Compatible finite element spaces for geophysical fluid dynamics

Compatible finite elements provide a framework for preserving important structures in equations of geophysical uid dynamics, and are becoming important in their use for building atmosphere and ocean models. We survey the application of compatible finite element spaces to geophysical uid dynamics, including the application to the nonlinear rotating shallow water equations, and the three-dimensional compressible Euler equations. We summarise analytic results about dispersion relations and conservation properties, and present new results on approximation properties in three dimensions on the sphere, and on hydrostatic balance properties

Higher-order compatible finite element schemes for the nonlinear rotating shallow water equations on the sphere

We describe a compatible finite element discretisation for the shallow water equations on the rotating sphere, concentrating on integrating consistent upwind stabilisation into the framework. Although the prognostic variables are velocity and layer depth, the discretisation has a diagnostic potential vorticity that satisfies a stable upwinded advection equation through a Taylor-Galerkin scheme; this provides a mechanism for dissipating enstrophy at the gridscale whilst retaining optimal order consistency. We also use upwind discontinuous Galerkin schemes for the transport of layer depth. These transport schemes are incorporated into a semi-implicit formulation that is facilitated by a hybridisation method for solving the resulting mixed Helmholtz equation. We illustrate our discretisation with some standard rotating sphere test problems.Comment: accepted versio

Systematic review of pain medicine content, teaching, and assessment in medical school curricula internationally

Introduction: Pain management is a major health care challenge in terms of the significant prevalence of pain and the negative consequences of poor management. Consequently, there have been international calls to improve pain medicine education for medical students. This systematic review examines the literature on pain medicine education at medical schools internationally, with a particular interest in studies that make reference to: a defined pain medicine curriculum, specific pain medicine learning objectives, dedicated pain education modules, core pain topics, medical specialties that teach pain medicine, elective study opportunities, hours allocated to teaching pain medicine during the curriculum, the status of pain medicine in the curriculum (compulsory or optional), as well as teaching, learning, and assessment methods. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken of relevant studies on pain medicine education for medical students published between January 1987 and May 2018 using PubMed, Medline, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and Google Scholar, and Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) data bases. Results: Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Evaluation of pain medicine curricula has been undertaken at 383 medical schools in Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America (USA), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and Europe. Pain medicine was mostly incorporated into medical courses such as anaesthesia or pharmacology, rather than presented as a dedicated pain medicine module. Ninety-six percent of medical schools in the UK and USA, and nearly 80% of medical schools in Europe had no compulsory dedicated teaching in pain medicine. On average, the median number of hours of pain content in the entire curriculum was 20 in Canada (2009), 20 in Australia and New Zealand (2018), 13 in the UK (2011), 12 in Europe (2012/2013), and 11 in the USA (2009). Neurophysiology and pharmacology pain topics were given priority by medical schools in all countries. Lectures, seminars, and case-based instruction were the teaching methods most commonly employed. When it was undertaken, medical schools mostly assessed student competency in pain medicine using written examinations rather than clinical assessments. Conclusions: This systematic review has revealed that pain medicine education at medical schools internationally does not adequately respond to societal needs in terms of the prevalence and public health impact of inadequately managed pain

Effective crustal permeability controls fault evolution: An integrated structural, mineralogical and isotopic study in granitic gneiss, Monte Rosa, Northern Italy

Two dextral faults within granitic gneiss in the Monte Rosa nappe, northern Italy reveal key differences in their evolution controlled by evolving permeability and water/rock reactions. The comparison reveals that identical host rock lithologies develop radically different mineralogies within the fault zones, resulting in fundamentally different deformation histories. Oxygen and hydrogen isotope analyses coupled to microstructural characterisation show that infiltration of meteoric water occurred into both fault zones. The smaller Virgin Fault shows evidence of periodic closed system behaviour, which promoted the growth of hydrothermal K-feldspar, whilst the more open system behaviour of the adjacent Ciao Ciao Fault generated a weaker muscovite-rich fault core, which promoted a step change in fault evolution. Effective crustal permeability is a vital control on fault evolution and, coupled to the temperature (i.e. depth) at which key mineral transformations occur, is probably a more significant factor than host rock strength in controlling fault development. The study suggests that whether a fault in granitic basement grows into a large structure may be largely controlled by the initial hydrological properties of the host rocks. Small faults exposed at the surface may therefore be evolutionary “dead-ends” that typically do not represent the early stages in the development of larger faults

Increasing the quality of seismic interpretation

Acknowledgments E. Macrae was funded by an NERC Open CASE Ph.D. award (NE/F013728/1) with Midland Valley Exploration Ltd. as the industry partner. We thank 763 geoscientists for their participation, and in particular, the REs who gave their time freely to the project. M. Scott (University of Glasgow, UK) is thanked for assisting with the statistical analysis. Four reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments that improved the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A compatible finite element discretisation for the nonhydrostatic vertical slice equations

We present a compatible finite element discretisation for the vertical slice compressible Euler equations, at next-to-lowest order (i.e., the pressure space is bilinear discontinuous functions). The equations are numerically integrated in time using a fully implicit timestepping scheme which is solved using monolithic GMRES preconditioned by a linesmoother. The linesmoother only involves local operations and is thus suitable for domain decomposition in parallel. It allows for arbitrarily large timesteps but with iteration counts scaling linearly with Courant number in the limit of large Courant number. This solver approach is implemented using Firedrake, and the additive Schwarz preconditioner framework of PETSc. We demonstrate the robustness of the scheme using a standard set of testcases that may be compared with other approaches.Comment: Response to reviewers. Thanks to Golo Wimmer for pointing out the wrong factor of h in the interior penalty for diffusion - this was also wrong in the codes and we reran the dense bubble testcase

Analysis of CO₂ leakage through "low-permeability" faults from natural reservoirs in the Colorado Plateau, southern Utah

The numerous CO2 reservoirs in the Colorado Plateau region of the United States are natural analogues for potential geologic CO2 sequestration repositories. To better understand the risk of leakage from reservoirs used for long-term underground CO2 storage, we examine evidence for CO2 migration along two normal faults from a reservoir in east-central Utah. CO2 -charged springs, geysers, and a hydrocarbon seep are localised along these faults. These include natural springs that have been active for long periods of time, and springs that were induced by recent drilling. The CO2 -charged spring waters have deposited travertine mounds and carbonate veins. The faults cut siltstones, shales, and sandstones and the fault rocks are fine-grained, clay-rich gouge, generally thought to be barriers to fluid flow. The geologic and geochemical data are consistent with these faults being conduits for CO2 to the surface. Consequently, the injection of CO2 into faulted geologic reservoirs, including faults with clay gouge, must be carefully designed and monitored to avoid slow seepage or fast rupture to the biosphere

Pain medicine content, teaching and assessment in medical school curricula in Australia and New Zealand

Background: The objective of pain medicine education is to provide medical students with opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills and professional attitudes that will lead to their becoming safe, capable, and compassionate medical practitioners who are able to meet the healthcare needs of persons in pain. This study was undertaken to identify and describe the delivery of pain medicine education at medical schools in Australia and New Zealand. Method: All 23 medical schools in Australia and New Zealand in 2016 were included in this study. A structured curriculum audit tool was used to obtain information on pain medicine curricula including content, delivery, teaching and assessment methods. Results: Nineteen medical schools (83%) completed the curriculum audit. Neurophysiology, clinical assessment, analgesia use and multidimensional aspects of pain medicine were covered by most medical schools. Specific learning objectives for pain medicine were not identified by 42% of medical schools. One medical school offered a dedicated pain medicine module delivered over 1 week. Pain medicine teaching was delivered at all schools by a number of different departments throughout the curriculum. Interprofessional learning (IPL) in the context of pain medicine education was not specified by any of the medical schools. The mean time allocated for pain medicine teaching over the entire medical course was just under 20 h. The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was used by 32% of schools to assess knowledge and skills in pain medicine. 16% of schools were unsure of whether any assessment of pain medicine education took place. Conclusion: This descriptive study provides important baseline information for pain medicine education at medical schools in Australia and New Zealand. Medical schools do not have well-documented or comprehensive pain curricula that are delivered and assessed using pedagogically-sound approaches considering the complexity of the topic, the prevalence and public health burden of pain

Compatible finite element spaces for geophysical fluid dynamics

This is the final version. Available from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this record.Compatible finite elements provide a framework for preserving important structures in equations of geophysical fluid dynamics and are becoming important in their use for building atmosphere and ocean models. We survey the application of compatible finite element spaces to geophysical fluid dynamics, including the application to the non-linear rotating shallow water equations, and the three-dimensional compressible Euler equations. We summarize analytic results about dispersion relations and conservation properties and present new results on approximation properties in three dimensions on the sphere and on hydrostatic balance properties