City of Buffalo Contracting Process: Demolition Contracts

At one time, bidding was centralized in the City of Buffalo (Buffalo). The centralized bidding was organized under the Department of Urban Renewal. Interview with James Comerford and Paul Mielcarek of the City of Buffalo Department of Economic Development Permit and Inspection Services (April 17, 2008). In the late 60s and early 70s the city moved to the current model which was based on the Chicago style of municipal bidding. The Chicago model broke out the bidding process and had each department run bidding on its own. The rationale behind this separation of the bidding process was that many of the projects being bid out were very particular and required the individuals who were deciding the bid awards to have a discrete knowledge of what it was that was being bid on. Also, the centralized bidding was seen by Chicago, and later by Buffalo, as disorganized and difficult to manage from one office. The decentralized model was seen as simplifying the process by separating out the bidding processes throughout the various departments

Mean velocities and Reynolds stresses in a juncture flow

Values of three mean velocity components and six turbulence stresses measured in a juncture flow are presented and discussed. The juncture flow is generated by a constant thickness body, having an elliptical leading edge, which is mounted perpendicular to a large flat plate along which a turbulent boundary layer is growing. The measurements were carried out at two streamwise stations in the juncture and were made using two single sensor hot-wire probes. The secondary flow in the juncture results in a considerable distortion in the mean velocity profiles. The secondary flow also transports turbulence in the juncture flow and has a large effect on the turbulence stresses. From visual inspection of the results, there is considerable evidence of similarity between the turbulent shear stresses and the mean flow strain rates. There is some evidence of similarity between the variations in the turbulent stress components

Mean velocities and Reynolds stresses in a juncture flow

Three mean velocity components and six Reynolds stresses were measured at two streamwise stations in a juncture flow using hot-wire anemometer techniques

Mean velocities and Reynolds stresses upstream of a simulated wing-fuselage juncture

Values of three mean velocity components and six turbulence stresses measured in a turbulent shear layer upstream of a simulated wing-fuselage juncture and immediately downstream of the start of the juncture are presented nd discussed. Two single-sensor hot-wire probes were used in the measurements. The separated region just upstream of the wing contains an area of reversed flow near the fuselage surface where the turbulence level is high. Outside of this area the flow skews as it passes around the body, and in this skewed region the magnitude and distribution of the turbulent normal and shear stresses within the shear layer are modified slightly by the skewing and deceleration of the flow. A short distance downstream of the wing leading edge the secondary flow vortext is tightly rolled up and redistributes both mean flow and turbulence in the juncture. The data acquisition technique employed here allows a hot wire to be used in a reversed flow region to indicate flow direction

NGC 3312: A victim of ram pressure sweeping

Researchers are undertaking a volume limited survey of the Hydra I cluster in neutral hydrogen using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA). The main purpose is to study the effects of a dense environment on the gaseous component of the galaxies. Observational evidence has been accumulating recently that ram pressure sweeping does occur in the centers of clusters, but it is possible that tidal interactions play a role as well. Results of high resolution HI imaging of NGC 3312, the large peculiar spiral near the cluster center are presented. Hydra I (= A1060) is the nearest rich cluster beyond Virgo and, as such, presents a unique opportunity to do a complete survey of a cluster. It is similar to the Virgo cluster in many of its general physical characteristics, such as size, x ray luminosity, velocity dispersion, and galaxy content (high spiral fraction). However, Hydra I appears to be more regular and relaxed. This is evident in the x ray distribution in its central region, which is radially symmetric and centered on the dominant galaxy, NGC 3311, a cD-like elliptical. The observed x ray luminosity implies a central gas density of 4.5 x 10 to the 3rd power cm(-3). Gallagher (1978) argued from optical images of NGC 3312 that this galaxy might be an ideal candidate to directly study effects of the ram pressure process; it might currently be undergoing stripping of its interstellar medium. The researchers' data are consistent with this suggestion, but other origins of the peculiar appearance cannot yet be ruled out

VLA neutral hydrogen imaging of compact groups

Images of the neutral hydrogen (H I) in the direction of the compact groups of galaxies, HCG 31, HCG 44, and HCG 79 are presented. The authors find in HCG 31 and HCG 79, emission contained within a cloud much larger than the galaxies as well as the entire group. The H I emission associated with HCG 44 is located within the individual galaxies but shows definite signs of tidal interactions. The authors imaged the distribution and kinematics of neutral hydrogen at the two extremes of group sizes represented in Hickson's sample. HCG 44 is at the upper limit while HCG 18, HCG 31, and HCG 79 are at the lower end. Although the number of groups that have been imaged is still very small, there may be a pattern emerging which describes the H I morphology of compact groups. The true nature of compact groups has been the subject of considerable debate and controversy. The most recent observational and theoretical evidence strongly suggests that compact groups are physically dense, dynamical systems that are in the process of merging into a single object (Williams and Rood 1987, Hickson and Rood 1988, Barnes 1989). The neutral hydrogen deficiency observed by Williams and Rood (1987) is consistent with a model in which frequent galactic collisions and interactions have heated some of the gas during the short lifetime of the group. The H I disks which are normally more extended than the luminous ones are expected to be more sensitive to collisions and to trace the galaxy's response to recent interactions. Very Large Array observations can provide in most cases the spatial resolution needed to confirm the dynamical interactions in these systems

California Women: Trying to Use Federal Taxes to Put the \u27Community\u27 in Community Property

Community property is thought to be a more equitable marital property regime than the common law because we assume that providing each spouse with an interest in fifty percent of the family’s income also provides a substantial amount of equality between spouses. Historically, however, as the regime operated in the United States, it was not especially favorable to wives. Although the concept implied a partnership between spouses, in practice wives were denied rights a partner would expect to enjoy. This article examines how women lobbied to enlarge the protection California wives enjoyed under the state’s community property regime in the early twentieth century. Women adopted a strategy that does not conform to Progressive Era stereotypes. Women’s groups argued that couples would receive a federal income tax reduction if the state’s property system gave more rights to wives. Women’s use of these anti-tax arguments helped further their goals of equalizing spouses’ rights and obligations until the tacit political alliance of women and wealthy taxpayers unwound