Call, challenge, and reformation

Preached at Edmonton, Alta, O 28 2001

Terrestrial ages of Antarctic meteorites: Implications for concentration mechanisms

Antarctic meteorites differ from meteorites fallen in other places in their mean terrestrial ages. Boeckl estimated the terrestrial half-life for the disintegration of stone meteorites by weathering under the climatic conditions of the Western United States to be about 3600 years. Antarctic meteorites, however, have terrestrial ages up to 70000 years, indicating larger weathering half-lives. The terrestrial ages of meteorites are determined by their concentration of cosmic-ray-produced radionuclides with suitable half-lives (C-14, Al-26, and Cl-36). These radionuclides have yielded reliable ages for the Antarctic meteorites. The distribution of terrestrial ages of Allan Hills and Yamato meteorites are examined

Memory and Justice: Confronting Past Atrocity and Human Rights Abuse

This report examines the development of the movement to deal with the past from approximately 1983 to 2008 with an emphasis on the impact of Ford Foundation support, particularly from the Andean Region and Southern Cone office since the early 1990s. How has this support to various organizations mattered? How has it made a difference? Moving beyond the contribution of the Ford Foundation, the report also examines the ways in which dealing with the past has become characterized by a proliferation of activities and initiatives, as well as the creation of new institutions.The report draws on more than a dozen interviews, written correspondence with a selection of key actors, Ford Foundation grant files, an earlier consultancy report written by Professor Peter Winn, and eight commissioned papers on dealing with the past in specific countries or areas of interest

On-line digital computer control of the NERVA nuclear rocket engine

The problem of on-line digital computer control of the NERVA nuclear rocket engine is considered. Proposed is a method of State Dependent State Variable Feedback (SDSVF) as a practical approach to the control of NERVA and other complex nonlinear and/or time-varying systems. The difficulties inherent in other design methods are avoided by defining the optimal closed loop system in terms of a desired transfer function, rather than a performance index to maximize or minimize

Results of a private boat angling survey for estimating catch and effort, conducted at Oceanside, California during May and June 1974

Two survey methods (postcard and interview) for generating marine fish catch and effort estimates for private boats were field tested at Oceanside, California during May and June of 1974. Sampling days were pre-assigned to weekday and weekend strata. The postcard survey was shown to produce biased estimates. Causes of the various biases are discussed. The interview survey provided background data to test for biases in the postcard survey and between marina an launch ramp interview areas. (31pp.

Mysterious iodine-overabundance in Antarctic meteorites

Halogen as well as other trace element concentrations in meteorite finds can be influenced by alteration processes on the Earth's surface. The discovery of Antarctic meteorites offered the opportunity to study meteorites which were kept in one of the most sterile environment of the Earth. Halogen determination in Antartic meteorites was compared with non-Antarctic meteorites. No correlation was found between iodine concentration and the weathering index, or terrestrial age. The halogen measurements indicate a contaminating phase rich in iodine and also containing chlorine. Possible sources for this contamination are discussed

Atmospheric cloud physics laboratory project study

Engineering studies were performed for the Zero-G Cloud Physics Experiment liquid cooling and air pressure control systems. A total of four concepts for the liquid cooling system was evaluated, two of which were found to closely approach the systems requirements. Thermal insulation requirements, system hardware, and control sensor locations were established. The reservoir sizes and initial temperatures were defined as well as system power requirements. In the study of the pressure control system, fluid analyses by the Atmospheric Cloud Physics Laboratory were performed to determine flow characteristics of various orifice sizes, vacuum pump adequacy, and control systems performance. System parameters predicted in these analyses as a function of time include the following for various orifice sizes: (1) chamber and vacuum pump mass flow rates, (2) the number of valve openings or closures, (3) the maximum cloud chamber pressure deviation from the allowable, and (4) cloud chamber and accumulator pressure

Lattice structure and magnetization of LaCoO3 thin films

We investigate the structure and magnetic properties of thin films of the LaCoO$_{3}$ compound. Thin films are deposited by pulsed laser deposition on various substrates in order to tune the strain from compressive to tensile. Single-phase (001) oriented LaCoO$_{3}$ layers were grown on all substrates despite large misfits. The tetragonal distortion of the films covers a wide range from -2% to 2.8%. Our LaCoO$_{3}$ films are ferromagnetic with Curie temperature around 85 K, contrary to the bulk. The total magnetic moment is below $1\mu_{B}$/Co$^{3+}$, a value relatively small for an exited spin-state of the Co$^{3+}$ ions, but comparable to values reported in literature. A correlation of strain states and magnetic moment of Co$^{3+}$ ions in LaCoO$_{3}$ thin films is observed.Comment: submitted tu European Phys. J.

The Effects of JIT on the Development of Productivity Norms

Low inventory, or just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing systems, enjoy increasing application worldwide, yet the behavioral effects of such systems remain largely unexplored. Operations Research (OR) models of low inventory systems typically make a simplifying assumption that individual worker processing times are independent random variables. This leads to predictions that low-inventory systems will exhibit production interruptions. Yet empirical results suggest that low-inventory systems do not exhibit the predicted productivity losses. This paper develops a model integrating feedback, goal-setting, group cohesiveness, task norms, and peer pressure to predict how individual behavior may adjust to alleviate production interruptions in low-inventory systems. In doing so we integrate previous research on the development of task norms. Findings suggest that low-inventory systems induce individual and group responses that cause behavioral changes that mitigate production interruptions