Forces on Centrifugal Pump Impellers

Forces are exerted on a centrifugal pump impeller, due to the asymmetry of the flow caused by the volute of diffuser, and to the motion of the center of the impeller whenever the shaft whirls. Recent work in the measurement of these forces as a function of the whirl speed to shaft speed ratio, and the influence of the volute, is reviewed. These forces may be decomposed into a steady force, a static stiffness matrix, a damping matrix and an inertia matrix. It is shown that for centrifugal pumps of the moderate specific speed typical of boiler feed stages, there is a region of potential shaft vibration excitation from the hydrodynamic forces if the operating speed is well above the first flexural critical speed

Biomass-based residues valorization for the removal of sertraline from waters by adsorption

Pharmaceutical drugs reach the environment through several anthropogenic sources being scattered and accumulated across flora, fauna and all types of aquifers. Many of these compounds are intensively worldwide medical prescribed for the relief of most common diseases related with modern society, such as hormones, antidepressants, analgesics, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, among others. Sertraline is a pharmaceutical drug used for the relief of depressive severe situations. Recent studies refer that some compounds belonging to this pharmaceutical class of drugs, despite of its very low level of concentration in water can be responsible for several and severe side-effects in the environmental fauna and flora based on toxicity and risk predictions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fluctuating Dark Energy and the Luminosity Distance

The origin of dark energy driving the accelerated expansion of the universe is still mysterious. We explore the possibility that dark energy fluctuates, resulting in spatial correlations. Due to these fluctuations, the Hubble rate itself becomes a fluctuating quantity. We discuss the effect this has on measurements of type Ia supernovae, which are used to constrain the luminosity distance. We show that the luminosity distance is affected by spatial correlations in several ways. First, the luminosity distance becomes dressed by the fluctuations, thereby differing from standard $\Lambda$CDM. Second, angular correlations become visible in the two-point correlation function of the luminosity distance. To investigate the latter we construct the angular power spectrum of luminosity distance fluctuations. We then perform a forecast for two supernova surveys, the ongoing Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), and compare this effect with relativistic lensing effects from perturbed $\Lambda$CDM. We find that the signal can rise above the lensing effects and that LSST could test this effect for a large part of the parameter space. As an example, a specific realisation of such a scenario is that quantum fluctuations of some field in the early universe imprint spatial correlations with a predictable form in the dark energy density today. In this case, the Hubble rate fluctuates due to the intrinsic quantum nature of the dark energy density field. We study whether the signal of this specific model would be measurable, and conclude that testing this model with LSST would be challenging. However, taking into account a speed of sound $c_s<1$ of the dark energy fluid can make this model observable.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figure

The Influence of Quadrature Errors on Isogeometric Mortar Methods

Mortar methods have recently been shown to be well suited for isogeometric analysis. We review the recent mathematical analysis and then investigate the variational crime introduced by quadrature formulas for the coupling integrals. Motivated by finite element observations, we consider a quadrature rule purely based on the slave mesh as well as a method using quadrature rules based on the slave mesh and on the master mesh, resulting in a non-symmetric saddle point problem. While in the first case reduced convergence rates can be observed, in the second case the influence of the variational crime is less significant

Smoothened receptor signaling regulates the developmental shift of GABA polarity in rat somatosensory cortex.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordSonic Hedgehog (Shh) and its patched-smoothened receptor complex control a variety of functions in the developing central nervous system such as neural cell proliferation and differentiation. Recently, Shh signaling components have been found to be expressed at the synaptic level in the postnatal brain, suggesting a potential role in the regulation of synaptic transmission. Using in utero electroporation of constitutively active and negative-phenotype forms of the Shh signal transducer smoothened (Smo), we studied the role of Smo signaling in the development and maturation of GABAergic transmission in the somatosensory cortex. Our results show that enhancing Smo activity during development accelerates the shift from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing GABA in dependence on functional expression of potassium-chloride cotransporter type 2 (KCC2). On the other hand, blocking Smo activity maintains GABA response in a depolarizing state in mature cortical neurons resulting in altered chloride homeostasis and increased seizure susceptibility. This study reveals an unexpected function of Smo signaling on the regulation of chloride homeostasis through the control of KCC2 cell surface stability and on the timing of the GABA inhibitory/excitatory shift in brain maturation

Reduced basis isogeometric mortar approximations for eigenvalue problems in vibroacoustics

We simulate the vibration of a violin bridge in a multi-query context using reduced basis techniques. The mathematical model is based on an eigenvalue problem for the orthotropic linear elasticity equation. In addition to the nine material parameters, a geometrical thickness parameter is considered. This parameter enters as a 10th material parameter into the system by a mapping onto a parameter independent reference domain. The detailed simulation is carried out by isogeometric mortar methods. Weakly coupled patch-wise tensorial structured isogeometric elements are of special interest for complex geometries with piecewise smooth but curvilinear boundaries. To obtain locality in the detailed system, we use the saddle point approach and do not apply static condensation techniques. However within the reduced basis context, it is natural to eliminate the Lagrange multiplier and formulate a reduced eigenvalue problem for a symmetric positive definite matrix. The selection of the snapshots is controlled by a multi-query greedy strategy taking into account an error indicator allowing for multiple eigenvalues

A FETI method with a mesh independent condition number for the iteration matrix

We introduce a framework for FETI methods using ideas from the decomposition via Lagrange multipliers of H1 0 (Ω) derived by Raviart-Thomas [22] P.-A. Raviart, J.-M. Thomas, Primal Hybrid Finite Element Metho and complemented with the detailed work on polygonal domains developed by Grisvard [17] P. Grisvard, Singularities in Boundary value problems. Recherches en Mathématiques Appliquées, 22. Masson, 1992.. We compute the action of the Lagrange multipliers using the natural H 1/2 00 scalar product, therefore no consistency error appears. As a byproduct, we obtain that the condition number for the iteration matrix is independent of the mesh size and there is no need for preconditioning. This result improves the standard asymptotic bound for this condition number shown by Mandel-Tezaur in [19] J. Mandel, R. Tezaur, Convergence of a substructuring method with Lagrange multipliers. Numer. Math., 73 (1996), 473–487. Numerical results that confirm our theoretical analysis are presented.Nous proposons une nouvelle approche des méthodes FETI: la décomposition de domaine fait appel aux multiplicateurs de Lagrange tels qu’introduits par Raviart-Thomas [22] P.-A. Raviart, J.-M. Thomas, Primal Hybrid Finite Element Methods for second order eliptic equations. Math. Comp., 31 (1977), 391-413 et au traitement des domaines polygonaux dù á Grisvard [17] P. Grisvard, Singularities in Boundary value problems. Recherches en Mathématiques Appliquées, 22. Masson, 1992. Ces multiplicateurs utilisent le produit scalaire de H 1/2 00, de sorte qu’aucune erreur de consistance n’apparaît. En outre, nous prouvons que le nombre de condition de la matrice liée à chaque itération est indépendant de la taille du maillage, ce qui améliore le résultat de Mandel-Tezaur [19] J. Mandel, R. Tezaur, Convergence of a substructuring method with Lagrange multipliers. Numer. Math., 73 (1996), 473–487; par suite, aucun préconditionnement n’est nécessaire. Nous présentons des expériences numériques qui confirment notre analyse.Ministerio de Educación y Cienci

Ptch2/Gas1 and Ptch1/Boc differentially regulate Hedgehog signalling in murine primordial germ cell migration.

Gas1 and Boc/Cdon act as co-receptors in the vertebrate Hedgehog signalling pathway, but the nature of their interaction with the primary Ptch1/2 receptors remains unclear. Here we demonstrate, using primordial germ cell migration in mouse as a developmental model, that specific hetero-complexes of Ptch2/Gas1 and Ptch1/Boc mediate the process of Smo de-repression with different kinetics, through distinct modes of Hedgehog ligand reception. Moreover, Ptch2-mediated Hedgehog signalling induces the phosphorylation of Creb and Src proteins in parallel to Gli induction, identifying a previously unknown Ptch2-specific signal pathway. We propose that although Ptch1 and Ptch2 functionally overlap in the sequestration of Smo, the spatiotemporal expression of Boc and Gas1 may determine the outcome of Hedgehog signalling through compartmentalisation and modulation of Smo-downstream signalling. Our study identifies the existence of a divergent Hedgehog signal pathway mediated by Ptch2 and provides a mechanism for differential interpretation of Hedgehog signalling in the germ cell niche

Prior Mating Experience Modulates the Dispersal of Drosophila in Males More Than in Females

Cues from both an animal’s internal physiological state and its local environment may influence its decision to disperse. However, identifying and quantifying the causative factors underlying the initiation of dispersal is difficult in uncontrolled natural settings. In this study, we automatically monitored the movement of fruit flies and examined the influence of food availability, sex, and reproductive status on their dispersal between laboratory environments. In general, flies with mating experience behave as if they are hungrier than virgin flies, leaving at a greater rate when food is unavailable and staying longer when it is available. Males dispersed at a higher rate and were more active than females when food was unavailable, but tended to stay longer in environments containing food than did females. We found no significant relationship between weight and activity, suggesting the behavioral differences between males and females are caused by an intrinsic factor relating to the sex of a fly and not simply its body size. Finally, we observed a significant difference between the dispersal of the natural isolate used throughout this study and the widely-used laboratory strain, Canton-S, and show that the difference cannot be explained by allelic differences in the foraging gene

Weakly Consistent Regularisation Methods for Ill-Posed Problems

This Chapter takes its origin in the lecture notes for a 9 h course at the Institut Henri Poincaré in September 2016. The course was divided in three parts. In the first part, which is not included herein, the aim was to first recall some basic aspects of stabilised finite element methods for convection-diffusion problems. We focus entirely on the second and third parts which were dedicated to ill-posed problems and their approximation using stabilised finite element methods. First we introduce the concept of conditional stability. Then we consider the elliptic Cauchy-problem and a data assimilation problem in a unified setting and show how stabilised finite element methods may be used to derive error estimates that are consistent with the stability properties of the problem and the approximation properties of the finite element space. Finally, we extend the result to a data assimilation problem subject to the heat equation