Experimental and Numerical Studies of Density Driven Natural Convection in Saturated Porous Media with Application to CO2 geological storage

AbstractOne of the fundamental physical phenomena related to CO2 injection in subsurface brine-saturated formations is the dissolution-diffusion-convection process of CO2. The injected supercritical CO2 being less dense than brine settles beneath the formation seal. The overlying CO2-saturated brine is slightly heavier than brine itself thus a density- driven convective flow occurs which will enhance the dissolution rate of CO2, reduce time for solutal trapping and increase storage security. In this work experiments and simulations at the laboratory scale were performed to help inform studies at the reservoir scale. Experiments were conducted in transparent Hele-Shaw cells and the captured visual results of the convection phenomenon were used to validate the numerical simulations performed using STOMP simulator. Experiments are repeated with variations in permeability to vary the characteristic Rayleigh number. Corresponding two-phase simulations are compared with their equivalent time shots obtained from experimental imaging. The experimental and numerical results show fairly good agreement in terms of fingering characteristics (length, thickness, frequency) and global time scale

Low-temperature blanching as a tool to modulate the structure of pectin in blueberry purees

Blueberry composition was characterized for 6 cultivars. It contains a good amount of dietary fiber (10% to 20%) and pectin (4% to 7%) whose degree of methylation (DM) is sensitive to food processing. A low temperature blanching (LTB: 60 °C/1 h) was applied on blueberry purees to decrease pectin DM, in order to modulate puree properties and functionalities (that is, viscosity and stability), and to enhance pectin affinity toward other components within food matrices. Fiber content, viscosity, pectin solubility, DM, and monosaccharide composition were determined for both pasteurized, and LTB+pasteurized blueberry purees. The results showed that neither the amount of fiber, nor the viscosity were affected by LTB, indicating that this treatment did not result in any significant pectin depolymerization and degradation. LTB caused a decrease both in pectin DM from 58–67% to 45–47% and in the amount of water-soluble pectin fraction, the latter remaining the major fraction of total pectin at 52% to 57%. A LTB is a simple and mild process to produce blueberry purees with mostly soluble and low-methylated pectin in order to extend functionality and opportunities for interactions with other food ingredients

Aboriginal tourism in northern Canada : how collaborative research can improve community engagement in tourism projects

Meeting: Celebrating Dialogue : An International SAS2 Forum, November 3, 2008, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, CASituated in the James Bay area, the Cree Nation is comprised of 15,000 people in nine communities spread out over 350,000 square kilometers. The project’s goal is to position Eeyou Istchee (the traditional territory and homeland of the Cree) as a Cree tourism destination for external markets. Participants were able to share knowledge, build bridges, develop links between communities and operators, and work together at the regional level. Community Tourism Officers were provided with tools they can use independently at the community level and for other meetings (Band Council)

Identification of hotspots in the European Union for the introduction of four zoonotic arboviroses by live animal trade

Live animal trade is considered a major mode of introduction of viruses from enzootic foci into disease-free areas. Due to societal and behavioural changes, some wild animal species may nowadays be considered as pet species. The species diversity of animals involved in international trade is thus increasing. This could benefit pathogens that have a broad host range such as arboviruses. The objective of this study was to analyze the risk posed by live animal imports for the introduction, in the European Union (EU), of four arboviruses that affect human and horses: Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis. Importation data for a five-years period (2005-2009, extracted from the EU TRACES database), environmental data (used as a proxy for the presence of vectors) and horses and human population density data (impacting the occurrence of clinical cases) were combined to derive spatially explicit risk indicators for virus introduction and for the potential consequences of such introductions. Results showed the existence of hotspots where the introduction risk was the highest in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in the north of Italy. This risk was higher for Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) than for the three other diseases. It was mainly attributed to exotic pet species such as rodents, reptiles or cage birds, imported in small-sized containments from a wide variety of geographic origins. The increasing species and origin diversity of these animals may have in the future a strong impact on the risk of introduction of arboviruses in the EU. (Résumé d'auteur

Une certaine géographie de la critique allemande : autour de la revue Texte zur Kunst

Catherine Chevalier, docteur en Sciences de l’information et de la communication, est critique d’art et publie dans la revue d’art contemporain Frog et dans des catalogues d’artistes. Andreas Fohr, artiste d’origine allemande, diplômé de l’école des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg et de la Kunstakademie de Düsseldorf, est cofondateur en 1992 du collectif Bureau d’étude. Tous deux enseignent à l’école supérieure d’art de Cambrai et depuis 2005 travaillent à la conception de Généalogie d’une crit..

Bacterial Ortholog of Mammalian Translocator Protein (TSPO) with Virulence Regulating Activity

The translocator protein (TSPO), previously designated as peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor, is a protein mainly located in the outer mitochondrial membrane of eukaryotic cells. TSPO is implicated in major physiological functions and functionally associated with other proteins such as the voltage-dependent anionic channel, also designated as mitochondrial porin. Surprisingly, a TSPO-related protein was identified in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides but it was initially considered as a relict of evolution. In the present study we cloned a tspO gene in Pseudomonas fluorescens MF37, a non-photosynthetic eubacterium and we used bioinformatics tools to identify TSPO in the genome of 97 other bacteria. P. fluorescens TSPO was recognized by antibodies against mouse protein and by PK 11195, an artificial ligand of mitochondrial TSPO. As in eukaryotes, bacterial TSPO appears functionally organized as a dimer and the apparent Kd for PK 11195 is in the same range than for its eukaryotic counterpart. When P. fluorescens MF37 was treated with PK 11195 (10−5 M) adhesion to living or artificial surfaces and biofilm formation activity were increased. Conversely, the apoptotic potential of bacteria on eukaryotic cells was significantly reduced. This effect of PK11195 was abolished in a mutant of P. fluorescens MF37 deficient for its major outer membrane porin, OprF. The present results demonstrate the existence of a bacterial TSPO that shares common structural and functional characteristics with its mammalian counterpart. This protein, apparently involved in adhesion and virulence, reveals the existence of a possible new inter kingdom signalling system and suggests that the human microbiome should be involuntarily exposed to the evolutionary pressure of benzodiazepines and related molecules. This discovery also represents a promising opportunity for the development of alternative antibacterial strategies