Bypass transition in boundary layers including curvature and favorable pressure gradient effects

Recent studies of 2-D boundary layers undergoing bypass transition were reviewed. Bypass transition is characterized by the sudden appearance of turbulent spots in boundary layer without first the regular, observable growth of disturbances predicted by linear stability theory. There are no standard criteria or parameters for defining bypass transition, but it is known to be the mode of transition when the flow is disturbed by perturbations of sufficient amplitude

Analysis of heterogeneity of variance using anome on ln S^2

When n replicates are available from a factorial experiment, several methods exist for testing the validity of the assumption of equal variances within the cells or treatment combinations of the experiment. A new test is proposed for variances of random samples believed to be from normal populations. This new test combines both the familiar graphical analysis of means for treatment effects (ANOME) and the analysis of the logarithms of the within-group variances to produce a graphical display of the test for variance homogeneity. To determine robustness of the proposed test against departures from the underlying normality assumption, this new test is also evaluated for non-normal populations. Another analysis-of-means-type test was developed by Wludyka and Nelson which utilizes Dirichlet distributions and specially constructed tables. The new test, proposed herein, has an advantage in that it relies solely on critical values developed for the analysis of- means procedure. As an added simplification, only those critical values corresponding to infinite degrees of freedom are required. A In ANOME analysis of Nelson\u27s data (used to demonstrate the In ANOVA procedure) yielded the same conclusion. Also, simulation results indicate that when the underlying assumption of normality is not feasible, the In ANOME procedure demonstrated equivalent or superior Type-I error-rate stability and power among tests which rely on that assumption. However, when the underlying assumption of normality is tenable, Bartlett\u27s test performs the best of all homogeneity-of-variance tests studied in maintaining stable Type-I errors and power

Piattaforma basata su prodotti commerciali per l'abilitazione di servizi di convergenza fisso-mobile per reti "all-IP": progetto, installazione e verifica funzionale

L'obiettivo di questo lavoro è progettare una piattaforma basata su prodotti che fanno parte delle soluzioni aziendali proposte da BEA, Personeta e Cisco per l'abilitazione di servizi di convergenza fisso mobile. In particolare ho realizzato un'architettura IMS focalizzandomi sullo sviluppo del CSCF e dell'Application Server

Factors Influencing Nurses\u27 Intentions to Provide Weight Management Education to Hospitalized Obese Adults

Obesity is a sensitive, global health problem that impacts individuals of all ages and places individuals at risk for various chronic health problems. Nurses caring for hospitalized obese clients are in a prime position to provide them with timely information on weight management. This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed method design to examine medical-surgical nurses\u27 intentions to provide weight management education to hospitalized obese adults and the factors that influence nurses\u27 intentions. In phase 1, a focus group interview guide and nurse demographic form (NDF) were developed. Focus groups were conducted and analysis resulted in the creation of 15 salient beliefs and 12 broad categories. In Phase 2, focus group results were used to construct the Weight Management Education Survey (WMES) guided by Azjen\u27s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for question development. A total of 71 WMES items were developed based on the main TPB components: 24 attitude; 16 subjective norm; 26 perceived behavioral control; and 5 intention. The WMES was piloted with 12 RNs in the same setting; nurses also completed the NDF. In phase 3, the WMES with minor changes was electronically administered with the NDF to a national pool of 354 RNs who held membership in the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses. Of the nurses who completed the WMES, 85.8% (n = 318) responded they would provide weight management education if clients asked for the information. A 12-factor solution explained 80% of the variation in response; seven of those factors explained 52% of the variation in the principle component of intention . Factors significant in predicting nurses\u27 intentions included: health benefits (p \u3c 0.0001), reducing costs and admissions (p \u3c .0001), client/family approval (p \u3c 0.0001), institutional approval (p \u3c 0.0001), home-based weight management plan on admission (p \u3c 0.0001), staffing and timing (p = 0.0055), and acute illness priority (p =0.0022). After removing variation explained by factors, demographics explained less than 5% variation in nurses\u27 intentions. Establishing a standardized collaborative approach for instituting a home-based weight management plan on admission may increase the likelihood that nurses will choose to provide weight management education for their clients

Study of two radio gravitational lenses : insight into the high-redshift Universe and properties of mass distribution

Similarly to a magnifying glass, a gravitational field deflects light rays that travel through it. This phenomenon, predicted by the theory of General Relativity by A. Einstein (1915), is referred to as gravitational lensing, and it is the core of the projects presented in this thesis. The study of gravitational lenses yields the mass distribution of the lensing object together with the properties of the background source. We have studied two of these systems using radio interferometers, achieving angular resolution within the range 0.001-4 arcseconds. The first system is the 8 o'clock arc (J002240+143130). Main goal is the detection of radio emission from a high redshift source exploiting lensing as natural telescope; eventually the properties of the intervening mass could then be studied from the observed lensed configuration. The second system is the gravitational lens MG J0414+0534. The goal is to deduce the properties of the foreground mass distribution and the background source. After three introductory chapters, in which we describe the theory behind this work and the techniques used to analyze the data and perform the modeling, in the last three chapters we discuss the two projects and outline the outlook of this work

From early draping to haute couture models: 20 years of research

Simulating the complex fashion garments of haute couture can only be reached through an optimal combination of modeling techniques and numerical methods that combines high computation efficiency with the versatility required for simulating intricate garment designs. Here we describe optimal choices illustrated by their integration into a design and simulation tool that allow interactive prototyping of garments along drape motion and comfortability tests on animated postures. These techniques have been successfully used to bring haute couture garments from early draping of fashion designers, to be simulated and visualized in the virtual worl

Stop-and-go cloth draping

The aim of cloth draping is to compute the rest state of a piece of cloth, possibly in contact with other solid objects, as quickly as possible. The context of free motion and very large deformations specific to cloth simulation makes the usual energy minimization schemes traditionally used in mechanical engineering inefficient. Therefore, most cloth draping applications only rely on dynamic simulation with ad hoc viscous damping or the dissipative behavior of numerical integration methods for obtaining convergence to the rest position of the cloth. We propose a "stop-and-go” technique which cuts out the velocity of the object at particular times for converging to the rest state, while taking advantage of the natural cloth motion toward equilibrium. This scheme can very easily complement any existing dynamical cloth simulation system, using either implicit or explicit numerical integration method