356 research outputs found

    A high-order nonconservative approach for hyperbolic equations in fluid dynamics

    Full text link
    It is well known, thanks to Lax-Wendroff theorem, that the local conservation of a numerical scheme for a conservative hyperbolic system is a simple and systematic way to guarantee that, if stable, a scheme will provide a sequence of solutions that will converge to a weak solution of the continuous problem. In [1], it is shown that a nonconservative scheme will not provide a good solution. The question of using, nevertheless, a nonconservative formulation of the system and getting the correct solution has been a long-standing debate. In this paper, we show how get a relevant weak solution from a pressure-based formulation of the Euler equations of fluid mechanics. This is useful when dealing with nonlinear equations of state because it is easier to compute the internal energy from the pressure than the opposite. This makes it possible to get oscillation free solutions, contrarily to classical conservative methods. An extension to multiphase flows is also discussed, as well as a multidimensional extension

    Postgraduate medical training and migration in Europe: a survey of financial and labour conditions

    Get PDF
    Background and introduction: Resident medical training following medical school is a period of great importance in the instruction and education of young physicians, but also the first step into the labour market for doctors. Unfortunately, the long educational curricula as well as the low economic remuneration render medical training attractive only in some European countries: often low salaries accompany endless weekly working hours with a wide range of differences among the European countries. The aim of this study was to analyse the different economic conditions for resident trainees by reporting the different salaries and the weekly burden of working hours, and also comparing the different costs of living in eight European countries and in Israel. Materials and methods: A questionnaire was sent to resident medical doctors working in large university hospitals in eight European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK) and Israel, and data on the monthly salary, number of weekly working hours and general satisfaction were collected. Purchase power parity (PPP) in US dollar (USD) adjustment was calculated according to the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tables. Results: Among the different countries, working hours per week ranged from 37 to 56. The net pay report had a median value of 2,000€ per month. The net monthly wage ranged between 1,000 and 3,000€. Power purchase parity in USD-corrected salaries varied from 1,388.80 (Greece) to 5,788.30 (UK), mean 2,562.30. Conclusions: Taking into account PPP-adjusted wages, France, Greece and Italy are below the median continental values. The trend of migration of medical trainees to countries where the economic situation is more favourable seems reasonable. Because of both the high salary and the language, the UK represents the most attractive training destination

    Upwind Stabilized Finite Element Modelling of Non-hydrostatic Wave Breaking and Run-up

    Get PDF
    In the following report a new methodology is presented to model the propagation, wave breaking and run-up of waves in coastal zones. We represent the different coastal phenomena through the coupling of non-linear shallow water equations with the extended Boussinesq equations of Madsen and Sørensen. Each of the involved equations has a major role in describing a particular physical behaviour of the wave: the latter equations permit to model the propagation, while the non-linear shallow water ones lead waves to locally converge into discontinuities. We start from the third-order stabilized finite element scheme for the Boussinesq equations, developed in a previous scientific work (Ricchiuto and Filippini, J.Comput.Phys. 2014) and develop a non-linear variant, and detach the dispersive from the shallow water terms. A shock-capturing technique based on local non-linear mass lumping that permits in the shallow water regions to degrade locally the scheme to a first-order one across bores (shocks) and dry fronts is proposed. As for the detection of the breaking fronts, the shallow water areas, this involves physics based breaking criteria. We present different definitions of the breaking criterion, including a local implementation of the convective criterion of (Bjørkavåg and H. Kalisch, Phys.Letters A 2011), and the hybrid models of (Kazolea et. al, J.Comput.Phys. 2014), and (Tonelli and Petti, J.Hydr.Res. 2011). The behavior of different breaking criteria is investigated on several cases for which experimental data are available.On décrit une approche pour la simulation de la propagation et déferlement des vagues en proche cote basée sur la couplage entre les équations de Boussinesq améliorées de Madsen and Sorensen, pour la propagation, et les équations Shallow Water, pour le déferlement et le runup. La contruction de ce modele hybride passe d'abord la proposition une variante non-linéaire du schéma élément finis stabilisé de (Ricchiuto and Filippini, J.Comput.Phys. 2014) capable de résoudre les chocs de maniere monotone. Cela est obtenu par un operateur locale de condensation de la matrice de masse qui réduit le schéma de (Ricchiuto and Filippini, J.Comput.Phys. 2014) au schéma de Roe classique. Le couplage entre le modèle Boussinesq et Shallow Water est en suite étudié. On considere différents critères physiques de détection de fronts déferlants. En particulier, on présente une implémentation numérique locale du critère convectif de (Bjorkavag and H. Kalisch, Phys.Letters A, 2011), qui est comparée au critères proposés dans (Kazolea et. al, J.Comput.Phys., 2014) et (Tonelli and Petti, J.Hydr.Res. 2011). Le modèle obtenu est validé sur des nombreux benchmarks avec données expérimentales

    High-order residual distribution scheme for the time-dependent Euler equations of fluid dynamics

    Full text link
    In the present work, a high order finite element type residual distribution scheme is designed in the framework of multidimensional compressible Euler equations of gas dynamics. The strengths of the proposed approximation rely on the generic spatial discretization of the model equations using a continuous finite element type approximation technique, while avoiding the solution of a large linear system with a sparse mass matrix which would come along with any standard ODE solver in a classical finite element approach to advance the solution in time. In this work, we propose a new Residual Distribution (RD) scheme, which provides an arbitrary explicit high order approximation of the smooth solutions of the Euler equations both in space and time. The design of the scheme via the coupling of the RD formulation \cite{mario,abg} with a Deferred Correction (DeC) type method \cite{shu-dec,Minion2}, allows to have the matrix associated to the update in time, which needs to be inverted, to be diagonal. The use of Bernstein polynomials as shape functions, guarantees that this diagonal matrix is invertible and ensures strict positivity of the resulting diagonal matrix coefficients. This work is the extension of \cite{enumath,Abgrall2017} to multidimensional systems. We have assessed our method on several challenging benchmark problems for one- and two-dimensional Euler equations and the scheme has proven to be robust and to achieve the theoretically predicted high order of accuracy on smooth solutions

    Animal Models of Ischemic Stroke. Part One: Modeling Risk Factors

    Get PDF
    Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of long-term disability and death in developed and developing countries. As emerging disease, stroke related mortality and morbidity is going to step up in the next decades. This is both due to the poor identification of risk factors and persistence of unhealthy habits, as well as to the aging of the population. To counteract the estimated increase in stroke incidence, it is of primary importance to identify risk factors, study their effects, to promote primary and secondary prevention, and to extend the therapeutic repertoire that is currently limited to the very first hours after stroke. While epidemiologic studies in the human population are essential to identify emerging risk factors, adequate animal models represent a fundamental tool to dissect stroke risk factors to their molecular mechanism and to find efficacious therapeutic strategies for this complex multi- factorial disorder. The present review is organized into two parts: the first part deals with the animal models that have been developed to study stroke and its related risk factors and the second part analyzes the specific stroke models. These models represent an indispensable tool to investigate the mechanisms of cerebral injury and to develop novel therapies

    Introduction to the special issue on numerical methods and applications for waves in coastal environments

    Get PDF
    International audienc

    Leukocyte Counts and Ratios Are Predictive of Stroke Outcome and Hemorrhagic Complications Independently of Infections.

    Get PDF
    Background: Ischemic stroke patients show alterations in peripheral leukocyte counts that may result from the sterile inflammation response as well as the occurrence of early infections. We here aimed to determine whether alterations of circulating leukocytes in acute ischemic stroke are associated with long-term functional outcome and hemorrhagic complications, independently of the occurrence of infections. Methods: Blood laboratory values of patients with acute ischemic stroke, presenting within 4.5 h from symptom onset, were collected. Leukocyte subsets were analyzed in relation to 3-month functional outcome, mortality, and parenchymal hemorrhagic transformation (PH). A multivariable logistic regression analysis, considering the occurrence of early post-stroke infections, was performed for each outcome measure. Results: Five-hundred-ten patients were included in the study. Independently of infections, good functional outcome was associated with a lower neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NL-R, OR 0.906 [95% CI 0.822-0.998]), a higher lymphocyte count (OR 1.547 [95% CI 1.051-2.277]), a higher eosinophil count (OR 1.027 [95% CI 1.007-1.048]), and a higher eosinophil to leukocyte ratio (EoLeu-R, OR 1.240 [95% CI 1.071-1.436]) at admission. Death within 3 months was associated with higher NL-R (OR 1.103 [95% CI 1.032-1.179]) as well as with lower eosinophil counts (OR 0.909 [95% CI 0.827-0.999]). Patients developing parenchymal hemorrhagic transformation had higher neutrophil counts (OR 1.420 [95% CI 1.197-1.684]) as well as a higher NL-R (OR 1.192 [95% IC 1.088-1.305]). Conclusion: Leukocyte subtype profiles in the acute phase of ischemic stroke represent a predictor of outcome independently of infections. Stroke-evoked sterile inflammation is a pathophysiological relevant mechanism that deserves further investigation
    corecore