Measurement of local convective heat transfer coefficients from a smooth and roughened NACA-0012 airfoil: Flight test data

Wind tunnels typically have higher free stream turbulence levels than are found in flight. Turbulence intensity was measured to be 0.5 percent in the NASA Lewis Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) with the cloud making sprays off and around 2 percent with cloud making equipment on. Turbulence intensity for flight conditions was found to be too low to make meaningful measurements for smooth air. This difference between free stream and wing tunnel conditions has raised questions as to the validity of results obtained in the IRT. One objective of these tests was to determine the effect of free stream turbulence on convective heat transfer for the NASA Lewis LEWICE ice growth prediction code. These tests provide in-flight heat transfer data for a NASA-0012 airfoil with a 533 cm chord. Future tests will measure heat transfer data from the same airfoil in the Lewis Icing Research Tunnel. Roughness was obtained by the attachment of small, 2 mm diameter hemispheres of uniform size to the airfoil in three different patterns. Heat transfer measurements were recorded in flight on the NASA Lewis Twin Otter Icing Research Aircraft. Measurements were taken for the smooth and roughened surfaces at various aircraft speeds and angles of attack up to four degrees. Results are presented as Frossling number versus position on the airfoil for various roughnesses and angles of attack

An online survey of Australian physicians reported practice with the off-label use of nebulised frusemide

BACKGROUND: Off-label prescribing is common in palliative care. Despite inconsistent reports of the benefit of nebulised frusemide for breathlessness, its use continues to be reported. METHODS: An online survey was emailed to 249 members of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine to estimate the use of nebulised frusemide for breathlessness by Australian physicians involved in palliative care in the previous 12 months. RESULTS: There were 52/249 (21%) respondents to the survey. The majority (44/52; 85%) had not prescribed nebulised frusemide in the previous 12 months. The most common (18/44; 43%) reason for not prescribing nebulised frusemide was a belief that there was not enough evidence to support its use. Whilst only a few respondents (8/52; 15%) reported having used nebulised frusemide, all that had used it thought there was at least some benefit in relieving breathlessness. CONCLUSION: This report adds to the series of case studies reporting some benefit from nebulised frusemide in relieving breathlessnes

Selected Precision Agriculture studies in oil palm: a 10-year summary

Precision Agriculture (PA) embodies a holistic field management strategy that allows adjustment of crop input use and cultivation methods, including seed, fertilizer, pesticide and water application, variety selection, planting, tillage and harvesting, to match varying soil, crop and other field attributes. PA involves mapping and analyzing field variability, and linking such variability to management actions. This contrasts with conventional agriculture that is based on uniform treatment(s) across a field. Oil palm is an excellent candidate for PA implementation simply because it consumes a large amount of chemical and physical inputs. However, a major constraint in implementing PA strategies on a detailed scale for oil palm is the typically large plantation size. The agronomic challenge of increasing oil palm yield productivity hinges on three primary issues: 1) fertilization, 2) cropping practices such as planting density, ground cover, pruning and drainage, and 3) pest and disease management. This paper presents a 10-year Abstract of selected PA studies carried out in Malaysian and Indonesian oil palm plantations. These studies are: spatial variability of soil fertility across topography, removal of spatial effects to improve interpretation of data from fertilizer trials, development of a non-destructive oil yield and oil quality estimation protocol, stand density assessment using remote sensing, spatial variability of soil organic carbon across different crop ages, spatial variability of orange spotting disease, discriminating between potassium deficiency and orange spotting disease symptoms using remote sensing, estimating fresh fruit bunch yields using remote sensing, and estimating palm oil quality and yield using proximal sensing

A systematic review of the current evidence regarding interventions for anxiety, PTSD, sleepiness and fatigue in the law enforcement workplace

Law enforcement is inherently stressful, and police officers are particularly vulnerable to mental and physical disorders. As such, researchers are currently assessing intervention strategies that may combat or manage these psychological, physical and mental issues. To review most recent information regarding anxiety, PTSD, and sleepiness and fatigue and identify the interventions and treatments proposed to overcome work related stressors and associated mental illnesses inflicting law enforcement officers. The EMBASE, OVID MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were canvassed for articles investigating anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleepiness, and fatigue. Initial article selections were made based on title, whilst final inclusion was informed by a full critical appraisal with respect to the primary and secondary effects. The systematic search returned 363 records, of which 183 were unique. Following screening, 43 records were included in the final review. The included literature assessed the efficacy of several interventions, and provided a number of recommendations regarding interventions, and policy. Moreover, literature indicates that police officers benefit from interventions targeting work-related stress and potential psychological disorders, if these interventions are continuous. Furthermore, larger controlled studies are required to further elucidate the benefits of psychosocial intervention in law enforcement

The caregiving perspective in heart failure: a population based study

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a frequent condition in the elderly and mortality is high. This study sought to describe the profile of those providing care in the community and their needs. Methods: The South Australian Health Omnibus is an annual, random, face-to-face, cross sectional survey conducted within the state. Having standardized data to the whole population, the study describes the subset of the population who identify that they actively cared for someone at the end of life with HF in the five years before survey administration

Real Effective Corporate Tax Rates in Canada and the United States. After Tax Reform

Both Canada and the United States have recently undertaken comprehensive reforms of their tax systems. In the case of the corporate tax, the main thrust of the reforms has been to lower tax rates,broaden the tax base, and curtail or eliminate incentives such as investment tax credits. This article examines the significance for Canada of the corporate tax reforms in both countries. It uses the concept of the marginal real effectivetax rate on new investment to analyze the impact of the corporatetax changes on the size and distribution of the corporate tax burdenin each country, given various assumptions about the rate of inflation and the extent to which investment is debt financed. It is in the manufacturing sector that competition between Canada andthe United States is most intense and that real effective corporate tax rates probably have their greatest potential impact on the location of investment and employment. Before tax reform, the real effective tax rateon manufacturing investment in machinery and equipment in Canada was considerably lower than the rate in the United States. Under the post-reform regime, however, Canada's advantage is significantly smaller and decreases as the degree of debt financing increases.Indeed, in the absence of the investment incentives introduced by Ontario and Quebec in 1988, Canada's favourable tax position in the critical area of manufacturing investment in machinery andequipment would be lost altogether. In contrast, tax reform has significantly increased the real effective taxrate on equity-financed investment in non-residential construction in the United States, but not the rate in Canada. In this case, tax reform has transformed what was a tax advantage for the United States into an advantage for Canada. The overall effect of tax reform in the two countries, given the real effective tax rates, appropriately weighted, for both investment in machinery and equipment and investment in non-residential construction, has been to slightly reduce Canada's tax advantage in the manufacturing sector. This advantage is still a substantial one, however. Two important questions emerge from the analysis. First, what are the implications of the factthat federal efforts to reduce tax incentives for manufacturing investment in machinery and equipment have been offset by subsequent provincial efforts to restore the preferential position of their manufacturing sectors? Second, given that one of the main rationales for the Canadian tax reform package was that it would reduce tax-induced distortion of resource allocation by reducing or eliminating special tax incentives, why has reform actually increased the relative value of the tax credit for investment in the Atlantic region

Reversibility of frailty after lung transplantation

Background. Frailty contributes to increased morbidity and mortality in patients referred for and undergoing lung transplantation (LTX). &e study aim was to determine if frailty is reversible after LTX in those classified as frail at LTX evaluation. Methods. Consecutive LTX recipients were included. All patients underwent modified physical frailty assessment during LTX evaluation. For patients assessed as frail, frailty was reassessed on completion of the post-LTX rehabilitation program. Frailty was defined by the presence of ≥ 3 domains of the modified Fried Frailty Phenotype (mFFP). Results. We performed 166 lung transplants (frail patients, n = 27, 16%). Eighteen of the 27 frail patients have undergone frailty reassessment. Eight frail patients died, and one interstate recipient did not return for reassessment. In the 18 (66%) patients reassessed, there was an overall reduction in their frailty score post-LTX ((3.4 ± 0.6 to 1.0 ± 0.7), p < 0.001) with 17/18 (94%) no longer classified as frail. Improvements were seen in the following frailty domains: exhaustion, mobility, appetite, and activity. Handgrip strength did not improve posttransplant. Conclusions. Physical frailty was largely reversible following LTX, underscoring the importance of considering frailty a dynamic, not a fixed, entity. Further work is needed to identify those patients whose frailty is modifiable and establish specific interventions to improve frailty

The Primacy of Public Health Considerations in Defining Poor Quality Medicines

Paul Newton and colleagues argue that public health, and not intellectual property or trade issues, should be the prime consideration in defining and combating counterfeit medicines, and that the World Health Organization (WHO) should take a more prominent role

Education and practice gaps on atrial fibrillation and anticoagulation: a survey of cardiovascular nurses

BACKGROUND: Patients’ knowledge of their atrial fibrillation (AF) and anticoagulation therapy are determinants of the efficacy of thromboprophylaxis. Nurses may be well placed to provide counselling and education to patients on all aspects of anticoagulation, including self-management. It is important that nurses are well informed to provide optimal education to patients. Current practice and knowledge of cardiovascular nurses on AF and anticoagulation in the Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) context is not well reported. This study aimed to; 1) Explore the nurse’s role in clinical decision making in anticoagulation in the setting of AF; 2) Describe perceived barriers and enablers to anticoagulation in AF; 3) Investigate practice patterns in the management of anticoagulation in the ANZ setting; 4) Assess cardiovascular nurses’ knowledge of anticoagulation. METHODS: A paper-based survey on current practices and knowledge of AF and anticoagulation was distributed during the Australian Cardiovascular Nursing College (ACNC) Annual Scientific Meeting, February 2014. This survey was also emailed to Cardiovascular Trials Nurses throughout New South Wales, Australia and nursing members of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). RESULTS: There were 41/73 (56 %) respondents to the paper-based survey. A further 14 surveys were completed online via nurse members of the CSANZ, and via an investigator developed NSW cardiovascular trials nurse email distribution list. A total of 55 surveys were completed and included in analyses. Prior education levels on AF, stroke risk, anticoagulation and health behaviour modification were mixed. The CHA(2)DS(2)VASc and HAS-BLED risk stratification tools were reported to be underused by this group of clinicians. Reported key barriers to anticoagulation included; fears of patients falling, fears of poor adherence to medication taking and routine monitoring. Patient self-monitoring and self-management were reported as underutilised. ANZ cardiovascular nurses reported their key role to be counselling and advising patients on therapy regimens. Anticoagulant-drug interaction knowledge was generally poor. CONCLUSION: This study identified poor knowledge and practice in the areas of AF and anticoagulation. There is scope for improvement for cardiovascular nurses in ANZ in relation to AF and anticoagulation knowledge and practice

Rating and Ranking the Role of Bibliometrics and Webometrics in Nursing and Midwifery

Background. Bibliometrics are an essential aspect of measuring academic and organizational performance. Aim. This review seeks to describe methods for measuring bibliometrics, identify the strengths and limitations of methodologies, outline strategies for interpretation, summarise evaluation of nursing and midwifery performance, identify implications for metric of evaluation, and specify the implications for nursing and midwifery and implications of social networking for bibliometrics and measures of individual performance. Method. A review of electronic databases CINAHL, Medline, and Scopus was undertaken using search terms such as bibliometrics, nursing, and midwifery. The reference lists of retrieved articles and Internet sources and social media platforms were also examined. Results. A number of well-established, formal ways of assessment have been identified, including h- and c-indices. Changes in publication practices and the use of the Internet have challenged traditional metrics of influence. Moreover, measuring impact beyond citation metrics is an increasing focus, with social media representing newer ways of establishing performance and impact. Conclusions. Even though a number of measures exist, no single bibliometric measure is perfect. Therefore, multiple approaches to evaluation are recommended. However, bibliometric approaches should not be the only measures upon which academic and scholarly performance are evaluated