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The COVID-19 pandemic recently challenges worldwide health system. Many countries have been establishing several rules in order to fight against the expected exponentially growth of affected people. After some weeks hospital bed occupancy started to grow because of infected people and this demand can potentially overlap hospital bed capacity. In this scenario, doctors would have to decide who should be treated and patients without adequate treatment can increase number of deaths. Thus, in order to avoid that patient demand overlap hospital bed capacity, this research propose a forecast and simulation approach in order to provide the number of intensive care beds and health care professionals that could be available in a short-term of 21 days ahead taking into account 3 patient demand scenarios. This research is applied to Rio de Janeiro city (Brazil) and all records were retrieved from Rio de Janeiro public database. Hospital length of stay (LOS) records were obtained with Rio de Janeiro City Health Department (RJHD). We concluded that to open the number of new intensive care unit (UCI) beds proposed by the government is lower than expected admission on the worst scenario.

Arapaima gigas is the largest freshwater bony fish in the world, in which adults could weigh 200 kg and measure 3 m in length. Due to its large size and its low-fat meat, Arapaima gigas has quickly become a species of special interest in fish-farming. One challenge faced during their production is the lack of an efficient sexing methodology, since their sexual maturation occurs late (around the third to the fifth year) and the genetic mechanisms linked to their sex determination system are not known yet. For a more sustainable management, it is of paramount importance to seek an effective and non-invasive method to differentiate sexually juvenile individuals of Arapaima gigas. For this, the establishment of genetic markers associated with sexual differentiation would be an advantageous tool. In this study, we proposed a k-mer based approach to identify genome features with sex-determining properties. For this purpose, we used genomic data from six adult representatives of Arapaima gigas, three males and three females, and counted the k-mers comprising them. As result, we found k-mers from repetitive regions with high difference and disproportion in the count among individuals of the opposite sex. These differences in the k-mer-based genomic composition could indicate the existence of genetic factors involved in the sexing of individuals in Arapaima gigas.

Patient demand arrival prediction is a critical problem to emergencies departments (EDs) that must delivery timely and adequate treatment to meet patient needs. High accuracy on patient demand forecasting allows ED managers to better size and allocate health care professionals. Besides patients can arrive any time expecting for quickly medical assistance, ED managers must provide efficient resource planning in order to fulfill that expectance limited by balance financial budgets. In this paper, the problem of ED patient arrival forecast is proposed as a planning tool allowing ED managers to better prepare short- and long-term staffing policies for the coming demand variations. We apply statistical time series techniques on four EDs historical data to catch patient demand pattern arrival behavior hourly, weekly and yearly all over the time and, thereafter, we forecast them one year ahead. The hourly forecasted patient demand pointed out the grown of pediatrician service while physician service decreases over the time. In addition, forecasted results shows that health care professionals which work on night shifts will find more variation in patient demand than professionals which work on morning shifts.

Air turbines are commonly used in Oscillating Water Column (OWC) devices for wave energy conversion. This chapter presents a proposed methodology to simulate the performance of an OWC turbine through the implementation of an Actuator Disk Model (ADM) in Fluent\(^{\circledR }\). A set of different regular wave tests are developed in a 2D numerical wave flume. The model is tested using the information analysed from experimental tests on a Wells type turbine, carried out in wind tunnel. Linear response is achieved in terms of pressure drop and air flow in all cases, proving effectively the actuator disk model applicability to OWC devices.

This chapter presents a numerical model to analyse the effects of changes in the bedforms morphology on Oscillating Water Column (OWC) wave energy devices. The model was developed in FLUENT\(^{\circledR }\) and based on the Actuator Disk Model theory to simulate the turbine performance. The seabed forms were reproduced with the morphodynamic model XBeach-G for a series of characteristic sea states in Playa Granada (southern Spain). These bedforms were used as input bed geometries in FLUENT\(^{\circledR }\) and compared with a hypothetical flat seabed to analyse the effects of changes in bed level on the OWC performance. Results of the simulated sea states reveal the influence of the seabed morphology in the power take–off performance, affecting the relationship between pressure drop and air flow rate through the turbine. Energy dissipation was found to be directly dependent on the bedforms unit volume. This lead to lower mean efficiencies for the cases with evolved morphologies (up to \(15\%\)) compared to those obtained for the hypothetical flat cases (\(19\%\)). The effects of seabed formations on the power take–off performance presented in this chapter can be of interest in planning control strategies for OWC devices.

Many worldwide coasts are under erosion with climate projections indicating that damages will rise in future decades. Specifically, deltaic coasts are highly vulnerable systems due to their low-lying characteristics. This chapter investigates the role of wave energy converter (WEC) farms on the protection of an eroding gravel-dominated deltaic coast (Guadalfeo, southern Spain). Eight scenarios with different alongshore locations of the wave farm were defined and results were compared with the present (no farm) configuration of the coast. Assuming that storm conditions drive the main destruction to the coast, we analysed the impact of the most energetic storm conditions and quantified the effects of the location of the farm. Significant wave heights in the lee of the farm were calculated by means of a calibrated wave propagation model (Delft3D-Wave); whereas wave run-up and morphological changes in eight beach profiles were quantified by means of a calibrated morphodynamic model (XBeach-G). The farm induces average reductions in significant wave heights at 10 m water depth and wave run-up on the coast down to 18.3% and 10.6%, respectively, in the stretch of beach most affected by erosion problems (Playa Granada). Furthermore, the erosion of the beach reduces by 44.5% in Playa Granada and 23.3% in the entire deltaic coast. Combining these results with previous works at the study site allowed selecting the best alternative of wave farm location based not only on coastal protection but also on energetic performance criteria. This chapter, whose methodology is feasibly extensible to other coasts worldwide, provides insights into the role of the alongshore location of WEC farms on wave propagation, run-up and morphological storm response of deltaic coasts.

Oscillating Water Column (OWC) are devices for wave energy extraction equipped with turbines for energy conversion. The purpose of the present chapter is to study the thermodynamic of a real gas flow through the turbine and its differences with respect to the ideal gas hypothesis, with the final goal to be applied to OWC systems. The effect of moisture in the air chamber of the OWC entails variations on the atmospheric conditions near the turbine, modifying its performance and efficiency. In this chapter the influence of humid air in the performance of the turbine is studied. Experimental work is carried out and a real gas model is asserted, in order to take a first approach to quantify the extent of influence of the air-water vapour mixture in the turbine performance. The application of a real gas model and the experimental study confirmed the deviations of the turbine performance from the expected values depending on flow rate, moisture and temperature.

When waves propagate from deep water toward the coast, they modify their properties due to their interaction with the seabed. The Mediterranean basin is characterized by narrow and complex inner shelves that influence the properties of the nearshore waves. This chapter models the wave propagation patterns at the two study sites and highlights the importance of the role played by the inner shelves in the coastal hydrodynamics. A calibrated wave propagation numerical model is applied for that purpose. The results reveal the importance of the feedback process between the forcing (mainly nearshore waves) and the morphological response (changes in the bathymetry) in the evolution of these systems.

The evolution of the coastline is mainly driven by the gradients in the longshore sediment transport (LST). These gradients are mostly influenced by the incoming waves and the morphology of the coastline. Traditionally, the coastline is assumed to be quasi-rectilinear, and the formulations are not valid for curved shorelines. This chapter presents a new expression that not only accounts for the curvature of the shoreline but also includes the variability of the sediment size that is typically found along Mediterranean coasts. It is later applied to the study sites described in Chap. 2, and the relation between LST trends and coastline evolution is analyzed and discussed for both sites.

This chapter addresses the changes in the morphology and sedimentology of a micro-tidal mixed sand and gravel beach (Playa Granada, southern Spain) forced by wave and water-level variations, and human intervention through nourishment. Monthly and storm event-driven beach surveys, consisting of topographical measurements and sediment sampling in two selected areas, were carried out over a one-year period. Three prevailing sediment fractions (sand, fine gravel and coarse gravel) and two end-member morphological states of the upper beach profile (convex with multiple berms and concave with a single storm berm) were identified. Between them, several transitional profiles were formed, characterized by developing berms that progressively overlapped, generating sediment variability both across the beach profile and with depth. The results indicate that the total run-up (including water-level) reached during an event represents a more accurate threshold for differentiating between erosional and depositional conditions than wave height. They also suggest that mixed sand and gravel beaches recover faster from storm erosion than sandy beaches. The long-term benefit of the artificial nourishment that took place at the end of the survey period was very limited and this is attributed to the too fine sediment used for the nourishment and its placement too high on the beach. Clearly, nourishment interventions must take into account the natural sediment distribution and the profile shape to avoid rapid losses of the nourished sediment.

The use of PLM tools is widely spread in the aeronautical industry. Although scheduling and line balancing have remained aside these tools for long, they are being developed in the recent years. They need to tackle with complex resource constrained scheduling problems. In this work we present a simulation model we have developed for evaluating the robustness of a baseline scheduling for an aero structure assembly line. To begin with, we have identified and quantified the main causes of the disruptions. Then we have created a discrete event simulation model of the production line to take everything into consideration, and then run several experiments to evaluate different production planning obtained with the different methodologies and the impact of failures in the deliveries of finished products. Also, different scenarios in terms of failure quantity and typology have been studied.

Undulation fields found on Mediterranean prodeltaic slopes usually display sub-surface precursory features recognized through seismic profiling and sediment core data. In this contribution we examine the stratigraphic patterns of sub-surface undulations occurring in wedge-shaped Holocene deposits that are in agreement with the episodic activity of hyperpycnal flows. Shallow sub-surface undulation facies show two fundamental features: lateral continuity of reflections and upward migration trends. Upward evolutionary trends may also be observed at the scale of the entire prodeltaic wedges. The most simple cases document repeated wavy stratified patterns or upward transition from sub-parallel to undulate. In some cases, however, the upward evolution can be very complex, with several stages ranging from non-development of undulations to pronounced wave migration, in addition to intermediate aggradational stages. Sedimentologically, sets of undulations exhibit variations between coarse and fine fractions. The sub-surface stratigraphic patterns of prodeltaic undulations are suggestive of enhanced development during evolving environmental conditions, mediated by the alternation of wet and dry climates characteristic of Mediterranean regions. Those conditions would have eventually favoured the activity of episodic hyperpycnal flows. Lateral changes of the internal undulation patterns also reveal the modification of fluvial flows and their imprint in the submarine environment.

Fields of submarine undulations occurring over prodeltaic slopes may be caused in some circumstances by the imprint of high-density sediment flows (i.e. hyperpycnal flows). This is the case of numerous Mediterranean settings, where marked seasonal climates and abrupt inshore physiography are conducive to the generation of these flows. In this contribution we examine the morphological patterns of undulations that are compatible with such an origin. Prodeltaic undulations occur off the offlap breaks on relatively low slopes (1°–2°) and show dominance of landward-directed forms. Morphological parameters of undulations such as heights, widths and lengths exhibit distinctive dimensions and tend to follow consistent patterns around nearby river mouths. In particular, height distributions tend to follow symmetric patterns, and vertical form indexes are lower than those of other sediment waves with a different genesis. These observations are compatible with geological processes under the influence of high-density sediment flows, such as different deposition rates due to enhanced bedload transport. Lateral changes of river mouths involving modifications of sediment flows are also imprinted in the geomorphological parameters of this kind of undulation.

Scheduling is becoming much more important in every industry. However, the standard RCSP usually does not cover all the characteristics of real world problems. In this work, we present an Event Based MILP formulation for a Multimode Resource Constraint Scheduling Problem of direct application for some industries, as aeronautical assembly lines. Taking as a starting point one of the last MILP formulations for standard RCSP, our contribution is to provide a formulation which covers the multimode case and more general temporal constraints than the ones usually referred to in the literature.