Acoustic-roughness receptivity in subsonic boundary-layer flows over aerofoils

The generation of a viscous–inviscid instability through scattering of an acoustic wave by localised and distributed roughness on the upper surface of a NACA 0012 aerofoil is studied with a time-harmonic compressible adjoint linearised Navier–Stokes approach. This extends previous work by the authors dedicated to flat plate geometries. The key advancement lies in the modelling of the inviscid acoustic field external to the aerofoil boundary layer, requiring a numerical solution of the convected Helmholtz equation in a non-uniform inviscid field to determine the unsteady pressure field on the curved aerofoil surface. This externally imposed acoustic pressure field subsequently drives the acoustic boundary layer, which fundamentally determines the amplitudes of acoustic-roughness receptivity. A study of receptivity in the presence of Gaussian-shaped roughness and sinusoidally distributed roughness at Mach number M∞ = 0.4 and Strouhal numbers S ≈ {46, 69, 115} shows the effects of various parameters, most notably angle of attack, angle of incidence of the externally imposed plane acoustic wave and geometry of surface roughness; the latter is varied from viewpoint of its placement on the aerofoil surface and its wavelength. The parametric study suggests that non-parallel effects are quite substantial and that considerable differences arise when using parallel flow theory to estimate the optimal width of Gaussian-shaped roughness elements to provoke the greatest response. Furthermore, receptivity amplitudes for distributed roughness are observed to be generally higher for lower angles of attack, i.e. for less adverse pressure gradients. It is also shown that the boundary layer is more receptive to upstream-travelling acoustic waves

Le comportement d'un système hydrologique en climat méditerranéen par l'analyse corrélatoire et spectrale des débits et des pluies. Cas de trois sous bassins sud-méditerranéens : (oued Sebdou, Moulah et Isser - Tafna - NW Algérie)

Les analyses corrélatoire et spectrale des chroniques de la pluie (entrée) et de débits (sortie) journaliers enregistrés au niveau des trois bassins sud méditerranéens Sebdou, Mouilah et Isser durant un seul cycle hydrologique nous ont permis d’obtenir des informations sur le fonctionnement de ces systèmes hydrologiques. Bien que la structure du signal « pluie » semble présenter les mêmes caractéristiques pour les trois bassins, le signal de sortie « débit » indique que l’oued Sebdou réagit différemment par rapport aux oueds Mouilah et Isser.The aim of this work was to show that correlation and spectral analyses can be used to understand the functioning of hydrological systems. Accordingly, a study was carried out on three southern Mediterranean basins: Sebdou; Mouilah and Isser; located in the north western of Algeria. (Figure 1). Correlation and spectral analyses of daily rainfall and discharge rates for one hydrological cycle were carried out.Simple analysisSimple analysis of rainfall showed that the correlograms (Figure 2) decreased rapidly for the three basins, reaching a value of 0.2 within 1-2 days. This result indicated that rainfall was a quasi-random phenomenon. The variance density spectrum (Figure 3) showed that the rainfall distribution was not monotonous and presented a “Leigh” signal structure.The simple analysis of discharge rates indicated that the Sebdou system was different. The correlogram (Figure 4a) decreased quickly, characterising independent events without memory and with non-significant amounts of water. However, the Mouilah and Isser correlograms (Figure 4 b,c) decreased slowly. They represent important memory effects with regulation of significant amounts of water. The spectral band (Figure 5) confirmed that the Sebdou system did not modify the input information. The regulation time was about 5 d for Sebdou, 21 and 43 d respectively for Mouilah and Isser.Cross analysisThe correlograms (Figure 6) show that the Mouilah and Isser rivers have a great buffering ability. The Sebdou River was characterised by a composite response of the surface flow and an important groundwater flow. The amplitude function (Figure 7) indicated that the Sebdou system had good inertia. The lag time (Figure 8) was 9, 2 and 5 days respectively for the Sebdou, Mouilah and Isser rivers. The amplification and attenuation of the input signal (Figure 10) show that the Sebdou basin is the most karstified system. The non-linearity of the relationship between rainfall and discharge was expressed by the coherence coefficient (Figure 9), which was lower than 1

Optimization of conditions for in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

Pollen germination and pollen tube growth might have a significant effect on fruit and seed production. This study was conducted to investigate the best medium for pollen germination and pollen tube growth of date palm male. Significant differences in percentages of pollen germination and pollen tube growth were observed between mediums. The use agar-based medium containing 5% of sucrose, 0.20 g/l boric acid, 0.42 g/l calcium nitrate, 0.1 g/l potassium nitrate and 0.22 g/l magnesium sulfate gave the best results in terms of germination and/or tube growth. The germination percentage was declined with polyethylene glycol and naphthaleneacetic acid, and inhibited completely with fructose, glucose and date extract. These results could have  implications not only for optimizing pollen management in date palm but also to select the best pollinizer for this specie.Keywords:<i> In vitro</i> pollen germination; Sucrose; Fructose; Glucose;  Naphthaleneacetic acid; basal medium

Passivity voltage based control of the boost power converter used in photovoltaic system

Introduction. This paper presents a robust nonlinear control of the DC-DC boost converter feeding by a photovoltaic system based on the passivity control. The control law design uses the passivity approach. Novelty. The novelty consists in designing a control law for a photovoltaic system using a passivity approach based on energy shaping and associated with damping injection. Purpose. The purpose consists to develop a tool for design and optimize a control law of the photovoltaic system in order to improve its efficiency under some conditions such as the variations of the temperature, the irradiation and the parameters. Also, the control law design should be simple with a lower overshoot and a shorter settling time. Methods. This work uses the port Hamiltonian mathematical approach with minimization of the energy dissipation in boost converter of the photovoltaic system to illustrate the modification of energy and generate a specify duty cycle applied to the converter. Results. The results with MATLAB/SimPowerToolbox® have proven the robustness against parameter variations and effectiveness of the proposed control. Practical value. The experimental results, carried out using a dSPACE DS1104 system, are presented to show the feasibility and the robustness of the proposed control strategy against parameter variations.Вступ. У статті представлено надійне нелінійне керування живленням перетворювача постійного струму, що підвищує, фотоелектричною системою на основі керування пасивністю. У створенні закону управління використовується пасивний підхід. Новизна. Новизна полягає у розробці закону управління фотоелектричною системою з використанням пасивного підходу, заснованого на формуванні енергії та пов'язаного з упорскуванням демпфування. Мета. Мета полягає в тому, щоб розробити інструмент для проектування та оптимізації закону керування фотогальванічною системою для підвищення її ефективності за деяких умов, таких як зміни температури, опромінення та параметрів. Крім того, будова закону управління має бути простою, з меншим перерегулюванням і коротшим часом встановлення. Методи. У роботі використовується математичний підхід Гамільтона до порту з мінімізацією розсіювання енергії у перетворювачі фотоелектричної системи, що підвищує, щоб проілюструвати зміну енергії і створити заданий робочий цикл, що застосовується до перетворювача. Результати. Результати з використанням MATLAB/SimPowerToolbox® довели стійкість до змін параметрів та ефективність запропонованого керування. Практична цінність. Представлені експериментальні результати, отримані з використанням системи dSPACE DS1104, щоб показати здійсненність та стійкість запропонованої стратегії управління при  зміні параметрів

Towards Stroke Patients' Upper-limb Automatic Motor Assessment Using Smartwatches

Assessing the physical condition in rehabilitation scenarios is a challenging problem, since it involves Human Activity Recognition (HAR) and kinematic analysis methods. In addition, the difficulties increase in unconstrained rehabilitation scenarios, which are much closer to the real use cases. In particular, our aim is to design an upper-limb assessment pipeline for stroke patients using smartwatches. We focus on the HAR task, as it is the first part of the assessing pipeline. Our main target is to automatically detect and recognize four key movements inspired by the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale, which are performed in both constrained and unconstrained scenarios. In addition to the application protocol and dataset, we propose two detection and classification baseline methods. We believe that the proposed framework, dataset and baseline results will serve to foster this research field

Nitrate removal from water using UV-M/S2O42- advanced reduction process

In this work, a new process called advanced reduction process (ARP) was used for nitrate removal from water. This ARP process combines sodium dithionite as reducing agent with ultraviolet irradiation using medium pressure lamps (UV-M) as an activating method. Experimental results showed that UV-M/S2O42- process achieved almost complete removal of nitrate from aqueous solutions containing 25 mg NO3-/L using stoichiometric dose of dithionite of 68.8 mg/L at neutral pH conditions. Analysis of final products and material balance confirmed that NO3- ions were reduced to ammonium with formation of nitrite as intermediates in addition to the formation of small amounts of volatile species, mainly ammonia and nitrogen gas. Effects of certain experimental parameters including dithionite dose, initial pH, initial nitrate concentration, and UV light source on the kinetics and efficiency of nitrate reduction were evaluated. Increasing dithionite dose augmented the rate of nitrate reduction and enhanced the efficiency of ARP process. Dithionite doses higher than stoichiometric ratios led to complete removal of nitrate in shorter reaction time. UV-M/S2O42- process was found to be effective only under neutral pH or alkaline conditions, and its removal efficiency is negligible in acidic medium (pH < 4). Irradiation with UV-M was more effective than low pressure or narrow band lamps. These results can be attributed to the contribution of several mechanisms for nitrate reduction to ammonium. These include the following: direct photolysis, chemical reduction of nitrate dithionite, and mediated reduction of nitrate by free reducing radicals. © 2013 Islamic Azad University (IAU).Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) - No. NPRP 4-1174-2-458

Méthodes de dénombrement des bactéries du rumen de mouton

Afin de mieux comprendre l’écosystème rumen par l’étude de l’évolution du nombre des bactéries totales et celui de certaines flores spécifiques, deux techniques de quantification sur filtre sont proposées.(i) L'acridine orange est un fluorochrome qui se fixe sur les acides nucléiques de toutes les bactéries et permet de les colorer en vue de les dénombrer. Parallèlement, les cellules viables ont été dénombrées par culture en milieu solide pour comparaison. Les nombres obtenus par la technique de coloration ont été supérieurs à ceux des cellules viables d’une unité logarithmique, du fait que la première technique tient compte à la fois des cellules vivantes et mortes. (ii) L'immunofluorescence indirecte, basée sur des anticorps polyclonaux dirigés contre dix souches naturellement majoritaires du rumen de mouton, a été également utilisée pour le dénombrement de ces souches en fonction du temps. Les résultats obtenus montrent une bonne spécificité des anticorps et un suivi efficace des différentes souches utilisées

Les tumeurs glomiques de la main (à propos de 25 cas)

Introduction : Les tumeurs glomiques de la main sont des proliférations bénignes développées aux dépens du glomus neuromyoartériel du derme. Notre travail rappelle, à travers une revue de la littérature, les principales caractéristiques diagnostiques, évolutives et thérapeutiques de ces lésions. Matériels et méthodes : Notre étude est rétrospective étalée sur 20 ans. Elle a porté sur 25 cas de tumeurs glomiques de la main. Le groupe étudié se composait de 22 femmes et 3 hommes, dont la moyenne d’âge était de 40,7 ans. Il y avait 13 tumeurs sous unguéales, 09 pulpaires et 03 commissurales. Tous les patients ont bénéficiés d’une exérèse chirurgicale.Résultats : Au recul de 5 ans, il a été noté deux dystrophies unguéales et trois récidives tumorales.Discussion : La tumeur glomique de la main est une entité rare ; sa fréquence ne dépasse pas 5 % des tumeurs des parties molles de la main. Elle touche souvent les extrémités des doigts. Son diagnostic est surtout clinique basé sur la triade de Caroll. L’imagerie par résonnance magnétique peut être d’une aide précieuse dans les formes douteuses. Le traitement consiste en l’exérèse chirurgicale de la tumeur. L’examen anatomopathologique confirme le diagnostic. La récidive est rare si l’exérèse a été complète.Conclusion : La tumeur glomique est une tumeur bénigne qui touche surtout la phalange distale des doigts. Son traitement est exclusivement chirurgical, et ses résultats sont généralement excellents.

Electrochemical oxidation of 2-chloroaniline in single and divided electrochemical flow cells using boron doped diamond anodes

Electrochemical oxidation (EO) using boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes attracted increasing interests due to its high efficiency in mineralizing chlorinated organic pollutants in water. However, it produces hazardous disinfection by-products (DBPs) including chloramines, chlorate and perchlorate ions and discharges acidic streams. In this work, an attempt to neutralize the acidic effluent and reduce the production of DBPs was developed. To do that, the EO of 2-chloroaniline (2-CA) in single and divided electrochemical flow cells using BDD anode and stainless steel cathode was investigated. The results showed that complete degradation of 2-CA and high mineralization yields were achieved using single and divided compartment cells. The separation of anolyte and catholyte by anion exchange membrane (AEM) in divided electrochemical configuration enhanced the efficiency of the electrochemical treatment and reduced the energy consumption; while, higher concentrations of free chlorine, nitrate, chlorate, and perchlorate ions were generated in the anolyte. A post-treatment of the treated solution in the cathodic compartment at low current density was effective in reducing the amount of free chlorine and chlorate ions, transferring chloride and nitrate ions to the anodic compartment by electro-dialysis, and neutralizing the anolyte and catholyte. Divided electrochemical cell configuration has the potential to achieve more efficient treatment of 2-CA for the recovery of valuable by-products (which can be considered as a powerful synthetic tool, from an environmental point of view; to produce high-added value products)

Thulium and ytterbium-doped titania thin films deposited by MOCVD

In this study we synthesized thin films of titanium oxide doped with thulium and/or ytterbium to modify the incident spectrum on the solar cells. This could be achieved either by photoluminescence up-converting devices, or down-converting devices. As down-converter thin films our work deals with thulium and ytterbium-doped titanium dioxide. Thulium and ytterbium will act as sensitizer and emitter, respectively. The rare-earth doped thin films are deposited by aerosol-assisted MOCVD using organo-metallic precursors such as titanium dioxide acetylacetonate, thulium and ytterbium tetramethylheptanedionate solved in different solvents. These films have been deposited on silicon substrates under different deposition conditions (temperature and dopant concentrations for example). Adherent films have been obtained for deposition temperatures ranging from 300{\deg}C to 600{\deg}C. The deposition rate varies from 0.1 to 1 \mu m/h. The anatase phase is obtained at substrate temperature above 400{\deg}C. Further annealing is required to exhibit luminescence and eliminate organic remnants of the precursors. The physicochemical and luminescent properties of the deposited films were analyzed versus the different deposition parameters and annealing conditions. We showed that absorbed light in the near-UV blue range is re-emitted by the ytterbium at 980 nm and by a thulium band around 800 nm.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, proceedin