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Analysis of reducing electrical losses in parallel transmission/distribution transformers
Get PDFIn 2014 then revised in 2019 the European Commission published regulations on the minimum specifications of new Eco Power Transformers. These regulations also required that transformers not meeting these requirements could no longer be installed or sold except under defined exceptions. Typically, almost all networks above 11kV operate with a parallel plant; especially when it comes to transformers. Using models of some transmission/distribution sites and by inputting twelve months of half-hour transformer loading data into these models; the amount of unnecessary losses, due to their parallel orientation, should be quantifiable. Since these sites need to be capable of supporting a varying load profile, they are for considerable periods of time oversized. Using the model, a sequence of taking offline excess plant will definable not only reducing network losses (a reduction in transformer losses of 35% per site is feasibly achieved in the model) but also marginally improve the sustainability of some of these existing sites
An exploration of the role of occupational therapists in addressing sexuality with service users post stroke
Get PDFIntroduction: Research suggests stroke negatively affects sexuality yet is rarely addressed by healthcare professionals. This study aims to explore occupational therapists’ perceptions of addressing sexuality post stroke with service users and whether they perceive it to fit into their scope of practice.
Method: A qualitative study was undertaken following an inductive reasoning approach. Three occupational therapists working within stroke rehabilitation were purposively recruited. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed using in- ductive thematic analysis to generate four significant themes.
Findings: Findings generated the following themes: (1) Acknowledging the impact stroke has on sexuality. (2) Consideration of the appropriate stage of the stroke journey to address sexuality; identifying home/community environments to be more appropriate, utilising a multi-disciplinary approach to facilitate this. (3) Barriers to addressing sexuality, including staff’s personal feelings, inexperience, limited resources and ageism. (4) Facilitators to addressing sexuality, including approaching the topic appropriately and utilising the role of occupational therapy and resources.
Conclusion: This study highlights the gap in the stroke journey where sexuality lies and the role occupational therapists can play in closing this gap. Utilising facilitators such as resources and a multi-disciplinary approach can overcome barriers to practice including embarrassment, prejudice and inexperience
Interim report on the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) among people who are alcohol dependent and accessing treatment services – briefing paper
Get PDFMinimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol was implemented in May 2018 and is currently set at £0.50 per unit (pu) of alcohol. Public Health Scotland has been tasked by the Scottish Government to evaluate the impact of MUP on a number of different outcome areas.
As part of this evaluation we commissioned the University of Sheffield to look at the impact of MUP on those drinking at harmful levels. The research as a whole contains four separate work packages.* This briefing paper is based on an interim report from the first of these work packages (called ‘Work Package 1 (WP1)’ from here on) which focuses on people who are dependent on alcohol and are accessing treatment services. People who are dependent on alcohol have complex needs and may respond to MUP in ways that have consequences for their own health and wellbeing, that of those around them, and wider society.
The interim report1 presents a description of collected data and early findings from WP1 about the impact of MUP on people with alcohol dependence who access treatment services. There will also be a final report on WP1 as a whole, along with the findings from the other work packages, in 2022
Review of air traffic management systems for UAV integration into urban airspace
Get PDFThe role of Unmanned Aircraft Systems have increased substantially in recent years and are now not only used for personal use but for commercial, search and rescue and military application. The increase of the UAS will pose a significant safety risk to not only buildings and property but to the public and general air travel. This increase will undoubtedly cause a significant strain on Air Traffic Control (ATC) system and will lead to UAS not being used to their full potential. The use of autonomous UAS will increase over the coming years, and a reliable system of Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) will be needed both for effective safety and reliability. Currently, there is no real framework in place to accommodate low level UAS in urban airspace. This research aims to discover the current state of the art technologies and innovations developed to create a workable UTM framework giving an overview of the various methods available to analyse the likelihood of a UTM being developed. The findings of the paper show that there is a definitive need for such a system to be developed and maintained if UAVs are to be incorporated into everyday life
Plasma Methylmalonic Acid Concentration in Folic Acid–Supplemented Depressed Patients with Low or Marginal Vitamin B-12: A Randomized Trial
Get PDFBackground
Individuals with low serum vitamin B-12 and high serum folate have higher plasma concentrations of methylmalonic acid (MMA). Whether folic acid (FA) causes an increase in MMA is not known.
Objectives
We aimed to determine the impact of FA supplementation on plasma MMA concentration in people with low or marginal serum vitamin B-12.
Methods
We conducted a multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial of oral FA (5 mg/d for 12 wk) in middle-aged patients treated with antidepressant medication participating in the FoLATED (Folate Augmentation of Treatment—Evaluation for Depression) trial. Participants defined as having “low” serum vitamin B-12 (vitamin B-12 ≥150 and <220 ng/L) or “marginal” serum vitamin B-12 (vitamin B-12 ≥ 220 and <280 ng/L) were included. The primary outcome of this substudy was MMA at week 12. A mixed-effects linear regression was fitted and reported using the adjusted mean difference (aMD).
Results
A total of 177 participants were included (85 randomly assigned to placebo and 92 to FA); the mean ± SD age was 46.2 ± 11.8 y, and 112 (63.3%) were female. The MMA analysis included 135 participants and the aMD was −0.01 (95% CI: −0.06, 0.04; P = 0.71). Serum folate was measured on 166 participants and increased in the supplementation group; the aMD was 21.6 μg/L (95% CI: 8.13, 25.02 μg/L; P < 0.001). A total of 117 participants were assessed for RBC folate, which also increased in the supplementation group; the aMD was 461 μg/L (95% CI: 387, 535 μg/L; P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Supplementation of FA leads to an increase of serum and RBC folate, but does not change plasma MMA concentration in individuals with serum vitamin B-12 between 150 and 280 ng/L. We cannot exclude effects in older people or those with serum vitamin B-12 <150 ng/L. Previously reported associations may arise from effects of impaired vitamin B-12 status on folate metabolism
Design Considerations and Data Communication Architecture for National Animal Identification and Traceability System in Nigeria
Get PDFWireless communication systems and their supporting infrastructure continue to play a vital role in contemporary daily activities. Due to the unprecedented levels of interconnectivity achieved between wireless devices in recent times, new insights and paradigms for the robust deployment and better utilization of wireless communication systems are always of interest to many countries for socio-economic development. Present-day Nigeria is faced with the challenge of insurgencies whose financing has been linked to proceeds from livestock theft or rustling according to many scholarly works and news reports. To mitigate rustling and the sales of stolen livestock via identification and traceability from ‘herds to markets to homes’, the design considerations and data communication architecture for national animal identification and traceability system in Nigeria (NAITS) is proposed in this paper for safer and improved livestock farming and production. Particularly, technical insight into the co-use of radio frequency identification (RFID) and fifth-generation new radio (5G NR) technologies for the implementation of NAITS are highlighted and discussed in this paper for a prospective technological policy plan and development in Nigeria
An exploration of engagement in community based creative activities as an occupation for older adults
Get PDFPurpose – The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of older adults (aged 60 and over) participating in community-based creative
arts. With an ever increasing ageing population, understanding the benefits of leisure occupations such as community creative arts will be vital for
Occupational Therapists in facilitating participation and active engagement.
Design/methodology/approach – An empirical qualitative research design with an interpretive phenomenological approach was undertaken. A
purposive sampling method enlisted four older adult volunteers whose experiences of creative arts were explored through semi-structured
interviews. Interview data were analysed thematically.
Findings – Participants identified many benefits of engaging in community creative arts. Four main themes were identified, namely, “personal
benefits”, “choice” in their occupation, “encouragement” to and from others, with the environment facilitating “socialising”. These resulted in
improved occupational performance and positive well-being outcomes.
Originality/value – The study complements national policy and extends evidence-based practice on the potential well-being benefits on older
adults. In support of the preventative agenda, occupational therapists may apply these findings to increase social prescribing within practice
Electrostatic interaction-based fabrication of calcium alginate–zein core–shell microcapsules of regulable shapes and sizes
Get PDFCore–shell microcapsules with combined features of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity have become much popular. However, the assembly of biocompatible and edible materials in hydrophilic–hydrophobic core–shell microcapsules is not easy. In this work, based on electrostatic interactions, we prepared controllable calcium alginate (ALG)–zein core–shell particles of different shapes and sizes using hydrophilic ALG and hydrophobic zein by a two-step extrusion method. Negatively charged hydrogel beads of spherical, ellipsoidal, or fibrous shape were added into a positively charged zein solution (dissolved in 70% (v/v) aqueous ethanol solution) to achieve different-shaped core–shell particles. Interestingly, the size, shape, and shell thickness of the particles can be regulated by the needle diameter, stirring speed, and zein concentration. Moreover, for simplification, the core–shell particles were also synthesized by a one-step extrusion method, in which an ALG solution was added dropwise into a 70% (v/v) aqueous ethanol solution containing zein and CaCl2. The particles synthesized in this work showed controlled digestion of encapsulated medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) and sustained release of encapsulated thiamine and ethyl maltol. Our preparation method is simplistic and can be extended to fabricate a variety of hydrophilic and hydrophobic core–shell structures to encapsulate a broad spectrum of materials
Forced air cooled heat sink with uniformly distributed temperature of power electronic modules
No full textThe paper discusses an approach to the design of the forced air-cooling heat sink for power electronic application to uniformly distribute the temperature of the semiconductor modules fixed on the top of the heat sink. The proposed approach suggests a minor modification of a conventional fin-based heat sink commonly manufactured for cooling of power electronic modules. Following the proposed modification, an air guide plate having a V-shaped cut is attached to the bottom of the heat sink to redistribute the airflow through the fins. To verify the proposed approach, the modified forced air-cooling system for a power electronic circuit comprising of three IGBT modules was modelled and numerically simulated using Ansys Fluent software under steady-state conditions. The numerical analysis was conducted for a range of power loss 50–100 W in each IGBT module and an airspeed of 5 m/s through the heat sink. The simulation results have shown a good uniform distribution of the temperature across the IGBT modules where the temperature difference does not exceed 0.21 °C
Design and development of cost-effective PCB prototyping machine
Get PDFThe demand for CNC machines in educational institutions and industries is rapidly increasing. This paper presents an affordable model of a CNC machine that can engrave the circuit's layout on copper plates. Our emphasis on designing this machine is to model a low cost and robust model of CNC machine for PCB prototyping. This CNC machine is a combination of electro-mechanical design and control circuitry. Because of its user-friendly design, it provides great ease in engraving operation. First, a layout is designed by using a standard PCB designing software. Then the finalized layout is converted into G-code. This code contains axis information which is translated by the firmware of the microcontroller. According to the axis information, the controller drives the mechanical assembly with the accuracy of micrometers. The result shows better performance on various circuits and proved to be a cost-effective tool for academia and industry