Utilising tidal currents as a renewable energy resource is presently under consideration to meet the requirements of increasing worldwide energy demand and the need to reduce carbon emissions. In this respect, in-stream tidal devices are proposed to convert the kinetic energy of currents into useful extractable power. In order to extract a useful amount of energy from tidal currents, the proposed devices need to be deployed in an array or farm-like format. Due to the thrust exerted by the devices within an array, the natural flow regime will inevitably be changed. In light of this, this study aims to estimate the maximum power that can be extracted by tidal turbine arrays and assess the far-field effects of energy extraction in the designated areas around the UK for various array configurations. In this thesis, the ocean tides are modelled using the long wave equations, commonly referred as the shallow water equations (SWEs). A numerical solver based on a Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin finite element method is employed to solve the SWEs. One main advantage of the discontinuous Galerkin method is that it approximates the solution individually at each element, which allows for discontinuities within the solution system while ensuring mass conservation locally and globally. The selected numerical solver has been verified against several benchmark tests. It is then modified to include a line discontinuity to represent the effect of tidal turbine array(s) in a coastal basin. The algorithm implemented in the numerical solver involves a sub-grid model, which is based on Linear Momentum Actuator Disk Theory (LMADT) to approximate the local flow-field in the presence of the turbines. This near-field approach allows the flow velocity at the turbine to be estimated with a greater accuracy. As the power available to the turbines is related to the velocity at the turbine blades, the characterisation of the designated tidal site as a resource using LMADT may be more accurate than previously proposed methods. An additional advantage of using LMADT is that it provides a distinction between the power extracted by the turbines and the total amount of power that is removed from the tidal stream, including the wake mixing losses. The methodology employed in this thesis has been applied to two tidal basins around the UK; the Anglesey Skerries (a headland) and the Bristol Channel (an oscillating bay). A comprehensive unstructured triangular finite element model has been constructed to simulate the naturally occurring tides at these regions. The constructed model has then been validated against field measurement. The validated model is used to conduct parametric studies, which evaluate the importance of tidal array locations, configurations and operating conditions on the available power at the Anglesey Skerries and the Bristol Channel sites. The parametric study aims to evaluate a realistic upper limit of available power at each site considered. This study also provides a unique analysis to examine the potential tidal farm interactions by deploying several tidal arrays at both Anglesey Skerries and the Bristol Channel.

Bakgrund: Tidigare forskning belyser att personer med bakomliggande psykisk sjukdom eller ohälsa stigmatiseras och diskrimineras både i samhället men även inom hälso- och sjukvården. Det är därför viktigt att se hur sjuksköterskor upplever och uppfattar hur det är att ge omvårdnad till denna patientgrupp. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att utforska sjuksköterskors upplevelser och uppfattningar av att ge omvårdnad till patienter med bakomliggande psykisk ohälsa och psykisk sjukdom medan de vårdas på kirurgiska vårdavdelningar. Metod: Åtta semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer utfördes med sjuksköterskor från fyra olika kirurgiska vårdavdelningar. Intervjuerna analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet redovisas i tre kategorier; upplevelser av att vårda patienter med psykisk sjukdom eller ohälsa, uppfattningar relaterade till ansvarsfördelningar inom vården och upplevelser av kunskap relaterade till psykisk sjukdom och ohälsa. Sjuksköterskorna i denna studie gav uttryck för både positiva och negativa upplevelser och uppfattningar kopplat till att vårda denna patientgrupp. De uppfattade ofta att personer med bakomliggande psykisk sjukdom eller ohälsa var vårdkrävande och tillskrev dem negativa karaktärsdrag. De upplevde även att de inte hade kunskap eller resurser till att ge dessa personer god omvårdnad när de vårdas på kirurgiska vårdavdelningar Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor i denna studie gav uttryck för olika upplever och uppfattningar kopplat till att ge omvårdnad till patienter med bakomliggande psykisk ohälsa och psykisk sjukdom inom somatisk vård. Upplevelserna och uppfattningarna var av så väl positiv som negativ karaktär och upplevelserna kan kopplas samman med tidigare forskning som visar att patienter kan uppleva diskriminering och stigmatisering kopplat till psykisk ohälsa och sjukdom. För att öka förutsättningarna för jämlik och patientcentrerad omvårdnad upplevde sjuksköterskorna att kontinuerlig utbildning kring psykiatrisk omvårdnad är viktig även för sjuksköterskor som är verksamma utanför specialiserad psykiatrisk vård. / Background: Previous research highlights that people with underlying mental illness or disorders are stigmatized and discriminated against, both in society and within the health care system. It is therefore important to see nurses perceive and understand how it is to provide care to this population. Objective: The purpose of the study is to explore nurses' experiences and perceptions of providing care to patients with underlying mental illness and or mental disorders while being treated in surgical wards. Method: Eight semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with nurses from four different surgical wards. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Results: The results are reported in three categories; experiences of caring for patients with mental illness, perceptions related to the allocation of responsibilities in care and experiences of knowledge related to mental illness. The nurses in this study expressed both positive and negative experiences and perceptions related to caring for these patients. They are often perceived that people with underlying mental illness was demanding and attributed them there with negative character traits. They also felt that they did not have the knowledge or resources to give these people good care when they are cared for at a surgical wards. Conclusion: Nurses in this study expressed different experiences and perceptions related to providing care to patients with underlying mental health and mental illness in somatic care. The experiences and perceptions were of positive as well as negative character and experiences can be linked with previous research showing that patients may experience discrimination and stigma associated with mental illness and disease. To improve the conditions for equitable and patient-centered care nurses experienced that continuous training in psychiatric nursing is also important for nurses who are active outside specialized psychiatric care.

published_or_final_version / Earth Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

I modify the quasilocal energy formalism of Brown and York into a purely Hamiltonian form. As part of the reformulation, I remove their restriction that the time evolution of the boundary of the spacetime be orthogonal to the leaves of the time foliation. Thus the new formulation allows an arbitrary evolution of the boundary which physically corresponds to allowing general motions of the set of observers making up that boundary. I calculate the rate of change of the quasilocal energy in such situations, show how it transforms with respect to boosts of the boundaries, and use the Lanczos-Israel thin shell formalism to reformulate it from an operational point of view. These steps are performed both for pure gravity and gravity with attendant matter fields. I then apply the formalism to characterize naked black holes and study their properties, investigate gravitational tidal heating, and combine it with the path integral formulation of quantum gravity to analyze the creation of pairs of charged and rotating black holes. I show that one must use complex instantons to study this process though the probabilities of creation remain real and consistent with the view that the entropy of a black hole is the logarithm of the number of its quantum states.

Coastal foredunes are natural aeolian bedforms located landward of the backshore and which interact continuously with the beach. Traditionally, coastal dunes have been associated with onshore winds, however they can be found under more complex wind regimes where offshore winds are common such as the UK East coast, Northern Ireland and New Zealand. This research investigates the ways in which foredune-beach interactions occur under a complex wind regime at a range of overlapping temporal and spatial scales and is innovative in that it explicitly links small-scale processes and morphodynamic behaviour to large scale and long-term dynamics. The study area is the north Lincolnshire coast, East England. Detailed observations of airflow at three locations under varying wind regimes revealed considerable spatial variations in wind velocity and direction, however it was possible to determine a general model of how foredune topography deflected and modified airflow and the resultant geomorphological implications (i.e. erosion and deposition). During direct offshore and onshore winds, airflow remained attached and undeflected; and distinct zones of flow deceleration and acceleration could be identified. During oblique winds airflow was deflected to become more parallel to the dune crest. The field sites used are characterized by a seasonal erosion/accretion cycle and a series of increasingly complex models was developed and tested to determine whether it was possible to predict sand volume changes in the foredune-beach system based on a limited number of variables. The model predictions were tested against detailed digital terrain models at a seasonal timescale. The model prediction that best matched the observed (surveyed) sand volume changes included wind speed, direction, grain size, fetch effect controlled by beach inundation and angle of wind approach was accurate to within ±10% for 18 out of 48 tests at the seasonal scale and 6 out of 12 tests over periods of >5 years. A key variable influencing foredune-beach sand volume is the magnitude and frequency of storm surge events and this was not factored in to the model, but may explain the model-observation mismatch over the medium-term on two occasions. Over the past 120 years historical maps and aerial photographs indicate long-term foredune accretion of approximately 2 m year-1 at the three study sites (1891-2010). At this timescale, rates of coastal foredune accretion reflect the low occurrence of severe storm surges and suggest rapid post-storm recovery. The morphological response of the foredune-beach morphology is considered to be a combination of controlling and forcing factors. Process-responses within the system, associated with nearshore interactions and sediment transfer from the littoral drift, are compiled into a multi-scale morphodynamic model. Important to match appropriate dataset to scale of research question or management plan being explored. In the case of management, long-term records of past activity are necessary to predict the future but also to understand natural responses of system to short-term impact such as storm surge.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used in this thesis to model wind and tidal stream turbines and to investigate tidal turbine fence performance. There are two primary objectives of this work. The first is to develop and validate an actuator line method for the simulation of wind and tidal turbines which applies the blade forces to the flow field without the need for a regularisation kernel. The second is to examine tidal fences using, in part, the newly developed actuator line method. A potential flow equivalence method for determining the relative velocity to the blade chord and flow angle at the rotor blades in the actuator line method is proposed and validated. Results for simulations using this method compare favourably with those from both experiments and alternative computational methods, although the present model’s results deviate from experimental results in the vicinity of the blade tips. A CFD-embedded blade element-momentum tool is used to design rotors for operation in infinitely wide tidal fences spanning a tidal channel. Rotors are designed for fences with several different blockage ratios, with those designed for high blockage flows having greater solidity than those designed for operation in fences with lower blockage. It is found that designing rotors for operational blockage conditions can significantly improve the power output achieved by a tidal fence. Improved power output for higher blockage conditions is achieved by the application of greater thrust to the flow. Actuator line simulations of short (up to 8 turbines) fences with varying intra-rotor spacing and number of rotors confirm that hydrodynamic performance of the rotors improves as the spacing is reduced and as rotors are added to a fence. The position of a rotor within the fence impacts its performance; rotors at the ends of a fence extract reduced power compared to those at the centre of the fence, particularly for tip speed ratios greater than the design tip speed ratio.

Tidal freshwater reaches of estuaries may play an important role in mitigating nutrient fluxes from watersheds to the coastal zone due to their location at the interface between riverine and estuarine systems. We developed annual N and P budgets for the tidal, freshwater James River over 4 calendar years (2007-2010) taking into account riverine inputs at the Fall Line, local points sources (including CSO events), ungagued inputs, riverine outputs, and tidal exchange. The tidal freshwater James River experiences high areal loading rates of TN (383 mg/m2/d) and TP (70 mg/m2/d) due to the combined effects of large watershed area and local point source discharges. On an annual basis, riverine sources dominated TN and TP inputs (59% and 84%, respectively), whereas during low discharge summer months (May-Oct) point sources were more important. Proportional retention of TP inputs (59±7%) was greater than TN retention (27±4%) with annual absolute retention being 1,800±350 kg TP/d, and 5,900±2,700 kg TN/d. Proportional retention of TN and dissolved inorganic fractions of N and P was highest during the low discharge summer months due to reduced loading rates and increased residence times and biotic activity. TP retention was greatest during high discharge winter months (Nov-Apr) when loading rates were highest. High retention during this period of low biotic activity suggests that trapping of riverine derived particulate-bound P via sedimentation was an important mechanism of P retention. Understanding this seasonal variation in nutrient inputs and retention can help to inform management decisions regarding reducing nutrient inputs to the Chesapeake Bay and improving local water quality.

Tidal freshwater wetlands (TFW) are at significant risk of loss or alteration due to global climate change, and saltwater intrusion from sea level rise is of particular concern for these habitats due to their proximity to coastal areas. A space-for-time model was used to investigate the effects of saltwater intrusion on soil methanogen communities along naturally occurring salinity gradients on the Waccamaw, James, and Hudson Rivers. Amplification of the methyl coenzyme-M reductase (mcrA) functional gene was used in qPCR, reverse transcription qPCR, and T-RFLP to measure the abundance, activity, and community composition of soil methanogens. Both the abundance and activity of methanogens decreased with increasing salinity, and the both total and active methanogen community composition shifted in response to changes in salinity. This research demonstrates that saltwater intrusion will alter carbon cycling in TFWs, potentially altering their ability to sequester carbon and keep pace with rising sea level.

Une étude de l'impact des mascarets sur le transport des sédiments à l'aide de la simulation numérique a été réalisée dans ce travail. En utilisant le logiciel OpenFOAM CFD, nous avons généré 17 simulations numériques de mascaret avec divers nombres de Froude Fr, allant de 0,99 à 1,66. Deux types de mascarets, ondulant et déferlant, ont été couverts dans ces 17 simulations numériques. Pour les particules sédimentaires non cohésives, nous avons utilisé les équations de Maxey et Riley pour déterminer la trajectoire des particules sédimentaires non cohésives sous l’influence d’un mascaret ondulant. En utilisant le schéma Runge-Kutta du quatrième ordre, une méthode tracker résout les équations de Maxey et Riley qui nécessitent l’information des champs de vitesse au temps t. Pour les particules sédimentaires cohésives, nous avons calculé la distribution des particules sédimentaires cohésives en utilisant un modèle de transport de flocs, présenté par Winterwerp (2001). Dans ce modèle, la concentration volumique solide des sédiments et le diamètre des flocs D sont estimés. Les équations de transport de et D sont résolues en utilisant la méthode des moments présentée par Beaudoin et al. (2002 et 2004). La méthode des moments permet de réduire le temps CPU rendant possible une étude paramétrique. De ce travail, nous avons trouvé une classification du mascaret en fonction du nombre de Froude Fr. Cette classification est également basée sur l’étude menée par Furgerot (2014). Pour un nombre de Froude 1,04 < Fr < 1,43, le mascaret est ondulant. Pour un nombre de Froude 1,43 < Fr < 1,57, le mascaret est partiellement déferlant, similaire à la transition de mascaret définie par Furgerot (2014). Pour un nombre de Froude Fr > 1,57, le mascaret est totalement déferlant. Une analyse de la distribution de la pression a été effectuée par Baddour et Song (1990). Nous avons trouvé que les pressions totales et hydrostatiques d’un mascaret ondulant ont de grandes valeurs sous la crête et le creux. Dans le cas d’un mascaret ondulant, les pressions totales ne sont pas égales à les pressions hydrostatiques. Cela provoque la présence de pressions dynamiques. Dans le cas de mascaret déferlant, les pressions totales deviennent égales aux pressions hydrostatiques. La turbulence réduit les pressions dynamiques. L'impact des mascarets sur le transport de particules sédimentaires non cohésives et cohésives a été étudié dans ce travail. Pour les particules sédimentaires non cohésives, nous avons observé que la trajectoire utilisant l’écoulement généré par OpenFOAM est similaire à la trajectoire de type e proposée par Chen et al. (2010). Des modifications du modèle de Chen ont été faites en incluant les effets de la gravité, l’élévation et l’atténuation pour reproduire des trajectoires de particules non cohésives sous un mascaret ondulant. Nous avons obtenu des relations linéaires entre les paramètres du modèle de Chen modifié (β1 , β2 et β3) et le nombre de Froude Fr. C’est parce que le niveau de la turbulence du mascaret ondulant est faible. L’écoulement induit par mascaret ondulant n’est pas complexe. Ce phénomène physique est quasi linéaire. Le paramètre β1, lié à la célérité avant du mascaret ondulant, diminue lorsque le nombre de Froude Fr augmente. Les paramètres β2 et β3, liés respectivement à l’élévation et à l’atténuation du mascaret déferlant, augmentent lorsque le nombre de Froude Fr augmente. Enfin, pour les particules sédimentaires cohésives, nous avons calculé la distribution de la taille des flocs D sous deux types de mascaret, ondulant et déferlant. Nous avons utilisé le diamètre initial de la particule sédimentaire cohésive d = 4 μm. La taille du floc initial D est égale à 10 μm avec la concentration du floc c = 0,5 kg/m3 . Et nous avons limité la taille maximale du floc à 2000 μm. Nous avons observé que la valeur maximal de la taille des flocs Dmax augmente de façon exponentielle par rapport au nombre de Froude Fr. / A study of the impact of tidal bores on sediment transport by using the numerical simulation has been done in this work. Using OpenFOAM CFD software, we have generated 17 numerical simulations of tidal bores with various values of Froude number Fr, ranging from 0.99 to 1.66. Two types of tidal bores, undular and breaking, have been covered in these 17 numerical simulations. We have studied the behavior of two types of sediment particles, non-cohesive and cohesive sediment particles. For the non-cohesive sediment particles, we have resolved the Maxey and Riley equations to study the influence of undular tidal bores on the trajectory of non cohesive sediment particles. Using the fourth order Runge-Kutta scheme, the method tracker can solve the Maxey and Riley equations that requires the information of velocity fields at time t. For the cohesive sediment particles, we have calculated the distribution of cohesive sediment particles using a floc model that allows to estimate the sediment solid volume concentrationand the diameter of flocs D, presented by Winterwerp (2001). The transport equations of and D are solved using the moment method presented by Beaudoin et al. (2002 and 2004). The moment method has been used because it allows to reduce the CPU time, making feasible a parametric study. From this work, we have found a classification of tidal bores as a function of Froude number Fr. This classification is also based on the study conducted by Furgerot (2014). We have obtained that for a Froude number 1.04 < Fr < 1.43, the tidal bore is undular. For 1.43 < Fr < 1.57, the tidal bore is partially breaking that is similar with the tidal bore transtition defined by Furgerot (2014). For Fr > 1.57, the tidal bore is totally breaking. An analysis of pressure distributions has been performed by Baddour and Song (1990). We found that the total and hydrostatic pressures of undular tidal bores have great values under the crest and the trough wave. In the case of undular tidal bores, the total pressures are not equal to the hydrostatic pressures. In the case of breaking tidal bores, the total pressures become equal to the hydrostatic pressures when the tidal bores are totally breaking. The turbulence reduces the dynamic pressures. The impact of tidal bores on the transport of non-cohesive and cohesive sediment particles have been studied in this work. For the non-cohesive sediment particles, we have observed that the trajectory using the flow generated by OpenFOAM is similar with the type e trajectory proposed by Chen et al. (2010). The modifications of Chen’s model have been done by including the effects of gravity, elevation and attenuation to reproduce non-cohesive particle trajectories under an undular tidal bore. We have obtained that the relationship between the Chen’s parameters (β1 , β2 and β3) and the Froude number Fr are linear. This is because the level of turbulence for undular tidal bores is low. The flow induced by an undular tidal bore is not complex. This physical phenomenon is quasi linear. The parameter β1 , related to the front celerity of tidal bores, decreases when the Froude number Fr increases. The parameters, β2 and β3, related to the elevation and attenuation of tidal bores respectively, increase when the Froude number Fr increases. Finally, for the cohesive sediment particles, we have calculated the distribution of floc size D under two types of tidal bore, undular and breaking. We have used the initial diameter of cohesive sediment particles d = 4 μm. The initial floc size D is equal to 10 μm with the consentration of floc c = 0.5 kg/m3. And we have limited the maximum floc size equal to 2000 μm. We have obtained that the maximum value of floc size Dmax increases exponentially with the Froude number Fr.

Together with the world economic growth is the increasing of energy generation demand. However, the upgrade of world power production capability could affect the environment negatively. Even the clean and renewable sources, such as hydroelectricity and wind powers have socio-economic and environmental disadvantages. For example, the required flooded area for a hydro power plant construction could devastate entire forests, and the installation of a wind farm power plant could affect migratory rotes of birds and generate high levels of noise. Hence, for the balancing of advantages and disadvantages of each power generation source, it is necessary to diversify, which requires investments in new power sources. In this context, the energy generation in the ocean is highlighted. The first point concerning the ocean energy is that there is no need of population removal from the installation area, such as the onshore based methods and the second point is that most of the population is concentrated in coastal areas. Therefore the production occurs near to the demand, decreasing the costs with energy distribution. The two main methodologies for harassing energy from oceans are based on gravity waves and in tides. And since the tidal cycles are governed mainly by the gravitational interaction between oceans, Moon and Sun, they are easily predictable, which increases the reliability of such systems. These works explores methodologies to analyse the power generation from a single axial tidal current turbine through a Steady State RANS methodology. Are discussed the effects of flow directionality, inlet velocity profile and turbulence levels and the results are compared with an experimental scheme. It is proposed an alternative methodology for free surface modelling in the CFD analysis. The usual methodology, VOF, it is based on a homogeneous, biphasic approach which requires an additional mesh refinement and is computationally expensive. This new methodology introduces an elastic wall approach in the free surface region in which the stiffness is calculated to provide the same restoring effect as gravity. In general, the results for open domain matched with the experimental results, validating the numerical model and the confined domain has shown a higher power and thrust coefficients if compared with the open domain, which is in accordance with the actuator disk theory approach. The elastic free surface presented convergence problems related to high Froude numbers and therefore to high deformations. However, a simulation with 10% of the original inlet velocity was performed, achieving reasonable results for both power and thrust coefficients evaluation. / O crescimento econômico mundial e o aumento na demanda pela geração de energia andam juntos. No entanto, uma maior capacidade de produção de energia poderia afetar negativamente o meio ambiente. Mesmo as fontes limpas e renováveis, como a hidrelétrica e a eólica acarretam em impactos socioeconômicos e ambientais. Por exemplo, a construção de uma usina hidrelétrica demanda uma imensa área alagada que pode devastar florestas inteiras e a instalação de uma usina eólica pode afetar a migração de certas espécies de pássaros e produzir altos níveis de barulho. Portanto, para equilibrar as vantagens e desvantagens devidas a cada meio de produção de energia, é necessária a diversificação, que demanda de investimentos em novas fontes. Neste contexto, a geração de energia nos oceanos é destacada. O primeiro ponto a respeito desta fonte é de que não há a necessidade de remoção da população na área de instalação, tal como os métodos de geração dentro do continente. O segundo principal ponto é a respeito da distribuição de energia. A maior parte da população mundial vive em regiões costeiras, diminuindo, portanto, a distância entre a produção e demanda, reduzindo assim, seus custos. As duas principais metodologias para se explorar a energia proveniente dos oceanos são: Energia de Ondas e Energia de Marés. E considerando que os ciclos de mare são governados principalmente pela interação gravitacional entre os oceanos, lua e sol, eles são facilmente previsíveis, o que aumenta a confiabilidade dos sistemas de geração de energia baseados em marés. Este trabalho explora as metodologias para analisar a geração de energia a partir de uma única turbina axial de corrente de maré através de uma metodologia baseada nas equações de Navier-Stokes com a média de Reynolds, analisadas em regime permanente. São discutidos efeitos da direção do escoamento, perfil de velocidades na entrada e nos níveis de turbulência. Os resultados são comparados com experimentos. É proposta uma metodologia alternativa para a modelagem da superfície livre com CFD uma vez que a metodologia atual é baseada em um escoamento bifásico que demanda de um refinamento adicional da malha e é computacionalmente caro. A nova metodologia usa uma parede elástica na região da superfície livre com a rigidez ajustada para se obter o mesmo efeito de restauração que a gravidade. De maneira geral, os resultados para o domínio aberto se aproximaram dos resultados experimentais, validando o modelo numérico e além disso, o modelo considerando confinamento da turbine mostrou maiores valores para os coeficientes de potência e empuxo, estando portanto, de acordo com a teoria do disco atuador. O modelo com a superfície livre elástica apresentou problemas de convergência, relacionados com números de Froude elevados, uma vez que isto se relaciona com maiores deformações na região da superfície livre. Uma simulação com 10% da velocidade original foi realizada, obtendo-se resultados coerentes para ambos coeficientes de potência e empuxo.