The Kepler Catalog of Stellar Flares

A homogeneous search for stellar flares has been performed using every available Kepler light curve. An iterative light curve de-trending approach was used to filter out both astrophysical and systematic variability to detect flares. The flare recovery completeness has also been computed throughout each light curve using artificial flare injection tests, and the tools for this work have been made publicly available. The final sample contains 851,168 candidate flare events recovered above the 68% completeness threshold, which were detected from 4041 stars, or 1.9% of the stars in the Kepler database. The average flare energy detected is ~$10^{35}$ erg. The net fraction of flare stars increases with $g-i$ color, or decreasing stellar mass. For stars in this sample with previously measured rotation periods, the total relative flare luminosity is compared to the Rossby number. A tentative detection of flare activity saturation for low-mass stars with rapid rotation below a Rossby number of ~0.03 is found. A power law decay in flare activity with Rossby number is found with a slope of -1, shallower than typical measurements for X-ray activity decay with Rossby number.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, ApJ accepted. Code is available online: http://github.com/jradavenport/appaloos

User's guide for the Yield Estimation Subsystem Data Management System (YESDAMS)

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Competition Policy Reform in Agriculture: A Comparison of the BRICs Countries

This paper forms part of a project titled ‘Facilitating Efficient Agricultural Markets in India: An Assessment of Competition and Regulatory Reform Requirements funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The project follows from previous research which found that India’s border reforms need to be complemented by ‘behind-the-border’ domestic reforms if government policy objectives of improved productivity, higher rural employment and incomes and enhanced food security are to be met. The project is being undertaken by Indian and Australian collaborators with expertise in agricultural policy development. Stage 1 of the project is designed to develop a common understanding among those collaborators of contemporary market based policy development principles and the extent to which they have been adopted in other developing countries. The BRICs economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as South Africa, were chosen for this purpose. A comparative overview of agricultural policy developments in these economies is underway drawing observations about policy reform impacts on agricultural production and the extent to which policy reforms have been consistent with competition policy and microeconomic reform principles applied in developed economies, such as Australia. The extent to which trade practices law has emerged in developing economies as an alternative to direct regulation is also considered. Preliminary findings are reported to facilitate broader discussion and encourage input from interested parties. Stage 2 of the project, commencing later in 2009, will involve the application of competition policy principles to the marketing regulations of a selection of agricultural industries in India. Consideration will be given to clarifying regulatory objectives, assessing their consistency with accepted forms of ‘market failure’ and assessing whether regulatory measures address those policy objectives in a manner least restrictive on competition. As well as facilitating efficient policy reform within India’s agricultural sector, the project aims to enhance the development of market based agricultural policy frameworks and the policy development skills of Indian and Australian policy makers.

Static force tests of a sharp leading edge delta-wing model at ambient and cryogenic temperatures with a description of the apparatus employed

A sharp leading edge delta-wing model was tested through an angle-of-attack range at Mach numbers of 0.75, 0.80, and 0.85 at both ambient and cryogenic temperatures in the Langley 1/3-meter transonic cryogenic tunnel. Total pressure was varied with total temperature in order to hold test Reynolds number constant at a given Mach number. Agreement between the aerodynamic data obtained at ambient and cryogenic temperatures indicates that flows with leading-edge vortex effects are duplicated properly at cryogenic temperatures. The test results demonstrate that accurate aerodynamic data can be obtained by using conventional force-testing techniques if suitable measures are taken to minimize temperature gradients across the balance and to keep the balance at ambient (warm) temperatures during cryogenic operation of the tunnel

Wind-tunnel roll-damping measurements of a winged space shuttle configuration in launch attitude

Ground-wind load studies were conducted on three model configurations to assess the importance of aeroelastic instabilities of erected space shuttle vehicles. Roll damping was measured on a fuselage-alone model, which had a D cross section, and a fuselage and tail surfaces in combination with either a clipped-delta wing or a low-sweep tapered wing as the primary lifting surface. The largest negative roll-damping coefficients were measured with the fuselage-alone configuration and were a function of wind azimuth. At the wind azimuths at which the wing-fuselage configuration was unstable, the negative roll-damping coefficients were a function of reduced frequency

Engineering and fabrication cost considerations for cryogenic wind tunnel models

Design and fabrication cost drivers for cryogenic transonic wind tunnel models are defined. The major cost factors for wind tunnel models are model complexity, tolerances, surface finishes, materials, material validation, and model inspection. The cryogenic temperatures require the use of materials with relatively high fracture toughness but at the same time high strength. Some of these materials are very difficult to machine, requiring extensive machine hours which can add significantly to the manufacturing costs. Some additional engineering costs are incurred to certify the materials through mechanical tests and nondestructive evaluation techniques, which are not normally required with conventional models. When instrumentation such as accelerometers and electronically scanned pressure modules is required, temperature control of these devices needs to be incorporated into the design, which requires added effort. Additional thermal analyses and subsystem tests may be necessary, which also adds to the design costs. The largest driver to the design costs is potentially the additional static and dynamic analyses required to insure structural integrity of the model and support system