Process of casting heavy slips Patent

Freeze casting of metal ceramic and refractory compound powders into plastic slip

X-29A technology demonstrator flight test program overview

An overview of the X-29A functional flight program and concept evaluation program is presented, including some of the unique and different preparations for the first flight. Included are a discussion of the many organizational responsibilities and a description of the program management structure for the test team. Also discussed are preflight ground, flight functional envelope expansion, and flight research test objectives and qualitive results to date for both a limited-envelope flight control system and an expanded-envelope system. The aircraft, including the instrumentation system and measurements, is described. In addition, a discussion is included regarding the use of major support facilities, such as ground and flight simulators, the NASA Western Aeronautical Test Range and mission control center, and the Grumman automated telemetry station. An overview of the associated real-time and postflight batch data processing software approaches is presented. The use of hardware-in-the-loop simulation for independent verification and validation and mission planning and practice is discussed. Also included is a description of the flight-readiness review, the airworthiness and flight safety review, work scheduling, technical briefings, and preflight and postflight crew briefings. The configuration control process used on the X-29A program is described, and its relationship to both simulation and aircraft operations is discussed. An X-29A schedule overview is presented with an outline of a proposed follow-on program

MARKETING MECHANISMS IN GM GRAINS AND OILSEEDS

A number of challenges exist for genetically modified (GM) crop development at the production level. Contract strategies can resolve these challenges. Contracts can be designed to induce legal adoption of GM wheat by varying technology fees, violation detection, and penalties. The primary objective of this research is to analyze contracting strategies to determine terms to minimize technology agreement violation and to induce legal adoption of GM wheat. A simulation model of a crop budget for Hard Red Spring wheat was developed. Results illustrate that contracts can be designed to induce desired behavior. Technology fee, probability of detection, and the level of non-GM premium were the most notable factors influencing adoption decisions.Producer Decisions, Risk, Genetically Modified, Contract Terms, Wheat, Crop Production/Industries,

INCENTIVE CONTRACTS TO MEET FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN WHEAT PURCHASING

Consistency of functional characteristics in hard red spring (HRS) wheat is a concern confronting sellers and buyers. This research analyzes contract incentives for importers with respect to cost and potential risk of acceptance. A principal-agent framework is utilized to examine contract incentives. In the principal-agent contract, the principal offers the contract, the agent rejects or accepts the contract, and then decides how much effort to apply. All this is subject to risk for the agent and moral hazard for the principal. An example is presented, for which equilibrium contract terms are a base price of 454 cents per bushel for low quality wheat and a premium of 36 cents per bushel if high quality is achieved. The premium for high quality is unchanged as the agent's outside option increases, but increases as the probability of conformance with high effort declines or as the agent's cost of high effort increases. Small changes in several of the parameter values (agent's outside option, agent's cost of high/low effort, principal value for high/low effort, and principal's outside options if the contract was not extended or if the agent rejects the contract) result in the principal not offering a contract.Incentive Contact, Functional Characteristic, Wheat, Principal-Agent, Crop Production/Industries,

Excess Vibrational Modes and the Boson Peak in Model Glasses

The excess low-frequency normal modes for two widely-used models of glasses were studied at zero temperature. The onset frequencies for the anomalous modes for both systems agree well with predictions of a variational argument, which is based on analyzing the vibrational energy originating from the excess contacts per particle over the minimum number needed for mechanical stability. Even though both glasses studied have a high coordination number, most of the additional contacts can be considered to be weak.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Comment on "Plasma ionization by annularly bounded helicon waves" [Phys . Plasmas 13, 063501 (2006)]

The neoclassical calculation of the helicon wave theory contains a fundamental flaw. Use is made of a proportional relationship between the magnetic field and its curl to derive the Helmholtz equation describing helicon wave propagation; however, by the fundamental theorem of Stokes, the curl of the magnetic field must be perpendicular to that portion of the field contributing to the local curl. Reexamination of the equations of motion indicates that only electromagnetic waves propagate through a stationary region of constant pressure in a fully ionized, neutral medium.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys. Plasmas, http://link.aip.org/link/?PHPAEN/16/054701/