Living fluids

One of the major emerging fields of research of the beginning of this century concerns living fluids. By “living fluids”, we mean two major categories of complex fluids: (i) fluids which are essential to life, like blood, and (ii) active fluids made of particles that are able to propel themselves in the suspending fluid by converting a form of their energy into mechanical motion. Studies on active fluids have known a considerable interest since the last decade. Blood might be viewed as an old topic, but the progresses in experimental techniques, analytical concepts and numerics, have contributed nowadays to a dramatic renewal of the interest in this field, with a great potential towards understanding physical and mechanical factors in cardiovascular diseases. These fields have considerably strengthened interdisciplinary research. The series of reviews of this dossier focus on the tremendous recent progress achieved in research on living fluids both from the experimental and theoretical points of views. These reviews present also the major open issues, making of this dossier a unique guide for future research in these fields. This project grew up thanks to the international summer school that we organized on the topic “living fluids” at the IES (Institut dʼétudes scientifiques) of Cargèse (Corsica) in 2012.     

Ytterbium triflate hydrate catalyzed Michael addition and cyclocondensation of α,β-unsaturated ketones with active methylene compounds

Catalyzed by ytterbium（III） triflate hydrate [Yb（OTf）3.xH20], the Michael addition and cyclocondensation of α,β-unsaturated ketones with active methylene compounds to afford the 1,4-adducts and benzo[b]pyran derivatives, respectively were studied.     

Hydrogenase enzymes: Recent structural studies and active site models

Recent developments in active site structure determination of the three types of hydrogenase enzymes are described. Aspects of recent studies using model complexes relevant to the structure and function of the enzymes are reviewed.     

Seasonal variation of radon-222 concentrations in specific locations in Jordan

Previously calibrated passive detectors (CR-39) and an active radon device (Radon Monitor RM3) were used to study seasonal variation of radon-222 concentration levels inside and outside specific locations in Jordan. The study sites were located in an area that used to be an old phosphate mine. We found that the maximum value of radon concentration in air inside the dwellings, as measured by the passive dosimeters, was 1532.9 Bq/m³ during the winter season, and the minimum one was 46.3 Bq/m³ during fall season. While the highest and lowest readings of the active monitor were 892 and 4 Bq/m³ during fall and summer seasons, respectively. The radon concentration in soil ranges from 0.2 kBq/m³ in spring to 37.8 kBq/m³ in fall.     

Progress in nanoparticles characterization:Sizing and zeta potential measurement

Characterization of various nanoparticles is on the center stage in nanotechnology development. The subjects for nanoparticles characterization are focused on particle size and particle surface charge determinations. This article summarizes the latest development in particle size analysis using dynamic light scattering and surface charge determination using electrophoretic light scattering for nano- or even sub-nanoparticles in concentrated suspensions.     

主动成像系统距离选通实验方案设计

 距离选通技术是克服大气后向散射，提高主动成像系统信噪比的有效方法。分析了距离选通的技术要求，分别使用电源调制和机械调制的方法获得了适合用于主动成像系统脉冲光源,并进行了距离选通实验，机械调制方法适用于大功率连续半导体激光器。使用氙灯泵浦YAG激光器实现了对675 m和1 509 m距离目标的主动成像，详细分析了几种方案的利弊并提出了改进方法。     

Hybrid passive/active absorbers for flow ducts

A new type of acoustic liner developed for broadband noise reduction in flow ducts is considered in this paper. It combines passive absorbent properties of a porous layer and active control at its rear face. The complete design procedure of this hybrid passive/active liner is developed here. The passive part is first considered with the determination of a suitable porous material and the cut-off frequency separating the active low frequency regime from the passive high frequency one. The control system is then presented: a digital adaptive feedback control is performed independently cell by cell, allowing an easy subsequent increase of the liner surface. The entire optimization process has been successfully applied to a laboratory flow duct: both predictions and measurements show the interest of the hybrid liner to reduce the noise radiation.     

Multilayer hydrous oxide growth on copper in base and its correlation with previously reported electrocatalytic data for this electrode system

A repetitive potential cycling procedure was used to produce a specific multilayer hydrous oxide film on copper in base at 60 °C. Such a deposit undergoes reduction in a quasi-reversible manner at ca. −0.1 V (RHE), i.e. at a potential that is unrelated to Pourbaix data for copper but, as demonstrated previously, is of major significance with regard to the electrocatalytic behaviour of this electrode system. In accordance with the incipient hydrous oxide/adatom mediator model of electrocatalysis, an active surface state of the metal (Cu*) is assumed to be involved both in electrocatalysis and as a primary product in the hydrous oxide reduction reaction. While the latter process occurs very rapidly at −0.1 V, it is not usually reversible as it is accompanied by subsequent rapid loss of the active state of the metal. The same general approach was used previously to explain the hydrous oxide and electrocatalytic behaviour of a range of noble metals. Received: 28 August 1999 / Accepted: 11 November 1999     

An Algorithm Based on Active Sets and Smoothing for Discretized Semi-Infinite Minimax Problems

We present a new active-set strategy which can be used in conjunction with exponential (entropic) smoothing for solving large-scale minimax problems arising from the discretization of semi-infinite minimax problems. The main effect of the active-set strategy is to dramatically reduce the number of gradient calculations needed in the optimization. Discretization of multidimensional domains gives rise to minimax problems with thousands of component functions. We present an application to minimizing the sum of squares of the Lagrange polynomials to find good points for polynomial interpolation on the unit sphere in ℝ³. Our numerical results show that the active-set strategy results in a modified Armijo gradient or Gauss-Newton like methods requiring less than a quarter of the gradients, as compared to the use of these methods without our active-set strategy. Finally, we show how this strategy can be incorporated in an algorithm for solving semi-infinite minimax problems.     

Ytterbium triflate hydrate catalyzed Michael addition and cyclocondensation of α,β-unsaturated ketones with active methylene compounds

Catalyzed by ytterbium(Ⅲ) triflate hydrate [Yb(OTf)3.xH2O], the Michael addition and cycloeondensation of α,β-unsaturated ketones with active methylene compounds to afford the 1,4-adducts and benzo[b]pyran derivatives, respectively were studied.