A realistic coronary artery phantom for particle image velocimetry

Myocardial infarction results from the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque, which occurs in response to both mechanical stress and inflammatory processes. In order experimentally observe flow into atherosclerotic coronary artery morphologies, a novel technique for molding realistic compliant phantom featuring injection-molded inclusions and multiple layers has been developed. This transparent phantom allows for particle image velocimetry (PIV) flow analysis and can supply experimental data to validate computational fluid dynamics algorithms and hypothesis.     

Real-time color holographic interferometry devoted to 2D unsteady wake flows

A new optical technique based on real time holographic interferometry in true colors has been implemented around the transonic wind tunnel of the ONERA-Lille center to analyze 2D unsteady wake flows. Tests realized in color interferometry, real time and double exposure, use simultaneously three wavelengths of a continuous waves laser (argon and krypton mixed) and holograms are recorded on silver-halide single-layer panchromatic Slavich PFG03c plates. The very principle of real-time true color holographic interferometry uses three primary wavelengths (red, green and blue) to record, under no-flow conditions, the interference among the three measurement beams and the three reference beams simultaneously on a single reference hologram. After the holographic plate is developed, it is placed on the test setup again in the position it occupied during exposure and the hologram is illuminated again by the three reference beams and three measurement beams. A flat, uniform color can then be observed behind the hologram. So a horizontal, vertical, or even circular fringe pattern can be formed and the achromatic central fringe can be made out very clearly. The single color is used to determine the path difference zero on the interferograms. The flow studied was the unsteady flow downstream of a cylinder placed crosswise in the test section. A sequence of hundred interferograms was recorded on the flow around the cylinder at Mach 0.37. The vortex formation and dissipation phases can be seen very clearly, along with the fringe beat to either side of the cylinder.     

Desorption behavior of a surfactant in a linear low‐density polyethylene blend at elevated temperatures

The desorption behavior of a surfactant in a linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) blend at elevated temperatures of 50, 70, and 80 °C was studied with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The composition of the LLDPE blend was 70:30 LLDPE/low‐density polyethylene. Three different specimens (II, III, and IV) were prepared with various compositions of a small molecular penetrant, sorbitan palmitate (SPAN‐40), and a migration controller, poly(ethylene acrylic acid) (EAA), in the LLDPE blend. The calculated diffusion coefficient (D) of SPAN‐40 in specimens II, III, and IV, between 50 and 80 °C, varied from 1.74 × 10^?11 to 6.79 × 10^?11 cm²/s, from 1.10 × 10^?11 to 5.75 × 10^?11 cm²/s, and from 0.58 × 10^?11 to 4.75 × 10^?11 cm²/s, respectively. In addition, the calculated activation energies (E_D) of specimens II, III, and IV, from the plotting of ln D versus 1/T between 50 and 80 °C, were 42.9, 52.7, and 65.6 kJ/mol, respectively. These values were different from those obtained between 25 and 50 °C and were believed to have been influenced by the interference of Tinuvin (a UV stabilizer) at elevated temperatures higher than 50 °C. Although the desorption rate of SPAN‐40 increased with the temperature and decreased with the EAA content, the observed spectral behavior did not depend on the temperature and time. For all specimens stored over 50 °C, the peak at 1739 cm^?1 decreased in a few days and subsequently increased with a peak shift toward 1730 cm^?1. This arose from the carbonyl stretching vibration of Tinuvin, possibly because of oxidation or degradation at elevated temperatures. In addition, the incorporation of EAA into the LLDPE blend suppressed the desorption rate of SPAN‐40 and retarded the appearance of the 1730 cm^?1 peak. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1114–1126, 2004     

On division rings with algebraic commutators of bounded degree

We shall answer several questions concerning additive or multiplicative commutators in a division ring which are algebraic of bounded degree over its center.     

Seizure warning algorithm based on optimization and nonlinear dynamics

There is growing evidence that temporal lobe seizures are preceded by a preictal transition, characterized by a gradual dynamical change from asymptomatic interictal state to seizure. We herein report the first prospective analysis of the online automated algorithm for detecting the preictal transition in ongoing EEG signals. Such, the algorithm constitutes a seizure warning system. The algorithm estimates STL_max, a measure of the order or disorder of the signal, of EEG signals recorded from individual electrode sites. The optimization techniques were employed to select critical brain electrode sites that exhibit the preictal transition for the warning of epileptic seizures. Specifically, a quadratically constrained quadratic 0-1 programming problem is formulated to identify critical electrode sites. The automated seizure warning algorithm was tested in continuous, long-term EEG recordings obtained from 5 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. For individual patient, we use the first half of seizures to train the parameter settings, which is evaluated by ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curve analysis. With the best parameter setting, the algorithm applied to all cases predicted an average of 91.7% of seizures with an average false prediction rate of 0.196 per hour. These results indicate that it may be possible to develop automated seizure warning devices for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.Mathematics Subject Classification (1991):20E28, 20G40, 20C20     

On Einstein four-manifolds with <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript>-actions

We study closed Einstein 4-manifolds which admit S¹ actions of a certain type, i.e., warped products. In particular, we classify them up to isometry when the fixed point of the S¹ action satisfies certain natural geometric conditions. The proof uses the Bochner-Weitzenböck formula for 1-forms and the theory of minimal surfaces in 3-manifolds.in final form: 22 January 2003     

Kinetic Models for Chemotaxis and their Drift-Diffusion Limits

Kinetic models for chemotaxis, nonlinearly coupled to a Poisson equation for the chemo-attractant density, are considered. Under suitable assumptions on the turning kernel (including models introduced by Othmer, Dunbar and Alt), convergence in the macroscopic limit to a drift-diffusion model is proven. The drift-diffusion models derived in this way include the classical Keller-Segel model. Furthermore, sufficient conditions for kinetic models are given such that finite-time-blow-up does not occur. Examples are given satisfying these conditions, whereas the macroscopic limit problem is known to exhibit finite-time-blow-up. The main analytical tools are entropy techniques for the macroscopic limit as well as results from potential theory for the control of the chemo-attractant density.Present address: Centro de Matemática e Aplicações Fundamentais, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto 2, 1649-003, Lisboa, Portugal     

Bounded Positive Solutions of Schrödinger Equations in Two-Dimensional Exterior Domains

We prove under quite general assumptions the existence of a bounded positive solution to the semilinear Schrödinger equation in a two-dimensional exterior domain.