Digital Commons Network^™

Effect Of Tributary Inflow On Reservoir Turbidity Current, Yining Sun, Ji Li, Zhixian Cao, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, János Józsa

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Fluvial flows carrying high sediment loads may plunge into reservoirs to form turbidity currents. However, the effects of tributary inflows on reservoir turbidity currents have remained poorly understood to date. Here a 2D double layer-averaged model is used to investigate a series of laboratory-scale numerical cases. By probing into the hydro-sediment-morphodynamic processes, we find that tributary location and inflow conditions have distinct effects on the formation and propagation of reservoir turbidity currents, and lead to complicated flow dynamics and bed deformation at the confluence. Two flow exchange patterns are generated at the confluence: turbidity current intrusion from the main channel …

An Investigation Of Change In Drone Practices In Broadacre Farming Environments, Hrishikesh S. Neetye

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The application of drones in broadacre farming is influenced by novel and emergent factors. Drone technology is subject to legal, financial, social, and technical constraints that affect the Agri-tech sector. This research showed that emerging improvements to drone technology influence the analysis of precision data resulting in disparate and asymmetrically flawed Ag-tech outputs. The novelty of this thesis is that it examines the changes in drone technology through the lens of entropic decay. It considers the planning and controlling of an organisation’s resources to minimise harmful effects through systems change. The rapid advances in drone technology have outpaced the systematic …

Fagotte Forgotten? The Bassoon In The Early Symphonies Of Mozart, Haydn And Contemporaries In The 1760s And 1770s, Katherine J. Walpole

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project investigates the role of the bassoon in the basso of the early symphonies of Mozart, Haydn and Contemporaries in the 1760s and 1770s. It draws on surviving primary source material pertaining to bassoonists and orchestral practices across Europe before 1780. Autograph scores of Haydn, Mozart and his contemporaries usually scored early Classical symphonies for pairs of oboes, horns, two violin sections, viola and basso. Modern scholars have described these compositions as symphonies for pairs of oboes, pairs of horns and strings, and have translated basso to mean cellos and basses. Eliminating the eighteenth-century term basso has also …

The Cartographies Of Place: Approaches To Audio-Visual Composition Incorporating Aspects Of Place, Wing S. Tsang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Incorporating aural and visual elements of a place in a composition serves as a powerful way of exploring the intersection of time, history and geography associated with a location. The combination of these elements acts as an invitation for deeper engagement by offering multiple perspectives of place. One way of exploring these intersections is through incorporating aspects of place—in the form of field recordings, field footage and cartographical information—into audio and audio-visual work, where spatial and physical information can be situated as a way of representing an individual’s surroundings and subjective realities of place. This practice-led exegesis aims to explore …

Inclusive Communities? Collaborative Communication Practices Between Stakeholders Supporting Secondary Students On The Autism Spectrum, Christina R. Holly

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Communication is vital for effective partnerships and quality relationships between stakeholders supporting secondary students on the autism spectrum (AS) who experience many challenges upon their transition to secondary school: multiple teachers, diverse student cohorts, unstructured breaks, noisy classrooms and unpredictable changes to routines. Successful outcomes for students are more likely if supporting stakeholders collaborate with open communication channels.

This qualitative two-phase study is underpinned by the value-creation framework for social learning, developed by Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner (2020), which emphasises that all community members, regardless of their perceived community competence or experience, can add value to forming community solutions. Phase One …

Downstream Air Dilution And Biomass Pulverisation Into Bluff-Body And Swirl Stabilised Confined Turbulent Jets, Syed E. Gillani

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Bluff-body and swirl-stabilised turbulent annular flows (single phase and multi-phase) find broad practical utility, especially in high-power non-premixed combustion applications. Their significance stems from features like their characteristic recirculation zones and intense upstream turbulence, both of which promote air-fuel mixing and aid in flame stabilisation. Moreover, in response to the push for low-emission and carbon-neutral fuel sources, there's a growing emphasis on integrating biomass, especially in its pulverised form, into major power generation systems. In practical gas turbine combustors featuring bluff-body and swirl stabilised flame burners, the incorporation of (air) side dilution jets plays a crucial role. These jets influence …

An Interpretive Description Study Of The Views And Experience Of Obstetric Fistula Risk Factors Among Women Attending Evangel Vesico Vagina Fistula Centre In Nigeria, Lydia Babatunde-Bulndi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

An obstetric fistula is a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, which is caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without intervention. Sufferers of obstetric fistula may experience chronic urinary and/or faecal incontinence. Although obstetric fistula is directly caused by prolonged obstructed labour, factors such as unskilled birth assistance can increase fistula risk indirectly. Harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation, lack of formal education, illiteracy, poverty, limited social role for women, malnutrition, early marriage before the full development of the pelvis, and a lack of emergency obstetric services are some of the additional factors associated with …

Implications Of Second-Order Wave Generation For Physical Modelling Of Force And Run-Up On A Vertical Wall Using Wave Groups, William Mortimer, Ross Calvert, Alessandro Antonini, Deborah Greaves, Alison Raby, Ton S. Van Den Bremer

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Experiments are contaminated by second-order error waves at sub- and super-harmonic frequencies when first-order wave generation is used. Herein, we investigate by experiment the implications of second-order wave generation theory for dynamic wave force and run-up on a vertical wall in shallow to intermediate water depth (��0⁢��=0.5−1.1). Results of short-duration experiments using focused wave groups generated according to first- and second-order theory are compared. We isolate linear, sub-, and super-harmonic contributions using combinations of inverted wave group time series and filtering. We derive theoretical predictions for narrow-banded second-order wave groups interacting with a vertical wall and use this to calculate …

Power Output Estimation Of A Two-Body Hinged Raft Wave Energy Converter Using Hf Radar Measured Representative Sea States At Wave Hub In The Uk, Daming Wang, Siya Jin, Martyn Hann, Daniel Conley, Keri Collins, Deborah Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

For the physical model testing of wave energy converters (WECs) in the wave basin, it is necessary to test the models in a small number of sea states. Previously, the H – T binning method was widely used to determine the sea states that are representative of an ocean area. However, it omitted much useful information such as the wave directionality. In this paper, a novel method, the K-means clustering technique is used in combination with High Frequency (HF) radar measured data from Wave Hub, UK. The results show that K-means clustering method better preserves the characteristics of the ocean …

A Designed Two-Body Hinged Raft Wave Energy Converter: From Experimental Study To Annual Power Prediction For The Emec Site Using Wec-Sim, Siya Jin, Daming Wang, Martyn Hann, Keri Collins, Daniel Conley, Deborah Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The present study aims at providing more data and insights for the hinged type WEC, especially focusing on the two-body hinged raft WECs. Two WECs are considered: a well-studied generic hinged raft WEC (G-HRWEC) and a 1:25 scale designed hinged raft WEC (D-HRWEC). The open-source tool WEC-Sim is employed in numerical studies. Referring to the published numerical data for G-HRWEC, corrections are proposed to the WEC-Sim model which are shown to realise the ability of WEC-Sim to model the two-body hinged WEC. For the 1:25 scale D-HRWEC, the physical results show that the relative hinge motion between the rafts is …

Floating Hydroelastic Circular Plate In Regular And Irregular Waves, Simone Michele, Siming Zheng, Federica Buriani, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Deborah M. Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

An understanding of the hydroelastic response of a flexible circular plate to water waves is relevant to many problems in ocean engineering ranging from offshore wave energy converters and solar wind devices to very large floating structures such as floating airports and ice sheets. This paper describes results from physical model tests undertaken in the COAST laboratory at the University of Plymouth. Response amplitude operators (RAOs) of a floating flexible circular disk are determined for incident monochromatic and irregular wave trains, the latter defined by JONSWAP spectra. Free-surface displacements are measured using wave gauges, and the plate motion recorded using …

Developed Graphene/Si Schottky Junction Solar Cells Based On The Top-Window Structure, Hilal Al Busaidi, Ahmed Suhail, David Jenkins, Genhua Pan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)-graphene has potentially been integrated with silicon (Si) substrates for developing graphene/n-Si Schottky junction solar cells prepared with the top window structure. However, there are drawbacks to prepared devices such as complex silicon dioxide (SiO2)-etching steps, low fill factors and stability of doped devices. In this work, SiO2 patterns are simply formed using a sputtering process rather than the previous complex method. Additionally, the fill factor for prepared devices is developed by using transferred residue-free multi-graphene layers. The usage of 3 graphene layers improves the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 7.1%. A recorded PCE of around 17% …

Lagrangian Modelling Of Nonlinear Viscous Waves Generated By Moving Seabed Deformation, E. Renzi, S. Michele, A. G.L. Borthwick, A. C. Raby

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

A Lagrangian flow model is used to investigate highly nonlinear, dispersive waves generated by moving seabed deformation (MSD) of an otherwise horizontal seabed. Applications include free surface wave responses to horizontal co-seismic displacements and to novel bed-driven wave making systems used in surfing competitions. This paper considers gravity waves in viscous liquid, without restrictions on wave steepness, dispersion coefficient, and flow regime. Numerical computations are carried out using a Moving Particle Explicit method, which provides a Lagrangian flow description with far fewer particles than existing meshless methods. We show that the MSD speed has different effects in shallow and intermediate …

Serviceability Behaviour Of Frp-Reinforced Slatted Slabs Made Of High-Content Recycled Aggregate Concrete, Thanongsak Imjai, Reyes Garcia, Boksun Kim, Chayanon Hansapinyo, Piti Sukontasukkul

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

At service load levels, shear-induced deflections of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs are small and therefore they are usually ignored in deflection calculations. However, shear-induced deflections can be large in RC slabs reinforced with Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars, especially after the development of diagonal cracks. This article investigates the serviceability behaviour (deflections and crack widths) of FRP-reinforced slatted slabs cast with recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). Fifteen slabs were tested in flexure, including five slabs cast with normal concrete (NC), five slabs cast with RAC made with 50% recycled concrete aggregate, and five slabs cast with RAC made with 100% recycled …

Mathematical Modelling Of A Floating Clam-Type Wave Energy Converter, Siming Zheng, John Wilfrid Phillips, Martyn Hann, Deborah Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In this paper, wave power extraction from a floating Clam-type wave energy converter is investigated. The device is mainly composed of a Clam, which is formed from two pieces of floating flaps hinged at a submerged body. The Clam is closed by a flexible impermeable bag with the two hinged floating flaps kept apart by a Power Take-Off system. As waves propagate through the device, the Clam motion of the device is excited, which can be used to drive the Power Take-Off system to capture wave power. To evaluate the response and also the wave power absorption of the device, …

Anti-Capsular Activity Of Cuo Nanoparticles Against Acinetobacter Baumannii Produce Efflux Pump, Israa M.S. Al-Kadmy, Sarah Naji Aziz, Ahmed Mahdi Rheima, Suhad Abbas Abid, Ahmed Suhail, Israa Hussein Hamzah, Eman N. Naji, Alexandros Besinis, Helal F. Hetta

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Copper oxide nanoparticles are modern kinds of antimicrobials, which may get a lot of interest in the clinical application. This study aimed to detect the anti-capsular activity of CuO nanoparticles against Acinetobacter baumannii produce efflux pump. Thirty-four different clinical A. baumannii isolates were collected and identified by the phenotypic and genetic methods by the recA gene as housekeeping. Antibiotic sensitivity and biofilm-forming ability, capsular formation were carried out. The effect of CuO nanoparticles on capsular isolates was detected, the synergistic effects of a combination CuO nanoparticles and gentamicin against A. baumannii were determined by micro broth checkerboard method, and the …

Evolution Of Floating Offshore Wind Platforms: A Review Of At-Sea Devices, Emma C. Edwards, Anna Holcombe, Scott Brown, Edward Ransley, Martyn Hann, Deborah Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Using floating platforms to support offshore wind turbines will be necessary for many countries to reach their Net-Zero targets, since much of the wind resource is located at water depths at which fixed offshore wind turbines are uneconomic or technologically unfeasible. However, floating platforms for wind turbines are still at an early stage of development, and there are a wide range of platform designs. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art of floating offshore wind turbine platform designs which currently have or have previously had a prototype, demonstration, or farm scale project at sea. The most common design goals for the …

Whole-Life Modelling Of Anchor Capacity For Floating Systems: The Rsn Csi Approach, K. A. Kwa, D. J. White, T. Tosdevin, S. Jin, D. Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Successive episodes of cyclic loading cause the strength of soft soils to reduce, through pore pressure build-up, and then recover, through consolidation, as shown by model testing, field studies and theoretical considerations. These ‘whole-life’ changes in soil strength affect the capacity of anchoring systems for offshore infrastructure such as floating turbines or platforms. This paper introduces a new macro-model for assessing the through-life changes in seabed strength and anchor capacity as a result of variable cyclic loading and concurrent consolidation. The model combines SN curves for damage accumulation with a critical state soil mechanics framework for changes in soil strength …

Principles Of Financial Accounting, Steelman Library, Natasha Ware

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Detailed Analysis Of The Tev Γ-Ray Sources 3hwc J1928+178, 3hwc J1930+188, And The New Source Hawc J1932+192, A. Albert, R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J. C. Arteaga-Velázquez, D. Avila Rojas, H. A.Ayala Solares, R. Babu, D. Huang, P. Hüntemeyer, R. Turner, X. Wang, Et Al.

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The latest High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) point-like source catalog up to 56 TeV reported the detection of two sources in the region of the Galactic plane at galactic longitude 52° < ℓ < 55°, 3HWC J1930+188 and 3HWC J1928+178. The first one is associated with a known TeV source, the supernova remnant SNR G054.1+00.3. It was discovered by one of the currently operating Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT), the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS), detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S), and identified as a composite SNR. However, the source 3HWC J1928+178, discovered by HAWC and coincident with the pulsar PSR J1928+1746, was not detected by any IACT despite their long exposure on the region, until a recent new analysis of H.E.S.S. data was able to confirm it. Moreover, no X-ray counterpart has been detected from this pulsar. We present a multicomponent fit of this region using the latest HAWC data. This reveals an additional new source, HAWC J1932+192, which is potentially associated with the pulsar PSR J1932+1916, whose γ-ray emission could come from the acceleration of particles in its pulsar wind nebula. In the case of 3HWC J1928+178, several possible explanations are explored, in an attempt to unveil the origins of the very-high-energy γ-ray emission.

Single-Leg Cycling To Maintain And Improve Function In Healthy And Clinical Populations, C. Eric Heidorn, Steve Elmer, Kyle W. Wehmanen, James C. Martin, John Mcdaniel

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Exercise with reduced muscle mass facilitates greater muscle-specific adaptations than training with larger muscle mass. The smaller active muscle mass can demand a greater portion of cardiac output which allows muscle(s) to perform greater work and subsequently elicit robust physiological adaptations that improve health and fitness. One reduced active muscle mass exercise that can promote greater positive physiological adaptations is single-leg cycling (SLC). Specifically, SLC confines the cycling exercise to a smaller muscle mass resulting in greater limb specific blood flow (i.e., blood flow is no longer “shared” by both legs) which allows the individual to exercise at a greater …

Accounting Information Systems, Natasha Ware

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Survey Of Parents Of Children With Intellectual Disabilities And/Or Autism Who Experience Chronic Constipation, James Rooney, Rebecca Hodge, Jade Smith, Kelly Vanstone, Richard Laugharne, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

Background: Constipation is common in children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism, but poorly researched. This study looks to understand parental knowledge, attitudes and management practices towards constipation in children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey developed with patient facing organisations was circulated to parents of children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism using an exponential and non-discriminatory snowballing method for recruitment. A smaller sample were purposively sampled for their in-depth experiences. Results: Of 68 responses, people were open to discussing constipation and knowledgeable about risk factors. In the qualitative interviews, of 15 parents, they wanted to be …

Review And Update Of The Health Of The Nation Outcome Scales For People With Learning Disabilities (Honos-Ld), Jon Painter, Nicola Adams, Barry Ingham, Michael James, Madiha Majid, Ashok Roy, Rohit Shankar, Mark Smith

Peninsula Medical School

Background: The Health of the Nation Outcomes Scales for people with Learning Disabilities (HoNOS-LD) is an 18-item measure which provides a structured and standardized approach to rating various clinical and psychosocial outcomes and has been in use nationally since 2002. Aims: To revise and improve the HoNOS-LD’s utility in contemporary intellectual disability (ID) services whilst retaining its original objectives and five-point severity ratings. Method: ID clinicians were invited to complete an online survey, rating each item on the existing measure for being fit for purpose, identifying issues and suggesting improvements based on their experience of using the HoNOS-LD in practice. …

Oral Microbes And The Formation Of Cerebral Abscesses: A Single-Centre Retrospective Study, Raul Bescos, Holly Roy, Ewen Mccoll, Umar Rehman, Elizabeth Cray, Louise A. Belfield, King David Nweze, Kevin Tsang, William Singleton, Peter Whitfield, Zoe Brookes

Peninsula Medical School

Objective: Intracranial abscesses are relatively uncommon, but can result in significant mortality and morbidity. Whilst many potential causes of brain abscesses are recognised, in many cases the origin of infection remains clinically unidentified. Our objective was to investigate the role of bacteria found in the oral cavity in the development of brain abscesses. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using data from 87 patients admitted to a single UK neurosurgical unit with brain abscesses over a 16-year period. Using microbiological data obtained from abscess sampling and peripheral cultures, species of bacteria were categorised in patients where no primary source of …

Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Hospitalisation And Death Of People In Clinical Risk Groups During The Delta Variant Period: English Primary Care Network Cohort Study, Heather J. Whitaker, Ruby S.M. Tsang, Rachel Byford, Carole Aspden, Elizabeth Button, Praveen Sebastian Pillai, Gavin Jamie, Debasish Kar, John Williams, Mary Sinnathamby, Gemma Marsden, William H. Elson, Meredith Leston, Sneha Anand, Cecilia Okusi, Xuejuan Fan, Ezra Linley, Cathy Rowe, Silvia Darcangelo, Ashley D. Otter, Joanna Ellis, F.D. Richard Hobbs, Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, Maria Zambon, Mary Ramsay, Kevin E. Brown, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Nick J. Andrews, Simon De Lusignan, Jamie Lopez Bernal

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Novel Compact Magnetless Isolator Based On A Magneto-Optical Garnet Material, Gianni Portela, Miguel Levy, Hugo E. Hernandez-Figueroa

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

A compact magnetless isolator for optical communication systems based on a ring resonator with an outer layer made of silicon and an inner layer made of a magneto-optical material that does not require an external magnet to keep its magnetization saturated is suggested. Three-dimensional computational simulations of the device performed with the full-wave electromagnetic solver COMSOL Multiphysics show that the insertion loss and isolation levels are about −1.9 dB and −23 dB, respectively, thus confirming the feasibility of the isolator. An analytical model of the device based on the temporal coupled-mode theory method has been formulated and there is a …

Restoring Human And More-Than-Human Relations In Toxic Riskscapes: “In Perpetuity” Within Lake Superior’S Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Sand Point, Valoree Gagnon, Evelyn H. Ravindran

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay is the ancestral and contemporary homeland of the Anishinaabe Ojibwa and their relatives. It is also a toxic riskscape: Its waters, shorelines, and fish beings are polluted by an unknown tonnage of legacy mining waste rock called “stamp sands,” which contain unsafe levels of toxic compounds. This paper describes Ojibwa stewardship principles and reciprocal obligations, illustrating First Treaty With Gichi-Manitou practices of restoring relations within a toxic riskscape. Defined here, riskscapes are places and spaces where pollution/toxicity relations are continually reconfigured in literal, symbolic, and systemic ways. We share a story from Keweenaw Bay’s Sand Point …

Size Distribution, Elemental Composition And Morphology Of Nanoparticles Separated From Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Shoeleh Assemi, Lei Pan, Xuming Wang, Titilayo Akinseye, Jan D. Miller

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Nanoparticles, defined as particles with one dimension below 100 nm, contribute little to the total mass concentration in respirable coal mine dust (RCMD) toxicological studies, but they could have a considerable part in the adverse health effects by RCMD inhalation. It has been shown that inhaled nanoparticles can penetrate deep into the lung and could plausibly contribute to acute and chronic pulmonary diseases by triggering oxidative stress formation and inducing inflammation. RCMD nanoparticles from samples collected in an underground mine in the United States were analyzed by a particle separation technique, field-flow fractionation (FFF), for size, morphology, and elemental composition. …

Probing The Influence Of Surface Chemical Functionalization On Graphene Nanoplatelets-Epoxy Interfacial Shear Strength Using Molecular Dynamics, Hashim Al Muhmud, Sagar U. Patil, Matthew S. Radue, Gregory M. Odegard

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

In this work, a characterization study of the interfacial interaction between different types of graphene nanoplatelets and an epoxy matrix is computationally performed. To quantify the discrete mutual graphene–epoxy “interfacial interaction energy” (IIE) within the nanocomposite, molecular dynamics simulations with a reactive force field are performed on a localized model of the suggested nanocomposite. Pull-out molecular dynamics simulations are also performed to predict the interfacial shear strength between the two constituents. The results indicate a significant increase in interfacial adhesion of functionalized nanoplatelets with the hosting epoxy matrix relative to virgin graphene nanoplatelets. The obtained results also demonstrate a dramatic …