In COPD patients, MVV better reflects the physical activity level in daily life than FEV(1) and IC.

Austrian patients with COPD showed a significantly lower daily physical activity level in comparison to matched Brazilian patients. Socio-economic and ethnic factors appear to influence stable COPD patients differently than described in previous studies including healthy subjects.

This study examines the importance of routinized practices for the self Alzheimer's disease victims are observed in their daily lives. The deterioration of self is discussed, followed by a discussion of routinized actions and normalization practices by caregivers that allow the patients to be seen as competent selves. Finally, the last remnants of the self in Alzhiemer's patients are discussed. The authors conclude that when the individual self undergoes an “unbecoming” process, due to the mental deterioration caused by the disease, it is largely social practices that allow the self to continue to exist in the eyes of others.

Supersonic coherent gas jets are now used widely in electric arc furnace steelmaking and many other industrial applications to increase the gas-liquid mixing, reaction rates, and energy efficiency of the process. However, there has been limited research on the basic physics of supersonic coherent jets. In the present study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the supersonic jet with and without a shrouding flame at room ambient temperature was carried out and validated against experimental data. The numerical results show that the potential core length of the supersonic oxygen and nitrogen jet with shrouding flame is more than four times and three times longer, respectively, than that without flame shrouding, which is in good agreement with the experimental data. The spreading rate of the supersonic jet decreased dramatically with the use of the shrouding flame compared with a conventional supersonic jet. The present CFD model was used to investigate the characteristics of the supersonic coherent oxygen jet at steelmaking conditions of around 1700 K (1427°C). The potential core length of the supersonic coherent oxygen jet at steelmaking conditions was 1.4 times longer than that at room ambient temperature.

Everyday life sociology comprises a broad spectrum of micro perspectives: symbolic interactionism, dramaturgy, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and existential sociology. We discuss the underlying themes that bind these diverse subfields into a unified approach to the study of social interaction. We outline the historical development of everyday life sociology, indicating the individuals, ideas, and surrounding context that helped to shape this evolving theoretical movement. We then examine three contemporary developments in everyday life sociology that represent significant theoretical, substantive, and methodological advances: existential sociology, the sociology of emotions, and conversation analysis. Within these areas, we outline major themes, review recent literature, and evaluate their contribution to sociology. Everyday life sociology has had influence outside its arena, stimulating grand theorists to create various micro-macro syntheses. We consider these and their relation to the everyday life themes. We conclude by discussing the major critiques and assess the future promise and problems of this perspective.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the liquid flow field and surface deformation caused by an impinging shrouded supersonic jet on a liquid bath from the top as used in oxygen steelmaking. Two different computational domains were used to avoid the difficulties that arise from the simultaneous solution of compressible gas phase and incompressible liquid phase. The results were validated against the experimental data and the reasons for any deviation were described accordingly. The effect of shrouding gas flow rates on the axial jet velocity distribution, depth of penetration and velocity distribution of liquid phase were investigated. A high shrouding gas flow rate was found to increase the depth of penetration and liquid free surface velocity which in turn contributes in reducing the mixing time. The mechanism of droplets generation was investigated in detail. The CFD model successfully predicted the formation of surface waves inside the cavity and consequent liquid fingers from the edge of the cavity which were experimentally observed by the previous researchers.1,2) It was shown that the Blowing number theory (NB) fails to predict the droplet generation rate if the cavity operates in the deep penetrating mode. The possible reasons behind this limitation have been discussed using the Blowing number equation and CFD results. Finally, the cavity surface area was found to be the most influencing factor in the generation of droplets.

In Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking, liquid metal splashes on the furnace wall due to the impingement of high speed oxygen jet on molten metal surface. The splashed metal droplets cause wear of furnace wall and loss of production. Optimization of the operating condition (lance angle, lance height and flow rate) may reduce splashing and increase productivity. In the present study, the effect of different operating conditions on the wall splashing rate was investigated. Air was injected on water surface in a small-scale thin slice model at different lance angles, lance heights and flow rates. Splashed liquid in the forward direction was collected and measured in each case. The forward splashing rate was found to increase with the increase of lance angle from the vertical and flow rate. The critical depth of penetration as well as the impact velocity for the onset of splashing was found to decreases with the increase of lance angle from the vertical. The effect of lance angle on the dimensionless Blowing number (NB), which is a measure of droplet generation rate, was quantified. A new approach has been proposed for modelling the gas jet impinging phenomenon inside the real furnace using room temperature water model.

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