The $4 Billion Question: An Analysis of Congressional Responses to the FSC/ETI Dispute under WTO Export Subsidy Standards

During the decade-long relationship between the United States and the World Trade Organization (WTO), perhaps no controversy has fomented as long and bitterly as the dispute over the U.S. tax benefits for exporters. This article analyzes two competing bills before the House of Representatives, both devised to bring the United States in compliance with the WTO\u27s ruling against the U.S. Foreign Sale Corporation (FSC) and Exterritorial Income (ETI) tax regimes as prohibited export subsidies. Hit with a $4 billion retaliatory tariff by the European Union, the House sought new tax legislation that would preserve at least some of the tax benefits exporters have enjoyed since 1971. The competition between these bills did not cut neatly across party lines; it reflected bipartisan ideological differences that pitted legislators of the same party against one another on how the revenues from the FSC/ETI repeal should be allocated

Fiber Optic Thermal Detection of Composite Delaminations

A recently developed technique is presented for thermographic detection of delaminations in composites by performing temperature measurements with fiber optic Bragg gratings. A single optical fiber with multiple Bragg gratings employed as surface temperature sensors was bonded to the surface of a composite with subsurface defects. The investigated structure was a 10-ply composite specimen with prefabricated delaminations of various sizes and depths. Both during and following the application of a thermal heat flux to the surface, the individual Bragg grating sensors measured the temporal and spatial temperature variations. The data obtained from grating sensors were analyzed with thermal modeling techniques of conventional thermography to reveal particular characteristics of the interested areas. Results were compared and found to be consistent with the calculations using numerical simulation techniques. Also discussed are methods including various heating sources and patterns, and their limitations for performing in-situ structural health monitoring

Transforming Organizational Change through Collaborative Digital Storytelling

Planned or unplanned, organizational change can be an arduous, confusing, and lonely endeavor, unless individuals are afforded a platform for making sense of their unique relationship with change. Through the lens of Transformative Learning Theory, which views adult learning as a process of meaning-making, this article demonstrates how contextual facets of digital (online) storytelling may assist individuals, departments, and the organization as-a-whole. Particular, in sharing their storied relationships with change, reflecting upon habits of mind, and coming to consensus on a creative and cohesive path forward

Fiber Optic Thermographic Detection of Flaws in Composites

Optical fibers with multiple Bragg gratings bonded to surfaces of structures were used for thermographic detection of subsurface defects in structures. The investigated structures included a 10-ply composite specimen with subsurface delaminations of various sizes and depths. Both during and following the application of a thermal heat flux to the surface, the individual Bragg grating sensors measured the temporal and spatial temperature variations. The obtained data were analyzed with thermal modeling to reveal particular characteristics of the interested areas. These results were found to be consistent with the simulation results

Transforming Organizational Change through Collaborative Digital Storytelling

Planned or unplanned, organizational change can be an arduous, confusing, and lonely endeavor, unless individuals are afforded a platform for making sense of their unique relationship with change. Through the lens of Transformative Learning Theory, which views adult learning as a process of meaning-making, this article demonstrates how contextual facets of digital (online) storytelling may assist individuals, departments, and the organization as-a-whole. Particular, in sharing their storied relationships with change, reflecting upon habits of mind, and coming to consensus on a creative and cohesive path forward

Ferroelectric Properties of PbZrO₃-BiFeO₃ Solid Solutions

Solid solutions of BiFeO and PbZrO3 were investigated for crystallographic and dielectric properties. A new pseudocubic perovskite phase was found, which has been tentatively indexed as orthorhombic with the same unit cell as PbZrO3 but with dielectric properties characteristic of a ferroelectric substance. The Curie point in this series of solid solutions has a minimum of about 155°C at a composition of about (PbZrO3)0.80 (BiFeO3)0.20, which at room temperature lies on the boundary between the orthorhombic antiferroelectric and the pseudocubic ferroelectric phases. This composition has a relative dielectric constant of 800 at room temperature and shows appreciable dielectric nonlinearity. The Curie point rises to about 400°C for (PbZrO3)0.50 (BiFeO3)0.50 and is extrapolated to about 900°C for pure BiFeO3, in agreement with previous data from similar solid solutions. It is felt that this is additional evidence that the distortion from cubic symmetry in BiFeO3 may be of ferroelectric origin

Comment: Applications of robotics in the clinical laboratory

The implementation of a robotic workstation in the clinical laboratory involves considerations and compromises common to any instrument design and development activity. The trade-off between speed and flexibility not only affects the way the instrument interacts with human operators and other devices (the ‘real-world interface’), but also places limitations on the adaptation of chemistries to the given instrument. Mechanical optimization for speed and reproducibility places restrictions on the imprecision of consumables. Attempts to adapt a robot to a constrained system may entail compromises that either degrades the theoretically-attainable quality of results, or requires human interaction to compensate for physical or mechanical limitations. The general considerations of function and workflow, programming and support, and reliability place practical limits on the implementation of robotic workstations in the clinical laboratory