549 research outputs found
Impact of water saturation on seismoelectric transfer functions: a laboratory study of coseismic phenomenon
Seismic waves propagating in a porous medium, under favourable conditions, generate measurable electromagnetic fields due to electrokinetic effects. It has been proposed, following experimental and numerical studies, that these so-called ‘seismoelectromagnetic' couplings depend on pore fluid properties. The theoretical frame describing these phenomena are based on the original Biot's theory, assuming that pores are fluid-filled. We study here the impact of a partially saturated medium on amplitudes of those seismoelectric couplings by comparing experimental data to an effective fluid model. We have built a 1-m-length-scale experiment designed for imbibition and drainage of an homogeneous silica sand; the experimental set-up includes a seismic source, accelerometers, electric dipoles and capacitance probes in order to monitor seismic and seismoelectric fields during water saturation. Apparent velocities and frequency spectra (in the kiloHertz range) are derived from seismic and electrical measurements during experiments in varying saturation conditions. Amplitudes of seismic and seismoelectric waves and their ratios (i.e. transfer functions) are discussed using a spectral analysis performed by continuous wavelet transform. The experiments reveal that amplitude ratios of seismic to coseismic electric signals remain rather constant as a function of the water saturation in the Sw=[0.2-0.9] range, consistently with theoretically predicted transfer function
Evaluation of Sweet Grain Sorghum Silage for Dairy Cows as an Alternative to Irrigated Maize Silage
Under European dairy cattle rearing conditions, whole plant maize silage is the main part of the dairy cow\u27s diet especially during the winter season. Nevertheless maize production can be limited in some areas because summer rainfall is insufficient and so irrigation is necessary. Grain sorghum hybrids, and especially sweet sorghum types, are potentially of great interest to avoid this water consumption (Lemaire et al., 1996, Legarto, 2000). For this reason we evaluated in 2003 the benefits and limits of a sweet grain sorghum silage for dairy milk production, compared to an irrigated maize silage. We paid particularl attention to forage quality and yield, environmental effects and animal performance
Brucellose du lièvre en France Identification bactériologique des deux premiers cas en Picardie
Jacotot Henri, Vallée A., Barrière J. Brucellose du Lièvre en France. Identification bactériologique des deux premiers cas en Picardie. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 104 n°5, 1951. pp. 283-285
Gap Formation in the Dust Layer of 3D Protoplanetary Disks
We numerically model the evolution of dust in a protoplanetary disk using a
two-phase (gas+dust) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code, which is
non-self-gravitating and locally isothermal. The code follows the three
dimensional distribution of dust in a protoplanetary disk as it interacts with
the gas via aerodynamic drag. In this work, we present the evolution of a disk
comprising 1% dust by mass in the presence of an embedded planet for two
different disk configurations: a small, minimum mass solar nebular (MMSN) disk
and a larger, more massive Classical T Tauri star (CTTS) disk. We then vary the
grain size and planetary mass to see how they effect the resulting disk
structure. We find that gap formation is much more rapid and striking in the
dust layer than in the gaseous disk and that a system with a given stellar,
disk and planetary mass will have a different appearance depending on the grain
size and that such differences will be detectable in the millimetre domain with
ALMA. For low mass planets in our MMSN models, a gap can open in the dust disk
while not in the gas disk. We also note that dust accumulates at the external
edge of the planetary gap and speculate that the presence of a planet in the
disk may facilitate the growth of planetesimals in this high density region.Comment: 5 page, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
Direct observation of mould cavity filling in ceramic injection moulding
The ceramic injection moulding process is largely used to manufacture 3D net shape components. So far the feedstock behaviours of the mixture of polymer binder and ceramic powder are not well described. In order to better understand the ceramic injection moulding process, a mould with transparent glass windows is manufactured in the laboratory to observe the melt flow during injection stage. The injection process is taken by a high speed CCD camera through the transparent glass windows. In this paper, injection moulding experiments have been performed to observe and compare the filling process, the effects of gate size and injection process parameters on occurrence of jetting have been studied. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Gathering in Dynamic Rings
The gathering problem requires a set of mobile agents, arbitrarily positioned
at different nodes of a network to group within finite time at the same
location, not fixed in advanced.
The extensive existing literature on this problem shares the same fundamental
assumption: the topological structure does not change during the rendezvous or
the gathering; this is true also for those investigations that consider faulty
nodes. In other words, they only consider static graphs. In this paper we start
the investigation of gathering in dynamic graphs, that is networks where the
topology changes continuously and at unpredictable locations.
We study the feasibility of gathering mobile agents, identical and without
explicit communication capabilities, in a dynamic ring of anonymous nodes; the
class of dynamics we consider is the classic 1-interval-connectivity.
We focus on the impact that factors such as chirality (i.e., a common sense
of orientation) and cross detection (i.e., the ability to detect, when
traversing an edge, whether some agent is traversing it in the other
direction), have on the solvability of the problem. We provide a complete
characterization of the classes of initial configurations from which the
gathering problem is solvable in presence and in absence of cross detection and
of chirality. The feasibility results of the characterization are all
constructive: we provide distributed algorithms that allow the agents to
gather. In particular, the protocols for gathering with cross detection are
time optimal. We also show that cross detection is a powerful computational
element.
We prove that, without chirality, knowledge of the ring size is strictly more
powerful than knowledge of the number of agents; on the other hand, with
chirality, knowledge of n can be substituted by knowledge of k, yielding the
same classes of feasible initial configurations
Hemodynamic and antifibrotic effects of a selective liver nitric oxide donor V-PYRRO/NO in bile duct ligated rats.
AIM: To assess whether a liver specific nitric oxide (NO) donor (V-PYRRO/NO) would prevent the development of portal hypertension and liver fibrosis in rats with bile duct ligation (BDL).
METHODS: Treatment (placebo or V-PYRRO/NO 0.53 micromol/kg per hour) was administered i.v. to rats 2 d before BDL (D-2) and maintained until the day of hemodynamic measurement (D26). Intra-hepatic NO level was estimated by measuring liver cGMP level. Effects of V-PYRRO/NO on liver fibrosis and lipid peroxidation were also assessed.
RESULTS: Compared to placebo treatment, V-PYRRO/NO improved splanchnic hemodynamics in BDL rats: portal pressure was significantly reduced by 27% (P<0.0001) and collateral circulation development was almost completely blocked (splenorenal shunt blood flow by 74%, P=0.007). Moreover, V-PYRRO/NO significantly prevented liver fibrosis development in BDL rats (by 30% in hepatic hydroxyproline content and 31% in the area of fibrosis, P<0.0001 respectively), this effect being probably due to a decrease in lipid peroxidation by 44% in the hepatic malondialdehyde level (P=0.007). Interestingly, we observed a significant and expected increase in liver cGMP, without any systemic hemodynamic effects (mean arterial pressure, vascular systemic resistance and cardiac output) in both sham-operated and BDL rats treated with V-PYRRO/NO. This result is in accordance with studies on V-PYRRO/NO metabolism showing a specific release of NO in the liver.
CONCLUSION: Continuous administrations of V-PYRRO/NO in BDL rats improved liver fibrosis and splanchnic hemodynamics without any noxious systemic hemo-dynamic effects
Planet gaps in the dust layer of 3D protoplanetary disks. II. Observability with ALMA
[Abridged] Aims: We provide predictions for ALMA observations of planet gaps
that account for the specific spatial distribution of dust that results from
consistent gas+dust dynamics. Methods: In a previous work, we ran full 3D,
two-fluid Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of a planet
embedded in a gas+dust T Tauri disk for different planet masses and grain
sizes. In this work, the resulting dust distributions are passed to the Monte
Carlo radiative transfer code MCFOST to construct synthetic images in the ALMA
wavebands. We then use the ALMA simulator to produce images that include
thermal and phase noise for a range of angular resolutions, wavelengths, and
integration times, as well as for different inclinations, declinations and
distances. We also produce images which assume that gas and dust are well mixed
with a gas-to-dust ratio of 100 to compare with previous ALMA predictions, all
made under this hypothesis. Results: Our findings clearly demonstrate the
importance of correctly incorporating the dust dynamics. We show that the gap
carved by a 1 M_J planet orbiting at 40 AU is visible with a much higher
contrast than the well-mixed assumption would predict. In the case of a 5 M_J
planet, we clearly see a deficit in dust emission in the inner disk, and point
out the risk of interpreting the resulting image as that of a transition disk
with an inner hole if observed in unfavorable conditions. Planet signatures are
fainter in more distant disks but declination or inclination to the
line-of-sight have little effect on ALMA's ability to resolve the gaps.
Conclusions: ALMA has the potential to see signposts of planets in disks of
nearby star-forming regions. We present optimized observing parameters to
detect them in the case of 1 and 5 M_J planets on 40 AU orbits.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics, a higher
resolution version of the paper is available at
http://www-obs.univ-lyon1.fr/labo/perso/jean-francois.gonzalez/Papers/Gaps_ALMA.pd
The X-ray Flux Distribution of Sagittarius A* as Seen by Chandra
We present a statistical analysis of the X-ray flux distribution of Sgr A*
from the Chandra X-ray Observatory's 3 Ms Sgr A* X-ray Visionary Project (XVP)
in 2012. Our analysis indicates that the observed X-ray flux distribution can
be decomposed into a steady quiescent component, represented by a Poisson
process with rate cts s and a variable
component, represented by a power law process (
). This slope matches our recently-reported
distribution of flare luminosities. The variability may also be described by a
log-normal process with a median unabsorbed 2-8 keV flux of
erg s cm and a shape parameter
but the power law provides a superior description of the
data. In this decomposition of the flux distribution, all of the intrinsic
X-ray variability of Sgr A* (spanning at least three orders of magnitude in
flux) can be attributed to flaring activity, likely in the inner accretion
flow. We confirm that at the faint end, the variable component contributes ~10%
of the apparent quiescent flux, as previously indicated by our statistical
analysis of X-ray flares in these Chandra observations. Our flux distribution
provides a new and important observational constraint on theoretical models of
Sgr A*, and we use simple radiation models to explore the extent to which a
statistical comparison of the X-ray and infrared can provide insights into the
physics of the X-ray emission mechanism.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ. Comments
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Monophyletic group of unclassified γ-Proteobacteria dominates in mixed culture biofilm of high-performing oxygen reducing biocathode
International audienceSeveral mixed microbial communities have been reported to show robust bioelectrocatalysis of oxygen reduction over time at applicable operation conditions. However, clarification of electron transfer mechanism(s) and identification of essential micro-organisms have not been realised. Therefore, the objective of this study was to shape oxygen reducing biocathodes with different microbial communities by means of surface modification using the electrochemical reduction of two different diazonium salts in order to discuss the relation of microbial composition and performance. The resulting oxygen reducing mixed culture biocathodes had complex bacterial biofilms variable in size and shape as observed by confocal and electron microscopy. Sequence analysis of ribosomal 16S rDNA revealed a putative correlation between the abundance of certain microbiota and biocathode performance. The best performing biocathode developed on the unmodified graphite electrode and reached a high current density for oxygen reducing biocathodes at neutral pH (0.9A/m(2)). This correlated with the highest domination (60.7%) of a monophyletic group of unclassified γ-Proteobacteria. These results corroborate earlier reports by other groups, however, higher current densities and higher presence of these unclassified bacteria were observed in this work. Therefore, members of this group are likely key-players for highly performing oxygen reducing biocathodes.[on SciFinder (R)
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