Direct measurement of the spectral transfer function of a laser based anemometer

The effect of a continuous-wave (cw) laser based anemometer's probe volume on the measurement of wind turbulence is studied in this paper. Wind speed time series acquired by both a remote sensing cw laser anemometer, whose line-of-sight was aligned with the wind direction, and by a reference sensor (sonic anemometer) located in the same direction, were used. The spectral transfer function, which describes the attenuation of the power spectral density of the wind speed turbulence, was calculated and found to be in good agreement with the theoretical exponential function, which is based on the properties of the probe volume of a focused Gaussian laser beam. Parameters such as fluctuations of the wind direction, as well as the overestimation of the laser Doppler spectrum threshold, were found to affect the calculation of the spectral transfer function by introducing high frequency noise.     

Development of advanced technology for biomass combustion—CFD as an essential tool

Major advances have been made in the development of bagasse combustion technologies and understanding the many processes involved in bagasse combustion and steam generation. CFD modeling has come to form an integral and critical part of this progression. The experience with CFD in the sugar industry through Sugar Research Institute has encompassed the full range of applications from fundamental code development, through the generation and commercialization of new ideas and technologies, to the resolution of practical plant problems. The paper summarises the numerous applications where SRI has achieved successful results utilizing CFD. It is demonstrated that the full benefits of CFD in the delivery of commercial outcomes, for new technologies and the solution of operating plant problems, are achieved through the close interaction between the code development and validation via full scale plant simulation. This two-way interaction enhances the code fundamentals by focusing on practical issues and similarly increases the confidence in the capabilities and accuracy of the CFD predictions, to an extent that justifies firm engineering decisions on commercial plant based solely on the characteristics predicted by the code.     

Veteran interest in family involvement in PTSD treatment.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 7(3) of Psychological Services (see record 2010-17074-004). The copyright for the article was listed incorrectly. This article is in the Public Domain. The online version has been corrected.] The present study examined interest in family involvement in treatment and preferences concerning the focus of family oriented treatment for veterans (N = 114) participating in an outpatient Veterans Affairs outpatient posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) program. Most veterans viewed PTSD as a source of family stress (86%) and expressed interest in greater family involvement in their treatment (79%). These results suggest the need to consider increasing family participation in the clinical care of individuals with PTSD and to develop specialized family educational and support services for this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

‘A or B’ to ‘A and B’

nal responses to such situations predominantly involve trade–off and compromise. This either/or thinking style almost invariably leads to lose–lose outcomes. This in turn despite the inordinate amount of literature and methodology available for ‘optimising’ those outcomes. Highly fashionable talk of ‘third ways’ or ‘win–win’ or ‘A and B’ solutions are an emerging counter to such thinking. Unfortunately, the literature–base for such approaches is largely non–existent, and hence win–win remains as precisely fashionable talk to most observers. This paper discusses the positive role TRIZ may be expected to play in beginning the task of turning win–win from nice idea to practical reality. Mass–customization is used as an exemplar contradiction problem.     

Determination of beam parameters and coherence properties of laser radiation by use of an extended Hartmann-Shack wave-front sensor

A combination of a Hartmann-Shack sensor and a standard far-field measurement on one single detector is proposed. The technique is fast and operates without movable parts, thus permitting a compact design. It is not only suited for characterization of the wave-front distribution but may also be considered for determination of the important parameters of beam width, beam divergence, and beam propagation ratio M2 of partially coherent laser beams. First results indicate that a fairly thorough beam characterization, including spatial coherence, propagation characteristics, and beam quality, can be achieved with this method.     

A parallel viscous flow solver on multi-block overset grids

A multi-block overset grid method is presented to accurately simulate viscous flows around complex configurations. A combination of multi-block and overlapping grids is used to discretize the flow domain. A hierarchical grid system with layers of grids of varying resolution is developed to ensure inter-grid connectivity within a framework suitable for multi-grid and parallel computations. At each stage of the numerical computation, information is exchanged between neighboring blocks across either or both matched block boundaries and overlapping boundaries. Coarse-grain parallel processing is facilitated by the multi-block system. Numerical results of flows over multi-element airfoils and three-dimensional turbulent flows around wing–body aerodynamic configurations demonstrate the utility and efficiency of the method.