Investigation of Interior Permanent Magnet Machines with Concentrated Windings for High Dynamics Applications

Interior permanent magnet (IPM) machines and non-overlapping concentrated windings (CW) are two design philosophies that have grown in popularity over the last decade. This is due to the many benefits and flexibility they provide. The combination of these philosophies and the tradeoffs involved, however, have not yet been fully discovered. The hope is that the performance enhancing properties of the IPM can be combined with the manufacturability of the CW. An investigation of these two philosophies have been done, focusing on torque performances and magnet losses caused by eddy currents. In order to do the investigation the finite element method (FEM) analysis software, COMSOL Multiphysics have been used. Two IPM models have been compared to a surface mounted permanent magnet (SPM) machine using the same stator design and winding philosophies. The IPM machines showed capability of reaching approxi- mately the same average torque as the SPM machine, although performing poorly when considering torque ripple performance. Considering magnet losses, the IPM machines showed little tendency to reduce the full-load magnet losses. No-load losses, however, was drastically reduced in the IPM models compared to the SPM model. The effect of magnet segmentation on magnet losses was also demonstrated

Inflammatory responses in lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) vaccinated at different water temperatures with intraperitoneal injection

The use of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) as cleaner fish in salmonid aquaculture for the biological control of sea lice infestation levels has increased in recent years. The species is relatively new to aquaculture and susceptible to various infectious agents. The health situation for lumpfish is currently considered poor, indicating the necessity for developing more efficient vaccines. Studying inflammatory responses induced by vaccination can contribute to a more detailed understanding of underlying immune mechanisms in lumpfish, which is important in the context of improving vaccine designs and vaccination procedures. Tissue samples from lumpfish intraperitoneally immunized with a divalent oil-adjuvanted injection vaccine at different water temperatures of 5 °C, 10 °C, and 15 °C, collected at 630 day degrees and 18 weeks post injection, were used for histological and immunohistochemical analyses. The relative amount of secretory and membrane-bound immunoglobulin M (IgM) gene transcripts in the head kidney of vaccinated fish was determined by quantitative PCR. Vaccine-induced inflammatory lesions were observed on histological sections of abdominal pancreatic/intestinal tissue from vaccinated fish in all three temperature groups. Immunohistochemical staining of Aeromonas salmonicida vaccine antigen was pronounced along the rim of oil droplets in lesions. Inflammatory cells forming dense aggregations in lesions showed proliferative activity, many of which were identified as eosinophilic-granulocyte-like cells. IgM+ cells were scattered in more loosely arranged inflammatory tissue dominated by connective tissue, showing no apparent difference in numbers between lesions from fish vaccinated at 5 °C, 10 °C, and 15 °C. The observed staining patterns of IgM+ cells on kidney and spleen sections from vaccinated fish were no different from control fish. Relative gene expression analysis of secretory and membrane-bound IgM revealed low overall expression in the head kidney of vaccinated fish at both 630 day degrees and 18 weeks post injection. The results of this study indicate that the vaccine stimulated prolonged local inflammatory responses at the injection site, which was not greatly influenced by temperature. In addition, the results suggest local mechanisms in IgM responses with no corresponding immunoreactivity in the kidney, but further analyses, especially with regard to how antigens are presented and handled by the lumpfish immune system at the local level, are needed for confirmation

Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions: A Contemplative Exercise in Good Citizenship

Denne oppgaven omhandler romanen Breakfast of Champions (1973) av Kurt Vonnegut, og hvordan det å lese den blir en kontemplativ øvelse i medborgerskap. Ofte omtalt som Vonneguts mest eksperimentelle og splittende roman, og den umiddelbare etterfølgeren av hans magnum opus Slaughterhouse-Five, er Breakfast en bok som er både elsket og hatet. Romanen er en eksperimentell postmoderne satire av det amerikanske forbrukersamfunnet. Dessuten retter Breakfast seg mot så mange ulike sosiale, politiske og miljømessige uretter, og kanskje spesielt hvordan disse problemene vikler seg sammen, at den representerer en betraktning av selve den menneskelige tilstand i postmoderniteten. Mer dyptgående stiller boken spørsmål ved forholdet mellom fortelling og virkelighet, og kritiserer hvordan fortellingene våre, og vår forveksling av fiksjon og virkelighet, er roten til mye menneskelig lidelse. Vi kan oppsummere romanens litt merkelig, men desto mer tankevekkende normative holdning ved å sitere Vonneguts kunngjøring i romanen: «Jeg valgte å avstå fra fortellerkunst. Jeg ville skrive om livet. Hver person ville være like viktig som alle andre. Alle fakta ville gis samme vekt» (s. 210, min oversettelse). Denne uttalelsen peker både til romanens selvrefleksive og politiske art, og jeg argumenterer for at denne slags kontemplasjon er noe som kreves av vårt samtidige medborgerskap, og at det å lese Breakfast blir en øvelse i dette. Til forskjell fra mer tradisjonelle satirer så har ikke Breakfast svarene på problemene den fremhever. I stedet bes leseren inn i kampen, side om side med Vonnegut, og må komme frem til egne oppfatninger og slutninger. Dette skjer i stor grad gjennom romanens gjennomsyrende metafiksjon, og at den fortelles med en ekstremt upåvirket og objektiv stemme, som i møte med livets brutalitet blir både mørk komedie, men samtidig empatisk og medfølende. Romanen bevarer sin kontemplative og politiske vitalitet på tross av sin alder, og jeg argumenter for at den fortjener økt oppmerksomhet nettopp fordi den resonnerer så godt med i vår tid. 2022, 100-årsjubileet til Vonneguts fødsel, og et år før 50-årsjubileet til utgivelsen av Breakfast, virker for meg som en passende tid å revitalisere en av Amerikas store postmoderne forfattere.Engelsk mastergradsoppgaveENG350MAHF-LÆFRMAHF-EN

Sammenheng mellom styrke og spenst hos utvalgte volleyballspillere sammenlignet med tidligere litteratur

Bakgrunn Bakgrunn for valg av tema er at designet til denne studien er godt egnet til å se på sammenheng mellom styrke og spenst. Hensikt Hensikten med denne oppgaven var å se på første divisjons volleyballspillere og sammenhengen mellom styrke og spenst hos de utvalgte volleyballspillerne sammenlignet med tidligere litteratur. Metode I oppgaven ble det benyttet en kvantitativ deduktiv tilnærming da dette opplevdes som mest hensiktsmessig for denne type oppgave. Metoden brukt for gjennomførelse av forsøkene var å bruke 1080 Quantum (1080motion, Västerås, Sverige) for å måle styrke og den valide applikasjonen (Haynes et al., 2018) MyJump2 (Carlos Balsalobre, Madrid, Spania) for å måle spenst. Den utvalgte litteraturen benyttet seg av kvantitativ metode. Litteraturen ble brukt for å sammenligne resultatene presentert i artiklene, med resultatene av forsøkene i dette prosjektet. Resultater Funnene viser at uerfarne hoppere sammenlignet med forsøkspersonene i denne oppgaven gjennomsnittlig hadde en lavere hopphøyde. Når vi ser på resultater av hopphøyde hos forsøkspersonene sammenlignet med erfarne hoppere er resultatene varierende og inkonklusive. Når det gjaldt styrke presterte forsøkspersonene noe dårligere enn forsøkspersonene i den valgte litteraturen, men forsøkspersonene sine resultater motstridet også med noen av korrelasjonene som ble trukket.Background: Background for this study was that the method was well fit for looking at the correlation between strength and vertical jump. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to look at chosen volleyballplayers strength and vertical jump, and compare their results to previous literature. Method: Quantitive deductive approach. 1080 Quantum (1080motion, Västerås, Sverige) to measure strength, and the valid app (Haynes et al., 2018) MyJump2 (Carlos Balsalobre, Madrid, Spain) to measure vertical jump. The literature was chosen as it compared easily to the results in this study. Results: The results show that unexperienced jumpers compared to the participants in this study has on average a lower vertical jump height, but when compared to experienced jumpers the participants have a lower jump height. The results varied, and were therefore inconclusive. The participants in this study also compared worse than participants in other studies when looking at strength, but some of the participants contradict some conclusions in the previous literature

The effect of incremental inclusion of whole grain wheat in the diet of growing turkeys on growth performance, feed conversion ratio, cecal health, and digesta characteristics

This study was conducted to determine the effects of adding incremental amounts of whole grain wheat (0, 100, and 200 g per kilogram of feed) to the diet of growing turkey poults on growth performance, feed efficiency, digesta pH, and the incidence of cecal distension. Seventy two, 6-wk-old commercial line turkeys were blocked by live weight and randomly allocated to 1 of 3 dietary treatment (n = 4 pens/treatment). Turkeys were offered their respective treatments for the duration of the study. Feed offered and refused and body weights were determined weekly. At 63 d of age 12 turkeys from each treatment were euthanized and crop contents were collected and weighed, pH of gizzard and cecal digesta measured, and ceca and cecal contents visually scored. At 84 d of age, all remaining turkeys were euthanized and the same sampling procedure repeated. Feed conversion ratio was poorer in those turkeys offered diets containing whole grain wheat (P < 0.05), declining quadratically (P < 0.005) as the proportion of whole grain wheat (WGW) in the diet increased. The proportion of WGW found in the crop post-mortem reflected whole wheat inclusion rates of the diets. The pH of gizzard contents at 63 d was lower in turkeys receiving diets supplemented with WGW, declining quadratically (P = 0.005) as the proportion of WGW in the diet increased. However, this difference in gizzard pH was not apparent at 84 d of age. Cecal content pH, cecal visual appearance scores, and cecal content visual appearance scores were not affected by the inclusion of WGW to the diet. The inclusion of WGW to the diets of growing turkeys reduces growth performance and feed efficiency suggesting that the addition of whole wheat may have reduced the nutritional quality of the diet as a whole

Crisis leadership in COVID-19: A qualitative study of Norwegian business leaders

Background: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. The crisis that follows presented significant adverse challenges for organizations and business leaders around the world. The present study aims to explore how the extreme context of the COVID-19 influenced crisis leadership, with emphasis on coping and adaptive approaches, in Norwegian leaders during the early stage of the pandemic. Materials and methods: A group of 11 Norwegian business leaders from different private sector companies were subject to an in depth, semi structured interview after the first 9 months of COVID-19. A sensemaking perspective and the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress (CATS) were used to interpret the results. Results: The pandemic called for crisis leadership and a rapid adaptation to a radically changed situation. Restructuring of organizational processes and introduction of new routines were followed by support and caring for their employees during the first wave of the pandemic. All the leaders coped well with the situation, and some were excited over the opportunity to make a difference in this demanding and stressful situation. Many emphasized that the pandemic was an external threat, resulting in an acceptance of the situation, more transparency, collaboration, and generosity within the organization. Especially the willingness to change was challenged in a positive way. A more blurred line between office and home, and absence of social activities were mentioned as negative outcomes.publishedVersio

Optimization of Phytase Production from <i>Escherichia coli</i> by Altering Solid-State Fermentation Conditions

Cultivation of Escherichia coli on wheat-bran substrate under various Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) conditions was evaluated for phytase yield along with the enzyme activity profile as a potential, low-cost alternative to submerged-liquid fermentation. The maximum phytase activity achieved by E. coli was 350 ± 50 SPU of phytase activity per gram of bran, incubated for 96 h with a substrate bed moisture content of 70% (w/v) at 37 °C with a relative air humidity of 90%, and supplemented with 10% (w/w bran) Luria-Bertani broth powder which translates into a 300% increase in phytase activity compared with an un-supplemented culture. The greatest improvements in phytase yield were associated with nutrient supplementation and the optimization of initial substrate moisture content. E. coli production of phytase utilizing solid-state fermentation technology was shown to be feasible utilizing the low-cost agro-residue wheat bran as substrate. Furthermore, the effect of pH and temperature on phytase activity was monitored from pH 2.5 to pH 7.5, and for temperatures ranging from 20 °C to 70 °C. Optimal phytase activity was at pH 5.5 and 50 °C when produced under the SSF optimized conditions

A study of starch gelatinisation behaviour in hydrothermally-processed plant food tissues and implications for in vitro digestibility

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the plant food matrix in influencing the extent of starch gelatinisation during hydrothermal processing, and its implications for starch digestibility. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to provide a detailed examination of the gelatinisation behaviour of five distinct size fractions (diameters <0.21 to 2.58 mm) of milled chickpea and durum wheat. Gelatinisation parameters were obtained from the DSC thermograms and concomitant microscopy analyses were performed. The estimated terminal extent of gelatinisation (TEG) was compared with our previously published data for in vitro starch digestibility of the same food materials. We observed clear differences in the gelatinisation behaviour of matched size-fractions of chickpeas and durum wheat. In chickpea materials, the TEG values (34–100%) were inversely related to particle size, whereas in durum wheat, no sizedependent limitations on TEG were observed. The TEG values were completely consistent with the extent of starch amylolysis in all size fractions of both durum wheat and chickpea. Microstructural analysis following hydrothermal processing confirmed the presence of some partially gelatinised birefringent starch within intact chickpea cells. Birefringent starch granules were not present in any of the processed fractions of durum wheat. The differences in gelatinisation behaviour of these plant species seem to reflect the individual cell wall properties of these materials. These findings demonstrate the applicability of DSC to real food materials to provide insight into the mechanisms by which the food matrix (particularly the plant cell walls) influences gelatinisation, and consequently, starch amylolysis