Ground simulation and tunnel blockage for a swept, jet-flapped wing tested to very high lift coefficients

Ground effects experiments and large/small tunnel interference studies were carried out on a model with a 20 inch (50.8 cm) 25 degree swept wing. The wing is slatted, has a 60 degree knee-blown flap and can be fitted with unflapped tips. A tail rake of pitch-yaw probes can be fitted to the fuselage. Certain check tests were also made with a very similar straight-wing model

The Two Faces of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes

Suppose a government agency tasks its purchasing agent with buying a set of computer servers for the agency’s use, and the agent contacts a technology company to make the purchase. After selecting the needed servers, the agent learns of the servers’ fair market value but does not negotiate with the technology company to obtain the lowest possible price. Instead, unbeknownst to the government, the agent agrees with the technology company’s sales manager to purchase the servers on behalf of the government for an amount significantly above their fair market value, and, in return, the company agrees to give the agent a hefty side payment for inflating the company’s profits. In this scenario, the technology company gives a side payment to the purchasing agent to influence the agent’s official act–purchasing the servers for the government. Their agreement fits the classic definition of public sector bribery, a crime outlawed in virtually every jurisdiction in the world. Both parties could face heavy prison sentences and fines for engaging in this corrupt act

Documenting Death: Public Access to Government Death Records and Attendant Privacy Concerns

This Article examines the contentious relationship between public rights to access government-held death records and privacy rights concerning the deceased, whose personal information is contained in those same records. This right of access dispute implicates core democratic principles and public policy interests. Open access to death records, such as death certificates and autopsy reports, serves the public interest by shedding light on government agency performance, uncovering potential government wrongdoing, providing data on public health trends, and aiding those investigating family history, for instance. Families of the deceased have challenged the release of these records on privacy grounds, as the records may contain sensitive and embarrassing information about the deceased. Legislatures and the courts addressing this dispute have collectively struggled to reconcile the competing open access and privacy principles. The Article demonstrates how a substantial portion of the resulting law in this area is haphazardly formed, significantly overbroad, and loaded with unintended consequences. The Article offers legal reforms to bring consistency and coherence to this currently disordered area of jurisprudence

Perchlorate Reduction by Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria

Perchlorate (ClO4-) contaminated water is becoming a wide-spread problem as more sites are being identified worldwide. Biological perchlorate reduction is a promising alternative to conventional physical/chemical treatment processes and has the advantage of reducing perchlorate to the benign products, chloride and oxygen. A number of bacteria are capable of reducing perchlorate using a variety of electron donors including organic carbon compounds, hydrogen, iron, and reduced sulfur compounds. Previous studies in our laboratory successfully used a novel, sulfur oxidizing bacterial consortium (SUPeRB) to reduce perchlorate in both batch culture and in packed bed reactors (PBR). There were two main objectives of this research. The first objective was to construct and operate an ex-situ pilot scale PBR using SUPeRB cultures, with elemental sulfur pellets and crushed oyster shells as a packing material. The second objective was to investigate the role of the oyster shell as a buffer, organic carbon source, adsorbent, and/or attachment site to gain a better understanding of the SUPeRB process. The first study examined the scale up of a PBR for treatment of water from a perchlorate and RDX contaminated aquifer in Massachusetts with low-level background nitrate levels. The pilot-scale PBR (~250-L) was constructed with elemental sulfur and crushed oyster shell packing media and was inoculated with SUPeRB cultures enriched from a wastewater seed. Sodium sulfite provided a good method of dissolved oxygen removal in batch cultures, but was found to promote the growth of sulfate reducing bacteria, which inhibited perchlorate reduction in the pilot system. After terminating sulfite addition, the PBR successfully removed 96% of the influent perchlorate in the groundwater at an empty bed contact time (EBCT) of 12 hours (effluent perchlorate of 4.2 µg L-1 ). Simultaneous perchlorate and nitrate degradation was observed in the lower half of the reactor before reactions shifted to sulfur disproportionation. Analyses of water quality profiles were supported by molecular analysis showing distinct groupings of perchlorate and nitrate degrading organisms in the bottom of the PBR, while sulfur disproportionation was the primary biological process occurring in the top of the reactor. The use of crushed oyster shells as an alkalinity source in the SUPeRB process was found to enhance perchlorate degradation. The second study examined the role of oyster shells as a buffer, organic carbon source, attachment site, and adsorbent in the SUPeRB process. Perchlorate degradation was monitored in microcosms comparing the base case (sulfur and oyster shells) to systematic variations. The necessity for direct microbial attachment was examined by isolating sulfur pellets, oyster shells, or bacteria from the culture using membranes. The oyster shell maintained a favorable pH for perchlorate reduction (k=23.7 day-1 g protein-1 ), but this could not completely explain the enhanced perchlorate reduction rates. SUPeRB cultures were found to be capable of mixotrophic metabolism, which increased rates of perchlorate reduction fivefold. Heating oyster shells impaired perchlorate degradation due to the diminished availability of organic carbon for cellular synthesis. Oyster shells reduced bacterial toxicity, possibly by hydrogen sulfide adsorption. The necessity for direct microbial attachment to the solid oyster shell matrix was unclear, though proximity to oyster shells was more important than to sulfur

Documenting Death: Public Access to Government Death Records and Attendant Privacy Concerns

This Article examines the contentious relationship between public rights to access government-held death records and privacy rights concerning the deceased, whose personal information is contained in those same records. This right of access dispute implicates core democratic principles and public policy interests. Open access to death records, such as death certificates and autopsy reports, serves the public interest by shedding light on government agency performance, uncovering potential government wrongdoing, providing data on public health trends, and aiding those investigating family history, for instance. Families of the deceased have challenged the release of these records on privacy grounds, as the records may contain sensitive and embarrassing information about the deceased. Legislatures and the courts addressing this dispute have collectively struggled to reconcile the competing open access and privacy principles. The Article demonstrates how a substantial portion of the resulting law in this area is haphazardly formed, significantly overbroad, and loaded with unintended consequences. The Article offers legal reforms to bring consistency and coherence to this currently disordered area of jurisprudence

Easing the Tension Between Statutes of Limitations and the Continuing Offense Doctrine

This Article is the first to analyze comprehensively the relationship between the continuing offense doctrine and criminal statutes of limitations. The continuing offense doctrine is a powerful tool for prosecutors who face statute of limitations challenges. It functions to delay the running of statutes of limitations for certain crimes by postponing the completion of those crimes. In order to trigger the operation of the doctrine, a court must conclude that a particular crime is a “continuing offense” for statute of limitations purposes. Identifying what crimes are continuing offenses has been a problematic exercise for federal courts, leading to a growing number of conflicting approaches and circuit splits. Moreover, courts are employing the continuing offense doctrine with increasing frequency, subjecting otherwise time-barred conduct to prosecution and boosting the risk of violation of the rights of the defendant, such as prosecution based upon stale evidence. This Article examines the shortcomings of the continuing offense doctrine and its potential for misuse in the statute of limitations context, and provides solutions to reform the doctrine and restore order in what has become a chaotic area of jurisprudence

The Two Faces of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes

Suppose a government agency tasks its purchasing agent with buying a set of computer servers for the agency’s use, and the agent contacts a technology company to make the purchase. After selecting the needed servers, the agent learns of the servers’ fair market value but does not negotiate with the technology company to obtain the lowest possible price. Instead, unbeknownst to the government, the agent agrees with the technology company’s sales manager to purchase the servers on behalf of the government for an amount significantly above their fair market value, and, in return, the company agrees to give the agent a hefty side payment for inflating the company’s profits. In this scenario, the technology company gives a side payment to the purchasing agent to influence the agent’s official act–purchasing the servers for the government. Their agreement fits the classic definition of public sector bribery, a crime outlawed in virtually every jurisdiction in the world. Both parties could face heavy prison sentences and fines for engaging in this corrupt act

Documenting Death: Public Access to Government Death Records and Attendant Privacy Concerns

This Article examines the contentious relationship between public rights to access government-held death records and privacy rights concerning the deceased, whose personal information is contained in those same records. This right of access dispute implicates core democratic principles and public policy interests. Open access to death records, such as death certificates and autopsy reports, serves the public interest by shedding light on government agency performance, uncovering potential government wrongdoing, providing data on public health trends, and aiding those investigating family history, for instance. Families of the deceased have challenged the release of these records on privacy grounds, as the records may contain sensitive and embarrassing information about the deceased. Legislatures and the courts addressing this dispute have collectively struggled to reconcile the competing open access and privacy principles. The Article demonstrates how a substantial portion of the resulting law in this area is haphazardly formed, significantly overbroad, and loaded with unintended consequences. The Article offers legal reforms to bring consistency and coherence to this currently disordered area of jurisprudence

Theoretical flow characteristics of inlets for tilting-nacelle VTOL aircraft

The results of a theoretical investigation of geometric variables for lift-cruise-fan, tilting nacelle inlets operating at high incidence angles are presented. These geometric variables are investigated for their effects on surface static to free stream pressure ratio, and the separation parameters of maximum to diffuser exit surface velocity ratio and maximum surface Mach number for low speed operating conditions. The geometric parameters varied were the internal lip contraction ratio, external forebody to diffuser exit diameter ratio external forebody length to diameter ratio and internal lip major to minor axis ratio