Solving shallow-water systems in 2D domains using Finite Volume methods and multimedia SSE instructions

AbstractThe goal of this paper is to construct efficient parallel solvers for 2D hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with source terms and nonconservative products. The method of lines is applied: at every intercell a projected Riemann problem along the normal direction is considered which is discretized by means of well-balanced Roe methods. The resulting 2D numerical scheme is explicit and first-order accurate. In [M.J. Castro, J.A. García, J.M. González, C. Pares, A parallel 2D Finite Volume scheme for solving systems of balance laws with nonconservative products: Application to shallow flows, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 196 (2006) 2788–2815] a domain decomposition method was used to parallelize the resulting numerical scheme, which was implemented in a PC cluster by means of MPI techniques.In this paper, in order to optimize the computations, a new parallelization of SIMD type is performed at each MPI thread, by means of SSE (“Streaming SIMD Extensions”), which are present in common processors. More specifically, as the most costly part of the calculations performed at each processor consists of a huge number of small matrix and vector computations, we use the Intel© Integrated Performance Primitives small matrix library. To make easy the use of this library, which is implemented using assembler and SSE instructions, we have developed a C++ wrapper of this library in an efficient way. Some numerical tests were carried out to validate the performance of the C++ small matrix wrapper. The specific application of the scheme to one-layer Shallow-Water systems has been implemented on a PC’s cluster. The correct behavior of the one-layer model is assessed using laboratory data

Synthesis and crystal structure of the dinuclear cyclopalladated compounds of methyl (E)-4-(benzylideneamino)benzoate with acetato and chlorido bridge ligands: Study of their splitting reactions with pyridine

Reaction of methyl (E)-4-(benzylideneamino)benzoate C6H5CH=N(C6H4-4-CO2Me) with Pd(OAc)(2) produced the dinuclear acetato bridge ortho-cyclopalladated compound [Pd{C6H4CH=N(C6H4-4-CO2Me)-kappa C-ortho,kappa(N)}](2)(mu-OAc)(2) (1). Compounds [Pd{C6H4CH=N(C6H4-4-CO2Me)-kappa C-ortho,kappa(N)}](2)(mu-Cl)(2) (2) and [Pd {C6H4CH] N(C6H4-4-CO2Me)-kappa C-ortho,kappa(N)}(py)(X)] [3 (X = OAc); 4 (X = Cl)] were also prepared and isolated in good yields by substitution reactions. H-1 and C-13{H-1} NMR in CDCl3 solution of compounds 3 and 4 revealed that they consisted of a mixture of trans-and cis-N,N isomers. Addition of pyridine-d(5) to solutions of 1 and 2 in CDCl3 in a molar ratio pyridine-d(5)/1 or 2 approximate to 50-55 gave solutions A and B, respectively, which contained compounds 5 and 6 analogous to 3 and 4, but with pyridine-d(5) rather than pyridine in their structural formula. In these solutions, the trans-and cis-N,N geometrical isomers of compounds 5 and 6 were interconverting between them in a dynamic equilibrium. In addition, an exchange between free and coordinated pyridine-d(5) was also taking place in solutions A and B. The NMR data for solution A showed that the dynamic equilibrium between the cis-and trans-N,N isomers of compound 5 was shifted to the trans-N,N isomer. However, the NMR data for solution B suggested that in this solution the equilibrium between the cis- and trans-N,N isomers of compound 6 was shifted to the cis-N,N isomer. Interconversion between the trans- and cis-N,N isomers of compounds 5 and 6 in solutions A and B plausibly proceeded through the intermediate ionic complexes [Pd{C6H4CH] N(C6H4-4CO(2)Me)-kappa C-ortho,kappa(N)}(py-d(5))(2)]X [7 (X = OAc), 8 (X = Cl)]. Ionic complexes 7 and 8 were not observed in CDCl3 solution but were the major species in D2O solutions containing compounds 1 and 2 and pyridine-d(5) in a molar ratio pyridine-d(5)/1 or 2 approximate to 50-55. The crystal structure of the adduct 1.2(CH3COOH) and that of compound 2 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. A theoretical study on the difference in free Gibbs energy in CHCl3 solution between the cis-and trans-N,N isomers of compounds 3 and 4 is also included in this work

Response of Wheat Fungal Diseases to Elevated Atmospheric CO2 Level

Infection with fungal pathogens on wheat varieties with different levels of resistance was tested at ambient (NC, 390 ppm) and elevated (EC, 750 ppm) atmospheric CO2 levels in the phytotron. EC was found to affect many aspects of the plant-pathogen interaction. Infection with most fungal diseases was usually found to be promoted by elevated CO2 level in susceptible varieties. Powdery mildew, leaf rust and stem rust produced more severe symptoms on plants of susceptible varieties, while resistant varieties were not infected even at EC. The penetration of Fusarium head blight (FHB) into the spike was delayed by EC in Mv Mambo, while it was unaffected in Mv Regiment and stimulated in Mv Emma. EC increased the propagation of FHB in Mv Mambo and Mv Emma. Enhanced resistance to the spread of Fusarium within the plant was only found in Mv Regiment, which has good resistance to penetration but poor resistance to the spread of FHB at NC. FHB infection was more severe at EC in two varieties, while the plants of Mv Regiment, which has the best field resistance at NC, did not exhibit a higher infection level at EC. The above results suggest that breeding for new resistant varieties will remain a useful means of preventing more severe infection in a future with higher atmospheric CO2 levels

7th Drug hypersensitivity meeting: part two

No abstract availabl

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Postnatal differentiation of basket cells from slow to fast signaling devices

Gamma frequency (30-100 Hz) oscillations in the mature cortex underlie higher cognitive functions. Fast signaling in GABAergic interneuron networks plays a key role in the generation of these oscillations. During development of the rodent brain, gamma activity appears at the end of the first postnatal week, but frequency and synchrony reach adult levels only by the fourth week. However, the mechanisms underlying the maturation of gamma activity are unclear. Here we demonstrate that hippocampal basket cells (BCs), the proposed cellular substrate of gamma oscillations, undergo marked changes in their morphological, intrinsic, and synaptic properties between postnatal day 6 (P6) and P25. During maturation, action potential duration, propagation time, duration of the release period, and decay time constant of IPSCs decreases by ~30-60%. Thus, postnatal development converts BCs from slow into fast signaling devices. Computational analysis reveals that BC networks with young intrinsic and synaptic properties as well as reduced connectivity generate oscillations with moderate coherence in the lower gamma frequency range. In contrast, BC networks with mature properties and increased connectivity generate highly coherent activity in the upper gamma frequency band. Thus, late postnatal maturation of BCs enhances coherence in neuronal networks and will thereby contribute to the development of cognitive brain functions