EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF A COMPUTATIONAL PROGRAM FOR SIMULATING HYBRID SOLAR AND GAS WATER HEATING SYSTEMS

This work presents the methodology and results of the validation of a computer program for the simulation of water heating systems combining solar energy and gas. Two experimental systems, named series and parallel, were assembled. These systems have the same components, differing on how they are connected. All the components were individually characterized and their parameters determined. Simulations of the behavior of the thermal tank, gas heater and solar collector were performed and confronted to experimental data. The results show that the simulation program “AQUESOLGAS” can accurately describe the behavior of water heating systems with solar energy and gas

An evaluation framework for event detection using a morphological model of acoustic scenes

This paper introduces a model of environmental acoustic scenes which adopts a morphological approach by ab-stracting temporal structures of acoustic scenes. To demonstrate its potential, this model is employed to evaluate the performance of a large set of acoustic events detection systems. This model allows us to explicitly control key morphological aspects of the acoustic scene and isolate their impact on the performance of the system under evaluation. Thus, more information can be gained on the behavior of evaluated systems, providing guidance for further improvements. The proposed model is validated using submitted systems from the IEEE DCASE Challenge; results indicate that the proposed scheme is able to successfully build datasets useful for evaluating some aspects the performance of event detection systems, more particularly their robustness to new listening conditions and the increasing level of background sounds.Research project partly funded by ANR-11-JS03-005-01

EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF A COMPUTATIONAL PROGRAM FOR SIMULATING HYBRID SOLAR AND GAS WATER HEATING SYSTEMS

This work presents the methodology and results of the validation of a computer program for the simulation of water heating systems combining solar energy and gas. Two experimental systems, named series and parallel, were assembled. These systems have the same components, differing on how they are connected. All the components were individually characterized and their parameters determined. Simulations of the behavior of the thermal tank, gas heater and solar collector were performed and confronted to experimental data. The results show that the simulation program “AQUESOLGAS” can accurately describe the behavior of water heating systems with solar energy and gas

Numerical simulations of compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence in stratified fluids

We present results from numerical simulations of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence, performed using a recently proposed lattice Boltzmann method able to describe consistently a thermal compressible flow subject to an external forcing. The method allowed us to study the system both in the nearly-Boussinesq and strongly compressible regimes. Moreover, we show that when the stratification is important, the presence of the adiabatic gradient causes the arrest of the mixing process.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Proceedings of II Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond (TMB-2009

Bias in protein and potassium intake collected with 24-h recalls (EPIC-Soft) is rather comparable across European populations

Purpose: We investigated whether group-level bias of a 24-h recall estimate of protein and potassium intake, as compared to biomarkers, varied across European centers and whether this was influenced by characteristics of individuals or centers. Methods: The combined data from EFCOVAL and EPIC studies included 14 centers from 9 countries (n = 1,841). Dietary data were collected using a computerized 24-h recall (EPIC-Soft). Nitrogen and potassium in 24-h urine collections were used as reference method. Multilevel linear regression analysis was performed, including individual-level (e.g., BMI) and center-level (e.g., food pattern index) variables. Results: For protein intake, no between-center variation in bias was observed in men while it was 5.7% in women. For potassium intake, the between-center variation in bias was 8.9% in men and null in women. BMI was an important factor influencing the biases across centers (p <0.01 in all analyses). In addition, mode of administration (p = 0.06 in women) and day of the week (p = 0.03 in men and p = 0.06 in women) may have influenced the bias in protein intake across centers. After inclusion of these individual variables, between-center variation in bias in protein intake disappeared for women, whereas for potassium, it increased slightly in men (to 9.5%). Center-level variables did not influence the results. Conclusion: The results suggest that group-level bias in protein and potassium (for women) collected with 24-h recalls does not vary across centers and to a certain extent varies for potassium in men. BMI and study design aspects, rather than center-level characteristics, affected the biases across center

A morphological model for simulating acoustic scenes and its application to sound event detection

This paper introduces a model for simulating environmental acoustic scenes that abstracts temporal structures from audio recordings. This model allows us to explicitly control key morphological aspects of the acoustic scene and to isolate their impact on the performance of the system under evaluation. Thus, more information can be gained on the behavior of an evaluated system, providing guidance for further improvements. To demonstrate its potential, this model is employed to evaluate the performance of nine state of the art sound event detection systems submitted to the IEEE DCASE 2013 Challenge. Results indicate that the proposed scheme is able to successfully build datasets useful for evaluating important aspects of the performance of sound event detection systems, such as their robustness to new recording conditions and to varying levels of background audio.This paper introduces a model for simulating environmental acoustic scenes that abstracts temporal structures from audio recordings. This model allows us to explicitly control key morphological aspects of the acoustic scene and to isolate their impact on the performance of the system under evaluation. Thus, more information can be gained on the behavior of an evaluated system, providing guidance for further improvements. To demonstrate its potential, this model is employed to evaluate the performance of nine state of the art sound event detection systems submitted to the IEEE DCASE 2013 Challenge. Results indicate that the proposed scheme is able to successfully build datasets useful for evaluating important aspects of the performance of sound event detection systems, such as their robustness to new recording conditions and to varying levels of background audio

Production, characterization, and antigen specificity of recombinant 62-71-3, a candidate monoclonal antibody for rabies prophylaxis in humans

Rabies kills many people throughout the developing world every year. The murine monoclonal antibody (mAb) 62-71-3 was recently identified for its potential application in rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP). The purpose here was to establish a plant-based production system for a chimeric mouse-human version of mAb 62-71-3, to characterize the recombinant antibody and investigate at a molecular level its interaction with rabies virus glycoprotein. Chimeric 62-71-3 was successfully expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Glycosylation was analyzed by mass spectroscopy; functionality was confirmed by antigen ELISA, as well as rabies and pseudotype virus neutralization. Epitope characterization was performed using pseudotype virus expressing mutagenized rabies glycoproteins. Purified mAb demonstrated potent viral neutralization at 500 IU/mg. A critical role for antigenic site I of the glycoprotein, as well as for two specific amino acid residues (K226 and G229) within site I, was identified with regard to mAb 62-71-3 neutralization. Pseudotype viruses expressing glycoprotein from lyssaviruses known not to be neutralized by this antibody were the controls. The results provide the molecular rationale for developing 62-71-3 mAb for rabies PEP; they also establish the basis for developing an inexpensive plant-based antibody product to benefit low-income families in developing countries.—Both, L., van Dolleweerd, C., Wright, E., Banyard, A. C., Bulmer-Thomas, B., Selden, D., Altmann, F., Fooks, A. R., Ma, J. K.-C. Production, characterization, and antigen specificity of recombinant 62-71-3, a candidate monoclonal antibody for rabies prophylaxis in humans

DNA Asymmetric Strand Bias Affects the Amino Acid Composition of Mitochondrial Proteins

Variations in GC content between genomes have been extensively documented. Genomes with comparable GC contents can, however, still differ in the apportionment of the G and C nucleotides between the two DNA strands. This asymmetric strand bias is known as GC skew. Here, we have investigated the impact of differences in nucleotide skew on the amino acid composition of the encoded proteins. We compared orthologous genes between animal mitochondrial genomes that show large differences in GC and AT skews. Specifically, we compared the mitochondrial genomes of mammals, which are characterized by a negative GC skew and a positive AT skew, to those of flatworms, which show the opposite skews for both GC and AT base pairs. We found that the mammalian proteins are highly enriched in amino acids encoded by CA-rich codons (as predicted by their negative GC and positive AT skews), whereas their flatworm orthologs were enriched in amino acids encoded by GT-rich codons (also as predicted from their skews). We found that these differences in mitochondrial strand asymmetry (measured as GC and AT skews) can have very large, predictable effects on the composition of the encoded proteins