Class 2 design update for the family of commuter airplanes

This is the final report of seven on the design of a family of commuter airplanes. This design effort was performed in fulfillment of NASA/USRA grant NGT-8001. Its contents are as follows: (1) the class 1 baseline designs for the commuter airplane family; (2) a study of takeoff weight penalties imposed on the commuter family due to implementing commonality objectives; (3) component structural designs common to the commuter family; (4) details of the acquisition and operating economics of the commuter family, i.e., savings due to production commonality and handling qualities commonality are determined; (5) discussion of the selection of an advanced turboprop propulsion system for the family of commuter airplanes, and (6) a proposed design for an SSSA controller design to achieve similar handling for all airplanes. Final class 2 commuter airplane designs are also presented

Computing the merger of black-hole binaries: the IBBH problem

Gravitational radiation arising from the inspiral and merger of binary black holes (BBH's) is a promising candidate for detection by kilometer-scale interferometric gravitational wave observatories. This paper discusses a serious obstacle to searches for such radiation and to the interpretation of any observed waves: the inability of current computational techniques to evolve a BBH through its last ~10 orbits of inspiral (~100 radians of gravitational-wave phase). A new set of numerical-relativity techniques is proposed for solving this ``Intermediate Binary Black Hole'' (IBBH) problem: (i) numerical evolutions performed in coordinates co-rotating with the BBH, in which the metric coefficients evolve on the long timescale of inspiral, and (ii) techniques for mathematically freezing out gravitational degrees of freedom that are not excited by the waves.Comment: 6 pages RevTe

Upper limits on gravitational-wave signals based on loudest events

Searches for gravitational-wave bursts have often focused on the loudest event(s) in searching for detections and in determining upper limits on astrophysical populations. Typical upper limits have been reported on event rates and event amplitudes which can then be translated into constraints on astrophysical populations. We describe the mathematical construction of such upper limits.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Omnibus Taxpayers\u27 Bill of Rights Act: Taxpayers\u27 Remedy or Political Placebo?

This Note examines whether the bill, as drafted, addresses the problems which spawned it. It anticipates the bill\u27s effects on existing law and identifies areas where the bill would likely create new problems in the administration of the federal tax laws. It further identifies areas where the bill would solve problems. This Note concludes that (1) the bill\u27s audit provisions will not significantly expand taxpayer rights, and may in fact disrupt the audit process; (2) except for safeguards for installment agreements, the bill\u27s attempts to reform IRS collections procedures will not achieve its intended objectives; and (3) the bill\u27s damages provision, if properly construed by the courts, will serve to reform IRS abuses. This Note has five parts. Part I, Legislative Background, describes the bill\u27s origins and provides reasons for its introduction. Part II, IRS Audits and Investigations, analyzes the audit process from the viewpoint of both taxpayer rights and IRS administration. Specifically, Part II discusses four aspects of the audit and taxpayer investigations process: (1) audit time and place; (2) the statutory right to record interviews; (3) the power of attorney and (4) taxpayer surveillance. Part II also discusses the legal effect of the Internal Revenue Manual in light of the Administrative Procedure Act. Part III, IRS Collections Procedures, critiques three aspects of the bill, including (1) the mechanics of the lien and levy proposals, (2) installment payment provisions, and (3) uneconomical levy provisions. Part IV, \u22Damages Provision, examines the relative merits of the bill\u27s provision that permits taxpayers to obtain damages against the IRS for certain Code violations. This Part first identifies defects in the existing Code by examining Code safeguards against IRS overreaching in the lien and levy area. In addition, Part IV discusses whether the bill adequately addresses those defects. Finally, Part V summarizes the benefits and drawbacks of the bill and suggests amendments or deletions which would expand taxpayer rights while simultaneously improving IRS administration

Modern Investment Management and the Prudent Man Rule

A Review of Modern Investment Management and the Prudent Man Rule by Bevis Longstret

Minimizing Bias in Biomass Allometry: Model Selection and Log‐Transformation of Data

Nonlinear regression is increasingly used to develop allometric equations for forest biomass estimation (i.e., as opposed to the traditional approach of log‐transformation followed by linear regression). Most statistical software packages, however, assume additive errors by default, violating a key assumption of allometric theory and possibly producing spurious models. Here, we show that such models may bias stand‐level biomass estimates by up to 100 percent in young forests, and we present an alternative nonlinear fitting approach that conforms with allometric theory

A model for the accidental catalysis of protein unfolding in vivo

Activated processes such as protein unfolding are highly sensitive to heterogeneity in the environment. We study a highly simplified model of a protein in a random heterogeneous environment, a model of the in vivo environment. It is found that if the heterogeneity is sufficiently large the total rate of the process is essentially a random variable; this may be the cause of the species-to-species variability in the rate of prion protein conversion found by Deleault et al. [Nature, 425 (2003) 717].Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure