Knowledge Boosting Curriculum for New Wind Industry Professionals Final Technical Report

DNV Renewables (USA) Inc. (DNV KEMA) received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop the curriculum for a series of short courses intended to address Topic Area 5 â Workforce Development, one of the focus areas to achieve the goals outlined in 20% Wind by 2030: Increasing Wind EnergyâÂÂs Contribution to Electricity Supply. The aim of the curriculum development project was to provide material for instructors to use in a training program to help professionals transition into careers in wind energy. Under this grant DNV KEMA established a âÂÂknowledge boostingâ program for the wind energy industry with the following objectives: 1. Develop technical training curricula and teaching materials for six key topic areas that can be implemented in a flexible format by a knowledgeable instructor. The topic areas form a foundation that can be leveraged for subsequent, more detailed learning modules (not developed in this program). 2. Develop an implementation guidance document to accompany the curricula outlining key learning objectives, implementation methods, and guidance for utilizing the curricula. This curriculum is intended to provide experienced trainers course material that can be used to provide course participants with a basic background in wind energy and wind project development. The curriculum addresses all aspects of developing a wind project, that when implemented can be put to use immediately, making the participant an asset to U.S. wind industry employers. The curriculum is comprised of six short modules, together equivalent in level of content to a one-semester college-level course. The student who completes all six modules should be able to understand on a basic level what is required to develop a wind project, speak with a reasonable level of confidence about such topics as wind resource assessment, energy assessment, turbine technology and project economics, and contribute to the analysis and review of project information. The content of the curriculum is based on DNV KEMAâÂÂs extensive experience in consulting and falls under six general topics: 1. Introduction to wind energy 2. Wind resource and energy assessment 3. Wind turbine systems and components 4. Wind turbine installation, integration, and operation 5. Feasibility studies 6. Project economics Each general topic (module) covers 10-15 sub-topics. Representatives from industry provided input on the design and content of the modules as they were developed. DNV KEMA developed guidance documents to accompany the training curricula and materials in order to facilitate usage of the curricula in a manner consistent with industries requirements. Internal and external pilot trainings using selections of the curriculum provided valuable feedback that was then used to modify and improve the material and make it more relevant to participants. The pilot trainings varied in their content and intensity, and each served as an opportunity for the trainers to better understand which techniques proved to be the most successful for accelerated learning. In addition, the varied length and content of the trainings, which were adjusted to suit the focus and budget for each particular situation, highlight the flexibility of the format. The material developed under this program focused primarily on onshore wind project development. The course material could be extended in the future to address the unique aspects of offshore project development

Anna E. Coughlin Correspondence

Entries include brief biographical information, a handwritten biographical letter, and posthumous correspondence with the City of Rockland Public Library resulting in the presentation of a personal gift from Rogers to the Maine State Library

The medium-term sustainability of organisational innovations in the national health service

Background: There is a growing recognition of the importance of introducing new ways of working into the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and other health systems, in order to ensure that patient care is provided as effectively and efficiently as possible. Researchers have examined the challenges of introducing new ways of working-'organisational innovations'-into complex organisations such as the NHS, and this has given rise to a much better understanding of how this takes place-and why seemingly good ideas do not always result in changes in practice. However, there has been less research on the medium-and longer-term outcomes for organisational innovations and on the question of how new ways of working, introduced by frontline clinicians and managers, are sustained and become established in day-to-day practice. Clearly, this question of sustainability is crucial if the gains in patient care that derive from organisational innovations are to be maintained, rather than lost to what the NHS Institute has called the 'improvement-evaporation effect'. Methods: The study will involve research in four case-study sites around England, each of which was successful in sustaining its new model of service provision beyond an initial period of pilot funding for new genetics services provided by the Department of Health. Building on findings relating to the introduction and sustainability of these services already gained from an earlier study, the research will use qualitative methods-in-depth interviews, observation of key meetings, and analysis of relevant documents-to understand the longer-term challenges involved in each case and how these were surmounted. The research will provide lessons for those seeking to sustain their own organisational innovations in wide-ranging clinical areas and for those designing the systems and organisations that make up the NHS, to make them more receptive contexts for the sustainment of innovation. Discussion: Through comparison and contrast across four sites, each involving different organisational innovations, different forms of leadership, and different organisational contexts to contend with, the findings of the study will have wide relevance. The research will produce outputs that are useful for managers and clinicians responsible for organisational innovation, policy makers and senior managers, and academics

Stable isotopes infer the diet and habitat of the enigmatic pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) off southern Australia

In the Southern Hemisphere, baleen whales generally undertake migrations between productive feeding grounds at high latitudes and breeding grounds at lower latitudes. Pygmy right whales (Caperea marginata) (PRW) are the smallest and most enigmatic baleen whale, that likely forgo long-distance migrations, and instead inhabit temperate and subantarctic waters year-round. Previous research has relied on limited data from sighting and stranding records to infer the habitat use and diet of PRWs, however the absence of long-term and consistent data has left uncertainty surrounding these parameters. We utilized bulk stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in baleen from Australian PRWs (n = 14) to infer their diet and habitat use. Stable isotope values from 1980–2019 were then matched to remote sensed data from known upwelling regions (where they likely feed) to examine if their dietary patterns are related to changes in food web dynamics. We found that PRWs remained in mid-latitude waters year-round and showed no evidence of feeding in Antarctic waters. Rather, their isotopic record suggests they remain between coastal waters off southern Australia and the Subtropical Convergence, feeding on krill and copepods. Additionally, there was a weak positive relationship between PRW nitrogen stable isotope values and sea surface temperature (SST) from the eastern Great Australian Bight (GAB) and Bonney Upwelling. This suggests seasonal changes in their diet is possibly correlated to oceanographic changes which drive food-web dynamics in these regions. Unlike larger species of baleen whales that migrate further to highly productive waters in the Southern Ocean to meet their energetic demands, the small PRW, who only reach 6.5m, may sustain both feeding and breeding requirements at mid-latitudes. This is the first study to analyze long-term dietary and movement patterns of the PRW, providing an important contribution to our understanding of the species

Identification of plasma lipid biomarkers for prostate cancer by lipidomics and bioinformatics

Background: Lipids have critical functions in cellular energy storage, structure and signaling. Many individual lipid molecules have been associated with the evolution of prostate cancer; however, none of them has been approved to be used as a biomarker. The aim of this study is to identify lipid molecules from hundreds plasma apparent lipid species as biomarkers for diagnosis of prostate cancer. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using lipidomics, lipid profiling of 390 individual apparent lipid species was performed on 141 plasma samples from 105 patients with prostate cancer and 36 male controls. High throughput data generated from lipidomics were analyzed using bioinformatic and statistical methods. From 390 apparent lipid species, 35 species were demonstrated to have potential in differentiation of prostate cancer. Within the 35 species, 12 were identified as individual plasma lipid biomarkers for diagnosis of prostate cancer with a sensitivity above 80%, specificity above 50% and accuracy above 80%. Using top 15 of 35 potential biomarkers together increased predictive power dramatically in diagnosis of prostate cancer with a sensitivity of 93.6%, specificity of 90.1% and accuracy of 97.3%. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) demonstrated that patient and control populations were visually separated by identified lipid biomarkers. RandomForest and 10-fold cross validation analyses demonstrated that the identified lipid biomarkers were able to predict unknown populations accurately, and this was not influenced by patient's age and race. Three out of 13 lipid classes, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamine (ePE) and ether-linked phosphatidylcholine (ePC) could be considered as biomarkers in diagnosis of prostate cancer. Conclusions/Significance: Using lipidomics and bioinformatic and statistical methods, we have identified a few out of hundreds plasma apparent lipid molecular species as biomarkers for diagnosis of prostate cancer with a high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy

De novo mutations in SMCHD1 cause Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome and abrogate nasal development

Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS) is an extremely rare and striking condition characterized by complete absence of the nose with or without ocular defects. We report here that missense mutations in the epigenetic regulator SMCHD1 mapping to the extended ATPase domain of the encoded protein cause BAMS in all 14 cases studied. All mutations were de novo where parental DNA was available. Biochemical tests and in vivo assays in Xenopus laevis embryos suggest that these mutations may behave as gain-of-function alleles. This finding is in contrast to the loss-of-function mutations in SMCHD1 that have been associated with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2. Our results establish SMCHD1 as a key player in nasal development and provide biochemical insight into its enzymatic function that may be exploited for development of therapeutics for FSHD

The clinical and molecular spectrum of galactosemia in patients from the Cape Town region of South Africa

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to document the clinical, laboratory and genetic features of galactosemia in patients from the Cape Town metropolitan region. METHODS: Diagnoses were based on thin layer chromatography for galactosuria/galactosemia and assays of erythrocyte galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) and galactokinase activities. Patients were screened for the common S135L and Q188R transferase gene mutations, using PCR-based assays. Screening for the S135L mutation in black newborns was used to estimate the carrier rate for galactosemia in black South Africans. RESULTS: A positive diagnosis of galactosemia was made in 17 patients between the years 1980 to 2001. All had very low or absent galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) activity, and normal galactokinase levels. The mean age at diagnosis was 5.1 months (range 4 days to 6.5 months). A review of 9 patients showed that hepatomegaly (9/9), and splenomegaly, failure to thrive, developmental delay, bilateral cataracts (6/9) were the most frequent features at diagnosis. Six had conjugated hyperbilirubinemia. Four experienced invasive E. coli infection before diagnosis. Ten patients were submitted to DNA analysis. All 4 black patients and 2 of mixed extraction were homozygous for the S135L allele, while all 3 white patients were homozygous for the Q188R allele. The remaining patient of mixed extraction was heterozygous for the Q188R allele. The estimated carrier frequency of the S135L mutation in 725 healthy black newborns was 1/60. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of newborn screening the delay in diagnosis is most often unacceptably long. Also, carrier frequency data predict a galactosemia incidence of approximately 1/14 400 for black newborns in the Cape Metropole, which is much higher than the current detection rate. It is thus likely that many patients go undetected

Genome sequences of four cluster P mycobacteriophages

Four bacteriophages infecting Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 (three belonging to subcluster P1 and one belonging to subcluster P2) were isolated from soil and sequenced. All four phages are similar in the left arm of their genomes, but the P2 phage differs in the right arm. All four genomes contain features of temperate phages

Invasive carcinomas of the male breast: a morphologic study of the distribution of histologic subtypes and metastatic patterns in 778 cases

The current investigation was conducted to evaluate the proportional distribution of the various histologic subtypes (including newly recognized variants) of male breast carcinomas, to determine whether any histologic subtypes occur with a frequency that is markedly discordant with the expected frequencies from published data on parallel female breast tumors. We also aimed to document the distribution of malignancies metastatic to the breast. Seven hundred fifty-nine archived cases of primary invasive carcinoma involving the male breast were retrieved and subcategorized into histologic subtypes according to contemporary criteria. Six hundred forty-three (84.7%) tumors were pure infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) not otherwise specified. The most common of the remainder included papillary carcinoma with invasion in the form of IDC (n = 34), mixed IDC and mucinous carcinoma (n = 26), and pure mucinous carcinoma (n = 21). In 19 cases, metastases from other sites involved the breast, most commonly (58%) cutaneous melanoma. Invasive carcinoma of the male breast appears to display a morphologic spectrum and distribution of histologic subtypes that is comparable to those of the female breast, with some expected variation. Compared with published experience on their female counterparts, there is a two-fold increase in the frequency of invasive papillary carcinoma in the male breast. Finally, the most common tumor metastatic to the male breast in this series was cutaneous melanoma

Physical activity of Estonian family doctors and their counselling for a healthy lifestyle: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical activity offers major health benefits and counselling for it should be integrated into the medical consultation. Based on the literature, the personal health behaviour of the physician (including physical activity) is associated with his/her approach to counselling patients. Our hypothesis is that family doctors (FD) in Estonia are physically active and their recommendation to counsel patients with chronic diseases to use physical activity is high. The study was also interested in how FDs value physical activity among other important determinants of a healthy lifestyle, e.g. nutrition, non-consumption of alcohol, and non-smoking.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Physicians on the electronic list were contacted by e-mail and sent a questionnaire. The first part assessed physical activity by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form. Self-reported physical activity during one week was calculated as total physical activity in minutes per week (MET min/week). The second part of the questionnaire included questions about the counselling of patients with chronic disease concerning their physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. The study focused on female FDs because 95% of the FDs in Estonia are women and to avoid bias related to gender.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>198 female FDs completed the questionnaire. 92% reported that they exercised over the past 7 days to a moderate or high level of physical activity. Analysis revealed no statistically significant relationship between the level of physical activity and general characteristics (age, living area, body mass index [BMI], time spent sitting). FDs reported that patients with heart problems, diabetes, and obesity seek their advice on physical activity more often than patients with depression. Over 94% of the FDs claimed that they counsel their patients with chronic diseases about exercising. According to the FDs' reports, the most important topic in counselling patients for a healthy lifestyle was physical activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study showed that female FDs are physically active. The level of physical activity is not related to their age, BMI, living area, or time spent sitting. Also, FDs reported that promotion of physical activity is part of their everyday work.</p