Numerical simulation of the flow in the boiler air intake

The article presents the results of numerical simulation of the flow in a complex region - an element of the air intake of a wall-mounted boiler. There are very few studies of this kind, and the geometry of the computational domain is rather specific. For this reason, the results obtained are difficult to compare in order to unequivocally speak about validity, in addition, different models lead to somewhat different results. Nevertheless, one can say about the formation of a significant vortex zone, which results in a much higher resistance at the entrance than for a conventional elbow with the same sizes.В статье приводятся результаты численного моделирования течения в сложной области – элементе воздушного тракта настенного котла. Исследований такого рода очень мало, а геометрия расчетной области довольно специфична. По этой причине полученные результаты сложно сравнить, чтобы однозначно говорить о валидности, кроме того разные модели приводят к несколько разным результатам. Тем не менее, можно говорить, об образовании значительной вихревой зоны, что приводит к существенно более высокому сопротивлению при входе, чем для обычного поворота при таких же соотношениях размеров

Self-organization in the olfactory system: one shot odor recognition in insects

We show in a model of spiking neurons that synaptic plasticity in the mushroom bodies in combination with the general fan-in, fan-out properties of the early processing layers of the olfactory system might be sufficient to account for its efficient recognition of odors. For a large variety of initial conditions the model system consistently finds a working solution without any fine-tuning, and is, therefore, inherently robust. We demonstrate that gain control through the known feedforward inhibition of lateral horn interneurons increases the capacity of the system but is not essential for its general function. We also predict an upper limit for the number of odor classes Drosophila can discriminate based on the number and connectivity of its olfactory neurons