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The Human Space Technology Initiative was launched in 2010 within the framework of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications implemented by the Office for Outer Space Affairs of the United Nations. It aims to involve more countries in activities related to human spaceflight and space exploration and to increase the benefits from the outcome of such activities through international cooperation, to make space exploration a truly international effort. The role of the Initiative in these efforts is to provide a platform to exchange information, foster collaboration between partners from spacefaring and non-spacefaring countries, and encourage emerging and developing countries to take part in space research and benefit from space applications. The Initiative organizes expert meetings and workshops annually to raise awareness of the current status of space exploration activities as well as of the benefits of utilizing human space technology and its applications. The Initiative is also carrying out primary science activities including the Zero-Gravity Instrument Project and the Drop Tower Experiment Series aimed at promoting capacity-building activities in microgravity science and education, particularly in developing countries., Comment: 8 pages, 8th IAA Symposium on the Future of Space Exploration: Towards the Stars, Torino, Italy, 2013

In recent decades, the field of fractional calculus has attracted interest of researchers in several areas including mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, and even finance and social sciences.

The general linear model, discussed in Chapter 4, will be re-examined here in order to bring out some more interesting points and to talk about estimability of linear functions of the parameters, Gauss–Markov setup, and related matters.

We considered models which were governed by definite mathematical rules or fully deterministic in nature. There was no chance variation involved. But most of the practical situations, mostly in social sciences, economics, commerce, management, etc., as well as many physical phenomena, are non-deterministic in nature. Earthquake at a place cannot be predetermined, but with sophisticated prediction tools, we may be able to predict the occurrence to some extent.

MSC 2010: 15A15, 15A52, 33C60, 33E12, 44A20, 62E15 Dedicated to Professor R. Gorenflo on the occasion of his 80th birthday, A connection between fractional calculus and statistical distribution theory has been established by the authors recently. Some extensions of the results to matrix-variate functions were also considered. In the present article, more results on matrix-variate statistical densities and their connections to fractional calculus will be established. When considering solutions of fractional differential equations, Mittag-Leffler functions and Fox H-function appear naturally. Some results connected with generalized Mittag-Leffler density and their asymptotic behavior will be considered. Reference is made to applications in physics, particularly super statistics and nonextensive statistical mechanics.

In reaction rate theory, in input–output type models, and in reaction–diffusion problems, when the total derivatives are replaced by fractional derivatives the solutions are obtained in terms of Mittag-Leffler functions and their generalizations. When fractional calculus enters into the picture, the solutions of these problems, usually available in terms of hypergeometric functions, G and H-functions, switch to Mittag-Leffler functions and their generalizations into Wright functions. In this paper, connections are established among generalized Mittag-Leffler functions, pathway model, Tsallis statistics, superstatistics and power law, and among the corresponding entropic measures.

The United Nations Programme on Space Applications was established in 1971 to assist countries in making full use of the benefits of space technology and its applications for social and economic development. Since its inception the programme has organized numerous training courses, workshops, seminars and conferences and provided funding support for more than 10 000 experts, mainly from developing countries, to participate in those activities. The programme has continuously evolved over four decades, taking into account the latest developments in the field of space activities, to best serve the capacity-building needs of countries and to help ensure that space-based solutions contribute to improving life on Earth. This report describes the status and direction of the UN Programme on Space Applications as recommended for approval by the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) Scientific and Technical Subcommittee at its 47th session held in Vienna in February 2010.

The major problem in the cosmological nucleosynthesis is the evaluation of the reaction rate. The present scenario is that the standard thermonuclear function in the Maxwell-Boltzmann form is evaluated by using various techniques. The Maxwell-Boltzmannian approach to nuclear reaction rate theory is extended to cover Tsallis statistics (Tsallis, 1988) and more general cases of distribution functions. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate in some more detail the extended reaction probability integral in the equilibrium thermodynamic argument and in the cut-off case. The extended reaction probability integrals will be evaluated in closed form for all convenient values of the parameter by means of residue calculus. A comparison of the standard reaction probability integrals with the extended reaction probability integrals is also done., Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX

Since 1991 the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has been conducting a series of workshops on basic space science under its United Nations Programme on Space Applications. Up to 2004 the workshops focussed on capacity building efforts in basic space science, in particular for the benefit of developing countries. From 2005 onwards the workshops and their related activities contributed to the celebration of the International Heliophysical Year 2007. Together these activities and workshops constitute the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. This paper reflects on the achievements and outcomes of the Initiative and informs about considerations for its future evolution.

The United Nations Programme on Space Applications, implemented by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, promotes the benefits of space-based solutions for sustainable economic and social development. The Programme assists Member States of the United Nations to establish indigenous capacities for the use of space technology and its applications. In the past the Programme has primarily been focusing on the use of space applications and on basic space science activities. However, in recent years there has been a strong interest in a growing number of space-using countries to build space technology capacities, for example, the ability to develop and operate small satellites. In reaction to this development, the United Nations in cooperation with the International Academy of Astronautics has been organizing annual workshops on small satellites in the service of developing countries. Space technology related issues have also been addressed as part of various other activities of the Programme on Space Applications. Building on these experiences, the Office for Outer Space Affairs is now considering the launch of a new initiative, preliminarily titled the United Nations Basic Space Technology Initiative (UNBSTI), to promote basic space technology development. The initiative would be implemented in the framework of the Programme on Space Applications and its aim would be to help building sustainable capacities for basic space technology education and development, thereby advancing the operational use of space technology and its applications., 12 pages

The working group is pursuing activities co-organized and/or co-sponsored by UN, ESA, NASA, JAXA, UNESCO, COSPAR, IAU and others for the world-wide development of basic space science.

The scalar version of the pathway model of Mathai [A.M. Mathai, Linear Alg. Appl. 396 (2005) 317] is shown to be associated with a large number of probability models used in physics. Different families of densities are listed here, which are all connected through the pathway parameter α, generating a distributional pathway. The idea is to switch from one functional form to another through this parameter and it is shown that one can proceed from the generalized type-1 beta family to generalized type-2 beta family to generalized gamma family. It is also shown that the pathway model is available by maximizing a generalized measure of entropy, leading to an entropic pathway, covering the particularly interesting cases of Tsallis statistics [C. Tsallis, J. Stat. Phys. 52 (1988) 479] and superstatistics [C. Beck, E.G.D. Cohen, Physica A 322 (2003) 267].

The IHY Secretariat and the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI) assist scientists and engineers from all over the world in participating in the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) 2007. A major thrust of IHY/UNBSSI is to deploy arrays of small, inexpensive instruments such as magnetometers, radio telescopes, GPS receivers, all-sky cameras, etc. around the world to allow global measurements of ionospheric and heliospheric phenomena. The small instrument programme is envisioned as a partnership between instrument providers and instrument hosts in developing nations. The IHY/UNBSSI can facilitate the deployment of several of these networks world-wide. Existing data bases and relevant software tools will be identified to promote space science activities in developing nations. Extensive data on space science have been accumulated by a number of space missions. Similarly, long-term data bases are available from ground-based observations. These data can be utilized in ways different from originally intended for understanding the heliophysical processes. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of IHY/UNBSSI, its achievements, future plans, and outreach to the 192 Member States of the United Nations as recorded in the UN/NASA workshop in India.

The Maxwell-Boltzmannian approach to nuclear reaction rate theory is extended to cover Tsallis statistics (Tsallis, 1988) and more general cases of distribution functions. An analytical study of respective thermonuclear functions is being conducted with the help of statistical techniques. The pathway model, recently introduced by Mathai (2005), is utilized for thermonuclear functions and closed-form representations are obtained in terms of H-functions and G-functions. Maxwell-Boltzmannian thermonuclear functions become particular cases of the extended thermonuclear functions. A brief review on the development of the theory of analytic representations of nuclear reaction rates is given., Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, through the IHY Secretariat and the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI), assists scientists and engineers world-wide to participate in the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) 2007. A major thrust of IHY/UNBSSI is to deploy arrays of small, inexpensive instruments such as magnetometers, radio telescopes, GPS receivers, all-sky cameras, etc. around the world to allow global measurements of ionospheric and heliospheric phenomena. The small instrument program is envisioned as a partnership between instrument providers and instrument hosts in developing nations, with the former providing the instruments, the host nation the manpower, facilities and operational support, typically at a local university. Funds are not available through IHY/UNBSSI to build the instruments; these must be obtained through the normal proposal channels. All instrument operational support for local scientists, facilities, data acquisition, etc. will be provided by the host nation. The IHY/UNBSSI can facilitate the deployment of several of these networks and existing databases and relevant software tools will be identified to promote space science activities in developing nations. Extensive data on space science have been accumulated by a number of space missions. Similarly, long-term databases are available from ground-based observations. These data can be utilized in ways different from those originally intended for understanding the heliophysical processes. This report provides an overview of IHY/UNBSSI, its achievements, future plans and outreach to the 192 member states of the United Nations.

This paper deals with the investigation of a closed form solution of a generalized fractional reaction-diffusion equation. The solution of the proposed problem is developed in a compact form in terms of the H-function by the application of direct and inverse Laplace and Fourier transforms. Fractional order moments and the asymptotic expansion of the solution are also obtained., Comment: LaTeX, 18 pages, corrected typos

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) community have joined hands to deploy arrays of small, inexpensive instruments such as magnetometers, radio telescopes, GPS receivers, all-sky cameras, and particle detectors around the world to provide global measurements of ionospheric, magnetospheric and heliospheric phenomena. The small instrument programme is envisioned as a partnership between instrument providers, and instrument hosts in developing countries as one of United Nations Basic Space Science (UNBSS) activity. The lead scientist will provide the instruments (or fabrication plans for instruments) in the array; the host country will provide manpower, facilities, and operational support to obtain data with the instrument, located typically at a local university. This paper provides an overview of the IHY/UNBSS programme, its achievements and future plans.