Gradient-prolongation commutativity and graph theory

This Note gives conditions that must be imposed to algebraic multilevel discretizations involving at the same time nodal and edge elements so that a gradient-prolongation commutativity condition will be satisfied; this condition is very important, since it characterizes the gradients of coarse nodal functions in the coarse edge function space. They will be expressed using graph theory and they provide techniques to compute approximation bases at each level.Comment: 6 page

The good faith principle in contract law and the precontractual duty to disclose: comparative analysis of new differences in legal cultures.

The purpose of this paper is to delineate new similarities and future differences between legal systems, using pre-contractual liability and good faith. Instead of focusing on the differences between common law and civil law, we focus our attention on the gap between Europe, England included, and United States. All over Europe, under the influence of good faith jurisprudence, duty to inform has been extremely broadened. Contemporary debate confirms that European Legal Academia overemphasizes the importance of the quest for central common principles of European private law, like Good Faith and obligation de renseignement, and ignores questions regarding cost-benefit effects of disclosure, parties informational rent seeking and general policy considerations. A stereotyped legal doctrine, concentrating on the influence of EU directives on national legal system and, in some cases, unification as a forthcoming national-positive law can create an undesirable effect in the creation of future case law.

Disinflationary boom in a price-wage spiral model

This paper analyses the impact of the disinflation policy timing on the sign and the magnitude of the sacrifice ratio in a modified price and wage staggered model of Blanchard (1986). When wages are updated every four quarters and prices every two quarters, we show that a “cold-turkey” disinflation is associated to an output boom when the policy is implemented during the last period of life of the wage contract and a recession the other quarters.Disinflation policy, Shock timing, Sacrifice ratio, Price and wage staggered contracts.

The Dynamic Properties of Alternative Assumptions on Price Adjustment in New Keynesian Models

This paper presents a classification of the different new Phillips curves existing in the literature as a set of choices based on three assumptions: the choice of the structure of price adjustments (Calvo or Taylor), the presence of backward indexation, and the type of price contracts (fixed prices or predetermined prices). The paper suggests study of the dynamic properties of each specification, following different monetary shocks on the growth rate of the money stock. We develop the analytical form of the price dynamics, and we display graphics for the responses of prices, output, and inflation. We show that the choice made for each of the three assumptions has a strong influence on the dynamic properties. Notably, the choice of the price structure, while often considered as unimportant, is indeed the most influential choice concerning the dynamic responses of output and inflation.New Keynesian Phillips Curves, Taylor Price Rule, Calvo Price Rule, Fixed Prices, Predetermined Prices, Disinflation policy.

Bone conductive implants in single sided deafness

Conclusion: The Bone Conductive Implants (BCI) showed to partly restore some of the functions lost when the binaural hearing is missing, such as in the single-sided deafness (SSD) subjects. The adoption of the single BCI needs to be advised by the clinician on the ground of a thorough counselling with the SSD subject. Objectives: To perform an overview of the present possibilities of BCI in SSD and to evaluate the reliability of the audiological evaluation for assessing the speech recognition in noise and the sound localization cues, as major problems related to the loss of binaural hearing. Method: Nine SSD subjects who underwent BCI implantation underwent a pre-operative audiological evaluation, consisting in the soundfield speech audiometry, as word recognition score (WRS) and sound localization, in quiet and in noise. Moreover, they were also tested for the accuracy of directional word recognition in noise and with the subjective evaluation with APHAB questionnaire. Results: The mean maximum percentage of word discrimination was 65.5% in the unaided condition and 78.9% in the BCI condition. The sound localization in noise with the BCI was better than the unaided condition, especially when stimulus and noise were on the same side of the implanted ear. The accuracy of directional word recognition showed to improve with BCI in respect to the unaided condition, in the BCI side, with either the stimulus on the implanted ear and the noise in the contralateral ear, or when both stimulus and noise were deliver to implanted ear

Contamination des eaux souterraines par des pesticides: cartes de risque et d'incertitudes

Une procédure d'évaluation régionale des risques de contamination des eaux souterraines par des pesticides a été développée et appliquée à une partie de la plaine du Rhône valaisanne. La combinaison d'une application stochastique (Monte–Carlo) de modèles déterministes simulant localement le devenir de pesticides et des techniques d'interpolation géostatistique permet d'évaluer également les incertitudes entachant les prédictions effectuées. Les divers types de modèles utilisés (solution analytique et résolution numérique de l'équation de convection-dispersion, modèle capacitif) conduisent en général à des résultats très similaires. Les cartes obtenues montrent que le risque de contamination est très élevé. Les incertitudes sont d'un ordre de grandeur similaire, i.e. ± 0.2-0.3 pour des indices de risque compris dans l'intervalle [0,1]. Ces incertitudes proviennent à raison d'environ 40-50 % des propriétés des pesticides et d'environ 30-40 % de la profondeur de la nappe phréatique, le 20 % restant étant dû aux incertitudes entachant les caractéristiques des sols, essentiellement leurs teneurs en carbone organique.A method to assess groundwater vulnerability to pesticide contamination on a regional scale has been developed and applied to the Rhone river valley in Valais. Uncertainties regarding vulnerability predictions were accounted for by combining local stochastic simulations, i.e. one-dimensional deterministic pesticide fate models used in a Monte–Carlo process, and interpolation by geostatistical tools. Due to the characteristics of the dataset, several preliminary operations were required including:- a statistical analysis of soil sample data to derive a probabilistic relationship between soil classes and hydrodynamic properties, - an estimation of the relevant water table depths at soil profile locations by cokriging the minimal and maximal water table heights measured in neighboring wells, - and an analysis of the climate data provided by two stations located close to the study area. In the Monte–Carlo process, soils were described by the probability density functions of particle size distribution and organic carbon content as derived for each soil class from soil sample data and by an empirical uniform distribution of dispersivity. The parameters of moisture retention curves and hydraulic conductivity versus water content relationships were derived using various pedotransfer functions. Water table depth was described by a uniform distribution within the range defined by its minimum and maximum values while empirical uniform distributions outlined the properties of three generic pesticides. The important spatial variations in climate along the valley were accounted for by linear interpolation between the data from the two stations. The three selected simulation models were an analytical solution of the convection–dispersion equation (attenuation factor), a tipping bucket model (Leach–A) and a numerical solution of the convection–dispersion equation (Leach–M). Model sensitivity analysis using Latin hypercube sampling along with multiple regression showed that pesticide properties (degradation rate, partition coefficient), organic carbon content and water table depth are the most important variables regarding cumulative (10 year) pesticide fluxes to the groundwater. This analysis also stressed the weak effect of soil hydrodynamic characteristics. Besides, the Latin hypercube sampling technique proved to be very effective in reducing the number of simulations required by the Monte–Carlo process to something manageable. The five simulated cases were:1. all uncertainties included, 2. fixed pesticide properties, 3. fixed pesticide properties and water table depth, 4. same as 3 but with empirical distributions for soil characteristics 5. same as 3 but with constant average climate conditions. In all cases, the fractiles of the locally simulated distributions show the same spatial pattern, i.e. all their variograms and cross variograms are proportional to the same model. Due to this intrinsic coregionalization property, interpolation may be achieved by kriging independently the various fractiles rather than by cokriging simultaneously all of them. However, integration of spatial uncertainty by sequential gaussian simulation has not been achieved due to excessive computer lasting. The resulting maps show that groundwater vulnerability is very high. Uncertainties are almost of the same order of magnitude, i.e. ± 0.2 for vulnerability indices ranging within the [0, 1] interval. Uncertainties on pesticide properties and water table depth account each for some 40 % of the resulting uncertainty while the variability in organic carbon content accounts for the remaining 20 %. All model outcomes were quite similar, except in the case of the less persistent pesticide with the attenuation factor. The dominant variables are the degradation rate and the partition coefficient of the pesticide, the organic carbon content of the soil and water table depth. Climate is of course the governing process, but 10 to 20 % variations do not significantly affect the predicted cumulative pesticide fluxes. Availability of soil sample data regarding particle size distribution as well as pedotransfer functions has little effect on the resulting vulnerability assessments

Compatible Coarse Nodal and Edge Elements Through Energy Functionals

23 pagesInternational audienceWe propose new algorithms for the setup phase of algebraic multigrid AMG) solvers for linear systems coming from edge element discretization. The construction of coarse levels is performed by solving an optimization problem with a Lagrange multiplier method: we minimize the energy of coarse bases under a constraint linking coarse nodal and edge element bases. On structured meshes, the resulting AMG method and the geometric multigrid method behave similarly as preconditioners. On unstructured meshes, the convergence rate of our method compares favorably with the AMG method of Reitzinger and Schöberl

500 penile prostheses implanted by a surgeon in Italy in the last 30 years

OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study was to report our experience with patients affected by Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and undergoing penile prosthetic implantation (PPI) in a single center by a single surgeon. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical outcome of 500 patients (mean age: 51.5 years, range: 20-86 years) affected by ED and referred to our private andrological center from January 1984 to December 2013 who underwent penile prosthesis implantation, including the reported level of patient satisfaction. RESULTS: 182 silicone, 180 malleable, 18 monocomponent hydraulic and 120 multicomponents hydraulic prostheses were implanted by the same experienced surgeon. All patients were hospitalized for the procedure. All patients were evaluated immediately, 1 month (496 patients) and, for the great majority, every year after implantation. One hundred twenty five patients were lost to follow-up. Twenty two patients underwent revision surgery for complications in the postoperative period. The most serious postoperative complications were mechanical problems (45 patients, 9.0%) and infection (15 patients, 3%). Forty two (8.4%) prostheses were explanted. Overall, 80% (400/500) of patients were able to have sexual intercourse and were fully satisfied with the results. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience prosthetic surgery should be considered a good solution for men affected by ED and not responsive to other therapeutic solutions. Prosthetic surgery can be performed not only in large public hospitals but also in smaller private facilities