Automation and robotics for COLUMBUS: An implementation concept for the free flying laboratory (MTFF)

With nearly forty percent of the funding, Germany is the main contributor to the European COLUMBUS Programme, followed by Italy, France and further ESA member states. The COLUMBUS elements are the Attached Laboratory (APM) to be permanently attached to the Space Station FREEDOM, the polar platform (PPF) and the Man Tended Free Flyer (MTFF). The latter element is regarded to be of special interest for the German micro-g community. Until now the implementation of A&R Technologies has not been included as part of the system concept for the COLUMBUS laboratory modules. Yet especially for the Free Flyer, a high degree of A&R will be indispensible. An A&R system concept and implementation options for A&R are given to make the COLUMBUS labs 'intelligent' laboratories in orbit

Stakeholders of the Chesapeake: Curse of the Eastern Oyster. Subjects: Life Science / Biology, Environmental Science, Marine/Ocean Science Grades: 6-8

How do we decide how to manage oysters and who has a stake in that management decision? Students are placed in the role of a stakeholder group who cares about what happens to the Eastern oyster and asked to rank management priorities from the perspective of their group and others. Through viewing oyster management through a single perspective, students can begin to understand that balancing stakeholder’s views in setting policy and management is challenging

Human Security, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and Vulnerable People: Rhetoric, Solidarity, and Silences in International Human Rights Discourses on Syrian Women Refugees

Honors (Bachelor's)International StudiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120590/1/mgoelz.pd

Direct Democracy: Actually Democratic? An Evaluation of Initiatives Based on the Fundamental Principles of Democracy

Direct democracy in the form of the initiative is seen by many as a panacea for all that ails democracy.’ Frustrated with the give and take of the deliberative process inherent in legislatures, liberal and conservatives alike have resorted to direct pleas to the people. Initiatives are not a neutral or benign influence on the quality of democracy in the United States. The results of initiatives can be significant, indeed momentous, with particular issues for individual states

High power arcjet

The activities of the High Power Arcjet Project (HIPARC) from August 1990 to January 1991 are discussed. In this period the HIPARC thruster was ignited for the first time. Power levels up to 140 kW with a mass flow rate of 300 mg/s hydrogen were reached. Specific impulse values of more than 1300 s were shown to be possible. Tests were performed with the baseline thruster version only, which has a 6 mm throat diameter and a conical nozzle with a 20 degree half angle. Measurement data summing up all tests carried out until now is included. All measuring methods are described, including a check on possible error sources

Alternative Substrates Used For Oyster Reef Restoration: A Review

Oyster populations and reef habitats have notably declined in the last century around the world. The ecological, economic, and cultural values of oysters have led to a variety of restoration efforts seeking to recover these lost benefits. Limitations of the native oyster shell substrate and the large-scale nature of many restoration projects have resulted in the increased use of a variety of alternative, or artificial, substrates to create reef structures. A text mining package was used to conduct a review of alternative substrates used for oyster restoration. Specifically, the review (1) assessed commonly used alternative substrates, (2) locations where alternative substrates are used, and (3) common performance metrics used to evaluate alternative substrates. The review demonstrated that (1) the most common substrates included porcelain, concrete, limestone, noncalcium stone, nonoyster shell, dredged shell, and engineered reefs; (2) oyster restoration with alternative substrates occurs worldwide, but evaluations of alternative substrates were primarily (79%) within the United States of America; and (3) four main categories of performance metrics are used to assess alternative substrates-biological, structural, chemical, and economic acceptability. Within the four performance metrics, however, there exists a substantial variety in terms of specific metrics used and application of metrics to assess alternative substrates. Results highlight the need for common metrics across projects to ease comparison between alternative substrate options

The Development of Attitudes Toward Scientific Models During a Participatory Modeling Process – The Impact of Participation and Social Network Structure

Scientific models are increasingly being used to support participatory natural resources management decision making processes. These models allow stakeholders and scientists to explore potential policy and management options and can help facilitate discussion surrounding concerning uncertainty and different sources of knowledge. The unique benefits of participatory modeling processes, however, are contingent upon stakeholders understanding of, engagement with, and willingness to use the scientific models as sources of knowledge and information. Little is known, however, about how stakeholders view scientific models within these processes. We examined changes in stakeholders’ attitudes toward scientific models over the course of OysterFutures, a 2-year, facilitated participatory modeling process that aimed to create consensus recommendations for oyster management in the Choptank River Complex, MD, United States. Five ordered logistic regression models were used to test hypotheses concerning the impact of social network measures, factors related to the participatory modeling process itself, and stakeholder characteristics on salience, credibility and legitimacy (SCL) attitudes toward models. Results suggested that stakeholders’ ways of knowing was a significant driver of salience, credibility and legitimacy elements of attitudes toward models. Additionally, acting as a gatekeeper within the social network resulted in significantly lower attitudes toward model credibility. These results indicate that the scientific model acted as a boundary object that facilitated discussion during the participatory modeling process. By better understanding the factors that influence model attitude formation, these processes can adjust their design and function to better take advantage of these models. Additionally, practitioners can have more realistic expectations concerning the role of models within participatory, collaborative natural resources decision-making processes