The construction of saturated 2Rk-p designs

Combinatorial and sequential analyses for optimization of saturated design

Energy potential of a tidal fence deployed near a coastal headland

Enhanced tidal streams close to coastal headlands appear to present ideal locations for the deployment of tidal energy devices. In this paper, the power potential of tidal streams near an idealized coastal headland with a sloping seabed is investigated using a near-field approximation to represent a tidal fence, i.e. a row of tidal devices, in a two-dimensional depth-averaged numerical model. Simulations indicate that the power extracted by the tidal fence is limited because the flow will bypass the fence, predominantly on the ocean side, as the thrust applied by the devices increases. For the dynamic conditions, fence placements and headland aspect ratios considered, the maximum power extracted at the fence is not related in any obvious way to the local undisturbed kinetic flux or the natural rate of energy dissipation due to bed friction (although both of these have been used in the past to predict the amount of power that may be extracted). The available power (equal to the extracted power net of vertical mixing losses in the immediate wake of devices) is optimized for devices with large area and small centre-to-centre spacing within the fence. The influence of energy extraction on the natural flow field is assessed relative to changes in the M2 component of elevation and velocity, and residual bed shear stress and tidal dispersion

CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA ELASTASE FOR ELUCIDATING THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECT ON LUNG TISSUE

Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes acute nosocomial as well as community acquired pneumonia. In cystic fibrosis patients, this organism causes recurrent infections and inflammation with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. To support research in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of Pseudomonas elastase (PE) on disease progression, PE was expressed in E. coli and the protein purified for further application. This study represents a valid experimental protocol to produce. Genomic DNA was isolated from P. aeruginosa and selected regions were amplified using PCR with lasB gene specification. Amplified DNA was ligated into plasmids and E. coli were transformed to support the recombinant vector and produce a viable elastase product. The recombinant DNA was sequenced and accurately matched the pro-Elastase sequence (1497 bp in length). Purification of enzyme produced via heterologous expression in ClearColi LPS free E. coli was aided via Ni-NTA Liquid Chromatography system by the incorporation of a 6x Histidine affinity tag engineered on the C-terminus of elastase. Analysis by SDS-PAGE revealed a product of ~34 kDa in molecular weight consistent with the molecular weight of the naturally produced mature Elastase. Proteolytic activity was determined via Skim Milk Agar diffusion. Elastolytic activity was determined by Elastin-Congo Red substrate to be two times the activity of the commercial enzyme. Cellular anatomy and physiology experiments confirmed the conserved pathologic effects of the Recombinant Elastase. Immunofluorescent study demonstrated preliminary data that Recombinant Elastase had the ability to disrupts tight junction structure as evidenced by fragmentation of ZO-1 proteins in Calu-3 cell monolayers

Performance of an ideal turbine in an inviscid shear flow

Although wind and tidal turbines operate in turbulent shear flow, most theoretical results concerning turbine performance, such as the well-known Betz limit, assume the upstream velocity profile is uniform. To improve on these existing results we extend the classical actuator disc model in this paper to investigate the performance of an ideal turbine in steady, inviscid shear flow. The model is developed on the assumption that there is negligible lateral interaction in the flow passing through the disc and that the actuator applies a uniform resistance across its area. With these assumptions, solution of the model leads to two key results. First, for laterally unbounded shear flow, it is shown that the normalised power extracted is the same as that for an ideal turbine in uniform flow, if the average of the cube of the upstream velocity of the fluid passing through the turbine is used in the normalisation. Second, for a laterally bounded shear flow, it is shown that the same normalisation can be applied, but allowance must also be made for the fact that non-uniform flow bypassing the turbine alters the background pressure gradient and, in turn, the turbines ‘effective blockage’ (so that it may be greater or less than the geometric blockage, defined as the ratio of turbine disc area to cross-sectional area of the flow). Predictions based on the extended model agree well with numerical simulations approximating the incompressible Euler equations. The model may be used to improve interpretation of model-scale results for wind and tidal turbines in tunnels/flumes, to investigate the variation in force across a turbine and to update existing theoretical models of arrays of tidal turbines

Christian Mission and Poverty: Wisdom from 2,000 Years of Church Leaders

Christianity is the faith of the poor. As Christians, we worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who “though he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). This same Jesus taught his followers that the kingdom of heaven belongs to “you who are poor” and “the poor in spirit” (Luke 6:20; Matt 5:3). He also proclaimed that judgment before his throne will hinge on how his followers treated those who were hungry, thirsty, strangers, unclothed, sick, and in prison—the ones he calls “the least of these my brothers” (Matt 25:31–46). How do we discern the best responses to poverty? How should we as ministers, church leaders, and businesspeople engage in our communities? What does the Christian faith have to say about poverty? Sometimes it seems that we in the modern American church stand on opposite sides of an impassable gulf as we talk about poverty and justice. Thankfully, there are mothers and fathers of the faith who have thought long and hard about poverty and what Christian mission does and says about it. They are people who, like us, had to figure out how to follow Jesus in their own times and places in regard to these crucial questions. They came to conclusions about poverty and what it means to co-labor with God in God’s mission with the poor. This book and the series of spiritual classics to which it belongs should be read as if you’re sitting down at a table over a meal or a coffee with leaders of the church from ages past. During this particular gathering, we are going to talk together about poverty. What does Basil or Clare or Martin or Catherine or Howard have to say to us about Christian mission and poverty? What they say may be surprising. It may take us a little bit to get used to how they say it, but when we listen closely we will find that they are thinking about questions similar to the ones we are asking today. Many of us who are reading this volume, including me, are living and ministering in under-resourced contexts. We may be asking ourselves how we should think about poverty or what we should do to address human need. We may be asking how our commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and our concern for social justice go together. We may be wondering how we should make money or spend money or give money away. We may not be satisfied with many of the answers we’ve gotten from people we’ve talked with or many of the values our societies have offered us. We may realize that we’re lacking something in how we think about Christian mission and poverty. As we sit down with the mothers and father of the faith, they give us a huge gift. They tell us how they thought about similar issues in their times and places and give us clues about how to be faithful Christians today.https://pillars.taylor.edu/spiritualclassics/1002/thumbnail.jp

Modelling tidal energy extraction in a depth-averaged coastal domain

An extension of actuator disc theory is used to describe the properties of a tidal energy device, or row of tidal energy devices, within a depth-averaged numerical model. This approach allows a direct link to be made between an actual tidal device and its equivalent momentum sink in a depth-averaged domain. Extended actuator disc theory also leads to a measure of efficiency for an energy device in a tidal stream of finite Froude number, where efficiency is defined as the ratio of power extracted by one or more tidal devices to the total power removed from the tidal stream. To demonstrate the use of actuator disc theory in a depth-averaged model, tidal flow in a simple channel is approximated using the shallow water equations and the results are compared with the published analytical solutions. © 2010 © The Institution of Engineering and Technology