IRAN’S REGIONAL POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: CASE STUDIES OF RELATIONS WITH THE REPUBLICS OF AZERBAIJAN & ARMENIA

The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of Iran’s foreign policy and behaviour, roots of continuity and factors of change in the regional context of the South Caucasus, using the case studies of its relations with two important neighbouring countries, the Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan. To offer a picture of regional geopolitical context in which the subject is examined, the study will discuss the importance of South Caucasus in the international system, introducing the existing challenges and opportunities in the region, as well as important regional and international players involved, their goals and policies towards those goals. The study will also provide a review of Iran’s foreign policy in different periods and discuss factors resulting in different approaches undertaken in each period. The implication of these policies will then be examined further in the context of the Middle East, as well as South Caucasus. That is to demonstrate the specific strategies Iran has taken in each of these regions, and to explain differences between the Middle East policies and that of the South Caucasus. Case studies will provide a more detailed picture of how regional policies work and what factors shape the bilateral relations

The Application of Geophysical Inversion Techniques to the Nechalacho Rare Earth Element Deposit, NT

The Nechalacho deposit is a world-class rare earth element deposit located in the Thor Lake region approximately 100 kilometers southwest of Yellowknife, NT, Canada. Located within the Blatchford Lake Intrusion Complex, this deposit has the potential to be a large-scale economic asset due to its relatively shallow and sub-horizontal geometry. In this study, geophysical inversion techniques are used to model subsurface magnetic susceptibility and density in order to delineate the deposit. Isolated and joint inversion of both magnetic and gravity data provides similar models. Each inversion procedure delineates a shallow, sub-horizontal layer of high susceptibility and density in approximately the same location. This layer is interpreted to be the Nechalacho deposit and extends further north than previously determined. Finally, magnetic susceptibilities were measured on select samples using laboratory instruments to quality check previous field measurements as well as validate and derive relationships between geophysical and mineralogical properties in the deposit

An implicit stabilized finite element method for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations using finite calculus

A new implicit stabilized formulation for the numerical solution of the compressible NavierStokes equations is presented. The method is based on the Finite Calculus (FIC) scheme using the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) on triangular grids. Via the FIC formulation, two stabilization terms, called streamline term and transverse term, are added to the original conservation equations in the space-time domain. The non-linear system of equations resulting from the spatial discretization is solved implicitly using a damped Newton method benefiting from the exact Jacobian matrix. The matrix system is solved at each iteration with a preconditioned GMRES method. The efficiency of the proposed stabilization technique is checked out in the solution of 2D inviscid and laminar viscous flow problems where appropriate solutions are obtained especially near the boundary layer and shock waves. The work presented here can be considered as a follow up of a previous work of the authors [24]. In that paper, the stabilized Galerkin FEM based on the FIC formulation was derived for the Euler equations together with an explicit scheme. In the present paper, the extension of this work to the Navier-Stokes equations using an implicit scheme is presented

A contribution to the finite element analysis of high-speed compressible flows and aerodynamics shape optimization

This work covers a contribution to two most interesting research elds in aerodynamics, the fi nite element analysis of high-speed compressible flows (Part I) and aerodynamic shape optimization (Part II). The fi rst part of this study aims at the development of a new stabilization formulation based on the Finite Increment Calculus (FIC) scheme for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations in the context of the Galerkin nite element method (FEM). The FIC method is based on expressing the balance of fluxes in a spacetime domain of nite size. It is tried to prevent the creation of instabilities normally presented in the numerical solutions due to the high convective term and sharp gradients. In order to overcome the typical instabilities happening in the numerical solution of the high-speed compressible flows, two stabilization terms, called streamline term and transverse term, are added through the FIC formulation in space-time domain to the original conservative equations of mass, momentum and energy. Generally, the streamline term holding the direction of the velocity is responsible for stabilizing the spurious solutions produced from the convective term while the transverse term smooths the solution in the high gradient zones. An explicit fourth order Runge-Kutta scheme is implemented to advance the solution in time. In order to investigate the capability of the proposed formulation, some numerical test examples corresponding to subsonic, transonic and supersonic regimes for inviscid and viscous flows are presented. The behavior of the proposed stabilization technique in providing appropriate solutions has been studied especially near the zones where the solution has some complexities such as shock waves, boundary layer, stagnation point, etc. Although the derived methodology delivers precise results with a nearly coarse mesh, the mesh refinement technique is coupled in the solution to create a suitable mesh particularly in the high gradient zones. The comparison of the numerical results obtained from the FIC formulation with the reference ones demonstrates the robustness of the proposed method for stabilization of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. It is observed that the usual oscillations occur in the Galerkin FEM, especially near the high gradient zones, are cured by implementing the proposed stabilization terms. Furthermore, allowing the adaptation framework to modify the mesh, the quality of the results improves signi cantly. The second part of this thesis proposes a procedure for aerodynamic shape optimization combining Genetic Algorithm (GA) and mesh re nement technique. In particular, it is investigated the e ect of mesh re nement on the computational cost and solution accuracy during the process of aerodynamic shape optimization. Therefore, an adaptive remeshing technique is joined to the CFD solver for the analysis of each design candidate to guarantee the production of more realistic solutions during the optimum design process in the presence of shock waves. In this study, some practical transonic airfoil design problems using adap- tive mesh techniques coupled to Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithms (MOGAs) and Euler flow analyzer are addressed. The methodology is implemented to solve three practical design problems; the fi rst test case considers a reconstruction design optimization that minimizes the pressure error between a prede ned pressure curve and candidate pressure distribution. The second test considers the total drag minimization by designing airfoil shape operating at transonic speeds. For the final test case, a multi-objective design optimization is conducted to maximize both the lift to drag ratio (L/D) and lift coe cient (Cl). The solutions obtained with and without adaptive mesh re nement are compared in terms of solution accuracy and computational cost. These design problems under transonic speeds need to be solved with a ne mesh, particularly near the object, to capture the shock waves that will cost high computational time and require solution accuracy. By comparison of the the numerical results obtained with both optimization problems, the obtainment of direct bene ts in the reduction of the total computational cost through a better convergence to the final solution is evaluated. Indeed, the improvement of the solution quality when an adaptive remeshing technique is coupled with the optimum design strategy can be judged.El presente trabajo pretende contribuir a dos de los campos de investigaci on m as interesantes en la aerodin amica, el an alisis num erico de flujos compresibles a alta velocidad (Parte I) y la optimizaci on de la forma aerodin amica (Parte II). La primera parte de este estudio se centra en la soluci on num erica de las ecuaciones de Navier-Stokes, que modelan el comportamiento de flujos compresibles a alta velocidad. La discretizaci on espacial se lleva a cabo mediante el m etodo de elementos nitos (FEM) y se pone especial enfasis en el desarrollo de una nueva formulaci on estabilizada basada en la t ecnica de c alculo de Incremento fi nitos (FIC). En este ultima, los t erminos de estabilizaci on convectiva se obtienen de manera natural de las ecuaciones de gobierno a trav es de postulados de conservaci on y equilibrio de flujos en un dominio espacio-tiempo de tamaño nito. Ello lleva a la obtenci on de dos t erminos de estabilizaci on que funcionan de manera complementaria. Uno act ua en direcci on de las lineas de corriente proporcionando la estabilizaci on necesaria para contrarestrar las inestabilidades propias de la forma discreta de Galerkin y el otro t ermino, de tipo shock capturing, act ua de manera transversal a las l neas de corriente y permite mejorar la soluci on num erica alrededor de discontinuidades y otro tipos de fen omenos localizados en el campo de soluci on de problema. La forma discreta de las ecuaciones de gobierno se completa mediante un esquema de integraci on temporal expl icito de tipo de Runge-Kutta de 4to orden. El esquema de soluci on b asico propuesto se complementa con una t ecnica de re namiento adaptativo de malla que permite mejorar autom aticamente la soluci on num erica en zonas localizadas del dominio en que, dadas las caracter sticas del flujo, se necesita una mayor resoluci on espacial. Con el prop osito de investigar el comportamiento de la formulaci on num erica se estudian diferentes casos de an alisis que implican flujos viscosos y no viscosos en r egimen subs onico, trans onico y supers onico y se estudia con especial detalle el funcionamiento de la t ecnica de estabilizaci on propuesta. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran una exactitud satisfactoria y una buena correlaci on con resultados presentes en la literatura, incluso cuando se trabaja con discretizaciones espaciales relativamente gruesas. Adicionalmente, los estudios num ericos realizados demuestran que el empleo del esquema adaptativo de malla es e ficaz para incrementar la exactitud de la soluci on numerica manteniendo un bajo coste computacional. En la segunda parte de este estudio se propone un m etodo para la optimizaci on de formas aerodin amicas que combina algoritmos gen eticos multiobjetivo (MOGAs) y remallado adaptativo con el objetivo de asegurar, con un coste computacional m nimo, la calidad de la soluci on numerica empleada en el proceso de b usqueda de un determinado diseño objetivo, particularmente cuando el flujo presenta discontinuidades y gradientes muy localizados, ti picos de flujos a alta velocidad. La metodolog a se aplica a resolver tres problemas pr acticos de diseño de per les aerodin amicos en flujo trans onico que implican la optimizaci on de la distribuci on de presiones, minimizaci on de la resistencia de onda y maximizaci on conjunta de la sustentaci on y la relaci on sustentaci on/resistencia. Para cada uno de ellos se estudia el efecto del re namiento en la calidad de la soluci on num erica as como tambi en en el coste computacional y la convergencia del problema. Los estudios realizados demuestran la e cacia de la metodolog a propuesta

Congenital Anomalies of the Thymus

The thymus, a retrosternal lymphoid tissue, develops from the third and fourth pharyngeal pouches like the parathyroid glands at the sixth week of gestational age. The thymus is usually located in the anterior mediastinum, although it can be found anywhere in the thymopharyngeal path. The thymus has a bilobed or quadrilateral shape; however, it can be found in other shapes. Limited information is available about the precise epidemiology of thymic congenital anomalies. Since these anomalies are not symptomatic, it may be more common than the available reports. There are various reports available about the prevalence of thymic diseases and anomalies ranging from 4.45 to 30%. In this chapter we tried to have a review on epidemiology, definition, and management of congenital anomalies of the thymus

Robust design methods in aerospace engineering

This document is an introduction to some important methodologies that have been developed in robust design in aerospace engineering. After describing the concept of robustness and uncertainty, multipoint, minimax, expected value, second order second moment and Taguchi methods are mentioned. At the end of this report, Game Theory, as one of the approach for multi objective optimization problems has been introduced