Chinese peasant entrepreneurs: an examination of township and village

One of the greatest achievements in China's economic reform is the development of rural township and village enterprises (TVEs). Their importance in the national economy can be seen from the fact that by the end of 1993, TVEs accounted for nearly one third of the agricultural labour force, and one fifth of the total labour force nationwide. Despite some research attention being given to Chinese TVEs, the peasant entrepreneurs, owners and /or managers of these enterprises have remained largely unknown in the West. Who are they? Where are they from? What are their unique characteristics which distinguish them from both managers in the state-owned Chinese enterprises (SOEs) and small business owners /entrepreneurs in the West? What environmental factors contribute to the shaping of these characteristics? What are the problems faced by them and the possible solutions? This paper addresses these questions

Tripropellant engine study

The potential for converting the space shuttle main engine (SSME) to a dual-fuel, dual-mode engine using LOX/hydrocarbon propellants in mode 1 and LOX/H2 in mode 2 was examined. Various engine system concepts were formulated that included staged combustion and gas generator turbine power cycles, and LOX/RP-1, LOX/CH4, and LOX/C3H8 mode 1 propellants. Both oxidizer and fuel regenerative cooling were considered. All of the SSME major components were examined to determine their adaptability to the candidate dual-fuel engines

High-pressure LOX/CH4 injector program

Two injector types, either coaxial or impinging elements, for high pressure LOX/CH4 operation with an existing 40K chamber are examined. A comparison is presented. The detailed fabrication drawings and supporting analysis are presented

Segue 1: An Unevolved Fossil Galaxy from the Early Universe

We present Magellan/MIKE and Keck/HIRES high-resolution spectra of six red giant stars in the dwarf galaxy Segue 1. Including one additional Segue 1 star observed by Norris et al. (2010), high-resolution spectra have now been obtained for every red giant in Segue 1. Remarkably, three of these seven stars have metallicities below [Fe/H] = -3.5, suggesting that Segue 1 is the least chemically evolved galaxy known. We confirm previous medium-resolution analyses demonstrating that Segue 1 stars span a metallicity range of more than 2 dex, from [Fe/H] = -1.4 to [Fe/H] = -3.8. All of the Segue 1 stars are alpha-enhanced, with [alpha/Fe] ~ 0.5. High alpha-element abundances are typical for metal-poor stars, but in every previously studied galaxy [alpha/Fe] declines for more metal-rich stars, which is typically interpreted as iron enrichment from supernova Ia. The absence of this signature in Segue 1 indicates that it was enriched exclusively by massive stars. Other light element abundance ratios in Segue 1, including carbon-enhancement in the three most metal-poor stars, closely resemble those of metal-poor halo stars. Finally, we classify the most metal-rich star as a CH star given its large overabundances of carbon and s-process elements. The other six stars show remarkably low neutron-capture element abundances of [Sr/H] < -4.9 and [Ba/H] < -4.2, which are comparable to the lowest levels ever detected in halo stars. This suggests minimal neutron-capture enrichment, perhaps limited to a single r-process or weak s-process synthesizing event. Altogether, the chemical abundances of Segue 1 indicate no substantial chemical evolution, supporting the idea that it may be a surviving first galaxy that experienced only one burst of star formation.Comment: ApJ, accepted, 20 pages (emulateapj), 9 figure

The effectiveness of incorporating a real-time oculometer system in a commercial flight training program

The effectiveness on pilot and trainee performance and scanning behavior of incorporating a real time oculometer system in a commerical flight training program was assessed. Trainees received simulator training in pairs requiring the trainees to alternate the order of training within a session. The 'third day phenomenon' of performance decrement was investigated, including the role of order of training on performance

The effectiveness of incorporating a real-time oculometer system in a commercial flight training program

The effectiveness of incroporating a real-time oculometer system into a Boeing 737 commercial flight training program was studied. The study combined a specialized oculometer system with sophisticated video equipment that would allow instructor pilots (IPs) to monitor pilot and copilot trainees' instrument scan behavior in real-time, and provide each trainee with video tapes of his/her instrument scanning behavior for each training session. The IPs' performance ratings and trainees' self-ratings were compared to the performance ratings by IPs and trainees in a control group. The results indicate no difference in IP ratings or trainees' self-ratings for the control and experimental groups. The results indicated that the major beneficial role of a real-time oculometer system for pilots and copilots having a significant amount of flight experience would be for problem solving or refinement of instrument scanning behavior rather than a general instructional scheme. It is suggested that this line of research be continued with the incorporation of objective data (e.g., state of the aircraft data), measures of cost effectiveness and with trainees having less flight experience

Spectroscopic Confirmation of the Dwarf Galaxies Hydra II and Pisces II and the Globular Cluster Laevens 1

We present Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy of stars in the recently discovered Milky Way satellites Hydra II, Pisces II, and Laevens 1. We measured a velocity dispersion of 5.4 (+3.6 -2.4) km/s for Pisces II, but we did not resolve the velocity dispersions of Hydra II or Laevens 1. We marginally resolved the metallicity dispersions of Hydra II and Pisces II but not Laevens 1. Furthermore, Hydra II and Pisces II obey the luminosity-metallicity relation for Milky Way dwarf galaxies ( = -2.02 +/- 0.08 and -2.45 +/- 0.07, respectively), whereas Laevens 1 does not ( = -1.68 +/- 0.05). The kinematic and chemical properties suggest that Hydra II and Pisces II are dwarf galaxies, and Laevens 1 is a globular cluster. We determined that two of the previously observed blue stars near the center of Laevens 1 are not members of the cluster. A third blue star has ambiguous membership. Hydra II has a radial velocity = 303.1 +/- 1.4 km/s, similar to the leading arm of the Magellanic stream. The mass-to-light ratio for Pisces II is 370 (+310 -240) M_sun/L_sun. It is not among the most dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxies, but it is still worthy of inclusion in the search for gamma rays from dark matter self-annihilation.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. v2 has been revised in response to the referee's repor

Impacts of Reduced Water Availability on Lower Murray Irrigation, Australia

This article evaluates irrigated agriculture sector response and resultant economic impacts of climate change for a part of the Murray Darling Basin in Australia. A water balance model is used to predict reduced basin inflows for mild, moderate and severe climate change scenarios involving 10, 20, 40 Celcius warming, and predict 13%, 38% and 63% reduced inflows. Impact on irrigated agricultural production and profitability are estimated with a mathematical programming model using a two-stage approach that simultaneously estimates short and long-run adjustments. The model accounts for a range of adaptive responses including: deficit irrigation, temporarily fallowing some areas, and permanently reducing irrigated area and changing the mix of crops. The results suggest that relatively low cost adaptation strategies are available for moderate reduction in water availability and thus costs of such reduction are likely to be relatively small. In more severe climate change scenarios greater costs are estimated, adaptations predicted include a reduction in total area irrigated, investments in efficient irrigation, and a shift away from perennial to annual crops as the latter can be managed more profitably when water allocations in some years are very low.water availability, irrigation, Murray Darling Basin, climate change

The Distribution of Alpha Elements in Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies

The Milky Way ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs) contain some of the oldest, most metal-poor stars in the Universe. We present [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe], [Ti/Fe], and mean [alpha/Fe], abundance ratios for 61 individual red giant branch stars across 8 UFDs. This is the largest sample of alpha abundances published to date in galaxies with absolute magnitudes M_V > -8, including the first measurements for Segue 1, Canes Venatici II, Ursa Major I, and Leo T. Abundances were determined via medium-resolution Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy and spectral synthesis. The sample spans the metallicity range -3.4 < [Fe/H] < -1.1. With the possible exception of Segue 1 and Ursa Major II, the individual UFDs show on average lower [alpha/Fe] at higher metallicities, consistent with enrichment from Type Ia supernovae. Thus even the faintest galaxies have undergone at least a limited level of chemical self-enrichment. Together with recent photometric studies, this suggests that star formation in the UFDs was not a single burst, but instead lasted at least as much as the minimum time delay of the onset of Type Ia supernovae (~100 Myr) and less than ~2 Gyr. We further show that the combined population of UFDs has an [alpha/Fe] abundance pattern that is inconsistent with a flat, Galactic halo-like alpha abundance trend, and is also qualitatively different from that of the more luminous CVn I dSph, which does show a hint of a plateau at very low [Fe/H].Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, re-submitted to ApJ with revisions based on referee repor