Simulation evaluation of display/FLIR concepts for low-altitude, terrain-following helicopter operations

A piloted simulation of three head-down display (HDD) concepts with flight-director guidance superimposed on forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imagery was performed to evaluate the task of low-level, terrain-following (TF), manual helicopter flight. The three display concepts were examined for the purpose of finding ways by which aircraft flight-attitude and command symbols and FLIR imagery could be integrated onto one instrument. In all cases, the FLIR imagery was centered on the flight-path vector of the aircraft. The three displays were then characterized by having: (1) pitch attitude conformal to the FLIR imagery; (2) pitch attitude conformal to the FLIR imagery, but with an increase in the scaling; and (3) pitch attitude nonconformal to the FLIR imagery with the same pitch scaling as in (2). The simulation was conducted on the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at Ames Research Center, using NASA and Air Force test pilots. The pilots indicated that the nonconformal pitch attitude and FLIR display was the preferred way to display information because of the absence of pitch-attitude information on displays (1) and (2) during some portions of the operational flight envelope

AN ANALYSIS OF MARKET STRUCTURE AND PRICING IN THE FLORIDA CELERY INDUSTRY

The pricing behavior of the Florida celery industry under the current federal marketing order was examined by analyzing the implied market structure of the industry using a model proposed by Appelbaum. Point estimates of the oligopoly power index suggest that some degree of price enhancement above that which would be characterized by a perfectly competitive market may have occurred. However, the bulk of statistical evidence suggests that the departure from marginal cost pricing implied by the industry's pricing behavior is not statistically significant.Demand and Price Analysis,

United States Trade Flows for Selected Categories of Specialty Crops and the General Policy Implication

International Relations/Trade,

United States Trade Flows for Selected Categories of Specialty Crops

Nationally, Florida ranked second in farm cash receipt from all crops and second, based on value, in vegetable production (USDA, 2003). It also ranked fourteenth out of all the states with respect to agricultural exports with its top exports, fruits and vegetables, falling within the category of specialty crops. According to the USDA (2003), Florida's agricultural exports helped to boost farm prices and income and supported approximately 17,000 jobs both on and off farm in 2001. As such, its agricultural exports are important to Florida's agricultural and statewide economy. From a Florida farm cash receipts perspective, increased imports could undermine revenue earnings from specialty crop production, especially if there is not a comparable growth in the exports of these crops. This report covered the period 1991 to 2002 and examined trade flows for selected specialty crops deemed important to Florida's agriculture. Overall, the US had a relatively high import level of the selected specialty crops. This was apparent from the widening trade gaps and the declining surpluses experienced by all commodities, with the exception of oranges and strawberries. CANMEX was the dominant supplier of vegetables, and growing imports from this group drove the growing vegetable trade deficit. With respect to fruits, CANMEX was also a dominant supplier and affected trade balances however, many of the declining fruit trade balances were due to declining exports to markets such as Asia and the Europe. CANMEX played a major role in the trade of foliage and floriculture but did not dominate the trade. Over the period 1991 to 2002 there were changes in the trade flows of the selected vegetables, fruits and foliage and floriculture. Two noticeable trends were the concentration of trade with CANMEX, especially with respect to vegetable exports and declining exports to Asia and Europe. Also noticeable were declining trade balances experienced by the majority of the commodities in this study. With free trade agreements, an increased inflow of goods is expected as trade barriers are lowered. Preparing for additional imports resulting from expanded regional free trade agreements in the western hemisphere requires the commitment of additional resources toward the expansion of existing markets and the development of potentially new markets.Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Surface acoustic wave/silicon monolithic sensor/processor

A new technique for sputter deposition of piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) is described. An argon-ion milling system was converted to sputter zinc oxide films in an oxygen atmosphere using a pure zinc oxide target. Piezoelectric films were grown on silicon dioxide and silicon dioxide overlayed with gold. The sputtered films were evaluated using surface acoustic wave measurements, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and resistivity measurements. The effect of the sputtering conditions on the film quality and the result of post-deposition annealing are discussed. The application of these films to the generation of surface acoustic waves is also discussed

Trees / music by Oscar Rasbach; words by Joyce Kilmer

Cover: drawing of trees; Publisher: G. Schirmer Inc. (New York)https://egrove.olemiss.edu/sharris_d/1044/thumbnail.jp

Three Results on Iterative Regularization

In this paper we present three theorems which give insight into the regularizing properties of {\minres}. While our theory does not completely characterize the regularizing behavior of the algorithm, it provides a partial explanation of the observed behavior of the method. Unlike traditional attempts to explain the regularizing properties of Krylov subspace methods, our approach focuses on convergence properties of the residual rather than on convergence analysis of the harmonic Ritz values. The import of our analysis is illustrated by two examples. In particular, our theoretical and numerical results support the following important observation: in some circumstances the dimension of the optimal Krylov subspace can be much smaller than the number of the components of the truncated spectral solution that must be computed to attain comparable accuracy. Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-98-6

Illicit substance use among university students from seven European countries: A comparison of personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards illicit substance use

Objective: To compare European students' personal use and approval of illicit substance use with their perceptions of peer behaviours and attitudes, and investigate whether perceptions of peer norms are associated with personal use of illicit substances and attitudes. Method: This study used baseline data fromthe Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE (SNIPE) project involving 4482 students from seven European countries in 2012. Students completed an online surveywhich included questions on personal and perceived peer illicit substance use and personal and perceived peer attitude towards illicit substances. Results: 8.3% of students reported having used illicit substances at least once in their life. 49.7% of students perceived that the majority of their peers have used illicit substances more frequently than themselves. The perception was significantly associated with higher odds for personal illicit substance use (OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.53–2.54). The perception that the majority of peers approve illicit substance use was significantly associated with higher odds for personal approval of illicit substance use (OR: 3.47, 95% CI: 2.73–4.41). Conclusion: Students commonly perceived that their peers used illicit subtances more often than themselves. We found an association between the perceived peer norms/attitudes and reported individual behaviour/ attitudes