Experimental Study of a Cascade of Low Pressure Turbine Blades with Upstream Periodic Stator Wakes

The objective of this study is to experimentally study film cooling flows. A closed-loop wind tunnel with a four passage linear cascade of US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) ultra-high-lift L1A low pressure turbine (LPT) blades and upstream wake generator is used in conjunction with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) flow visualization technique to study turbulent film cooling flows due to the interaction between vanes and blades. Further post-processing in the form of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) modal analyses is performed to determine the relevant modes that characterize the coherent structures in the flow. An image patching algorithm is also implemented. The results obtained are used to characterize the periodic wake on the cascade flow. The periodic wake has been studied in detail near the leading edge of the suction side. The velocity data led to the mean velocity profile and maximum velocity deficit in the wake. The POD identified the most energetic modes representing the vortex shedding wavelength, and its harmonics, of the wake generator plates. The DMD confirmed the wake passage frequency. Implementation of the image patching algorithm with four domains was presented. The technique was successful in computing the average vector field. Further downstream of the leading edge, the POD modes are shown to become more chaotic and less energetic. The leading order mode pair loses close to half of their energy to lower order modes due to the cascading of turbulent kinetic energy to lower spatial scales and to viscous dissipation losses. When the wake is impinging on the leading edge, the boundary layer separates near the transition point. The boundary layer remains completely attached to the trailing edge when the wake is not impinging on the leading edge

Hemispheric differences in semantic cognition and their contribution to behaviour

This thesis investigated hemispheric differences in semantic cognition and their contribution to behaviour, using resting-state and task-based fMRI in conjunction with automated meta-analyses and cognitive decoding. The controlled semantic cognition framework proposes that distinct brain regions support the long-term representation of heteromodal conceptual knowledge and semantic control processes that retrieve currently-relevant aspects of knowledge. However, previous studies have not investigated whether these components have distinct patterns of lateralisation. Chapter 2 assessed intrinsic connectivity of four regions implicated in semantic cognition: anterior temporal lobe, angular gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and posterior middle temporal gyrus. Semantic sites in the left hemisphere showed connectivity with both control regions and default mode network, whilst their right hemisphere homotopes showed connectivity with control regions and visual and attentional systems. Semantic control regions showed the strongest lateralisation. Chapter 3 examined hemispheric specialisation of the anterior temporal lobes, strongly implicated in semantic representation. It assessed the relationship between differential intrinsic connectivity and behaviour outside the scanner on a semantic categorisation task previously shown to be sensitive to lateralisation. Graded differences in connectivity between left and right anterior temporal lobes, and from right anterior temporal cortex to the visual system related to semantic efficiency. Finally, Chapter 4 tested the specificity of the semantic control system and its relationship to domain-general control. Using a task known to engage domain-general inhibition, but introducing semantic content, this chapter yields evidence that regions implicated in semantic control are not sensitive to challenging tasks that require exercising controlled processing, and instead are specific to semantic processing. Together, these results constitute evidence for a component-process architecture in the semantic cognition system, with different patterns of lateralisation for the semantic representation and control systems. Within these systems, the results confirm the specific nature of semantic control, and fit with the graded-hub architecture of semantic representation

Políticas de apoyo a la productividad de la microempresa informal ¿dónde está México?

En forma tradicional se ha considerado, tanto desde la perspectiva teórica de las ciencias sociales como de su praxis política, a la microempresa informal como un lastre para el desarrollo. Sin embargo, desde hace algunos años, un sector de la literatura especializada ha presentado evidencia de que, a pesar de su baja productividad, la contribución de la economía informal 2 como generadora de empleo y de ingreso a la economía de los países menos desarrollados es significativa. Dado que otros países han comenzado a desarrollar políticas para incentivar la productividad en el sector informal, el propósito principal del presente trabajo es entender, a través de la revisión de los reglamentos de apoyo a las microempresas y nuevos decretos y reglamentación, la posición actual de México en este debate

SinEx DB: a database for single exon coding sequences in mammalian genomes

Indexación: Web of Science.Eukaryotic genes are typically interrupted by intragenic, noncoding sequences termed introns. However, some genes lack introns in their coding sequence (CDS) and are generally known as 'single exon genes' (SEGs). In this work, a SEG is defined as a nuclear, protein-coding gene that lacks introns in its CDS. Whereas, many public databases of Eukaryotic multi-exon genes are available, there are only two specialized databases for SEGs. The present work addresses the need for a more extensive and diverse database by creating SinEx DB, a publicly available, searchable database of predicted SEGs from 10 completely sequenced mammalian genomes including human. SinEx DB houses the DNA and protein sequence information of these SEGs and includes their functional predictions (KOG) and the relative distribution of these functions within species. The information is stored in a relational database built with My SQL Server 5.1.33 and the complete dataset of SEG sequences and their functional predictions are available for downloading. SinEx DB can be interrogated by: (i) a browsable phylogenetic schema, (ii) carrying out BLAST searches to the in-house SinEx DB of SEGs and (iii) via an advanced search mode in which the database can be searched by key words and any combination of searches by species and predicted functions. SinEx DB provides a rich source of information for advancing our understanding of the evolution and function of SEGs.https://academic.oup.com/database/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/database/baw09

Relación de las prácticas: preparación de suelo y lámina de agua en la presencia de arroz voluntario (Oriza sp) en la época de invierno en la Cooperativa Augusto César Sandino, Las Mangas - San Isidro ׀׀ Semestre 2016

El arroz voluntario (Oriza sp), es una especie de arroz considerada una amenaza agronómica en la producción de semillas y siembras comerciales, debido a que se comporta como una maleza que afecta la productividad del cultivo del arroz. La investigación se realizó durante el ׀׀ Semestre 2016 en la Cooperativa Augusto César Sandino San Isidro Matagalpa. Los objetivos fueron determinar las distintas prácticas de preparación de suelos y láminas de agua utilizadas en la Cooperativa y su relación con la presencia de arroz voluntario y el porcentaje encontrado. La investigación fue de naturaleza no experimental. Las variables evaluadas fueron: preparación de suelo, lámina de agua, para evaluar estas variables se empleó el instrumento de la encuesta y para la variables arroz voluntario se procedió a realizar un muestreo el cual correspondía en seleccionar un punto al azar en al lote seleccionado con una área de 1m², posteriormente se realizaba un transepto en forma de W en la cual los puntos a muestrear estaban ubicados a 25m de distancia entre ellos, por lote se establecieron 5 W realizando un total de 25 muestreos. Se determinaron 4 prácticas de preparación de suelo en la Cooperativa y 2 distintos tipos de lámina de agua, teniendo como resultado que la práctica con menor porcentaje de incidencia de arroz voluntario fue la práctica 2 con el 1% de incidencia, mientras tanto el porcentaje total de los lotes muestreados en la Cooperativa fue de un 3% de incidenci

Introduction to Positive Psychology: Overview and Controversies

Since his first formal address in 1998 by Martin Seligman, the significant growth and accomplishments of the positive psychology have been universally noted. Notable breakthroughs include the inception of the International Positive Psychology Association in 2007 and the First World Congress of Positive Psychology in 2009. However, much concern has also arisen in conjunction with the development of positive psychology. For example, Gable and Haidt (2005) argued that the assumption of positive psychology implies the rest of the field must be negative psychology. These controversies are not only limited to the foundation of positive psychological principles and understanding the controversies is requisite to ensuring the correct implementation of positive psychology. In this regard, the authors first describe a fundamental tenet of positive psychology in the areas of positive emotion, positive traits, and positive institutions. Further details on controversies and challenges in each area of concern are discussed, leading to the conclusion that positive psychology is a reputable subdiscipline of psychology

Sketching for Real-time Control of Crowd Simulations

Controlling the behaviour of a crowd simulation typically involves tuning of a system's parameters through trial and error, a time-consuming process relying on knowledge of a potentially complex parameter set. Numerous graphical control approaches have been proposed to allow the user to interact with a simulation intuitively. This research investigates the use of a real-time sketch-based approach for crowd simulation control. This is done by modifying the environment of the simulation. Users can create entrances/exits, barriers and flow lines in real-time on top of an environment. This process requires a data structure to represent the environment and navigate the crowd through it. Two alternatives are presented: grid and navigation mesh. A detailed comparison shows that the navigation mesh is a more scalable approach since it uses less memory, has a similar pathfinding time, and is a better structure to represent the environment than the grid. The thesis also presents extensions to the sketch-based approach in the form of novel control tools, including storyboards to define the journey of the crowd, a timeline interface to simulate events through the day, and a sketch-based group storyboard to link behaviours and paths to be followed by a group. These tools are used to create two complex scenarios to exemplify possible applications of the sketch-based approach. The work on timelines also raises a new problem for an approach that dynamically modifies an environment in real-time which is 'when does the crowd know about the change?' Some initial solutions to how this should be handled are presented. The sketch-based system is evaluated by comparing it to a validated commercial system called MassMotion. The comparison takes into account the plausibility of the simulation and usability of the user interface. A user study is carried out to evaluate the graphical user interface of both systems. Formal evaluation methods are used to make the comparison: the benchmark suite 'steersuite', an adapted version of the Keystroke-Level Model (KLM) and the System Usability Scale (SUS). The results show that the sketch-based approach is faster and easier to use than MassMotion, but with fewer control options. An implementation of the sketching interface in a Virtual Reality environment is also considered. However, when compared to the desktop interface using a proposed adaptation to KLM for VR, the results show that sketching in a VR environment is slower and less accurate than the desktop version