Metamaterials for water waves

This thesis presents numerical and experimental results concerning usage of metamaterials for water waves control. Two applications were considered. Firstly, we showed how to focus water waves using analogy to a group of metamaterials called epsilon-near-zero. This allowed to tailor phase pattern at the circular interface between two domains with high contrast in water depth. The analogy resulted in highly nonlinear behaviour of waves, manifested by sub-wavelength cascade of focal spots with respect to the incident wave. The second considered application of metamaterials for water waves was hiding (cloaking) defects in a waveguide from the far-field observer. In the first project, related to cloaking, waveguide with varying cross-sections was analyzed. The efficiency of bathymetry, rendered by conformal mapping, was evaluated in terms of scattering properties. The influence of water waves dispersivity on the cancellation of scattering was also determined. Cloaking properties of the obtained bathymetry were experimentally confirmed using a wave packet characterized by broadband spectrum. In the second project, we showed how to cloak a cylinder that is shifted from the centreline of a waveguide. Smooth cloaking bathymetry surrounding a cylinder was able to significantly reduce the scattering in broad range of frequencies. The experimental counterparts confirmed increase in transmission with respect to a reference case with flat bathymetry. The remainder of the thesis presents novel method for the analysis of fringe profilometry images. Performance of the new method was compared to the Fourier Transform Profilometry. We obtained significant enhancement in spectral capabilities.Cette thèse porte sur l’étude numérique et expérimentale de l’utilisation de métamatériaux pour le contrôle des ondes à la surface de l’eau. Dans la première partie, nous avons montré comment focaliser les ondes à la surface de l’eau en utilisant une analogie existant avec des métamatériaux électromagnétiques de permittivité diélectrique quasi nulle qualifiés de ”epsilon-near-zero”. Cela a permis d’adapter le motif de phase à l’interface circulaire entre deux domaines présentant un contraste élevé de profondeur d’eau. L’analogie a donné lieu a un comportement fortement non linéaire des ondes, qui se manifeste par la génération d’une cascade de points focaux associés à des sous-multiples de longueurs d’onde par rapport à l’onde incidente. La deuxième application envisagée des métamatériaux pour les ondes à la surface est de rendre invisible les défauts géométriques d’un guide pour un observateur situé en champ lointain. Dans le premier projet lié au cloaking, des guides d’onde possédant différentes sections transverses ont été analysés. L’efficacité de la bathymétrie, donnée par la cartographie conformationnelle, a été evaluée numériquement en termes de propriétés de diffusion. Dans le second projet, nous avons montré numériquement comment rendre invisible un cylindre qui est décalé de l’axe d’un guide d’onde. Utiliser une bathymétrie de cloaking lisse autour du cylindre permet de reduire de manière significative la dispersion dans une large gamme de frequences. Des experiences réalisées avec des bathymétries conformes aux simulations ont confirmé une augmentation de la transmission par rapport à un scenario de référence avec fond plat

Differences in Perceived Occupational Stress by Demographic Characteristics, of European Emergency Medical Services Personnel during the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic—An International Study

Objectives: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought commercial, social, and economic consequences in every country that has experienced substantial SARS-CoV-2 infection rates. The complete change in the environment that took place due to the outbreak of the pandemic can lead to stressful situations, especially among healthcare personnel. Material and methods: The research were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic between the 27 March 2020 and the 20 April 2020. The research included 1984 employees of emergency medical systems in seven European countries. An internet-based questionnaire format was adopted for the study (ΩMc-Donald > 0.7). Results: The highest level of stress was experienced by personnel in the United Kingdom M = 4.03, and the lowest by Norwegian employees M = 2.89. High levels of stress were also experienced by nurses from Spain and Poland. Women actively working in the healthcare system during the pandemic experienced higher stress levels than men. Conclusions: Women working in European emergency medical systems are more vulnerable to work-related stress, while carrying out emergency medical procedures during the pandemic. Differences in the level of stress experienced while carrying out duties in pre-hospital conditions were only found among Spanish emergency medical system personnel

A novel approach to genome-wide association analysis identifies genetic associations with primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis in Polish patients

Abstract Background Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are forms of hepatic autoimmunity, and risk for both diseases has a strong genetic component. This study aimed to define the genetic architecture of PBC and PSC within the Polish population. Methods Subjects were 443 women with PBC, 120 patients with PSC, and 934 healthy controls recruited from Gastroenterology Departments in various Polish hospitals. Allelotyping employed a pooled-DNA sample-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach, using Illumina Human Omni2.5-Exome BeadChips and the following novel selection criteria for risk loci: blocks of at least 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in strong linkage disequilibrium, where the distance between each adjacent SNP pair in the block was less than 30 kb, and each SNP was associated with disease at a significance level of P < 0.005. A selected index SNP from each block was validated using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results Nineteen and twenty-one SNPs were verified as associated with PBC and PSC, respectively, by individual genotyping; 19 (10/9, PBC/PSC) SNPs reached a stringent (corrected) significance threshold and a further 21 (9/12, PBC/PSC) reached a nominal level of significance ( P < 0.05 with odds ratio (OR) > 1.2 or < 0.83), providing suggestive evidence of association. The SNPs mapped to seven (1p31.3, 3q13, 6p21, 7q32.1, 11q23.3, 17q12, 19q13.33) and one (6p21) chromosome region previously ..