Electronic Books in the USA - their numbers and development and a comparison to Germany.

This article will provide data to specify the problem of low e-book-supply. First the total number of commercially available English-speaking e-books in the US-market is stated. Then the growth of the title supply over the last twenty years is reviewed. Third the growth of the publishing-activities in the e-book-market is set in relation to the developments in the hardcover-market. Finally these numbers of the English-speaking market are compared to the numbers for the German-speaking market

Analyzing the effects of U.S. macroeconomic policy on U.S. agriculture using the USAGMKTS model

This report describes the results of simulating effects of U.S. macroeconomic policy on U.S. agriculture using the USAGMKTS model. The primary purpose for which the USAGMKTS model was developed is to determine the effects of potential changes in U.S. policy on the border prices of corn, sorghum, and soybeans. The USAGMKTS model is a member of a set of interlinked models at macroeconomic and sectoral levels of Mexico and the U.S. (with enough specification of the rest of the world to close the system). The effects of macroeconomic policy variables on macroeconomic variables affecting the agricultural sector are derived from the FAIRMODEL of the U.S. macroeconomy. These results will be used later to determine the effects of U.S. agricultural and macroeconomic policies on Mexican agriculture using the MEXAGMKTS model.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Livestock&Animal Husbandry,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access

Experimental studies on the reaction kinetics of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine and oxygen

Measurements behind shock waves in highly diluted 1,1 dimethylhydrazine-O2-Ar mixtures clearly showed a two-stage reaction. In the first stage, UDMH decomposes via a unimolecular step; in the second stage, clearly separated from the first one, the decay products react further with O2. Values for the rate constant of unimolecular decomposition were obtained

Cooperative Boolean systems with generically long attractors II

We prove that cooperativity in Boolean networks precludes a strong notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Weaker notions of sensitive dependence are shown to be consistent with cooperativity, but if each regulatory functions is binary AND or binary OR, in N-dimensional networks they impose an upper bound of approximately sqrt(3)^N on the lengths of attractors that can be reached from a fraction p approaching 1 of initial conditions. The upper bound is shown to be sharp

On the Collective Motion in Globally Coupled Chaotic Systems

A mean-field formulation is used to investigate the bifurcation diagram for globally coupled tent maps by means of an analytical approach. It is shown that the period doubling sequence of the single site map induces a continuous family of periodic states in the coupled system. This type of collective motion breaks the ergodicity of the coupled map lattice. The stability analysis suggests that these states are stable for weak coupling strength but opens the possibility for more complicated types of motion in the regime of moderate coupling.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 3 eps figures included also available "at http://athene.fkp.physik.th-darmstadt.de/public/wolfram.html" or "at ftp://athene.fkp.physik.th-darmstadt.de/pub/publications/wolfram/" Phys. Rep. in pres

First-passage time of Brownian motion with dry friction

We provide an analytic solution to the first-passage time (FPT) problem of a piecewise-smooth stochastic model, namely Brownian motion with dry friction, using two different but closely related approaches which are based on eigenfunction decompositions on the one hand and on the backward Kolmogorov equation on the other. For the simple case containing only dry friction, a phase transition phenomenon in the spectrum is found which relates to the position of the exit point, and which affects the tail of the FPT distribution. For the model containing as well a driving force and viscous friction the impact of the corresponding stick-slip transition and of the transition to ballistic exit is evaluated quantitatively. The proposed model is one of the very few cases where FPT properties are accessible by analytical means

Hearers of the Word : Luke\u27s Gospel as Sacramental Formation for a Liturgical Community

(Excerpt) It is privilege to return to the Institute of Liturgical Studies after a long absence, especially on a subject that has consumed me in one way or another over the last fifteen years. I am very grateful to the advisory council for assigning me a topic that develops the biblical foundations of the catechumenate. My doctoral work on Emmaus, my vocation as professor of exegesis and pastoral theology, my participation in the ELCA and LCMS working groups on the catechumenate, as well as my participation in the Missouri Synod\u27s efforts to develop its own catechumenal process, have all contributed to my remarks this afternoon. But it is through conversations with colleagues about the New Testament as a catechetical document, and particularly my work on Luke\u27s gospel, that has been seminal to my own thinking about the biblical foundations for the catechumenate

A model of U.S. corn, sorghum, and soybean markets and the role of government programs (USAGMKTS)

This estimated model of corn, sorghum, and soybeans markets (USAGMKTS) serves as the U.S. agricultural sector in a study of the effects of U.S. agriculture and macroeconomic policy on Mexico's agricultural sector. This model of U.S. corn, sorghum, and soybeans markets also includes U.S. markets for beef, hogs, and poultry - because of their importance and endogeneity with respect to U.S. feed grain policies, which are major determinants of corn and sorghum prices. The model is part of a set of interlinked sectoral and macroeconomic models that link Mexico and the United States. This paper reports the results of the simulations of various alternative U.S. agricultural policy scenarios, to estimate the effects of various feed grain policy instruments. Plausible U.S. agricultural policy adjustments can alter border prices facing world trading partners by 10 to 15 percent. The extent of these adjustments depends heavily on the current state of the U.S. agricultural economy.Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Livestock&Animal Husbandry,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Economic Theory&Research