Posar la tecnologia en context

Into(context) és un projecte de recerca de disseny desenvolupat pel grup Design for Sustainability de la Universitat Tecnològica de Delft, Kiva.Org i amb el finançament de la Digital Inclusion Initiative de Microsoft Research. L'objectiu d'aquesta iniciativa és finançar recerques que explorin el paper que la tecnologia de la informació i la comunicació pot tenir per crear solucions que superin les moltes barreres que ha d'afrontar el món en desenvolupament

Putting technology into context

Into(context) is a design research project developed by the design for sustainability group of Delft Univesity of Technology, Kiva.Org and funded by Microsoft Research's Digital inclusion initiative. The initiative had as its goal to fund investigations of the role information & communication technology (ICT) can play in creating solutions for overcoming the myriad barriers facing the devolpment world. During six months design researchers worked directly with Kiva.Org and four of its existing microfinance partners in Uganda and Kenya to develop an appropriate technology solution to facilitate the use of their online lending platform. The solution needed to meet the needs of their users and be congruous with the context of east Africa. This project has demonstrated the strength of a people centered approach to technology and the potential of the cellphone to serve as a legitimate platform to faclitate web based activities

Complementarities, Coordination, and Culture

We develop a new model of the intergenerational transmission of culture based on the labor market characteristics of different cultural types. Following Borjas (1994,1995) we assume that cultural heterogeneity increases labor productivity due to skill complementarities, however following Jackson and Xing (2014) we also assume that cultural heterogeneity hampers com-munication. We model this as a game in which individuals first engage in uniformly random matching, and then once matched play a coordination game. Other-type matches are thus potentially more productive, but also less likely to coordinate. We show that this set up can replicate many of the seminal results of Bisin and Verdier (2001) without assuming imperfect empathy. This means that we do not face the inherent difficulties that such models involve when making welfare statements. Further, we are able to obtain new results concerning the efficient size of a cultural minority, the effects of tax and welfare programs on the size and welfare of minorities, and the relationship between the intensity of social interaction and size and welfare of a minority. In an extension of the model we introduce “intermediaries” who may either facilitate other-type matching or improve after-match coordination. We then ask which parent population, the minority or majority, the intermediaries arise from and explore their implications for the equilibrium and welfare

Thermal/structural analysis of a transpiration cooled nozzle

The 8-foot High Temperature Tunnel (HTT) at LaRC is a combustion driven, high enthalpy blow down wind tunnel. In Mar. 1991, during check out of the transpiration cooled nozzle, pieces of platelets were found in the tunnel test section. It was determined that incorrect tolerancing between the platelets and the housing was the primary cause of the platelet failure. An analysis was performed to determine the tolerance layout between the platelets and the housing to meet the structural and performance criteria under a range of thermal, pressure, and bolt preload conditions. Three recommendations resulted as a product of this analysis

Poner la tecnología en contexto

Into(context) es un proyecto de investigación de diseño desarrollado por el grupo Design for Sustainability de la Univesidad Tecnológica de Delft, Kiva.Org y con la financiación de la Digital Inclusion Initiative de Microsoft Research. El objetivo de dicha iniciativa es financiar investigaciones que exploren el papel que la tecnología de la información y la comunicación puede desempeñar al crear soluciones para superar las incotables barreras a las que se enfrenta el mundo en desarrollo

SPEAR-1: An experiment to measure current collection in the ionosphere by high voltage biased conductors

An experiment is described in which a high electrical potential difference, up to 45 kV, was applied between deployed conducting spheres and a sounding rocket in the ionosphere. Measurements were made of the applied voltage and the resulting currents for each of 24 applications of different high potentials. In addition, diagnostic measurements of optical emissions in the vicinity of the spheres, energetic particle flow to the sounding rocket, dc electric field and wave data were made. The ambient plasma and neutral environments were measured by a Langmuir probe and a cold cathode neutral ionization gauge, respectively. The payload is described and examples of the measured current and voltage characteristics are presented. The characteristics of the measured currents are discussed in terms of the diagnostic measurements and the in-situ measurements of the vehicle environment. In general, it was found that the currents observed were at a level typical of magnetically limited currents from the ionospheric plasma for potentials less than 12 kV, and slightly higher for larger potentials. However, due to the failure to expose the plasma contactor, the vehicle sheath modified the sphere sheaths and made comparisons with the analytic models of Langmuir-Blodgett and Parker-Murphy less meaningful. Examples of localized enhancements of ambient gas density resulting from the operation of the attitude control system thrusters (cold nitrogen) were obtained. Current measurements and optical data indicated localized discharges due to enhanced gas density that reduced the vehicle-ionosphere impedance

Phased array transducer for billet inspection

A phased array transducer design for billet inspection is presented. The transducer sweeps a uniform focus in both depth and angle to assure uniform coverage of the billet volume, particularly at the billet center, where coverage depends critically on transducer alignment. Design concepts are presented which enable the transducer to sweep a tight focus in both depth and angle using 63 discrete time delays. Design concepts and specifications are summarized, and experimental verification of design performance is presented. Data acquisition protocols are discussed enabling the phased array inspection to operate at production speeds

NASA GeneLab Concept of Operations

NASA's GeneLab aims to greatly increase the number of scientists that are using data from space biology investigations on board ISS, emphasizing a systems biology approach to the science. When completed, GeneLab will provide the integrated software and hardware infrastructure, analytical tools and reference datasets for an assortment of model organisms. GeneLab will also provide an environment for scientists to collaborate thereby increasing the possibility for data to be reused for future experimentation. To maximize the value of data from life science experiments performed in space and to make the most advantageous use of the remaining ISS research window, GeneLab will apply an open access approach to conducting spaceflight experiments by generating, and sharing the datasets derived from these biological studies in space.Onboard the ISS, a wide variety of model organisms will be studied and returned to Earth for analysis. Laboratories on the ground will analyze these samples and provide genomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic and proteomic data. Upon receipt, NASA will conduct data quality control tasks and format raw data returned from the omics centers into standardized, annotated information sets that can be readily searched and linked to spaceflight metadata. Once prepared, the biological datasets, as well as any analysis completed, will be made public through the GeneLab Space Bioinformatics System webb as edportal. These efforts will support a collaborative research environment for spaceflight studies that will closely resemble environments created by the Department of Energy (DOE), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), and other institutions in additional areas of study, such as cancer and environmental biology. The results will allow for comparative analyses that will help scientists around the world take a major leap forward in understanding the effect of microgravity, radiation, and other aspects of the space environment on model organisms. These efforts will speed the process of scientific sharing, iteration, and discovery

Does reducing smoking in the home protect children from the effects of second-hand smoke?

In families of asthmatic children, education to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke leads to fewer medical visits (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, a single randomized, controlled trial). The effects of educating families of nonasthmatic children about secondhand smoke are not known, but parents who smoke outside expose their children to much less nicotine than parents who smoke in the house (SOR: B, cohort studies and cross-sectional surveys)

Effect of interleukin-6 receptor blockade on surrogates of vascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis: MEASURE, a randomised, placebo-controlled study

Objectives The interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) blocker tocilizumab (TCZ) reduces inflammatory disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but elevates lipid concentrations in some patients. We aimed to characterise the impact of IL-6R inhibition on established and novel risk factors in active RA. Methods Randomised, multicentre, two-part, phase III trial (24-week double-blind, 80-week open-label), MEASURE, evaluated lipid and lipoprotein levels, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particle composition, markers of coagulation, thrombosis and vascular function by pulse wave velocity (PWV) in 132 patients with RA who received TCZ or placebo. Results Median total-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride levels increased in TCZ versus placebo recipients by week 12 (12.6% vs 1.7%, 28.1% vs 2.2%, 10.6% vs −1.9%, respectively; all p&#60;0.01). There were no significant differences in mean small LDL, mean oxidised LDL or total HDL-C concentrations. However, HDL-associated serum amyloid A content decreased in TCZ recipients. TCZ also induced reductions (&#60;30%) in secretory phospholipase A2-IIA, lipoprotein(a), fibrinogen and D-dimers and elevation of paraoxonase (all p&#60;0.0001 vs placebo). The ApoB/ApoA1 ratio remained stable over time in both groups. PWV decreases were greater with placebo than TCZ at 12 weeks (adjusted mean difference 0.79 m/s (95% CI 0.22 to 1.35; p=0.0067)). Conclusions These data provide the first detailed evidence for the modulation of lipoprotein particles and other surrogates of vascular risk with IL-6R inhibition. When compared with placebo, TCZ induced elevations in LDL-C but altered HDL particles towards an anti-inflammatory composition and favourably modified most, but not all, measured vascular risk surrogates. The net effect of such changes for cardiovascular risk requires determination.</p