8,356 research outputs found
Assistance in the development of a wind turbine test facility in accordance with relevant national and international standards
No full textThis dissertation assists the National Small Wind Turbine Centre (NSWTC) in the development of a wind turbine test facility and in preparation for the development of a future turbine testing site. The test turbine facility will conduct tests in accordance with relevant national and international standards. Assistance was given in the development of the test facility by the identification of some of the key areas of the initial set up of the wind turbine test facility. The clarity and adequacy of portions of current national and international standards in application to the development of a small wind turbine testing facility was assessed. By the completion of this dissertation assistance was given, which contributed to the progression of the site development aspects in establishment of the test facility. This process gave insight into some of the important factors to consider in the development of a wind turbine test facility. Participation by author in two international tasks that assessed wind turbine test data to selected standards provided exposure to the current wind turbine standards that will be applied in the testing of wind turbines at the facility. This process highlighted the lack of clarity within one of the standards and illustrated the varied results that can be produced if the assessed standards are not understood as intended. Recommendations were given on how the NSWTC might improve the method of site development of the future test facility. The assessment allowed recommendations to be made on the use of the standards and outlines how errors in their application might be avoided
Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean
No full textThis study aimed at complementing studies of sperm whale social and vocal behaviour that
were restricted to the Pacific Ocean.
The characteristic multi-pulsed structure of sperm whale clicks allows for estimation of
whales' size from measurements of the inter-pulse intervals (IPI). I have developed two new
automatic methods for IPI estimation from clicks recorded during foraging dives. When compared
to other previously developed methods, the newly developed method that averages several clicks'
autocorrelation function showed the best performance amongst the automatic methods.
Previous studies did not support individual identity advertisement among social unit
members as the function for the sperm whale communication signals called codas. I tested within
coda type variation for individual specific patterns and found that, while some coda types do not
allow for individual discrimination, one did so. This variation suggests that different coda types
may have distinct functions.
Analysis of social structure in the Azores found that, similar to the Eastern Tropical Pacific,
sperm whales form long term social units of about 12 individuals. Unlike the Pacific Ocean,
Azorean social units do not form temporary groups with other units, suggesting differences in the
costs and benefits of group formation. I argue that these are due to differences in terms of predation
pressure and intraspecific competition between the Azores and the Pacific study sites.
The variation of coda repertoires in the Atlantic also showed a pattern dissimilar to that
previously documented in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In the North Atlantic, coda repertoire
variation is mostly geographic, which is parsimoniously explained by random drift of culturally
transmitted coda repertoires. No sympatric vocal clans with distinct dialects were found as has been
noted in the Pacific. Drawing upon the differences found in social structure I argue that selection for
maximization of differences between units with similar foraging strategies may have led to the
Pacific vocal clans.
The differences between oceans suggest that sperm whales may adaptively adjust their
behaviour according to experienced ecological conditions
The origins of the killer whale ecomorph
No full textThe killer whale (Orcinus orca) and false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) are the only extant cetaceans that hunt other marine mammals, with pods of the former routinely preying on baleen whales >10 m in length and the latter being known to take other delphinids. Fossil evidence for the origins of this feeding behavior is wanting, although molecular phylogenies indicate that it evolved independently in the two lineages. We describe a new extinct representative of the killer whale ecomorph, Rododelphis stamatiadisi, based on a partial skeleton from the Pleistocene of Rhodes (Greece). Five otoliths of the bathypelagic blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou are associated with the holotype, providing unexpected evidence of its last meal. The evolutionary relationships of R. stamatiadisi and the convergent evolution of killer whale-like features were explored through a broad-ranging phylogenetic analysis that recovered R. stamatiadisi as the closest relative of P. crassidens and O. orca as the only living representative of a once diverse clade. Within the clade of Orca and kin, key features implicated in extant killer whale feeding, such as body size, tooth size, and tooth count, evolved in a stepwise manner. The tooth wear in Rododelphis and an extinct species of Orcinus (O. citoniensis) are consistent with a fish-based diet, supporting an exaptative Pleistocene origin for marine mammal hunting in both lineages. If correct, predation by the ancestors of Pseudorca and Orca did not play a significant role in the evolution of baleen whale gigantism
Jonathan Ned Katz Author Event: The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adam
No full text“The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams,” interview with author, Jonathan Ned Katz, moderated by Emily Weiner (WWU) and organized by Congregation Beth Israel
Contemporary Literature. Analysis of Jonathan Bazzi's novels
No full textopenDopo una breve panoramica della letteratura italiana degli ultimi vent’anni si analizzano i due romanzi di Jonathan Bazzi "Febbre" e "Corpi minori" dai punti di vista formale, stilistico e tematico. Si discute inoltre il rapporto tra social media, autofiction e autore; nel capitolo 4 si riporta l'intervista che Bazzi ci ha gentilmente concesso, in cui questi argomenti vengono ripresi.
Si individuano alcune differenze che i testi mostrano rispetto alla letteratura moderna, e gli aspetti che hanno in comune con quella contemporanea; nel fare questo si accennano quindi alcune caratteristiche della società che li ha prodotti.The paper starts off with a brief overview of the contemporary Italian literature; then the reader is guided through an analysis of Jonathan Bazzi's novels, "Febbre" ("Fever") and "Corpi minori" ("Minor bodies"), both translated in English and published by Scribe. The relationship between author, autofiction and social media will also be discussed; in chapter four the reader will find the interview Bazzi kindly granted us
Investigating whether the turbulence model from existing small wind turbine standards is valid for rooftop sites
No full textThe wind energy industry has developed considerably in recent years with regard to large scale wind turbines. However, the small wind turbines (SWTs) are still underdeveloped. The classification of SWTs comes under the standard IEC6140001-2. When a small wind turbine is installed in an urban environment, it is exposed to complex environmental conditions, where high “surface roughness” in urban terrain due to buildings, street furniture and various obstacles causes a highly turbulent wind. This results in fatigue developing in turbine structures and poor performance. Turbulence is therefore a very important factor in small wind turbine functioning. But, in standards, turbulence intensity is considered a constant value for all wind classes for small wind turbines.
To assess the validity of the standard normal turbulence model (NTM) for SWTs for all sites, data from an open space and an urban area are analysed and compared. The data were collected from Ostergarnsholm Island in Sweden, as the open space, and the rooftop of a Bunnings warehouse in Port Kennedy as the urban area. The results for these two areas are compared with the standard NTM.
The outcome of the comparative analysis is that the rooftop areas are subject to greater turbulence intensity than that prescribed in the standard, and the open space turbulence intensity, on the other hand, is lower than the standard. Therefore, wider investigation and research are required in order to revise and improve the standard wind classes for small wind turbines
Administration and Curricula of the Introductory Graduate Music Research Course
No full textThe introductory research course is an integral part of many graduate music programs, yet there have been few studies that discuss its curricula across institutions. A questionnaire was sent to instructors of the course to identify shared pedagogical approaches among North American schools of music. The survey was divided into sections that prompted respondents to identify issues discussed in the course, including the types and titles of resources, research methodologies, and library use topics. With a response rate of over 40 percent, the survey also contains valuable data concerning the professional identifications of instructors, assignments used for grading, common textbooks, perception of the course’s efficacy, and more. Shared features of the course included the importance of electronic resources; the minimal use of Internet-mediated instruction formats; a strong preference for English-language materials; and a focus on resources such as databases, style guides, collected works, monuments of music, and thematic catalogs over and above others such as repertoire guides, discographies, directories, and iconographies.Peer reviewedThis publication first appeared in Notes Volume 71, Number 3, March 2015, pp. 448-478. This material may not be copied or reposted without explicit permission. Copyright 2015, Jonathan Sauceda
The effect of leading edge serrations on dynamic stall
No full textAn investigation into the effects of dynamic stall was carried out on six aerofoil profiles with sinusoidal leading edges having two amplitudes and three different wavelengths. The study also investigated the effect of wavelength on the static performance of the aerofoil as well as the static hysteresis performance of these profiles. Compared to a baseline model, it was found that a reduction in wavelength increased the maximum lift and the static stall angle. The maximum baseline lift was not reached in any of the cases. The static hysteresis performance of the sinusoidal leading edge profiles was found to be significantly better than the baseline with virtually no static hysteresis recorded. The dynamic study revealed that the sinusoidal profiles improved the performance of the aerofoil by increasing the maximum percentage of lift generated as well as by reducing the size of the hysteresis loop
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Sperm Whale Seismic Study in the Gulf of Mexico: Synthesis Report
No full textSummary describing the work completed at Texas A&M University for 'Sperm Whale Seismic Study (SWSS).' It includes background information on the project funding and sponsorship, goals, methodology, and findings
Citizen participation in news
No full textThe process of producing news has changed significantly due to the advent of the Web, which has enabled the increasing involvement of citizens in news production. This trend has been given many names, including participatory journalism, produsage, and crowd-sourced journalism, but these terms are ambiguous and have been applied inconsistently, making comparison of news systems difficult. In particular, it is problematic to distinguish the levels of citizen involvement, and therefore the extent to which news production has genuinely been opened up. In this paper we perform an analysis of 32 online news systems, comparing them in terms of how much power they give to citizens at each stage of the news production process. Our analysis reveals a diverse landscape of news systems and shows that they defy simplistic categorisation, but it also provides the means to compare different approaches in a systematic and meaningful way. We combine this with four case studies of individual stories to explore the ways that news stories can move and evolve across this landscape. Our conclusions are that online news systems are complex and interdependent, and that most do not involve citizens to the extent that the terms used to describe them imply
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