Semidirect computation of three-dimensional viscous flows over suction holes in laminar flow control surfaces

A summary is given of the attempts made to apply semidirect methods to the calculation of three-dimensional viscous flows over suction holes in laminar flow control surfaces. The attempts were all unsuccessful, due to either (1) lack of resolution capability, (2) lack of computer efficiency, or (3) instability

The Untapped Power of Soda Taxes: Incentivizing Consumers, Generating Revenue, and Altering Corporate Behavior

Globally, soda taxes are gaining momentum as powerful interventions to discourage sugar consumption and thereby reduce the growing burden of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Evidence from early adopters including Mexico and Berkeley, California, confirms that soda taxes can disincentivize consumption through price increases and raise revenue to support government programs. The United Kingdom’s new graduated levy on sweetened beverages is yielding yet another powerful impact: soda manufacturers are reformulating their beverages to significantly reduce the sugar content. Product reformulation – whether incentivized or mandatory – helps reduce overconsumption of sugars at the societal level, moving away from the long-standing notion of individual responsibility in favor of collective strategies to promote health. But as a matter of health equity, soda product reformulation should occur globally, especially in low- and middleincome countries (LMICs), which are increasingly targeted as emerging markets for soda and junk food and are disproportionately impacted by NCDs. As global momentum for sugar reduction increases, governments and public health advocates should harness the power of soda taxes to tackle the economic, social, and informational drivers of soda consumption, driving improvements in food environments and the public’s health

The Australia we love: a report on key issues affecting nature and society in Australia

This report identifies the need to establish a clear and credible baseline of key trends and issues affecting nature and society in Australia and around the world, on the assumption that a healthy Australian society relies on healthy nature for our prosperity and our wellbeing. This credible baseline is one necessary element for galvanizing and growing a people’s movement for nature in Australia. Such a movement will be critical if Australians are to adopt and implement the systemic changes required of our society to achieve our true potential this century. The report is divided into 7 sections. Section 1 highlights the importance of healthy nature as the foundation for a healthy and prosperous society. Section 2 is a brief note of the long history of human influence on nature in Australia, and the complexity involved in decisions regarding land, water and sea. Section 3 provides a synthesis of some of the key indicators of the pressures on nature in Australia and the impact of these pressures on Australian nature and society. Many of the measures reported here are simply snapshots in time and space, highlighting the difficulty of measuring the complexity of nature and our interactions with it in any comprehensive way. Section 4 is a synthesis of similar indicators at a global scale. Section 5 looks at how progress is measured in Australia, and the importance of adopting broader definitions of sustainable wellbeing as a frame for effectively valuing and protecting nature. Section 6 tells the stories of ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things for nature, inspiring us all to better value and protect what we have. Section 7 is a call to action that looks ahead to an innovative and solutions-focused future in which Australia is effectively valuing and protecting nature as the foundation for the sustainable wellbeing of our society

Midwives working in standard maternity settings: an exploration of their views on maternity reform

Over the past two decades, Australian maternity services have been the subject of a number of state and federal inquiries, reviews and reports. As a result, midwifery practice throughout Australia has acknowledged that maternity care must change to meet the needs of women and families (Commonwealth of Australia, 1996; 1998; 1999; 2008; Hirst, 2005). As such, the Australian Health Ministers in November 2010 endorsed the National Maternity Services Plan (NMSP), which specifies four key priorities for Australian midwives (CoA, 2011). The objective of the NMSP is to provide a framework within the Australian health care system to guide the delivery of high quality, woman centred maternity care within a five-year period of 2010 to 2015. Implementation of the key priorities in the National Maternity Services Plan are critical to contemporary midwifery practice and for strengthening and expanding women centred care. Therefore, research into exploring the views of midwives during a period of reform was viewed as essential. Consequently, case study methodology was employed to discover the level of knowledge midwives had regarding the NMSP priorities and, the perceived impact of the reforms on the way midwives provide care. Additionally, midwives included in this study were asked to explain how they perceived they would transition into providing more autonomous care to pregnant and birthing women. Semi structured interviews were utilised to collect rich data for analysis. The results highlighted significant differences and deficiencies in participants’ knowledge of the NMSP and its implications on midwifery practice. In particular, the participants who were employed in a private maternity facility had significantly less awareness of the NMSP than midwives employed in public hospitals. However, a limitation of this qualitative study was that the findings from seven midwives cannot be generalised for the national population of midwives. Findings revealed that the reforms were perceived as an obstacle whereby the midwives claimed they would be burdened with additional responsibilities to enhance their practice. Therefore, this study concluded that registered midwives need significant, well-planned professional development to enable the transition process to autonomous, woman centred, contemporary practice

Big Food and Soda Versus Public Health: Industry Litigation Against Local Government Regulations to Promote Healthy Diets

Diets high in fats, sugars, and sodium are contributing to alarming levels of obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers throughout the United States. Sugary drinks, which include beverages that contain added caloric sweeteners such as flavored milks, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and sodas, are the largest source of added sugar in the American diet and an important causative factor for obesity and other diet-related diseases. City and county governments have emerged as key innovators to promote healthier diets, adopting menu labeling laws to facilitate informed choices and soda taxes, warnings labels, and a soda portion cap to discourage consumption. These measures raise tension between the public health promotion and the food and beverage industry’s interests in maximizing profits. This article analyzes the food and beverage industry’s efforts to undermine local government nutrition promotion measures, including lobbying, funding scientific research, public messaging, and litigation. It examines four case studies (New York City’s soda portion cap, San Francisco’s soda warnings ordinance, and soda taxes in Philadelphia and Cook County), and distills steps that local governments can take to address industry opposition and help ensure the legal viability and political sustainability of key public health interventions

3-d resistive MHD simulations of magnetic reconnection and the tearing mode instability in current sheets

Magnetic reconnection plays a critical role in many astrophysical processes where high energy emission is observed, e.g. particle acceleration, relativistic accretion powered outflows, pulsar winds and probably in dissipation of Poynting flux in GRBs. The magnetic field acts as a reservoir of energy and can dissipate its energy to thermal and kinetic energy via the tearing mode instability. We have performed 3d nonlinear MHD simulations of the tearing mode instability in a current sheet. Results from a temporal stability analysis in both the linear regime and weakly nonlinear (Rutherford) regime are compared to the numerical simulations. We observe magnetic island formation, island merging and oscillation once the instability has saturated. The growth in the linear regime is exponential in agreement with linear theory. In the second, Rutherford regime the island width grows linearly with time. We find that thermal energy produced in the current sheet strongly dominates the kinetic energy. Finally preliminary analysis indicates a P(k) 4.8 power law for the power spectral density which suggests that the tearing mode vortices play a role in setting up an energy cascade.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the International Journal of Modern Physics D, proceedings of HEPRO meeting, held in Dublin, in September 200

A study of the relationship between the auditory perception of musical sounds and phonetic word sounds at third grade level

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit