Histoire de l'administration civile dans la province d'Auvergne et le département du Puy-de-Dôme, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours; suivie d'une revue biographique illustrée des membres de l'état politique moderne (députés et sénateurs)

Title in red and black.

Adsorption of dimethyl ether (DME) on zeolite molecular sieves

In recent years there has been growing interest in the use of dimethyl ether (DME) as an alternative fuel. In this study, the adsorption of DME on molecular sieves 4Å (Mol4A) and 5Å (Mol5A) has been experimentally investigated using the volumetric adsorption method. Data on the adsorption isotherms, heats of adsorption, and adsorption kinetic have been obtained and used to draw conclusions and compare the performance of the two adsorbents. Within the conditions considered, the adsorption capacity of Mol5A was found to be around eight times higher than the capacity of Mol4A. Low temperature adsorption and thermal pre-treatment of the adsorbents in vacuum were observed to be favourable for increased adsorption capacity. The adsorption isotherms for both adsorbent were fitted to the Freundlich model and the corresponding model parameters are proposed. The adsorption kinetic analysis suggest that the DME adsorption on Mol5A is controlled by intracrystalline diffusion resistance, while on Mol4A it is mainly controlled by surface layering resistance with the diffusion only taking place at the start of adsorption and for a very limited short time. The heats of adsorption were calculated by a calorimetric method based on direct temperature measurements inside the adsorption cell. Isosteric heats, calculated by the thermodynamic approach (Clasius-Clapeyron equation), have consistently shown lower values. The maximum heat of adsorption was found to be 25.9kJmol-1 and 20.1kJmol-1 on Mol4A and Mol5A, respectively; thus indicating a physisorption type of interactions. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Hydrogen production by steam reforming of DME in a large scale CFB reactor. Part I:computational model and predictions

This study presents a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study of Dimethyl Ether steam reforming (DME-SR) in a large scale Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) reactor. The CFD model is based on Eulerian-Eulerian dispersed flow and solved using commercial software (ANSYS FLUENT). The DME-SR reactions scheme and kinetics in the presence of a bifunctional catalyst of CuO/ZnO/Al2O3+ZSM-5 were incorporated in the model using in-house developed user-defined function. The model was validated by comparing the predictions with experimental data from the literature. The results revealed for the first time detailed CFB reactor hydrodynamics, gas residence time, temperature distribution and product gas composition at a selected operating condition of 300 °C and steam to DME mass ratio of 3 (molar ratio of 7.62). The spatial variation in the gas species concentrations suggests the existence of three distinct reaction zones but limited temperature variations. The DME conversion and hydrogen yield were found to be 87% and 59% respectively, resulting in a product gas consisting of 72 mol% hydrogen. In part II of this study, the model presented here will be used to optimize the reactor design and study the effect of operating conditions on the reactor performance and products.

Modifications de l'expression génique du système nerveux central lors de l'insuffisance hépatique aiguë : rôle dans les mécanismes pathophysiologiques responsables de l'œdème cérébral

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Modifications de l'expression génique du système nerveux central lors de l'insuffisance hépatique aiguë : rôle dans les mécanismes pathophysiologiques responsables de l'œdème cérébral

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Standardising corneal nerve fibre length for nerve tortuosity increases its association with measures of diabetic neuropathy

AIMS: Recent studies on corneal markers have advocated corneal nerve fibre length as the most important measure of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The aim of this study was to determine if standardizing corneal nerve fibre length for tortuosity increases its association with other measures of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-one individuals with diabetes with either predominantly mild or absent neuropathic changes and 61 control subjects underwent evaluation of diabetic neuropathy symptom score, neuropathy disability score, testing with 10-g monofilament, quantitative sensory testing (warm, cold, vibration detection) and nerve conduction studies. Corneal nerve fibre length and corneal nerve fibre tortuosity were measured using corneal confocal microscopy. A tortuosity-standardised corneal nerve fibre length variable was generated by dividing corneal nerve fibre length by corneal nerve fibre tortuosity. Differences in corneal nerve morphology between individuals with and without diabetic peripheral neuropathy and control subjects were determined and associations were estimated between corneal morphology and established tests of, and risk factors for, diabetic peripheral neuropathy. RESULTS: The tortuosity-standardised corneal nerve fibre length variable was better than corneal nerve fibre length in demonstrating differences between individuals with diabetes, with and without neuropathy (tortuosity-standardised corneal nerve fibre length variable: 70.5 ± 27.3 vs. 84.9 ± 28.7, P < 0.001, receiver operating characteristic area under the curve = 0.67; corneal nerve fibre length: 15.9 ± 6.9 vs. 18.4 ± 6.2 mm/mm(2) , P = 0.004, receiver operating characteristic area under the curve = 0.64). Furthermore, the tortuosity-standardised corneal nerve fibre length variable demonstrated a significant difference between the control subjects and individuals with diabetes, without neuropathy, while corneal nerve fibre length did not (tortuosity-standardised corneal nerve fibre length variable: 94.3 ± 27.1 vs. 84.9 ± 28.7, P = 0.028; corneal nerve fibre length: 20.1 ± 6.3 vs. 18.4 ± 6.2 mm/mm(2) , P = 0.084). Correlations between corneal nerve fibre length and established measures of neuropathy and risk factors for neuropathy were higher when a correction was made for the nerve tortuosity. CONCLUSIONS: Standardizing corneal nerve fibre length for tortuosity enhances the ability to differentiate individuals with diabetes, with and without neuropathy.

Application of higher-order spectra for automated grading of diabetic maculopathy

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is one of the most common causes of visual loss among diabetes mellitus patients. Early detection and successive treatment may improve the visual acuity. DME is mainly graded into non-clinically significant macular edema (NCSME) and clinically significant macular edema according to the location of hard exudates in the macula region. DME can be identified by manual examination of fundus images. It is laborious and resource intensive. Hence, in this work, automated grading of DME is proposed using higher-order spectra (HOS) of Radon transform projections of the fundus images. We have used third-order cumulants and bispectrum magnitude, in this work, as features, and compared their performance. They can capture subtle changes in the fundus image. Spectral regression discriminant analysis (SRDA) reduces feature dimension, and minimum redundancy maximum relevance method is used to rank the significant SRDA components. Ranked features are fed to various supervised classifiers, viz. Naive Bayes, AdaBoost and support vector machine, to discriminate No DME, NCSME and clinically significant macular edema classes. The performance of our system is evaluated using the publicly available MESSIDOR dataset (300 images) and also verified with a local dataset (300 images). Our results show that HOS cumulants and bispectrum magnitude obtained an average accuracy of 95.56 and 94.39 % for MESSIDOR dataset and 95.93 and 93.33 % for local dataset, respectively.

Diabetes in South Asians

Economic, dietary and other lifestyle transitions have been occurring rapidly in most South Asian countries, making their populations more vulnerable to developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Recent data show an increasing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in urban areas as well as in semi-urban and rural areas, inclusive of people belonging to middle and low socio-economic strata. Prime determinants for Type 2 diabetes in South Asians include physical inactivity, imbalanced diets, abdominal obesity, excess hepatic fat and, possibly, adverse perinatal and early life nutrition and intra-country migration. It is reported that Type 2 diabetes affects South Asians a decade earlier and some complications, for example nephropathy, are more prevalent and progressive than in other races. Further, prevalence of pre-diabetes is high, and so is conversion to diabetes, while more than 50% of those who are affected remain undiagnosed. Attitudes, cultural differences and religious and social beliefs pose barriers in effective prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes in South Asians. Inadequate resources, insufficient healthcare budgets, lack of medical reimbursement and socio-economic factors contribute to the cost of diabetes management. The challenge is to develop new translational strategies, which are pragmatic, cost-effective and scalable and can be adopted by the South Asian countries with limited resources. The key areas that need focus are: generation of awareness, prioritizing health care for vulnerable subgroups (children, women, pregnant women and the underprivileged), screening of high-risk groups, maximum coverage of the population with essential medicines, and strengthening primary care. An effective national diabetes control programme in each South Asian country should be formulated, with these issues in mind.

Glycaemic behaviour during breastfeeding in women with Type 1 diabetes

Aim To describe glycaemia in both breastfeeding women and artificially feeding women with Type 1 diabetes, and the changes in glycaemia induced by suckling. Methods A blinded continuous glucose monitor was applied for up to 6 days in eight breastfeeding and eight artificially feeding women with Type 1 diabetes 2–4 months postpartum. Women recorded glucose levels, insulin dosages, oral intake and breastfeeding episodes. A standardized breakfast was consumed on 2 days. A third group (clinic controls) were identified from a historical database. Results Carbohydrate intake tended to be higher in breastfeeding than artificially feeding women (P = 0.09) despite similar insulin requirements. Compared with breastfeeding women, the high blood glucose index and standard deviation of glucose were higher in artificially feeding women (P = 0.02 and 0.06, respectively) and in the clinical control group (P = 0.02 and 0.05, respectively). The low blood glucose index and hypoglycaemia were similar. After suckling, the low blood glucose index increased compared with before (P < 0.01) and during (P < 0.01) suckling. Hypoglycaemia (blood glucose < 4.0 mmol/l) occurred within 3 h of suckling in 14% of suckling episodes, and was associated with time from last oral intake (P = 0.04) and last rapid-acting insulin (P = 0.03). After a standardized breakfast, the area under the glucose curve was positive. In breastfeeding women the area under the glucose curve was positive if suckling was avoided for 1 h after eating and negative if suckling occurred within 30 min of eating. Conclusions Breastfeeding women with Type 1 diabetes had similar hypoglycaemia but lower glucose variability than artificially feeding women. Suckling reduced maternal glucose levels but did not cause hypoglycaemia in most episodes.

Simulation studies on Performance parameters of a TPC Polarimeter

X-ray polarimeters based on Time Projection Chamber (TPC) geometry are currently being studied and developed to make sensitive measurement of polarization in 2-10keV energy range. TPC soft X-ray polarimeters exploit the fact that emission direction of the photoelectron ejected via photoelectric effect in a gas proportional counter carries the information of the polarization of the incident X-ray photon. Operating parameters such as pressure, drift field and drift-gap affect the performance of a TPC polarimeter. Simulations presented here showcase the effect of these operating parameters on the modulation factor of the TPC polarimeter. Models of Garfield are used to study photoelectron interaction in gas and drift of electron cloud towards Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM). The emission direction is reconstructed from the image and modulation factor is computed. Our study has shown that Ne/DME (50/50) at lower pressure and drift field can be used for a TPC polarimeter with modulation factor of 50-65%.

Drift parameters optimization of a TPC polarimeter: a simulation study

Time Projection Chamber (TPC) based X-ray polarimeters using Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) are currently being developed to make sensitive measurement of polarization in 2-10 keV energy range. The emission direction of the photoelectron ejected via photoelectric effect carries the information of the polarization of the incident X-ray photon. Performance of a gas based polarimeter is affected by the operating drift parameters such as gas pressure, drift field and drift-gap. We present simulation studies carried out in order to understand the effect of these operating parameters on the modulation factor of a TPC polarimeter. Models of Garfield are used to study photoelectron interaction in gas and drift of electron cloud towards GEM. Our study is aimed at achieving higher modulation factors by optimizing drift parameters. Study has shown that Ne/DME (50/50) at lower pressure and drift field can lead to desired performance of a TPC polarimeter.

Conversão do metanol em olefinas catalisada por zeólitas com diferentes características ácidas e estruturais

A reação de transformação de metanol em olefinas leves foi investigada sobre as peneiras moleculares HZSM-5, HFER, SAPO-34 e HMCM-22. A caracterização físico-química das amostras foi realizada através das técnicas de FRX, DRX, fisissorção de nitrogênio, MEV, espectrometria no IV com adsorção de piridina e TPD de NH3. O desempenho catalítico das mesmas foi comparado em condições de isoconversão inicial de 755%. Verificou-se que as características ácidas e estruturais exerceram forte influência sobre o desempenho catalítico quanto à atividade, estabilidade e seletividade aos produtos da reação. A amostra mais estável foi a HZSM-5 que apresentou maior densidade de sítios fortes e uma estrutura porosa que permite uma circulação tridimensional das moléculas. Já a menos estável, SAPO-34, apresentou a menor concentração de sítios ácidos fortes dentre os materiais estudados e uma estrutura com cavidades com aberturas estreitas (4Å) que oferecem restrições ao acesso dos reagentes aos sítios ácidos do catalisador. Quanto à seletividade a olefinas, a primeira foi mais seletiva a propeno e a segunda, a eteno. A ferrierita não se mostrou seletiva às olefinas leves tendo apresentado, no entanto, comportamento promissor quanto a formação de DME a partir do metanol. Já a HMCM-22 foi seletiva às olefinas leves e aos hidrocarbonetos com 4, 5 e 6 ou mais átomos de carbono. A influência da temperatura no desempenho catalítico foi investigada variando-se a temperatura de reação (300, 400 e 500C). Verificou-se que para a HZSM-5 e HMCM-22, perda da atividade catalítica foi intensificada a partir de 400C. Quanto à seletividade a olefinas leves, apenas a SAPO-34 não se mostrou sensível a variações na temperatura, efeito este que foi nitidamente observado nos outros três catalisadores: um aumento na temperatura promoveu um aumento na seletividade a olefinas leves no caso da HZSM-5 e da HMCM-22 e queda nesse valor para a HFER

Proceso catalítico de transformación de dimetil éter en olefinas (DTO)

325 p.

Viral metagenomic analysis of feces of wild small carnivores

Background: Recent studies have clearly demonstrated the enormous virus diversity that exists among wild animals. This exemplifies the required expansion of our knowledge of the virus diversity present in wildlife, as well as the potential transmission of these viruses to domestic animals or humans. Methods: In the present study we evaluated the viral diversity of fecal samples (n = 42) collected from 10 different species of wild small carnivores inhabiting the northern part of Spain using random PCR in combination with next-generation sequencing. Samples were collected from American mink (Neovison vison), European mink (Mustela lutreola), European polecat (Mustela putorius), European pine marten (Martes martes), stone marten (Martes foina), Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles) of the family of Mustelidae; common genet (Genetta genetta) of the family of Viverridae; red fox (Vulpes vulpes) of the family of Canidae and European wild cat (Felis silvestris) of the family of Felidae. Results: A number of sequences of possible novel viruses or virus variants were detected, including a theilovirus, phleboviruses, an amdovirus, a kobuvirus and picobirnaviruses. Conclusions: Using random PCR in combination with next generation sequencing, sequences of various novel viruses or virus variants were detected in fecal samples collected from Spanish carnivores. Detected novel viruses highlight the viral diversity that is present in fecal material of wild carnivores.

替代燃料二甲醚的燃烧特性及其污染物甲醛的生成消耗机理研究

化石燃料的不可再生性决定了其不能长久为全球经济和科技的发展提供能源动力，从可持续发展和能源战略的角度考虑，能够替代石油及其衍生品的清洁替代燃料研究已经成为提高能源供应安全、改善环境污染问题、应对气候变化的重要措施，对替代燃料的研究和应用已经成为各方关注和开发的热点。 二甲醚(DME、CH3OCH3)是一种最简单的醚类，它不含C-C健，可以由天然气、煤、生物质燃料等大量制备，而且具有较高的辛烷值(55-60)，较低的碳氢化合物、CO排放，没有PM排放，因而被认为是一种非常有发展前景的发动机替代燃料，已经受到了广泛的关注。但是，在发动机燃用DME的实验研究表明，在其排气中有非常规污染物甲醛(HCHO)、乙醛(CH3CHO)，甲酸甲酯(HCOOCH3)等排放，这些有机污染物会对环境和人类健康产生严重的危害，在环保要求日益严格的趋势下，这就制约了二甲醚的规模化应用。因此，对二甲醚燃烧性能、氧化中间产物甲醛等的产生和排放机理、相关污染物抑制技术需要进行着重研究，这对二甲醚燃料规模化应用、相关二甲醚燃烧器设计、燃烧性能的优化以及污染物控制技术的研究等都有着重要的理论指导意义和参考价值。 为了充分理解二甲醚燃料的燃烧特性、非常规污染物甲醛的产生和消耗机理，本文以实验和二甲醚化学反应动力学机理为指导，对二甲醚预混燃烧的燃烧特性、相关污染物和甲醛产生和消耗的机理做了详细的研究；并针对二甲醚燃料的不同应用背景，对二甲醚燃料低温下的氧化和甲醛生成特性、DME与LPG掺混燃烧特性和甲醛生成消耗机理进行了深入的研究，具体工作有： 研究了二甲醚预混燃烧特性、火焰中甲醛等污染物的产生特性，建立了火焰中甲醛取样、测量的方法和实验平台。并对当量比和燃料流量对二甲醚预混燃烧的燃烧特性、甲醛生成特性影响进行了考察，实验结果表明二甲醚是一种优良的替代燃料，在二甲醚火焰中甲醛是其重要的中间产物，甲醛浓度分布与当量比和预混气流速密切相关。当量比一定时，随着预混气流速的增加，火焰中甲醛产生的范围变窄，且甲醛浓度峰值逐渐移向燃烧器出口，而甲醛产生的浓度峰值数值上相差不大，甲醛在形成峰值后被快速消耗，其浓度在0.1mm内下降到几乎为零；在二甲醚流量一定时，随着当量比的增加，火焰中产生了更多的甲醛，火焰中甲醛分布的范围也变宽，而且当量比越大，甲醛的消耗也变缓，在当量比为0.8时，甲醛浓度从峰值到被消耗距离变为2mm，远大于当量比0.6和0.7下0.1mm的消耗距离。 对二甲醚预混燃烧进行数值研究和化学动力反应机理分析后发现，在二甲醚燃烧中，二甲醚的氧化反应途径主要是通过脱氢生成CH3OCH2和在高温下的直接裂解反应而进行，其中脱氢反应是低温下二甲醚消耗的主要途径，而在高温反应阶段(T>1000K)，DME的直接裂解和燃料的脱氢反应共同起主导作用；非常规污染物甲醛通过DME脱氢产物CH3OCH2的裂解和外部氧化而生成，在高温时通过DME直接裂解后被氧化产生；甲醛的消耗反应则是通过与H、O、OH和CH3基的氧化反应而完成，其中与O、OH基的反应在燃烧中起主要作用。因此二甲醚燃烧中甲醛的抑制关键在燃烧中甲醛的消耗阶段，采取有效的技术措施，如优化燃烧器结构提高二甲醚燃烧室内的温度、在燃烧区保证充足的氧气供应等措施，加快甲醛的消耗速度以促进其被完全氧化，可以实现二甲醚燃烧中甲醛的零排放。 针对柴油发动机燃用DME燃料时，燃料在燃烧室停留时间过短，造成部分未燃二甲醚随尾气排放，对DME在低温下(<800K)的氧化特性和甲醛生成特性进行了实验研究。结果表明，二甲醚在200℃左右就开始发生氧化反应，在200~400℃温度范围内被氧化而生成大量中间产物甲醛，且在此温度范围内甲醛不易被氧化分解，而发动机尾气温度（一般在200~600℃之间）处于甲醛最易生成的范围，因此未燃二甲醚在尾气中发生低温氧化反应生成的甲醛，是发动机燃用DME而排放高浓度甲醛的重要来源。研究结论为柴油发动机燃用DME抑制非常规污染物甲醛的排放提供了新的参考。 DME作为替代燃料，部分替代及与其他石化系燃料掺混燃烧是目前的重要应用方向，对DME与LPG掺混燃烧特性和甲醛生成特性进行了实验研究，结果表明，在DME与LPG掺混燃烧中，固定当量比和燃料质量流量的条件下，两种燃料存在一个最佳掺混比，在此掺混比例下，混合燃料着火提前，燃料燃烧性能最佳；DME与LPG混合燃料中，二甲醚是燃烧中甲醛产生的主要来源，控制DME的完全氧化和燃烧是抑制DME与LPG掺混燃烧排放甲醛的主要途径，这为更好地应用DME与LPG混合燃料提供了参考。 能否清洁高效燃烧是决定替代燃料DME应用规模和途径中的关键任务，本文对DME燃烧特性、非常规污染物甲醛的生成排放特性、低温下DME的氧化特性、DME与LPG掺混燃烧特性的研究，从不用的应用方向和领域对DME清洁高效燃烧进行了探讨和研究，研究成果可以为清洁高效利用二甲醚、抑制甲醛排放，以及开发相关燃烧技术、燃烧器提供实验依据和理论指导。本文在DME燃烧特性和非常规污染物甲醛的产生与排放方面取得了具有创新性的研究结果。