Absolute monarchy in France

An original scholarly interpretation of the nature of the French monarchy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It argues that rather than seeing this monarchy as centralised and administrative, we should see it as a state formation replete with tensions and contradictions. Astute political management, patronage and clientage focused on the court as the centre of the political system, were all essential for the survival of the regime. The chapter thus takes issue with current interpretations in historical sociology, political science and history. The interpretation draws on wide secondary sources and the author's long archival acquaintance with the regime. 16,000 words

Simultaneous junction formation

High-risk, high-payoff improvements to a baseline process sequence of simultaneous junction formation of silicon solar cells are discussed. The feasibility of simultaneously forming front and back junctions of solar cells using liquid dopants on dendritic web silicon was studied. Simultaneous diffusion was compared to sequential diffusion. A belt furnace for the diffusion process was tested

Error-correcting codes for high-speed digital computers

Published document discusses method for correcting errors. According to this method, computer operation becomes fault-tolerant, i.e., its operation is error-free in spite of single hardware element malfunction. Also, method provides for detection and correction of repetitive and spurious processing and transmission errors

[Review] Jay M. Smith, ed. (2006) The French nobility in the eighteenth century: reassessments and new approaches

A 6,000 word review article discussing this book and recent approaches to the nobility in eighteenth-century France

Ionospheric Corrections via PIM and Real-Time Data

We describe a method for removing ionospheric effects from single-frequency radio data a posteriori. This method is based on a theoretical climatological model developed by the USAF, which returns electron density as a function of position and time along the line of sight to the source. Together with a model of the earth's magnetic field, ionospheric delays and Faraday rotation values ensue. If contemoraneous ionospheric data -- GPS TEC observations or ionosonde profiles -- exist, they can be incorporated to update the modeled electron densities.Comment: 6 pages, 2 fiugres; LaTeX2e (96/12/01); uses elsart.cls (2.15, 98/07/15); to appear in New Astronomy Review

Dendritic web-type solar cell mini-modules

Twenty-five minimodules composed of dendritic web solar cells with nominal glass size of 12 by 40 cm were provided for study. The modules were identical with respect to design, materials, and manufacturing and assembly processes to full scale modules. The modules were also electrically functional. These minimodules were fabricated to provide test vehicle for environmental testing and to assess reliability of process and design procedures. The module design and performance are outlined

Path selection system development and evaluation for a Martian roving vehicle

A path selection system evaluation test procedure has been developed to enhance the analysis capability of an existing digital computer simulation package. The procedure investigates the obstacle avoidance ability of a path selection system on a sequence of test terrains with and without random effects. Using the standard test procedure a proposed mid-range sensor system has been evaluated and recommendations directed at improving the performance of the system have been made. In addition, the initial development and evaluation of a short range sensor system has been undertaken

Process research of non-Czochralski silicon material

Simultaneous diffusion of liquid precursors containing phosphorus and boron into dendritic web silicon to form solar cell structures was investigated. A simultaneous junction formation techniques was developed. It was determined that to produce high quality cells, an annealing cycle (nominal 800 C for 30 min) should follow the diffusion process to anneal quenched-in defects. Two ohm-cm n-base cells were fabricated with efficiencies greater than 15%. A cost analysis indicated that the simultansous diffusion process costs can be as low as 65% of the costs of the sequential diffusion process

How the U.S. economy resembles a (very) big business

This article presents basic tools for measuring different business lines’ contributions to the U.S. economy’s business cycles, and it applies these to measure the exposure of a large conglomerate to macroeconomic risks.Economics ; Income