EVALUATION OF HEAT TRANSFER BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR CFD MODELING OF A 3D PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER GEOMETRY

In this paper fluid flow and heat transfer are modeled in a corrugated 3D plate heat exchanger geometry with a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program, Fluent 6.1.22 (Fluent Inc., Lebanon), in order to find out the most realistic heat transfer boundary conditions for a plate heat exchanger. The built-in boundary conditions of Fluent available for this case are Heat flux, Convection and Constant wall temperature. The CFD models are verified with correlations and experimental data obtained by a flat plate test equipment of which parameters can be calculated analytically. Deficiencies are found in all the built-in heat transfer boundary conditions. Heat transfer modeling with CFD in a corrugated plate heat exchanger is problematic because of the assumptions that have to be made when defining the boundary conditions in the complex geometry. The values of the computational parameters have spatial variations and can not be defined explicitly. However, when compared to the experimental correlations in the literature, the Convection boundary condition gives the most realistic results in the case of corrugated plate heat exchanger

Congruence between perceived and theoretical knowledge before and after an internet-based continuing education program about VLU nursing care

Background: Previous research has revealed nurses' knowledge gaps in venous leg ulcer (VLU) nursing care, and continuing education is needed. The closer nurses' perceived knowledge is to their evidence-based theoretical knowledge, the better possibilities they have to conduct evidence-based VLU nursing care.Objectives: To assess the congruence between nurses' perceived and theoretical knowledge about VLU nursing care before and after an internet-based education about VLU nursing care (eVLU).Design: Quasi-experimental study with intervention and comparison groups and pre- and post-measurements.Setting: Home health care in two Finnish municipalities.Participants: Nurses (n = 946) working in home health care were invited to participate. In the intervention group, 239 nurses and 229 nurses in the comparison group met the inclusion criteria, and they were all recruited to the study.Method: Nurses were divided into intervention and comparison groups with lottery between the municipalities. Nurses in both groups took care of patients with VLU according to their organizations' instructions. In addition to this, nurses in the intervention group received a 6-week eVLU while those in the comparison group did not. Data were collected with a questionnaire about perceived and theoretical knowledge before education, at six weeks, and at 10 weeks. The percentages of congruence were calculated at every measurement point, and the McNemar test was used to detect statistical significance of changes between measurements.Results: The increase of congruence was more often statistically significant in the intervention group than in the comparison group.Conclusion: The results support the hypothesis that the congruence between perceived and theoretical knowledge will be higher among nurses receiving eVLU. Because of the low participation and drop-outs, the results should be interpreted with caution.</p

Panama and the WTO : new constitutionalism of trade policy and global tax governance

"Corrigendum" in Review of International Political Economy, 24(4), p. 738 (DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2017.1332547).Tax havens and tax flight have lately received increasing attention, while interest toward multilateral trade policies has somewhat diminished. We argue that more attention needs to be paid exactly to the interrelations between trade and tax policies. Drawing from two case studies on Panama's trade disputes, we show how World Trade Organization (WTO) rules can be used both to resist attempts to sanction secrecy structures and to promote measures against tax flight. The theory of new constitutionalism can help to explain how trade treaties can 'lock in' tax policies. However, our case studies show that trade policy not only 'locks in' democratic policy-making, but also enables tax havens to use their commercialized sovereignty to resists anti-secrecy measures. What is being 'locked in' are the policy tools, not necessarily the policies. The changing relationship between trade and tax policies can also create new and unexpected tools for tackling tax evasion, underlining the importance of epistemic arbitrage in the context of new constitutionalism. In principle, political actors with sufficient technical and juridical knowledge can shape global tax governance to various directions regardless of their formal position in the world political hierarchies. This should be taken into account when trade treaties are being negotiated or revised.Peer reviewe

Androgen and glucocorticoid levels reflect seasonally occurring social challenges in male redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus)

Intense reproductive competition and social instability are assumed to increase concentrations of glucocorticoids and androgens in vertebrates, as a means of coping with these challenges. In seasonally breeding redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus), the mating and the birth season and the associated increased male competition are predicted to pose such reproductive challenges. In this paper, we investigate seasonal variation in hormone excretion in male redfronted lemurs, and examine whether this variation is associated with social or ecological factors. Although dominance status has been shown to affect individual stress levels across many taxa, we predicted no rank-related differences in glucocorticoids for redfronted lemurs because relatively equal costs are associated with both high and low rank positions (based on patterns of rank acquisition/maintenance and threats toward subordinates). Over a 14-month period, we collected behavioral data (1843 focal hours) and 617 fecal samples from 13 redfronted lemur males in Kirindy Forest/Madagascar. We found no general rank-related pattern of testosterone or glucocorticoid excretion in this species. Both hormones were excreted at significantly higher levels during the mating and the birth season, despite social stability during both periods. The elevated mating season levels may be explained by increased within-group reproductive competition during this time and are in line with previous studies of other seasonally reproducing primates. For the birth season increase, we propose that the predictable risk of infanticide in this highly seasonal species affects male gonadal and adrenal endocrine activity. We evaluate alternative social and ecological factors influencing the production of both hormone classes and conclude based on our preliminary investigations that none of them can account for the observed pattern

Introduction

The introduction defines the concepts of neoliberalism and technoscience, overviews critically the literature concerning their interlinkages and describes the chapters of the book