The Impact of Tidal Stream Farms on Flood Risk In Estuaries

There is a growing interest in tidal energy, owing to its predictable nature in comparison to other renewable sources. In the case of the UK, its importance also lies on the availability of exploitable areas as well as their total capacity, which is estimated to cover more than 20% of the country demand. However, the level of development of this kind of technology is still far behind other types of renewable energy. However, several studies focused on a variety of individual devices, followed by more recent research on the deployment of large arrays or tidal farms. Potential sites for energy extraction can be found in narrows between islands and the coast or estuaries. The latter present some advantages for the installation and the connection to the grid but estuaries are often prone to flood risk from tides and surges. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to evaluate the effect that very large groups of turbines could have on peak water levels during flooding events in the case of being deployed in estuarine areas. For that purpose, a new methodology has been developed, which implies the use of a numerical model (MIKE 21 by DHI), and it has been demonstrated against a real case study in the UK: the Solway Firth estuary. Another objective has consisted of integrating in this thesis the results from detailed CFD modelling and optimisation techniques involved in the project. A literature review has been carried out in order to identify the current state of the art for the different subjects considered in the thesis. Different aspects of the numerical model used for this study (MIKE 21) have been presented and the modelling of the turbines within the code has been validated against experimental and CFD data. The procedure to include large numbers of turbines in the code is also developed. An analysis has been done of the different estuaries existing in the UK suitable for tidal energy extraction, identifying their main geometrical features. Based on this, idealised models of estuaries have been used to assess the influence that the channel geometry could have on the impact of tidal farms under extreme water levels. The effect has been measured by comparing the results of the numerical model between the case with and without turbines under different flooding scenarios. Finally, the same methodology has been applied to a real case study selected from the previous group of estuaries namely the Solway Firth. An initial model has been created, according to the available data at the start of the research, which contained some errors related to the water depth at the intertidal areas in the upper estuary. Therefore, when a more realistic dataset became available, an improved model was created. The improved model has been used to assess the effects of tidal farms in the estuary under a coastal flooding event. It is concluded that there is significant influence of the channel geometry over the locations where the maximum changes in water levels due to the tidal farms will happen. Nevertheless, the effects seem to be more relevant in terms of the decrease rather than the increase of peak water levels for all geometries and the maximum changes seem to be in the order of dm. This is in agreement with the results of the Solway Firth models and can be summarised as a positive net effect over flood risk. On the other hand, a concern has been raised about the impact on intertidal areas, which could be the subject of future research.University of Exeter - College of Mathematics, Engineering and Physical Sciences EPSR

Leadership best practices of Hispanic leaders in public organizations

The last five decades have seen the population of Hispanics in California rise from 16% to 39% (California State Data Center, 2013). As the number of Hispanics has grown, so has the number of Hispanics responsible for heading public organizations in the State. As more Hispanics obtain leadership positions, they face the same challenges that many other leaders’ face; to do more with less and to operate under the scrutiny of the citizens they represent (Kettle, 2009). The pressure to deliver effective and efficient services is further complicated by the hierarchical structure of public organizations; and the ideals of the old public administration, new public management, and new public service that shape how public administrations function today. The purpose of this study was to determine the best-practices that Hispanic leaders employ to make them successful in leading a public organization. This descriptive phenomenological study utilized a purposive sample of 10 participants who currently provide direct or indirect leadership to a public organization in their role as an elected official. Data was collected through semi-structured interviewed utilizing an eight-open ended question interview protocol. As a result, 6 key findings were identified. One notable finding was that Hispanic leaders of public organizations indicated that key components to their success included; (a) collaboration, (b) communication skills, and (c) continual engagement of internal and external stakeholders. As a result, this study identified current best-practices of Hispanic leaders in public organizations, which help inform current and future Hispanic leaders on what is required to lead a successful organization. It addition, it provides the components to develop a toolkit of diverse leadership skills and abilities that may assist Hispanic leaders navigating through the bureaucracy that engulfs public organizations

INCARCERATION EFFECTS ON ATTAINING HIGHER EDUCATION FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED YOUTH

Incarceration disrupts areas of a juvenile’s life on multiple levels, including personal, social, and educational. Incarceration can present many obstacles for youth who are in pursuit of furthering their education. This research project sought to assess if the five identified factors, including quality of precollege education, mentoring, reentry services, family supports, and socioeconomic status, played a role in adults, who were formerly incarcerated youth, pursuing higher levels of education. The study utilized an online survey to gather numerical data on the participant’s perception of how they believe these factors influenced them. A bivariate analysis was used to analyze if the identified factors had an influence on the pursuit of higher education for adults who were formerly incarcerated youth. A frequency analysis was completed to determine which of the five factors were perceived to be influential to participants. A bivariate analysis was completed to see if there were any relationships to key demographic variables and level of education. The factors deemed most influential were mentoring programs and family supports. The factors that were deemed least influential were reentry services and precollege education. The research findings have the potential to inform social work professionals of what specific programs and services formerly incarcerated populations can be referred to in order to support them on their educational journey

Normas Internacionales de Auditoria : Asuntos clavez de la empresa Fudesa que deben incluirse en el dicatmen de auditoria financiera al 31 de diciembre del 2016 de conformidadd con la NIA 701

La profesión contable y el trabajo de auditoría requieren que el profesional tenga un conocimiento de la ética y la capacidad necesaria para hacer frente a las diversas situaciones que comprometan su trabajo. Lo más importante de la profesión contable y la auditoria es la confiabilidad que se puede tener de los Estados Financieros e Informe de los Auditores Independientes, es por ello que el IAASB continuamente hace modificaciones a las normas para el mejoramiento de los procesos de auditoría y fortalecimiento de la confianza pública en la profesión. Sin embargo existen muchos casos en los cuales grandes firmas de auditoría han emitidos informes de auditoría limpios de empresas que poco después de la auditoría se dan a la quiebra sin que el auditor haya incluido en el dictamen algún asunto clave relacionado al funcionamiento de la entidad. Por todo lo antes mencionado se decidió realizar el presente trabajo acerca de la comunicación de asuntos claves en el informe del auditor conforme la NIA 701, el cual se realizó mediante la investigación en libros, revistas, informes y páginas web. El desarrollo de este documento comprende primeramente conceptos relevantes, resumen de la responsabilidad del auditor y la administración, así como ejemplos aplicados al caso de la empresa FUDESA, entidad microfinanciera que presenta asuntos relevantes para ser comunicados, los Estados Financieros son al 31 Diciembre 2016. Finalmente se considera que el auditor independiente debe tener la capacidad profesional y debido cuidado para realizar su trabajo de acuerdo a las normas de auditoría, asimismo debe hacer uso de su juicio profesional para determinar los asuntos claves que debe informar en el dictamen. Como se ha dicho el trabajo de auditoría debe ser confiable para los usuarios de los estados financieros, en efecto la eficiencia y eficacia son muy importantes para emitir informes que satisfagan las necesidades de información y muestren una opinión objetiva de la realidad de la entidad

Diabetic ketoacidosis with mild hyperglycemia associated with the use of canagliflozin. Report of one case with type 1 diabetes

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus; Scielo.Diabetic ketoacidosis with mild hyperglycemia is a major complication of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. Although its use is not approved for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, the drug is often prescribed with the hope of optimizing metabolic control. We report a 20 years old female with hypo-thyroidism and type 1 diabetes consulting for vomiting and abdominal pain. The patient had used canagliflozin during the two previous months. Laboratory showed a blood glucose of 200 mg/dl, a severe metabolic acidosis (pH 7.1) and ketonemia. The patient was successfully treated in the intensive care unit.http://ref.scielo.org/65brd

Biana: a software framework for compiling biological interactions and analyzing networks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The analysis and usage of biological data is hindered by the spread of information across multiple repositories and the difficulties posed by different nomenclature systems and storage formats. In particular, there is an important need for data unification in the study and use of protein-protein interactions. Without good integration strategies, it is difficult to analyze the whole set of available data and its properties.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We introduce BIANA (Biologic Interactions and Network Analysis), a tool for biological information integration and network management. BIANA is a Python framework designed to achieve two major goals: i) the integration of multiple sources of biological information, including biological entities and their relationships, and ii) the management of biological information as a network where entities are nodes and relationships are edges. Moreover, BIANA uses properties of proteins and genes to infer latent biomolecular relationships by transferring edges to entities sharing similar properties. BIANA is also provided as a plugin for Cytoscape, which allows users to visualize and interactively manage the data. A web interface to BIANA providing basic functionalities is also available. The software can be downloaded under GNU GPL license from <url>http://sbi.imim.es/web/BIANA.php</url>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>BIANA's approach to data unification solves many of the nomenclature issues common to systems dealing with biological data. BIANA can easily be extended to handle new specific data repositories and new specific data types. The unification protocol allows BIANA to be a flexible tool suitable for different user requirements: non-expert users can use a suggested unification protocol while expert users can define their own specific unification rules.</p