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After several years of technology development and concept evaluation, the "four-barrel" Multiple Mirror Telescope concept has been selected for the 15-M National New Technology Telescope. Performance goals are presented. The principal optical configurations are described with emphasis on trade-offs under current study. Discussion of the thermal environment needed for the primary mirror is presented.

Although the results obtained during Concept Evaluation Program (CEP) testing of PINTS at Eglin, AFB, Florida, initially failed to achieve expected levels of false alarm rate (FAR) performance, the subsequent engineering investigation testing and data analysis positively identified the source of the high FAR problem. All test results analyzed indicated the high FAR problem could have been avoided or at least minimized by using an adequate Selection, Application, and Installation Guide (SAIG). This report presents PINTS tests objectives, descriptions, results and conclusions. Also included are appendices containing reports of EG&G Energy Measurements, Inc. and the Computing Devices Company.

This report provides an overview and concept evaluation of the Deployment Analysis Prototype (DAP). Section 1 considers the DAP in the context of the deployment planning environment. Section 2 provides an overview and evaluation of the DAP structures as well as specific algorithmic, and interface issues. Sections 2 and 3 also provide recommendations for improvement of the DAP. The fundamental approximations made in the MODES model assumed continuous transportation. While this allowed the entire problem to be captured in an optimization model, there were serious difficulties interpreting the results for the very small deployments used in testing. This seems unavoidable when the model is used in a batch environment (as opposed to an interactive environment). The major problem with MODES occurs in small deployments when the results do not translate into whole ship loads. While there are other options which might be considered (e.g., multi-commodity flow models), it seems apparent that all tractable optimization models, in order to simultaneously consider both air and sea and the scheduling of assets on legs and the scheduling of movement requirements on the assets, would require the assumption of continuous transportation and hence would suffer from the same problem.

The Command and Control Concept Evaluation Capability (C2 CONCAP) provides ESD development planners with computer aids for selecting, analyzing, evaluating, and refining system concepts. This Technical Report describes briefly the library of software which is currently available to help in the development of models of command and control concepts. Much of the library is commercial off-the-shelf packages which are useful in creating displays and data bases. (Author)

A new scale for scoring the number of correct responses on the Rorschach Concept Evaluation Technique was developed, based on the responses of 250 normal subjects. Using this scale the scores of 125 hospitalized schizophrenics were compared with the normals. The two groups we're differentiated at better than the .001 level.

The report is concerned with the evaluation of the soft-soil performance of a vehicle concept based on an inclined hemispherical wheel. The performance of the concept was compared to a concept utilizing cylindrical wheels of similar size to the hemispherical wheel and to a conventional vehicle of equal payload capacity currently under development. Tests were conducted to establish the performance of 1/4 scale models of each of the vehicle concepts in the large soil bins located in the Land Locomotion Laboratory. The models were tested in sand and in a sandy loam at three different moisture contents. The models were given code designations and are identified as Concepts A, B, and C. The test results indicate that Concepts B and C have significantly better soft- soil performance than Concept A. The performance of Concept B is equal to that of Concept C. It is concluded that Concept B is equal to that of Concept C. It is concluded that Concept C does not offer any improvement in soft-soil performance and should not be considered as a device to improve mobility on the basis of its soft soil characteristics. The recommendations are that Concept C be given no further consideration for application to military vehicles.

The concept of sensory space was first formulated over 25 years ago and has been widely adopted in oenology for around the last 15 years. It is based on both the common organoleptic characteristics of products and the mental representations built by specific groups of people. Exploring this concept involves first assessing whether it already exists for tasters, and, when this is the case, conducting perceptual evaluations to verify its effectiveness before potentially highlighting the associated sensory properties. The goal of this review, which focuses on applications linked to the field of oenology, is to study how these three steps are carried out, how the corresponding tasks and tests are performed and managed, and the type of results that can be obtained.

The use of qualitative eco-evaluation methods for product concept eco-evaluation is explored in a case study where mechanical engineers performed an eco-evaluation of product concepts in a two-stage evaluation process. In the first stage of the case study, the evaluators were asked to evaluate the environmental friendliness of the product concepts and to rank the concepts accordingly. The obtained rankings were based upon subjective preferences of the evaluators and their subjective interpretation of the eco-value of the considered concepts. In the second stage of the case study, the evaluators eco-evaluated the same concepts, but this time they used ecodesign guidelines as eco-criteria. The evaluators have obtained different rankings of the concepts, so the results of the two sets of rankings are compared. Findings are analysed in the context of confounding variables of the case study design.

This paper explores whether the concept of social capital as popularized by Robert Putnam is a good social science concept. Taking Gerring’s work on concept evaluation as the starting point, the paper first presents a set of criteria for conceptual ‘goodness’ and discusses how social capital performs on these criteria. It is argued that social capital eventually may be a good concept if it can be shown empirically to be a unidimensional concept. An empirical section therefore explores the validity of the unidimensionality assumption and rejects it in four separate tests at both the individual and aggregate level. We conclude that even if social capital has been a remarkably productive idea, it is not a good concept as most popular conceptualizations define social capital as several distinct phenomena or as phenomena that already have been conceptualized under other labels.

The Avionics Concept Evaluation Simulator (ACES) Laboratory has developed a rapidly reconfigurable real-time avionics simulation package that can be customized to specific research and development requirements. An essential component of the simulation is a unique graphics model named Image Development Language (IDL). IDL is a Lockheed proprietary, Fortran-based, graphics-imaging language that enables the human factors engineer or designer to create interactive real-time graphics and images in a short time, with relative ease, and with little or no programming expertise. Applications of IDL in human factors research and development in the aerospace community are discussed.

The author suggests a concept testing procedure which relies on concept evaluation and positioning by market segments. The integration of multidimensional scaling, conjoint measurement procedures, and related multivariate statistical techniques is explained and illustrated.

Climate change results in an increase of the frequency and intensity of extreme hydro-meteorological risks such as floods, mudflows, landslides, avalanches and rockfalls jeopardizing a great number of people, settlements and critical infrastructures every year [...]