Method of making impurity-type semiconductor electrical contacts Patent

Fabrication of sintered impurity semiconductor brushes for electrical energy transfe

Improved molybdenum disulfide-silver motor brushes have extended life

Motor brushes of proper quantities of molybdenum disulfide and copper or silver are manufactured by sintering techniques. Graphite molds are used. These brushes operate satisfactorily for long periods in normal atmosphere or in a high-vacuum environment

Crop identification using ERTS imagery

Digital analysis of August 15 ERTS-I imagery for southeastern South Dakota was performed to determine the feasibility of conducting crop surveys from satellites. Selected areas of bands 4, 5, 6, and 7 positive transparencies were converted to digital form utilizing Signal Analysis and Dissemination Equipment (SADE). The optical transmission values were printed out in a spatial format. Visual analysis of the printouts indicated that cultivated areas were readily distinguished from non-cultivated areas in all four bands. Bare soil was easily recognized in all four bands. Corn and soybeans, the two major crops in the area, were treated as separate classes rather than as a single class called row crops. Bands 6 and 7 provided good results in distinguishing between corn and soybeans

Food for Thought: Genetically Modified Seeds as De Facto Standard Essential Patents

For several years, courts have been improperly calculating damages in cases involving the unlicensed use of genetically-modified (GM) seed technology. In particular, when courts determine patent damages based on the hypothetical negotiation method, they err in exaggerating these damages to a point where no rational negotiator would agree. In response, we propose a limited affirmative defense of an implied license due to the patent’s status as a de facto standard essential patent. To be classified as a de facto standard essential patent, the farmer must prove three elements that reflect the peculiarities of GM seeds used in farming: (1) dominance, (2) impracticability, and (3) necessary to fulfill a basic need. Based on the approaches used by courts and standard setting organizations in licensing standard essential patents in technological fields such as cell phones and software, designation of some GM seeds as standard essential patents allows the courts to imply a license from patentees to farmers on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms. Doing so shifts the case from a tort-based patent infringement suit to a breach of contract dispute and alters the damages regime from one based in compensation, deterrence, and punishment (a tort approach) to one based solely in compensation (a contractual approach). As a result of this novel proposal, the damages calculations in these suits return to economic reality

Serial Position Effects in Short-term Visual Memory: A SIMPLE Explanation?

A version of Sternberg’s (1966) short-term, visual memory recognition paradigm with pictures of unfamiliar faces as stimuli was used in three experiments to assess the applicability of the distinctiveness based SIMPLE model proposed by Brown, Neath & Chater (2002). Initial simulations indicated that the amount of recency predicted increased as the parameter measuring the psychological distinctiveness of the stimulus material (c) increased, and that the amount of primacy was dependent on the extent of proactive interference from previously presented stimuli. The data from experiment 1, which used memory lists of four and five faces varying in visual similarity confirmed the predicted, extended recency effect. However, changes in visual similarity were not found to produce changes in c. In Experiments 2 and 3, the conditions that influence the magnitude of c were explored. These revealed that both the familiarity of the stimulus class before testing, and changes in familiarity due to perceptual learning, influenced distinctiveness as indexed by the parameter c. Overall the empirical data from all three experiments were well-fit by SIMPLE

As-built design specifications of the LANDSAT Imagery Verification and Extraction System (LIVES). Volume 1: Test and appendices

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Penetration And Scattering Of Lower Hybrid Waves By Density Fluctuations

Lower Hybrid [LH] ray propagation in toroidal plasma is controlled by a combination of the azimuthal spectrum launched from the antenna, the poloidal variation of the magnetic field, and the scattering of the waves by the density fluctuations. The width of the poloidal and radial RF wave spectrum increases rapidly as the rays penetrate into higher density and scatter from the turbulence. The electron temperature gradient [ETG] spectrum is particularly effective in scattering the LH waves due to its comparable wavelengths and parallel phase velocities. ETG turbulence is also driven by the radial gradient of the electron current density giving rise to an anomalous viscosity spreading the LH-driven plasma currents. The scattered LH spectrum is derived from a Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution of the ray trajectories with a diffusivity proportional to the fluctuations. The LH ray diffusivity is large giving transport in the poloidal and radial wavenumber spectrum in one -or a few passes - of the rays through the core plasma.Institute for Fusion Studie

Soil moisture and evapotranspiration predictions using Skylab data

The author has identified the following significant results. Multispectral reflectance and emittance data from the Skylab workshop were evaluated for prediction of evapotranspiration and soil moisture for an irrigated region of southern Texas. Wavelengths greater than 2.1 microns were required to spectrally distinguish between wet and dry fallow surfaces. Thermal data provided a better estimate of soil moisture than did data from the reflective bands. Thermal data were dependent on soil moisture but not on the type of agricultural land use. The emittance map, when used in conjunction with existing models, did provide an estimate of evapotranspiration rates. Surveys of areas of high soil moisture can be accomplished with space altitude thermal data. Thermal data will provide a reliable input into irrigation scheduling