Quality and productivity drive innovation and improvement at United Technologies Aerospace Operations, Inc.

Quality and innovation are the hallmarks of the national space program. In programs that preceded the Shuttle Program the emphasis was on meeting the risks and technical challenges of space with safety, quality, reliability, and success. At United Technologies Aerospace Operations, Inc. (UTAO), the battle has developed along four primary fronts. These fronts include programs to motivate and reward people, development and construction of optimized processes and facilities, implementation of specifically tailored management systems, and the application of appropriate measurement and control systems. Each of these initiatives is described. However, to put this quality and productivity program in perspective, UTAO and its role in the Shuttle Program are described first

Upwelling and outwelling effects on the benthic regime of the continental shelf off Galicia, NW Spain

The benthic regime off the Galician coast of NW Spain was surveyed to assess biogenic enrichment from coastal upwelling and detritus outwelling from the rías, large coastal embayments: the Rías Altas along the northern and the Rías Bajas along the western coast, which have intense mussel aquaculture. Sediment samples were collected from 1984 to 1986 and used for geological, microbiological, and macrofaunal studies. Sub-bottom acoustic profiler records and grab and core samples identified two main mud deposits on the western shelf that were aligned north to south and parallel with the coastline. The major axis of the mud deposit, which extended south to the Portuguese border, is associated with the three most southern rías (Arosa, Pontevedra and Vigo) along the western shelf. Sediment particle size analysis showed that sediments on the western shelf were heterogeneous, and grain size increased from the inner shelf to the shelf break. On the northern shelf, sediments exhibited a more homogeneous textural distribution. Sediment organic matter followed a similar pattern with that of particle size. The highest organic matter values, 10%, occurred on the western shelf nearest the Rías Bajas, but these values decreased offshore to between 2 and 4%. On the northern shelf organic matter content was generally less than 4% but with patches of higher organic content. The composition and structure of macroinfauna on the northern shelf, where seasonal coastal upwelling results in benthic enrichment, showed mainly small, surface feeding, and fast growing polychaetes. In contrast, macroinfauna on the western shelf showed more subsurface, deposit-feeding polychaetes. A main difference between the two shelves is that off the rías Bajas, besides coastal upwelling, outwelling from the highly productive rías Bajas, with their intense mussel aquaculture, also enriches the coastal sediment regime with a steady source of organic matter. Although seasonal and interannual variations occurred in the benthic bacteria, their general density distribution followed the pattern of organic matter content and particle grain size seasonally and interannually. The highest numbers of bacteria occurred in the upwelling region off the northern shelf and nearest the Rías Bajas on the western shelf. Both coastal upwelling and organic outwelling from the rías Bajas support benthic production alongthe western Galician shelf. The main commercialdemersal finfishalongthis coast is hake, Merluccius merluccius and blue-whiting, Micomesistius poutassou. The norwegian lobster, Nephrops norvegicus is also an important crop, and is more abundant off the rías Bajas in the finer and organic-richsediments where there are abundant prey resources of benthic infauna

Coastal upwelling off the Rías Bajas, Galicia, Northwest Spain. II. Benthic studies

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Developing fencing policies in dryland ecosystems

The daily energy requirements of animals are determined by a combination of physical and physiological factors, but food availability may challenge the capacity to meet nutritional needs. Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are an interesting model for investigating this topic because they are folivore-frugivores that adjust their diet and activities to seasonal variation in fruit availability. Observations of one habituated group of western gorillas in Bai-Hokou, Central African Republic (December 2004-December 2005) were used to examine seasonal variation in diet quality and nutritional intake. We tested if during the high fruit season the food consumed by western gorillas was higher in quality (higher in energy, sugar, fat but lower in fibre and antifeedants) than during the low fruit season. Food consumed during the high fruit season was higher in digestible energy, but not any other macronutrients. Second, we investigated whether the gorillas increased their daily intake of carbohydrates, metabolizable energy (KCal/g OM), or other nutrients during the high fruit season. Intake of dry matter, fibers, fat, protein and the majority of minerals and phenols decreased with increased frugivory and there was some indication of seasonal variation in intake of energy (KCal/g OM), tannins, protein/fiber ratio, and iron. Intake of non-structural carbohydrates and sugars was not influenced by fruit availability. Gorillas are probably able to extract large quantities of energy via fermentation since they rely on proteinaceous leaves during the low fruit season. Macronutrients and micronutrients, but not digestible energy, may be limited for them during times of low fruit availability because they are hind-gut fermenters. We discuss the advantages of seasonal frugivores having large dietary breath and flexibility, significant characteristics to consider in the conservation strategies of endangered species

Coastal upwelling in the Rias Bajas, NW Spain: Contrasting the benthic regimes of the Rias de Arosa and de Muros

Nutrient-rich North Atlantic water upwells off the NW coast of Spain and intermittently intrudes into the rias, coastal embayments, by displacement during periods of offshore winds. High primary production associated with the upwelling supports an intensive raft culture of the edible mussel, Mytilus edulis. This culture is most intensive (ca. 2000 rafts) in the Ria de Arosa, and results in one of the highest protein yields per unit area on earth...

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) on the Herschel Space Observatory

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments on ESA's far infrared and submillimetre observatory. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays (stressed and unstressed) with 16x25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16x32 and 32x64 pixels, respectively, to perform integral-field spectroscopy and imaging photometry in the 60-210\mu\ m wavelength regime. In photometry mode, it simultaneously images two bands, 60-85\mu\ m or 85-125\mu\m and 125-210\mu\ m, over a field of view of ~1.75'x3.5', with close to Nyquist beam sampling in each band. In spectroscopy mode, it images a field of 47"x47", resolved into 5x5 pixels, with an instantaneous spectral coverage of ~1500km/s and a spectral resolution of ~175km/s. We summarise the design of the instrument, describe observing modes, calibration, and data analysis methods, and present our current assessment of the in-orbit performance of the instrument based on the Performance Verification tests. PACS is fully operational, and the achieved performance is close to or better than the pre-launch predictions