Empirical Systems Aerospace (United States)

Contemporary open societies are characterised by pluralism, indicating differences in values and practices. Religiosity and civic engagement are intertwined in various ways, with processes changing across the Balkans and Southern Europe. Accordingly, in this study, we present the results of a survey that explores different relationships between (a) socio-demographic variables, (b) types of prayer engaged in by people, and (c) civic engagement in Serbia (the Balkans) and Malta (Southern Europe). Questionnaires with the same content were distributed in Malta (in English) and in Serbia (in Serbian). Our analysis reveals both similarities and differences relating to the following two main patterns: (1) all types of prayer correlated significantly with civic engagement behaviour in both countries; and (2) the frequency of prayer types, and the correlations between specific prayer types and civic engagement behaviour, ranked differently in both countries. Our discussion focuses on the implications of these patterns for open societies and intercultural dialogue.

<p> </p> <p>Randomized experiments (<em>RCT</em>s) rule out bias from confounded selection of participants into conditions by design. Quasi-experiments (<em>QE</em>s) are often considered second-best because they do not share this benefit. However, when results from <em>RCT</em>s are used to generalize causal impacts, the benefit from unconfounded selection into conditions may be offset by confounded selection into locations. In this work we show that this tradeoff can lead to situations where estimates from <em>QE</em>s are less-biased from selection than are estimates from uncompromised <em>RCT</em>s. We establish the conditions theoretically, demonstrate the idea empirically, and discuss the implications of the results.</p>

Over the course of the last 70 years there have been many developments in the techniques used to fabricate components using powder metallurgy Titanium (PM-Ti). The reasons for using PM-Ti for part fabrication has been well established, i.e., the associated reduction in fabrication costs (e.g., reduction in Buy-to-Fly ratio). A major impediment to a wider acceptance for the use of PM Titanium has been the high cost of Titanium powder production. Now, with the recent focus on Additive Manufacturing, the interest in using PM Ti has increased and more titanium powder producers are becoming online. Along with the developments in titanium powder production and use, a brief history of where Additive Manufacturing came from will be discuss.

<p>We evaluate the role of selection bias in causal generalization. We compare levels of bias in estimates of average causal impacts from experiments and from non-experiments. To demonstrate we use data from 79 sites in the multisite trial of Tennessee's Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR), and we use results obtained during a randomized experiment of the Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiaitve (AMSTI). </p>

This paper describes the power and command system architecture of the X-57 Maxwell flight demonstrator aircraft. The X-57 is an experimental aircraft designed to demonstrate radically improved aircraft efficiency with a 3.5 times aero-propulsive efficiency gain at a “high-speed cruise” flight condition for comparable general aviation aircraft. These gains are enabled by integrating the design of a new, optimized wing and a new electric propulsion system. As a result, the X-57 vehicle takes advantage of the new capabilities afforded by electric motors as primary propulsors. Integrating new technologies into critical systems in experimental aircraft poses unique challenges that require careful design considerations across the entire vehicle system, such as qualification of new propulsors (motors, in the case of the X-57 aircraft), compatibility of existing systems with a new electric power distribution bus, and instrumentation and monitoring of newly qualified propulsion system devices.

ABSTRACTThis study investigates, through a cluster randomized trial, the impact of Math in Focus, a core mathematics program modeled after instructional approaches used in Singapore, on third- through fifth-grade students’ achievement in mathematics. The program is currently being used in more than 400 school districts in the United States. The program focuses on coherence of coverage of materials across grades, use of the Concrete to Pictorial to approach to instruction, and covering fewer topics, but addressing them more thoroughly. Twenty-two grade-level teams across 12 schools were randomized to the program or business as usual. Measures included indicators of fidelity to treatment, and student mathematics learning. Impacts on mathematics achievement ranged from .11 to .15 standard deviation units. No differences in impact were observed depending on level of incoming achievement, minority status, or grade level. Impact of Math in Focus did not vary across the procedures and problem-solving subscales. Discussion of findings includes the nature of the counterfactual, and possible future direction of impact studies that may focus in greater depth on the critical features of inquiry instruction unique to Math in Focus.

Oil shale from the illite-rich Garden Gulch Member of the Green River Formation in Colorado’s Piceance Basin was pyrolyzed in a self-purging 12 kg batch autoclave. The shale was held within the autoclave in a container open only at the top, and a nitrogen sweep around that container swept the produced gas and oil vapors out of the headspace at a controlled pressure determined by a back-pressure regulator. Oil and water weights and gas composition were measured as a function of time, and oil composition was evaluated by a variety of techniques. Increasing back pressure retarded the evolution of generated oil. This volatilization phenomenon can be fit simply by adjusting the activation energy of the pyrolysis kinetics by 0.67 cal/mol/kPa. Oil yields decreased and gas yields increased with increasing back pressure. Oil quality increases as yield decreased. API gravity was typically above 40, nitrogen content was only 0.5–0.6 wt %, and As, V, and Ni were below detection limits of 0.1 ppm. The quality improvement with lower yield is attributed to longer liquid residence time for coking, which results in less heavy oil being volatilized. Results are consistent with the original work using this approach by Burnham and Singleton (Burnham, A. K.; Singleton, M. F. High Pressure Pyrolysis of Green River Oil Shale. In Geochemistry and Chemistry of Oil Shales; Miknis, F. P., McKay, J. F., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series 230; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1983.), who used Mahogany zone shale from the Anvil Points mine near Rifle, CO. These results demonstrate the common finding in fossil fuel processes that product quality and quantity trade off with each other.

The abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) to improve physical performance is associated with serious adverse effects sometimes fatal, however benefits can be gain by its therapeutic controlled use. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the use of the anabolic androgenic steroid mesterolone (M, 17 beta-hydroxy-1 alpha methyl-5 alpha-androstan-3-one, C 20 H 32 O 2 ) in the soleus (SOL), tibialis anterior (TA) and gastrocnemius (GAS), in the Achilles tendon and in the cardiac muscle remodeling and lipemic profile of transgenic mice (CETP +/-LDLr -/+ ), sedentary or submitted to a treadmill running aerobic exercise program. Experimental groups of male mice (aged 8 weeks at the beginning of the experiments) sedentary or exercised (6 weeks involuntary treadmill running, average of 16 m/min, 50 min/day, 5 days/week) were treated with mesterolone dissolved in gum arabic (vehicle), or with the vehicle (both at 2 g/g body weight administered orally -supra physiological dose) in the last three weeks. The animals were weighed every week and the muscles were weighed after sacrifice of the animals. The arterial blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff plethismographys weekly. The delineation of the fibers types was done in the SOL, TA and GAS muscles through the m-ATPase reaction. The myotrophic action of mesterolone, exercise, or both combined, were also determined in relation to fiber types. The number of myofibers, the crosssectional area of the myofibers, and mitochondria, the density of mitochondria/area of myofiber, the number of capillaries/myofiber, the presence of activated satellite cells, split fibers and the morphology of the muscle spindles and of muscle tissue in general were evaluated by light and electron microscopy. The expression of the neuronal (NOS I) and endothelial (NOS III) nitric oxide synthase isoforms was investigated through 7 Abstract immunohistochemistry and immmunoblotting. As part of the musculoskeletal system, the Achilles tendon response was evaluated in regard to the collagen synthesis, quantification of hydroxyproline, collagen fibers diameter and area (relative) and ultrastructure of the tendon fibroblasts (tenocytes). Finally, the investigation focused on the cardiac muscle remodeling and quantitative, morphological and biochemical approaches were employed for evaluating the cardiac plasticity and the lipid profile from this transgenic murine model whose lipid profile was transgenically modified to be more close to the human lipid profile.