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Leisure boats market has constantly grown during the\ud recent years, entailing an increasing need of design tools. This seems particularly urgent for seakeeping and hydrodynamic performance prediction in the field of planing boats.\ud Numerical methodologies are almost consolidated\ud instruments for conventional displacement ships, while some\ud shortcomings are still to be faced and overcome concerning\ud planing craft, due to the high complexity of the hydrodynamic\ud problem.\ud The present paper describes a simplified methodology for\ud the prediction of pitch, heave and roll motions of a planing\ud boat, in regular and irregular waves. In the formulation, a 2D\ud approach is adopted, based on ‘momentum theory’; various\ud aspects of the wedge-theory are used in order to model the\ud sectional characteristics, with particular attention to the added mass.\ud A validation of the proposed methodology concerning vertical\ud motions is presented against data available in literature

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The comparison of hemodilution at the end of surgery is of limited use as it represents only a snapshot of a dynamic phenomenon. This study was undertaken to compare the perioperative hemoglobin curves of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting performed with minimized extracorporeal circulation, traditional cardiopulmonary bypass, and off-pump technique. The propensity score method was used to select three groups of patients, homogenous regarding preoperative and operative data, who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. A generalized linear mixed model was used for estimating differences in perioperative hemoglobin trends among groups. The three groups were each composed of 50 patients with no differences in demographic data, preoperative risk profile, preoperative hemoglobin, or type of surgery. There was no significant difference in major postoperative complications. The pattern of the hemodilution curves was similar in patients operated with mini-circuit and off-pump technique (P > 005). Mini-circuit led to a 3.1 ± 11.9% hemoglobin reduction, which was similar to the off-pump group (1.6 ± 8.9%, P = 0.99 at ANOVA) and significantly different from the standard extracorporeal circuit group (16.0 ± 10.3%, P < 0.001 at ANOVA). The generalized linear mixed model determined that the standard circuit was the only independent predictor for increased hemodilution. Its effect on hemodilution was time-dependent and the slope of the hemoglobin curve was more pronounced between systemic heparinization and the end of surgery. Perioperative hemoglobin trends of patients who underwent myocardial revascularization with mini-circuit were similar to those of off-pump surgery and significantly less pronounced than those of standard extracorporeal circulation.

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In the international regulation framework, the energy-efficient operation of ships is becoming standard. In this respect, restrictions on new construction appear to encourage improvement to existing vessels often equipped with outdated technologies. One of the relevant aspects of propulsion plant design and fleet management is the propulsion need to accomplish the design requirements in a wide set of sea states or in conflicting operative conditions (e.g., laden/ballast, sailing/trawling), requiring very different performances. A preliminary assessment of the energy efficiency of the ship system is then crucial for optimizing both the operating costs and the impact on the sea environment. A new efficiency assessment method that includes engine fuel consumption evaluated by ad hoc statistic regressions and ship resistance in calm water and in waves computed by a 3-D boundary element method is proposed. An application to a hard-chine 18 m trawler is proposed as part of a wider decision support system or weather routing algorithm.