ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE: THE MASSACHUSETTS EXPERIENCE

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

The evolution of a slender non-axisymmetric drop in an extensional flow

An asymptotic method for analysing slender non-axisymmetric drops, bubbles and jets in a general straining flow is developed. The method relies on the slenderness of the geometry to reduce the three-dimensional equations to a sequence of weakly coupled, quasi-two-dimensional Stokes flow problems for the cross-sectional evolution. Exact solution techniques for the flow outside a bubble in two-dimensional Stokes flow are generalised to solve for the transverse flow field, allowing large non-axisymmetric deformations to be described. A generalisation to the case where the interior contains a slightly viscous fluid is also presented. Our method is used to compute steady non-axisymmetric solution branches for inviscid bubbles and slightly viscous drops. We also present unsteady numerical solutions showing how the eccentricity of the cross-section adjusts to a non-axisymmetric external flow. Finally, we use our theory to investigate how the pinch-off of a jet of relatively inviscid fluid is affected by a two-dimensional straining cross-flow

State Variation in the Hospital Costs of Gun Violence, 2010 and 2014

This brief updates the armed assault hospital cost estimates with data from 2014, the first year of full implementation of the ACA's major coverage provisions. We provide data for Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin; of these, Arizona, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin were included in our previous brief. We selected these six states based on data availability, population size, geographic representation, and participation in the ACA Medicaid expansion (table 1). The states reflect a range of decisions on Medicaid coverage: Arizona, Kentucky, and New Jersey adopted the Medicaid expansion in 2014, but Florida, North Carolina, and Wisconsin did not. Arizona had a Section 1115 demonstration waiver in place in 2010 that provided coverage to childless adults with incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). Wisconsin also had a Section 1115 demonstration waiver to extend eligibility to 200 percent of FPL, but enrollment for the program was capped as of October 2009. In 2014, Wisconsin used state funds to provide eligibility to childless adults with incomes up to 100 percent of FPL and removed the enrollment cap. Most importantly, all six states have complete data for the analysis from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, described later in this brief

The Hospital Costs of Firearm Assaults

In the wake of recent high profile incidents of gun violence, there is renewed national attention on the prevalence and cost of firearm assaults in the United States. To make informed policy decisions, lawmakers are calling for current and accurate data on the costs of these assaults. This brief examines the costs of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions for firearm assault victims in the United States in 2010. These costs are further examined according to patient gender, age, median household income, and insurance status

Device for directionally controlling electromagnetic radiation Patent

Concentrator device for controlling direction of solar energy onto energy converter

Directional control of radiant heat

Surface with grooves having flat bases gives directional emissivities and absorptivities that can be made to approximate a perfect directional surface. Radiant energy can then be transferred in desired directions

Public Opinion in Perspective: Wisconsin's Mind on Education

Outlines survey findings on Wisconsin residents' views on the quality of public schools and reforms including increased spending, accountability, vouchers, charter schools, online education, and merit pay, compared with Milwaukee and national surveys

The surface-tension-driven evolution of a two-dimensional annular viscous tube

We consider the evolution of an annular two-dimensional region occupied by viscous fluid driven by surface tension and applied pressure at the free surfaces. We assume that the thickness of the domain is small compared with its circumference so that it may be described as a thin viscous sheet whose ends are joined to form a closed loop. Analytical and numerical solutions of the resulting model are obtained and we show that it is well posed whether run forwards or backwards in time. This enables us to determine, in many cases explicitly, which initial shapes will evolve into a desired final shape. We also show how the application of an internal pressure may be used to control the evolution. This work is motivated by the production of non-axisymmetric capillary tubing via the Vello process. Molten glass is fed through a die and drawn off vertically, while the shape of the cross-section evolves under surface tension and any applied pressure as it flows downstream. Here the goal is to determine the die shape required to achieve a given desired final shape, typically square or rectangular. We conclude by discussing the role of our two-dimensional model in describing the three-dimensional tube-drawing process

ST/STIS Spectroscopy of the White Dwarfs in the Short-Period Dwarf Novae LL And and EF Peg

We present new HST/STIS observations of the short-period dwarf novae LL And and EF Peg during deep quiescence. We fit stellar models to the UV spectra and use optical and IR observations to determine the physical parameters of the whitedwarfs in the systems, the distances to the binaries, and the properties of thesecondary stars. Both white dwarfs are relatively cool, having T_{eff} near 15000K, and consistent with a mass of 0.6 M-sun. The white dwarf in LL And appears to be of solar abundance or slightly lower while that in EF Peg is near 0.1-0.3 solar. LL And is found to be 760 pc away while EF Peg is closer at 380 pc. EF Peg appears to have an ~M5V secondary star, consistent with that expected for its orbital period, while the secondary object in LL And remains a mystery.Comment: Accepted in Ap

Mathematical modelling of non-axisymmetric capillary tube drawing

This paper concerns the manufacture of non-axisymmetric capillary tubing via the Velloprocess, in which molten glass is fed through a die and drawn off vertically. The shapeof the cross-section evolves under surface tension as it flows downstream. The aim is to achieve a given desired final shape, typically square or rectangular, and our goal is to determine the required die shape. We use the result that, provided the tube is slowly varying in the axial direction, each cross-section evolves like a two-dimensional Stokes flow when expressed in suitably scaled Lagrangian coordinates. This allows us to use a previously derived model for the surface- tension-driven evolution of a thin two-dimensional viscous tube. We thus obtain, and solve analytically, equations governing the axial velocity, thickness and circumference of the tube, as well as its shape. The model is extended to include non-isothermal effects