The Edge supersonic transport

As intercontinental business and tourism volumes continue their rapid expansion, the need to reduce travel times becomes increasingly acute. The Edge Supersonic Transport Aircraft is designed to meet this demand by the year 2015. With a maximum range of 5750 nm, a payload of 294 passengers and a cruising speed of M = 2.4, The Edge will cut current international flight durations in half, while maintaining competitive first class, business class, and economy class comfort levels. Moreover, this transport will render a minimal impact upon the environment, and will meet all Federal Aviation Administration Part 36, Stage III noise requirements. The cornerstone of The Edge's superior flight performance is its aerodynamically efficient, dual-configuration design incorporating variable-geometry wingtips. This arrangement combines the benefits of a high aspect ratio wing at takeoff and low cruising speeds with the high performance of an arrow-wing in supersonic cruise. And while the structural weight concerns relating to swinging wingtips are substantial, The Edge looks to ever-advancing material technologies to further increase its viability. Heeding well the lessons of the past, The Edge design holds economic feasibility as its primary focus. Therefore, in addition to its inherently superior aerodynamic performance, The Edge uses a lightweight, largely windowless configuration, relying on a synthetic vision system for outside viewing by both pilot and passengers. Additionally, a fly-by-light flight control system is incorporated to address aircraft supersonic cruise instability. The Edge will be produced at an estimated volume of 400 aircraft and will be offered to airlines in 2015 at $167 million per transport (1992 dollars)

On finding minimal length superstrings

AbstractA superstring of a set of strings {s1,…, sn} is a string s containing each si, 1 ⩽ i ⩽ n, as a substring. The superstring problem is: Given a set S of strings and a positive integer K, does S have a superstring of length K? The superstring problem has applications to data storage; specifically, data compression. We consider the complexity of the superstring problem. NP-completeness results dealing with sets of strings over both finite and infinite alphabets are presented. Also, for a restricted version of the superstring problem, a linear time algorithm is given

Southeast Portland Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Analysis

As metropolitan Portland continues to develop over the next 20 years, transit options will need to be expanded to meet the growing demands on the region\u27s transportation system. Some outlying portions of Southeast Portland, specifically, the emerging communities of Pleasant Valley and Damascus, have been designated by Metro as areas that should be planned to accommodate future increases in population. Both Metro and Tri-Met have expressed a desire for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service to this area from downtown Portland, within a corridor roughly following SE Powell Boulevard and Foster Road. The Southeast Portland BRT Analysis is intended to assist Tri-Met with implementing a BRT system in this area. The outcome also suggests that BRT has the capacity to shape future land-uses, and could generate high transit ridership. It is recommended that Tri-Met thoroughly evaluate the potential of BRT for this alignment

Is Resisting Genocide a Human Right

Closely examining the Darfur, Sudan, genocide, and making reference to other genocides, this Article argues that the genocide prevention strategies which are currently favored by the United Nations are ineffective. This Article details the failures of targeted sanctions, United Nations peacekeepers, and other anti-genocide programs. Then, this Article analyzes the Genocide Convention and other sources of international human rights law. Because the very strong language of the Genocide Convention forbids any form of complicity in genocide, and because the Genocide Convention is jus cogens (meaning that it prevails over any conflicting national or international law), this Article concludes that the Genocide Convention forbids any interference, including interference based on otherwise valid laws, against the procurement of defensive arms by groups which are being victimized by genocide. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

HEALTH, TORTS, AND CIVIL PRACTICE Georgia Hospital and Medical Liability Insurance Authority Act: Provide for Legislative Findings with Respect to a Crisis in the Field of Hospital and Medical Liability Insurance; Address This Crisis Through Provision of Insurance and Certain Civil Justice Reforms; Create the Georgia Hospital and Medical Liability Insurance Authority; Provide for the Members of the Authority and Their Selection, Service, and Terms of Office; Provide for the Filling of Vacancies; Provide for the Powers, Duties, Operations, and Financial Affairs of the Authority; Provide for the General Purpose of the Authority; Prescribe Standards Relating to Vicarious Liability of Medical Facilities for Actions of Health Care Providers; Provide for Limited Liability for Certain Medical Facilities and Health Care Providers for Treatment of Certain Emergency Conditions Under Certain Conditions; Provide for Qualifications of Experts; Change Provisions Relating to the Allocation of Liability and Recovery of Damages in Tort Actions; Provide for the Degree of Care Expected of Medical Professionals in an Emergency Room Setting; Provide for the Consideration by the Jury or Other Trier of Fact of Certain Factors Affecting This Care in Determining Whether Defendants Met This Degree or Standard of Care; Require the Approval by the Commissioner of Insurance of All medical Malpractice Rates, Rating Plans, Rating Systems, and underwriting Rules Prior to These Rates, Rating Plans, Rating Systems, and Underwriting Rules Becoming Effective; Change Certain Provisions Relating to Actions Against Certain Codefendants Residing in Different Counties; Change Provisions Relating to the Required Filing of Affidavits in Professional malpractice Actions; Provide for other Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes

The bill would have created an authority with power to provide rural hospitals with the ability to self-ensure. The bill would have allowed emergency facilities to limit liability associated with doctors who are independent contractors. The bill would have also restricted recovery from each defendant based on apportionment of liability rather than the usual joint and several liability schemes. The bill failed after a standoff on an amendment to cap non-economic damages

HEALTH, TORTS, AND CIVIL PRACTICE Georgia Hospital and Medical Liability Insurance Authority Act: Provide for Legislative Findings with Respect to a Crisis in the Field of Hospital and Medical Liability Insurance; Address This Crisis Through Provision of Insurance and Certain Civil Justice Reforms; Create the Georgia Hospital and Medical Liability Insurance Authority; Provide for the Members of the Authority and Their Selection, Service, and Terms of Office; Provide for the Filling of Vacancies; Provide for the Powers, Duties, Operations, and Financial Affairs of the Authority; Provide for the General Purpose of the Authority; Prescribe Standards Relating to Vicarious Liability of Medical Facilities for Actions of Health Care Providers; Provide for Limited Liability for Certain Medical Facilities and Health Care Providers for Treatment of Certain Emergency Conditions Under Certain Conditions; Provide for Qualifications of Experts; Change Provisions Relating to the Allocation of Liability and Recovery of Damages in Tort Actions; Provide for the Degree of Care Expected of Medical Professionals in an Emergency Room Setting; Provide for the Consideration by the Jury or Other Trier of Fact of Certain Factors Affecting This Care in Determining Whether Defendants Met This Degree or Standard of Care; Require the Approval by the Commissioner of Insurance of All medical Malpractice Rates, Rating Plans, Rating Systems, and underwriting Rules Prior to These Rates, Rating Plans, Rating Systems, and Underwriting Rules Becoming Effective; Change Certain Provisions Relating to Actions Against Certain Codefendants Residing in Different Counties; Change Provisions Relating to the Required Filing of Affidavits in Professional malpractice Actions; Provide for other Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes

The bill would have created an authority with power to provide rural hospitals with the ability to self-ensure. The bill would have allowed emergency facilities to limit liability associated with doctors who are independent contractors. The bill would have also restricted recovery from each defendant based on apportionment of liability rather than the usual joint and several liability schemes. The bill failed after a standoff on an amendment to cap non-economic damages

Raloxifene Prevents Skeletal Fragility in Adult Female Zucker Diabetic Sprague-Dawley Rats

This project was funded by a National Institutes of Health grant (AR047838) to DBB. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Multiscale analysis of morphology and mechanics in tail tendon from the ZDSD rat model of type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) impacts multiple organ systems including the circulatory, renal, nervous and musculoskeletal systems. In collagen-based tissues, one mechanism that may be responsible for detrimental mechanical impacts of T2D is the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) leading to increased collagen stiffness and decreased toughness, resulting in brittle tissue behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate tendon mechanical properties from normal and diabetic rats at two distinct length scales, testing the hypothesis that increased stiffness and strength and decreased toughness at the fiber level would be associated with alterations in nanoscale morphology and mechanics. Individual fascicles from female Zucker diabetic Sprague-Dawley (ZDSD) rats had no differences in fascicle-level mechanical properties but had increased material-level strength and stiffness versus control rats (CD). At the nanoscale, collagen fibril D-spacing was shifted towards higher spacing values in diabetic ZDSD fibrils. The distribution of nanoscale modulus values was also shifted to higher values. Material-level strength and stiffness from whole fiber tests were increased in ZDSD tails. Correlations between nanoscale and microscale properties indicate a direct positive relationship between the two length scales, most notably in the relationship between nanoscale and microscale modulus. These findings indicate that diabetes-induced changes in material strength and modulus were driven by alterations at the nanoscale