1,721,059 research outputs found

    Mitral valve dynamics in structural and fluid-structure interaction models

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    Modelling and simulation of heart valves is a challenging biomechanical problem due to anatomical variability, pulsatile physiological pressure loads and 3D anisotropic material behaviour. Current valvular models based on the finite element method can be divided into: those that do model the interaction between the blood and the valve (fluid-structure interaction or 'wet' models) and those that do not (structural models or 'dry' models). Here an anatomically sized model of the mitral valve has been used to compare the difference between structural and fluid-structure interaction techniques in two separately simulated scenarios: valve closure and a cardiac cycle. Using fluid-structure interaction, the valve has been modelled separately in a straight tubular volume and in a U-shaped ventricular volume, in order to analyse the difference in the coupled fluid and structural dynamics between the two geometries. The results of the structural and fluid-structure interaction models have shown that the stress distribution in the closure simulation is similar in all the models, but the magnitude and closed configuration differ. In the cardiac cycle simulation significant differences in the valvular dynamics were found between the structural and fluid-structure interaction models due to difference in applied pressure loads. Comparison of the fluid domains of the fluid-structure interaction models have shown that the ventricular geometry generates slower fluid velocity with increased vorticity compared to the tubular geometry. In conclusion, structural heart valve models are suitable for simulation of static configurations (opened or closed valves), but in order to simulate full dynamic behaviour fluid-structure interaction models are required

    Fluid-structure interaction study of the edge-to-edge repair technique on the mitral valve

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    The effect of functional mitral regurgitation has been investigated in an anatomically sized, fluid-structure interaction mitral valve model, where simulated correction has been performed by applying: (1) edge-to-edge repair with annuloplasty and (2) edge-to-edge repair only. Initially defined in an open unstressed/corrected configuration, fluid-structure interaction simulations of diastole have been performed in a rigid ventricular volume. Comparison of the maximum principal stresses (during diastole) in the normal and repaired models has shown that the magnitude of stress in the repaired scenarios is ~200% greater. The combined edge-to-edge and annuloplasty procedure was found to spread the induced stresses across the free margin of the leaflets, whereas without annuloplasty a localised stress concentration in the region of the suture was observed. Fluid flow downstream of the corrected configurations was able to achieve the same magnitude as in the normal case, although the flow rate was impaired. The maximum flow rate was found to be reduced by 44-50% with the peak flow rate shifted from the end of the diastole in the normal case to the start in the repaired cases. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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