Review of offshore cable reliability metrics

Reliable cable systems are essential for offshore wind operation. Industry trends have led to a large number of offshore cable connections being installed recently, with 11027 MW of offshore wind connected at the end of 2015 compared to just 2955 MW in 2010 [1]. Despite the increase in connections, the publically available reliability data in this area is almost non-existent. With several connections in planning of both similar and increasing lengths it is essential to better understand these metrics. A review of published reliability data was undertaken in order to populate a database which is presented in this paper. This data focusses on a number of connection types including both AC and DC connections across a number of cable ratings and configurations. From this database it is confirmed that reliability figures currently being used across the literature generally conform to those currently being experienced in the offshore wind industry. However it is established that failure rates taken from some reports are not accurate as the technology and environments these are calculated from are typically different from those used in offshore wind farm connections. This information is collated and converted into reliability metrics in order for comparisons to be made. Analysis of the cost of an outage experienced by a windfarm is also carried out in this paper. The results of which establish that the revenue lost from a cable failure could potentially be substantial. The findings in this paper would also suggest a greater risk of failure in the early life of a windfarm and as such a greater potential cost associated with this risk. It is important to have a better understanding of offshore renewable energy cable connections as the reliability of a cable has a significant impact on the Levelised Cost of Energy. With a greater understanding of the metrics investors can make more informed decisions with respect to the technology that is installed as well as the importance of the installation process itself, due diligence on subsequent OFTO asset purchases and the maintenance plans that have been outlined for the connection

The life history of a knowledge support system: emerging a change process for knowledge rich organisations

This case study traces the life history through several transformations of software used by knowledge workers in a global professional practice. The target application provides a globally operating major firm with knowledge management support for legal practitioners and provides data to support managing its relationships with clients. The research constitutes a careful longitudinal reflection using the processes and techniques of Action Research and Grounded Theory. An information systems change management process is promulgated. The change process that was emerged is richer than existing change management processes with which it is compared. It is suggested that this enhanced change process may be useful particularly in organisations of knowledge rich practitioners

Dynamical Belyi maps

We study the dynamical properties of a large class of rational maps with exactly three ramification points. By constructing families of such maps, we obtain infinitely many conservative maps of degree $d$; this answers a question of Silverman. Rather precise results on the reduction of these maps yield strong information on the rational dynamics.Comment: 21 page

Neutralizing Antibody Responses to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in Primary Infection and Long-Term-Nonprogressive Infection

The role of neutralizing antibodies in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is poorly understood and was assessed by evaluating responses at different stages of infection. Undiluted sera from long-term nonprogressors (LTNP) had broad neutralizing antibodies against heterologous primary isolates and were more likely to neutralize the contemporaneous autologous isolate than were sera from short-term nonprogressors and progressors. In primary infection, envelopespecific IgG was detected before the initial decline in plasma viremia, but neutralizing antibodies developed more slowly. Here, neutralizing antibodies against strains SF-2 and MN were sometimes the first to be detected, but titers were low for at least 17 weeks from onset of symptoms. Neutralizing antibodies against the early autologous isolate were detected for 4 patients by 5-40 weeks but were undetectable in 2 additional patients for 27-45 weeks. The results indicate that neutralizing antibody responses are slow to develop during primary infection and are uniquely broad in LTN

The Life History of a Knowledge Support System: Emerging a Change Process for Knowledge Rich Organisations

This case study traces the life history through several transformations of software used by knowledge workers in a global professional practice. The target application provides a globally operating major firm with knowledge management support for legal practitioners and provides data to support managing its relationships with clients. The research constitutes a careful longitudinal reflection using the processes and techniques of Action Research and Grounded Theory. An information systems change management process is promulgated

Do antidepressants cure or create abnormal brain states?

Moncrieff and Cohen argue that psychotropic drugs create abnormal states that may co-incidentally relieve symptoms of mental illness

Living with Health Inequalities

This book explores how people encounter, understand, live with and respond to health risks associated with social, economic and political inequality. Complementing a traditional public health approach, the book moves beyond a focus on categories of morbidity and their structural causes. Instead, it focuses on everyday understandings and actions for people living in unequal social conditions. Making use of a variety of case studies related to physical and mental health, the authors emphasise interpersonal relationships, biographical meanings and the daily tactics of ‘getting by’. These are recurrently linked to the social-structural aspects of particular times and places. The book: Draws upon, applies and extends the biopsychosocial approach, which is well known to students of public health. Respects and gives due weight to the experience in context of people who live with health inequalities, in domestic and local settings. Explores notions of personal agency and the contingencies of everyday life, in order to offer a focused psycho-social compliment to a public health tradition dominated by top-down reasoning. This is an important read for all those seeking to understand the complexities of health inequalities holistically in their studies, research and practice. The book brings together thinking in the fields of public health, sociology, mental health and social policy. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license