The recent divergence of regional per capita incomes: some evidence from Australia

"This paper focuses upon interregional income divergence in Australia where a pattern very similar to that seen in the United States is discovered. Australian agricultural regions show downward divergence from the national mean per capita income and capital city regions show upward divergence."     

Effects of high temperature on silicate liquid structure: a multinuclear NMR study

The structure of a silicate liquid changes with temperature, and this substantially affects its thermodynamic and transport properties. Models used by geochemists, geophysicists, and glass scientists need to include such effects. In situ, high-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy on (23)Na, (27)A1, and (29)Si was used to help determine the time-averaged structure of a series of alkali aluminosilicate liquids at temperatures to 1320 degrees C. Isotropic chemical shifts for (29)Si increase (to higher frequencies) with increasing temperature, probably in response to intermediate-range structural changes such as the expansion of bonds between nonbridging oxygens and alkali cations. In contrast, isotropic chemical shifts for (27)Al decrease with increasing temperature, indicating that more significant short-range structural changes take place for aluminum, such as an increase in mean coordination number. The spectrum of a sodium aluminosilicate glass clearly indicates that at least a few percent of six-coordinated aluminum was present in the liquid at high temperature.     

U.s.-Japanese space relations at a crossroads

The relations between Japan and the United States in space form a microcosm of the complex, multidimensional interactions between these two powerful societies. Cooperation and competition exist side by side, and the future balance between them is uncertain. The United States needs to develop a strategy with respect to future U.S.-Japanese space relations that balances national security, political, scientific, and economic interests. Crafting such a strategy is particularly difficult while both the United States and Japan debate the goals and content of their future space programs and while the two nations try to assess their broader interests and roles in the rapidly changing geopolitical environment. Essential to a productive approach to U.S.-Japanese space relations is an accurate understanding of the character and content of the Japanese space effort.