The separation test in vacuum of the Ariane 4 payload fairing

The separation tests performed during the qualification test program of the Ariane 4 Payload Fairing are described. This is the first fairing structure to be developed using carbon fiber technology. Two separation tests were performed under vacuum conditions. The primary objectives of these tests were to verify compliance with the vehicle imposed requirements and to establish the behavioral characteristics of the fairing structure itself

THE FUTURE OF ENERGY DEMAND

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

ECONOMIC MODELING OF FARM PRODUCTION AND CONSERVATION DECISIONS IN RESPONSE TO ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES

Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

Simple Phase Bias for Superconducting Circuits

A phase-bias tool, based on a trapped fluxoid in a ring, is proposed and demonstrated. It can provide arbitrary phase values and is simple to fabricate. The phase bias has been realized in two superconducting quantum interference devices, where the critical current versus magnetic flux is shown to be shifted by a \pi/2 and \pi.Comment: 5 pages, including 4 figures. Submitted to AP

Edaphic and Climatic Regulation of Microbial Carbon-Use Efficiency in Managed Semi-Arid Systems

In agricultural systems, an increasingly prevalent goal is to promote carbon sequestration into stable, mineral-associated soil organic matter, as increases in soil organic matter have been linked to increases in soil water-holding capacity and increases in nutrient availability. Because microbially-produced compounds are the foundation of soil organic matter, understanding interactions between management strategies and abiotic controls on microbial activity can prove invaluable for producers and ranchers interested in building soil organic matter and safeguarding production systems under a changing climate. The ability of microorganisms to contribute to growing soil organic matter stocks is dictated by their carbon-use efficiency, which is the proportion of carbon incorporated into their biomass relative to the total carbon they consume. In effect, higher values of microbial carbon-use efficiency reflect an increased potential for building microbially-derived soil organic matter. In an effort to better understand controls on microbial physiology and its role in soil organic matter formation, irrigation, plant functional type, and fertilization effects on carbon-use efficiency were evaluated in a water-limited system over the course of growing season. Results from our experiments indicated that moisture played a fundamental role in regulating microbial carbon-use efficiency, with low moistures decreasing carbon-use efficiency and thus decreasing the potential for soil organic matter formation. Conversely, other management strategies (e.g., plant functional type and fertilization) exerted little control on microbial carbon-use efficiency, especially when soil moisture was exceedingly low. Even with irrigation to supplement low moisture conditions during a growing season, microbial carbon-use efficiency still declined, likely resulting from increased water deficits as precipitation declined and evapotranspiration increased as the growing season progressed. Results from our experiments indicate that carbon-use efficiency may be intrinsically low in semi-arid systems compared to other systems without water limitations. By consequence, building soil organic matter stocks that can buffer the effects of climate change and improve water and nutrient retention may be difficult in semi-arid systems despite management techniques intended to promote soil organic matter formation

Public Affairs: An Important Responsibility Of Management

During the early 1960\u27s, an increasing number of U.S. industrial corporations moved into the world of public affairs, The trend had been evident for some time, but ·observers of the movement did not realize exactly how much it was growing. Examination of recent public affairs surveys conducted by the National Industrial Conference Board and Effective Citizens Organization, Inc., has provided some surprising answers to the extent of public affairs participation by business, Of I,033 U.S. corporations surveyed by the NICB, 815 were found to have a public affairs function. The grouping of the elements of public affairs permits the development of two public affairs models. A significant public affairs program requires a written statement of policy on public affairs. The history of public affairs participation by business is short, and can be thought of as an introduction to the future. Public affairs is appearing as a newly created function of management that is commanding the attention of our top business leaders. As the problems of government and business become more complex, business can no longer sit back in-satisfied complacency. Public Affairs can be a productive industrial investment