Extended Surface Heat Transfer Coefficients via Endwall Temperature Measurements

Short pins are used for internal cooling of the trailing edge in a gas turbine blade. A novel method is described in this thesis which helps in simplifying the experimental process used to obtain average heat transfer data on the pin surface, at the expense of additional post processing complexity. The method is based on a unique, analytical solution of the longitudinal conduction equation with internal heat generation, allowing computation of heat transfer rates via pin base temperature measurements via Temperature Sensitive Paint, or similar non-intrusive methods. Verification of this method is done with comparisons to the solution of infinite fins with internal heat generation, conjugate computational results, and experimental data validated against the literature. Agreement within 8% of experimental and 2% of numerical results confirm the suitability of the method

Rehabilitation versus surgical reconstruction for non-acute anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL SNNAP): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial

BackgroundAnterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is a common debilitating injury that can cause instability of the knee. We aimed to investigate the best management strategy between reconstructive surgery and non-surgical treatment for patients with a non-acute ACL injury and persistent symptoms of instability.MethodsWe did a pragmatic, multicentre, superiority, randomised controlled trial in 29 secondary care National Health Service orthopaedic units in the UK. Patients with symptomatic knee problems (instability) consistent with an ACL injury were eligible. We excluded patients with meniscal pathology with characteristics that indicate immediate surgery. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) by computer to either surgery (reconstruction) or rehabilitation (physiotherapy but with subsequent reconstruction permitted if instability persisted after treatment), stratified by site and baseline Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score—4 domain version (KOOS4). This management design represented normal practice. The primary outcome was KOOS4 at 18 months after randomisation. The principal analyses were intention-to-treat based, with KOOS4 results analysed using linear regression. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN10110685, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02980367.FindingsBetween Feb 1, 2017, and April 12, 2020, we recruited 316 patients. 156 (49%) participants were randomly assigned to the surgical reconstruction group and 160 (51%) to the rehabilitation group. Mean KOOS4 at 18 months was 73·0 (SD 18·3) in the surgical group and 64·6 (21·6) in the rehabilitation group. The adjusted mean difference was 7·9 (95% CI 2·5–13·2; p=0·0053) in favour of surgical management. 65 (41%) of 160 patients allocated to rehabilitation underwent subsequent surgery according to protocol within 18 months. 43 (28%) of 156 patients allocated to surgery did not receive their allocated treatment. We found no differences between groups in the proportion of intervention-related complications.InterpretationSurgical reconstruction as a management strategy for patients with non-acute ACL injury with persistent symptoms of instability was clinically superior and more cost-effective in comparison with rehabilitation management

Standards-Essential Patents: A Prolegomena

59-66A large variety of technology standards are encumbered by patents. Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) through their intellectual property policies require patent holders to disclose standards-essential patents (SEPs), along with a requirement to commit to Fair/Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms of licensing. However, the contractual and commercial aspects of FRAND are unclear at the time of formation of standards. An additional market demand may be created purely by virtue of the particular patented product being declared as a SEP leading to a certain kind of opportunism by patent holders who demand ‘unreasonable’ royalties, or alternatively, engage in patent hold-ups. Primarily, the disagreement on what FRAND actually means does not only pertain to the issue of fixation of royalties alone; there is strong disagreement over the very nature of a contractual FRAND commitment, and whether or not FRAND operates as a waiver for injunctive relief. Competition/antitrust authorities across jurisdictions have also launched investigations into possible abuses by patent holders in the SEP context. From a global economic law perspective, the World Trade Organization’s trade based regime (TRIPS and TBT Agreements) also have a role to play in providing long-term solutions to resolve issues concerning SEPs

The Rational Basis for FRANDly Courts Denying Injunctive Relief for SEPs Infringement

146-156Increasingly, courts across several jurisdictions are unwilling to grant injunctions in cases involving infringement of Standards-Essential Patents (SEPs), the teleological reason being the unfair/inequitable outcomes due to the patentee gaining an additional market power not conveyed by the patent. The courts by evaluating the equitable factors deny injunctions based on an underlying logic that since a patentee is purely interested in deriving royalty on his patents committed by way of Fair-Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) licensing offers he may be compensated monetarily in lieu of an injunction. However, availability of adequate remedy at law coupled with lack of irreparable harm due to existence of FRAND commitment is not the only way to explain the rational basis for lack of injunctive relief when viewed through a theoretical and conceptual prism. This note chronicles the legal construct of patent injunctions from a comparative law perspective and articulates that the rational basis for denial of an injunction for alleged infringement of SEPs is due to patent law’s inability to construe the ‘right to exclude’ and its relationship with SEPs protected market since it is fraught with conceptual and inherent definitional fallacies of assessment of ‘market power’ that go beyond the pale of patent law and policy

Standards-Essential Patents: A Prolegomena

A large variety of technology standards are encumbered by patents. Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) through their IP policies require patent holders to disclose standards-essential patents (SEPs), along with a requirement to commit to Fair/ Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms of licensing. However, the contractual and commercial aspects of FRAND are unclear at the time of formation of standards. An additional market demand may be created purely by virtue of the particular patented product being declared as a SEP leading to a certain kind of opportunism by patent holders who demand ‘unreasonable’ royalties, or alternatively, engage in patent holdups. Primarily, the disagreement on what FRAND actually means does not only pertain to the issue of fixation of royalties alone, there is strong disagreement over the very nature of a contractual FRAND commitment, and whether or not FRAND operates as a waiver for injunctive relief. Competition/antitrust authorities across jurisdictions have also launched investigations into possible abuses by patent holders in the SEP context. From a global economic law perspective, WTO’s trade based regime (TRIPS and TBT Agreements) also have a role to play in providing long-term solutions to resolve issues concerning SEP

Workload Control in Flow Shops with Bottleneck Shifting and Process Time Variability

Manufacturing industries struggle to devise precise planning and scheduling solutions due to unpredictable business situations. Additionally, uncertainties in production such as machine breakdowns, labour absenteeism, cycle time deviations, etc., would further deteriorate production plans and lead to uncertainty in decision-making processes. Flow shops with bottlenecks are particularly susceptible to these disturbances. Moreover, the random variations in cycle time variations can cause the bottleneck to shift between different stages. Literature indicates that conventional job release methods are ineffective in addressing these difficulties. In contrast, workload control methods would provide better solutions. Hence, a flow shop model has been developed and simulated using the variables like process time variations and bottleneck shifting on the discrete-event simulation software. The flow shop model incorporates realistic shop characteristics which are subjected to random process time variations, so as to assess the performance. The outcomes of the experimentation demonstrate that order release methods play a pivotal role in improving the performance of flow shops in more volatile situations