Search

Background and aim: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the degree of glycaemic control and the frequency of diabetic complications in Italian people with diabetes who were treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Methods and results: Questionnaires investigating the organisation of diabetes care centres, individuals’ clinical and metabolic features and pump technology and its management were sent to adult and paediatric diabetes centres that use CSII for treatment in Italy. Information on standard clinical variables, demographic data and acute and chronic diabetic complications was derived from local clinical management systems. The sample consisted of 6623 people with diabetes, which was obtained from 93 centres. Of them, 98.8% had type 1 diabetes mellitus, 57.2% were female, 64% used a conventional insulin pump and 36% used a sensor-augmented insulin pump. The median glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level was 60 mmol/mol (7.6%). The HbA1c target (i.e. <58 mmol/mol for age <18 years and [removed]18 years) was achieved in 43.4% of paediatric and 23% of adult participants. Factors such as advanced pump functions, higher rate of sensor use, pregnancy in the year before the study and longer duration of diabetes were associated with lower HbA1c levels. The most common chronic complications occurring in diabetes were retinopathy, microalbuminuria and hypertension. In the year before the study, 5% of participants reported ≥1 episode of severe hypoglycaemic (SH) episodes (SH) and 2.6% reported ≥1 episode of ketoacidosis. Conclusions: Advanced personal skills and use of sensor-based pump are associated with better metabolic control outcomes in Italian people with diabetes who were treated with CSII. The reduction in SH episodes confirms the positive effect of CSII on hypoglycaemia. Clinical trial registration number: NCT 02620917 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Des mesures météorologiques et de la teneur en eau dans le sol à 8 profondeurs différentes ont été réalisées pendant une année dans 2 parcelles situées au fond de 2 ravins à 130 m de distance, l’un est aménagé en Jessour et l’autre est sans Jessour, en vue de quantifier les impacts de ces aménagements hydro-agricoles sur le bilan hydrique. Ces mesures ont montré que seuls 3 épisodes pluvieux majeurs (> 20 mm) ont entraîné une hausse significative de la teneur en eau dans le sol jusqu’à au moins 125 cm de profondeur. Pour ces 3 épisodes, cette hausse a été rapide et importante jusqu’à 125 cm dans la parcelle aménagée en Jesr, alors qu’une hausse semblable n’a été mesurée que pour un bref épisode pluvieux en août 2018 dans la parcelle sans Jesr. Pour les deux autres épisodes pluvieux plus longs survenus en novembre et décembre 2017, la hausse de la teneur en eau dans le sol a été nettement plus lente et modeste dans la parcelle sans Jesr au-delà d’une profondeur de 35 cm. Les Jessour semblent avoir des effets différents sur le bilan hydrique dans les sols selon les saisons.

Les 11 et 12 novembre 2017, le sud-est tunisien a connu un événement pluviométrique intense. Les quantités tombées ont, dans plusieurs cas, atteint le total annuel. L'analyse climatique de l'événement démontre le rôle de la circulation azonale de secteur est, source des importantes pluies qui touchent la Tunisie orientale en général, associée à une circulation méridienne de secteur nord. Malgré des intensités horaires des averses faibles à modérées, les importantes quantités de pluies ont eu des effets considérables sur le système hydraulique des Jessour. Dans la région de Zammour, sur le plateau du Dahar, 85 % de ces ouvrages hydro-agricoles observés ont été affectés par ces pluies et 34 % sont devenus non fonctionnels suite à une destruction importante qui a touché une ou plusieurs de leurs composantes.

Les régions touristiques de montagne peuvent vivrent des épisodes de pénurie en eau sur des temps très courts (d’un jour à une semaine) en raison des fortes variations de la population temporaire durant les saisons touristiques, combinées aux ressources en eau limitées des hauts bassins versants. Puisque les bilans intégrés de l’eau effectués dans la littérature font face à un manque de données pour le volet ’usages’, cette thèse a pour but d’approfondir les connaissances et les méthodes de quantifica- tion des usages de l’eau. Une clarification terminologique des termes liés aux usages de l’eau, est tout d’abord proposée, autour du concept de cycle d’usage de l’eau. Ensuite, une combinaison d’approches a été utilisée pour étudier le cas particuler des usages en territoire de montagne, où les demandes en eau sont très variables en temps (influence de l’occupation touristique sur les usages de l’eau potable, saisonnalités propres à l’irrigation) et en espace (occupation du sol en fonction de l’altitude, topogra- phie, densités d’habitat). D’une part, des approches quantitatives sont menées, avec une campagne de monitoring des usages de l’eau potable et de l’irrigation dans les communes de Montana (Valais) et Megève (Haute-Savoie), via l’installation de compteurs d’eau, dataloggers et débitmètres. Ce monito- ring a permis d’obtenir des observations des usages à haute résolution temporelle et spatiale. D’autre part, des approches qualitatives (observation directe sur le terrain et entretiens avec les acteurs usa- gers de l’eau) ont permis d’approfondir les connaissances sur les pratiques d’usages et en particulier les déterminants de la demande en eau d’irrigation. Des outils ont été developpés pour structurer les données d’usage récoltées : le bassin d’usage cartographie leur répartition spatiale, le régime d’usage for- malise leurs dynamiques temporelles via des séries de données standardisées et la densité d’usage décrit leur intensité par rapport à leur emprise au

Förr i tiden, ångturbiner har främst använts för baskraft operation. Numera med den ökade utvecklingen av varierande förnyelsbara är samma ångturbiner motstå högre cykliska operativa system med mer frekvent uppstarter och snabbt föränderliga laster. Som sådan, förbättra den operativa flexibiliteten hos installerade och framtida utformad ångturbiner är en viktig aspekt för att övervägas av utrustning. Ångturbin uppstart är en intressant fas eftersom anses vara den mest intrikata av transienter. Under denna fas kan maskinen potentiellt utsättas för omåttlig termiska spänningar och axiella gnugga på grund av differentiell termisk expansion. Dessa två termiska fenomen antingen konsumera komponent livstid eller kan leda till maskinhaveri om inte kontrolleras noggrant. Som sådan, det finns en balans som skall beaktas mellan ökande turbin uppstart hastighet samtidigt som säker drift och livslängd bevarande av dessa maskiner. För att förbättra den transienta operationer av ångturbiner, blir det viktigt att undersöka deras termiska beteende under uppstarter. För att göra detta, är det viktigt att ha verktyg som kan förutäga den termiska responsen hos maskinen. I denna avhandling fungerar effekterna av olika aspekter och randvillkor om resultaten av ST3M, en KTH internt verktyg, undersöktes med syfte att förstå hur stor blev deras inverkan på sättet att fånga den termiska beteendet hos turbinen i termer av metalltemperatur och differentiell expansion. En industriell högtrycksturbinen validerades mot uppmätta data och genomförs på en känslighetsanalys; denna analys visade att den geometriska approximation införa fel i resultaten, att användningen av empiriska Nusselt korrelationer ge liknande resultat som den validerade modellen och att håligheten antaganden har en stor inverkan på utvecklingen av expansionsskillnaden. Slutligen har en strategi för att validera någon annan liknande turbin till en av studien fallet föreslås för att ge en vägledning för framtida arbeten i hur at, In the past, steam turbines were mostly used for base load operation. Nowadays, with the increased development of variable renewable technologies, these same steam turbines are withstanding higher cyclic operational regimes with more frequent start-ups and fast changing loads. As such, improving the operational flexibility of installed and future designed steam turbines is a key aspect to be considered by equipment manufacturers. Steam turbine start-up is a phase of particular interest since is considered to be the most intricate of transient operations. During this phase, the machine can potentially be subjected to excessive thermal stresses and axial rubbing due to differential thermal expansion. These two thermal phenomena either consume component lifetime or can lead to machine failure if not carefully controlled. As such, there is a balance to be considered between increasing turbine start-up speed while ensuring the safe operation and life preservation of these machines. In order to improve the transient operation of steam turbines, it becomes important to examine their thermal behavior during start-up operation. To do that, it is important to have tools able to predict the thermal response of the machine. In this thesis work the impact of different aspects and boundary conditions on the results of ST3M, a KTH in-house tool, were investigated with the aim of understanding how large was their impact on the way to capture the thermal behavior of the turbine in terms of metal temperature and differential expansion. A small industrial high pressure turbine was validated against measured data and implemented on a sensitivity study; this analysis showed that the geometrical approximation introduce errors in the results, that the use of empirical Nusselt correlations give similar results to the validated model and that the cavity assumptions have a large impact on the trend of the differential expansion. Lastly, a strategy to validate any other similar turbine to the

In the past, steam turbines were mostly used for base load operation. Nowadays, with the increased development of variable renewable technologies, these same steam turbines are withstanding higher cyclic operational regimes with more frequent start-ups and fast changing loads. As such, improving the operational flexibility of installed and future designed steam turbines is a key aspect to be considered by equipment manufacturers. Steam turbine start-up is a phase of particular interest since is considered to be the most intricate of transient operations. During this phase, the machine can potentially be subjected to excessive thermal stresses and axial rubbing due to differential thermal expansion. These two thermal phenomena either consume component lifetime or can lead to machine failure if not carefully controlled. As such, there is a balance to be considered between increasing turbine start-up speed while ensuring the safe operation and life preservation of these machines. In order to improve the transient operation of steam turbines, it becomes important to examine their thermal behavior during start-up operation. To do that, it is important to have tools able to predict the thermal response of the machine. In this thesis work the impact of different aspects and boundary conditions on the results of ST3M, a KTH in-house tool, were investigated with the aim of understanding how large was their impact on the way to capture the thermal behavior of the turbine in terms of metal temperature and differential expansion. A small industrial high pressure turbine was validated against measured data and implemented on a sensitivity study; this analysis showed that the geometrical approximation introduce errors in the results, that the use of empirical Nusselt correlations give similar results to the validated model and that the cavity assumptions have a large impact on the trend of the differential expansion. Lastly, a strategy to validate any other similar turbine to the

Förr i tiden, ångturbiner har främst använts för baskraft operation. Numera med den ökade utvecklingen av varierande förnyelsbara är samma ångturbiner motstå högre cykliska operativa system med mer frekvent uppstarter och snabbt föränderliga laster. Som sådan, förbättra den operativa flexibiliteten hos installerade och framtida utformad ångturbiner är en viktig aspekt för att övervägas av utrustning. Ångturbin uppstart är en intressant fas eftersom anses vara den mest intrikata av transienter. Under denna fas kan maskinen potentiellt utsättas för omåttlig termiska spänningar och axiella gnugga på grund av differentiell termisk expansion. Dessa två termiska fenomen antingen konsumera komponent livstid eller kan leda till maskinhaveri om inte kontrolleras noggrant. Som sådan, det finns en balans som skall beaktas mellan ökande turbin uppstart hastighet samtidigt som säker drift och livslängd bevarande av dessa maskiner. För att förbättra den transienta operationer av ångturbiner, blir det viktigt att undersöka deras termiska beteende under uppstarter. För att göra detta, är det viktigt att ha verktyg som kan förutäga den termiska responsen hos maskinen. I denna avhandling fungerar effekterna av olika aspekter och randvillkor om resultaten av ST3M, en KTH internt verktyg, undersöktes med syfte att förstå hur stor blev deras inverkan på sättet att fånga den termiska beteendet hos turbinen i termer av metalltemperatur och differentiell expansion. En industriell högtrycksturbinen validerades mot uppmätta data och genomförs på en känslighetsanalys; denna analys visade att den geometriska approximation införa fel i resultaten, att användningen av empiriska Nusselt korrelationer ge liknande resultat som den validerade modellen och att håligheten antaganden har en stor inverkan på utvecklingen av expansionsskillnaden. Slutligen har en strategi för att validera någon annan liknande turbin till en av studien fallet föreslås för att ge en vägledning för framtida arbeten i hur at, In the past, steam turbines were mostly used for base load operation. Nowadays, with the increased development of variable renewable technologies, these same steam turbines are withstanding higher cyclic operational regimes with more frequent start-ups and fast changing loads. As such, improving the operational flexibility of installed and future designed steam turbines is a key aspect to be considered by equipment manufacturers. Steam turbine start-up is a phase of particular interest since is considered to be the most intricate of transient operations. During this phase, the machine can potentially be subjected to excessive thermal stresses and axial rubbing due to differential thermal expansion. These two thermal phenomena either consume component lifetime or can lead to machine failure if not carefully controlled. As such, there is a balance to be considered between increasing turbine start-up speed while ensuring the safe operation and life preservation of these machines. In order to improve the transient operation of steam turbines, it becomes important to examine their thermal behavior during start-up operation. To do that, it is important to have tools able to predict the thermal response of the machine. In this thesis work the impact of different aspects and boundary conditions on the results of ST3M, a KTH in-house tool, were investigated with the aim of understanding how large was their impact on the way to capture the thermal behavior of the turbine in terms of metal temperature and differential expansion. A small industrial high pressure turbine was validated against measured data and implemented on a sensitivity study; this analysis showed that the geometrical approximation introduce errors in the results, that the use of empirical Nusselt correlations give similar results to the validated model and that the cavity assumptions have a large impact on the trend of the differential expansion. Lastly, a strategy to validate any other similar turbine to the

In the past, steam turbines were mostly used for base load operation. Nowadays, with the increased development of variable renewable technologies, these same steam turbines are withstanding higher cyclic operational regimes with more frequent start-ups and fast changing loads. As such, improving the operational flexibility of installed and future designed steam turbines is a key aspect to be considered by equipment manufacturers. Steam turbine start-up is a phase of particular interest since is considered to be the most intricate of transient operations. During this phase, the machine can potentially be subjected to excessive thermal stresses and axial rubbing due to differential thermal expansion. These two thermal phenomena either consume component lifetime or can lead to machine failure if not carefully controlled. As such, there is a balance to be considered between increasing turbine start-up speed while ensuring the safe operation and life preservation of these machines. In order to improve the transient operation of steam turbines, it becomes important to examine their thermal behavior during start-up operation. To do that, it is important to have tools able to predict the thermal response of the machine. In this thesis work the impact of different aspects and boundary conditions on the results of ST3M, a KTH in-house tool, were investigated with the aim of understanding how large was their impact on the way to capture the thermal behavior of the turbine in terms of metal temperature and differential expansion. A small industrial high pressure turbine was validated against measured data and implemented on a sensitivity study; this analysis showed that the geometrical approximation introduce errors in the results, that the use of empirical Nusselt correlations give similar results to the validated model and that the cavity assumptions have a large impact on the trend of the differential expansion. Lastly, a strategy to validate any other similar turbine to the

Malgré un bilan hydrique largement déficitaire dans le Sud-Est tunisien à climat aride, l'Homme a pu pratiquer l'agriculture en développant la technique des Jessour. Cette technique est confrontée aujourd'hui au risque d'abandon suite aux changements socio-économiques qu'a connus cette région au cours des cinq dernières décennies. Cet article fait le point de l'intérêt hydro-agricole des Jessour et présente les grandes lignes d'une recherche visant à évaluer le bilan hydrique de parcelles utilisant cette technique. Le but est de participer à la conservation de ce savoir-faire ancestral et d'optimiser son utilisation.

This patent discloses a low-cost square-shaped parachute with trapezoidal panels attached to its canopy sides for controlling the air flow during operation to maximize drag and stability., Supersedes PAT-APPL-518 619-90, AD-D014 946.

A low cost, high stability, high drag aerodynamic decelerator incorporating four slots in a square canopy. Each slot is 4/10 the length of the side of the square and is positioned so that a continuous line colinear with it bisects two adjacent sides of the canopy. The slots are further located so that each diagonal of the canopy bisects two of them. Suspension lines are fixed to and extend from the diagonals of the canopy, crossing the slots and keeping them essentially closed at their midpoints. Keywords: Patent applications, Aerodynamic stability, Aerodynamic drag, Parachute canopies. (SDW)

Air drop and wind tunnel tests were conducted to verify the stability of sonobuoys with decelerators limited to a total length of three feet. This limitation was established for safety reasons. The existing decelerator systems are configured to a length of 5 to 12 feet, with cross-type canopies varying in area from 1.5 to 3.5 square feet. Sonobuoys are blunt nose right circular cylinders, 4-7/8 inches in diameter, 36 inches long ranging in weight from 12 to 39 pounds. Testing established that suitable stability could be achieved using a three-foot long decelerator. Drag coefficient, opening load, high altitude air descent time and stability data were also determined for three-foot long decelerators. (Author)