The turbomachine blading design using S2-S1 approach

The boundary conditions corresponding to the design problem when the blades being simulated by the bound vorticity distribution are presented. The 3D flow is analyzed by the two steps S2 - S1 approach. In the first step, the number of blades is supposed to be infinite, the vortex distribution is transformed into an axisymmetric one, so that the flow field can be analyzed in a meridional plane. The thickness distribution of the blade producing the flow channel striction is taken into account by the modification of metric tensor in the continuity equation. Using the meridional stream function to define the flow field, the mass conservation is satisfied automatically. The governing equation is deduced from the relation between the azimuthal component of the vorticity and the meridional velocity. The value of the azimuthal component of the vorticity is provided by the hub to shroud equilibrium condition. This step leads to the determination of the axisymmetric stream sheets as well as the approximate camber surface of the blade. In the second step, the finite number of blades is taken into account, the inverse problem corresponding to the blade to blade flow confined in each stream sheet is analyzed. The momentum equation implies that the free vortex of the absolute velocity must be tangential to the stream sheet. The governing equation for the blade to blade flow stream function is deduced from this condition. At the beginning, the upper and the lower surfaces of the blades are created from the camber surface obtained from the first step with the assigned thickness distribution. The bound vorticity distribution and the penetrating flux conservation applied on the presumed blade surface constitute the boundary conditions of the inverse problem. The detection of this flux leads to the rectification of the geometry of the blades

Narrative Coherence and Late Onset Psychosis

It is estimated that between 20-25% of people diagnosed with psychosis will have an initial onset after the age of 40 years (Harris & Jeste, 1988; Salzman & Tune, 2001); however, little is known about the experience of late onset psychosis and the recovery from this illness. This study therefore sought to explore the experience of late onset psychosis in a sample of adults aged 40 years or older living in London, England. Method: An inductive, qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews and Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was employed. Results: Participants described a long-standing sense of being ‘different’ to other people and a solitary coping style was utilised both before and during the onset of the psychotic episode. They described experiencing the psychotic episode as a confusing and disruptive experience which impacted upon their concept of self-identity, themselves in relation to other people and their ability to make sense of their experiences and to communicate these to others. They described recovery as a process with which they were still engaging, and many of the participants remained uncertain about their future. Discussion: It was concluded that the experience of late onset psychosis has a severe impact upon an individual’s life and the impact of the psychotic episode left them uncertain about their experiences, self and ability to think about the future. Whilst the uncertainty and disruption caused by the psychotic episode was experienced as an ‘impasse’ to the process of recovery, some participants found their experiences of engaging with mental health services gave them a new perspective on how to manage difficulties

Conserving Water in Irrigated Agriculture: The Economics and Valuation of Water Rights

The effective management of water resources in Alberta is crucial to sustainable agriculture, industrial development, and environmental management. The historical water allocation mechanism, administrative apportionment, has been viewed in recent years as ineffective and cumbersome. Accordingly, the revision of the Water Act in 1996, included an attempt to improve the efficiency of water allocation. By making the transfer of water rights possible, the revised Act provides many new options for water use and flexibility. The implications of transferable water rights in Alberta water policy must be carefully considered in order to determine the viability and suitability of such a system in the provincial context. This project examines some of the economic aspects of transferable water rights and the potential for effective water allocation by way of transfers in an Alberta setting. As a major part of this project, a hedonic price model, focusing on land values in southern Alberta, was constructed based on similar models, which have been used elsewhere to value water rights or agricultural products. The hedonic approach to market analysis uses the relationship between the price of land and the attributes of the land, such as water availability, soil quality and location, to explain differences in land prices. In this process, the hedonic model is used to estimate the implicit marginal price or value of each land attribute -- in our case, the marginal value of irrigation water. This value will provide us with an indirect estimate of the value of water rights in the region studied. An advantage of the technique is that it estimates the value that farmers express for irrigation water in the market place for land. Such values, then, give us an indication of the anticipated prices, which might prevail for water rights in southern Alberta. The focus of the study was an area of southern Alberta encompassing the counties of Wheatland, Newell, Cypress, Forty Mile, Taber, Warner, Lethbridge and Vulcan and the irrigation districts of Western, Eastern, St.Mary's, Taber, Lethbridge Northern, and portions of Raymond. Information was collected on the physical and economic characteristics of 230 land parcels, which were sold in this region in 1993 and early 1994. A crude comparison of the value of irrigated agricultural land and non-irrigated agricultural land in the sample reveals that irrigated land was worth, on average, $325 more per acre than non-irrigated land. In the ensuing analysis, it was estimated that the value of a parcel of land was determined largely by the buildings on it, the number of acres in the parcel, the proximity of the parcel to a major city (in this case Calgary or Lethbridge), and by the availability of irrigation water. In the hedonic model, the coefficient values of the variables included represent the marginal impact of each of these characteristics on land prices holding all other things constant. For example, the value of water rights represents the average difference between land values of farms that have access to irrigation and farms that do not. This study estimated that every dollar of improvements to farm buildings translates to a one cent increase in the per acre price of the land parcel, where the addition of one extra acre of land to a land parcel lowers the price per acre by$5.17 per acre. Land prices were seen to increase with the proximity of the parcel to large cities. Similarly, the results of the preferred model indicate that the implicit value of having access to irrigation water in southern Alberta is approximately $190 per acre, or, using the conventional estimate that irrigating one acre of land requires 1.5 acre feet of water, this translates to$126 per acre foot of irrigation water. Accordingly, it is revealed that the existence of water rights adds approximately 35% to the value of non-irrigated land. Since this value represents the implicit amount farmers are willing to pay for access to water, it could also be construed as an indirect measure of the value of water rights. From these results, it is reasonable to conclude that water rights do have a measurable impact on land values. Accordingly, proper incentives may be needed to ensure that water is used efficiently and not incorrectly treated as a relatively free or cheap good. One possible method of policy reform to achieve such a system would be the institution of a system of transferable water rights, permitting water to be traded, or effectively sold, at its market price or scarcity value. Further work was done to determine the potential effects of transferable water rights on the Eastern Irrigation District in southern Alberta. Farm budget information was used to gather information and create twelve representative farm types whose financial performance was analysed using linear programming with increasing water quantity constraints. The resulting productive water values were then used to imply potential reallocations of water among farm types and cropping systems. Analysis of the data gathered revealed that all representative farms faced downward sloping demand functions for water. The overall value of water for a 1% reduction ranged from $8 to$250 per acre foot, with the lowest value belonging to largely pasture operations and the highest value attributed to specialty crop producers. This large range in water values for the region indicates that there is sufficient heterogeneity within the EID to accommodate a transferable rights system. Further analysis of the data reveals that the implementation of a transfer system would result in water being transferred to specialty crop producers and the acreage devoted to specialty crops would increase. Small irrigated pasture operations and cereal crop producers would be the first to give up their water allocations under a transfer system. The analysis indicates that there is considerable potential for economic gains from water trade within this district, the main constraint being the market limitations to expanded specialty crop production. Using these two major studies and other sources, this report concludes with a brief evaluation of the economic advantages, disadvantages and other issues involved in instituting a system of transferable water rights in Alberta. Experience elsewhere, primarily in Australia and the western United States, strongly suggests that transferable water rights, despite some drawbacks and problems of implementation, can be a very worthwhile water policy tool. Now that such tradable water rights are permissible under the revised Water Resources Act of 1996, it is recommended that a pilot project involving transferable water rights be instituted in a water short basin or sub-basin in southern Alberta once a water management plan for that basin is completed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The genome of <i>Strongyloides </i>spp. gives insights into protein families with a putative role in nematode parasitism

SUMMARYParasitic nematodes are important and abundant parasites adapted to live a parasitic lifestyle, with these adaptations all aimed at facilitating their survival and reproduction in their hosts. The recently sequenced genomes of fourStrongyloidesspecies, gastrointestinal parasites of humans and other animals, alongside transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of free-living and parasitic stages of their life cycles have revealed a number of protein families with a putative role in their parasitism. Many of these protein families have also been associated with parasitism in other parasitic nematode species, suggesting that these proteins may play a fundamental role in nematode parasitism more generally. Here, we review key protein families that have a putative role inStrongyloides’ parasitism – acetylcholinesterases, astacins, aspartic proteases, prolyl oligopeptidases, proteinase inhibitors (trypsin inhibitors and cystatins), SCP/TAPS and transthyretin-like proteins – and the evidence for their key, yet diverse, roles in the parasitic lifestyle.</jats:p

A realist evaluation of a London general practitioner trainer course

Clinicians with teaching and training roles should be adequately trained and assessed. However, some debate exists as to what the nature of this training should be. Historically, a postgraduate certificate in education was a pre-requisite to becoming a GP trainer but this is changing with growing concern that such a pre-requisite might act as a deterrent to potential GP trainers. This research examines the impact of a scheme designed to provide an alternative, more practical and focused, pathway to becoming a GP trainer. We interviewed 26 course participants and stakeholders of the London GP Training Course (LGPTC), observed teaching sessions, and analysed course materials. We asked what elements of the course were and weren’t effective, for whom, and under what circumstances. Here, we present a summary of our main findings–that GP trainers want to know practically, not theoretically, how to be a trainer; formative assessment boosts trainees’ confidence in their own skills and abilities; short, practical GP training courses can help enhance the numbers of GP trainers; important questions remain about the role and value of educational theory in education faculty development

The impact of service change on doctors' training (GMC 822)

The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding about the direct and indirect impacts of service change on doctors’ training: to understand if specific types of service change pose a risk to the training experience, and to gain insights into the contextual influences that undermine or enhance the education of doctors during service change

The cost of vaginal birth at home, in a birth centre or in a hospital setting in New South Wales: A micro-costing study

© 2019 Australian College of Midwives Background: Women want greater choice of place of birth in New South Wales, Australia. It is perceived to be more costly to health services for women with a healthy pregnancy to give birth at home or in a birth centre. It is not known how much it costs the health service to provide care for women planning to give birth in these settings. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the direct cost of giving birth vaginally at home, in a birth centre or in a hospital for women at low risk of complications, in New South Wales. Methods: A micro-costing design was used. Observational (time and motion) and resource use data collection was undertaken to identify the staff time and resources required to provide care in a public hospital, birth centre or at home for women with a healthy pregnancy. Findings: The median cost of providing care for women who plan to give birth at home, in a birth centre and in a hospital were similar (AUD $2150.07,$2100.59 and $2097.30 respectively). Midwifery time was the largest contributor to the cost of birth at home, and overhead costs accounted for over half of the total cost of BC and hospital birth. The cost of consumables was low in all three settings. Conclusion: In this study, we have found there is little difference in the cost to the health service when a woman has an uncomplicated vaginal birth at home, in a birth centre or in a hospital setting

Expression of The αβ T-Cell Receptor Is Necessary for The Generation of The Thymic Medulla

The architecture of the thymus of mice that congenitally fail to express the αβ T-cell receptor (TCRαβ) has been examined by immunohistology. In these mice, a defined mutation was introduced into the TCRc gene by homologous recombination. By using antibodies specific for cortical or medullary epithelium and for major histocompatibility complex antigens, the network of cortical epithelium in these mice was shown to be essentially unaltered in comparison with that of normal mice. In contrast, the thymic medulla was considerably reduced in size. This analysis shows that expression of the αβ TCR but not the γδ TCR is obligatory for establishing the thymic medulla and suggests that the growth of medullary epithelial cells may require contact with TCRαβ-expressing cells

Early- and mid-career transitions to research leadership in Africa

This article examines the early-and mid-career transition to research leadership in Africa. Much of the available African literature on research leadership indicate several challenges related to poor conceptualisations of career transitions and gaps in the availability of research training. Qualitative data were collected using individual interviews (n=24) and focus groups (n=27) to identify key transition points of early career researchers (ECRs) and mid-career researchers (MCRs) in selected African countries. The qualitative data was complemented with quantitative survey questionnaires (n=250) and a triangulation approach was adopted to analyse the results. The findings were themed into different categories describing the common career paths, stages and challenges of research leaders. The latter part of the findings present a discussion on development approaches to attract and retain researchers in African universities. By focusing on the African continent, this study contributes to the current body of literature on research leadership in the Global South