Hydrogen storage: Lattice dynamics of orthorhombic NaMgH3

In this work, we investigate the structural, dynamic and thermodynamic properties of NaMgH₃, devoted for hydrogen storage. Density functional theory using pseudopotential methods and generalized gradient approximation has been used. A good agreement between the calculated structural parameters and the experimental data was found. A linear-response approach for the density functional theory is used in order to derive the Born effective charge tensors, the dielectric permittivity tensors, the phonon frequencies at the center of the Brillouin zone, the phonon-dispersion curves and the corresponding density of states for NaMgH₃ material. The obtained phonon frequencies at the zone center (Γ point) for the Raman-active and infrared-active modes are analyzed. Thermodynamic functions using the phonon density of states are also calculated.     

A dynamic model for milk fouling in a plate heat exchanger

A two-dimensional dynamic fouling model for milk fouling in a plate heat exchanger (PHE) is proposed. Emphasis is placed on fouling prediction based on the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic performances of the PHE. A 12-channel PHE with counter-current flows is used in quantification of the milk deposition developed inside the channels. The aggregation rate of unfolded protein is found to increase exponentially with increasing wall temperature and is accompanied by a substantial reduction in the heat-transfer coefficient.     

Asymptotic approximation of eigenelements of the Dirichlet problem for the Laplacian in a domain with shoots

We study the asymptotic behavior of the eigenelements of the Dirichlet problem for the Laplacian in a two‐dimensional bounded domain with thin shoots, depending on a small parameter ε. Under the assumption that the width of the shoots goes to zero, as ε tends to zero, we construct the limit (homogenized) problem and prove the convergence of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions to the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the limit problem, respectively. Under the additional assumption that the shoots, in a fixed vicinity of the basis, are straight and periodic, and their width and the distance between the neighboring shoots are of order ε, we construct the two‐term asymptotics of the eigenvalues of the problem, as ε→0. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Passerini/Tsuji-Trost access to dienamide derivatives

The Passerini reaction of α, β-unsaturated aldehydes affords allylic acetates which may be involved in Tsuji-Trost elimations towards conjugated dienamides. The interest of these 2,4-dienamides has been demonstrated in several TiCl₄ triggered Diels-Alder reactions with N-phenylmaleimide.     

Computation of Fractional Order Derivative and Integral via Power Series Expansion and Signal Modelling

The three techniques of s-to-z transform, power series expansion (PSE) and signal modelling are combined to develop a new procedure for efficiently computing the fractional order derivatives and integrals of discrete-time signals. A mapping function between the s-plane and the z-plane is first chosen, and then a PSE of this mapping function raised to fractional order is performed to get the desired infinite impulse response of the ideal digital fractional operator. Finally, the desired impulse response is modelled as the impulse response of a linear invariant system whose rational transfer function is determined using deterministic signal modelling techniques. Three non-iterative techniques, namely Padé, Prony and Shanks’ methods have been considered in this paper. Using Al-Alaoui’s rule as s-to-z transform, computation examples show that both Prony and Shanks’ method can achieve more accurate fractional differentiation and integration than Padé method which is equivalent to continued fraction expansion technique.     

Boundary homogenization in domains with randomly oscillating boundary

We consider a model homogenization problem for the Poisson equation in a domain with a rapidly oscillating boundary which is a small random perturbation of a fixed hypersurface. A Fourier boundary condition with random coefficients is imposed on the oscillating boundary. We derive the effective boundary condition, prove a convergence result, and establish error estimates.     

Unique solvability of equations of motion for ferrofluids

We study the differential system governing the flow of an incompressible ferrofluid under the action of a magnetic field. The system is a combination of the Navier-Stokes equations, the angular momentum equation, the magnetization equation and the magnetostatic equations. No regularizing term is added to the magnetization equation. We prove the local-in-time existence of the unique strong solution to the system posed in a bounded domain of R³ and equipped with initial and boundary conditions.     

Sélections approchées dans les espaces métriques de dimension finie

We prove an existence result of approximate selections for multi-valued maps defined on finite dimensional metric spaces. We impose to our applications to be upper semi continuous and to have a values having contractible small neighborhoods. To cite this article: Y. Askoura, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 339 (2004).