Draw forming of scale shuttle external tank dome gores

The process for manufacturing external tank dome gores is discussed. The test fixture and test procedure are described. The characteristics of the draw forming die are analyzed. The specific subjects included are: (1) forming, (2) trimming, (3) cleaning, and (4) heat treatment

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

International Relations/Trade,

Economic Asymmetries, Trade Liberalization and Integration: Issues and Policy Implications for CARICOM Countries

Much has been written about the challenges facing CARICOM as a result of the liberalization, globalization and integration phenomena. This paper adds value to the conversation by addressing the nexus between and among economic asymmetries, trade liberalization and economic integration, as it relates to CARICOM as small developing economies. The paper seeks to highlight the salient issues of CARICOM economic adjustment challenges under trade liberalization and integration imperatives, particularly as they may be subjected to the constraints of economic asymmetries. In doing so, it steps away from the conventional approach of reciting a series of data usually associated with the issues and instead, engages in commentary and assessment regarding the changing economic landscape in the Region and elsewhere. The issues are indeed very complex and the arguments and conclusions flowing from this type of evaluation may not be in lock-step with the conventional wisdom. However, it is our contention that the regional trade and development policy solutions does not lie in denial of the existence of the problems; but rather, in tackling them head-on and incorporating them into existing and proposed systems of economic relations.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,

Improving statistical skills through students’ participation in the development of resources

This paper summarizes the evaluation of a project that involved undergraduate mathematics students in the development of teaching and learning resources for statistics modules taught in various departments of a university. This evaluation regards students’ participation in the project and its impact on their learning of statistics, as characterized in terms of statistical reasoning, statistical thinking, and skills for statistical consultancy. The participation of students is evaluated from the viewpoint of communities of practice. The evaluation resulted in a characterization of the benefits of such a project and suggestions for implementations of future projects, and in addition brought to light new theoretical elements both as regards the learning of statistics and as regards communities of practice. In particular, the analysis highlighted contributions of the students involved to resource development practice in the community of university statistics teachers, as well as contributions to students’ learning as a result of participation in this community

A subsurface particle maximum layer and enhanced microbial activity in the secondary nitrite maximum of the northeastern tropical Pacific Ocean

Profiles of light transmission, dissolved oxygen, dissolved nutrients, electron transport system (ETS) activity, temperature and salinity were made in the northeastern tropical Pacific Ocean. A particle maximum at 150–300 m within the oxygen minimum and secondary nitrite maximum was associated with the salinity maximum of Subtropical Subsurface Water. A subsurface maximum in ETS activity was also found to be associated with the secondary nitrite maximum and the particle maximum. Persistence of these features at a constant depth and their location within a minimum in vertical static stability suggest an advective and/or in situ origin for the particles and an in situ development of the associated chemical and biochemical extremes

Relationship among research collaboration, number of documents and number of citations. A case study in Spanish computer science production in 2000-2009.

This paper analyzes the relationship among research collaboration, number of documents and number of citations of computer science research activity. It analyzes the number of documents and citations and how they vary by number of authors. They are also analyzed (according to author set cardinality) under different circumstances, that is, when documents are written in different types of collaboration, when documents are published in different document types, when documents are published in different computer science subdisciplines, and, finally, when documents are published by journals with different impact factor quartiles. To investigate the above relationships, this paper analyzes the publications listed in the Web of Science and produced by active Spanish university professors between 2000 and 2009, working in the computer science field. Analyzing all documents, we show that the highest percentage of documents are published by three authors, whereas single-authored documents account for the lowest percentage. By number of citations, there is no positive association between the author cardinality and citation impact. Statistical tests show that documents written by two authors receive more citations per document and year than documents published by more authors. In contrast, results do not show statistically significant differences between documents published by two authors and one author. The research findings suggest that international collaboration results on average in publications with higher citation rates than national and institutional collaborations. We also find differences regarding citation rates between journals and conferences, across different computer science subdisciplines and journal quartiles as expected. Finally, our impression is that the collaborative level (number of authors per document) will increase in the coming years, and documents published by three or four authors will be the trend in computer science literature