529 research outputs found
Modeling, simulation, and control of an extraterrestrial oxygen production plant
The immediate objective is the development of a new methodology for simulation of process plants used to produce oxygen and/or other useful materials from local planetary resources. Computer communication, artificial intelligence, smart sensors, and distributed control algorithms are being developed and implemented so that the simulation or an actual plant can be controlled from a remote location. The ultimate result of this research will provide the capability for teleoperation of such process plants which may be located on Mars, Luna, an asteroid, or other objects in space. A very useful near-term result will be the creation of an interactive design tool, which can be used to create and optimize the process/plant design and the control strategy. This will also provide a vivid, graphic demonstration mechanism to convey the results of other researchers to the sponsor
Stimulation magnétique transcrânienne répétée : efficacité et tolérance dans le traitement des dépressions chez le sujet âgé
International audienceAu fur et à mesure des études, les données suggérant l'efficacité de la Stimulation Magnétique Transcranienne répétée dans le traitement des dépressions chez les patients âgés se complètent, en dépit de quelques résultats contradictoires. Plusieurs paramètres pourraient être associés avec une efficacité antidépressive de la stimulation haute fréquence du cortex préfrontal dorso-latéral gauche : intensité de la stimulation supérieure à 90 %, voire 110 % du seuil moteur, nombre de stimulations par session supérieur à 1 000, nombre total de jours de traitement supérieur à dix. En revanche, un âge plus élevé où l'existence de certaines lésions cérébrales semblent liées à une moindre réponse. Enfin, la tolérance de la SMTr, notamment au niveau des fonctions cognitives, paraît excellente, y compris chez des patients fragiles, notamment du fait d'une maladie cérébro-vasculaire
Hybrid Simulation Safety: Limbos and Zero Crossings
Physical systems can be naturally modeled by combining continuous and
discrete models. Such hybrid models may simplify the modeling task of complex
system, as well as increase simulation performance. Moreover, modern simulation
engines can often efficiently generate simulation traces, but how do we know
that the simulation results are correct? If we detect an error, is the error in
the model or in the simulation itself? This paper discusses the problem of
simulation safety, with the focus on hybrid modeling and simulation. In
particular, two key aspects are studied: safe zero-crossing detection and
deterministic hybrid event handling. The problems and solutions are discussed
and partially implemented in Modelica and Ptolemy II
EBSD investigation of SiC for HTR fuel particles
Xavier Bourrat : Present Address ISTO - CNRS-Université d'OrléansInternational audienceElectron back-scattering diffraction (EBSD) can be successfully performed on SiC coatings for HTR fuel particles. EBSD grain maps obtained from thick and thin unirradiated samples are presented, along with pole figures showing textures and a chart showing the distribution of grain aspect ratios. This information is of great interest, and contributes to improving the process parameters and ensuring the reproducibility of coating
Remote Ischemic Conditioning Influences Mitochondrial Dynamics
Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has emerged as an attractive strategy to protect the heart against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. The mechanisms by which remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is protective are to date unknown, yet a well-accepted theory holds that the mitochondria play a central role. Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that undergo fusion and fission. Interventions that decrease mitochondrial fission or increase mitochondrial fusion have been associated with reduced I/R injury. However, whether RIPC influences mitochondrial dynamics or not has yet to be ascertained.We sought to determine the role played by mitochondrial dynamics in RIPC-induced cardioprotection. Male adult rats exposed in vivo to myocardial I/R were assigned to one of two groups, either undergoing 40 min of myocardial ischemia followed by 120 min of reperfusion (MI group) or four 5-min cycles of limb ischemia interspersed by 5 min of limb reperfusion, immediately prior to myocardial ischemia and 120 min of reperfusion (MI+RIPC group). After reperfusion, infarct size was assessed and myocardial tissue was analyzed by Western blot and electron microscopy. RIPC induced smaller infarct size (-28%), increased mitochondrial fusion protein OPA1, and preserved mitochondrial morphology. These findings suggest that mitochondrial dynamics play a role in the mechanisms of RIPC-induced cardioprotection
Integrating Abstraction Techniques for Formal Verification of Analog Designs
The verification of analog designs is a challenging and exhaustive task that requires deep understanding of physical
behaviours. In this paper, we propose a qualitative based predicate abstraction method for the verification of a class
of non-linear analog circuits. In the proposed method, system equations are automatically extracted from a circuit
diagram by means of a bond graph. Verification is applied based on combining techniques from constraint solving and
computer algebra along with symbolic model checking. Our methodology has the advantage of avoiding exhaustive
simulation normally encountered in the verification of analog designs. To this end, we have used Dymola, Hsolver,
SMV and Mathematica to implement the verification flow. We illustrate the methodology on several analog examples
including Colpitts and tunnel diode oscillators
Magnetic variability in the young solar analog KIC 10644253: Observations from the Kepler satellite and the HERMES spectrograph
The continuous photometric observations collected by the Kepler satellite
over 4 years provide a whelm of data with an unequalled quantity and quality
for the study of stellar evolution of more than 200000 stars. Moreover, the
length of the dataset provide a unique source of information to detect magnetic
activity and associated temporal variability in the acoustic oscillations. In
this regards, the Kepler mission was awaited with great expectation. The search
for the signature of magnetic activity variability in solar-like pulsations
still remained unfruitful more than 2 years after the end of the nominal
mission. Here, however, we report the discovery of temporal variability in the
low-degree acoustic frequencies of the young (1 Gyr-old) solar analog KIC
10644253 with a modulation of about 1.5 years with significant temporal
variations along the duration of the Kepler observations. The variations are in
agreement with the derived photometric activity. The frequency shifts extracted
for KIC 10644253 are shown to result from the same physical mechanisms involved
in the inner sub-surface layers as in the Sun. In parallel, a detailed
spectroscopic analysis of KIC 10644253 is performed based on complementary
ground-based, high-resolution observations collected by the HERMES instrument
mounted on the MERCATOR telescope. Its lithium abundance and chromospheric
activity S-index confirm that KIC 10644253 is a young and more active star than
the Sun.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 12 pages, 8 figure
Évolution des cancers de l’œsophage : impact de la stratégie thérapeutique
PURPOSE: To assess the outcome of esophageal cancer according to therapeutic strategy.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: One-hundred and twenty patients with esophageal cancer treated by an association of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and possibly surgery, between 2004 and 2010, were retrospectively studied. The first site of relapse was classified as follows: local (tumour), locoregional (tumour and/or nodal: celiac, mediastinal, sus-clavicular) or metastatic.
RESULTS: With a 15.7-months (1.4-62) median follow-up, there were 89 deaths and 79 recurrences. Three types of treatments were performed: 50Gy exclusive chemoradiotherapy (47 patients) or 50 to 65Gy exclusive chemoradiotherapy (44 patients) or chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery (27 patients). The local first relapse was as much frequent as distant relapse (50 patients). With a-5cm margin up and down to the tumour, there was only one nodal relapse. Two-year survival was 39.5% (95% confidence interval [IC]: 30.5-40.8) and relapse-free survival was 26.5% (CI: 18.6-35). Multivariate analysis revealed that treatment type and disease stage had a significant impact on survival, relapse-free survival and locoregional control. Compared to exclusive chemoradiotherapy, surgery improved locoregional control (40.2 versus 8.7 months, P=0.0004) but in a younger population. Despite postoperative mortality, the gain was maintained for distance relapse-free survival (40.2 versus 10 months, P=0.0147) and overall survival (29.3 versus 14.2 months, P=0.0088). Compared to 50Gy chemoradiotherapy, local control was improved if high dose chemoradiotherapy was performed (13.8 versus 7.5 months, P=0.05) but not overall survival (14.0 versus 15.4 months, P=0.24).
CONCLUSION: More than one-third relapse is local. Locoregional control is better with high dose chemoradiotherapy. In this study, surgery performed in selected patients only, improved locoregional control, relapse-free disease and overall survival
Constraining Type Ia supernova models: SN 2011fe as a test case
The nearby supernova SN 2011fe can be observed in unprecedented detail.
Therefore, it is an important test case for Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models,
which may bring us closer to understanding the physical nature of these
objects. Here, we explore how available and expected future observations of SN
2011fe can be used to constrain SN Ia explosion scenarios. We base our
discussion on three-dimensional simulations of a delayed detonation in a
Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and of a violent merger of two white
dwarfs-realizations of explosion models appropriate for two of the most
widely-discussed progenitor channels that may give rise to SNe Ia. Although
both models have their shortcomings in reproducing details of the early and
near-maximum spectra of SN 2011fe obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory
(SNfactory), the overall match with the observations is reasonable. The level
of agreement is slightly better for the merger, in particular around maximum,
but a clear preference for one model over the other is still not justified.
Observations at late epochs, however, hold promise for discriminating the
explosion scenarios in a straightforward way, as a nucleosynthesis effect leads
to differences in the 55Co production. SN 2011fe is close enough to be followed
sufficiently long to study this effect.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letter
Standardizing Type Ia Supernova Absolute Magnitudes Using Gaussian Process Data Regression
We present a novel class of models for Type Ia supernova time-evolving
spectral energy distributions (SED) and absolute magnitudes: they are each
modeled as stochastic functions described by Gaussian processes. The values of
the SED and absolute magnitudes are defined through well-defined regression
prescriptions, so that data directly inform the models. As a proof of concept,
we implement a model for synthetic photometry built from the spectrophotometric
time series from the Nearby Supernova Factory. Absolute magnitudes at peak
brightness are calibrated to 0.13 mag in the -band and to as low as 0.09 mag
in the blueshifted -band, where the dispersion includes
contributions from measurement uncertainties and peculiar velocities. The
methodology can be applied to spectrophotometric time series of supernovae that
span a range of redshifts to simultaneously standardize supernovae together
with fitting cosmological parameters.Comment: 47 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication by Astrophysical
Journa
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