Naresuan University Journal
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Slat Noise Prediction using Hybrid RANS-LES methods on Structured and Unstructured Grids
No full textDistributed Software Infrastructure for General Purpose Services in Smart Grid
No full textIn this paper, the design of an event-driven middleware for general purpose services in smart grid (SG) is presented. The main purpose is to provide a peer-to-peer distributed software infrastructure to allow the access of new multiple and authorized actors to SGs information in order to provide new services. To achieve this, the proposed middleware has been designed to be: 1) event-based; 2) reliable; 3) secure from malicious information and communication technology attacks; and 4) to enable hardware independent interoperability between heterogeneous technologies. To demonstrate practical deployment, a numerical case study applied to the whole U.K. distribution network is presented, and the capabilities of the proposed infrastructure are discussed
Future of the Urban Environment & Ecosystem Services in the UK
No full textIn the future, changes in the UK city systems and ‘system of cities’ will cause – and be caused by – changes in urban ecosystems and their services. There are many aspirational models for sustainable cities or ‘resilient cities’, but these have to fit with current realities and projections, both positive and negative. Overall this paper explores the interactions of UK cities and urban systems with ecosystems and the ‘services’ they provide, with a particular focus on the future. On the urban side we take a multi-scale approach, from neighborhoods, urban fringes and peri-urban areas, up to the UK system of cities. For ecosystems services, we follow the definitions of the UK National Ecosystems Assessment, 2011 (NAE) (‘socio-cultural, provisioning, regulating and supporting’). Then we analyse the urban-ecosystem interactions within four broad domains: ecosystems within the city; ecological flows through the city; location types around the wider city-region; and ecology-related human systems for the city. This is a complex task with generally patchy evidence. The paper therefore follows a method designed for such tasks, in the form of the ‘Synergy Foresight’ approach
Microfinance and Multiple Borrowing in Sri Lanka Another Microcredit Bubble in South Asia?
No full textIn recent years, there has been an increase in multiple borrowing in the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka, while many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have experienced high levels of borrower turnover, deteriorating portfolio quality and weak financial performance. This has raised concerns about the microfinance sector. However, the debt levels for the majority of borrowers remain at moderate levels, while a number of mitigating factors such as mobilization of borrower savings by MFIs, wide use of pawning among clients and a reduction in donor funds to the sector suggest that a microcredit bubble in Sri Lanka is unlikely in the near future
Magnetoencephalography to investigate central perception of exercise-induced breathlessness in people with chronic lung disease: a feasibility pilot
No full textOBJECTIVES: Neuroimaging in chronic breathlessness is challenging. The study objective was to test the feasibility of magnetoencephalography (MEG) for functional neuroimaging of people with chronic breathlessness. DESIGN: Feasibility pilot study. SETTING: Respiratory clinic out-patients. PARTICIPANTS: 8 patients (mean age=62; (range 47-83); 4 men) with chronic non-malignant lung disease; modified MRC breathlessness score ≥ (median mMRC=4), intensity of exercise-induced breathlessness >3/10; no contraindication to MRI scanning. METHODS AND MEASURES: 4 MEG scans were conducted for each participant: (1) at rest (5 mins), (2) postseated leg exercise-induced breathlessness during recovery (10 mins). Recovery scans (2) were conducted with/without facial airflow in random order; both scans were repeated 1 h later. Participants rated breathlessness intensity (0-10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)) at baseline, maximal exertion and every minute during recovery, and rated acceptability of study procedures at the end of the study (0-10 NRS). A structural MRI scan was conducted for MEG coregistration and source-space analyses. Rest data were compared with data from healthy volunteers (N=6; 5 men; mean age=30.7 years ± 3.9 years). RESULTS: Exercises and MEG scanning were acceptable to all participants; 7/8 completed the MRI scans. Maximum breathlessness intensity was induced by 5 min' exercise. The same level was induced for repeat scans (median=8; IQR=7-8). All recovered to baseline by 10 min. Time-frequency profiles of data from the first and last 3 min were analysed in MEG source space based on breathlessness location estimates. Source localisation was performed, but anatomical source inference was limited to the level of the lobe. Differences in areas of activity were seen: during recovery scans; with and without airflow; and between participants/normal volunteers at rest. CONCLUSIONS: MEG is a feasible method to investigate exercise-induced breathlessness in people breathless with chronic lung disease, and able to identify neural activity related to changes in breathlessness
Predicting heart failure decompensation using cardiac implantable electronic devices: a review of practices and challenges.
No full textCardiac implantable electronic devices include remote monitoring tools intended to guide heart failure management. The monitoring focus has been on averting hospitalizations by predicting worsening heart failure. However, although device measurements including intrathoracic impedance correlate with risk of decompensation, they individually predict hospitalizations with limited accuracy. Current 'crisis detection' methods involve repeatedly screening for impending decompensation, and do not adhere to the principles of diagnostic testing. Complex substrate, limited test performance, low outcome incidence, and long test to outcome times inevitably generate low positive and high negative predictive values. When combined with spectrum bias, the generalizability, incremental value, and cost-effectiveness of device algorithms are questionable. To avoid these pitfalls, remote monitoring may need to shift from crisis detection to health maintenance, keeping the patient within an ideal physiological range through continuous 'closed loop' interaction and dynamic therapy adjustment. Test performance must also improve, possibly through combination with physiological sensors in different dimensions, static baseline characteristics, and biomarkers. Complex modelling may tailor monitoring to individual phenotypes, and thus realize a personalized medicine approach. Future randomized controlled trials should carefully consider these issues, and ensure that the interventions tested are generalizable to clinical practice
Community preventive interventions for children of parents with serious mental illness: a commentary on the evidence base
No full textJustice, fuel poverty and disabled people in England
No full textThis paper considers the relationship between fuel poverty, disabled people, and policy changes in England, drawing on concepts of justice to deconstruct and explain empirical findings. Drawing on statistical analyses of the English Housing Survey, the paper presents three key findings. Firstly that fuel poverty rates in England are typically higher amongst households containing disabled people; secondly that high levels of fuel poverty are found amongst single disabled people of working age; and thirdly, that a greater proportion of households containing disabled people are on prepayment meters compared to other households. These distributional inequalities are explored in terms of 'justice as recognition'. The paper concludes that the distributive inequalities evident in the findings may have been driven by a lack of recognition by energy policy makers in terms of their understanding of the highly varied needs of disabled people, the impact of current measures of fuel poverty, and the way in which disability benefits are understood within calculations of fuel poverty. Moreover, it is argued that current political rhetoric that typically marginalises disabled people of working age on low incomes has further driven distributional inequalitie
The circadian clock in murine chondrocytes regulates genes controlling key aspects of cartilage homeostasis
No full textObjective To characterize the circadian clock in murine cartilage tissue and identify tissue-specific clock target genes, and to investigate whether the circadian clock changes during aging or during cartilage degeneration using an experimental mouse model of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Cartilage explants were obtained from aged and young adult mice after transduction with the circadian clock fusion protein reporter PER2::luc, and real-time bioluminescence recordings were used to characterize the properties of the clock. Time-series microarrays were performed on mouse cartilage tissue to identify genes expressed in a circadian manner. Rhythmic genes were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using mouse tissue, primary chondrocytes, and a human chondrocyte cell line. Experimental OA was induced in mice by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM), and articular cartilage samples were microdissected and subjected to microarray analysis. Results Mouse cartilage tissue and a human chondrocyte cell line were found to contain intrinsic molecular circadian clocks. The cartilage clock could be reset by temperature signals, while the circadian period was temperature compensated. PER2::luc bioluminescence demonstrated that circadian oscillations were significantly lower in amplitude in cartilage from aged mice. Time-series microarray analyses of the mouse tissue identified the first circadian transcriptome in cartilage, revealing that 615 genes (∼3.9% of the expressed genes) displayed a circadian pattern of expression. This included genes involved in cartilage homeostasis and survival, as well as genes with potential importance in the pathogenesis of OA. Several clock genes were disrupted in the early stages of cartilage degeneration in the DMM mouse model of OA. Conclusion These results reveal an autonomous circadian clock in chondrocytes that can be implicated in key aspects of cartilage biology and pathology. Consequently, circadian disruption (e.g., during aging) may compromise tissue homeostasis and increase susceptibility to joint damage or disease. © 2013 The Authors. Arthritis & Rheumatism is published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology
