TAMESIS (Río). Mapas hidrográficos (1767). 1:4600

Título completado a partir del contenido del documentoEscala gráfica de 1 milla [= 35 cm]. Orientado con lis en rosa de treinta y dos vientosIndica sondas batimétricas, bancos y fondeaderosTítulo enmarcado en cartela decorada con motivos vegetales y alegórico

Unified modelling of aerospace systems: a bond graph approach

Systems Integration is widely accepted as the basis for improving the efficiency and performance of many engineering products. The aim is to build a unified optimised system not a collection of subsystems that are combined in some ad hoc manner. This moves traditional design boundaries and, in so doing, enables a structured evolution from an integrated system concept to an integrated system product. It is recognised that the inherent complexity cannot be handled effectively without mathematical modelling. The problem is not so much the large number of components but rather the very large number of functional interfaces that result. The costs involved are high and, if the claims of improved efficiency and performance are to be affordable (or even achievable), predictive modelling and analysis will play a major role in reducing risk. A modelling framework is required which can support integrated system development from concept through to certification. This means building a 'system' inside a computer and demonstrating the feasibility of an entire development cycle. The objective is to provide complete coverage of system functionality so as to gain confidence in the design before becoming locked into a full development programme with associated capital investment and contractual arrangements. With these points in mind the purpose of this thesis is threefold. First, to demonstrate the application of bond graphs as a unified modelling framework for aerospace systems. Second, to review the main principles involved with the modelling of engineering systems and to justify the selection of the bond graph notation as a suitable means of representing the power flow (i.e. the dynamics) of physical systems. Third, to present an exposition of the bond graph method and to evolve it into a versatile notation for integrated systems. The originality of the work is based on the recognition that systems integration is a relatively new field of interest without a mature body of academic literature or reported research. Apparently, there is no open literature on the modelling of complete air vehicles plus their embedded vehicle systems which deals with issues of integrated dynamics and control. To this end, bond graph concepts need to be developed and extended in new direction in order to facilitate an intuitive approach to the modelling of integrated systems

TAMESIS (Río). Mapas hidrográficos (1767). 1:105000

Fecha de publicación tomada de "Tooley's dictionary of Mapmakers", Tring, 1979, p. 166Escala gráfica de 10 millas [= 15,4 cm]. Orientado con lis en rosa de treinta y dos vientos prolongadosOrografía de perfil. Indica sondas batimétricas y bancos de arenaEn el margen inferior una tabla refleja los bancos, estrechos que tiene el río y una amplia leyenda informa cómo navegar por élTítulo enmarcado en cartela decorada con motivos alegóricos y vegetale

Information behaviour of doctors in Malawi : an evidence-based medicine perspective

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is important in the medical field and especially in developing countries like Malawi where it might promote efficient health services. An understanding of the information behaviour practices of doctors is important for the development of an EBM approach in training, education, and healthcare services, and for EBM practices in developing countries. This includes how doctors define their information needs in clinical settings, their information seeking preferences, self-rating of their information search skills, the nature of their information sources, their information use and how these relate to EBM. Doctors in Malawi are required to keep up with global standards of medical practice and EBM practices that demand active use of clinical evidence and information, and good access to information resources and information tools. They, however, face many local challenges such as; poor doctor to patient ratio (i.e. 1:60 against a desired 1:25), big disease burdens, heavy workloads, inadequate finances and poor access to information resources. Such challenges threaten the adoption of EBM practices. The study was conducted in Malawi as a developing country suffering from great economic challenges that bear negatively on the health services and infrastructure. The design of the study was influenced by the socio-cognitive paradigm of information behaviour and Wilson‟s 1996 model of information behaviour. A targeted sample of 200 doctors was identified from 400 doctors clustered within the Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba, Thyolo and Chiradzulu districts in Malawi. A mixed methods design was applied in which both quantitative and qualitative data was collected. Out of 200 doctors, 20 doctors were selected as key informants for the qualitative in-depth interviews. Data collection was done between September and October of 2015, and the response rate from the quantitative survey was 86.5%. SPSS was used to generate descriptive statistics from the quantitative data while thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative data from the in depth interviews. The study found that 73% of the doctors indicated that EBM was an operating policy in their establishments, which influenced their definition of information needs. The most popular information needs related to disease diagnosis, treatment, and general patient care. However, 80% of the doctors reported heavy workloads where many saw an average of 37 patients per day. This limited the amount of time at their disposal for information seeking/searching. Other barriers to information seeking/searching were lack of access to the Internet, lack of access to credible medical information sources and lack of training in information literacy skills and EBM. However, cellular phones played a critical role in accessing information from human sources and for enabling doctors with Internet search skills to access open source clinical evidence. The results demonstrate that it is one thing for medical doctors to have knowledge and a positive attitude towards EBM and yet another thing to apply it in resource poor countries such as Malawi. The results also show that there were both sociological and psychological factors at play in the information behaviour of medical doctors in Malawi. This confirms the socio-cognitive paradigm and Wilson‟s 1996 model as the best framework for understanding the information behaviour of the doctor in Malawi. Some of the activating mechanisms and intervening variables of information behaviour of medical doctors in Malawi are unique hence the study‟s adaptation of Wilson‟s 1996 model to a model more appropriate of information behaviour for doctors in a developing country. Based on the model, a number of changes to the policies and practices of the Malawian health and medical services are recommended to support and encourage effective EBM in the country.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Information SciencePhDUnrestricte

Reflections on the first twenty-five years of the University of Malawi College of Medicine

September 2016 marks 25 years since the College of Medicine of the University of Malawi was established. In this article we reflect on its conception, birth, adolescence, and youth. The contributions of multiple stakeholders are celebrated while being mindful of the ongoing efforts to consolidate past and current gains. For instance, the College of Medicine was, until recently, the only medical school in the country, but a new private medical school has just been opened in Lilongwe. International partnerships and wide-ranging resource mobilisation from both internal and international funders has been the hallmark of the growth and expansion of the Malawi College of Medicine. Further, the expanding needs for specialists in several clinical and non-clinical areas among the health professions calls for responsive strategies to address this and other human resources needs

Which elements of socially prescribed activities most improve wellbeing?

Nurses are becoming increasingly involved in social prescribing, which is the use of non-medical interventions to treat a health problem, but little is known about which activities are most effective at improving emotional wellbeing. A study, therefore, evaluated a multifaceted activity – a visit to an inner-city farm – to measure which elements were the best predictors of psychological wellbeing. It found that, regardless of the activities engaged in, visiting the farm, on average, increased positive mood and reduced negative mood; the main contributing factor to this was social interaction

Genome signature-based dissection of human gut metagenomes to extract subliminal viral sequences

Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) have a key role in shaping the development and functional outputs of host microbiomes. Although metagenomic approaches have greatly expanded our understanding of the prokaryotic virosphere, additional tools are required for the phage-oriented dissection of metagenomic data sets, and host-range affiliation of recovered sequences. Here we demonstrate the application of a genome signature-based approach to interrogate conventional whole-community metagenomes and access subliminal, phylogenetically targeted, phage sequences present within. We describe a portion of the biological dark matter extant in the human gut virome, and bring to light a population of potentially gut-specific Bacteroidales-like phage, poorly represented in existing virus like particle-derived viral metagenomes. These predominantly temperate phage were shown to encode functions of direct relevance to human health in the form of antibiotic resistance genes, and provided evidence for the existence of putative ‘viral-enterotypes’ among this fraction of the human gut virome