Evaluating Tall Wind Turbine Tower Designs

Developing wind turbines taller than the 80 m standard used today is a major focus in the wind turbine industry in order to reach the stronger and steadier winds that occur at these heights. In order to access these winds and increase wind power production efficiency, new designs must be utilized to overcome issues with upscaling the current standard steel tubular tower design. In this research, a cost analysis of steel tubular towers was conducted to determine if this design is cost effective at heights above 80. Through this analysis, it was determined that steel tubular designs become less cost effective as tower height is increased and are not a cost effective option above 80 m. A second cost analysis was conducted to compare four potential 100 m turbine tower designs, each utilizing different materials. Cost estimates for each design were developed to compare capital costs and cost efficiency for both 20 and 40 year life cycles. In this analysis, the Ultra High Performance Concrete design was the most cost effective option. The precast concrete design was second most cost effective, followed by the steelconcrete hybrid design. The steel tubular design was the least cost effective at 100 m

Sentir-se bem em família: um desafio frente à diversidade = Feeling Well in Family: a challenge towards diversity

No presente trabalho, discutimos acerca das crises da família, apresentando informações que demonstram a diversidade de configurações familiares existentes no contexto brasileiro atual, tais como separações, divórcios, uniões consensuais, casais sem filhos, recasamentos, dentre outras. Desse modo, refletimos acerca da crise do modelo tradicional de família e não da instituição família, questionando: Como sentir-se bem em família frente a tal pluralidade? Sugerimos, então, alguns aspectos que devem ser observados para atender as demandas dessas novas famílias e, conseqüentemente, promover a saúde de seus membros. <br> In this study, we discuss about the family crisis, presenting information that demonstrate the diversity of family configurations that exists in current Brazilian context, such as separations, divorce, consensual unions, couple with no children, remarriage, and others. In this way, we reflect about the crisis of the traditional model of family and not the family institution per se, asking: How can we feel good in family facing this plurality? We suggest some aspects that could be observed to attend these new families demands and, consequently, to promote their members‟ health

Atmospheric corrections for TIMS estimated emittance

The estimated temperature of the average of 500 lines of Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data of the Pacific Ocean, from flight line 94, collected on 30 Sep. 1988, at 1931 GMT is shown. With no atmospheric corrections, estimated temperature decreases away from nadir (the center of the scan line). A LOWTRAN modeled correction, using local radiosonde data and instrument scan angle information, results in reversed limb darkening effects for most bands, and does not adequately correct all bands to the same temperature. The atmosphere tends to re-radiate energy at the wavelengths at which it most absorbs, and thus the overall difference between corrected and uncorrected temperatures is approximately 40 C, despite the average LOWTRAN calculated transmittance of only 60 percent between 8.1 and 11.6 microns. An alternative approach to atmospheric correction is a black body normalization. This is done by calculating a normalization factor for each pixel position and wavelength, which when applied results in a single calculated temperature, as would be expected for a gray body with near uniform emittance. The black body adjustment is based on the atmospheric conditions over the sea. The ground elevation profile along the remaining 3520 scan lines (approximately 10 km) of flight line 94, up the slopes of Kilauea, determined from aircraft pressure and laser altimeter data is shown. This flight line includes a large amount of vegetation that is clearly discernible on the radiance image, being much cooler than the surrounding rocks. For each of the 3520 scan lines, pixels were classified as vegetation or 'other'. A moving average of 51 lines was applied to the composite vegetation emittance for each scan line, to reduce noise. Assuming vegetation to be like water, and to act as gray body with an emittance of 0.986 across the spectrum, it is shown that that the LOWTRAN induced artifacts are severe, and other than for the 0.9.9 micron channel, not significantly different from applying no corrections at all. As expected, with increasing elevation atmospheric effects are slightly reduced, because moisture tends to be concentrated in the lowermost part of the atmosphere. The black body adjustment is highly robust, and even at elevations nearly 600 meters above the sea, remains an alternative procedure for use in calculating emittance

Risk factors for motherhood among adolescents living with HIV

O presente estudo buscou identificar os fatores de risco para a vivência da gestação e maternidade em jovens vivendo com HIV. Realizou-se um estudo qualitativo de casos múltiplos com três jovens HIV+ (17 a 19 anos), primíparas, com bebês de 4 a 6 meses, recrutadas em serviços especializados de Porto Alegre, Brasil. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista semi-estruturada e questionários de apoio social e adesão ao tratamento. Identificaram-se como fatores de risco para maiores dificuldades na vivência da gestação/maternidade: descoberta da soropositividade durante a gestação, baixa adesão ao tratamento antirretroviral e não realização desse tratamento pelo parceiro, além de dificuldades enfrentadas nos serviços de saúde. Os achados indicam a necessidade de busca ativa de adolescentes gestantes/mães que vivem com HIV e de inclusão do companheiro no seu acompanhamento de saúde, a fim de minimizar o impacto desses fatores de risco e facilitar a transição para a maternidade

Analysing the experience of motherhood among adolescents living with HIV

AimAdolescent motherhood is considered a condition of vulnerability that can be further complicated by the presence of HIV infection, but little is known about how adolescent mothers experience this process. The aim of this study was to analyse the experience of motherhood among adolescents living with HIV.MethodSeven mothers (15-21 years) recruited in specialized services in Porto Alegre/Brazil, whose babies’ ages ranged from four to six months, were interviewed. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim.ResultsThe qualitative content analysis of the interviews revealed a positive vision of motherhood, related to satisfaction with the maternal role and personal fulfilment. Pregnancy and motherhood served to these adolescents as an encouragement for self-care. The mothers’ difficulties were related to HIV and to the repercussions of this clinical condition, especially feelings of frustration and incompleteness of motherhood on the impossibility of breastfeeding, as well as fear facing the risk of MTCT.ConclusionFuture research of longitudinal design and with larger samples will be important to extend the knowledge of the specificities of this experience over time for young people of different ages and social backgrounds