A concept design for an ultra-long-range survey class AUV

Gliders and flight-style Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are used to perform perform autonomous surveys of large areas of open ocean. Glider missions are characterized by their profiling flight pattern, slow speed, long range (1000s of km) and many month mission duration. Flight-style AUV missions are faster, of shorter range (100s of km) and multi day duration. An AUV combining many aspects of both vehicle classes would be of considerable value.This paper investigates the factors that affect the range of a traditional flight-style AUVs. A generic range model is outlined which factors in the effects of buoyancy on the range. The model shows that to create a very long range AUV it is necessary to reduce the hotel load on the AUV to the order of 1W and to add wings to overcome the vehicle’s positive buoyancy whilst travelling at the reduced speed required for long range.Using this model a concept long range AUV is outlined that is capable of travelling up to 5000km. The practical issues associated with achieving this range are also discussed

PMC18 HEALTH UTILITIES INDEX (HUI) ON-LINE QUESTIONNAIRE SYSTEM: CRITERION VALIDITY OF MULTI- AND SINGLE-ATTRIBUTE UTILITY SCORES

Data aproximada de realització del reportatgeAguilera, Josep Mari

Gaining clinical wisdom from adversity: Nurse leaders’ ethical conflict and resilience experiences

Developing effective nurse leaders in today’s“reengineered” corporate healthcare cultures requires that more attention be given to the preparation of ethical leadership during undergraduate programs and nurses’ formative years in practice. Through analyzing the experiences of three nurse leaders dealing with ethical conflicts and the meaning they made of these experiences, we identified that nurses need practical guidance to successfully negotiate ethical conflicts, take risks to uphold their ethical codes, and foster collaborative relationships. According to these nurse leaders, it was important to mentor student and novice nurses in working through workplace ethical conflicts and help guide them through the formulation of successful practical strategies. Our findings showed that these nurses developed resilience and clinical wisdom which they carried through to their leadership practice and future situations

EXPLOSIVE PLANTAR FLEXOR PERFORMANCE: A COMPARISON OF ELITE SPRINTERS VERSUS PHYSICALLY ACTIVE INDIVIDUALS

This study examined differences in explosive muscular torque production of the plantar flexors of participants with differing training backgrounds. Explosive performance of a group of elite sprinters (n = 14) and physically active individuals (n = 14) were examined during explosive and maximal isometric contractions across different muscle-tendon unit (MTU) lengths. The rate of torque development (RTD) across time windows (0-50, 50-100, 100-150 ms) and maximal voluntary torque (MVT) was measured. Sprinters exhibited greater early phase RTD (0-50, 50-100 ms) across MTU lengths. Relative MVT was greater for sprinters at the dorsiflexed MTU length only. The results suggest sprint-specific training contributes to the improved explosive performance of the plantar flexors across MTU lengths, particularly in the early phase of muscular contraction

Patient-focused measures of functional health status and health-related quality of life in pediatric orthopedics: A case study in measurement selection

The objectives of this report are to review the assessment of patient-focused outcomes in pediatric orthopedic surgery, to describe a framework for identifying appropriate sets of measures, and to illustrate an application of the framework to a challenging orthopedic problem. A detailed framework of study design and measurement factors is described. The factors are important for selecting appropriate instruments to measure health status and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in a particular context. A study to evaluate treatment alternatives for patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 and congenital tibial dysplasia (NF1-CTD) provides a rich illustration of the application of the framework. The application involves great variability in the instrument selection factors. Furthermore, these patients and their supportive caregivers face numerous complex health challenges with long-term implications for HRQL. Detailed summaries of important generic preference-based multi-attribute measurement systems, pediatric health profile instruments, and pediatric orthopedic-specific instruments are presented. Age-appropriate generic and specific measures are identified for study of NF1-CTD patients. Selected measures include the Activities Scale for Children, Gillette Functional Assessment Questionnaire Walking Scale, Health Utilities Index, and Pediatric Inventory of Quality of Life. Reliable and valid measures for application to pediatric orthopedics are available. There are important differences among measures. The selected measures complement each other. The framework in this report provides a guide for selecting appropriate measures. Application of appropriate sets of measures will enhance the ability to describe the morbidity of pediatric orthopedic patients and to assess the effectiveness of alternative clinical interventions. The framework for measurement of health status and HRQL from a patient perspective has relevance to many other areas of orthopedic practice

DOUBLE KNEE BEND IN THE POWER CLEAN

The power clean is well established as the “gold standard” exercise for the development of lower extremity propulsive forces (Garhammer, 1982). The power clean has become a sprint specific strength and conditioning exercise, which is incorporated into periodised training programmes (Siff, 1992). Specifically the occurrence of a double knee bend (DKB) provides a mechanism to elicit a sprint specific stretch shortening cycle (SSC), maximising power output (Enoka, 1979). The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate whether the DKB occurred in power cleans as relative load increased

In good company: risk, security and choice in young people's drug decisions

This article draws on original empirical research with young people to question the degree to which 'individualisation of risk', as developed in the work of Beck and Giddens, adequately explains the risks young people bear and take. It draws on alternative understandings and critiques of 'risk' not to refute the notion of the reflexive individual upon which 'individualisation of risk' is based but to re-read that reflexivity in a more hermeneutic way. It explores specific risk-laden moments – young people's drug use decisions – in their natural social and cultural context of the friendship group. Studying these decisions in context, it suggests, reveals the meaning of 'risk' to be not given, but constructed through group discussion, disagreement and consensus and decisions taken to be rooted in emotional relations of trust, mutual accountability and common security. The article concludes that 'the individualisation of risk' fails to take adequate account of the significance of intersubjectivity in risk-decisions. It argues also that addressing the theoretical overemphasis on the individual bearer of risk requires not only further empirical testing of the theory but appropriate methodological reflection

Contestable adulthood: variability and disparity in markers for negotiating the transition to adulthood

Recent research has identified a discreet set of subjective markers that are seen as characterizing the transition to adulthood. The current study challenges this coherence by examining the disparity and variability in young people’s selection of such criteria. Four sentence-completion cues corresponding to four differentcontexts in which adult status might be contested were given to 156 British 16- to 17-year-olds. Their qualitative responses were analyzed to explore patterns whilst capturing some of their richness and diversity. An astonishing amount of variability emerged, both within and between cued contexts.The implications of this variability for how the transition to adulthood is experienced are explored. The argument is made that markers of the transition to adulthood are not merely reflective of the bio–psycho–social development of young people. Rather, adulthood here is seen as an essentially contested concept,located within the discursive interactional environment in which young people participate