How a National Carbon Policy Could Affect Grain Variety Selection: The Case of Rice in Arkansas

This study conducts a life cycle assessment (LCA) of carbon emissions and estimates the carbon sequestered in 14 commonly sown rice varieties across the Arkansas Delta. Given the uncertainty regarding future carbon legislation, and increased consumer and industry demand for “greener” products, this study estimates how potential carbon policies would affect rice cultivar selection Hybrid rice varieties, given their higher yield and higher yield per unit of green house gas (GHG) emission, are better positioned to take advantage of any increase in consumer demand for “greener” products and/or absorb any government policy better than conventional rice cultivars.Rice, Carbon Policy, Cap and Trade, Carbon Offset, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q52, Q54, Q58,

A New Species of Ovabunda (Octocorallia, Xeniidae) From the Andaman Sea, Thailand with Notes on the Biogeography of This Genus

A survey of xeniid octocorals was carried out in the waters off Southwestern Thailand in September, 2007. Microscopic investigation of the colonies revealed that three specimens belonged to the genus Ovabunda. Gross morphological examination is presented here accompanied by scanning electron micrographs of the sclerites. Molecular phylogenetic analysis showed identical genotypes at mtMutS, COI, and 28S rDNA for all three specimens and supports their generic assignment. Colony size and shape, sclerite size, and pinnule arrangement differ from nominal species of Ovabunda and thus a new species, O. andamanensis is introduced here. This work also presents a new eastern geographical record for the genus Ovabunda

Long-term survival in lung transplant recipients after successful preoperative coronary revascularization

ObjectiveCoronary artery disease is considered a contraindication to lung transplantation. We studied effect of pre-lung transplantation nonobstructive coronary artery disease and revascularized coronary artery disease on long-term lung transplant survival.MethodsClinical courses of 172 lung transplant recipients from December 1990 to May 2003 were reviewed. Significant coronary artery disease, defined as left main stenosis of greater than 50% or other epicardial vessel stenosis of greater than 70%, was present in 7 patients; 6 received percutaneous coronary intervention and 1 received coronary artery bypass grafting before transplantation.ResultsGroups were similar with regard to sex, race, or length of intensive care days. The group with normal coronary arteries was significantly younger than the groups with coronary artery disease. The revascularized group had a significant increase in dysrhythmias (P < .003) and 1-, 3-, and 5-year survivals of 85%, 85%, and 69%, respectively. Those with insignificant coronary artery disease (14 patients) demonstrated a 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival of 64%, 40%, and 32%, respectively. The normal coronary group (151 patients) had a 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival of 75%, 58%, and 40%, respectively. The revascularized group had a significant survival advantage compared with that of the insignificant coronary artery disease group (P < .04, log-rank test).ConclusionLong-term survival of lung transplant recipients with revascularized coronary arteries is similar to that of subjects with normal coronary arteries, despite an increased incidence of dysrhythmias. Lung transplant recipients with insignificant coronary artery disease had a worse survival than the revascularized group. More studies are needed to ascertain the cause and determine the optimal management for lung transplant recipients with insignificant coronary artery disease

InterPack2003-35287 MULTI-SCALE OPTICAL DESIGN FOR GLOBAL CHIP-TO-CHIP OPTICAL INTERCONNECTIONS AND MISALIGNMENT TOLERANT PACKAGING

ABSTRACT As transistor densities on integrated circuits (ICs) continue to grow, off-chip bandwidth is becoming an ever-increasing performance-limiting bottleneck in systems. Electronic multichip module (MCM) and printed circuit board (PCB) packaging technology has not kept pace with the growth of inter-chip interconnection requirements. Recent advances in &quot;smart pixel&quot; technology offer the potential to use optical interconnects to overcome the inter-chip I/O bottleneck by linking dense arrays of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and photodetectors. For optical interconnections to be relevant to real systems they must be able to be manufactured and packaged inexpensively and robustly. This paper discusses an optical design and packaging approach that utilizes multiple sizes (or scales) of optical elements to simplify the design of the optical interconnection and coupling while providing an enhanced degree of insensitivity to misalignments inherent in the packaging of these systems. The scales of the optical elements described are: the size of the IC (termed macrooptical), the size of the pitch of optical IO (termed microoptical), and sizes in between (termed mini-optical) which are smaller than the size of the IC but cover several optical IO. This paper describes the utility of elements of each of these scales and shows that through the combination of them simple robust systems can be constructed. Two case studies for applying this multi-scale optical design are examined. The first case study is a global chip-to-chip optical interconnection module (termed FAST-Net) that uses a macro lens array and mirror to effect the all-to-all optical interconnection pattern among an array of ICs on a single board. Micro-and mini-scale optical elements simplify the design of the macro-lens by performing corrections at scales where they are more effective. In this system over 11,000 optical links are implemented across a 5 inch multi-chip module with diffraction limited RMS spot sizes and registration errors less than 5 microns. The second case study analyzes designs for board-to-board optical interconnections with throw-distances ranging from 1 millimeter to several centimeters. In this case micro-and miniscale optical interconnections provide insensitivity to misalignments. The results show the feasibility of an optical coupler that can tolerate the typical packaging misalignments of 5 to 10 mil without placing rigid constraints on the angular sensitivity of the modules. The multi-scale optical interconnection and coupling concept is shown to provide an approach to simplifying design and packaging -and therefore the costs -associated with implementing optical interconnection systems

Survival-Time Distribution for Inelastic Collapse

In a recent publication [PRL {\bf 81}, 1142 (1998)] it was argued that a randomly forced particle which collides inelastically with a boundary can undergo inelastic collapse and come to rest in a finite time. Here we discuss the survival probability for the inelastic collapse transition. It is found that the collapse-time distribution behaves asymptotically as a power-law in time, and that the exponent governing this decay is non-universal. An approximate calculation of the collapse-time exponent confirms this behaviour and shows how inelastic collapse can be viewed as a generalised persistence phenomenon.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe

Probabilistic risk assessment of the Space Shuttle. Phase 3: A study of the potential of losing the vehicle during nominal operation. Volume 4: System models and data analysis

In this volume, volume 4 (of five volumes), the discussion is focussed on the system models and related data references and has the following subsections: space shuttle main engine, integrated solid rocket booster, orbiter auxiliary power units/hydraulics, and electrical power system

Probabilistic risk assessment of the Space Shuttle. Phase 3: A study of the potential of losing the vehicle during nominal operation, volume 1

This document is the Executive Summary of a technical report on a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) of the Space Shuttle vehicle performed under the sponsorship of the Office of Space Flight of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It briefly summarizes the methodology and results of the Shuttle PRA. The primary objective of this project was to support management and engineering decision-making with respect to the Shuttle program by producing (1) a quantitative probabilistic risk model of the Space Shuttle during flight, (2) a quantitative assessment of in-flight safety risk, (3) an identification and prioritization of the design and operations that principally contribute to in-flight safety risk, and (4) a mechanism for risk-based evaluation proposed modifications to the Shuttle System. Secondary objectives were to provide a vehicle for introducing and transferring PRA technology to the NASA community, and to demonstrate the value of PRA by applying it beneficially to a real program of great international importance