TIME VARYING PARAMETERS IN THE DEMAND FOR HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

Rapid adoption of high fructose corn syrup and the changing demand for HFCS is measured in a time-varying framework. Demand changes are separated into structural and price competitiveness. Tests for parameter stability are made and simulations based on the estimates are used to show the industry dynamics.Demand and Price Analysis,

Transfer having a coupling coefficient higher than its active material

A coupling coefficient is a measure of the effectiveness with which a shape-changing material (or a device employing such a material) converts the energy in an imposed signal to useful mechanical energy. Device coupling coefficients are properties of the device and, although related to the material coupling coefficients, are generally different from them. This invention describes a class of devices wherein the apparent coupling coefficient can, in principle, approach 1.0, corresponding to perfect electromechanical energy conversion. The key feature of this class of devices is the use of destabilizing mechanical pre-loads to counter inherent stiffness. The approach is illustrated for piezoelectric and thermoelectrically actuated devices. The invention provides a way to simultaneously increase both displacement and force, distinguishing it from alternatives such as motion amplification, and allows transducer designers to achieve substantial performance gains for actuator and sensor devices

\u27Texas Maroon’ Bluebonnet

The Texas state flower, the bluebonnet, encompasses all six of the Lupinus species native to Texas. The most widespread and popular bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis Hook., is a winter annual that produces violet-blue [violet-blue group 96A, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), 1982] racemes in early to midspring and is predominately self-pollinating. The Texas Dept. of Transportation uses this species widely for floral displays along roadsides throughout much of the state (Andrews, 1986). Rare white and even rarer pink variants exist in native populations, and a breeding project was initiated in 1985 to develop bluebonnets with novel flower colors for use as bedding plants. ‘Abbott Pink’ was the first seed-propagated cultivar to be developed from this program (Parsons and Davis, 1993). The second cultivar, ‘Barbara Bush’ with novel lavender shade flowers, was developed more recently (Parsons et al., 1994). As with the cultivars previously developed, we used recurrent phenotypic selection to develop ‘Texas Maroon’. This cultivar is intended for use as a bedding plant for maroon flower color

Spacecraft Electrical Connector Selection and Application Processes

This assessment was initiated by the NASA Engineering & Safety Center (NESC) after a number of recent "high profile" connector problems, the most visible and publicized of these being the problem with the Space Shuttle's Engine Cut-Off System cryogenic feed-thru connector. The NESC commissioned a review of NASA's connector selection and application processes for space flight applications, including how lessons learned and past problem records are fed back into the processes to avoid recurring issues. Team members were primarily from the various NASA Centers and included connector and electrical parts specialists. The commissioned study was conducted on spacecraft connector selection and application processes at NASA Centers. The team also compared the NASA spacecraft connector selection and application process to the military process, identified recent high profile connector failures, and analyzed problem report data looking for trends and common occurrences. The team characterized NASA's connector problem experience into a list of top connector issues based on anecdotal evidence of a system's impact and commonality between Centers. These top issues are as follows, in no particular rank order: electrically shorted, bent and/or recessed contact pins, contact pin/socket contamination leading to electrically open or intermittencies, connector plating corrosion or corrosion of connector components, low or inadequate contact pin retention forces, contact crimp failures, unmated connectors and mis-wiring due to workmanship errors during installation or maintenance, loose connectors due to manufacturing defects such as wavy washer and worn bayonet retention, damaged connector elastomeric seals and cryogenic connector failure. A survey was also conducted of SAE Connector AE-8C1 committee members regarding their experience relative to the NASA concerns on connectors. The most common responses in order of occurrence were contact retention, plating issues, worn-out or damaged coupling mechanisms, bent pins, contact crimp barrel cracking and torn seals. In addition to these common themes, responses included issues with markings, dimensional errors on the build, contact/socket damage (handling), manufacturing defects and customer misapplication and mishandling. The NESC team concluded that considering the large quantity and wide variety of connectors successfully flown on human and robotic space applications, the number of failures is quite low. However, "high profile" failures with significant cost, schedule, safety, and/or mission success impacts continue to occur. It was also concluded that connector failures occur throughout a system's life-cycle with the majority of connector issues application related. A number of recommendations were identified for improving NASA connector selection processes and overall space connector reliability and performance

On the Low Energy Decrease in Galactic Cosmic Ray Secondary/Primary Ratios

Galactic cosmic ray (GCR) secondary/primary ratios such as B/C and (Sc+Ti+V)/Fe are commonly used to determine the mean amount of interstellar material through which cosmic rays travel before escaping from the Galaxy (Λ_(esc)). These ratios are observed to be energy-dependent, with a relative maximum at ~1 GeV/nucleon, implying a corresponding peak in Λ_(esc). The decrease in Λ_(esc) at energies above 1 GeV/nucleon is commonly taken to indicate that higher energy cosmic rays escape more easily from the Galaxy. The decrease in Λ_(esc) at energies <1 GeV/nuc is more controversial; suggested possibilities include the effects of a galactic wind or the effects of distributed acceleration of cosmic rays as they pass through the interstellar medium. We consider two possible explanations for the low energy decrease in Λ_(esc) and attempt to fit the combined, high-resolution measurements of secondary/primary ratios from ~0.1 to 35 GeV/nuc made with the CRIS instrument on ACE and the C2 experiment on HEAO-3. The first possibility, which hypothesizes an additional, local component of low-energy cosmic rays that has passed through very little material, is found to have difficulty simultaneously accounting for the abundance of both B and the Fe-secondaries. The second possibility, suggested by Soutoul and Ptuskin, involves a new form for Λ_(esc) motivated by their diffusion-convection model of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. Their suggested form for Λ_(esc)(E) is found to provide an excellent fit to the combined ACE and HEAO data sets

Climate modulates internal wave activity in the Northern South China Sea

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 42 (2015): 831–838, doi:10.1002/2014GL062522.Internal waves (IWs) generated in the Luzon Strait propagate into the Northern South China Sea (NSCS), enhancing biological productivity and affecting coral reefs by modulating nutrient concentrations and temperature. Here we use a state-of-the-art ocean data assimilation system to reconstruct water column stratification in the Luzon Strait as a proxy for IW activity in the NSCS and diagnose mechanisms for its variability. Interannual variability of stratification is driven by intrusions of the Kuroshio Current into the Luzon Strait and freshwater fluxes associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Warming in the upper 100 m of the ocean caused a trend of increasing IW activity since 1900, consistent with global climate model experiments that show stratification in the Luzon Strait increases in response to radiative forcing. IW activity is expected to increase in the NSCS through the 21st century, with implications for mitigating climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems.This work was supported by NSF award 1220529 to Anne Cohen, by the Academia Sinica (Taiwan) through a thematic project grant to G.T.F.W. and Anne Cohen, by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the WHOI Oceans and Climate Change Institute/Moltz Fellowship through awards to K.B.K., and by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to T.M.D.2015-08-1

Mass coral mortality under local amplification of 2°C ocean warming

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 44586, doi:10.1038/srep44586.A 2°C increase in global temperature above pre-industrial levels is considered a reasonable target for avoiding the most devastating impacts of anthropogenic climate change. In June 2015, sea surface temperature (SST) of the South China Sea (SCS) increased by 2 °C in response to the developing Pacific El Niño. On its own, this moderate, short-lived warming was unlikely to cause widespread damage to coral reefs in the region, and the coral reef “Bleaching Alert” alarm was not raised. However, on Dongsha Atoll, in the northern SCS, unusually weak winds created low-flow conditions that amplified the 2°C basin-scale anomaly. Water temperatures on the reef flat, normally indistinguishable from open-ocean SST, exceeded 6°C above normal summertime levels. Mass coral bleaching quickly ensued, killing 40% of the resident coral community in an event unprecedented in at least the past 40 years. Our findings highlight the risks of 2°C ocean warming to coral reef ecosystems when global and local processes align to drive intense heating, with devastating consequences.This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (OCE-1031971 and OCE-1605365 to A.L.C), the Sustainability Science Research Program of the Academia Sinica (G.T.F.W. and A.L.C), a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Coastal Ocean Institute award to T.M.D., and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to T.M.D