The death of a spouse is one of the most profound and life-altering events adults will ever experience. While the experience of spousal bereavement is traumatic at any time, there is evidence to support the fact that young women who are widowed experience unique challenges. The purpose of studying young widows was to understand the meaning of spousal bereavement for individual participants. The research tradition of phenomenology was chosen to inform the study, and the guiding question became what is the lived experience of spousal bereavement for young women? The study participants were five women who were under the age of 45 at the time of their husbands death. The experiences of these young widows were illuminated through stories and reflections on the journey of a young widow. Five themes emerged from their experiences. Young widows grieve both the loss of a companion and the death of their dreams. Accompanying these losses can be the challenges of single parenthood, the need for career, financial and lifestyle changes, and the readjustment to life as a single adult. Increased understanding from the perspective of the bereaved widow, along with strategies and interventions for nurses working with this group of women, will provide nurses and health care professionals with skills to better assist this client population.

The study explores the experience of individuals who have lost a number of close people in their life, through death, over the course of their adult lifetime. Twelve individual interviews (11 women, 1 man) are presented in narrative form and explored for their content and meaning. The experience of multiple loss was revealed to be unique and varied for each participant and each loss was experienced independently from the others, concomitant on the relationship to the deceased, the nature and timing of the death and the relevance to the participant’s identity. Similar themes occurred across and within cases that are attributable to having lost a number of close others. Common effects were seen in participants’ experiential knowledge of grief and its vicissitudes, death and its processes, and life and its meaningfulness. Participants believed that their losses have had a profound effect on them, changing their lives immutably. Changes were perceived in terms of impact on the way they view the world, themselves and their relationships. Individuals perceived both positive and negative effects. Analogous with current research and theories in the field many of the participants reported experiencing personal growth as a result of their losses. The present study extends past research findings by attributing these effects to the accumulation of losses. A model for understanding the process of meaning-making in multiple loss was devised. Respondents were apt to process one death at a time, incorporate its meanings and effects on them, compare the effects to each other by contrasting the distinct experiences, and create a framework for meaning that was mutable. There were typical features of these meanings that were characteristic to the tone of the narrative. Stories of multiple loss tended to have an unresolved, a transformational or a growth related tone. An enhanced model of meaning- making in loss is described that augments current models of meaning-making in coping with loss. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.

The total worldwide base of installed wind energy peak capacity reached 94 GW by the end of 2007, including 1846 MW in Canada. Wind turbine systems are being installed throughout Canada and often in mountains and cold weather regions, due to their high wind energy potential. Harsh cold weather climates, involving turbulence, gusts, icing and lightning strikes in these regions, affect wind turbine performance. Ice accretion and irregular shedding during turbine operation lead to load imbalances, often causing the turbine to shut off. They create excessive turbine vibration and may change the natural frequency of blades as well as promote higher fatigue loads and increase the bending moment of blades. Icing also affects the tower structure by increasing stresses, due to increased loads from ice accretion. This can lead to structural failures, especially when coupled to strong wind loads. Icing also affects the reliability of anemometers, thereby leading to inaccurate wind speed measurements and resulting in resource estimation errors. Icing issues can directly impact personnel safety, due to falling and projected ice. It is therefore important to expand research on wind turbines operating in cold climate areas. This study presents an experimental investigation including three important fundamental aspects: 1) heat transfer characteristics of the airfoil with and without liquid water content (LWC) at varying angles of attack; 2) energy losses of wind energy while a wind turbine is operating under icing conditions; and 3) aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil during a simulated icing event. A turbine scale model with curved 3-D blades and a DC generator is tested in a large refrigerated wind tunnel, where ice formation is simulated by spraying water droplets. A NACA 63421 airfoil is used to study the characteristics of aerodynamics and convective heat transfer. The current, voltage, rotation of the DC generator and temperature distribution along the airfoil, which are used to calculate heat transfer coefficients, are measured using a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system and recorded with LabVIEW software. The drag, lift and moment of the airfoil are measured by a force balance system to obtain the aerodynamics of an iced airfoil. This research also quantifies the power loss under various icing conditions. The data obtained can be used to valid numerical data method to predict heat transfer characteristics while wind turbine blades worked in cold climate regions. / October 2008

The energy audit is a very interesting and complex work. The building energy audit is defined as a process to evaluate where the energy used in the building structure and to identify the opportunities of reduce energy consumptions. In this paper, it is a first time detailed study of energy audit for me. In this research, the object is to find is it necessary to improve the ventilation systems. So the first step is to estimate how much energy consumed in the building and to find out the saving potential.The major mission in this thesis is that to make a basic energy audit which is include the heat losses from the building and the heat supply in the building. The major heat losses are transmission losses, ventilation losses, heat losses from hot tap water and infiltration losses. In this project the first three types of heat losses could be find out by some useful methods but the infiltration losses is hard to measure. On the other side, the heat supply are composed by district heating , free heating from people inside, free heating from electricity applications and sun irradiation.To make an accurate and complete energy audit is essential for finding out where the energy consumption could be reduced. And this is what I am going to do in this thesis work.

The death of a spouse is one of the most profound and life-altering events adults will ever experience. While the experience of spousal bereavement is traumatic at any time, there is evidence to support the fact that young women who are widowed experience unique challenges. The purpose of studying young widows was to understand the meaning of spousal bereavement for individual participants. The research tradition of phenomenology was chosen to inform the study, and the guiding question became what is the lived experience of spousal bereavement for young women? The study participants were five women who were under the age of 45 at the time of their husbands death. The experiences of these young widows were illuminated through stories and reflections on the journey of a young widow. Five themes emerged from their experiences. Young widows grieve both the loss of a companion and the death of their dreams. Accompanying these losses can be the challenges of single parenthood, the need for career, financial and lifestyle changes, and the readjustment to life as a single adult. Increased understanding from the perspective of the bereaved widow, along with strategies and interventions for nurses working with this group of women, will provide nurses and health care professionals with skills to better assist this client population.

Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to control Tamarix (saltcedar) trees along waterways in the Southwestern United States for the purpose of increasing streamflow yet no increase in streamflow has been demonstrated. The Pecos River Ecosystem Project (PREP) served as a case study to characterize surface and groundwater interaction along the Pecos River in Texas, assess the influence of saltcedar transpiration on stream stage and water table fluctuations, and evaluate the impacts of large-scale saltcedar control on baseflows. This is the first study that has investigated the influence of saltcedar transpiration on surface and groundwater interaction and the first to provide a mechanistic explanation for the lack of measurable increase in streamflow. Neither saltcedar transpiration nor saltcedar removal influenced hydraulic gradients, streambank seepage, or stream elevations. The results of the plot scale studies indicate saltcedar transpiration along the Pecos River is lower than reported elsewhere and therefore may not yield detectable increases in baseflow. To extend the study to a much larger scale, we analyzed annual baseflows at the downstream end of 340 km river reach from 1999 (pretreatment) through 2009. Surprisingly, baseflows declined for four years after the project began despite additional acreages of saltcedar treatment each year. However, baseflow surged in 2005 and remained higher than the pretreatment year (1999) through 2009. Additional detailed analyses of reservoir release and delivery records and rainfall are needed to better understand contributions of rainfall and flow regulation to this increase. Tracer based studies to determine the relative contributions of releases and groundwater would also enable a better interpretation of the change in baseflows. We did not investigate any other reported benefits, such as restoration of native plant species, or reduced soil salinity, of saltcedar control.

Prestressed concrete construction relies on the application of compressive stresses to concrete elements. The prestressing force is typically applied through the tensioning of strands that react against the concrete and induce compression in the concrete. Loss of prestress is the decrease of this pre-applied stress. The conservative estimation of the prestress losses is imperative to prevent undesired cracking of the prestressed element under service loads. A large fraction of the prestress losses is a consequence of concrete deformations. This fraction of the losses can be identified as strain-related losses, and these occur due to instantaneous elastic shortening, and time-dependent creep and shrinkage. Creep and shrinkage of concrete depend on many factors that are extremely variable within concrete structures. The time-dependent behavior of concrete is not well-understood, but recent findings in the topics of concrete creep and shrinkage provide a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms affecting the nature of these two phenomena. However, current design practices and prestress loss estimation methods do not reflect the state-of-the-art knowledge regarding creep and shrinkage. The main objective of this dissertation was the study and estimation of strain-related prestress losses in simply supported pretensioned bridge girders. Simply supported pretensioned girders are widely designed, produced and frequently used in bridge construction. Due to this common use, pretensioned concrete bridge girders has become fairly standardized elements, which results in a reduced variability in the behavior of pretensioned bridge girders, as compare to that of less standardized concrete structures. Hence, a simplified method was calibrated to estimate prestress losses within pretensioned girders to an adequate level of accuracy. To achieve an acceptable accuracy experimental data from the monitoring of pretensioned simply supported girders was used for the calibration of the method. The accuracy of this simplified method is comparable to that achievable using more elaborate methods developed for generic concrete structures. / text

Šiame darbe nagrinėsime teorines ir praktines problemas, kurios atsiranda, kai neturtinė žala padaroma draudiminio įvykio metu ir turėtų būti pilnai ar iš dalies atlyginama draudimo įmonės. Ši tema aktuali tuo, kad plečiantis draudimo įmonių veiklai, atsirandant vis daugiau privalomojo draudimo rūšių, dėl to, iš kitos pusės visuomenei intensyviai vykdant ekonominę veiklą, atsitinka vis daugiau draudiminių įvykių, kuriuose nuostuolius padengti turi draudimo įmonės, savaime suprantama, kad tai kelia nemažai problemų, nes visos draudimo sritys yra pakankamai naujos ir yra nedaug praktikos susijusios su tokių išmokų priteisimu, be to, pats neturtinės žalos įvertinimas ir jos priteisimas Lietuvos teismų sistemoje nėra nusistovėjęs ir sistemiškai aiškiai suformuluotas. Atsiranda daug neturtinės žalos įvertinimo sunkumų, nes tokia žala sunkiai pamatuojama, nes neturtinė žala, tai tokie praradimai, kurie negali būti įvertinti pinigais, galime kalbėti tik apie galimą kompensaciją. Be to, dauguma draudimo įmonių linkę vertinti savo draudimo paslaugas kaip turto draudimą ir neturtinę žalą atlygina labai nenoriai, neatlygina visai arba atlygina nepakankamai, skiriasi civilinio draudimo sąlygos įvairiose veiklos srityse. Taigi, iš vienos pusės plečiant Lietuvoje neturtinės žalos atlyginimo atvejų sąrašą ir didinant priteistinos neturtinės žalos dydžius, savaime suprantama, kad visuomenėje iškyla poreikis apsidrausti nuo galimų nuostuolių, taip pat ir nuo nuostolių atlyginimo padarius žalą... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Long ago people recognized non-pecuniary damage, as wel as pecuniary losses, which are stemming from physical injuries, death or emotional trauma. All these kinds of damages are hard to estimate and determine though. Despite the fact that some lawyers argue for abolition of compansation for non-pecuniary damage, this sort of damage still seem to be significant dealing with defence of a plaintiff under this rubric in defferent European countries. By the means of legal practice of non-pecuniary nature the person could claim damages for physical and emotional suffering, nervousness, grief, anxiety and ambarrasment. However, non-pecuniary damage should not be identified with pecuniary losses. At this point, the apprehension of non-pecuniary damage is supposed to be linked to the compensation instead of fine. In order to clarify this statement, the most important is that the compensation of non-pecuniary damage, first of all, serves as damage rewarding or as a kind of civil remedy and protection. Although, some voises said that pain and suffering awardas are hard to estimate due to the fact that the damage valuation of these kinds of losses sometimes we just can not figure out properly. Nowadays, under legal regulation, courts determine and estimate the value on non-pecuniary damage bearing in mind all significant circumstanses. Consequently, courts could change the value on non-pecuniary damage in two ways: lower or higher the compensation for these losses. Moreover, courts... [to full text]

Three studies were conducted. In the first study, 12 Yorkshire barrows (initial BW of 23.2 ± 2.0 kg) were allotted to 2 dietary treatments with 6 replications per treatment using a completely randomized design to determine apparent Ca and P digestibility (AD), true digestibility (TD) and endogenous output (EO) in a corn/SBM-based diet. All pigs were placed in individual feeder pens that allowed for easy collection of individual feces. The AD of Ca and P were 28.4% and 23.9%, respectively. Their TD of 42% and 40% for Ca and P respectively were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the corresponding AD. EO was 0.8g for Ca and 1.3g for P per kg of dry matter intake (DMI). In the second study, the optimal dietary ratio of true digestible Ca and P was determined in terms of its effect on growing pig performance, excretion of Ca and P in feces and urine in a corn/SBM-based diet using a randomized complete block design. Thirty six growing barrows (initial BW: 24.2 ± 1.9 kg) were allotted to 6 dietary treatments with 6 replications per block. Six corn/SBM-based diets with very similar nutrient contents were formulated but differed in their dietary ratio of Ca to P. The balances of Ca and P and their true digestibility/retention were calculated for each diet. Animal performance and true retention of both Ca and P was optimal (P < 0.05) with diet 2 with a true digestible Ca to P ratio of 0.82: 1 compared to other experimental diets. The third study was conducted with a similar protocol to that used in experiment 1 involving 12 barrows (initial BW: 23.9 ± 1.1 kg) to determine Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se and Zn TD values for the growing pig. Se and Zn AD of 73.9% and 9.5% significantly (P < 0.05) underestimated their TD of 82.1% and 15%, respectively. Se and Zn EO were 0.00004mg and 0.01 mg/kg of DMI, respectively. The TD and EO for Mg, Cu, Fe and Mn could not be estimated because of their negative AD.

Sweet corn is classified among highly perishable horticultural commodities. Thus, it can be deteriorated rapidly after harvest resulting in high loss and poorer produce quality. Sweet corn's sugar loss is about four times higher at 10°C compared to 0°C. Precooling, immediately after harvest, has shown to be an effective method to maintain the quality for a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables during storage. Further, this method leads to reduction in metabolism and respiration rate of the produce, retardation of its senescence, and inhibition of growth of pathogens. In addition to diminishing postharvest losses of the produce, efficient precooling is required for increasing the length of duration of marketing time for better profitability. / Precooling of sweet corn was accomplished by three main methods including forced-air, water and vacuum cooling. Operating parameters such as temperature, pressure, orientation of corn cobs, air flow rate and water flow pattern were defined and studied for optimization. The assessment and comparison of the performance of precooling systems was achieved by determining the effect of these parameters on half cooling time and quality of the produce during storage for 7 and 21 days at 1°C and 90-95% RH. In addition, room cooling method was also tested and compared to the three precooling systems. The use of three sweet corn cultivars was important to compare their quality response to different cooling methods. / Experiments were performed on a lab-scale vacuum cooler and modified forced-air and water cooler systems. The results showed that changing the cob orientation perpendicular to the direction of flow medium, using higher air flow rate in forced-air cooling and immersed water flow pattern in water cooling, can significantly reduce the half cooling time of the produce. Finally, the best method to be recommended for precooling sweet corn is by using hydrocooling which results in superior quality produce and minimum time.