Hydrodynamics of gas-solid flow around immersed tubes in bubbling fluidized beds

A numerical study was conducted based on the gas-solid two-fluid model using the body-fitted coordinate system to analyze the behavior of particles and bubbles flow in bubbling fluidized beds without and with immersed tubes. The kinetic theory of granular flow was implemented in the model. The images of simulated instantaneous particle concentration and velocity gave the process of the formation, coalescence and eruption of bubbles. The effects of the tube pitch and superficial gas velocity on the fluidization in a bubbling fluidized bed were investigated. Calculated bubble frequencies without and with immersed tubes were in agreement with previous experimental and simulation findings. The wavelet multi-resolution analysis was used to analyze the simulated data of instantaneous particle concentration. From the random-like particle concentration fluctuations, the fluctuating components due to particle flow and bubble motion can be extracted based on the wavelet multi-resolution analysis over a time-frequency plane.     

Plasma and lipoprotein fatty acid composition in glycogen storage disease type I

Nocturnal intragastric feeding has been shown to be an effective means to improve clinical and biochemical features in glycogen storage disease type I (GSD-I). In this study, we investigated the fatty acid patterns in a whole plasma and in circulating lipoproteins in patients on this therapy. The results demonstrated massive concentration of total fatty acids coupled with higher levels of triglycerides, free cholesterol, cholesterol ester and phospholipids. This hyperlipidemia involved all fatty acids without distinction of carbon or bond numbers. However, the increase was more pronounced for saturated than polyunsaturated fatty acids, as was demonstrated by the ratios of both oleic acid to linoleic acid (1.91±0.40 vs 0.80±0.09 in controls) and of ω3+ω6 to ω9 fatty acid families (0.92±0.11 vs 1.66±0.08 in controls). The fatty acid patterns in very low (VLDL), low (LDL) and high (HDL) density lipoprotein showed substantial differences in composition, reflecting an association between an abnormal lipoprotein pattern and essential fatty acid deficiency. Furthermore, GSD-I patients exhibited a significant increase in VLDL (17±2 vs 47±7 mg/dl) and LDL cholesterol (124±7 vs 206±24 mg/dl), coupled with a decrease in HDL cholesterol (49±4 vs 28±3 mg/dl). These data documenting high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol associated with an increased concentration and proportion of saturated fatty acids suggest that GSD-I patients on nocturnal intragastric feeding are at high risk for atherosclerosis and its complications.     

3He impurities on the bulk surface of liquid4He: Possible existence of excited states

We study, using a density-functional approach, the properties of the two-dimensional system formed by³He atoms on the surface of liquid⁴He, as a function of³He coverageN _s , at zero temperature. We find several types of surface states accessible to the³He atoms. For small values ofN _s , the surface tension is, as expected, linear inN _s ² . For a coverage of about half a monolayer, a new type of surface state starts being occupied, and this produces a change in the slope of as a function ofN _s ² and, more clearly, a step in the surface specific heat, which increases by a factor of almost two. Another step is predicted to occur for a coverage of 1.3 monolayer. Existing data are compatible with this structure of surface states but are not numerous enough to prove or disprove the existence of steps.Unité de Recherche des Universités Paris 11 et Paris 6 Associée au CNRS.     

Note: a high transmission Faraday optical isolator in the 9.2 μm range

We have fabricated and characterized an n-doped InSb Faraday isolator in the mid-IR range (9.2 μm). A high isolation ratio (31(2) dB) and low insertion loss (1.9(3) dB) are obtained. Temperature dependance is analyzed. Further possible improvements are discussed, including the realization of a two-stage isolator. A similar design can be used to cover a wide wavelength range (λ ~ 7.5-30 μm).     

A new probabilistic scheme for information retrieval in hypertext

Abstract

The aim of probabilistic models is to define a retrieval strategy within which documents can be optimally ranked according to their relevance probability, with respect to a given request. In this scheme, the underlying probabilities are estimated according to a history of past queries along with their relevance judgments. Having evolved over the last twenty years, these estimations allow us to take both document frequency and within-document frequency into account.

In the current study, we suggest representing documents not only by index term vectors as proposed by previous probabilistic models but also by considering relevance hypertext links. These relationships, which provide additional evidence on document content, are established according to requests and relevance judgments, and may improve the ranking of the retrieved records, in a sequence most likely to fulfill user intent. Thus, to enhance retrieval effectiveness, our learning retrieval scheme should modify: (1) the weight assigned to each indexing term, (2) the importance attached of each search term, and (3) the relationships between documents. Using a simple additive scheme applied after a ranked list of documents has been determined, with the aid of a probabilistic retrieval strategy, our proposed solution is well suited to a hypertext system. Based on the CACM test collection which includes 3,204 documents and the CISI corpus (1,460 documents), we have built a hypertext and evaluated our proposed retrieval scheme. The retrieval effectiveness of this approach presents interesting results.     

Thiamine concentrations in lake whitefish eggs from the upper Great Lakes are related to maternal diet

Thiamine deficiency is responsible for reproductive impairment in several species of salmonines in the Great lakes, and is thought to be caused by the consumption of prey containing thiaminase, a thiamine-degrading enzyme. Because thiaminase levels are extremely high in dreissenid mussels, fish that prey on them may be susceptible to thiamine deficiency. We determined thiamine concentrations in lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis eggs from the upper Laurentian Great Lakes to assess the potential for thiamine deficiency and to determine if thiamine concentrations in lake whitefish eggs were related to maternal diet. Mean thiamine concentrations in lake whitefish eggs were highest in Lake Huron, intermediate in Lake Superior, and lowest in Lake Michigan. Some fish had thiamine concentrations below putative thresholds for lethal and sublethal effects in salmonines, suggesting that some larval lake whitefish may currently be at risk of at least sublethal effects of low thiamine concentrations, although thiamine thresholds are unknown for lake whitefish. Egg thiamine concentrations in lake whitefish eggs were statistically significantly related to isotopic carbon signatures, suggesting that egg thiamine levels were related to maternal diet, but low egg thiamine concentrations did not appear to be associated with a diet of dreissenids. Egg thiamine concentrations were not statistically significantly related to multifunction oxidase induction, suggesting that lower egg thiamine concentrations in lake whitefish were not related to contaminant exposure.     

Free-form object reconstruction from silhouettes, occluding edges and texture edges: a unified and robust operator based on duality

In this paper, the duality in differential form is developed between a 3D primal surface and its dual manifold formed by the surface's tangent planes, i.e., each tangent plane of the primal surface is represented as a four-dimensional vector which constitutes a point on the dual manifold. The iterated dual theorem shows that each tangent plane of the dual manifold corresponds to a point on the original 3D surface, i.e., the dual of the dual goes back to the primal. This theorem can be directly used to reconstruct 3D surface from image edges by estimating the dual manifold from these edges. In this paper we further develop the work in our original conference papers resulting in the robust differential dual operator. We argue that the operator makes good use of the information available in the image data, by using both points of intensity discontinuity and their edge directions; we provide a simple physical interpretation of what the abstract algorithm is actually estimating and why it makes sense in terms of estimation accuracy; our algorithm operates on all edges in the images, including silhouette edges, self occlusion edges, and texture edges, without distinguishing their types (thus resulting in improved accuracy and handling locally concave surface estimation if texture edges are present); the algorithm automatically handles various degeneracies; and the algorithm incorporates new methodologies for implementing the required operations such as appropriately relating edges in pairs of images, evaluating and using the algorithm's sensitivity to noise to determine the accuracy of an estimated 3D point. Experiments with both synthetic and real images demonstrate that the operator is accurate, robust to degeneracies and noise, and general for reconstructing free-form objects from occluding edges and texture edges detected in calibrated images or video sequences.     

A wireless embedded tongue tactile biofeedback system for balance control

We describe the architecture of an original biofeedback system for balance improvement for fall prevention and present results of a feasibility study. The underlying principle of this biofeedback consists of providing supplementary information related to foot sole pressure distribution through a wireless embedded tongue-placed tactile output device.Twelve young healthy adults voluntarily participated in this experiment. They were asked to stand as immobile as possible with their eyes closed in two conditions of no-biofeedback and biofeedback. Centre of foot pressure (CoP) displacements were recorded using a force platform. Results showed reduced CoP displacements in the biofeedback relative to the no-biofeedback condition.On the whole, the present findings evidence the effectiveness of this system in improving postural control on young healthy adults. Further investigations are needed to strengthen the potential clinical value of this device.     

Disturbance attenuation by dynamic output feedback for input-delay systems

This paper addresses the optimal disturbance attenuation problem by output feedback for multivariable linear systems with delayed inputs. The attenuation is optimal in the sense that the controller minimizes the maximal amplitude of the plant output in response to such a disturbance. The controller is a general feedback, involving an observer, a state predictor, and a predicted state feedback. The optimal disturbance attenuation problem is formulated in terms of an equivalent system without delay. The optimal bound of the disturbance attenuation is then characterized, and it is shown that the optimal controller tends to have high gains. A necessary and sufficient condition to guarantee the existence of an optimal solution is provided using the geometric approach.     

Use of a laser beam with an oblique angle of incidence to measure the reduced scattering coefficient of a turbid medium

A simple and quick approach is used to measure the reduced scattering coefficient (μ(s)') of a semi-infinite turbid medium having a much smaller absorption coefficient than μ(s)'. A laser beam with an oblique angle of incidence to the medium causes the center of the diffuse reflectance that is several transport mean-free paths away from the incident point to shift away from the point of incidence by an amount Δx. This amount is used to compute μ(s)' by μ(s)' = sin(α(i))/(nΔx) where n is the refractive index of the turbid medium divided by that of the incident medium and α(i) is the angle of incidence measured from the surface normal. For a turbid medium having an absorption coefficient comparable with μ(s)', a revision to the above formula is made. This method is tested theoretically by Monte Carlo simulations and experimentally by a video reflectometer.