High Specification Offshore Blades: Work Package: 1B: Blades Design

This report outlines the current state of the art in offshore wind turbine blade aerodynamic design, along with the key technical limitations and possible technologies which may improve the aerodynamic design of blades and turbine rotors in the future. It is suggested that there are three principal areas in which aerodynamic improvements can be made to the design of offshore wind turbine systems: improved rotor system and blade tip design for operation at higher tip speeds, optimisation of wind farm design to alleviate aerodynamic interactions between individual turbines, and the aerodynamic feasibility of using structural mode coupling to achieve pitch and/or stall control of the loads on blades

Orthognathic Surgical Outcomes in Patients With and Without Craniofacial Anomalies

Purpose The objective of this study is to examine hospitalization outcomes after orthognathic surgery. This study tests the hypothesis that patients with craniofacial anomalies have higher billed hospital charges, longer lengths of stay, and increased odds of development of infectious complications when compared with patients without craniofacial anomalies. Materials and Methods The Nationwide Inpatient Sample for the years 2012 and 2013 was used. All patients who underwent an orthognathic surgical procedure were selected. The primary independent variable of interest was presence of a congenital cleft and/or craniofacial anomaly. The outcome variables were the occurrence of complications, billed hospital charges, and length of stay. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were used to examine the effect of the presence of craniofacial anomalies on outcomes. Results During the study period, a total of 16,515 patients underwent an orthognathic surgical procedure in the United States. Of these patients, 2,760 had a cleft and/or craniofacial anomaly. An infectious complication occurred in 7.4% of those with a craniofacial anomaly (compared with 0.6% of those without a craniofacial anomaly). The mean billed hospital charges in those with a craniofacial anomaly was $139,317 (compared with$56,189 in those without a craniofacial anomaly). The mean length of stay in the hospital in patients with a craniofacial anomaly was 8.8 days (compared with 1.8 days in those without a craniofacial anomaly). These differences in outcomes between patients with and patients without craniofacial anomalies were significant after we adjusted for patient- and hospital-level confounders. Conclusions Patients with a craniofacial anomaly are at higher risk of development of infectious complications, have higher hospital charges, and stay in the hospital for a longer duration after orthognathic surgery when compared with those without a craniofacial anomaly

Practical Implementation of Machine tool Metrology and Maintenance Management Systems

Maximising asset utilisation and minimising downtime and waste are becoming increasingly important to all manufacturing facilities as competition increases and profits decrease. The tools to assist with monitoring these machining processes are becoming more and more in demand. A system designed to fulfil the needs of machine tool operators and supervisors has been developed and its impact on the precision manufacturing industry is being considered. The benefits of implementing this system, compared to traditional methods, will be discussed here

Three Essays in Housing Markets

The 2007 collapse of housing price and subsequent recession highlighted the fundamental role housing plays in the economy. Housing is not only one of the largest single expenditures most consumers have but also has a large impact on both local and national economies. In this dissertation I investigate three aspects of the housing market. The first essay shows the role that government policy can have in impacting housing prices and rents through an examination of the Arizona immigration enforcement legislation of 2010. I show that the implementation of the legislation had a negative impact on Arizona\u27s rents and housing prices, resulting in an estimated loss of $40 billion in lost wealth from owner-occupied properties and$13.8 billion in lost rental income. In my second essay I investigate the dynamic relationship between Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and housing prices. I find that the series are cointegrated and that REITs adjust to changes in their shared cointegrating relationship. I then use this finding to show that the cointegrating residual improves upon one-period ahead out-of-sample forecasts of REIT returns. In my third essay I investigate the role of macroeconomic announcements on high-frequency REIT returns. I use the forecast errors for a AR(1) rolling forecast as proxies for the surprise associated with an announcement. In addition, I use the Quandt-Andrews breakpoint test to determine changes in the announcement effect regimes. I argue that this is better than defining ad hoc regimes based on states of the business cycle when estimating the effect of macroeconomic announcements. The results indicate that macroeconomic announcements do have a real impact on REIT returns, and thus REITs do reflect market fundamentals