Computer controlled vent and pressurization system

The Centaur space launch vehicle airborne computer, which was primarily used to perform guidance, navigation, and sequencing tasks, was further used to monitor and control inflight pressurization and venting of the cryogenic propellant tanks. Computer software flexibility also provided a failure detection and correction capability necessary to adopt and operate redundant hardware techniques and enhance the overall vehicle reliability

Accident Rate as a Measure of Safety Assessment in Polish Civil Engineering

Civil engineering is characterised by high volatility with respect to working conditions, which are the source of many threats to worker life and health and contribute to high accident rates. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate the phenomenon of accidents in Polish civil engineering and define the direction of changes that should occur in the safety area. The studies included in this research covered the years 2004–2018. The following indicators were used to assess the accident rates: (1) The total number of persons injured in workplace accidents and this total divided into fatal, severe, and minor accidents; (2) indicators of frequency of accidents in total and this total divided into minor, severe, and fatal accidents; (3) and an indicator of the severity of accidents. From the analysis of statistical data for the years 200–2018, the changes in accident rate parameters demonstrate the continuous improvement of workplace safety in the Polish civil engineering sector. From the analysed data from the 15 years, a clear decrease in the value of the applied indicators is apparent, including both the number of people involved in accidents and the frequency and severity of accidents

Optimal Splitters for Database Partitioning with Size Bounds

Partitioning is an important step in several database algorithms, including sorting, aggregation, and joins. Partitioning is also fundamental for dividing work into equal-sized (or balanced) parallel subtasks. In this paper, we aim to find, materialize and maintain a set of partitioning elements (splitters) for a data set. Unlike traditional partitioning elements, our splitters define both inequality and equality partitions, which allows us to bound the size of the inequality partitions. We provide an algorithm for determining an optimal set of splitters from a sorted data set and show that it has time complexity O(k lg_2 N), where k is the number of splitters requested and N is the size of the data set. We show how the algorithm can be extended to pairs of tables, so that joins can be partitioned into work units that have balanced cost. We demonstrate experimentally (a) that finding the optimal set of splitters can be done efficiently, and (b) that using the precomputed splitters can improve the time to sort a data set by up to 76%, with particular benefits in the presence of a few heavy hitters

Relationships between the Institutional Environment and Corporate Governance Practices: Implications for Emerging and Developed Countries

Changing corporate governance practices requires both formal adoption of best practices as well as changing the supporting institutional environment. We identify which elements of the institutional environment are most closely related to changes in corporate governance practices. We examine the influence of changes in institutional environments on changes in corporate governance practices by examining data from 37 countries. For emerging countries, we find that changes in rule of law are followed by changes in corporate governance practices. When changes in control of corruption are combined with changes in government effectiveness, significant changes in corporate governance practices are also realized. This differs from the pathway to improved corporate governance practices for developed nations. Developed nations require a combination of changes in rule of law and changes in regulatory quality

The Effect of Organizational Commitment on Collusive Supervision Over Reporting

We apply the Theory of Planned Behavior framework and find that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) influence supervisor intentions to involve subordinates in aggressive reporting practices to the supervisor’s advantage. We refer to this behavior as collusive supervision over reporting (CSOR). Using PLS Path Modeling, we find stronger materialism leads to stronger attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) to engage in CSOR. We find that organizational commitment counters this influence. Stronger organizational commitment is associated with reduced attitudes and subjective norms to engage in CSOR. We also consider the collision of these two variables, materialism and organizational commitment, and explain interaction effects. Our findings suggest that subordinates navigating situations wherein they are pressured to engage in aggressive reporting practices can make petitions to the supervisor’s sense of organizational commitment. Organizational commitment favorably dampens the effect of materialism on attitude towards CSOR. However, the interaction effect of organizational commitment and materialism on subjective norms towards CSOR is more complicated. Through social projection supervisors project their own materialism levels onto their supervisors, and then increasing organizational commitment causes them to want to fit in even more with these supervisors. When materialism is low for a supervisor, increasing organizational commitment results in further dampening the effect of materialism, leading to improved subjective norms and lower intentions to engage in CSOR. When materialism is high, however, increasing organizational commitment amplifies the effect of materialism on subjective norms, leading to increased CSOR

FSC Water Heater

This project designed and sized a water tank system for use in US Army field kitchens for dish cleaning as contracted to Yankee Scientific. A preliminary computer model was created to predict the tank\u27s stratified layer temperatures and exit temperature based on water consumption rates and reheat capacity. A physical model of the system was constructed and instrumented to verify the initial estimates of performance. The data acquisition of temperature and flow rates confirmed the computer model estimates of performance. Further testing confirmed the improved performance of the water tank system with interior baffles compared to existing systems in field use. These test results and modeling system were used to provide enhanced system design specifications

Improving Database Performance on Simultaneous Multithreading Processors

Simultaneous multithreading (SMT) allows multiple threads to supply instructions to the instruction pipeline of a superscalar processor. Because threads share processor resources, an SMT system is inherently different from a multiprocessor system and, therefore, utilizing multiple threads on an SMT processor creates new challenges for database implementers. We investigate three thread-based techniques to exploit SMT architectures on memory-resident data. First, we consider running independent operations in separate threads, a technique applied to conventional multiprocessor systems. Second, we describe a novel implementation strategy in which individual operators are implemented in a multi-threaded fashion. Finally, we introduce a new data-structure called a work-ahead set that allows us to use one of the threads to aggressively preload data into the cache for use by the other thread. We evaluate each method with respect to its performance, implementation complexity, and other measures. We also provide guidance regarding when and how to best utilize the various threading techniques. Our experimental results show that by taking advantage of SMT technology we achieve a 30\% to 70\% improvement in throughput over single threaded implementations on in-memory database operations

Albania Project Center Resource Development

The purpose of the project was to develop resources for students and sponsors who are or may be participating in the Albania Project Center in future years. We developed a website, together with a blog and photo gallery, and we considered potential project topics and suggested relevant contacts. Information was gathered from web sources as well as through personal interviews and discussions. This report explains the process of the project as well as the reasoning behind the team’s decisions

Effect of using an exercise and nutrition secure email message on the implementation of health promotion in a large health care system

Background and Program: Secure email messaging is used to provide timely communication between healthcare providers and patients with medical information and education. There have been increasing rates of overweight and obesity among military healthcare patients. To address this issue, we utilized a secure email messaging system that is primarily used for medication refills. This commentary demonstrates the extent to which the message was viewed and how much the message was liked. Preliminary Results: Of the 16,020 individuals emailed, 7,011 participants (43.8%) opened the email, and 1,023 patients (14.6% of those who opened it) completed the survey. Satisfaction rate for the health promotion message was 77.2%. Participants reported an intent to eat more fruit and vegetables (49.6%), decrease portion sizes (38.8%), and increase physical activity (51.1%), while 33.6% reported having no intent to change. Conclusion: The majority were satisfied with the health promotion message. This email method enables a single provider to have increased contact with patients. It is unknown if this message reached higher risk or harder to reach participants, a patient subset that could benefit most from this type of communication. This study is unique in that to our knowledge it is the first one to use secure email messaging in the military healthcare system for health promotion