Thinning of deciduous fruits

In the absence of any artificial control of the crop, most varieties of fruit trees will set much more fruit than it is possible for the trees to bring to marketable size and this is particularly the case with stone fruits. Even under good cultural and weather conditions the trees are often unable to bring the fruit to satisfactory size unless thinning is practised

Aquifer thermal energy storage : A well doublet experiment at increased temperatures

This is the published version. Copyright 1983 American Geophysical UnionThe two main objectives of this communication are to present a study of potential advantages and disadvantages of the doublet supply-injection well configuration in an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system and to report on aquifer storage problems with injection temperatures in the 80°C range. A 3-month injection-storage-recovery cycle followed by a 7.3-month cycle constituted the main experiment. The injection volumes were 25,402 m3 and 58,063 m3 at average temperatures of 58.5°C and 81°C respectively. Unlikely previous experiments at the Mobile site, no clogging of the injection well due to clay particle swelling, dispersion, and migration was observed. This is attributed to the fact that the supply water used for injection contained a cation concentration equal to or slightly greater than that in the native groundwater. For cycles I and II, the fraction of injected energy recovered in a volume of water equal to the injection volume was 0.56 and 0.45 respectively. Both groundwater temperature and tracer data support the conclusion that this relatively low recovery was due to the detrimental effects of free thermal convection, possibly augmented by longitudinal zones of high permeability. Construction of a partially penetrating recovery well improved recovery efficiency but is not thought to be an adequate solution to thermal stratification. A maximum increase of 1.24 cm in relative land surface elevation was recorded near the end of second cycle injection. The engineering implications of such an elevation change would have to be considered, especially if an ATES system were being designed in an urban environment. A third cycle was started at the Mobile site on April 7, 1982. This final experiment contains a partially penetrating, dual-recovery well system which is expected to maximize energy recovery from a thermally stratified storage aquifer

IT Value in Public Administrations: a Model Proposal for E-Procurement

Recent studies have affirmed the necessity of a discontinuity in the method of investigating the value produced in organisations by IT. Existing studies have in common a prevailing (when not exclusive) attention paid to the private sector, as testified by the frequent use of income or financial indicators to measure benefits. These approaches however cannot be directly applied to public utility organisations like public administrations. Taking into account this scenario, the present exploratory work looks at the analysis of IT investments in the public sector by identifying a viable approach to research in this domain. To move towards this objective, procurement management has been taken as the field to be observed, and an Italian publich Local Healthcare Agency which has managed several e-procurement projects has been analysed. This case represents a valuable context for examination and discussion because the outcomes of each project were evaluated in details. A riche IT Value Model devoted to the private secotr has been adopted and discussed, and later some resulting adaptations are suggested, together with some hints and limitations.Recent studies have affirmed the necessity of a discontinuity in the method of investigating the value produced in organisations by IT. Existing studies have in common a prevailing (when not exclusive) attention paid to the private sector, as testified by the frequent use of income or financial indicators to measure benefits. These approaches however cannot be directly applied to public utility organisations like public administrations. Taking into account this scenario, the present exploratory work looks at the analysis of IT investments in the public sector by identifying a viable approach to research in this domain. To move towards this objective, procurement management has been taken as the field to be observed, and an Italian publich Local Healthcare Agency which has managed several e-procurement projects has been analysed. This case represents a valuable context for examination and discussion because the outcomes of each project were evaluated in details. A riche IT Value Model devoted to the private secotr has been adopted and discussed, and later some resulting adaptations are suggested, together with some hints and limitations.Monograph's chapter

Some comments on graduate training for engineers

QUESTIONING the value and adequacy of postgraduate engineering courses as commonly conducted, L. W. W. Morrow in an article in Electrical Engineering for March 1939, pages 118–22, called for a program of investigation of postgraduate training. Solicited comments of some representative industrialists and educators are presented here

Modelling the effects of past and future climate on the risk of bluetongue emergence in Europe

Vector-borne diseases are among those most sensitive to climate because the ecology of vectors and the development rate of pathogens within them are highly dependent on environmental conditions. Bluetongue (BT), a recently emerged arboviral disease of ruminants in Europe, is often cited as an illustration of climate's impact on disease emergence, although no study has yet tested this association. Here, we develop a framework to quantitatively evaluate the effects of climate on BT's emergence in Europe by integrating high-resolution climate observations and model simulations within a mechanistic model of BT transmission risk. We demonstrate that a climate-driven model explains, in both space and time, many aspects of BT's recent emergence and spread, including the 2006 BT outbreak in northwest Europe which occurred in the year of highest projected risk since at least 1960. Furthermore, the model provides mechanistic insight into BT's emergence, suggesting that the drivers of emergence across Europe differ between the South and the North. Driven by simulated future climate from an ensemble of 11 regional climate models, the model projects increase in the future risk of BT emergence across most of Europe with uncertainty in rate but not in trend. The framework described here is adaptable and applicable to other diseases, where the link between climate and disease transmission risk can be quantified, permitting the evaluation of scale and uncertainty in climate change's impact on the future of such diseases

Walk well:a randomised controlled trial of a walking intervention for adults with intellectual disabilities: study protocol

Background - Walking interventions have been shown to have a positive impact on physical activity (PA) levels, health and wellbeing for adult and older adult populations. There has been very little work carried out to explore the effectiveness of walking interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities. This paper will provide details of the Walk Well intervention, designed for adults with intellectual disabilities, and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test its effectiveness. Methods/design - This study will adopt a RCT design, with participants allocated to the walking intervention group or a waiting list control group. The intervention consists of three PA consultations (baseline, six weeks and 12 weeks) and an individualised 12 week walking programme. A range of measures will be completed by participants at baseline, post intervention (three months from baseline) and at follow up (three months post intervention and six months from baseline). All outcome measures will be collected by a researcher who will be blinded to the study groups. The primary outcome will be steps walked per day, measured using accelerometers. Secondary outcome measures will include time spent in PA per day (across various intensity levels), time spent in sedentary behaviour per day, quality of life, self-efficacy and anthropometric measures to monitor weight change. Discussion - Since there are currently no published RCTs of walking interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities, this RCT will examine if a walking intervention can successfully increase PA, health and wellbeing of adults with intellectual disabilities

Abdominal wall paresis as a complication of laparoscopic surgery

Purpose: Abdominal wall nerve injury as a result of trocar placement for laparoscopic surgery is rare. We intend to discuss causes of abdominal wall paresis as well as relevant anatomy. Methods: A review of the nerve supply of the abdominal wall is illustrated with a rare case of a patient presenting with paresis of the internal oblique muscle due to a trocar lesion of the right iliohypogastric nerve after laparoscopic appendectomy. Results: Trocar placement in the upper lateral abdomen can damage the subcostal nerve (Th12), caudal intercostal nerves (Th7-11) and ventral rami of the thoracic nerves (Th7-12). Trocar placement in the lower abdomen can damage the ilioinguinal (L1 or L2) and iliohypogastric nerves (Th12-L1). Pareses of abdominal muscles due to trocar placement are rare due to overlap in innervation and relatively small sizes of trocar incisions. Conclusion: Knowledge of the anatomy of the abdominal wall is mandatory in order to avoid the injury of important structures during trocar placement

Magnetic Field Amplification in Galaxy Clusters and its Simulation

We review the present theoretical and numerical understanding of magnetic field amplification in cosmic large-scale structure, on length scales of galaxy clusters and beyond. Structure formation drives compression and turbulence, which amplify tiny magnetic seed fields to the microGauss values that are observed in the intracluster medium. This process is intimately connected to the properties of turbulence and the microphysics of the intra-cluster medium. Additional roles are played by merger induced shocks that sweep through the intra-cluster medium and motions induced by sloshing cool cores. The accurate simulation of magnetic field amplification in clusters still poses a serious challenge for simulations of cosmological structure formation. We review the current literature on cosmological simulations that include magnetic fields and outline theoretical as well as numerical challenges.Comment: 60 pages, 19 Figure