248 research outputs found

    Planar measurements of spray-induced wall cooling using phosphor thermometry

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    The wall cooling induced by spray impingement is investigated using phosphor thermometry. Thin coatings of zinc oxide (ZnO) phosphor were applied with a transparent chemical binder onto a steel surface. Instantaneous spatially resolved temperatures were determined using the spectral intensity ratio method directly after the injection of UV-grade hexane onto the surface using a commercial gasoline injector. The investigations showed that 2D temperature measurements with high spatial and shot-to-shot precision of, respectively, 0.5 and 0.6 K can be achieved, allowing the accurate resolution of the cooling induced by the spray. The presence of a liquid film over the phosphor coating during measurements showed no noticeable influence on the measured temperatures. However, in some cases a change in the intensity ratio at the spray impingement area, in the form of a permanent “stain”, could be observed after multiple injections. The formation of this stain was less likely with increasing annealing time of the coating as well as lower plate operating temperatures during the injection experiments. Finally, the experimental results indicate a noticeable influence of the thickness of the phosphor coating on the measured spray-induced wall cooling history. Hence, for quantitative analysis, a compromise between coating thickness and measurement accuracy needs to be considered for similar applications where the heat transfer rates are very high

    Thermographic laser Doppler velocimetry using the phase-shifted luminescence of BAM:Eu2+ phosphor particles for thermometry

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    Simultaneous point measurements of gas velocity and temperature were recently demonstrated using thermographic phosphors as tracer particles. There, continuous wave (CW) excitation was used and the spectral shift of the luminescence was detected with a two-colour intensity ratio method to determine the gas temperature. The conventional laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) technique was employed for velocimetry. In this paper, an alternative approach to the gas temperature measurements is presented, which is instead based on the temperature-dependence of the luminescence lifetime. The phase-shift between the luminescence signal and time-modulated excitation light is evaluated for single BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ phosphor particles as they cross the probe volume. Luminescence lifetimes evaluated in the time domain and frequency domain indicate that in these experiments, interferences from in-phase signals such as stray excitation laser light are negligible. The dependence of the phase-shift on flow temperature is characterised. In the temperature sensitive range above 700 K, precise gas temperature measurements can be obtained (8.6 K at 840 K) with this approach

    Simultaneous kHz-rate temperature and velocity field measurements in the flow emanating from angled and trenched film cooling holes

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    AbstractTo design more efficient film cooling geometries for gas turbines, non-intrusive measurements of the flow temperature, velocity and derived quantities like the turbulent heat flux are needed in well-defined, generic flow configurations. With this aim we have applied thermographic particle image velocimetry (thermographic PIV) to investigate the flow emanating from angled and trenched cooling holes in a closed-loop optically-accessible wind tunnel facility. BAM:Eu2+ thermographic phosphor particles were seeded into the flow as a tracer. A pulsed high-speed UV laser was used to excite the particles and the luminescence was detected using two high-speed cameras to determine the temperature field by a two-colour ratiometric approach. The velocity field was measured using ordinary high-speed PIV. The simultaneously measured fields were sampled at a rate of 6kHz in a vertical plane through the centreline of the symmetrical single-row cooling holes. The flowrate and temperature of the cooling air and heated main flow were chosen to achieve density and momentum flux ratios of 1.6 and 8 respectively. For these conditions the average and RMS temperature fields show that for ordinary angled holes the jet is detached from the surface. In contrast, the trenched geometry leads to a cooling film attached to the surface. However, time-resolved image sequences show instances where hot air breaks through the cooling film and almost reaches the surface. Similar image sequences for the angled holes show that the detached coolant jet becomes unstable downstream and pockets of cold air are ejected into the main flow. This intermittency may in part explain the observation that the measured turbulent heat flux is oriented towards the cold core, but deviates from the direction of the mean temperature gradient, thereby contradicting the simple gradient diffusion hypothesis commonly used in RANS simulations

    Offender rehabilitation : a normative framework for forensic psychologists

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    Community protection from offenders is addressed through punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and/or rehabilitation. The current public policy debate about community protection refers to community rights as opposed to offender rights as if the two are mutually exclusive. However, in this article it will be argued that offender rehabilitation can enhance community protection if it addresses community rights and offender rights. The author proposes a normative framework to guide forensic psychologists in offender rehabilitation. The normative framework considers psychological theory&mdash;the risk-need model to address community rights and the good lives model to address offender rights. However, forensic psychologists operate within the context of the criminal justice system and so legal theory will also be considered. Therapeutic jurisprudence can balance community rights and offender rights within a human rights perspective. The proposed normative framework guides forensic psychologists in the assessment of risk, the treatment of need, and the management of readiness in balancing community rights and offender rights. Within a human rights perspective, forensic psychologists have a duty to provide offenders with the opportunity to make autonomous decisions about whether to accept or reject rehabilitation. <br /

    Poverty and inequality in real-world schizophrenia: a national study

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    BackgroundSchizophrenia has high socioeconomic impact among severe psychiatric disorders.AimsTo explore clinician-reported and patient-reported inequities between patients under the poverty threshold vs. the others.Method916 patients consecutively recruited in 10 national centers received a comprehensive standardized evaluation of illness severity, addictions and patient-reported outcomes.Results739 (80.7%) of the patients were classified in the poverty group. This group had poorer objective illness outcomes (lower positive, negative, cognitive, excitement/aggressive and self-neglect symptoms and lifetime history of planned suicide) in multivariate analyses. While they had similar access to treatments and psychotherapy, they had lower access to socially useful activities, couple’s life, housing and parenthood. They had also more disturbed metabolic parameters. On the contrary, the poverty group reported better self-esteem. No significant difference for depression, risky health behavior including addictions and sedentary behavior was found.InterpretationThe equity in access to care is attributed to the French social system. However, mental and physical health remain poorer in these patients, and they still experience poor access to social roles independently of illness severity and despite healthcare interventions. These patients may have paradoxically better self-esteem due to decreased contact with society and therefore lower stigma exposure (especially at work). Schizophrenia presents itself as a distinct impoverished population concerning health-related outcomes and social integration, warranting focus in public health initiatives and improved treatment, including tailored interventions, collaborative care models, accessible mental health services, housing support, vocational training and employment support, community integration, education and awareness, research and data collection, culturally competent approaches, and long-term support

    A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum for the symptoms of depression

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    Objectives: This trial investigated whether probiotics improved mood, stress and anxiety in a sample selected for low mood. We also tested whether the presence or severity of irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, and levels of proinflammatory cytokines, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and other blood markers, would predict or impact treatment response. Method: Seventy-nine participants (10 dropouts) not currently taking psychotropic medications with at least moderate scores on self-report mood measures were randomly allocated to receive either a probiotic preparation (containing Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum) or a matched placebo, in a double-blind trial for 8 weeks. Data were analysed as intent-to-treat. Results: No significant difference was found between the probiotic and placebo groups on any psychological outcome measure (Cohen's d range = 0.07-0.16) or any blood-based biomarker. At end-point, 9 (23%) of those in the probiotic group showed a â©Ÿ60% change on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (responders), compared to 10 (26%) of those in the placebo group ([Formula: see text], p = ns). Baseline vitamin D level was found to moderate treatment effect on several outcome measures. Dry mouth and sleep disruption were reported more frequently in the placebo group. Conclusions: This study found no evidence that the probiotic formulation is effective in treating low mood, or in moderating the levels of inflammatory and other biomarkers. The lack of observed effect on mood symptoms may be due to the severity, chronicity or treatment resistance of the sample; recruiting an antidepressant-naive sample experiencing mild, acute symptoms of low mood, may well yield a different result. Future studies taking a preventative approach or using probiotics as an adjuvant treatment may also be more effective. Vitamin D levels should be monitored in future studies in the area. The results of this trial are preliminary; future studies in the area should not be discouraged

    The effect of excess weight on circulating inflammatory cytokines in drug-naĂŻve first-episode psychosis individuals

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    Background: Low-grade inflammation has been repeatedly associated with both excess weight and psychosis. However, no previous studies have addressed the direct effect of body mass index (BMI) on basal serum cytokines in individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of BMI on basal serum cytokine levels in FEP patients and control subjects, separating the total sample into two groups: normal-weight and overweight individuals. Methods: This is a prospective and open-label study. We selected 75 FEP patients and 75 healthy controls with similar characteristics to patients according to the following variables: sex, age, and cannabis and tobacco consumption. Both controls and patients were separated into two groups according to their BMI: subjects with a BMI under 25 were considered as normal weight and those with a BMI equal to or more than 25 were considered as overweight. Serum levels of 21 cytokines/chemokines were measured at baseline using the Human High Sensitivity T Cell Magnetic Bead Panel protocol from the MilliplexŸ Map Kit. We compared the basal serum levels of the 21 cytokines between control and patient groups according to their BMI. Results: In the normal-weight group, IL-8 was the only cytokine that was higher in patients than in the control group (p = 0.001), whereas in the overweight group, serum levels of two pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, p = 0.000; IL-1?, p = 0.003), two chemokines (IL-8, p = 0.001; MIP-1?, p = 0.001), four Th-1 and Th-2 cytokines (IL-13, p = 0.009; IL-2, p = 0.001; IL-7, p = 0.001; IL-12p70, p = 0.010), and one Type-3 cytokine (IL-23, p = 0.010) were higher in patients than in controls. Conclusions: Most differences in the basal serum cytokine levels between patients and healthy volunteers were found in the overweight group. These findings suggest that excess weight can alter the homeostasis of the immune system and therefore may have an additive pro-inflammatory effect on the one produced by psychosis in the central nervous system.Funding: The present study was carried out at the Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain, under the following grant support from MINECO SAF2013-46292-R, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla. No pharmaceutical company has participated in the study concept and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the results, and drafting of the manuscript. We thank the Valdecilla Biobank for blood sampling handling and storage. We also wish to thank the participants and their families for enrolling in this study. The study, designed and directed by B C-F, conformed to international standards for research ethics and was approved by the local institutional review board
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