Modal and non-modal linear stability of Poiseuille flow through a channel with a porous substrate

We present modal and non-modal linear stability analyses of Poiseuille flow through a plane channel with a porous substrate modeled using the Volume Averaged Navier–Stokes (VANS) equations. Modal stability analysis shows the destabilization of the flow with increasing porosity of the layer. The instability mode originates from the homogeneous fluid region of the channel for all the values of porosity considered but the governing mechanism changes. Perturbation kinetic energy analysis reveals the importance of viscous dissipation at low porosity values while dissipation in the porous substrate becomes significant at higher porosity. Scaling analysis highlights the invariance of the critical wavenumber with changing porosity. On the other hand, the critical Reynolds number remains invariant at low porosity and scales as Rec ∼ (H/δ) 1.4 at high porosity where δ is the typical thickness of the vorticity layer at the fluid– porous interface. This reveals the existence of a Tollmien–Schlichting-like viscous instability mechanism at low porosity values, and Rayleigh analysis shows the presence of an inviscid instability mechanism at high porosity. For the whole range of porosities considered, the non-modal analysis shows that the optimal mechanism responsible for transient energy amplification is the lift-up effect, giving rise to streaky structure as in single-phase plane Poiseuille flow. The present results strongly suggest that the transition to turbulence follows the same path as that of classical Poiseuille flow at low porosity values, while it is dictated by the modal instability for high porosity values

Locating the Youngest HII Regions in M82 with 7 mm Continuum Maps

We present 7mm Very Large Array continuum images of the starburst galaxy M82. On arcsecond scales, two-thirds of the 7mm continuum consists of free-free emission from HII regions. In the subarcsecond resolution map, we identify 14 compact sources, including 9 bright HII regions with N_Lyc > 10^51 sec^-1. Four of the HII regions have rising spectra, implying emission measures > 10^8 cm^-6 pc. Except for one compact source with peculiar features, all other compact radio sources are found in dust lanes and do not have optical or near-infrared continuum counterparts. Four regions of extended, high brightness (EM > 10^7 cm-6 pc) radio emission are found in our high resolution map, including some as large as ~2", or 30 pc, representing either associations of small HII regions, or sheetlike structures of denser gas. The good correlation between 7 mm emission and Spitzer IRAC 8 micron continuum-removed PAH feature suggests that PAH emission may track the recently formed OB stars. We find an excellent correlation between molecular gas and star formation, particularly dense gas traced by HCN, down to the ~ 45 pc scale in M82. We also find star formation efficiencies (SFEs) of 1-10% on the same scale, based on CO maps. The highest SFE are found in regions with the highest dense gas fractions.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in A

Study of Xenon Mobility in the Two Forms of MIL-53(Al) Using Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

The Al-based metal–organic framework (MOF) MIL-53­(Al) exhibits a structural transition between a large-pore (<i>lp</i>) form and a narrow-pore (<i>np</i>) one. Such change is induced by temperature, external pressure, or the adsorption of guest molecules. ¹²⁹Xe solid-state NMR experiments under static and magic-angle spinning (MAS) conditions have been used to study the <i>lp</i>–<i>np</i> transition in MIL-53­(Al) initially loaded with xenon gas under a pressure of 5 × 10⁴ Pa (at room temperature). The conversion of the <i>lp</i> form into the <i>np</i> one when the temperature decreases from 327 to 237 K and the reopening of the pores below 230 K are then observed. Furthermore, ¹H → ¹²⁹Xe cross-polarization under MAS (CPMAS) experiments demonstrate the possibility to observe the <i>np</i> phase at <i>T</i> ≤ 230 K, while the <i>lp</i> one is unseen because the xenon residence time is too short for successful cross-polarization transfer. Moreover, even for the <i>np</i> phase at 199 K, the xenon atoms still exhibit significant motion on time scale faster than a few milliseconds. We prove the exchange of Xe atoms between the <i>lp</i> and <i>np</i> forms at room temperature with the two-dimensional (2D) ¹²⁹Xe EXchange SpectroscopY (EXSY) NMR method. Using ¹²⁹Xe selective inversion recovery (SIR) experiments, the rate for this exchange has been measured at 43 ± 6 s^–1

Heterogeneity of genomic evolution and mutational profiles in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable plasma cell malignancy with a complex and incompletely understood molecular pathogenesis. Here we use whole-exome sequencing, copy-number profiling and cytogenetics to analyse 84 myeloma samples. Most cases have a complex subclonal structure and show clusters of subclonal variants, including subclonal driver mutations. Serial sampling reveals diverse patterns of clonal evolution, including linear evolution, differential clonal response and branching evolution. Diverse processes contribute to the mutational repertoire, including kataegis and somatic hypermutation, and their relative contribution changes over time. We find heterogeneity of mutational spectrum across samples, with few recurrent genes. We identify new candidate genes, including truncations of SP140, LTB, ROBO1 and clustered missense mutations in EGR1. The myeloma genome is heterogeneous across the cohort, and exhibits diversity in clonal admixture and in dynamics of evolution, which may impact prognostic stratification, therapeutic approaches and assessment of disease response to treatment

Position paper: The potential role of optical biopsy in the study and diagnosis of environmental enteric dysfunction

Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a disease of the small intestine affecting children and adults in low and middle income countries. Arising as a consequence of repeated infections, gut inflammation results in impaired intestinal absorptive and barrier function, leading to poor nutrient uptake and ultimately to stunting and other developmental limitations. Progress towards new biomarkers and interventions for EED is hampered by the practical and ethical difficulties of cross-validation with the gold standard of biopsy and histology. Optical biopsy techniques — which can provide minimally invasive or noninvasive alternatives to biopsy — could offer other routes to validation and could potentially be used as point-of-care tests among the general population. This Consensus Statement identifies and reviews the most promising candidate optical biopsy technologies for applications in EED, critically assesses them against criteria identified for successful deployment in developing world settings, and proposes further lines of enquiry. Importantly, many of the techniques discussed could also be adapted to monitor the impaired intestinal barrier in other settings such as IBD, autoimmune enteropathies, coeliac disease, graft-versus-host disease, small intestinal transplantation or critical care

Active control of broadband noise in a car cabin

L’atténuation des bruits gênants dans une automobile est classiquement réalisée par ajustement des caractéristiques mécaniques du véhicule : masse, raideur et amortissement. C’est une approche dite passive. Malheureusement, elle induit un ajout de masse important pour traiter les basses fréquences. Le contrôle actif de bruit (atténuation d’un bruit par superposition d’un contrebruit) est actuellement envisagé comme une solution possible à ce problème. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’évaluer les performances atteignables par cette solution. Un système acoustique étant par essence fortement résonant, sa modélisation sur une large plage de fréquence conduit à des modèles d’ordre élevé, pour l’obtention desquels une méthode d’identification appropriée doit être utilisée. C’est la méthode dessous espaces par approche fréquentielle dans le domaine continu qui a été retenue.La traduction du cahier des charges conduit à un problème de régulation multivariable H1 multi-objectif et multi-modèle avec contrainte de stabilité forte. Par ailleurs, actionneurs et capteurs ne sont pas colocalisés et on ne mesure pas la perturbation à rejeter. La volonté d’évaluer au plus près les performances atteignables justifie la résolution du problème par optimisation non lisse. Cette approche évite tout pessimisme, mais nécessite de par son caractère local une bonne initialisation et une structuration du régulateur parcimonieuse.La méthodologie proposée a été validée en simulation et expérimentalement. Elle permet une évaluation et une comparaison précises des performances atteignables en fonction des contraintes sur les mesures et les moyens d’action disponibles.Classical methods used for noise reduction in cars are based on adjusting the mechanical properties: mass, stiffness and damping. They are qualified as passive and induce significative addition of weight for reducing low frequency noises. Active noise control is seen as a possible solution to achieve low frequency noise attenuation and weight reduction.The goal of this work is to evaluate achievable performances with such solution.Acoustic enclosures are known to be resonant systems of highorder. Obtaining a model of it, therefore requires a suitable identification method. The approach chosen is based on subspace methods. It processes data in the frequency domain for obtaining a continuous time model.The control problem derived from the specifications is a MIMO H1, multi-objective and multi-model problem with a strong stability constraint. Futhermore, actuators and sensors are not-colocated, and no measure of the disturbance is available. In order to precisely evaluate the achievable performances, this problem is solved using non smooth optimization.Such approach ensures the absence of pessimism, but requires an appropriate initialization and a parsimonious controller structure, because it does not ensure convergence toward the global optimum. The proposed methodology was validated in simulation and experimentally. It allows a precise evaluation and comparison of achievable performances according to the constraints on available measures and means of action

Contrôle actif acoustique du bruit large bande dans un habitacle automobile

Classical methods used for noise reduction in cars are based on adjusting the mechanical properties: mass, stiffness and damping. They are qualified as passive and induce significative addition of weight for reducing low frequency noises. Active noise control is seen as a possible solution to achieve low frequency noise attenuation and weight reduction.The goal of this work is to evaluate achievable performances with such solution.Acoustic enclosures are known to be resonant systems of highorder. Obtaining a model of it, therefore requires a suitable identification method. The approach chosen is based on subspace methods. It processes data in the frequency domain for obtaining a continuous time model.The control problem derived from the specifications is a MIMO H1, multi-objective and multi-model problem with a strong stability constraint. Futhermore, actuators and sensors are not-colocated, and no measure of the disturbance is available. In order to precisely evaluate the achievable performances, this problem is solved using non smooth optimization.Such approach ensures the absence of pessimism, but requires an appropriate initialization and a parsimonious controller structure, because it does not ensure convergence toward the global optimum. The proposed methodology was validated in simulation and experimentally. It allows a precise evaluation and comparison of achievable performances according to the constraints on available measures and means of action.L’atténuation des bruits gênants dans une automobile est classiquement réalisée par ajustement des caractéristiques mécaniques du véhicule : masse, raideur et amortissement. C’est une approche dite passive. Malheureusement, elle induit un ajout de masse important pour traiter les basses fréquences. Le contrôle actif de bruit (atténuation d’un bruit par superposition d’un contrebruit) est actuellement envisagé comme une solution possible à ce problème. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’évaluer les performances atteignables par cette solution. Un système acoustique étant par essence fortement résonant, sa modélisation sur une large plage de fréquence conduit à des modèles d’ordre élevé, pour l’obtention desquels une méthode d’identification appropriée doit être utilisée. C’est la méthode dessous espaces par approche fréquentielle dans le domaine continu qui a été retenue.La traduction du cahier des charges conduit à un problème de régulation multivariable H1 multi-objectif et multi-modèle avec contrainte de stabilité forte. Par ailleurs, actionneurs et capteurs ne sont pas colocalisés et on ne mesure pas la perturbation à rejeter. La volonté d’évaluer au plus près les performances atteignables justifie la résolution du problème par optimisation non lisse. Cette approche évite tout pessimisme, mais nécessite de par son caractère local une bonne initialisation et une structuration du régulateur parcimonieuse.La méthodologie proposée a été validée en simulation et expérimentalement. Elle permet une évaluation et une comparaison précises des performances atteignables en fonction des contraintes sur les mesures et les moyens d’action disponibles