Experimental test of abiotic and biotic factors driving restoration success of Vallisneria americana in the Lower Bay of Green Bay

The eutrophication of aquatic habitats is a primary driver of ecosystem degradation, often culminating in a switch from a macrophyte-dominated clear water state to a phytoplankton-dominated turbid water state. While numerous studies have documented the ecological implications of this switch, subsequent reductions in nutrient and sediment loading do not consistently result in predictable reversals to macrophyte dominance. Re-introduction of rooted aquatic macrophytes at appropriate scales and species combinations may disrupt these negative feedbacks, although our current limited understanding of these complex mechanisms hinders the development of effective, targeted restoration strategies. We evaluated the potential for restoration of Vallisneria americana (wild celery) in the Lower Bay of Green Bay by altering restoration size and co-planting with the emergent species Schoenoplectus acutus (hardstem bulrush). Wild celery survival among all sites exceeded 90% in 2015 and 110% in 2016. However, in contrast to our expectations the effect of restoration size and interspecific facilitation on survival was either marginal or non-significant. Instead, various environmental effects focused largely on the interaction of water depth, substrate characteristics, and the abundance of unrestored floating macrophytes (i.e. Lemna, Ceratophyllum, and Utricularia spp.) drove variability in restoration success, suggesting that future work focus on identifying restoration methods that can withstand a highly dynamic environment. Our results provide insight into the factors continuing to limit the re-establishment of aquatic macrophytes in degraded systems, suggesting a more limited role of water quality and greater role of interspecific competition and propagule limitation or seedling establishment than previously recognized.     

Effective inhibition of mild steel corrosion in hydrochloric acid using EBIMOT,a 1, 3, 4-oxadiazole derivative bearing a 2-ethylbenzimidazole moiety: Electro analytical,computational and kinetic studies

A new organic compound, 5-((2-ethyl-1Hbenzo[d]imidazol-1-yl)methyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol (EBIMOT) has been investigated for its efficacy in the corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 0.5?M HCl at three different temperatures by classical weight loss technique, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) methods. EBIMOT shows high inhibition activity through adsorption and this phenomenon was found to obey Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The kinetic parameters were also derived using the experimental data. The quantum chemical DFT studies were used to correlate the interrelation of inhibition efficiency and molecular structure.     

Comparative studies on the corrosion inhibition characteristics of three different triazine based Schiff’s bases,HMMT, DHMMT and MHMMT,for mild steel exposed in sulfuric acid

The inhibition behavior of three different triazine based Schiff’s bases, HMMT, DHMMT and MHMMT for mild steel corrosion in sulphuric acid has been investigated using weight loss, electrochemical studies, SEM, spectroscopic studies and basic computational studies. The inhibition efficiency increased with increase in inhibitor concentration but decreased with rise in temperature and acid concentration in the case of these three inhibitors. The order of inhibition efficiency expected from the values of band energy is in good agreement with the results obtained from weight loss and electrochemical studies. Polarization studies indicated the mixed type behavior of these inhibitors. Field emission scanning electron microscopic studies revealed that inhibitors protect the metal surface by the forming a protective film through adsorption of inhibitor molecules.     

On jet instability modes of a subsonic Hartmann whistle

Numerical experiments to understand the resonant acoustic response of a subsonic jet impinging on the mouth of a tube, known as the Hartmann whistle configuration, were performed as large-eddy simulations. The tube length was chosen so that its fundamental duct mode, for one end closed and one end open, would match the dominant mode in the exciting jet. When the tube mouth was placed in the path of a regular stream of vortex rings, formed by the instability of the jet’s bounding shear layer, a strong resonant, tonal response (whistling) was obtained. At three diameters from the jet, OASPL was 150–160 dB. A tube with a thicker lip generated a louder response. When the tube was held closer to the nozzle exit, the impinging unsteady shear layer could not provoke any significant resonance. The simulations reveal that the tonal response of a Hartmann whistle operating in subsonic mode is significant.     

Predictive modeling of die filling of the pharmaceutical granules using the flexible neural tree

In this work, a computational intelligence (CI) technique named flexible neural tree (FNT) was developed to predict die filling performance of pharmaceutical granules and to identify significant die filling process variables. FNT resembles feedforward neural network, which creates a tree-like structure by using genetic programming. To improve accuracy, FNT parameters were optimized by using differential evolution algorithm. The performance of the FNT-based CI model was evaluated and compared with other CI techniques: multilayer perceptron, Gaussian process regression, and reduced error pruning tree. The accuracy of the CI model was evaluated experimentally using die filling as a case study. The die filling experiments were performed using a model shoe system and three different grades of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) powders (MCC PH 101, MCC PH 102, and MCC DG). The feed powders were roll-compacted and milled into granules. The granules were then sieved into samples of various size classes. The mass of granules deposited into the die at different shoe speeds was measured. From these experiments, a dataset consisting true density, mean diameter (d50), granule size, and shoe speed as the inputs and the deposited mass as the output was generated. Cross-validation (CV) methods such as 10FCV and 5x2FCV were applied to develop and to validate the predictive models. It was found that the FNT-based CI model (for both CV methods) performed much better than other CI models. Additionally, it was observed that process variables such as the granule size and the shoe speed had a higher impact on the predictability than that of the powder property such as d50. Furthermore, validation of model prediction with experimental data showed that the die filling behavior of coarse granules could be better predicted than that of fine granules.

     

Wind-gust Compensation Algorithm based on High-gain Residual Observer to Control a Quadrotor Aircraft: Real-time Verification Task at Fixed Point

Wind is considered a strong disturbance for quadrotor aircrafts (UAV) when an outdoor task at a fixed point is carried out. The effect of wind produces a distortion on the attitude of the vehicle which is reflected on undesired longitudinal movements. This paper addresses a real-time implementation and design of a robust embedded control-observer based on a type high-gain observer algorithm for on-line estimation and compensation of external disturbances produced by wind gusts on an autonomous quadrotor aircraft. A real-time experimental implementation of embedded Residual High Gain algorithm control is proposed in order to eliminate the effects of real perturbations in the hover position of the UAV. A Lyapunov function was used to practical stability analysis the system. Also numerical simulations were carried out to estimate wind behavior by the use of Drydel mathematical wind model. The main contribution of this work is the implementation of a Residual High Gain Observer in an outdoor real-time experiment in presence of real wind gusts perturbations. The proposed embedded algorithm control improves the stabilization of an UAV in the presence of real wind gusts with average of 8 m/s. The proposed algorithm improved the UAV behavior as shown by the GPS position experimental results, decreasing the wind effect on the translational movement of the aircraft.

     

Investigation of Transmission Properties in One-Dimensional Quasi-periodic Superconducting Photonic Crystal

This paper explores the transmission characteristics of superconducting quasi-periodic photonic crystal structure arranged in Thue-Morse and double-period sequences. We mainly focused on the cutoff frequency of transmittance spectra. The study shows that the cutoff frequency can be appreciably tuned by generation number of sequence, thicknesses of constituent layers and operating temperature. Shifting behaviour of cutoff frequency is in contrast with periodic structure on varying superconductor thickness and temperature whereas it shows opposite trend on changing the dielectric layer thickness. It is also observed that different quasi-periodic structures show distinct values of cutoff frequency and different transmission properties. This features allow to tune the cutoff frequency or band gap in the whole infrared frequency region.     

Tuning the phase of circadian entrainment

The circadian clock coordinates daily physiological, metabolic and behavioural rhythms. These endogenous oscillations are synchronized with external cues (‘zeitgebers’), such as daily light and temperature cycles. When the circadian clock is entrained by a zeitgeber, the phase difference ψ between the phase of a clock-controlled rhythm and the phase of the zeitgeber is of fundamental importance for the fitness of the organism. The phase of entrainment ψ depends on the mismatch between the intrinsic period τ and the zeitgeber period T and on the ratio of the zeitgeber strength to oscillator amplitude. Motivated by the intriguing complexity of empirical data and by our own experiments on temperature entrainment of mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) slices, we present a theory on how clock and zeitgeber properties determine the phase of entrainment. The wide applicability of the theory is demonstrated using mathematical models of different complexity as well as by experimental data. Predictions of the theory are confirmed by published data on Neurospora crassa strains for different period mismatches τ − T and varying photoperiods. We apply a novel regression technique to analyse entrainment of SCN slices by temperature cycles. We find that mathematical models can explain not only the stable asymptotic phase of entrainment, but also transient phase dynamics. Our theory provides the potential to explore seasonal variations of circadian rhythms, jet lag and shift work in forthcoming studies.