Energy Portfolio Assessment Tool (EPAT): Sustainable Energy Planning Using the WEF Nexus Approach - Texas Case Study

The future energy portfolio at the national and subnational levels should consider its impact on water resources and environment. Although energy resources are the main contributors to the national economic growth, these resources must not exploit other primary natural resources. A study of the connections between energy and natural systems, such as water, environment and land, is required prior to proceeding to energy development. Policy makers are in need of a tool quantifying the interlinkages across energy, water and the environment, while demonstrating the consequent trade-offs across the nexus systems. The Energy Portfolio Assessment Tool (EPAT) is a tool enabling the user to create different energy portfolio scenarios with various energy and electricity sources, and evaluate the scenario’s sustainability environmentally and economically. The Water-Energy-Food nexus systematic approach is the foundation of the EPAT framework. Texas is a suitable geographical region to study and assess the current and future implications of energy portfolios. The research evaluates the impact of the current and projected Texas energy portfolios on water and the environment, taking into consideration production, generation and production change. The three scenarios are: Reference Case - 2015, CPP with Energy Reference Case - 2030, and No CPP with Energy Reference Case - 2030. In the presence of the CPP, total water withdrawal is expected to decrease significantly, while total water consumption is projected to experience a shy decrease due to the increase in water consumption in electricity generation caused by the new electricity mix. The CPP is successful in decreasing emissions, but is accompanied by tradeoffs, such as increasing water consumption and land use by electricity generation. The absence of the CPP will lead to an extreme surge in total water withdrawn, consumed and emissions. Therefore, conservation policies should move from the silo to the nexus mentality to avoid unintended consequences as improving one part of the nexus could end up worsening the other parts

A study of the physiological responses of human beings in adaptation to stress in different simulated laboratory environmental conditions

A study in the search for the physiological responses in human beings in adaptation to stress. in different simulated laboratory environmental conditions with no protective clothing mainly for a short period of exposure. [Continues.

Diffusionsgewichtete Ganzkörper-MRT mit ADC-Mapping zur Überprüfung eines frühzeitigen Ansprechens bei Multiplem Myelom

Die vorliegende Studie wurde im Zeitraum von März 2009 bis Januar 2010 in der medizinischen Fakultät der Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen durchgeführt. An der Studie nahmen 12 Patienten, 9 Männer und 3 Frauen, mit Multiplem Myelom Stadium III teil. Das Ziel lag in der Abschätzung der Durchführbarkeit einer diffusionsgewichteten Ganzkörper-MRT (DWI) für eine zeitnahe Auswertung des Ansprechens auf neue Therapieverfahren. Verwendet wurde eine „single-shot echo-planar-imaging DWI-Sequenz“ mit Stejskal-Tanner diffusion encoding scheme and spectral fat suppression’. Die Untersuchungen wurden mit einem 1,5-T MR-Scanner (Magnetom AVANTO, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Deutschland) durchgeführt. Zusätzlich erfolgte eine Laboranalyse auf Serum- und Urin-M-Proteine. 11 Patienten konnten als Responder hinsichtlich des klinischen mittelfristigen Erfolgs und Verlauf der Laborparameter klassifiziert werden, wohingegen ein Patient als Non-Responder eingestuft wurde. Bei den Respondern kam es zu einem schnellen Anstieg der ADC-Werte, selbst in einem frühen Stadium nach Beginn der Therapie. Die Ganzkörper-DWI mit ADC-mapping erwies sich somit bei Myelom-Patienten als eine zulässige Diagnosenmethode zur kurzfristigen Beurteilung des Behandlungserfolgs. Abschließend kommen wir zu dem Ergebnis, dass die WB-DWI-MRT auf der Grundlage unserer vorläufigen Studienergebnisse für eine kurzfristige/zeitnahe Bewertung auf das Ansprechen auf Bortezomib / Thalidomid und Lenalidomid, alleine oder in Kombination mit basierten Therapieschemata durchführbar ist

Inspiral-merger-ringdown waveforms of spinning, precessing black-hole binaries in the effective-one-body formalism

We describe a general procedure to generate spinning, precessing waveforms that include inspiral, merger and ringdown stages in the effective-one-body (EOB) approach. The procedure uses a precessing frame in which precession-induced amplitude and phase modulations are minimized, and an inertial frame, aligned with the spin of the final black hole, in which we carry out the matching of the inspiral-plunge to merger-ringdown waveforms. As a first application, we build spinning, precessing EOB waveforms for the gravitational modes l=2 such that in the nonprecessing limit those waveforms agree with the EOB waveforms recently calibrated to numerical-relativity waveforms. Without recalibrating the EOB model, we then compare EOB and post-Newtonian precessing waveforms to two numerical-relativity waveforms produced by the Caltech-Cornell-CITA collaboration. The numerical waveforms are strongly precessing and have 35 and 65 gravitational-wave cycles. We find a remarkable agreement between EOB and numerical-relativity precessing waveforms and spins' evolutions. The phase difference is ~ 0.2 rad at merger, while the mismatches, computed using the advanced-LIGO noise spectral density, are below 2% when maximizing only on the time and phase at coalescence and on the polarization angle.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Ecrit de recherche universitaire : éléments pour une sensibilisation au positionnement scientifique à travers la phraséologie transdisciplinaire

This research formulates some thoughts that are essential to initiate students, non native speakers, to academic writing and help in mastering it. Several questions have guided this study : What role might have the descriptive studies of scientific writing in a successful familiarization with academic writing? What is the point of an introduction to rhetorical functions based on transdisciplinary phraseology and on a so-called genre approach? Is it possible to submit support elements that would be beneficial to all students regardless of their disciplines? An exploratory study of a particular rhetorical function that is "positioning" has allowed us to understand the extent to which linguistic elements, namely transdisciplinary collocations could help students to less apprehend the requirement of an essentially polyphonic and argumentative writing or to further show their positioning in their academic writings.Ce travail de recherche se donne pour objectif de formuler des éléments de réflexion indispensables à une initiation à l'écrit de recherche universitaire, pour venir en aide aux étudiants locuteurs non natifs. Plusieurs questions ont sous-tendu cette étude : quel rôle pourraient avoir les études descriptives des écrits scientifiques dans une familiarisation réussie à l'écrit de recherche ? Quel est l'intérêt d'une initiation aux fonctions rhétoriques basée sur la phraséologie transdisciplinaire et fondée sur une approche dite par genre ? Est-il possible de soumettre des éléments d'aide dont pourraient profiter tous les étudiants quelles que soient leurs disciplines ?Une étude exploratoire autour d'une fonction rhétorique particulière qu'est "le positionnement" a permis de comprendre dans quelle mesure des éléments d'ordre linguistique, en l'occurrence les collocations transdisciplinaires, pourraient aider les étudiants à moins appréhender cette exigence d'un écrit essentiellement polyphonique et argumentatif ou encore à se positionner davantage

Instrumentação em Endodontia com instrumentos reciprocantes

O desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias em Endodontia tem auxiliado o Médico Dentista a realizar um procedimento cada vez mais seguro, rápido e confortável para o paciente. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a instrumentação reciprocrante, fazendo uma revisão da literatura acerca das suas principais características e vantagens em relação à utilização dos instrumentos por rotação contínua. Através dos motores de busca Bireme, SciELO, LILACS, PubMed, Periódicos CAPES, foi realizada uma pesquisa limitada a artigos em Inglês e Português, publicados entre 2007 e 2019, utilizando as palavras chaves,“Reciproc®”, “Reciproc Blue®”, “Root canal”, “mechanical instrument”, “NiTi AND Endodontic Instrument”, onde foram encontrados 175 artigos, e destes, 48 obedeciam aos criterios estabelecidos na presente pesquisa. Pode considerar-se que os sistemas reciprocrantes proporcionam uma técnica relativamente prática e rápida, com menor risco de infeção cruzada, por utilizar apenas um instrumento de uso único. Torna-se necessária a realização de novos estudos que permitam elucidar os demais aspetos relativos à efetividade do preparo do canal com esta proposta.The development of new technologies in Endodontics has helped the dentist to perform an increasingly safer procedure, fast and comfortable for the patient. The present work aims to study the reciprocating instrumentation, reviewing the literature about its main characteristics and advantages in relation to the use of the instruments by continuous rotation. Through the search engines Bireme, SciELO, LILACS, PubMed, CAPES Journals, a limited search was conducted to articles in English and Portuguese, published between 2007 and 2019, using the key words, "Reciproc®", "Reciproc Blue®", "Root canal", "mechanical instrument", "NiTi AND Endodontic Instrument", where 175 articles were found, of which 48 obeyed the criteria established in the present research. Reciprocating systems may be considered to provide a relatively practical and rapid technique, with a lower risk of cross-infection, for using only a single-use instrument. It becomes necessary to carry out new studies to elucidate other circumstances relevant to the effectiveness of the canal preparation with this proposal

Solid-State NMR Investigations of 67Zn and 27Al Nuclei in Zinc-Amino Acid Complexes, Zinc-Insulin Hexamers, and Aluminum-Centered Dyes

Modern solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodologies are applied to investigate two spin-5/2 nuclei, Zn-67 and Al-27, in different coordination environments in order to characterize the magnitudes and orientations of their electric field gradient (EFG) and nuclear magnetic shielding tensors. The advantages of using high (21.1 T) applied magnetic fields for detecting Zn-67 directly at ambient temperatures, using the quadrupolar Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (QCPMG) pulse sequence and the stepped-frequency technique, are demonstrated by the successful investigation of the different zinc sites in several zinc-amino acid coordination compounds, and in the more complex polymorphs of the zinc-insulin hexamers. In all systems, the high-field Zn-67 NMR spectra are dominated only by the quadrupolar interaction. The first two Zn-67 NMR spectra of pentacoordinated zinc sites are reported and analyzed. The experimental results are corroborated by ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the Zn-67 NMR parameters in order to gain better understanding of the zinc local electronic environments. Solid-state Al-27 NMR is applied to study three commercial aluminum-phthalocyanine dyes. Solid-state Al-27 NMR experiments, including multiple-quantum magic-angle-spinning (MQMAS) and quadrupolar Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (QCPMG), are employed at multiple high magnetic field strengths (11.7, 14.1 and 21.1 T) to determine the composition and number of aluminum distinct sites in these dyes. The quadrupolar parameters for each Al-27 site are determined from spectral simulations, with quadrupolar coupling constants ranging from 5.40 to 10.0 MHz and asymmetry parameters ranging from 0.10 to 0.50, and compare well with the results of quantum chemical calculations of these tensors. The largest Al-27 chemical shielding anisotropy (CSA), with a span of 120 ppm, observed directly in a solid material is also reported. The combination of MQMAS and computational chemistry are used to interpret the presence of multiple aluminum sites in two of the three samples

Numerical and experimental investigation of a multi-pass heat-pipe-based heat exchanger

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonTheoretical, numerical and experimental investigations have been successfully carried out to characterise the thermal performance of an air-to-water multi-pass heat exchanger equipped with thermosyphon technology. Air and water are the heat source and the heat sink on the evaporator and condenser, respectively. Evaporator and condenser are connected by six thermosyphons, through which thermal energy is transferred. The investigation was performed for two multi-pass configurations at various inlet conditions: a range of air inlet temperatures (100, 150, 200 and 250°C) and mass flow rates (0.05, 0.08, 0.11 and 0.14 kg/s). The water inlet conditions were kept constant (a temperature of 15°C and a mass flow rate of 0.08 kg/s). The theoretical model was built by applying the thermal resistance analogy with the aid of convection, boiling and condensation correlations found in the literature. It was found that the thermal resistances in the first pass act in parallel mode along the ones in the second pass. Similarly, in the case of three passes. Also, the external convective thermal resistance were found to be the major contributor to the overall thermal resistance in the entire heat exchanger. ANSYS Fluent was the numerical tool used to investigate the shell-side convective heat transfer for two multi-pass configurations. The CFD model has been experimentally validated. The two-phase change processes inside the thermosyphons were not modelled during the simulation. Instead, the thermosyphons were treated as solid rods with a constant thermal conductivity, which was calculated. The overall rate of heat transfer was obtained by both CFD and a theoretical model, and the results lay within 15% of the experimental data. The numerical predictions demonstrated that the − Realizable turbulence model with scalable wall function is a reliable tool for predicting heat transfer and fluid flow in such types of heat exchangers. This investigation will add a great knowledge to the academia in terms of both experimentation and modelling in the area of multi-pass thermosyphons-based heat exchangers. Also, it provides the industries with a cost effect design tool for future modelling of similar heat exchanger systems

Parannetaanko kumppaneilla maailmaa vai imagoa? : Järjestö ja yritys yhteistyössä

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.Tutkin pro gradu -tutkielmassani tapaustutkimuksen avulla järjestön ja yrityksen kumppanuutta, ja sitä, mitä merkityksiä järjestö ja yritys antavat itselleen, toisilleen ja kumppanuudelleen. Esimerkkitapauksina käytän Lastenklinikan Kummit ry:tä, Plan Suomi Säätiötä, Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto ry:tä sekä Maailman luonnonsäätiö WWF Suomea yrityskumppaneineen. Valitsin esimerkkitapaukset ajatellen järjestöjen eroavaisuuksia kansainvälisyyden sekä tunnettuuden ja arvostuksen suhteen, sillä uskon, että nämä tekijät voivat vaikuttavaa myös yrityskumppaneiden valikoitumiseen sekä järjestöjen ja kumppaneiden välisiin suhteisiin. Muodostin valintakriteereistäni nelikentän, jonka toisena ulottuvuutena on toiminnan laajuus kansainvälisyyden suhteen ja toisena järjestön tunnettuus ja arvostus. Käytän aineistonani järjestöjen ja yritysten www-sivuja, sekä esimerkkijärjestöjeni yritysyhteistyöstä vastaavien henkilöiden ja kahden yhteistyöyrityksen edustajan haastatteluja. Yritysyhteistyötä järjestössä koordinoi useimmiten markkinointi- tai viestintäosasto ja näin ollen haastateltavani ovat markkinointi- tai viestintäpäälliköitä. Tutkimukseni painopiste on järjestöissä. Tutkimuskysymykseni ovat seuraavat: 1. Miten kumppanuus määritellään? 2. Miten järjestö houkuttelee yrityksiä kumppaneikseen? 3. Miten kumppanit määrittelevät toisensa? 4. Mikä korostuu: järjestön tai yrityksen toimijuus vai itse ajettava asia? Analysoin aineistoani tekstianalyyttisin keinoin ja lainaan avukseni diskurssianalyysin ja argumentaatioanalyysin käsitteitä. Tärkeimpiä metodisia lähteitäni ovat Diskurssianalyysi liikkeessä (Jokinen,Juhila ja Suoninen 1999) sekä Retoriikan valtakunta (Perelman 1977). Pohdin työssäni järjestöjä kolmannen sektorin toimijoina sekä kumppanuutta useasta eri näkökulmasta. Lähteinäni käytän mm. teoksia Haastava kolmas sektori (Hokkanen, Kinnunen & Siisiäinen (toim.) 1999), Kolmas sektori. Käsitteistöstä, ulottuvuuksista ja tulkinnoista (Helander 1998), Strateginen kumppanuus - avain uudistumiskykyyn ja ylivoimaan (Ståhle & Laento 2000), Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations (Kotler & Andreasen 1987) ja Forging Links Between Marketing and Sponsorship (Olkkonen 1999). Järjestöjen määrittelyt kumppanuudesta vaihtelivat ja löysin sekä www- että haastatteluaineistosta kolme erilaista puhetapaa. Yritysten www-aineiston perusteella suurin osa näytti tuovan kumppanuutta esiin hyvin vähän, mikä oli yllättävä tulos, koska järjestöt näyttivät pitävän juuri imagohyötyjä tärkeimpänä motiivina yrityksille ryhtyä kumppanuuteen. Täydentääkseni aineistoani valitsin haastateltaviksi vielä kahden yrityksen edustajat yrityksistä, joista toinen toi www-aineiston perusteella kumppanuutta näkyvästi esiin, ja toinen ei juuri lainkaan. Merkittävin ero haastatteluiden perusteella oli yritysten määrittely asiakkaidensa roolista kumppanuudessa