Improving cooperation and coordination between international organisations in the fight against child labour

The purpose of this research study is to investigate how globalisation has changed the role of international institutions regarding governance at a global level. The focal point has been to study the demand for cooperation among the international institutions on a human issue that needs global action and cooperation. For a long time focus has been on single-purpose organisations, and there has been a lack of cooperation across the organisations. This study aims to study a cooperation model of governance, where there is both horizontal and vertical management. A combination of these two ways of management is required to improve cooperation. I address the fight against child labour as the issue that I want to attack. Further, I investigate the main organisations that address this issue and cooperate, namely ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank. They use various methods to tackle the issue of child labour, based upon their mandates and institutional missions. The methodological tool I use is a literature review and a qualitative method through a case study of an interagency cooperation between ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank. The programme I study is the Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) programme. This programme was established after recognition of the need for cooperation among the agencies that work with combating child labour. UNICEF, WB and ILO were all attending these conferences (UCW accessed 2011-05-31). I have conducted research on how they cooperate and I address the advantages and hindrances in their cooperation. This thesis asks: How does the Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) programme help promote cooperation and coordination between the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank in the fight against child labour at the global level? The core findings in this thesis are that the cooperation model clearly has advantages in promoting cooperation and coordination, and that the UCW has been successful in many areas. It has brought international organisations closer to a common approach to fight child labour, and this is crucial to a reduction of child labour. It has also revealed that trust, personal relationships and flexibility are key words to establish good cooperation among agencies. It suggests that in future work on a shared culture between the actors needs to be carried out to reach their common goal. This must be built into the process of joined action (Considine and Lewis 2003, 132). The thesis suggests that because of the different mission statements of the actors that are involved, different organisational views need to be taken into account. Personal relationships and institutional mandates have an impact that demands that more attention be paid to these issues to ensure that the cooperation becomes even more successful.Master in International Social Welfare and Health Polic

Patient specific numerical simulation of flow in the human upper airways for assessing the effect of nasal surgery

The study is looking into the potential of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a tool for predicting the outcome of surgery for alleviation of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). From pre- and post-operative computed tomography (CT) of an OSAS patient, the pre- and post-operative geometries of the patient's upper airways were generated. CFD simulations of laminar flow in the patient's upper airway show that after nasal surgery the mass flow is more evenly distributed between the two nasal cavities and the pressure drop over the nasal cavity has increased. The pressure change is contrary to clinical measurements that the CFD results have been compared with, and this is most likely related to the earlier steps of modelling - CT acquisition and geometry retrieval.Comment: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on CFD in Oil & Gas, Metallurgical and Process Industries, Trondheim, Norway, May 30th - June 1st, 2017, 11 pages, 13 figure

Caractérisation des propriétés mécaniques de couches minces déposées par plasma et de surfaces polymériques traitées par plasma

La création d'une interphase -- Les techniques de caractérisation des propriétés mécaniques -- Le choix des traitements plasma -- Méthodes expérimentales -- Les dépôts et traitements -- Les substrats -- Les techniques complémentaires -- Propriétés mécaniques des substrats -- Résultats de la micro-indentation -- Propriétés mécaniquesdes revêtements -- Propriétés chimiques, microstructurales et mécaniques de surfaces de polycarbonate traitées

Advanced Silicon Avalanche Photodiodes on NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Mission

Silicon Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) are used in NASAs Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) which was launched in December 2018 and is currently measuring the Earths vegetation vertical structure from the International Space Station. The APDs were specially made for space lidar with a much lower hole-to-electron ionization coefficient ratio (k-factor ~0.008) than that of commercially available silicon APDs in order to reduce the APD excess noise from the randomness of the avalanche gain. A silicon heater resistor was used under the APD chip to heat the device up to 70C and improve its quantum efficiency at 1064 nm laser wavelength while maintaining a low dark current such that the overall signal to noise ratio is improved. Special APD protection circuits were used to raise the overload damage threshold to prevent device damage from strong laser return by specular surfaces, such as still water bodies, and space radiation events. The APD and a hybrid transimpedance amplifier circuit were hermetically sealed in a package with a sufficiently low leak rate to ensure multi-year operation lifetime in space. The detector assemblies underwent a series of pre-launch tests per NASA Goddard Environmental Verification Standard for space qualification. They have performed exactly as expected with GEDI in orbit. A detailed description of the GEDI detector design, signal and noise model, and test results are presented in this paper

A fast strong coupling algorithm for the partitioned fluid–structure interaction simulation of BMHVs

The numerical simulation of Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valves (BMHVs) has gained strong interest in the last years, as a design and optimisation tool. In this paper, a strong coupling algorithm for the partitioned fluidstructure interaction simulation of a BMHV is presented. The convergence of the coupling iterations between the flow solver and the leaflet motion solver is accelerated by using the Jacobian with the derivatives of the pressure and viscous moments acting on the leaflets with respect to the leaflet accelerations. This Jacobian is numerically calculated from the coupling iterations. An error analysis is done to derive a criterion for the selection of useable coupling iterations. The algorithm is successfully tested for two 3D cases of a BMHV and a comparison is made with existing coupling schemes. It is observed that the developed coupling scheme outperforms these existing schemes in needed coupling iterations per time step and CPU time

Application of a strong FSI coupling scheme for the numerical simulation of bileaflet mechanical heart valve dynamics: study of wall shear stress on the valve leaflets

One of the major challenges in the design of Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valves (BMHVs) is reduction of the blood damage generated by non-physiological blood flow. Numerical simulations provide relevant insights into the (fluid) dynamics of the BMHV and are used for design optimisation. In this paper, a strong coupling algorithm for the partitioned Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) simulation of a BMHV is presented. The convergence of the coupling iterations between the flow solver and the leaflet motion solver is accelerated by using a numerically calculated Jacobian with the derivatives of the pressure and viscous moments acting on the leaflets with respect to the leaflet accelerations. The developed algorithm is used to simulate the dynamics of a 3D BMHV in three different geometries, allowing an analysis of the solution process. Moreover, the leaflet kinematics and the general flow field are discussed, with special focus on the shear stresses on the valve leaflets

Comparison of ultrasound vector flow imaging and CFD simulations with PIV measurements of flow in a left ventricular outflow trackt phantom - Implications for clinical use and in silico studies

In this study we have compared two modalities for flow quantification from measurement data; ultrasound (US) and shadow particle image velocimetry (PIV), and a flow simulation model using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For the comparison we have used an idealized Quasi-2D phantom of the human left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). The PIV data will serve as a reference for the true flow field in our setup. Furthermore, the US vector flow imaging (VFI) data has been post processed with model-based regularization developed to both smooth noise and sharpen physical flow features. The US VFI flow reconstruction results in an underestimation of the flow velocity magnitude compared to PIV and CFD. The CFD results coincide very well with the PIV flow field maximum velocities and curl intensity, as well as with the detailed vortex structure, however, this correspondence is subject to exact boundary conditions.publishedVersio

Prediction of guidewire-induced aortic deformations during EVAR: a finite element and in vitro study

Introduction and aims: During an Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR) procedure a stiff guidewire is inserted from the iliac arteries. This induces significant deformations on the vasculature, thus, affecting the pre-operative planning, and the accuracy of image fusion. The aim of the present work is to predict the guidewire induced deformations using a finite element approach validated through experiments with patient-specific additive manufactured models. The numerical approach herein developed could improve the pre-operative planning and the intra-operative navigation. Material and methods: The physical models used for the experiments in the hybrid operating room, were manufactured from the segmentations of pre-operative Computed Tomography (CT) angiographies. The finite element analyses (FEA) were performed with LS-DYNA Explicit. The material properties used in finite element analyses were obtained by uniaxial tensile tests. The experimental deformed configurations of the aorta were compared to those obtained from FEA. Three models, obtained from Computed Tomography acquisitions, were investigated in the present work: A) without intraluminal thrombus (ILT), B) with ILT, C) with ILT and calcifications. Results and discussion: A good agreement was found between the experimental and the computational studies. The average error between the final in vitro vs. in silico aortic configurations, i.e., when the guidewire is fully inserted, are equal to 1.17, 1.22 and 1.40 mm, respectively, for Models A, B and C. The increasing trend in values of deformations from Model A to Model C was noticed both experimentally and numerically. The presented validated computational approach in combination with a tracking technology of the endovascular devices may be used to obtain the intra-operative configuration of the vessels and devices prior to the procedure, thus limiting the radiation exposure and the contrast agent dose.publishedVersio

Mental health, pain and tiredness in adults born very preterm or with very low birthweight

Aim: Adults born preterm have increased risk of mental health problems and other neurodevelopmental conditions. We aimed to investigate associations of mental health with pain and tiredness in adults born very preterm (VP; <32 weeks) or very low birthweight (VLBW; <1500 g) and at term, and whether these associations are influenced by physical activity. Methods: As part of an EU Horizon 2020 project, individual participant data from six prospective cohort studies were harmonised for 617 VP/VLBW and 1122 term‐born participants. Mental health was assessed by the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Adult Self‐Report. Pain and tiredness were harmonised based on specific items from self‐reported questionnaires. Associations between mental health and pain or tiredness were explored by linear regression. Results: An increase in the mental health scales internalising, externalising and total problems was associated with increased pain and tiredness in the preterm and term group alike. Results were maintained when adjusting for physical activity. Conclusion: The findings indicate that associations between mental health, pain and tiredness in adults are independent of gestation or birthweight. Future research should explore other potential mechanisms that may underlie the increased risk of mental health problems in the preterm population