THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE U.S.-MEXICO FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: ANALYSIS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL FAST TRACK VOTE

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the strategic forces shaping U.S.-Mexico trade relationships and the possibilities of extending the trade agreement to the rest of the Americas. The paper concludes that constituency interests, party loyalty, the proportion of a state's population of Hispanic origin, and the influence of textile-related employment in the state were significant explanatory factors in the Congressional Fast Track vote that occurred in May of 1991.Free trade agreement, Fast track, Textiles, Congressional voting, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy,

The use of LANDSAT digital data to detect and monitor vegetation water deficiencies

A technique devised using a vector transformation of LANDSAT digital data to indicate when vegetation is undergoing moisture stress is described. A relation established between the remote sensing-based criterion (the Green Index Number) and a ground-based criterion (Crop Moisture Index) is discussed

Origins of elastic properties in ordered nanocomposites

We predict a diblock copolymer melt in the lamellar phase with added spherical nanoparticles that have an affinity for one block to have a lower tensile modulus than a pure diblock copolymer system. This weakening is due to the swelling of the lamellar domain by nanoparticles and the displacement of polymer by elastically inert fillers. Despite the overall decrease in the tensile modulus of a polydomain sample, the shear modulus for a single domain increases dramatically

Classification by means of B-spline potential functions with applications to remote sensing

A method is presented for using B-splines as potential functions in the estimation of likelihood functions (probability density functions conditioned on pattern classes), or the resulting discriminant functions. The consistency of this technique is discussed. Experimental results of using the likelihood functions in the classification of remotely sensed data are given

On the interaction of ultrasound with cracks: Applications to fatigue crack growth

Partial contact of two rough fatigue crack surfaces leads to transmission and diffraction of an acoustic signal at those contacts. Recent experimental and theoretical efforts to understand and quantify such contact in greater detail are discussed. The objective is to develop an understanding of the closure phenomenon and its application to the interpretation of fatigue data, in particular the R-ratio, spike overload/underload and threshold effects on crack propagation

Nonlinear spectroscopy in the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED

A nonlinear spectroscopic investigation of a strongly coupled atom-cavity system is presented. A two-field pump-probe experiment is employed to study nonlinear structure as the average number of intracavity atoms is varied from N̅≈4.2 to N̅≈0.8. Nonlinear effects are observed for as few as 0.1 intracavity pump photons. A detailed semiclassical simulation of the atomic beam experiment gives reasonable agreement with the data for N̅≳2 atoms. The simulation procedure accounts for fluctuations in atom-field coupling which have important effects on both the linear and nonlinear probe transmission spectra. A discrepancy between the simulations and the experiments is observed for small numbers of atoms (N̅≲1). Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine if this discrepancy is a definitive consequence of the quantum nature of the atom-cavity coupling or a result of the severe technical complications of the experiment

Continental-shelf-scale model of the Leeuwin Current

A simple model is presented for the poleward eastern boundary current (the Leeuwin Current) off Western Australia. For continental-shelf length-scales and seasonal time-scales, the advective and time-derivative terms are small, and water flows onto the shelf until a sufficient cross-shelf pressure gradient is set up to push the same flux back. In a rotating system, the return flux takes place in a frictional (Ekman) layer at the bottom, and is synonymous with a near-bottom longshore current νB, from−CD|νB|νB = ∫O−H 1/ρ ∂p/∂y dz + u2∗,which is equatorward close to shore, but poleward past the 40 m isobath. If the mixed layer is deep enough, there is no upwelling, despite the upwelling-favorable winds. The light surface water is pushed down, causing a baroclinic shear enhancing the poleward current. Advection causes an intense sloping density, salinity, and tracers front. Observed u2∗ and Py from Western Australia predict νB to be poleward in early winter at about 0.2 m s−l, and near zero in summer. The sea-level-slope gηy correlates highly (r = 0.9) with the wind-stress u2∗ with a regression of (100 m)−1, both along Western Australia and western North America

Estimates of Eddy Current Response to Subsurface Cracks from 2-D Finite Element Code Predictions

Using a two dimensional finite element code, the response of a U-core eddy current probe was computed for a subsurface flaw in a stainless steel medium. Next, using a three dimensional scattering model, the change in coil impedance was calculated for the same situation. From a comparison of these two results, it was concluded that the two dimensional finite element code overestimates the eddy current sensor response for the practical problem at hand by a factor of 10. This agreed well with the result obtained using an approximate technique described in this paper to estimate the true response from two dimensional calculations. Application of such desensitization factor should allow the two dimensional calculations to be effectively used in design studies

Sales Loss Determination in Food Contamination Incidents: An Application to Milk Bans in Hawaii

This article presents a procedure for estimating sales loss following a food contamination incident with application to the case of heptachlor contamination of fresh fluid milk in Oahu, Hawaii in 1982. A major finding is that media coverage following the incident had a significant impact on milk purchases and that negative coverage had a larger effect than positive coverage. This conclusion implies that public statements by producers or government to assure the public of safe food supplies may be ineffective in restoring consumer confidence following the discovery of a food safety problem. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, August, 1988.food contamination, food safety policy, milk demand, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,