57 research outputs found

    Experimental and numerical modelling of water waves in sewer networks during sewer/surface flow interaction using a coupled ODE-SWE solver

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    Flooding in urban areas is expected to increase its magnitude and frequency in the future. Therefore, there is a strong need to better model sewer–surface flow interactions. Existing numerical methods are commonly based on simplified representations of sewer/surface mass exchange, and mainly validated in steady flow conditions. Current methodologies describing the propagation of transient conditions/waves through interaction nodes are simplified, rely on empirical coefficients and/or lack detailed validation. In this paper, an integrated numerical approach for modelling the propagation of water waves through interaction nodes (e.g., manholes) is presented. In this solution, the shallow water equations are used to simulate the free-surface propagation inside the sewer network, and an ordinary differential equation is employed for modelling flow regimes through pipes and manholes. The model proposed is validated against the well-known STAR-CD modelling software for a number of test cases. Finally, further validation is performed against experimental data describing the evolution of water depth around a manhole in unsteady surcharging conditions

    Effect of grape products on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

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    Previous studies have suggested that grape and its products may possess blood pressure (BP)-lowering properties. Due to inconsistencies in results, we aimed to systematically examine the effect of grape products on BP by conducting a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (ISI), and Cochrane Library databases were comprehensively searched until March 2020. Human clinical trials which reported the effect of grape products supplementation on systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were included. Data were pooled using a random-effects model and expressed as a weighted mean difference (WMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Twenty-eight studies comprising a total of 1344 subjects were included in our meta-analysis. The overall outcome of the meta-analysis indicates that grape products consumption can significantly reduce SBP (WMD: −3.40 mmHg, 95% CI: −6.55, −0.24, p = .03, I2 = 93.4%) and DBP (WMD: −1.69 mmHg, 95% CI: −3.12, −0.27, p = .01, I2 = 80.4%). This meta-analysis found a moderate and statistically significant reduction for either SBP or DBP with grape products compared with controls. Additional high-quality studies are needed to further evaluate the causal conclusions

    Robust observer design for Sugeno systems with incremental quadratic nonlinearity in the consequent

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    This paper is concerned with observer design for nonlinear systems that are modeled by T–S fuzzy systems containing parametric and nonparametric uncertainties. Unlike most Sugeno models, the proposed method contains nonlinear functions in the consequent part of the fuzzy IF-THEN rules. This will allow modeling a wider class of systems with smaller modelling errors. The consequent part of each rule contains a linear part plus a nonlinear term, which has an incremental quadratic constraint. This constraint relaxes the conservativeness introduced by other regular constraints for nonlinearities such as the Lipschitz conditions. To further reduce the conservativeness, a nonlinear injection term is added to the observer dynamics. Simulation examples show the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with the existing techniques reported in well-established journals

    The effects of quinoa seed supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials

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    This meta-analysis was designed to determine the effect of quinoa seed on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adults. PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane library were searched electronically from their inception to February 2020 to identify eligible RCTs. We calculated the pooled estimates of weighted mean differences (WMDs) and their 95 confidence intervals (CIs) by using random-effects models. Five eligible RCTs representing 206 subjects were enrolled. The pooled result showed that quinoa seed supplementation significantly lowered the body weight (WMD: �1.26 kg, 95 CI: �2.35, �0.18, p =.02), waist circumference (WC) (WMD: �1.15 cm, 95 CI: �2.08, �0.21, p =.01), fat mass (FM) (WMD: �0.59, 95 CI: �1.14, �0.03, p =.03), insulin serum level (WMD: �0.86 pmol/L, 95 CI: �13.38, �1.59, p =.01), triglyceride (TG) (WMD: �7.20 mg/dl, 95 CI: �9.52, �4.87, p .05). The current evidence suggests that quinoa seed might be utilized as a possible new effective and safe supplementary option to better prevent and control CVD in humans. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Lt

    Reallocation of unoccupied beds among requesting wards

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    Disruptions can cause demand fluctuation, thus overcrowding at hospital wards, and can make the waiting list of patients longer. Bed management at hospitals is one of the solutions to deal with overcrowding. In addition, Resilience Engineering (RE) is an approach that can help organizations to bounce back to their desired performance state after a disruption. In this paper, the concept of RE has been used to improve the bed management of hospitals during and after disruption. More precisely, bed sharing among hospital wards has been introduced as a collaboration strategy and its impact on the length of patients� waiting list as the major performance index is investigated. Relationship priority between different wards, patients� gender, patients� length of stay and the number of rooms in every ward are the major factors considered in our modeling. A mixed integer linear programming optimization model with the objective of minimizing the patients� waiting time in a hospital has been proposed for the real-world problems. The main contribution of the present paper is proposing a resiliency-based modeling of bed management in hospitals. Due to the complexity and making the proposed model applicable to the real world problems, a simulated annealing algorithm is used to solve the model and a new procedure for creating initial solution is presented. The results show that applying resilience strategy has a considerable impact on improving the hospital�s performance index. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
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