Vibrational excitation of diatomic molecular ions in strong-field ionization of diatomic molecules

A model based on the strong-field and Born-Oppenheimer approximations qualitatively describes the distribution over vibrational states formed in a diatomic molecular ion following ionization of the neutral molecule by intense laser pulses. Good agreement is found with a recent experiment [X. Urbain et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 163004 (2004)]. In particular, the observed deviation from a Franck-Condon-like distribution is reproduced. Additionally, we demonstrate control of the vibrational distribution by a variation of the peak intensity or a change of frequency of the laser pulse.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

A New Application of Current Conveyors: The Design of Wideband Controllable Low-Noise Amplifiers

The aim of this paper is three-fold. First, it reviews the low-noise amplifier and its relevance in wireless communications receivers. Then it presents an exhaustive review of the existing topologies. Finally, it introduces a new class of LNAs, based on current conveyors, describing the founding principle and the performances of a new single-ended LNA. The new LNAs offer the following notable advantages: total absence of passive elements (and the smallest LNAs in their respective classes); wideband performance, with stable frequency responses from 0 to 3 GHz; easy gain control over wide ranges (0 to 20 dB). Comparisons with other topologies prove that the new class of LNA greatly advances the state of the art

Effect of Changing the Vocal Tract Shape on the Sound Production of the Recorder: An Experimental and Theoretical Study

Changing the vocal tract shape is one of the techniques which can be used by the players of wind instruments to modify the quality of the sound. It has been intensely studied in the case of reed instruments but has received only little attention in the case of air-jet instruments. This paper presents a first study focused on changes in the vocal tract shape in recorder playing techniques. Measurements carried out with recorder players allow to identify techniques involving changes of the mouth shape as well as consequences on the sound. A second experiment performed in laboratory mimics the coupling with the vocal tract on an artificial mouth. The phase of the transfer function between the instrument and the mouth of the player is identified to be the relevant parameter of the coupling. It is shown to have consequences on the spectral content in terms of energy distribution among the even and odd harmonics, as well as on the stability of the first two oscillating regimes. The results gathered from the two experiments allow to develop a simplified model of sound production including the effect of changing the vocal tract shape. It is based on the modification of the jet instabilities due to the pulsating emerging jet. Two kinds of instabilities, symmetric and anti-symmetric, with respect to the stream axis, are controlled by the coupling with the vocal tract and the acoustic oscillation within the pipe, respectively. The symmetry properties of the flow are mapped on the temporal formulation of the source term, predicting a change in the even / odd harmonics energy distribution. The predictions are in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations

Synchronization of Sound Sources

Sound generation and -interaction is highly complex, nonlinear and self-organized. Already 150 years ago Lord Rayleigh raised the following problem: Two nearby organ pipes of different fundamental frequencies sound together almost inaudibly with identical pitch. This effect is now understood qualitatively by modern synchronization theory (M. Abel et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 119(4), 2006). For a detailed, quantitative investigation, we substituted one pipe by an electric speaker. We observe that even minute driving signals force the pipe to synchronization, thus yielding three decades of synchronization -- the largest range ever measured to our knowledge. Furthermore, a mutual silencing of the pipe is found, which can be explained by self-organized oscillations, of use for novel methods of noise abatement. Finally, we develop a specific nonlinear reconstruction method which yields a perfect quantitative match of experiment and theory.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Étude du colmatage de membranes d'osmose inverse utilisées pour la préparation des eaux de dialyse rénale

L'osmose inverse est l'élément clef de la production d'eau ultrapure servant dans la préparation du liquide de dialyse rénale. Le vieillissement des membranes d'osmose inverse se traduit par une dérive croissante de la conductivité en sortie de membrane et par une augmentation de la teneur en bactéries dans le perméat délivré en sortie d'osmose inverse, entraînant un risque de contamination pour le patient.Les suivis en conductivité et numérations bactériennes dans la chaîne de production d'eau osmosée de l'Hôpital de Colmar (France) montre un fort dysfonctionnement au niveau des prétraitements et notamment du charbon actif, siège d'une importante prolifération bactérienne (2.3 103 colonies pour 100 ml en amont du charbon actif , 1.1 105 pour 100 ml en aval). Une étude de corrélations entre entrée et sortie d'osmoseurs montre que la forte teneur en germes en sortie du charbon actif est directement responsable de la présence des bactéries dans le perméat.Des tests hydrauliques effectués sur les membranes après quatre années d'utilisation intensive (6500 heures par an), permettent d'identifier les mécanismes prépondérants de vieillissement et de colmatage des membranes utilisées à l'hôpital de Colmar (compaction, formation d'un dépôt et altération de structure).Afin d'identifier les substances colmatantes non retenues par le prétraitement, le film colmatant est analysé par analyse élémentaire, spectrophotométrie infrarouge, diffraction X et zêtamétrie, ce qui nous a permis de mettre en évidence la présence notamment d'argiles, de silice et de substances humiques.The use of reverse osmosis to produce ultrapure water for kidney patients is very prevalent at the present time. About 20000 patients are treated every day in France and the cost of treatment is estimated at 10 thousand million French francs. The patients are provided with a permeate which in principle contains neither ions nor bacteria, which can cause disease and irreversible alteration of the upper-arm articulations. After several months of utilization, the presence of a foulant deposit and biofilm proliferation is often noted on the thin layered active surface of the polyamide membranes. In many cases, the membrane may become irreversibly fouled and require replacement.The aim of this work was to determine the causes of membrane fouling at a reverse osmosis plant in "Hôpital Pasteur" (Colmar, France). First we analyzed the ion-rejection capacity of membranes and the evolution of conductivity over 200 weeks. We observed an increasing drift in conductivity, which could not be halted by cleaning and regeneration procedures. In the second phase of the study, we carried out microbiological studies at many sampling points of the ultrapure water plant in "Hôpital Pasteur". We noted a very important proliferation of bacteria downstream of the pretreatments. The activated charcoal unit is responsible for this problem (2.3 x 103 UFC / 100 mL upstream from the activated charcoal bed, 1.1 x 105 UFC / 100 mL downstream). We noted an important dysfunction in the pretreatment, essentially attributable to the activated charcoal (bacteria) and the resins (silica).We performed tests with x-ray diffraction as a rapid method to determine the crystalline forms present. In the foulant deposits, we found quartz and clay. Infrared spectroscopy is useful in determining the type of organic constituents; in our deposits we noted the presence of humic materials. The analysis of those deposits gave essentially carbon and silicon. The foulant deposits were of organic and crystalline origins

Influence de l'origine et de la nature des substances humiques sur l'adsorption de l'atrazine sur charbon actif en poudre

Les essais d'adsorption sur charbon actif en poudre, de sept acides humiques (H) ou fulviques (F) et pour trois pH (5,6 ; 7,0 ; 8,8) marquent que ces acides ont un comportement différent suivant leur origine.Lorsque le pH de la suspension de charbon est basique, l'adsorption des différentes fractions humiques diminue, ce qui est en relation avec l'augmentation de leur solubilité. Pour un même pH de la suspension, les acides humiques et fulviques d'origine aqueuse s'adsorbent mieux que ceux d'origine commerciale ou que ceux extraits de sol.La capacité maximale d'adsorption de l'atrazine sur charbon actif en poudre : 260 mg.g-1 (Langmuir), est plus fortement diminuée en présence d'acides fulviques que d'acides humiques d'une part, et plus inhibée (jusqu'à 40 %) par les acides fulviques extraits d'eau (F1, F2) que par ceux extraits de sol (F3) d'autre part.Par contre, les acides humiques provenant de substances commerciales (H4, H5) influencent moins l'adsorption de l'atrazine.L'ensemble des essais montre que l'origine et la nature des substances humiques joue un rôle prépondérant sur l'adsorption de l'atrazine sur charbon actif, le pH ayant une influence limitée.Enfin l'étude de l'influence de l'atrazine sur l'adsorption des substances humiques sur charbon actif en poudre indique également une différence de comportement entre les acides fulviques, pour lesquels on note peu de variation, et les acides humiques, pour lesquels on note à la fois une promotion de l'adsorption et une meilleure affinité d'adsorption sur le charbon actif en poudre en présence d'atrazine.Ce travail met en évidence l'importance du choix des substances humiques pour des essais d'évaluation des interactions substances humiques - pesticides lors de l'adsorption sur charbon actif en poudre.Though the subject was copiously and oldly studied, this work is bringing a new contribution to the study of the influence of the origin and the nature upon their properties and in particular with atrazine, the more used herbicide these fast years.In order to study this influence of the origin and nature of various humic substances upon the removal of atrazine by adsorption onto powdered activated carbon (PAC), humic substances were obtained from different sources :- Natural aquatic fulvic (F1) and humic (H1) acids isolated from Beaune Lake (Limoges, France).- Natural aquatic fulvic (F2) and humic (H2) acids extracted from hydroxyde sludges of the water treatment plant of La Bastide (Limoges, France).- Soil fulvic acids (F3) extracted from a canadian top soil horizon.- Commercial humic acids (Aldrich. H4 and Jansen H5) obtained from commercial sodium humates.The results of adsorption test of humic acids, fulvic acids and atrazine (alone or together) onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) at three different pH (5,6 ; 7,0 ; 8,8) were expressed by Freundlich's and Langmuir’s models and permitted us to note that :- According to the increasing of water solubility of humic substances with basic pH, their adsorption was better in acidic medium.- Natural aquatic humic substances (H1, H2, F1, F2) were more adsorbed onto PAC than humic substances tram soil (H3) or commercial origines (H4, H5).- Atrazine adsorption capacity was 260 mg.g-1 according to Langmuir's model.- Atrazine adsorption decreased with F1 for all pH ; the same result was also observed with the other natural aquatic humic substances.- Commercial humic acids didn’t importantly affect atrazine adsorption. These differences appeared to be derived from the nature and the origin of fulvic and humic acids. The rose of atrazine on the humic substances adsorption showed a difference between humic and fulvic acids whose adsorption was not influenced by atrazine even humic acids only presented an increasing of adsorption.All these results showed the importance of the selection of humic substances to evaluate the interaction SH-Pesticides during adsorption onto PAC and let us think to a competitive adsorption between fulvic acids and atrazine onto PAC

Synchronization of organ pipes: experimental observations and modeling

We report measurements on the synchronization properties of organ pipes. First, we investigate influence of an external acoustical signal from a loudspeaker on the sound of an organ pipe. Second, the mutual influence of two pipes with different pitch is analyzed. In analogy to the externally driven, or mutually coupled self-sustained oscillators, one observes a frequency locking, which can be explained by synchronization theory. Further, we measure the dependence of the frequency of the signals emitted by two mutually detuned pipes with varying distance between the pipes. The spectrum shows a broad ``hump'' structure, not found for coupled oscillators. This indicates a complex coupling of the two organ pipes leading to nonlinear beat phenomena.Comment: 24 pages, 10 Figures, fully revised, 4 big figures separate in jpeg format. accepted for Journal of the Acoustical Society of Americ