Procedure for verification of sound source coverage over façades according to the International Standard ISO 140–5

This paper presents a new verification procedure for sound source coverage according to ISO 140–5 requirements. The ISO 140–5 standard applies to the measurement of façade insulation and requires a sound source able to achieve a sufficiently uniform sound field in free field conditions on the façade under study. The proposed method involves the electroacoustic characterisation of the sound source in laboratory free field conditions (anechoic room) and the subsequent prediction by computer simulation of the sound free field radiated on a rectangular surface equal in size to the façade being measured. The loudspeaker is characterised in an anechoic room under laboratory controlled conditions, carefully measuring directivity, and then a computer model is designed to calculate the acoustic free field coverage for different loudspeaker positions and façade sizes. For each sound source position, the method provides the maximum direct acoustic level differences on a façade specimen and therefore determines whether the loudspeaker verifies the maximum allowed level difference of 5 dB (or 10 dB for façade dimensions greater than 5 m) required by the ISO standard. Additionally, the maximum horizontal dimension of the façade meeting the standard is calculated and provided for each sound source position, both with the 5 dB and 10 dB criteria. In the last section of the paper, the proposed procedure is compared with another method used by the authors in the past to achieve the same purpose: in situ outdoor measurements attempting to recreate free field conditions. From this comparison, it is concluded that the proposed method is able to reproduce the actual measurements with high accuracy, for example, the ground reflection effect, at least at low frequencies, which is difficult to avoid in the outdoor measurement method, and it is fully eliminated with the proposed method to achieve the free field requisite.     

Stabilization of cell-centered compressible Lagrangian methods using subzonal entropy

This work deals with the stabilization of early stages of Lagrangian calculations of compressible gas dynamics in the context of cell-centered discretization. We describe a totally conservative algorithm based on an entropy analysis of the distortion of a Lagrangian mesh. It prevents the tangling of the mesh, while remaining consistent and conservative in mass, momentum, and total energy. The method described can be applied to any cell-centered Lagrangian scheme. In this article, we detail the extension to the cell-centered Glace scheme published in Carré et al. (2009) [G. Carré, S. Del Pino, B. Després, E. Labourasse, A cell-centered Lagrangian hydrodynamics scheme on general unstructured meshes in arbitrary dimension, J. Comput. Phys. 228 (2009) 5160–5183]. Numerical tests are proposed to assess the accuracy and robustness.     

Conditional equations for quadratic functions

We consider quadratic functions f that satisfy the additional equation y² f(x) =  x² f(y) for the pairs \({ (x,y) \in \mathbb{R}^2}\) that fulfill the condition P(x, y) =  0 for some fixed polynomial P of two variables. If P(x, y) =  ax +  by +  c with \({ a , b , c \in \mathbb{R}}\) and \({(a^2 + b^2)c \neq 0}\) or P(x,y) =  x ⁿ ? y with a natural number \({n \geq 2}\), we prove that f(x) =  f(1) x² for all \({x \in \mathbb{R}}\). Some related problems, admitting quadratic functions generated by derivations, are considered as well.     

Optimization model for a production,inventory, distribution and routing problem in small furniture companies

Production and distribution are two key decisions in supply chain planning. In order to achieve an effective operational performance, it is important for these two decisions to be integrated, especially in supply chains with low inventory levels. In this paper, we propose a mixed integer programming model to integrate production, inventory, distribution and routing decisions in a single framework. The model was inspired by small Brazilian furniture companies and focuses on production and distribution decisions at an operational level. In particular, we consider a scenario in which only one production line and one vehicle, which makes multiple trips over the planning horizon, are available to produce items and deliver final products, respectively. We also take into account some features rarely considered in the literature, but commonly found in real-world applications, such as producing and stocking multiple items, distribution routes extending over one or more periods, multiple time windows and customers’ due dates. Computational tests on a set of randomly generated instances were carried out using a well-known optimization software and six relax-and-fix heuristics, which explore different criteria for partitioning and fixing variables. We also implemented two hybrid heuristics in which an initial solution is first constructed and then fed into the optimization software to improve it. The results showed that one relax-and-fix and the two hybrid heuristics performed better than the solver on the largest instances.     

Statistical inference of 2-type critical Galton–Watson processes with immigration

In this paper the asymptotic behavior of the conditional least squares estimators of the offspring mean matrix for a 2-type critical positively regular Galton–Watson branching process with immigration is described. We also study this question for a natural estimator of the spectral radius of the offspring mean matrix, which we call criticality parameter. We discuss the subcritical case as well.     

Graphene-based nano-patch antenna for terahertz radiation

The scattering of terahertz radiation on a graphene-based nano-patch antenna is numerically analyzed. The extinction cross section of the nano-antenna supported by silicon and silicon dioxide substrates of different thickness are calculated. Scattering resonances in the terahertz band are identified as Fabry–Perot resonances of surface plasmon polaritons supported by the graphene film. A strong tunability of the antenna resonances via electrostatic bias is numerically demonstrated, opening perspectives to design tunable graphene-based nano-antennas. These antennas are envisaged to enable wireless communications at the nanoscale.     

Comment on “Classification of Cosmic Scale Factor via Noether Gauge Symmetries” [Int. J. Theor. Phys. 54, 2343 (2015)]

We discuss the relationship between the Noether point symmetries of the geodesic Lagrangian, in a (pseudo)Riemannian manifold, with the elements of the Homothetic algebra of the space. We observe that the classification problem of the Noether symmetries for the geodesic Lagrangian is equivalent with the classification of the Homothetic algebra of the space, which in the case of a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetime is a well-known result in the literature.     

BaSnF4 fast ion conductor: Variations versus the method of preparation and anomalous temperature variation of the quadrupole splitting

A new method of preparation of high performance fluoride ion conductor, BaSnF₄, by water leaching of newly discovered barium tin(II) chloride fluorides, has been designed, and the materials have been studied and compared to the solid prepared by the usual dry method. The unit-cell parameters and crystallite dimensions were found to vary with the method of preparation. In addition, the crystallite dimensions were found to be highly anisotropic for the samples obtained by the wet method. The Mössbauer spectrum is made of a large tin(II) quadrupole doublet, and a broad tin(IV) oxide peak due to surface oxidation. The tin(II) spectrum is in agreement with covalently bonded tin(II) having a strongly stereoactive lone pair. An unusually high dependence of the quadrupole splitting at low temperatures was observed (5.8 times larger than for α-SnF₂).     

Adsorption of hydrogen on normal and pentaheptite single wall carbon nanotubes

Density functional calculations of the physisorption of molecular hydrogen and the dissociative atomic chemisorption on the external surface of hexagonal and pentaheptite carbon nanotubes, have been carried out. Physisorption binding energies are near 100 meV/molecule and are similar on metallic and semiconducting nanotubes. Full coverage of the nanotube with one molecule per graphitic hexagon decreases the binding energy per molecule. Chemisorption binding energies per H atom are larger on pentaheptites than on hexagonal carbon nanotubes. The molecular physisorption and dissociative chemisorption states on pentaheptites have very similar total energies (some chemisorbed states are even slightly more stable than the physisorbed states), while on hexagonal carbon nanotubes molecular physisorption is more stable than dissociative chemisorption. However, a substantial energy barrier has to be overcome to go from physisorption to dissociative chemisorption in both types of nanotubes.     

Newton–Okounkov bodies on projective bundles over curves

Mathematische Zeitschrift - In this article, we study Newton–Okounkov bodies on projective vector bundles over curves. Inspired by Wolfe’s estimates used to compute the volume function...