and water recycling in Israel

Israel has set ambitious goals in terms of the widespread adoption of desalination and water recycling technologies. Policymakers in Israel consider these technologies as the key to improve urban water security but knowledge of stakeholder views on this policy approach is not well established. We deployed the Q-methodology, a qualitative–quantitative approach, to empirically determine social perspectives on desalination and water recycling across a wide range of stakeholders in the Israeli water sector. We identified the following four distinctive social perspectives: (1) desalination should be the option of last resort; (2) desalination is moving us to an infinite resource; (3) equating savings to resources is a dangerous illusion; and (4) desalination is (risky) electric water. A common characteristic of these perspectives is the belief that desalination is necessary for a water-secure country, but desalination should not be the only source of drinking water in Israel. Our findings indicate that Israeli stakeholders show complex and contingent understandings of the pros and cons of desalination and water recycling and the risks involved in too much reliance on a limited number of water sources. We discuss the potential implications of our findings for water management and security in Israel and other places with water scarcity concerns

Do not put all your eggs in one basket: social perspectives on desalination and water recycling in Israel

Israel has set ambitious goals in terms of the widespread adoption of desalination and water recycling technologies. Policymakers in Israel consider these technologies as the key to improve urban water security but knowledge of stakeholder views on this policy approach is not well established. We deployed the Q-methodology, a qualitative-quantitative approach, to empirically determine social perspectives on desalination and water recycling across a wide range of stakeholders in the Israeli water sector. We identified the following four distinctive social perspectives: (1) desalination should be the option of last resort; (2) desalination is moving us to an infinite resource; (3) equating savings to resources is a dangerous illusion; and (4) desalination is (risky) electric water. A common characteristic of these perspectives is the belief that desalination is necessary for a water-secure country, but desalination should not be the only source of drinking water in Israel. Our findings indicate that Israeli stakeholders show complex and contingent understandings of the pros and cons of desalination and water recycling and the risks involved in too much reliance on a limited number of water sources. We discuss the potential implications of our findings for water management and security in Israel and other places with water scarcity concerns.Fil: Sneegas, Gretchen. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Seghezzo, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; ArgentinaFil: Brannstrom, Christian. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Jepson, Wendy. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Eckstein, Gabriel. Texas A&M University; Estados Unido

Not a silver bullet: social perspectives on desalination and water reuse in Texas

Climate disruptions threaten water systems and undermine economic growth in urban areas. Stakeholder perspectives for desalination and water reuse are not well known in Texas (USA) although utilities are implementing these water augmentation technologies for municipal and industrial purposes. We use a water portfolio-informed deployment of Q-methodology to identify three social perspectives: Diversification is Key, Conservation Before Desalination, and Private Sector Can Do It. We expected to find strongly supportive and opposed social perspectives, but found nuanced and contingent support for desalination and water reuse. Social perspectives were aware of the financial and political costs of desalination and reuse and did not want desalination and water reuse to reduce the importance of protecting currently sources of potable water in Texas. Cross-cutting themes include the predominance of desalination as the policy-relevant water supply alternative and concerns for human capital at levels ranging from desalination plant operators to legal experts.Fil: Brannstrom, Christian. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Jepson, Wendy. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Beckner, Sydney. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Sneegas, Gretchen. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Seghezzo, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentin

Using Q-methodology in environmental sustainability research: A bibliometric analysis and systematic review

Q-methodology is a mixed qualitative-quantitative method used to measure social perspectives on issues relating to sustainability and environmental governance in a systematic, replicable manner. Although it has grown in prominence and use over the past two decades, to date there has not been a comprehensive review of the environmental sustainability Q-methodology literature. Using bibliometric analysis and systematic review, this paper examines the rapid growth in published Q-methodology research on sustainable natural resource management and environmental governance. We analysed and iteratively coded 277 empirical Q-studies published between 2000-2018 to establish research trends, shared gaps, and best practices among environmental social science Q-researchers. We also conducted co-authorship and co-citation analyses to identify research clusters using Q-methodology. We find that, while Q-methodology uses a relatively standardized protocol, considerable heterogeneity persists across such domains as study design, p-set identification, concourse and Q-set development, analysis and interpretation. Further, we identify major reporting gaps among Q-methodology publications where researchers do not fully describe or justify subjective decision-making throughout the research phases. The paper ends with recommendations for improving research reporting and increasing the circulation and uptake of up-to-date Q-methodology practices and innovations.Fil: Sneegas, Gretchen. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Beckner, Sydney. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Brannstrom, Christian. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Jepson, Wendy. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Lee, Kyungsun. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Seghezzo, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentin

Near- and far-field plume studies of a one-kilowatt arcjet

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76045/1/AIAA-23997-966.pd

Is ‘activist’ a dirty word? Place identity, activism and unconventional gas development across three continents

Communities respond to unconventional gas in a variety of ways. In some communities, industry has held a social license, while in other areas, industrial development has been slowed, halted, or prevented by social resistance. Repeatedly, across multiple nations and communities, we have observed that social identities that either incorporate or eschew activism intersect with perceptions of this development's effect on place identity to either foster or discourage opposition. Particularly interesting are cases in which fracking is perceived to threaten local place identity, but where activism conflicts with social identity. To mobilise different sectors of the population, it often appears important for local residents to be perceived as ‘regular citizens’ and not as activists. We explore how intersection of social identities and place identity shaped the different ways in which communities in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United States have responded to unconventional gas development. Communities resisting development often see ‘activism’ as something that ‘outsiders’ do and that must be rejected as insufficiently objective and neutral. This view of activism and activists produces specific forms of resistance that differ from typical ‘activist’ actions, in which ‘knowledge’, ‘information’, neutrality, and objectivity are particularly important.</p

When the disaster strikes: gendered (im)mobility in Bangladesh

Gender influences people’s behaviour in various ways. This study investigates gendered (im)mobility during cyclone strikes in Bangladesh. During such strikes people have described being unable to move away from environmentally high-risk locations and situations. The Q-based Discourse Analysis used by this study shows how and why gender-roles (im)mobilised people in three coastal locations during the cyclones. People (and especially women) explained that failing to evacuate to the cyclone shelters when a disaster strikes was not uncommon. Gender, or feminine and masculine social roles, played a significant role in these evacuation decisions while facilitating or constraining their mobility. The gendered subjectivities presented different accepted social behaviours and spaces for women and men. In this way, immobility (social, psychological, and geographical) was strongly gendered. Masculine roles were expected to be brave and protective, while female ‘mobility’ could be risky. Women’s mobility therefore ended up being constrained to the home. In other words, when the disaster strikes, everyone did not have the same ability to move. These empirical insights are important to inform climate policy in a way that it better supports vulnerable populations worldwide as they confront global environmental changes today and in the future

The Relationship of Perceived Social Competence to Leisure Participation, Leisure Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction in Older Adults

121 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1985.The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of perceived social competence to leisure participation, leisure satisfaction, and life satisfaction in older adults. A mailed questionnaire was used to collect data from a random sample of 393 men and women. Participants ranged in age from 41 years to 86 years with a mean age of 59 years.Data were analyzed using recursive causal modeling and path analysis (essentially a series of multiple regression analyses). Findings indicated that age negatively influenced health while income positively influenced health and life satisfaction. Health contributed to perceptions of social competence and to levels of leisure participation. Perceptions of social competence were found to affect levels of leisure participation and leisure satisfaction. Levels of leisure participation were related to both leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction. Leisure satisfaction also contributed to life satisfaction. It was concluded that perceptions of social competence affect leisure participation and leisure satisfaction, thereby affecting life satisfaction of older adults.Implications of these findings are important for leisure service delivery providers including therapeutic recreation professionals. Greater emphasis should be placed on the social aspects of leisure involvement and on the social abilities and perceptions of participants. There is a need to develop programs and methods influencing self-perceptions of social competence for a variety of clients.Further research should be conducted to examine the possible reciprocal nature of the relationships of the variables included in this study. A more detailed inquiry as to how health affected perceived social competence is also needed. In addition, further study concerning the origins of social competence should be pursued.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD