Modelling of Cyclic Behavior of Sand in Large Range of Strain Amplitudes

The aim of this paper is to show that it is possible to model the behavior of soils in a large range of strains (10-6 to 10-1), using an elastoplastic law with a unique set of parameters. A multimechanism law with a kinematic hardening was used to model the monotonous and cyclic behavior of sand

Current Opinion and Practice on Peritoneal Carcinomatosis Management: The North African Perspective.

The status of peritoneal surface malignancy (PSM) management in North Africa is undetermined. The aim of this study was to assess and compare current practice and knowledge regarding PSM and examine satisfaction with available treatment options and need for alternative therapies in North Africa. This is a qualitative study involving specialists participating in PSM management in North Africa. The survey analyzed demographic characteristics and current knowledge and opinions regarding PSM management in different institutions. We also looked at goals and priorities, satisfaction with treatment modalities and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) usefulness according to specialty, country, years of experience, and activity sector. One-hundred and three participants responded to the survey (response rate of 57%), including oncologists and surgeons. 59.2% of respondents had more than 10 years experience and 45.6% treated 20-50 PSM cases annually. Participants satisfaction with PSM treatment modalities was mild for gastric cancer (3/10 [IQR 2-3]) and moderate for colorectal (5/10 [IQR 3-5]), ovarian (5/10 [IQR 3-5]), and pseudomyxoma peritonei (5/10 [IQR 3-5]) type of malignancies. Good quality of life and symptom relief were rated as main priorities for treatment and the need for new treatment modalities was rated 9/10 [IQR 8-9]. The perceived usefulness of systemic chemotherapy in first intention was described as high by 42.7 and 39.8% of respondents for PSM of colorectal and gastric origins, while HIPEC was described as highly useful for ovarian (49.5%) and PMP (73.8) malignancies. The management of PSM in the North African region has distinct differences in knowledge, treatments availability and priorities. Disparities are also noted according to specialty, country, years of expertise, and activity sector. The creation of referral structures and PSM networks could be a step forward to standardized PSM management in the region

Influence des déformations intermédiaires (de 10

L’objectif de cette étude est la modélisation du comportement du sol sous un chargement statique ou dynamique. Ce travail vise à montrer qu’il est possible de modéliser le comportement du sol avec un jeu unique de paramètres dans une large gamme de déformation (de 10–6) à quelques pour-cent) avec une loi élastoplastique. La modélisation du comportement du sol est faite grâce à une loi élastoplastique, multimécanisme, basée sur le concept de l’état critique (Hujeux. 1984) [1]. Un écrouissage cinématique nous permet de modéliser le comportement cyclique du matériau.Après une présentation de la formulation mathématique de la loi ainsi que l’écriture des paramètres d’écrouissage pour les différents mécanismes, nous procéderons à sa validation sur des résultats d’essais de référence (Mohkam, 1983) [7].On montre le rôle fondamental des déformations intermédiaires (10–5 à 10–3) dans le comportement des sols sous un chargement monotone ou cyclique. Cet effet est justifié par l’augmentation de la pression interstitielle

Geographical differentiation of saffron by GC-MS/FID and chemometrics

The volatile compounds of saffron of different origins were investigated to check their suitability as markers of geographic differentiation. A total of 247 saffron samples from Greece (40 samples), Iran (84 samples), Italy (60 samples) and Spain (63 samples) which were harvested in 2006 were analysed using ultrasound-assisted extraction, gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry and flame ionisation. All regions were easily differentiated by canonical discriminant analysis. The percentages of correct classification and validation were 96.4 and 94.3%, respectively. These investigations showed the potential of saffron volatiles to discriminate saffron samples with different geographical origins