Foreword

This report provides a study and a simulation of a feasible system configuration for the implementation of a Stirling engine for electrification of rural areas in Bolivia. The aim of the review is to determine if a hybrid system combining a biomass-fired Stirling engine and photovoltaic technology may respond to a basic electricity need. An introductory literature study about the Stirling engine technology and the energy resources and characteristics of Bolivia leads to a further proposal of the selected system for rural electrification. The chosen Stirling engine for this study is a 3 kW electric output engine combined with a PV array of 0.9 kW and a battery bank with a capacity of 1200 Ah. The power demand that must be satisfied is based on a rural village in the department of Beni with an amount of 24 households. The simulation is performed in the software Homer Energy where an energy balance between the generated power and the demand can be analysed in order to optimise the power generation strategy. Two scenarios are simulated with monthly demands of 45 and 60 kWh per household. Results from the study indicate that the decision on the size of the Stirling engine must be attached to the demand that is going to satisfy in order to avoid insufficient or excessive power production. In addition, although the PV technology allows an increase on the power demand that the system can handle and makes it more flexible, its contribution is not of the same order of the Stirling engine. The described system configuration is able to attend a demand up to 55 kWh/day and a peak power of 3.8 kW. In conclusion, Stirling engines have the potential to become a good solution for rural electrification, especially when making use of CHP strategies to increase the overall efficiency of the energy generation and fulfil both the electric and thermal demands of rural populations.

Enhanced Support for High Intensity Users of the Criminal Justice System – an evaluation of mental health nurse input into Integrated Offender Management Services in the North East of England

The current UK Government’s focus on the development of services to manage and support offenders with mental health problems has resulted in a number of innovative project developments. This research examines a service development in the North East of England which co-located Mental Health nurses with two Integrated Offender Management teams. While not solving all problems, the benefits of co-location were clear – although such innovations are now at risk from government changes which will make Integrated Offender Management the responsibility of new providers without compelling them to co-operate with health services

Prison Health Discharge Planning- Evidence of an integrated care pathway or the end of the road?

This article is based on research conducted in several prisons in North East England. It explores the effectiveness of prisons, and the wider criminal justice system, at meeting the healthcare needs of inmates as they leave prison, or transfer between prisons. In doing so, the article details policy context, areas of good practice and issues that still need to be addressed in relation to the creation of an integrated care pathway

Evolutionary Biology: Microsporidia Sex — A Missing Link to Fungi

SummaryThe evolutionary origins of the microsporidia, a group of intracellular eukaryotic pathogens, have been unclear. Genome analysis of a sex locus and other gene clusters has now revealed conserved synteny with zygomycete fungi, indicating that microsporidia are true fungi descended from a zygomycete ancestor

Highlands College Students\u27 Driving Habits

The purpose of this study is to understand driving habits of college students. The study demonstrates potential inappropriate behaviors.https://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/stdt_rsch_day_2013/1002/thumbnail.jp

Nuclear gene phylogeography using PHASE: dealing with unresolved genotypes, lost alleles, and systematic bias in parameter estimation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A widely-used approach for screening nuclear DNA markers is to obtain sequence data and use bioinformatic algorithms to estimate which two alleles are present in heterozygous individuals. It is common practice to omit unresolved genotypes from downstream analyses, but the implications of this have not been investigated. We evaluated the haplotype reconstruction method implemented by PHASE in the context of phylogeographic applications. Empirical sequence datasets from five non-coding nuclear loci with gametic phase ascribed by molecular approaches were coupled with simulated datasets to investigate three key issues: (1) haplotype reconstruction error rates and the nature of inference errors, (2) dataset features and genotypic configurations that drive haplotype reconstruction uncertainty, and (3) impacts of omitting unresolved genotypes on levels of observed phylogenetic diversity and the accuracy of downstream phylogeographic analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that PHASE usually had very low false-positives (i.e., a low rate of confidently inferring haplotype pairs that were incorrect). The majority of genotypes that could not be resolved with high confidence included an allele occurring only once in a dataset, and genotypic configurations involving two low-frequency alleles were disproportionately represented in the pool of unresolved genotypes. The standard practice of omitting unresolved genotypes from downstream analyses can lead to considerable reductions in overall phylogenetic diversity that is skewed towards the loss of alleles with larger-than-average pairwise sequence divergences, and in turn, this causes systematic bias in estimates of important population genetic parameters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A combination of experimental and computational approaches for resolving phase of segregating sites in phylogeographic applications is essential. We outline practical approaches to mitigating potential impacts of computational haplotype reconstruction on phylogeographic inferences. With targeted application of laboratory procedures that enable unambiguous phase determination via physical isolation of alleles from diploid PCR products, relatively little investment of time and effort is needed to overcome the observed biases.</p

Differences in MAT gene distribution and expression between Rhynchosporium species on grasses

Leaf blotch is a globally important disease of barley crops and other grasses that is caused by at least five host-specialized species in the fungal genus Rhynchosporium. The pathogen R. commune (specialized to barley, brome-grass and Italian ryegrass) has long been considered to reproduce only by asexual means, but there has been accumulating evidence for recombination and gene flow from population genetic studies and the detection of complementary MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 isolates in a c. 1:1 ratio in the field. Here, it is demonstrated that 28 isolates of the closely related species R. agropyri (on couch-grass) and R. secalis (on rye and triticale), collected from Europe, were also either of MAT1-1 or MAT1-2 genotype and that the distribution of mating types did not deviate significantly from a 1:1 ratio. Evidence is then provided for MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1 gene expression during mycelial growth for all three species. By contrast, 27 isolates of the more distantly related R. orthosporum (on cocksfoot) and R. lolii (on Italian and perennial ryegrasses) from Europe were exclusively of the MAT1-1 genotype, and expression of the MAT1-1-1 gene could not be detected during mycelial growth. These data suggest that cryptic sexual cycles are more likely to exist for R. commune, R. agropyri and R. secalis than for either R. orthosporum or R. lolii. A phylogenetic analysis of partial MAT1-1 idiomorph sequences resolved these five species into two distinct groups (R. commune, R. agropyri and R. secalis versus R. orthosporum and R. lolii) but provided only limited resolution within each group

Study of factors affecting sheep production

Report on Department of Animal Husbandry Research Project No. 77, Entitled 'Lamb Production'--P. [2].Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (pages 72-[74])