Antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity of essential oils and ethanol extracts of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thymus algeriensis</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teucrium polium</Emphasis> from Algeria

This study aimed to investigate the cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitory and antioxidant activities of essential oil (EO) and ethanolic extract (EE) of two Lamiaceae medicinal plants from Algeria: Thymus algeriensis Boiss. & Reut. and Teucrieum polium subsp capitatum. The chemical composition of EOs analyzed by GC and GC–MS revealed the presence of carvacrol (43.2%), p-cymene (18.7%) and γ-terpinene (14.8%) as major compounds in T. algeriensis, while germacrene D (25.0%), bicyclogermacrene (10.4%), β-pinene (11.3%) and spathulenol (5.8%) were the most important components in T. polium oil. The best inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was exhibited by the EO of T. algeriensis. On the other hand, T. polium oil was more efficient against butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) than against AChE, whereas EEs showed weak or no inhibitory effect, particularly against AChE. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by β-carotene bleaching, ferric and cupric reducing powers and inhibition of ABTS^?+, DPPH^? and superoxide radicals. EOs showed different antioxidant trends depending on the assay used while ethanol extracts had high activity with all tests.     

Mixed Convection in a Vertical Channel with Discrete Heat Sources Using a Porous Matrix

In this work, we present the mixed convection air-cooling of two identical heat sources mounted in a vertical channel by using a porous matrix. The flow field is governed by the Navier–Stokes equation in the fluid region, the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer equation in the porous region, and the thermal field by the energy equation. The effects of the Richardson number, Darcy number, thermal conductivity, and thickness of the porous matrix on the flow and heat transfer were studied. Results show that a better cooling is obtained for the channel completely filled with a porous material, except the components, with the Richardson number (Ri = Gr/Re² = 0.25), where Gr = 10⁴ is the Grashof number and Re = 200 is the Reynolds number, and for all Darcy numbers (10^?5 ≤ Da ≤ 10^?3). It was also seen that for Gr/Re² = 20, where the buoyancy effect is stronger, the average Nusselt number with porous matrix is higher than without porous matrix for all Richardson numbers (Ri = 0.25, 1, 10, and 20). As a result, we can economize the energy of the fan. Finally, the insertion of the porous matrix with high thermal conductivity ameliorates the cooling of the heat sources.     

Numerical Investigation of the Fluid Flow in Continuous Casting Tundish Using Analysis of RTD Curves

 A detailed mathematical procedure of the optimization of the fluid flow in a tundish water model with and without flow control devices (weir and dam) was carried out using the commercial CFD code FLUENT 60. The (k ε) two equation model was used to model turbulence. The residence time distribution (RTD) curves were used to analyze the behavior of the flow in tundish. The location of flow control devices in the tundish was studied. The results show that the flow modifiers play an important role in promoting the floatation of nonmetallic inclusions in steel. Comparing the three geometric configurations that are considered (bare tundish, weir, weir+dam), the tundish equipped with the arrangement (weir+dam) is a best and optimal geometric configuration of tundish.     

Design of digital FIR variable fractional order integrator and differentiator

This paper presents an easy and simple method to design variable fractional order digital FIR integrators and differentiators based on fractional order systems. First, closed-form digital IIR fractional order integrators and differentiators have been obtained from the analog rational functions approximations, in a given frequency band, of the fractional order integrator s ^?m and differentiator s ^m (0?<?m?<?1) through the Tustin generating function. Then, closed-form digital FIR fractional order integrators and differentiators by truncation of the digital IIR ones have been derived. Next, polynomial interpolation has been used to design digital FIR variable fractional order integrators and differentiators that can be implemented by the Farrow structure. The main feature of variable fractional order operator is that its order can be changed without re-designing a new fractional order operator. Some examples have been presented through the paper to illustrate the performance and the effectiveness of the proposed design method. The results obtained have been discussed and have been compared to one of the most recent works in the literature using the same design parameters.     

Approximate realization of digital fractional forward operator using digital IIR filter

In this paper, a simple and an efficient approach for approximating the digital fractional forward operator z ^m (0?<?m?<?1) using digital infinite impulse response (IIR) filter is proposed. In this method, the coefficients of the closed form digital IIR filter derived for the approximation of the fractional forward operator, in a given frequency band, are based on approximation of fractional order systems. First, analog rational function approximation, in a given frequency band, of the fractional power zero (FPZ) is given. Then, the forward difference generating function is used to obtain a closed form IIR digital filter equivalent of the continuous FPZ, which approximates the digital fractional forward operator. Finally, illustrative examples have been presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design technique of the fractional forward operator z ^m approximation and its use in performing a fractional m-step prediction.