A network model for stemflow solute transport

While the role of stemflow in directing and concentrating water and nutrients at the tree base is rarely in dispute, its mathematical representation remains a subject of inquiry and research. A network model that seeks to estimate stemflow solute concentration and leaching is proposed. The model accommodates the physico-chemical properties of individual furrows embedded within the tree bark and their interconnections. The within-furrow equations for water and solute transport that include leaching are first developed and integrated along a rough-bark network topology to describe solute concentration and fluxes out of the network. The model is parameterized using published data on stemflow, field measurements of bark geometry, and laboratory experiments on bark leaching for potassium, magnesium, and calcium. The parameterization is intended to impose plausibility constraints and not to test model predictions at a particular site, a single event, or an individual experiment. The outflow concentration is then analyzed as a function of the network complexity that includes asymmetry in the lengths or subpaths connecting network nodes. For a symmetric network, an effective ’channel-flow’ analogy may be used to represent solute concentration at the outflow. However, as the asymmetry increases in subpath lengths, the efficiency of the bark network at moving solutes diminishes for the same rainfall input onto the stem. The network representation featured here is by no means offering a ’finality’ to the stemflow mathematical representation. It must be viewed as an embryonic step that opens up the possibility of using modern advances in network theories to link rainfall properties to stemflow water and solute input from a variety of tree species with differing bark microrelief configurations into the soil.     

Toward the Design of a Catalytic Metallodrug: Selective Cleavage of G‐Quadruplex Telomeric DNA by an Anticancer Copper–Acridine–ATCUN Complex

Telomeric DNA represents a novel target for the development of anticancer drugs. By application of a catalytic metallodrug strategy, a copper–acridine–ATCUN complex (CuGGHK‐Acr) has been designed that targets G‐quadruplex telomeric DNA. Both fluorescence solution assays and gel sequencing demonstrate the CuGGHK‐Acr catalyst to selectively bind and cleave the G‐quadruplex telomere sequence. The cleavage pathway has been mapped by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS) experiments. CuGGHK‐Acr promotes significant inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and shortening of telomere length. Both senescence and apoptosis are induced in the breast cancer cell line MCF7.     

Numerical identification of constitutive functions in scalar nonlinear convection–diffusion equations with application to batch sedimentation

A fast and simple method for the identification of nonlinear constitutive functions in scalar convection–diffusion equations is presented. No a priori information is needed on the form of the constitutive functions, which are obtained as continuous piecewise affine functions. Accurate and frequent measurements in space and time are required. Synthetic data of batch sedimentation of particles in a liquid and traffic flow are chosen as examples where a convective flux function and a function modelling compression are identified. Real data should first undergo a denoising procedure, which is also presented. It consists of a sequence of convex optimization problems, whose constraints originate from fundamental physical properties. The methodology is applied on data from a batch sedimentation experiment of activated sludge in wastewater treatment.     

Thermographic detection of adhesive-bond and interlaminar flaws in composites

This paper reports the development of a liquid-crystal passive thermographic technique for the detection of adhesive-bond-line and interlaminar flaws in composite materials. The technique was successfully used for the detection of flaws in three composite systems: E-glass/epoxy, graphite/epoxy and HMC. Thermographic results are compared to ultrasonic C-scan results to assess the relative effectiveness of the new technique. A photomicrographic study was also used to verify the detected flaws and to characterize the type and extent of the actual damage.     

DNS and LES of turbulent flow in a closed channel featuring a pattern of hemispherical roughness elements

Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulations (LES) were performed for fully-developed turbulent flow in channels with smooth walls and walls featuring hemispherical roughness elements at shear Reynolds numbers Re_τ = 180 and 400, with the goal of studying the effect of these roughness elements on the wall-layer structure and on the friction factor. The LES and DNS approaches were verified first by comparison with existing DNS databases for smooth walls. Then, a parametric study for the hemispherical roughness elements was conducted, including the effects of shear Reynolds number, normalized roughness height (k⁺ = 10–20) and relative roughness spacing (s⁺/k⁺ = 2–6). The sensitivity study also included the effect of distribution pattern (regular square lattice vs. random pattern) of the roughness elements on the walls. The hemispherical roughness elements generate turbulence, thus increasing the friction factor with respect to the smooth-wall case, and causing a downward shift in the mean velocity profiles. The simulations revealed that the friction factor decreases with increasing Reynolds number and roughness spacing, and increases strongly with increasing roughness height. The effect of random element distribution on friction factor and mean velocities is however weak. In all cases, there is a clear cut between the inner layer near the wall, which is affected by the presence of the roughness elements, and the outer layer, which remains relatively unaffected. The study reveals that the presence of roughness elements of this shape promotes locally the instantaneous flow motion in the lateral direction in the wall layer, causing a transfer of energy from the streamwise Reynolds stress to the lateral component. The study indicates also that the coherent structures developing in the wall layer are rather similar to the smooth case but are lifted up by almost a constant wall-unit shift y⁺ (∼10–15), which, interestingly, corresponds to the relative roughness k⁺ = 10.     

Solitons and other nonlinear waves of the Boussinesq equation

This paper studies the dynamics of shallow water waves that are governed by the Boussinesq equations. A few perturbation terms are taken into account. The ansatz method is used to carry out the perturbed Boussinesq equation. Later on, the mapping method is used to extract a few more analytical solutions. Additionally, the Weierstrass elliptic function method is also used to obtain solitary waves and singular soliton solutions. Finally, the Lie symmetry approach is used to extract a few more additional solutions.