Efficient implementation of the proper outlet flow conditions in blood flow simulations through asymmetric arterial bifurcations

We present an efficient implementation of the proper (in vivo) outlet boundary conditions in detailed, three‐dimensional (3D) and time‐periodic simulations of blood flow through arteries. This is achieved through the intermediate use of an approximate ‘simulant’ model of the outlet pressure/flow relationship corresponding to the full 3D and time‐dependent numerical simulation. This model allows us to efficiently couple the 3D outlet pressure/flow conditions to the equivalent relations due to the downstream arterial network, as obtained from a one‐dimensional approximate model in the form of Fourier frequency impedance coefficients. An adjustable time‐periodic function correction term in the simulant model requires input from the full 3D model that has to run iteratively until convergence. The advantage of the proposed numerical scheme is that it decouples the upstream detailed simulation from the downstream approximate network model offering exceptional versatility. This approach is demonstrated here in a series of detailed 3D simulations of blood flow, performed using the commercial software FLUENT?, through an asymmetric arterial bifurcation. Two cases are considered: first a healthy system patterned after the left main coronary arterial bifurcation, and second a diseased case where an occlusion has developed in one of the daughter vessels, resulting in strengthening the asymmetry of the bifurcation. Rapid convergence of the iterative process was achieved in both cases. Subtle changes occur in the shear patterns of the daughter vessels, whereas the flow distribution is quite different. In the presence of a stenosis additional regions of low shear develop due to inertial effects. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using the EPQ for coordinated planning of a product with partial backordering and its components

While there has been considerable work over the years on multistage lot-sizing models, particularly in an MRP environment, there has been relatively little work on systems recognizing the WIP effects when there is gradual conversion of the components into the final product, as in production planning using the EPQ model for planning the final product. Here we consider lot-sizing planning for a two-stage system in which the final product is planned using an EPQ model with partial backordering and the production of the components is controlled using basic EPQ models without backordering.     

A dispersive regularization of the modulational instability of stratified gravity waves

We derive high-order corrections to a modulation theory for the propagation of internal gravity waves in a density-stratified fluid with coupling to the mean flow. The methodology we use allows for strong modulations of wavenumber and mean flow, extending previous approaches developed for the quasi-monochromatic regime. The wave mean flow modulation equations consist of a system of nonlinear conservation laws that may be hyperbolic, elliptic or of mixed type. We investigate the regularizing properties of the asymptotic correction terms in the case when the system becomes unstable and ill-posed due to a change of type (loss of hyperbolicity). A linear analysis reveals that the regularization by the added correction terms does so by introducing a short-wave cut-off of the unstable wavenumbers. We perform various numerical experiments that confirm the regularizing properties of the correction terms, and show that the growth of unstable modes is tempered by nonlinearity. We also find an excellent agreement between the solution of the corrected modulation system and the modulation variables extracted from the numerical solution of the nonlinear Boussinesq equations.     

Hilbert function spaces and the Nevanlinna-Pick problem on the polydisc

In [4], Agler and McCarthy (2005) used Hilbert function spaces to study the uniqueness properties of the Nevanlinna-Pick problem on the bidisc. In this work we give a geometric procedure for constructing a Nevanlinna-Pick problem on Dn with a specified set of uniqueness. On the way to establishing this procedure, we prove a result about Hilbert function spaces and partially answer a question posed by Agler and McCarthy.     

Addition law structure of elliptic curves

The study of alternative models for elliptic curves has found recent interest from cryptographic applications, after it was recognized that such models provide more efficiently computable algorithms for the group law than the standard Weierstrass model. Examples of such models arise via symmetries induced by a rational torsion structure. We analyze the module structure of the space of sections of the addition morphisms, determine explicit dimension formulas for the spaces of sections and their eigenspaces under the action of torsion groups, and apply this to specific models of elliptic curves with parametrized torsion subgroups.     

Corner ion,edge-center ion,and face-center ion Madelung expressions for sodium chloride

Building on work of Tyagi (Progr Theor Phys 114(3):517–521, 2005), we present expressions for calculating the corner ion, edge-center ion, and face-center ion Madelung constants for bulk sodium chloride crystals.