Implicit finite volume simulation of 2D shallow water flows in flexible meshes

In this work, an implicit method for solving 2D hyperbolic systems of equations is presented, focusing on the application to the 2D shallow water equations. It is based on the first order Roe''s scheme, in the framework of finite volume methods. A conservative linearization is done for the flux terms, leading to a non-structured matrix for unstructured meshes thus requiring iterative methods for solving the system. The validation is done by comparing numerical and exact solutions in both unsteady and steady cases. In order to test the applicability of the implicit scheme to real world situations, a laboratory scale tsunami simulation is carried out and compared to the experimental data. The implicit schemes have the advantage of the unconditional stability, but a quality loss in the transient solution can appear for high CFL numbers. The properties of the scheme are well suited for the simulation of unsteady shallow water flows over irregular topography using all kind of meshes

Implicit 2D surface flow models performance assessment: Shallow Water Equations vs. Zero-Inertia Model

Zero-Inertia (ZI) models are used in overland flow simulation due to their mathematical simplicity, compared to more complex formulations such as Shallow Water (SW) models. The main hypothesis in ZI models is that the flow is driven by water surface and friction gradients, neglecting local accelerations. On the other hand, SW models are a complete dynamical formulation that provide more information at the cost of a higher level of complexity. In realistic problems, the usually huge number of cells required to ensure accurate spatial representation implies a large amount of computing effort and time. This is particularly true in 2D models. Hence, there is an interest in developing efficient numerical methods. In general terms, numerical schemes used to solve time dependent problems can be classified in two groups, attending to the time evaluation of the unknowns: explicit and implicit methods. Explicit schemes offer the possibility to update the solution at every cell from the known values but are restricted by numerical stability reasons. This can lead to very slow simulations in case of using fine meshes. Implicit schemes avoid this restriction at the cost of generating a system of as many equations as computational cells multiplied by the number of variables to solve. In this work, an implicit finite volume numerical scheme has been used to solve the 2D equations in both ZI and SW models. The scheme is formulated so that both quadrilateral and triangular meshes can be used. A conservative linearization is done for the flux terms, leading to a non-structured matrix for unstructured meshes thus requiring iterative methods for solving the system. A comparison between 2D SW and 2D ZI is done in terms of performance, efficiency and mesh requirements, in which both models benefit of an implicit temporal discretization in steady and nearly-steady situations

Tratamiento de la gonartrosis con osteotomía tibial de penetración y fijación con grapas

La osteotomía metafisaria proximal de tibia ha sido utilizada en el tratamiento de 96 gonartrosis con desviación axil en varo (87 casos) o en valgo (nueve casos), con componente de flexo en la mitad de los casos y con cierto grado de laxitud ligamentosa en 1/3 de los casos. Se utilizó un cálculo angular preoperatorio en bipedestación con contraste opaco del eje mecánico de la extremidad y Rx-TV. La osteotomía fue cuneiforme de penetración, se estabilizó con grapas y se aplicó calza de yeso para facilitar el apoyo precoz. Proporcionó un efecto antiálgico en el 94 % de los casos, pero la valoración funcional deja el resultado en 25 % de casos excelentes y 51% de casos buenos. Destacan la necesidad de operar ambas rodillas, la bondad del resultado con independencia del grado de angulación, la compensación de las laxitudes moderadas ya referidas y la repercusión favorable del realineamiento axil sobre la artrosis femoropatelar presente en el 75 % de los casos

The shallow water equations and their application to realistic cases

The numerical modelling of 2D shallow flows in complex geometries involving transient flow and movable boundaries has been a challenge for researchers in recent years. There is a wide range of physical situations of environmental interest, such as flow in open channels and rivers, tsunami and flood modelling, that can be mathematically represented by first-order non-linear systems of partial differential equations, whose derivation involves an assumption of the shallow water type. Shallow water models may include more sophisticated terms when applied to cases of not pure water floods, such as mud/debris floods, produced by landslides. Mud/debris floods are unsteady flow phenomena in which the flow changes rapidly, and the properties of the moving fluid mixture include stop and go mechanisms. The present work reports on a numerical model able to solve the 2D shallow water equations even including bed load transport over erodible bed in realistic situations involving transient flow and movable flow boundaries. The novelty is that it offers accurate and stable results in realistic problems since an appropriate discretization of the governing equations is performed. Furthermore, the present work is focused on the importance of the computational cost. Usually, the main drawback is the high computational effort required for obtaining accurate numerical solutions due to the high number of cells involved in realistic cases. However, the proposed model is able to reduce computer times by orders of magnitude making 2D applications competitive and practical for operational flood prediction. Moreover our results show that high performance code development can take advantage of general purpose and inexpensive Graphical Processing Units, allowing to run almost 100 times faster than old generation codes in some cases

Osteosarcoma perióstico: caso clínico

El osteosarcoma perióstico es un sarcoma raro que asienta en la superficie del hueso. Aunque algunos autores lo incluyen en los osteosarcomas yuxtacorticales sus peculiaridades clínicas, radiológicas y anatomopatológicas entre ellos que llevan a diferencias en el tratamiento y pronóstico le otorgan personalidad propia. Presentamos un caso clínico de osteosarcoma perióstico en un varón de 18 años, a nivel de fémur. Se realiza una revisión de la bibliografía, señalando las principales características de esta entidad.Periosteal osteosarcoma is a rare malignant neoplasm located on bone surface. Although some authors include it among juxtacortical osteosarcoma, its clinical feature, imaging studies findings and histologic patterns which lead to differences in the treatment and prognostic, give to it a peculiar identity. We report a case of an 18 years old man who had this tumour in his femur. We do a review of literature

Memetic Evolutionary Multi-Objective Neural Network Classifier to Predict Graft Survival in Liver Transplant Patients

In liver transplantation, matching donor and recipient is a problem that can be solved using machine learning techniques. In this paper we consider a liver transplant dataset obtained from eleven Spanish hospitals, including the patient survival or the rejection in liver transplantation one year after the surgery. To tackle this problem, we use a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for training generalized radial basis functions neural networks. The obtained models provided medical experts with a mathematical value to predict survival rates allowing them to come up with a right decision according to the principles of justice, efficiency and equit

Design of a case management model for people with chronic disease (Heart Failure and COPD). Phase I: modeling and identification of the main components of the intervention through their actors: patients and professionals (DELTA-ICE-PRO Study

Background Chronic diseases account for nearly 60% of deaths around the world. The extent of this silent epidemic has not met determined responses in governments, policies or professionals in order to transform old Health Care Systems, configured for acute diseases. There is a large list of research about alternative models for people with chronic conditions, many of them with an advanced practice nurse as a key provider, as case management. But some methodological concerns raise, above all, the design of the intervention (intensity, frequency, components, etc). Methods/Design Objectives: General: To develop the first and second phases (theorization and modeling) for designing a multifaceted case-management intervention in people with chronic conditions (COPD and heart failure) and their caregivers. Specific aims: 1) To identify key events in people living with chronic disease and their relation with the Health Care System, from their point of view. 2) To know the coping mechanisms developed by patients and their caregivers along the story with the disease. 3) To know the information processing and its utilization in their interactions with health care providers. 4) To detect potential unmet needs and the ways deployed by patients and their caregivers to resolve them. 5) To obtain a description from patients and caregivers, about their itineraries along the Health Care System, in terms of continuity, accessibility and comprehensiveness of care. 6) To build up a list of promising case-management interventions in patients with Heart Failure and COPD with this information in order to frame it into theoretical models for its reproducibility and conceptualization. 7) To undergo this list to expert judgment to assess its feasibility and pertinence in the Andalusian Health Care. Design: Qualitative research with two phases: For the first five objectives, a qualitative technique with biographic stories will be developed and, for the remaining objectives, an expert consensus through Delphi technique, on the possible interventions yielded from the first phase. The study will be developed in the provinces of Almería, Málaga and Granada in the Southern Spain, from patients included in the Andalusian Health Care Service database with the diagnosis of COPD or Heart Failure, with the collaboration of case manager nurses and general practitioners for the assessment of their suitability to inclusion criteria. Patients and caregivers will be interviewed in their homes or their Health Centers, with their family or their case manager nurse as mediator. Discussion First of a series of studies intended to design a case-management service for people with heart failure and COPD, in the Andalusian Health Care System, where case management has been implemented since 2002. Accordingly with the steps of a theoretical model for complex interventions, in this study, theorization and intervention modeling phases will be developed.This research was carried out with the support of one research grant, awarded by the Regional Health Ministry of Andalusia (Exp. 0222/2008

Critical properties of the four-state Commutative Random Permutation Glassy Potts model in three and four dimensions

We investigate the critical properties of the four-state commutative random permutation glassy Potts model in three and four dimensions by means of Monte Carlo simulation and of a finite size scaling analysis. Thanks to the use of a field programmable gate array we have been able to thermalize a large number of samples of systems with large volume. This has allowed us to observe a spin-glass ordered phase in d=4 and to study the critical properties of the transition. In d=3, our results are consistent with the presence of a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, but we cannot exclude transient effects due to a value of the lower critical dimension slightly below 3.Comment: 9 pages, 8 Postscript figure