Impulse-induced localized nonlinear modes in an electrical lattice

Intrinsic localized modes, also called discrete breathers, can exist under certain conditions in one-dimensional nonlinear electrical lattices driven by external harmonic excitations. In this work, we have studied experimentally the efectiveness of generic periodic excitations of variable waveform at generating discrete breathers in such lattices. We have found that this generation phenomenon is optimally controlled by the impulse transmitted by the external excitation (time integral over two consecutive zerosComment: 5 pages, 8 figure

Economic Feasibility of Kenaf Production in Three Tennessee Counties

Since the 1940s, kenaf has been viewed as a potential source of fiber, mainly for newsprint and high quality paper. Kenaf research has once again risen to the forefront due to the recent USDA tobacco buyout. Many states and farmers dependent upon tobacco revenues have been seeking alternative crops for a number of years. This study seeks to expand the current literature by examining the economic feasibility of growing kenaf within three counties in Tennessee. Nitrogen meta-yield response functions for kenaf and four traditional crops were developed for 30 soils through crop growth simulation modeling and used to compare optimal crop budgets for each soil. Results reveal that kenaf would not compete favorably with traditional crops on any soil at prices below $49/ton, while profit-maximizing farmers could supply as much as 1,385,700 tons of kenaf if the price were$55/ton.alternative crop, economic feasibility, enterprise budgeting, kenaf, plant growth modeling, yield response functions, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Recent changes to the Federal Reserve's survey of terms of business lending

The Federal Reserve's quarterly Survey of Terms of Business Lending, which has been conducted for more than twenty years, collects information on interest rates and other characteristics of commercial bank business loans. The survey has been changed from time to time to recognize innovations in bank lending practices and to improve the measurement of the desired information. The most recent changes took effect with the May 1997 survey. The major improvement was the addition of an item measuring loan risk. In addition, the reporting panel, which had been limited to domestically chartered commercial banks was expanded to include a sample of U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, which now account for a significant proportion of business lending to U.S. firms. This article discusses the most recent changes made to the survey and presents some information now available from the new items being reported. It also summarizes information about the use of loan risk ratings from consultations conducted with a sample of the survey respondents during the process of planning the revisions to the survey.Commercial loans