Overall Effectiveness Measurement at Engine Temperatures with Reactive Film Cooling and Surface Curvature

The thesis presented here details the design, construction and initial testing of rig for use with high temperature film cooling testing. The film cooling rig was supplied with hot mainstream gas from a well-stirred reactor operating on a propane/air mixture capable of multiple equivalence ratios. The Hastelloy test plates contained an internal cooling channel to allow for overall effectiveness measurements. Thermocouples on both the freestream and internal surfaces of the test plate provided temperature differences for heat flux calculations. The test plates had a quarter circle leading edge with a tapered trailing edge to provide surface curvature for the film cooling studies. The height of the test channel could be adjusted for multiple Mach numbers to be set for the mainstream flow. Using a plate containing five rows of holes in trenches and two rows of showerhead holes, methodology was developed for collecting and analyzing the necessary data to obtain net heat flux reduction and overall effectiveness results. This methodology was then applied to the same plate to gather comparative results for reacting versus non-reacting film cooling

Verification of European subseasonal wind speed forecasts

Analysis of the forecasts and hindcasts from the ECMWF 32-day forecast model reveals that there is statistically significant skill in predicting weekly mean wind speeds over areas of Europe at lead times of at least 14–20 days. Previous research on wind speed predictability has focused on the short- to medium-range time scales, typically finding that forecasts lose all skill by the later part of the medium-range forecast. To the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to look beyond the medium-range time scale by taking weekly mean wind speeds, instead of averages at hourly or daily resolution, for the ECMWF monthly forecasting system. It is shown that the operational forecasts have high levels of correlation (~0.6) between the forecasts and observations over the winters of 2008–12 for some areas of Europe. Hindcasts covering 20 winters show a more modest level of correlation but are still skillful. Additional analysis examines the probabilistic skill for the United Kingdom with the application of wind power forecasting in mind. It is also shown that there is forecast “value” for end users (operating in a simple cost/loss ratio decision-making framework). End users that are sensitive to winter wind speed variability over the United Kingdom, Germany, and some other areas of Europe should therefore consider forecasts beyond the medium-range time scale as it is clear there is useful information contained within the forecast

Multi-robot behaviors with bearing-only sensors and scale-free coordinates

This thesis presents a low-cost multi-robot system for large populations of robots, a new coordinate system for the robot based on angles between robots and a series of experiments validating robot performance. The new robot platform, the r-one will serve as an educational, outreach and research platform for robotics. I consider the robot's bearing-only sensor model, where each robot is capable of measuring the bearing, but not the distance, to each of its neighbors. This work also includes behaviors demonstrating the efficiency of this approach with this bearing-only sensor model. The new local coordinate systems based on angular information is introduced as scale-free coordinate system . Each robot produces its own local scale-free coordinates to determine the relative positions of its neighbors up to an unknown scaling factor. The computation of scale-free coordinates is analyzed with hardware and simulation validation. For hardware, the scale-free algorithm is tailored to low-cost systems with limited communication bandwidth and sensor resolution. The algorithm also uses a noise sensitivity model to reduce the impact of noise on the computed scale-free coordinates. I validate the algorithm with static and dynamic motion experiments

Coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) Infecting Cricetid Rodents from Alaska, U.S.A., and Northeastern Siberia, Russia, and Description of a New \u3ci\u3eEimeria\u3c/i\u3e Species from \u3ci\u3eMyodes rutilus\u3c/i\u3e, the Northern Red-Backed Vole

During the summers of 2000, 2001, and 2002, 1,950 fecal samples from 4 families, 10 genera, and 16 species of rodents in Alaska, U.S.A. (N = 1,711), and Siberia, Russia (N = 239) were examined for coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae). The 4 families sampled were Dipodidae (jumping mice), Erethizontidae (New World porcupines), Muridae (mice, rats), and Cricetidae (voles, lemmings). Nineteen oocyst morphotypes were observed, of which 10 were consistent with descriptions of known coccidia species from murid hosts, 8 were similar to oocysts described previously from other genera than those in which they are found here (and are called Eimeria species 1-8), and 1 is described as new. In the Dipodidae, all from Alaska, 0/15 Zapus hudsonius had coccidian oocysts in their feces when examined. In the Erethizontidae, all from Alaska, 0/5 Erethizon dorsatum had oocysts when examined. In the Muridae, all from Russia, 0/5 Apodemus peninsulae had oocysts when examined. In the Cricetidae from Alaska, we found the following infections: 15/72 (21%) Lemmus trimucronatus,/i\u3e (Eimeria spp. 3, 4, 5); 10/29 (34%) Microtus longicaudus (Eimeria saxei, Eimeria wenrichi); 41/88 (47%) Microtus miurus (Eimeria coahiliensis, Eimeria ochrogasteri, Eimeria saxei, Eimeria wenrichi); 278/405 (68%) Microtus oeconomus (E. ochrogasteri, E. saxei, E. wenrichi); 116/159 (73%) Microtus pennsylvanicus (E. saxei, E. wenrichi); 9/52 (17%) Microtus xanthognathus (E. wenrichi); 218/699 (31%) Myodes rutilus (Eimeria cernae, Eimeria gallati, Eimeria marconii, Isospora clethrionomydis, Isospora clethrionomysis, and a new Eimeria species); 34/187 (18%) Synaptomys borealis (Eimeria spp. 6, 7, 8, Eimeria synaptomys). In the Cricetidae from Siberia, we found the following infections: 5/24 (21%) Alticola macrotis (Eimeria spp.1, 2); 0/5 Dicrostonyx torquatus; 1/11 (9%) Lemmus lemmus (Eimeria sp. 3); 30/48 (52%) Mi. oeconomus (E. saxei, E. wenrichi); 5/53 (9%) Myodes rufocanus (E. cernae, E. gallati, I. clethrionomydis, the new Eimeria sp.); 21/85 (25%) Myodes rutilus (E. cernae, E. gallati, E. marconii, the new Eimeria sp.); 0/8 Myopus schisticolor. Oocysts of the new species, found in both My. rutilus (Alaska, Siberia) and My. rufocanus (Siberia), are ellipsoidal with a striated outer wall and measured 30.6 × 20.5 (27–33 × 19–23) μm; micropyle and oocyst residuum absent, but a polar granule is present. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal, 14.5 × 9.1 (13–16 × 8–10) μm; Stieda body, sub-Stieda body and sporocyst residuum are present

Chesapeake Bay Baseline Data Acquisition: Final Report

This report forms one of several appendices which are the body of the Chesapeake Bay Baseline Data Acquisition Final Report. These appendices are as follows: Appendix I. A Chesapeake Bay Directory Appendix II. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Appendix III. Toxics in the Chesapeake Bay Appendix IV. Eutrophication Appendix V. Shellfish Bed Closures Appendix VI. Dredging and Spoil Disposal Appendix VII. Modification of Fisheries Appendix VIII. Hydrologic Modifications Appendix IX. Wetlands Alteration Appendix X. Effects of Boating and Shipping on Water Quality Appendix XI. Shoreline Erosio

Research note – barriers and solutions to linking and using health and social care data in Scotland

Integration of health and social care will require integrated data to drive service evaluation, design, joint working and research. We describe the results of a Scottish meeting of key stakeholders in this area. Potential uses for linked data included understanding client populations, mapping trajectories of dependency, identifying at risk groups, predicting required capacity for future service provision, and research to better understand the reciprocal interactions between health, social circumstances and care. Barriers to progress included lack of analytical capacity, incomplete understanding of data provenance and quality, intersystem incompatibility and issues of consent for data sharing. Potential solutions included better understanding the content, quality and provenance of social care data; investment in analytical capacity; improving communication between data providers and users in health and social care; clear guidance to systems developers and procurers; and enhanced engagement with the public. We plan a website for communication across Scotland on health and social care data linkage, educational resources for front line staff and researchers, plus further events for training and information dissemination. We believe that these processes hold lessons for other countries with an interest in linking health and social care data, as well as for cross-sector data linkage initiatives in general.</p

The Kinematic Evolution of Strong MgII Absorbers

We consider the evolution of strong (W_r(2796) > 0.3A) MgII absorbers, most of which are closely related to luminous galaxies. Using 20 high resolution quasar spectra from the VLT/UVES public archive, we examine 33 strong MgII absorbers in the redshift range 0.3 < z < 2.5. We compare and supplement this sample with 23 strong MgII absorbers at 0.4 < z < 1.4 observed previously with HIRES/Keck. We find that neither equivalent width nor kinematic spread (the optical depth weighted second moment of velocity) of MgII2796 evolve. However, the kinematic spread is sensitive to the highest velocity component, and therefore not as sensitive to additional weak components at intermediate velocities relative to the profile center. The fraction of absorbing pixels within the full velocity range of the system does show a trend of decreasing with decreasing redshift. Most high redshift systems (14/20) exhibit absorption over the entire system velocity range, which differs from the result for low redshift systems (18/36) at the 95% level. This leads to a smaller number of separate subsystems for high redshift systems because weak absorping components tend to connect the stronger regions of absorption. We hypothesize that low redshift MgII profiles are more likely to represent well formed galaxies, many of which have kinematics consistent with a disk/halo structure. High redshift MgII profiles are more likely to show evidence of complex protogalactic structures, with multiple accretion or outflow events. Although these results are derived from measurements of gas kinematics, they are consistent with hierarchical galaxy formation evidenced by deep galaxy surveys.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

Alterations in Mosquito Behaviour by Malaria Parasites: Potential Impact on Force of Infection

A variety of studies have reported that malaria parasites alter the behaviour of mosquitoes. These behavioural alterations likely increase transmission because they reduce the risk of vector death during parasite development and increase biting after parasites become infectious. A mathematical model is used to investigate the potential impact of these behavioural alterations on the lifetime number of infectious bites delivered. The model is used to explore the importance of assumptions about the magnitude and distribution of mortality as well as the importance of extrinsic incubation period and gonotrophic cycle length. Additionally, the model is applied to four datasets taken from actual transmission settings. The impact of behavioural changes on the relative number of lifetime bites is highly dependent on assumptions about the distribution of mortality over the mosquito-feeding cycle. Even using fairly conservative estimates of these parameters and field collected data, the model outputs suggest that altered feeding could easily cause a doubling in the force of infection.Infection-iduced behavioural alterations have their greatest impact on the lifetime number of infectious bites in environments with high feeding-related adult mortality and many pre-infectious feeding cycles. Interventions that increase feeding-associated mortality are predicted to amplify the relative fitness benefits and hence enhance the strength of selection for behavioural alteration\u

Overload Injury of the Knees With Resistance-Exercise Overtraining: A Case Study

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=cc60431c-6281-4940-bc2d-85f4c9ff2060%40sessionmgr11&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h&AN=SPHS-67196