Scientific, societal and pedagogical approaches to tackle the impact of climate change on marine pollution.

Marine pollution impacts coastal nations around the world, and more so: (a) in confined maritime areas with significant marine traffic, (b) where exploitation of natural and mineral resources is taking place, or (c) in regions witnessing pressure from tourism, local population growth, and industry. In this work, Digital Elevation Models, hydrographic, and climatic data are used together with computer simulations to understand the control of climate change on marine pollution. The results show that different climate change signals can potentially alter the flow and concentration of pollution in the European Seas, when compared to the present day. Ultimately, this work identifies the main sources of marine pollution as: (1) rivers and streams near cities and industrialised areas, (2) coastal areas experiencing sudden demographic pressures, (3) offshore shipping lanes in which oil and other marine debris are released, and (4) areas of rugged seafloor where industrial fishing takes place. This paper finishes by describing new educational material prepared to teach school children around the world. It explains why how a new training curriculum and e-game developed by Sea4All can be crucial in future Environmental Education and Education for a Sustainable Development.

Viscoplastic Couette Flow in the Presence of Wall Slip with Non-Zero Slip Yield Stress.

The steady-state Couette flow of a yield-stress material obeying the Bingham-plastic constitutive equation is analyzed assuming that slip occurs when the wall shear stress exceeds a threshold value, the slip (or sliding) yield stress. The case of Navier slip (zero slip yield stress) is studied first in order to facilitate the analysis and the discussion of the results. The different flow regimes that arise depending on the relative values of the yield stress and the slip yield stress are identified and the various critical angular velocities defining those regimes are determined. Analytical solutions for all the regimes are presented and the implications for this important rheometric flow are discussed.

Hemodynamics in stenotic vessels of small diameter under steady state conditions: Effect of viscoelasticity and migration of red blood cells.

BACKGROUND: In microcirculation, the non-Newtonian behavior of blood and the complexity of the microvessel network are responsible for the high flow resistance and the large reduction of the blood pressure. Red blood cell aggregation along with inward radial migration are two significant mechanisms determining the former. Yet, their impact on hemodynamics in non-straight vessels is not well understood. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the steady state blood flow in stenotic rigid vessels is examined, employing a sophisticated non-homogeneous constitutive law. The effect of red blood cells migration on the hydrodynamics is quantified and the constitutive model's accuracy is evaluated. METHODS: A numerical algorithm based on the two-dimensional mixed finite element method and the EVSS/SUPG technique for a stable discretization of the mass and momentum conservation equations in addition to the constitutive model is employed. RESULTS: The numerical simulations show that a cell-depleted layer develops along the vessel wall with an almost constant thickness for slow flow conditions. This causes the reduction of the drag force and the increase of the pressure gradient as the constriction ratio decreases. CONCLUSIONS: Viscoelastic effects in blood flow were found to be responsible for steeper decreases of tube and discharge hematocrits as decreasing function of constriction ratio.

The effect of head rotation on the geometry and hemodynamics of healthy vertebral arteries.

The geometric and hemodynamic characteristics of the left and right vertebral arteries (LVA, RVA) of six healthy volunteers were investigated for the supine (S) and the prone position (P) a common sleeping posture with head rotation. MRI images were used to reconstruct the subject specific three-dimensional solid models of the LVA and RVA from the level of the carotid bifurcation to the vertebrobasilar junction (VJ). Geometric parameters such as cross sectional area ratio, curvature, tortuosity and branch angle were estimated. MR-PCA was used to obtain the blood flow waveforms for the two positions and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were used to assess the flow field in terms of wall shear stress (WSS) relative residence times (RRT) and localized normalized helicity (LNH). Significant geometric changes but moderate flow changes were observed for both vertebral arteries with head rotation. The CFD results at the VJ show that head rotation causes changes in the WSS distribution, RRT and LNH. Further studies are warranted to assess the clinical significance of the results in terms of atherosclerosis development at the VJ and how the observed geometric changes may affect blood flow to the brain in healthy subjects and vertebral artery stenosis patients, and in terms of increased rapture susceptibility in vertebrobasilar aneurysm patients.

Impact of head rotation on the individualized common carotid flow and carotid bifurcation hemodynamics.

This paper aims at evaluating the changes that head rotation poses on morphological and flow characteristics of the carotid bifurcation (CB) and on the distribution of parameters that are regarded as important in atherosclerosis development, such as relative particle residence time (RRT), normalized oscillatory shear index (nOSI), and helicity (HL). Using a subject-specific approach, six healthy volunteers were MR-scanned in two head postures: supine neutral and prone with rightward head rotation. Cross-sectional flow velocity distribution was obtained using phase-contrast MRI at the common carotid artery (CCA). Our results indicate that peak systolic flow rate is reduced at the prone position in most cases for both CCAs. Morphological MR images are used to segment and construct the CB models. Numerical simulations are performed and areas exposed to high helicity or unfavorable hemodynamics are calculated. Head rotation affects the instantaneous spatial extent of high helicity regions. Posture-related observed differences in the distribution of nOSI and RRT suggest that inlet flow waveform tends to moderate geometry-induced changes in the qualitative and quantitative distribution of atherosclerosis-susceptible wall regions. Overall, presented results indicate that an individualized approach is required to fully assess the postural role in atherosclerosis development and in complications arising in stenotic and stented vessels.

Effect of head posture on the healthy human carotid bifurcation hemodynamics.

Head and neck postures may cause morphology changes to the geometry of the carotid bifurcation (CB) that alter the low and oscillating wall shear stress (WSS) regions previously reported as important in the development of atherosclerosis. Here the right and left CB were imaged by MRI in two healthy subjects in the neutral head posture with the subject in the supine position and in two other head postures with the subject in the prone position: (1) rightward rotation up to 80°, and (2) leftward rotation up to 80°. Image-based computational models were constructed to investigate the effect of posture on arterial geometry and local hemodynamics. The area exposure to unfavorable hemodynamics, based on thresholds set for oscillatory shear index (OSI), WSS and relative residence time, was used to quantify the hemodynamic impact on the wall. Torsion of the head was found to: (1) cause notable changes in the bifurcation and internal carotid artery angles and, in most cases, on cross-sectional area ratios for common, internal and external carotid artery, (2) change the spatial distribution of wall regions exposed to unfavorable hemodynamics, and (3) cause a marked change in the hemodynamic burden on the wall when the OSI was considered. These findings suggest that head posture may be associated with the genesis and development of atherosclerotic disease as well as complications in stenotic and stented vessels.

Effect of posture change on the geometric features of the healthy carotid bifurcation.

Segmented cross-sectional MRI images were used to construct 3-D virtual models of the carotid bifurcation in ten healthy volunteers. Geometric features, such as bifurcation angle, internal carotid artery (ICA) angle, planarity angle, asymmetry angle, tortuosity, curvature, bifurcation area ratio, ICA/common carotid artery (CCA), external carotid artery (ECA)/CCA, and ECA/ICA diameter ratios, were calculated for both carotids in two head postures: 1) the supine neutral position; and 2) the prone sleeping position with head rotation to the right ( ∼ 80°). The results obtained have shown that head rotation causes 1) significant variations in bifurcation angle [32% mean increase for the right carotid (RC) and 21% mean decrease for the left carotid (LC)] and internal carotid artery angle (97% mean increase for the RC, 43% mean decrease for the LC); 2) a slight increase in planarity and asymmetry angles for both RC and LC; 3) minor and variable curvature changes for the CCA and for the branches; 4) slight tortuosity changes for the braches but not for the CCA; and 5) unsubstantial alterations in area and diameter ratios (percentage changes %). The significant geometric changes observed in most subjects with head posture may also cause significant changes in bifurcation hemodynamics and warrant future investigation of the hemodynamic parameters related to the development of atherosclerotic disease such as low oscillating wall shear stress and particle residence times.