Numerical simulation of left ventricular assist device implantations: comparing the ascending and the descending aorta cannulations.

In this work we present numerical simulations of continuous flow left ventricle assist device implantation with the aim of comparing difference in flow rates and pressure patterns depending on the location of the anastomosis and the rotational speed of the device. Despite the fact that the descending aorta anastomosis approach is less invasive, since it does not require a sternotomy and a cardiopulmonary bypass, its benefits are still controversial. Moreover, the device rotational speed should be correctly chosen to avoid anomalous flow rates and pressure distribution in specific location of the cardiovascular tree. With the aim of assessing the differences between these two approaches and device rotational speed in terms of flow rate and pressure waveforms, we set up numerical simulations of network of one-dimensional models where we account for the presence of an outflow cannula anastomosed to different locations of the aorta. Then, we use the resulting network to compare the results of the two different cannulations for several stages of heart failure and different rotational speed of the device. The inflow boundary data for the heart and the cannulas are obtained from a lumped parameters model of the entire circulatory system with an assist device, which is validated with clinical data. The results show that ascending and descending aorta cannulations lead to similar waveforms and mean flow rate in all the considered cases. Moreover, regardless of the anastomosis region, the rotational speed of the device has an important impact on wave profiles; this effect is more pronounced at high RPM.

Estudio de parámetros circuitales de resonadores

El objetivo de este proyecto consiste en el estudio de los parámetros circuitales (condensadores, bobinas…) de un resonador, realizado con estructuras microstrip, donde permita obtener unos resultados de esos parámetros circuitales cambiando los valores físicos del diseño, tales como la longitud y la anchura del resonador a partir de las medidas de los parámetros S. Para llevar a cabo dicho trabajo, se desarrolla en primer lugar toda la teoría necesaria de resonadores. Empezando por el funcionamiento y la estructura del resonador diseñado, y mostrando especial interés en el modelado de dicho resonador. Seguidamente, se estudia y analiza su comportamiento a través de las simulaciones de los parámetros S. Una vez se ha estudiado y analizado su comportamiento, se procede con las modificaciones de los parámetros físicos y se analiza a través de las simulaciones de los parámetros S cómo afectan estas modificaciones en los parámetros circuitales. Donde se utilizan una serie de herramientas que agilizan la extracción de los valores de los parámetros circuitales del resonador.

Detecting the number of clusters of individuals using the software STRUCTURE: a simulation study.

The identification of genetically homogeneous groups of individuals is a long standing issue in population genetics. A recent Bayesian algorithm implemented in the software STRUCTURE allows the identification of such groups. However, the ability of this algorithm to detect the true number of clusters (K) in a sample of individuals when patterns of dispersal among populations are not homogeneous has not been tested. The goal of this study is to carry out such tests, using various dispersal scenarios from data generated with an individual-based model. We found that in most cases the estimated 'log probability of data' does not provide a correct estimation of the number of clusters, K. However, using an ad hoc statistic DeltaK based on the rate of change in the log probability of data between successive K values, we found that STRUCTURE accurately detects the uppermost hierarchical level of structure for the scenarios we tested. As might be expected, the results are sensitive to the type of genetic marker used (AFLP vs. microsatellite), the number of loci scored, the number of populations sampled, and the number of individuals typed in each sample.

Simulation of amoxicillin pharmacokinetics in humans for the prevention of streptococcal endocarditis in rats.

The pharmacokinetic determinants of successful antibiotic prophylaxis of endocarditis are not precisely known. Differences in half-lives of antibiotics between animals and humans preclude extrapolation of animal results to human situations. To overcome this limitation, we have mimicked in rats the amoxicillin kinetics in humans following a 3-g oral dose (as often used for prophylaxis of endocarditis) by delivering the drug through a computerized pump. Rats with catheter-induced vegetations were challenged with either of two strains of antibiotic-tolerant viridans group streptococci. Antibiotics were given either through the pump (to simulate the whole kinetic profile during prophylaxis in humans) or as an intravenous bolus which imitated only the peak level of amoxicillin (18 mg/liter) in human serum. Prophylaxis by intravenous bolus was inoculum dependent and afforded a limited protection only in rats challenged with the minimum inoculum size infecting > or = 90% of untreated controls. In contrast, simulation of kinetics in humans significantly protected animals challenged with 10 to 100 times the inoculum of either of the test organisms infecting > or = 90% of untreated controls. Thus, simulation of the profiles of amoxicillin prophylaxis in human serum was more efficacious than mere imitation of the transient peak level in rats. This confirms previous studies suggesting that the duration for which the serum amoxicillin level remained detectable (not only the magnitude of the peak) was an important parameter in successful prophylaxis of endocarditis. The results also suggest that single-dose prophylaxis with 3 g of amoxicillin in humans might be more effective than predicted by conventional animal models in which only peak levels of antibiotic in human serum were stimulated.

Geo Tools Android : eines geogràfiques per Android

En aquest treball es fa un anàlisi de l'aplicació OSMDroid i d'altres aplicacions i llibreries SIG rellevants per al sistema operatiu Android.

Creación de una web de gestión de álbumesfotográficos utilizando tecnología Java EE

El present treball de fi de carrera es planteja en base a l'anàlisi, planificació i desenvolupament d'una aplicació web basada en el model Java EE i que permetrà als usuaris del sistema la creació de col leccions digitals de fotografies.

Disseny i implementació d'un marc de treball de presentació per aplicacions J2EE

Estudi i desenvolupament de frameworks de presentació sota la tecnologia J2EE. Anàlisi de les eines existents i construcció d'una proposta pròpia en base a les conclusions obtingudes.

Creació d'una eina en Java que a partir d'OWL i JESS generi SCORM

Aquest projecte consisteix en generar un programa escrit en llenguatge Java, que utilitzant un motor d'inferència a través d'una llibreria anomenada JESS, pugui llegir un document en format OWL que és una representació de l'ontologia (representació del coneixement) sobre una assignatura, transformant-lo al format de triples que és capaç d'interpretar JESS.

Anàlisi, disseny i implementació d'una pàgina web i de la gestió del seu contingut mitjançant Java/J2EE.

Els principals objectius del TFC ha estat l'anàlisi, disseny i implementació d'una web per a una empresa d'automoció i donar-li a l'empresa la capacitat de gestionar el contingut de la web, cosa que fins ara no podia fer. To això utilitzant la tecnologia Java i J2EE.

JWQ : Java WebQuest

L¿objectiu principal d¿aquest projecte és el de donar resposta a la necessitat de uncol·lectiu de professors i alumnes de magisteri de disposar d¿una eina de pràctiques per larealització de WebQuests.

Desarrollo para Internet con tecnología Java : Sistema de reservas para hoteles

En aquest projecte es presenta la creació d'un sistema de reserves per a hotels orientat a Internet que utilitza tecnologia Java. D'una manera especial, s'exposen les tecnologies J2EE, que es poden aplicar des de dos vessants diferents: en primer lloc, des del vessant d'implementació amb tecnologies J2EE, i, en segon lloc, des del vessant d'arquitectura J2EE, amb les diferents solucions aplicables per a cada capa de negoci.

Regional-scale integration of multi-scale hydrological and geophysical data using a two-step Bayesian sequential simulation approach

Significant progress has been made with regard to the quantitative integration of geophysical and hydrological data at the local scale for the purpose of improving predictions of groundwater flow and solute transport. However, extending corresponding approaches to the regional scale still represents one of the major challenges in the domain of hydrogeophysics. To address this problem, we have developed a regional-scale data integration methodology based on a two-step Bayesian sequential simulation approach. Our objective is to generate high-resolution stochastic realizations of the regional-scale hydraulic conductivity field in the common case where there exist spatially exhaustive but poorly resolved measurements of a related geophysical parameter, as well as highly resolved but spatially sparse collocated measurements of this geophysical parameter and the hydraulic conductivity. To integrate this multi-scale, multi-parameter database, we first link the low- and high-resolution geophysical data via a stochastic downscaling procedure. This is followed by relating the downscaled geophysical data to the high-resolution hydraulic conductivity distribution. After outlining the general methodology of the approach, we demonstrate its application to a realistic synthetic example where we consider as data high-resolution measurements of the hydraulic and electrical conductivities at a small number of borehole locations, as well as spatially exhaustive, low-resolution estimates of the electrical conductivity obtained from surface-based electrical resistivity tomography. The different stochastic realizations of the hydraulic conductivity field obtained using our procedure are validated by comparing their solute transport behaviour with that of the underlying ?true? hydraulic conductivity field. We find that, even in the presence of strong subsurface heterogeneity, our proposed procedure allows for the generation of faithful representations of the regional-scale hydraulic conductivity structure and reliable predictions of solute transport over long, regional-scale distances.

Testing advances in molecular discrimination among Chinook salmon life histories: evidence from a blind test.

The application of DNA-based markers toward the task of discriminating among alternate salmon runs has evolved in accordance with ongoing genomic developments and increasingly has enabled resolution of which genetic markers associate with important life-history differences. Accurate and efficient identification of the most likely origin for salmon encountered during ocean fisheries, or at salvage from fresh water diversion and monitoring facilities, has far-reaching consequences for improving measures for management, restoration and conservation. Near-real-time provision of high-resolution identity information enables prompt response to changes in encounter rates. We thus continue to develop new tools to provide the greatest statistical power for run identification. As a proof of concept for genetic identification improvements, we conducted simulation and blind tests for 623 known-origin Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to compare and contrast the accuracy of different population sampling baselines and microsatellite loci panels. This test included 35 microsatellite loci (1266 alleles), some known to be associated with specific coding regions of functional significance, such as the circadian rhythm cryptochrome genes, and others not known to be associated with any functional importance. The identification of fall run with unprecedented accuracy was demonstrated. Overall, the top performing panel and baseline (HMSC21) were predicted to have a success rate of 98%, but the blind-test success rate was 84%. Findings for bias or non-bias are discussed to target primary areas for further research and resolution.

Gestió de factures electròniques amb .NET (Visual Studio Tools for Office)

Creació d¿un software de gestió de factures electròniques desenvolupat en aquesta plataforma tecnològica, amb indicació expressa d¿utilització de les eines VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) en la seva última versió.

Generació automàtica de codi per aplicacions MVC amb AndroMDA i WebML

Aquest treball es centra es dues eines MDA: AndroMDA i WebML, amb les que es pretén generar una aplicació web basada en una arquitectura MVC. La introducció en el coneixement d'aquestes dues eines, es fa partint d'una visió global de l'arquitectura MDA, mostrant el seu funcionament, per a continuació passar a avaluar un conjunt d'eines MDA, de cara a realitzar una classificació en funció de les seves característiques.