How Big is Big Enough? Firm Size as a Barrier to Exporting in South Carolina's Manufacturing Sector

International Relations/Trade,

The Comfort Women Controversy (cont.) Korea vs. Taiwan

Thomas Ward and William Lay's poster on why the Taiwanese experience of Japanese enforced comfort women in World War II differed from the Korean experience

Enantioselective Ruthenium-Catalyzed Ring-Closing Metathesis

The first enantioselective ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts have been prepared, and high enantiomeric excesses (up to 90%) are observed in the desymmetrization of achiral trienes. A model consistent with the stereochemical outcome of the reactions is described and suggests side-on olefin binding and reorganization of the halide ligands

Virtual screening for high affinity guests for synthetic supramolecular receptors

The protein/ligand docking software GOLD, which was originally developed for drug discovery, has been used in a virtual screen to identify small molecules that bind with extremely high affinities (K ≈ 107 M-1) in the cavity of a cubic coordination cage in water. A scoring function was developed using known guests as a training set and modified by introducing an additional term to take account of loss of guest flexibility on binding. This scoring function was then used in GOLD to successfully identify 15 new guests and accurately predict the binding constants. This approach provides a powerful predictive tool for virtual screening of large compound libraries to identify new guests for synthetic hosts, thereby greatly simplifying and accelerating the process of identifying guests by removing the reliance on experimental trial-and-error

Oxidation chemistry of d^0 organometallic complexes

Electron-transfer processes can play an important role in organometallic chemistry. Herein, we demonstrate that even d^0 organometallic complexes exhibit a rich redox chemistry and present electrochemical, kinetics, and stereochemical studies that establish a general outer-sphere oxidation process for d^0 group 4 metallocene complexes. This oxidation chemistry closely parallels the reported LMCT photochemistry of these complexes

Economic Characteristics of South Carolina Manufacturing Sector Exporters

International Relations/Trade,

High-resolution measurements of surface topography with airborne laser altimetry and the global positioning system

Recently, an airborne lidar system that measures laser pulse time-of-flight and the distortion of the pulse waveform upon reflection from earth surface terrain features was developed and is now operational. This instrument is combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and a two-axis gyroscope for accurate recovery of aircraft position and pointing attitude. The laser altimeter system is mounted on a high-altitude aircraft platform and operated in a repetitively-pulsed mode for measurements of surface elevation profiles at nadir. The laser transmitter makes use of recently developed short-pulse diode-pumped solid-state laser technology in Q-switched Nd:YAG operating at its fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm. A reflector telescope and silicon avalanche photodiode are the basis of the optical receiver. A high-speed time-interval unit and a separate high-bandwidth waveform digitizer under microcomputer control are used to process the backscattered pulses for measurements of terrain. Other aspects of the lidar system are briefly discussed

MINNESOTA CURRENT FARM SITUATION

These papers describe the current economic conditions and outline some of the opportunities facing Minnesota farmers as they complete 1998 and develop plans for 1999. The first paper, Prospects For Farm Income in 1998, describes the variation in net farm income farmers in the Southeastern and Southwestern Farm Management Associations have experienced over the past twenty years. The possible effects of 1998's low commodity prices and government program payments on net farm income are discussed in the context of this historical variation. This paper points out that some farmers are experiencing a very good year in 1998, while others may have very low net farm income this year. Those with high incomes in 1998 may be primarily interested in opportunities to enhance their cash flow for 1999, while those experiencing financial stress during 1998 may need to consider a wider range of adjustments as they plan for the coming year. The remaining papers provide information farmers may want to consider as they plan their marketing and financial strategies for the coming year. Financial Management Alternatives outlines a wide range of financial management alternatives that can be used to deal with cash flow problems. Some of these alternatives will be of interest to farmers who have difficulty in projecting a positive net cash flow with the relatively low commodity prices being projected for 1999. Others are of primary interest to farmers who have relatively high debt levels and must find ways to improve both their net cash flow and their debt/asset position. Some observers have suggested that the low commodity prices projected for 1999 may lead to reductions in cash rental rates. The paper, Cropland Rental Market Impacts of Low Crop Prices, discusses a procedure to estimate "fair rental rates", and provides an historical perspective of the impact low commodity prices have had on land rental rates. The remaining two papers, Situation and Outlook For the Livestock Sector, and Considerations in Developing a Corn/Soybean Marketing Plan for 1998/1999, discuss the major factors to evaluate and options to consider in developing a marketing plan for corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle for the coming year.Farm Management,