Status of NASA's Stirling Space Power Converter Program

An overview is presented of the NASA-Lewis Free-Piston Stirling Space Power Convertor Technology Program. The goal is to develop the technology base needed to meet the long duration, high capacity power requirements for future NASA space initiatives. Efforts are focused upon increasing system power output and system thermal and electric energy conversion efficiency at least fivefold over current SP-100 technology, and on achieving systems that are compatible with space nuclear reactors. Stirling experience in space and progress toward 1050 and 1300 K Stirling Space Power Converters is discussed. Fabrication is nearly completed for the 1050 K Component Test Power Converters (CTPC); results of motoring tests of cold end (525 K), are presented. The success of these and future designs is dependent upon supporting research and technology efforts including heat pipes, bearings, superalloy joining technologies, high efficiency alternators, life and reliability testing and predictive methodologies. An update is provided of progress in some of these technologies leading off with a discussion of free-piston Stirling experience in space

ESTIMATION OF WHEAT ACREAGE RESPONSE FUNCTIONS FOR THE NORTHWEST

Acreage response functions for wheat are fitted to aggregate data and pooled time-series and cross-sectional data for the Northwest. It was hypothesized that the pooled data approach provides a useful alternative to using aggregate data since it requires fewer timer-series observations for reliable parameter estimation and it does not require the assumption of constant acreage response elasticities throughout the region. The results of this study verify this hypothesis as well as indicate that regional response elasticities for Northwest wheat acreage may differ greatly from national estimates.Crop Production/Industries,

Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush in the Canadian News Media: A Critical Analysis

This study examines prominent Canadian news media coverage of Fidel Castro, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, during the latter\u27s trip to Cuba in 2002. The occasion provided an opportunity for the corporate media to trot out all of their cliché

The Censorship of Consensus: Fidel Castro\u27s Retirement as Seen in the Canadian Media

In this paper I analyse the Canadian media\u27s portrayal of the retirement of Fidel Castro, announced in February, 2008. The coverage reveals, perhaps above all else, the way in which a neo-liberal belief in capitalism, euphemistically calle

Progress update of NASA's free-piston Stirling space power converter technology project

A progress update is presented of the NASA LeRC Free-Piston Stirling Space Power Converter Technology Project. This work is being conducted under NASA's Civil Space Technology Initiative (CSTI). The goal of the CSTI High Capacity Power Element is to develop the technology base needed to meet the long duration, high capacity power requirements for future NASA space initiatives. Efforts are focused upon increasing system power output and system thermal and electric energy conversion efficiency at least five fold over current SP-100 technology, and on achieving systems that are compatible with space nuclear reactors. This paper will discuss progress toward 1050 K Stirling Space Power Converters. Fabrication is nearly completed for the 1050 K Component Test Power Converter (CTPC); results of motoring tests of the cold end (525 K), are presented. The success of these and future designs is dependent upon supporting research and technology efforts including heat pipes, bearings, superalloy joining technologies, high efficiency alternators, life and reliability testing, and predictive methodologies. This paper will compare progress in significant areas of component development from the start of the program with the Space Power Development Engine (SPDE) to the present work on CTPC

Truth as the First Casualty: Mainstream Media Portrayal of the Gulf War

Mainstream news media coverage of the Persian Gulf War is examined in a case study comparison of the conflicting perspectives of political economy and (U.S.) cultural studies as typified by John Fiske

On the Development of Analytical Methodologies to Interrogate the Lipid Dynamics and Phase Transition Resulting from the Reduction of Stimuli-responsive Vesicles

The potential is great for liposome drug delivery systems that provide specific contents release at diseased tissue sites upon activation by upregulated enzymes; however, this potential will only come to fruition with mechanistic knowledge of the contents release process. NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase type 1 (NQO1) is a target for reductively-responsive liposomes, as it is an enzyme upregulated in numerous cancer tissues and is capable of reducing quinone propionic acid (QPA) trigger groups to hydroquinones that self-cleave from dioleolylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) liposome surfaces, thereby initiating contents release. This research targets the development of analytical methodologies to observe and characterize the dynamics and resulting phase change of the QPA-DOPE liposomal system. It is known that after reduction, QPA-DOPE vesicles aggregate and that the aggregation is correlated with release of their encapsulated contents. While postulated, the final phase identity of this system has not been identified as the conventional methods used to make this measurement are not capable of studying such a unique and dynamic system. Presented herein are the analytical methods, both developed and adapted, which have been used to investigate a liposomal system capable of redox stimulated contents release. The purpose of this work was to utilize these tools to (1) study the terminal phase identity of QPA-DOPE vesicles after reduction, (2) manipulate the QPA-DOPE liposomal system for triggerable inter-vesical fusion, and (3) investigate the liposome bilayer behavior post-reduction and pre-release. The findings of this work are presented and their significance discussed

'Setting off fireworks over a mysterious city': An Interview with Kathleen Winter

Winter was born in Bill Quay in the north of England in 1960, but moved to Newfoundland in eastern Canada at the age of eight. Her novella, Where is Mario, was published in 1987, and two works of creative non-fiction entitled The Road Along the Shore and The Necklace of Occasional Dreams followed in 1991 and 1996. Her first collection of short stories, entitled boYs, was published in 2007 and awarded both the Metcalfe-Rooke and Winterset awards that year. In 2014, Winter will publish Boundless, a non-fiction account of her journey through the Northwest Passage, as well as a new collection of short stories entitled The Freedom in American Songs. Our interview was conducted via email correspondence throughout September and October 2013