A simple but sound approach for processing crystal growth kinetic data

The effects of common data smoothing techniques, on the estimating of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the crystal growth process, were discussed in the light of birth and spread model. Adoption of the moving average, and filtration caused a noticeable misunderstanding of the real ruling growth mechanism, especially, during the early period of the crystal growth.In this work, a MATLAB routine was developed with standard, and reliable method to treat the prolonged concentration-time data sets, as obtained from continuous recording of refractometric °Brix readings of pure sucrose solutions in laboratory batch crystallization process. The method consists of finding the median of the residence time for every °Brix concentration, with and without interference of previous and post readings. In addition to 30% reduction in the evaluated interfacial free energies, up to 5-folds of increase in the estimates of the overall kinetic coefficients were reported using the common smoothing techniques instead of the proposed routine.     

The Clinical Utilization of Circulating Cell Free DNA (CCFDNA) in Blood of Cancer Patients

Qualitative and quantitative testing of circulating cell free DNA (CCFDNA) can be applied for the management of malignant and benign neoplasms. Detecting circulating DNA in cancer patients may help develop a DNA profile for early stage diagnosis in malignancies. The technical issues of obtaining, using, and analyzing CCFDNA from blood will be discussed.     

Modeling of electrical field modified by injected space charge

This paper presents the numerical solution of the coupled Poisson equation and charge conservation equation. We present an algorithm to obtain the distributions of electric field and charge density resulting from a corona discharge in the two-dimensional hyperbolic blade-ground plate configuration. We use finite elements method (FEM) to determine the potential distribution, finite volume method (FVM) and method of characteristics (MOC) to determine the distribution of charge density. The structured mesh is redefined at each iteration step to decrease artificial numerical diffusion. For solving the conservation equation, MOC with redefinition of structured mesh appears to be the best technique.     

Numerical Solution and Experimental Test for Corona Discharge Between Blade and Plate

This paper presents a numerical technique to solve the problem of space charge distribution in a blade-plate electrodes system. The coupled equations are: Poisson equation solved by finite element method (FEM) to determine the distributions of potential, and charge conservation equation solved by the method of characteristics (MOC) to obtain the charge density between the two electrodes. The structured mesh is redefined at each step of the iterative scheme. A simplified injection law at the blade is retained; it allows us to obtain solutions which compare very favorably with experimental results concerning the current density distribution at the plate     

Experience of the Moroccan National Railways in reinforcement of “short” tunnels

The Moroccan National Railways (O.N.C.F.—Office National de Chemins des Fer du Maroc) network includes 28 tunnels totalling 18,842 km in length. These tunnels have been constructed in the past 65 years (the average tunnel is between 60 and 70 years old). With the exception of the Rabat-Ville and Orangers tunnels, which are double-track, all of the railway tunnels are single-track. The majority of the tunnels were driven in soft or loose ground. In the late 1970s, O.N.C.F. initiated a system of periodic inspections to better follow the condition of the works and to reveal any disorders that threatened the stability of the tunnels. The authors recount in detail the results of two such inspections, and the resulting prevention and repair measures taken.