Sizes Used (size + used)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


From Micro to Meso: an exercise in determining hydraulic conductivity of fractured sandstone cores from detailed characterization of the fractures

GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2006
Salima Baraka-Lokmane
SUMMARY Hydraulic conductivities of fractured sandstone bore cores of 0.1 m in diameter are calculated using detailed characterization of the fracture geometry parameters determined using a resin casting technique. The accuracy of the measurements was about 0.25,1.25 ,m with the image size used. The values of the effective fracture apertures vary between 10 ,m and 50 ,m. For modelling purposes the samples are sectioned serially, perpendicular to the flow direction along the cylinder axis. The hydraulic conductivity of individual slices is estimated by summing the contribution of the matrix (assumed uniform) and each fracture (depending on its length and aperture). Finally, the hydraulic conductivity of the bulk sample is estimated by a harmonic average in series along the flow path. Results of this geometrical upscaling compare favourably with actual conductivity measured in hydraulic and pneumatic experiments carried out prior to sectioning. This study shows that the determination of larger-scale conductivity can be achieved, based on the evaluation of fracture geometry parameters (e.g. fracture aperture, fracture width and fracture length), measured using an optical method, at least at the laboratory scale. [source]


The growth of the common two-banded seabream, Diplodus vulgaris (Teleostei, Sparidae), in Canarian waters, estimated by reading otoliths and by back-calculation

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 2 2003
J. G. Pajuelo
Summary The yearly nature of increment formation in the otoliths of 1,9-year-old seabream, Diplodus vulgaris (E. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire 1817), from the Canary Islands was validated. The marginal increment method showed that the opaque rings were formed in summer, and the translucent rings in winter. The Brody Proportional Hypothesis and the power length,radius relationship used to back-calculate the growth trajectories of D. vulgaris showed that this growth model could provide reasonable growth estimates in this species. Growth back-calculation and growth estimates obtained by direct otolith readings were similar. Data on age and size used to estimate the parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth model for D. vulagris from the Canary Islands showed that males and females had similar growth rates. [source]


Reduced basis set for the gold atom in cluster complexes

JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 7 2004
Harold Basch
Abstract To extend the metal cluster size used in interfacing between bulk metals and molecules in ab initio studies of molecular electronics and chemisorption, a reduced size atomic orbital basis set for the gold atom has been generated. Based on the SKBJ relativistic effective core potential set, the three component 5d Gaussian orbital basis set is completely contracted. Comparisons between the full and reduced basis set in Au atom clusters and cluster complexes for geometry, bond distances, dipole moments, atomic charges, spin, bond dissociation energies, lowest energy harmonic frequencies, electron affinities, ionization energies, and density of states distributions show the contracted set to be a viable replacement for the full basis set. This result is obtained using both the B3LYP and BPW91 exchange-correlation potentials in density functional theory. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 25: 899,906, 2004 [source]


GENOMIZER: an integrated analysis system for genome-wide association data,

HUMAN MUTATION, Issue 6 2006
Andre Franke
Abstract Genome-wide association analysis appears to be a promising way to identify heritable susceptibility factors for complex human disorders. However, the feasibility of large-scale genotyping experiments is currently limited by an incomplete marker coverage of the genome, a restricted understanding of the functional role of given genomic regions, and the small sample sizes used. Thus, genome-wide association analysis will be a screening tool to facilitate subsequent gene discovery rather than a means to completely resolve individual genetic risk profiles. The validation of association findings will continue to rely upon the replication of "leads" in independent samples from either the same or different populations. Even under such pragmatic conditions, the timely analysis of the large data sets in question poses serious technical challenges. We have therefore developed public-domain software, GENOMIZER, that implements the workflow of an association experiment, including data management, single-point and haplotype analysis, "lead" definition, and data visualization. GENOMIZER (www.ikmb.uni-kiel.de/genomizer) comes with a complete user manual, and is open-source software licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License. We suggest that the use of this software will facilitate the handling and interpretation of the currently emerging genome-wide association data. Hum Mutat 27(6), 583,588, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


The kinetics of the reduction of iron oxide by carbon monoxide mixed with carbon dioxide

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010
C. D. Bohn
Abstract Results are reported for the repeated reduction of iron oxide particles, 300,425 ,m diameter, by a mixture of CO, CO2, and N2 in a fluidized bed of 20 mm internal diameter. The conclusions were as follows: (1) Reduction of either Fe2O3 to Fe3O4 or of Fe3O4 to Fe0.947O is first-order in CO. (2) With the particle sizes used, the rates of the reduction reactions are controlled by intrinsic chemical kinetics. Activation energies and pre-exponential factors are reported. (3) The first cycle gave anomalous results, but (a) the rate of reduction of Fe2O3 to Fe3O4 remained constant over cycles 2,10; (b) the rate of reduction of Fe3O4 to Fe0.947O declined by 60,85% over cycles 2,10. (4) The rates of reduction declined with solids conversion down to zero at 80% conversion. The rates were incorporated into a conventional model of a fixed bed, which was used to predict, satisfactorily, the reduction behavior of iron oxide. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010 [source]


Targeted mechanical properties for optimal fluid motion inside artificial bone substitutes

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 8 2009
L.D. Blecha
Abstract Our goal was to develop a method to identify the optimal elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, porosity, and permeability values for a mechanically stressed bone substitute. We hypothesized that a porous bone substitute that favors the transport of nutriments, wastes, biochemical signals, and cells, while keeping the fluid-induced shear stress within a range that stimulates osteoblasts, would likely promote osteointegration. Two optimization criteria were used: (i) the fluid volume exchange between the artificial bone substitute and its environment must be maximal and (ii) the fluid-induced shear stress must be between 0.03 and 3 Pa. Biot's poroelastic theory was used to compute the fluid motion due to mechanical stresses. The impact of the elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, porosity, and permeability on the fluid motion were determined in general and for three different bone substitute sizes used in high tibial osteotomy. We found that fluid motion was optimized in two independent steps. First, fluid transport was maximized by minimizing the elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, and porosity. Second, the fluid-induced shear stress could be adjusted by tuning the bone substitute permeability so that it stayed within the favorable range of 0.03 to 3 Pa. Such method provides clear guidelines to bone substitute developers and to orthopedic surgeons for using bone substitute materials according to their mechanical environment. © 2009 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 27: 1082,1087, 2009 [source]


Coarse-Grained Simulations of Elongational Viscosities, Superposition Rheology and Shear Banding in Model Core,Shell Systems

MACROMOLECULAR THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, Issue 8 2007
A. van den Noort
Abstract A recently developed coarse-grain model is used to investigate nonlinear rheological properties of model core,shell systems. The influence of several model parameters on the stresses and shear rates is investigated. Continuous planar elongational flow and superposition rheology are studied and compared to simple shear flow results. With particular values of the model parameters, an initially linear velocity profile splits into many bands with different shear rates and different densities, which finally merge into just two bands stacked along the gradient direction. With the box sizes used in our simulations, stick and Lees,Edwards boundary conditions lead to qualitatively similar results, with the stick boundary simulations showing better quantitative agreement with experiments. [source]


Inductively coupled helmholtz coil on a dedicated imaging platform for the in vivo1H-MRS measurement of intramyocellular lipids in the hind leg of rats

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 4 2009
Michael Neumaier PhD
Abstract Skeletal muscle triglycerides are markers for insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. Recently, MR spectroscopy was adapted for in vivo measurement of triglycerides in animal models and for the characterization of new therapeutic approaches. Because of small MR spectroscopy voxel sizes used in skeletal muscles, surface coils are used for signal reception. Furthermore, to obtain well-resolved and undistorted lipid spectra, muscle fibers must be aligned parallel to the magnetic field. Consequently, to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio and spectral quality, a coil setup must combine high sensitivity with a reliable and reproducible positioning of muscle and voxel. These demands are difficult to match using surface coils. Here, a coil platform is described, which uses inductively coupled Helmholtz coil setup combined with a leg retainer system for rats. The new system allows for measurement of intramyocellular lipids with high signal-to-noise ratio and for significantly improved animal handling, positioning, and throughput. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Photolysis of Br2 in CCl4 studied by time-resolved X-ray scattering

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION A, Issue 2 2010
Qingyu Kong
A time-resolved X-ray solution scattering study of bromine molecules in CCl4 is presented as an example of how to track atomic motions in a simple chemical reaction. The structures of the photoproducts are tracked during the recombination process, geminate and non-geminate, from 100,ps to 10,µs after dissociation. The relaxation of hot Br2* molecules heats the solvent. At early times, from 0.1 to 10,ns, an adiabatic temperature rise is observed, which leads to a pressure gradient that forces the sample to expand. The expansion starts after about 10,ns with the laser beam sizes used here. When thermal artefacts are removed by suitable scaling of the transient solvent response, the excited-state solute structures can be obtained with high fidelity. The analysis shows that 30% of Br2* molecules recombine directly along the X potential, 60% are trapped in the A/A, state with a lifetime of 5.5,ns, and 10% recombine non-geminately via diffusive motion in about 25,ns. The Br,Br distance distribution in the A/A, state peaks at 3.0,Å. [source]