Geothermal ground heat exchangers in Malta : thermal performance assessment of infill grouts

The aim of this paper was to assess the thermal conductivity of proprietary grout mixes versus local ones in Malta. Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems consume 75% less electricity than conventional environmental control systems and have lower maintenance costs. On the other hand the installation costs of GSHPs are comparatively higher. Attention has therefore been focused to try to lower the costs of installing the borehole heat exchange system. The grout is one of the key factors that influence the efficiency of ground source heat pumps, being the principal conductive medium to the natural terrain. This paper explores the variations in the thermal conductivity of different sand-cement grouts. It compares and evaluates options for the suitability of these materials for backfilling vertical boreholes of ground heat exchangers. In this study sixteen different sand-cement grouts have been designed, evaluated and compared with materials, which have been conventionally used to fulfil this purpose. Imported silica sand and local sand mixes were formulated, tested and compared so that the potential use of local sands could be closely examined. Output results prove that local sand-cement grouts improve thermal conductivity values by 27% and are also 17% less expensive when compared to silica sand-cement and bentonite grouts. This win-win scenario points towards improvements in both in thermal conductivity and cost effectiveness when using local resources.peer-reviewe

Emotion and Creativity: Hacking into Cognitive Appraisal Processes to Augment Creative Ideation

Creativity thrives when people experience positive emotions. How to design an interactive system that can effectively make use of this potential is, however, still an unanswered question. In this paper, we propose one approach to this problem that relies on hacking into the cognitive appraisal processes that form part of positive emotions. To demonstrate our approach we have conceived, made, and evaluated a novel interactive system that influences an individual’s appraisals of their own idea generation processes by providing real-time and believable feedback about the originality of their ideas. The system can be used to manipulate this feedback to make the user’s ideas appear more or less original. This has enabled us to test experimentally the hypothesis that providing more positive feedback, rather than neutral, or more negative feedback than the user is expecting, causes more positive emotion, which in turn causes more creativity during idea generation. The findings demonstrate that an interactive system can be designed to use the function of cognitive appraisal processes in positive emotion to help people to get more out of their own creative capabilities

Engaging Students, Teachers, and the Public with NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Assets

Engaging students, teachers, and the public with NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) assets, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) experts and NASA curation astromaterial samples, provides an extraordinary opportunity to connect citizens with authentic aspects unique to our nation's space program. Effective engagement can occur through both virtual connections such as webcasts and in-person connections at educator workshops and public outreach events. Access to NASA ARES assets combined with adaptable resources and techniques that engage and promote scientific thinking helps translate the science and research being facilitated through NASA exploration, elicits a curiosity that aims to carry over even after a given engagement, and prepares our next generation of scientific explorers

Restoration and PDS Archive of Apollo Lunar Rock Sample Data

In 2008, scientists at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Lunar Sample Laboratory and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory (under the auspices of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate or ARES) began work on a 4-year project to digitize the original film negatives of Apollo Lunar Rock Sample photographs. These rock samples together with lunar regolith and core samples were collected as part of the lander missions for Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17. The original film negatives are stored at JSC under cryogenic conditions. This effort is data restoration in the truest sense. The images represent the only record available to scientists which allows them to view the rock samples when making a sample request. As the negatives are being scanned, they are also being formatted and documented for permanent archive in the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS) archive. The ARES group is working collaboratively with the Imaging Node of the PDS on the archiving

Crew Earth Observations: Twelve Years of Documenting Earth from the International Space Station

The Crew Earth Observations (CEO) payload was one of the initial experiments aboard the International Space Station, and has been continuously collecting data about the Earth since Expedition 1. The design of the experiment is simple: using state-of-the-art camera equipment, astronauts collect imagery of the Earth's surface over defined regions of scientific interest and also document dynamic events such as storms systems, floods, wild fires and volcanic eruptions. To date, CEO has provided roughly 600,000 images of Earth, capturing views of features and processes on land, the oceans, and the atmosphere. CEO data are less rigorously constrained than other remote sensing data, but the volume of data, and the unique attributes of the imagery provide a rich and understandable view of the Earth that is difficult to achieve from the classic remote sensing platforms. In addition, the length-of-record of the imagery dataset, especially when combined with astronaut photography from other NASA and Russian missions starting in the early 1960s, provides a valuable record of changes on the surface of the Earth over 50 years. This time period coincides with the rapid growth of human settlements and human infrastructure

Analysing decision logs to understand decision-making in serious crime investigations

Objective: To study decision-making by detectives when investigating serious crime through the examination of Decision Logs to explore hypothesis generation and evidence selection. Background: Decision logs are used to record and justify decisions made during serious crime investigations. The complexity of investigative decision-making is well documented, as are the errors associated with miscarriages of justice and inquests. The use of decision logs has not been the subject of an empirical investigation, yet they offer an important window into the nature of investigative decision-making in dynamic, time-critical environments. Method: A sample of decision logs from British police forces was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to explore hypothesis generation and evidence selection by police detectives. Results: Analyses revealed diversity in documentation of decisions that did not correlate with case type, and identified significant limitations of the decision log approach to supporting investigative decision-making. Differences emerged between experienced and less experienced officers’ decision log records in exploration of alternative hypotheses, generation of hypotheses, and sources of evidential enquiry opened over phase of investigation. Conclusion: The practical use of decision logs is highly constrained by their format and context of use. Despite this, decision log records suggest that experienced detectives display strategic decision-making to avoid confirmation and satisficing that affect less experienced detectives. Application: Potential applications of this research include both training in case documentation and the development of new decision log media that encourage detectives, irrespective of experience, to generate multiple hypotheses and optimize the timely selection of evidence to test them

Older people as equal partners in creative design

Active older people want to be actively engaged by contributing their experiences to design better services and products. This paper demonstrates the importance of older peoples engagement in the creative design process in a small study where older people were engaged together with designers in the design of digital devices. Three creative workshops were conducted: the first with designers, the second with designers and older people, and the third with older people only. During the illumination stage of the creative process flexibility and flow were measured with topics and turns. Results show that when older people were working with designers more topics and a higher total number of turns were developed than by older people or designers working on their own, which indicates that they had the highest flexibility of ideas and possibly also the greatest flow

Scoring Divergent Thinking Tests by Computer With a Semantics-Based Algorithm

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are useful for the assessment of creative potentials. This article reports the semantics-based algorithmic (SBA) method for assessing DT. This algorithm is fully automated: Examinees receive DT questions on a computer or mobile device and their ideas are immediately compared with norms and semantic networks. This investigation compared the scores generated by the SBA method with the traditional methods of scoring DT (i.e., fluency, originality, and flexibility). Data were collected from 250 examinees using the “Many Uses Test” of DT. The most important finding involved the flexibility scores from both scoring methods. This was critical because semantic networks are based on conceptual structures, and thus a high SBA score should be highly correlated with the traditional flexibility score from DT tests. Results confirmed this correlation (r = .74). This supports the use of algorithmic scoring of DT. The nearly-immediate computation time required by SBA method may make it the method of choice, especially when it comes to moderate- and large-scale DT assessment investigations. Correlations between SBA scores and GPA were insignificant, providing evidence of the discriminant and construct validity of SBA scores. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are offered

A dual process account of creative thinking

This article explicates the potential role played by type 1 thinking (automatic, fast) and type 2 thinking (effortful, logical) in creative thinking. The relevance of Evans's (2007) models of conflict of dual processes in thinking is discussed with regards to creative thinking. The role played by type 1 thinking and type 2 thinking during the different stages of creativity (problem finding and conceptualization, incubation, illumination, verification and dissemination) is discussed. It is proposed that although both types of thinking are active in creativity, the extent to which they are active and the nature of their contribution to creativity will vary between stages of the creative process. Directions for future research to test this proposal are outlined; differing methodologies and the investigation of different stages of creative thinking are discussed. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

The future problem solving program international: an intervention to promote creative skills in portuguese adolescents

The Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI) is an internationally applied educational program that involves young people. Its theoretical foundation is both the Creative Problem Solving Model and the Futurist Thinking. It aims to promote creative and critical thinking through a futurist approach to problems. This study intended to analyze the effects of the program on creative skills evaluated by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural Version). The participants’ perceptions of the efficacy of the program were also assessed. This intervention was carried out with 131 adolescents over a period of 7 months in an extra-curricular context. The evaluation of the program takes into account periods both before and after interventions, using similar experimental and control groups. The results showed significant statistical differences for the all skills studied and very positive perceptions of the efficacy of FPSPI. Two significant gender differences in creative performance were also found. The results are described and discussed in order to promote awareness for future research concerning this program(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio