This master's thesis deals with simulation of vortex structure which is created in the draft tube of Francis turbine, at part load flow conditions. The main objective is to get the most accurate results from the calculations, using the student license of Ansys Fluent 19.1. The results from the calculations are compared with the experiment under the Francis-99 project. Mainlly in terms of dynamic properties of vortex rope – aplitude and frequency of pressure pulsations. Additionaly the time-averaged velocity profiles are compared. I used the test-case provided by NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology under the Francis-99 workshop series.

This thesis is dedicated to a study of manufacturing of aluminum parts at Alfa company. A complete analysis of the company's main product which are roller doors for commercial vehicles is elaborated. The thesis is based on a existing operation of the company and tries to find the optimal solution for the future. The result is the definition of a new solution and determination it’s operating costs, economic impacts and suggestions for improvement. Key words roller door, aluminum profiles, slat, roller shutter, manufacturing of aluminum parts.

Centrifugal compressors with high pressure ratio are widely used in small aircraft turbine engines and turbocharges. At high rotational speeds they have narrow stable operating region and commonly used impellers with back swept blades are not able to ensure requested stability. In order to achieve wider stable operating region, some other anti-surge measures can be used, such as an Internal Recirculation Channel (IRC) located in compressor impeller inlet. This thesis deals with an investigation of IRC influence on centrifugal compressor operational parameters. As a first, the various recirculation channel geometry was studied by using of CFD analysis on simplified computational models. Those geometry, which indicated best results in terms of mass flow and looses in channel were used for testing on a model test device. Subsequently the same geometry was tested on real centrifugal compressor in experimental turbine engine to verify influence of IRC on compressor performance map – pressure ratio and efficiency. Simultaneously the CFD analyses of IRC with a 3D model of compressor impeller were performed and results compared with those, gained from measurement on model and compressor. In addition the measurement of flow field downstream the recirculation channel outlet slot with using of 3-hole pressure probe was performed and compared with flow velocity profiles evaluated from numerical simulations.

<p>Obesity has ascended to become the primary modifiable cause of death in the United States. New evidence has called into question the utility of BMI – the typical index of obesity – in predicting cardiometabolic disturbances. The distribution of body fatness may be just as important as the total quantity. Intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) has emerged as a distinct subset of adipose in skeletal muscle that may be particularly metabolically deleterious. Typically, sections of either the calf or thigh are used as proxy measurements for whole-body IMAT in investigations. However, IMAT dispersion may not be consistent across tissues, instead infiltrating specific muscle or muscle compartments, and these have may have different metabolic consequences. The study described in Chapter 2 was designed to address this possibility and investigate and compare associations among thigh and calf IMAT stores with indices of cardiometabolic health. The strength of the relationship between IMAT and glucose control-related indices of cardiometabolic health was dependent upon anatomic location. Specifically, thigh IMAT is a better predictor of cardiometabolic risk that calf IMAT. </p> <p>Skeletal muscle has gained increased recognition in recent years for its importance in promotion of health and wellness throughout the life course. While treatment models addressing issues of declining muscle mass and strength with age previously focused on older adults, the importance of utilizing a life course model to promote skeletal muscle health at all ages was more recently recognized. There is consistent evidence that higher-protein diets modestly improve body composition. However, women are at greater risk for not meeting protein requirements and seem to be less willing to adopt strategies to achieve greater protein intake, such as protein supplementation, for fear that it may cause ‘bulkiness’. Therefore, the study described in Chapter 3 was designed to critically evaluate the effect of whey protein supplementation on body composition changes in women via a systematic review & meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials. It was hypothesized that whey protein supplementation would moderately improve body composition but would not cause excessive muscle hypertrophy. Consistent with our hypothesis, whey protein supplementation improved body composition by modestly (<1%) increasing lean mass, without influencing fat mass.</p> <p>Dietary protein and skeletal muscle are conceptually inseparable; protein is often only considered in terms of how it impacts skeletal muscle-related outcomes. However, it is of interest to determine if the proposed beneficial effects of increased dietary protein consumption extend beyond skeletal muscle. Consumption of higher protein diets result in lower resting blood pressure, but the potential for protein to attenuate acute exercise blood pressure responses is unclear. The study described in Chapter 4 was designed to investigate the effects of meals with different amounts of protein on blood pressure responses to exercise in a randomized, cross-over trial. We hypothesized that consuming the higher-protein meal would attenuate the blood pressure responses to exercise and result in a more robust post-exercise hypotensive response. Contrary to our hypothesis, a higher-protein meal does not attenuate exercise-induced blood pressure responses compared to a lower-protein meal. These findings build upon previous research suggesting that the beneficial effect of chronically elevated protein intake on blood pressure is typically not observed in an acute setting by extending these findings to encompass blood pressure responses to acute responses to exercise.</p> <p>The three studies packaged herein utilize different techniques and report on different outcomes, but conceptual threads unite these works which augment the collective findings. Future researchers investigating the effects of protein on skeletal muscle anabolism can: 1) learn of the importance of proper reflection on surrogate measures and potential for anatomic-specific effects from the IMAT findings (Chapter 2), 2) appreciate the relevance of energy and training states in modulating responses from the WP meta-analysis (Chapter 3), and 3) recognize the importance of holistic approaches and employing challenges to reveal heterogeneity from the protein and BP trial (Chapter 4). Taken together, the research presented in this dissertation forwards our understanding of the relations and effects of dietary protein with different components of body composition on cardiometabolic health. </p>

Les composés organiques volatils (COV) jouent un rôle majeur au sein du système atmosphérique puisqu’ils interviennent en tant que précurseurs d’ozone troposphérique et d’aérosols organiques secondaires (composés aux divers impacts sanitaires et climatiques) ; d’où le réel besoin de mieux les caractériser. A ce jour, de fortes incertitudes demeurent quant à leur nature, leur quantification et la contribution de leurs sources d’émissions respectives.Cette thèse propose, au travers d’expérimentations de laboratoire et de terrain, une caractérisation exhaustive des COV et de leurs principales sources d’émissions en région Île-de-France. Les méthodes mises en place dans ce travail de thèse reposent sur la détermination de profils de spéciation caractéristiques du trafic routier, du chauffage au bois et du gaz naturel à partir d’investigations en champ proche (en tunnel, en cheminée et à partir d’un conduit de gaz domestique). Ces différents profils de source ont été utilisés comme empreinte chimique de référence pour l’identification des principales sources d’émissions de COV, dont les contributions respectives ont été estimées à l’aide du modèle source-récepteur Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF), appliqué sur une année d’acquisition de mesures COV (HCNM+COVO) à Paris. Ce travail de thèse a ainsi permis, pour la première fois, d’étudier la variabilité saisonnière des COV et de leurs sources majeures. Les émissions liées au trafic routier ont été révélées comme la principale source de COV d’origine locale/régionale à Paris (contribuant à ¼ des émissions totales à l’échelle annuelle). L’impact prépondérant du chauffage au bois en hiver (50 % de la masse totale COV mesurée) a également été mis en évidence. Les résultats de cette étude de répartition de sources ont été confrontés à l’inventaire des émissions d’Airparif. Nous avons souligné un bon accord entre nos observations et l’inventaire pour les sources liées au trafic automobile et au chauffage au bois.Cette évaluation indépendante des inventaires est essentielle puisque ces derniers sont aujourd’hui utilisés comme données d’entrée au sein des modèles de prévision de qualité de l’air. / Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play a key role within the atmospheric system acting as precursors of ground-level ozone and secondary organic aerosols (causing health and climatic impacts); hence the growing interest of better characterizing them. Significant uncertainties are still associated with compounds speciation, quantification and respective contributions from the different emission sources.This thesis proposes, through several laboratory and intensive field campaigns, a detailed characterization of VOCs and their main emissions sources within the Île-de-France region. We used methods based on the determination of speciation profiles indicative of road traffic, wood burning and natural gas sources obtained from near-field investigations (inside a tunnel, at a fireplace and from a domestic gas flue). These different source profiles were used as chemical fingerprints for the identification of the main VOC emission sources, which respective contributions were estimated using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) source-receptor model applied to one-year VOCs (including NMHC+OVOC) measurements in Paris. This thesis allowed, for the first time, to evaluate the seasonal variability of VOCs and their main emission sources. Road traffic-related emissions are major VOC local/regional sources in Paris (contributing to a quarter of total annual emissions). The important impact of wood burning in winter (50 % of the VOC total mass) was observed. Results obtained from this approach were compared with the regional emissions inventory provided by the air quality monitoring network Airparif. Finally, a good agreement was found between our observations and the inventory for road traffic and wood burning-related sources.This independent assessment of inventories is of great interest because they are currently used as input data within air quality prediction models.

There are a myriad of risk factors for surgical mortality, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and prolonged length of stay. Effectively identifying possible risk factors in the preoperative patient profiles that may impact the outcome of elective open intestinal resection has significant implications on the quality of care, the safe delivery of surgical care, and the speedy recovery of patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection. Few studies specifically focused on the construction of individual preoperative patient risk profile used only preoperative patient profiles in elective open intestinal resection. A retrospective cohort predictive study was conducted to assess the impact of preoperative patient profiles on surgical outcomes in patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection using 2009-2011 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) databases. This study aimed to identify independent predictors in the preoperative patient profiles for the development of preoperative patient risk profiling tool for the construction of an individual preoperative patient risk profile for risk stratification, surgical planning, and care coordination for patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection. The results of this study showed that independent predictors in the preoperative patient profiles could predict the risks of increased adverse surgical outcomes in terms of in-hospital mortality, in-hospital complications, and prolonged length of stay in patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection. Independent predictors of increased adverse surgical outcomes were identified in the personal domain, the social history domain, and the comorbidity domain of preoperative patient profiles. In the personal domain profile, advanced age was an independent predictor of increased in-hospital mortality, prolonged length of stay (LOS), and six of the eight categories of in-hospital complications studied, except mechanical wound complications and infection complications. The 18 to 39 age group was more likely to develop the latter two complications. Male gender was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, prolonged LOS, and six of the eight in-hospital complications except intraoperative complication and systemic complications. Asian/Pacific Islanders were more likely to have intraoperative bleeding complication while black patients were more likely to have gastrointestinal complications and prolonged LOS compared to white patients. In the social history domain profile, patients with alcohol abuse were more likely to suffer pulmonary complications and have prolonged LOS. Patients with illicit drug abuse were more likely to have prolonged LOS as well. Four comorbidities, fluid and electrolyte disorders, weight loss, coagulopathy, and congestive heart failure, were identified as the strongest independent predictors of increased adverse surgical outcomes overall, except in the cardiovascular complications. Pulmonary circulation disorders were the strongest independent predictors of cardiovascular complications. Other comorbidities that were statistically significant and unique predictors of adverse outcomes were also identified. Patients without comorbidity were less likely to have increased in-hospital mortality, prolonged LOS, and in-hospital complications. These findings have significant implications in developing preoperative patient risk profiling tools for the construction of an individual preoperative patient risk profile for risk stratification, surgical planning, and care coordination in patients undergoing elective open intestinal resection.

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This study aims to explore ideological profiles in local parties’ electoral manifestos. Through qualitative content analysis, three profiles, redistributive, developmental, and political discontent-oriented are investigated in local parties’ electoral manifestos in the case of Norrbotten. One of the main findings shows that the political discontent-oriented profile occurs to a lesser extent in comparison with the other profiles. Instead, many of the manifestos convey concerns relating to their municipality’s persistence. Local parties in Norrbotten tend to endorse new establishments of companies and industries in their manifestos. When expressing political discontent, the electoral manifestos often focus on distancing themselves from ideology-oriented politics while claiming to be a pragmatic alternative. Some manifesto also expresses the need to prioritize vulnerable groups in the municipality, especially the Sami people, senior citizens, and rural communities within the municipality.

Starting this semester, Charles C. Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) began shifting our SelectedWorks service model from an opt-in (we create profiles for faculty who send us their CV) process to a quicker and easier opt-out (we create profiles for all faculty) model. Our lightning talk will provide an overview of this opt-out model and how we laid the groundwork for its success. We started by engendering support amongst the Deans, Faculty Senate, and University Research Council, detailing the benefits of a university-wide profile service and assuaging any fears or concerns that an opt-out model might generate regarding utility and privacy. We also undertook a substantial harvesting project as part of this project using Digital Common's PubMed and Scopus integration to harvest thousands of ETSU-affiliated records into our repository. We create these "instant profiles" by aggregating publicly assessable information (such as contact information, education, etc.) from available sources such as university departmental pages, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, etc. to complete their "About" information without needing a copy of their CV. We then import all available works into the profile from the aforementioned harvesting project. Once completed, we email the faculty member in question and give them two weeks to accept or decline their profile before going "live." This will greatly expand the reach of our department's service and further integrate our portion of the library into the academic community of the university.