The application of MCP techniques and CFD modelling for wind resource assessment in a mediterranean island context

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.This paper presents salient results from an ongoing investigation into wind behaviour and resources characterisation on the central Mediterranean Maltese archipelago. The ultimate aim is to enable a more accurate determination of the potential for electrical wind power generation in the onshore and inshore marine environments. One area of this research is seeking to generate longer-term wind characteristics at selected locations. The strategy used involves a combination of field measurements at a number of onshore points and the use of Measure-Correlate-Predict (MCP) techniques in conjunction with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. This current study will present selected results from the validation process underway to establish the performance of MCP and CFD in a sub-tropical island context.dc201

Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age.

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Escoamento atmosférico no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara (CLA): parte II - ensaios no túnel de vento Atmospheric flow at the Alcantara Lauching Center (ALC): part II - experiments at a wind tunnel

Estudou-se o escoamento atmosférico no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara (CLA), localizado junto a uma falésia de 50 m de altura, através de simulações em túnel de vento (TV) do CTA/ITA, na escala geométrica 1:1000, com a realização de quatro diferentes ensaios. No TV, os ensaios com degraus de 90° e de 70°, correspondentes à falésia, ambos sem e com simulação de rugosidade adicional a sotavento deles, mostraram: (i) perfeita simulação do perfil de vento oceânico (&#945; = 0,15) sobre a posição do degrau representativo da falésia, utilizando pista de tapete, a montante, para prover a rugosidade necessária; (ii) número de Reynolds máximo possível com comprimento característico igual à altura do degrau neste TV foi 6,52.10(4), enquanto no CLA é da ordem de 3.10(7), razão pela qual é necessário um túnel mais potente; (iii) os expoentes mais próximos dos observados em Roballo e Fisch (2008) foram obtidos com um degrau reto, sem nenhum revestimento especial no piso normal do túnel, exceto o tapete a montante do degrau; (iv) a fixação de cubos a jusante do degrau para representar a vegetação resultou em rugosidades bem maiores que as observadas sobre a vegetação do CLA, possivelmente simulando situações urbanas ou industriais; (v) simulação das características típicas do escoamento após o degrau, tais como o descolamento, a formação de bolha de circulação e nova aderência; (vi) uso de TVs mais potentes certamente permitirá a simulação da situação atmosférica do CLA.<br>The atmospheric flow at the Alcantara Launching Center (ALC), which is localized near a 50 m cliff, was studied through analysis of wind tunnel (WT) experiments, using a 1:1000 geometric scale and floor level configurations to represent the cliff and its downwind roughness. The WT experiments, with 90° and 70° steps representing the cliff, both with and without additional downwind roughness, did show: (i) a perfect simulation of the ocean wind profile (&#945; = 0.15) above the position of the step representing the cliff, through the use of a upwind carpeted fetch to provide the necessary roughness; (ii) the highest Reynolds number possible, based on the height of the cliff, was 6.52 x 10(4) inside this WT, while it reached 3 x10(7) at the ACL - thus, a more powerful tunnel is needed to simulate this last situation; (iii) the values of &#945; nearest to the ones obtained at the ACL resulted from the 90° step experiment without any extra covering over the floor, except the upwind carpet; (iv) the fixing of cubes downwind of the step resulted roughness much greater than the ones observed over the ACL vegetation, so possibly simulating urban or industrial situations; (v) typical characteristics which occur downwind a step were simulated, such as the detachment and the posterior reattachment of the flow, plus the formation of circulation bubbles; (vi) the use of more powerful WTs would certainly permit the simulation of the atmospheric behavior of the ACL

Genotype-phenotype correlations in valosin-containing protein disease: a retrospective muticentre study

Background Valosin-containing protein (VCP) disease, caused by mutations in the VCP gene, results in myopathy, Paget's disease of bone (PBD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Natural history and genotype-phenotype correlation data are limited. This study characterises patients with mutations in VCP gene and investigates genotype-phenotype correlations. Methods Descriptive retrospective international study collecting clinical and genetic data of patients with mutations in the VCP gene. Results Two hundred and fifty-five patients (70.0% males) were included in the study. Mean age was 56.8 +/- 9.6 years and mean age of onset 45.6 +/- 9.3 years. Mean diagnostic delay was 7.7 +/- 6 years. Symmetric lower limb weakness was reported in 50% at onset progressing to generalised muscle weakness. Other common symptoms were ventilatory insufficiency 40.3%, PDB 28.2%, dysautonomia 21.4% and FTD 14.3%. Fifty-seven genetic variants were identified, 18 of these no previously reported. c.464G>A (p.Arg155His) was the most frequent variant, identified in the 28%. Full time wheelchair users accounted for 19.1% with a median time from disease onset to been wheelchair user of 8.5 years. Variant c.463C>T (p.Arg155Cys) showed an earlier onset (37.8 +/- 7.6 year) and a higher frequency of axial and upper limb weakness, scapular winging and cognitive impairment. Forced vital capacity (FVC) below 50% was as risk factor for being full-time wheelchair user, while FVC Conclusion This study expands the knowledge on the phenotypic presentation, natural history, genotype-phenotype correlations and risk factors for disease progression of VCP disease and is useful to improve the care provided to patient with this complex disease.Neurological Motor Disorder

Analysis of muscle magnetic resonance imaging of a large cohort of patient with VCP-mediated disease reveals characteristic features useful for diagnosis

BackgroundThe diagnosis of patients with mutations in the VCP gene can be complicated due to their broad phenotypic spectrum including myopathy, motor neuron disease and peripheral neuropathy. Muscle MRI guides the diagnosis in neuromuscular diseases (NMDs); however, comprehensive muscle MRI features for VCP patients have not been reported so far.MethodsWe collected muscle MRIs of 80 of the 255 patients who participated in the “VCP International Study” and reviewed the T1-weighted (T1w) and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences. We identified a series of potential diagnostic MRI based characteristics useful for the diagnosis of VCP disease and validated them in 1089 MRIs from patients with other genetically confirmed NMDs.ResultsFat replacement of at least one muscle was identified in all symptomatic patients. The most common finding was the existence of patchy areas of fat replacement. Although there was a wide variability of muscles affected, we observed a common pattern characterized by the involvement of periscapular, paraspinal, gluteal and quadriceps muscles. STIR signal was enhanced in 67% of the patients, either in the muscle itself or in the surrounding fascia. We identified 10 diagnostic characteristics based on the pattern identified that allowed us to distinguish VCP disease from other neuromuscular diseases with high accuracy.ConclusionsPatients with mutations in the VCP gene had common features on muscle MRI that are helpful for diagnosis purposes, including the presence of patchy fat replacement and a prominent involvement of the periscapular, paraspinal, abdominal and thigh muscles.Neurological Motor Disorder