Local Entropy Characterization of Correlated Random Microstructures

A rigorous connection is established between the local porosity entropy introduced by Boger et al. (Physica A 187, 55 (1992)) and the configurational entropy of Andraud et al. (Physica A 207, 208 (1994)). These entropies were introduced as morphological descriptors derived from local volume fluctuations in arbitrary correlated microstructures occuring in porous media, composites or other heterogeneous systems. It is found that the entropy lengths at which the entropies assume an extremum become identical for high enough resolution of the underlying configurations. Several examples of porous and heterogeneous media are given which demonstrate the usefulness and importance of this morphological local entropy concept.Comment: 15 pages. please contact [email protected] and have a look at http://www.ica1.uni-stuttgart.de/ . To appear in Physica

Detecting self-similarity in surface microstructures

The relative configurational entropy per cell as a function of length scale is a sensitive detector of spatial self-similarity. For Sierpinski carpets the equally separated peaks of the above function appear at the length scales that depend on the kind of the carpet. These peaks point to the presence of self-similarity even for randomly perturbed initial fractal sets. This is also demonstrated for the model population of particles diffusing over the surface considered by Van Siclen, Phys. Rev. E 56 (1997) 5211. These results allow the subtle self-similarity traces to be explored.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, presented at ECOSS18 (Vienna) Sept. 199

From the epidemiology of hepatitis E virus (HEV) within the swine reservoir to public health risk mitigation strategies: a comprehensive review

International audienceAbstractHepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of hepatitis E in humans, an emerging zoonosis mainly transmitted via food in developed countries and for which domestic pigs are recognised as the main reservoir. It therefore appears important to understand the features and drivers of HEV infection dynamics on pig farms in order to implement HEV surveillance programmes and to assess and manage public health risks. The authors have reviewed the international scientific literature on the epidemiological characteristics of HEV in swine populations. Although prevalence estimates differed greatly from one study to another, all consistently reported high variability between farms, suggesting the existence of multifactorial conditions related to infection and within-farm transmission of the virus. Longitudinal studies and experimental trials have provided estimates of epidemiological parameters governing the transmission process (e.g. age at infection, transmission parameters, shedding period duration or lag time before the onset of an immune response). Farming practices, passive immunity and co-infection with immunosuppressive agents were identified as the main factors influencing HEV infection dynamics, but further investigations are needed to clarify the different HEV infection patterns observed in pig herds as well as HEV transmission between farms. Relevant surveillance programmes and control measures from farm to fork also have to be fostered to reduce the prevalence of contaminated pork products entering the food chain

What is a physical measure of spatial inhomogeneity comparable to the mathematical approach?

A linear transformation f(S) of configurational entropy with length scale dependent coefficients as a measure of spatial inhomogeneity is considered. When a final pattern is formed with periodically repeated initial arrangement of point objects the value of the measure is conserved. This property allows for computation of the measure at every length scale. Its remarkable sensitivity to the deviation (per cell) from a possible maximally uniform object distribution for the length scale considered is comparable to behaviour of strictly mathematical measure h introduced by Garncarek et al. in [2]. Computer generated object distributions reveal a correlation between the two measures at a given length scale for all configurations as well as at all length scales for a given configuration. Some examples of complementary behaviour of the two measures are indicated.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Solutions pour l'auto-adaptation des systèmes sans fil

The current demand on ubiquitous connectivity imposes stringent requirements on the fabrication of Radio-Frequency (RF) circuits. Designs are consequently transferred to the most advanced CMOS technologies that were initially introduced to improve digital performance. In addition, as technology scales down, RF circuits are more and more susceptible to a lot of variations during their lifetime, as manufacturing process variability, temperature, environmental conditions, aging… As a result, the usual worst-case circuit design is leading to sub-optimal conditions, in terms of power and/or performance most of the time for the circuit. In order to counteract these variations, increasing the performances and also reduce power consumption, adaptation strategies must be put in place.More importantly, the fabrication process introduces more and more performance variability, which can have a dramatic impact on the fabrication yield. That is why RF designs are not easily fabricated in the most advanced CMOS technologies, as 32nm or 22nm nodes for instance. In this context, the performances of RF circuits need to be calibrated after fabrication so as to take these variations into account and recover yield loss.This thesis work is presenting on a post-fabrication calibration technique for RF circuits. This technique is performed during production testing with minimum extra cost, which is critical since the cost of test can be comparable to the cost of fabrication concerning RF circuits and cannot be further raised. Calibration is enabled by equipping the circuit with tuning knobs and sensors. Optimal tuning knob identification is achieved in one-shot based on a single test step that involves measuring the sensor outputs once. For this purpose, we rely on variation-aware sensors which provide measurements that remain invariant under tuning knob changes. As an auxiliary benefit, the variation-aware sensors are non-intrusive and totally transparent to the circuit.Our proposed methodology has first been demonstrated with simulation data with an RF power amplifier as a case study. Afterwards, a silicon demonstrator has then been fabricated in a 65nm technology in order to fully demonstrate the methodology. The fabricated dataset of circuits is extracted from typical and corner wafers. This feature is very important since corner circuits are the worst design cases and therefore the most difficult to calibrate. In our case, corner circuits represent more than the two third of the overall dataset and the calibration can still be proven. In details, fabrication yield based on 3 sigma performance specifications is increased from 21% to 93%. This is a major performance of the technique, knowing that worst case circuits are very rare in industrial fabrication.La demande courante de connectivité instantanée impose un cahier des charges très strict sur la fabrication des circuits Radio-Fréquences (RF). Les circuits doivent donc être transférées vers les technologies les plus avancées, initialement introduites pour augmenter les performances des circuits purement numériques. De plus, les circuits RF sont soumis à de plus en plus de variations et cette sensibilité s’accroît avec l’avancées des technologies. Ces variations sont par exemple les variations du procédé de fabrication, la température, l’environnement, le vieillissement… Par conséquent, la méthode classique de conception de circuits “pire-cas” conduit à une utilisation non-optimale du circuit dans la vaste majorité des conditions, en termes de performances et/ou de consommation. Ces variations doivent donc être compensées, en utilisant des techniques d’adaptation.De manière plus importante encore, le procédé de fabrication des circuits introduit de plus en plus de variabilité dans les performances des circuits, ce qui a un impact important sur le rendement de fabrication des circuits. Pour cette raison, les circuits RF sont difficilement fabriqués dans les technologies CMOS les plus avancées comme les nœuds 32nm ou 22nm. Dans ce contexte, les performances des circuits RF doivent êtres calibrées après fabrication pour prendre en compte ces variations et retrouver un haut rendement de fabrication.Ce travail de these présente une méthode de calibration post-fabrication pour les circuits RF. Cette méthodologie est appliquée pendant le test de production en ajoutant un minimum de coût, ce qui est un point essentiel car le coût du test est aujourd’hui déjà comparable au coût de fabrication d’un circuit RF et ne peut être augmenté d’avantage. Par ailleurs, la puissance consommée est aussi prise en compte pour que l’impact de la calibration sur la consommation soit minimisé. La calibration est rendue possible en équipant le circuit avec des nœuds de réglages et des capteurs. L’identification de la valeur de réglage optimale du circuit est obtenue en un seul coup, en testant les performances RF une seule et unique fois. Cela est possible grâce à l’utilisation de capteurs de variations du procédé de fabrication qui sont invariants par rapport aux changements des nœuds de réglage. Un autre benefice de l’utilisation de ces capteurs de variation sont non-intrusifs et donc totalement transparents pour le circuit sous test. La technique de calibration a été démontrée sur un amplificateur de puissance RF utilisé comme cas d’étude. Une première preuve de concept est développée en utilisant des résultats de simulation.Un démonstrateur en silicium a ensuite été fabriqué en technologie 65nm pour entièrement démontrer le concept de calibration. L’ensemble des puces fabriquées a été extrait de trois types de wafer différents, avec des transistors aux performances lentes, typiques et rapides. Cette caractéristique est très importante car elle nous permet de considérer des cas de procédé de fabrication extrêmes qui sont les plus difficiles à calibrer. Dans notre cas, ces circuits représentent plus des deux tiers des puces à disposition et nous pouvons quand même prouver notre concept de calibration. Dans le détails, le rendement de fabrication passe de 21% avant calibration à plus de 93% après avoir appliqué notre méthodologie. Cela constitue une performance majeure de notre méthodologie car les circuits extrêmes sont très rares dans une fabrication industrielle

Entropic measure of spatial disorder for systems of finite-sized objects

We consider the relative configurational entropy per cell S_Delta as a measure of the degree of spatial disorder for systems of finite-sized objects. It is highly sensitive to deviations from the most spatially ordered reference configuration of the objects. When applied to a given binary image it provides the quantitatively correct results in comparison to its point object version. On examples of simple cluster configurations, two-dimensional Sierpinski carpets and population of interacting particles, the behaviour of S_Delta is compared with the normalized information entropy H' introduced by Van Siclen [Phys. Rev. E 56, (1997) 5211]. For the latter example, the additional middle-scale features revealed by our measure may indicate for the traces of self-similar structure of the weakly ramified clusters. In the thermodynamic limit, the formula for S_Delta is also given.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Recherche de molécules antimicrobiennes d'origine lichénique : Etude phytochimique de trois lichens & approche synthétique de deux composés actifs

Phytochemical study of three lichens collected in Limousin, Usnea florida, Flavoparmelia caperata and Cladonia incrassata, led to the isolation and the structural identification of 16 secondary metabolites. First, these lichens were chosen after a preliminary screening performed on 17 species. Antimicrobial activity of acetone extracts was evaluated and bioassay-guided fractionation was performed. The two isomers of usnic acid, 3 dibenzofurans, 4 depsides, 3 depsidones, one aliphatic acid and one sterol were isolated. A trichlorinated xanthone, named cladoxanthone A, was extracted and identified for the first time in a natural source. A bioautographic protocol was used to evaluate antibacterial activities of these compounds on Staphylococcus aureus. MICs of the products obtained in sufficient amounts were determined by a broth microdilution method in parallel with Phenonip®, a preservative commonly used in cosmetic industry. Didymic and condidymic acids were found to be good candidates for use as preservatives. Secondly, owing to their potential industrial application, we explored synthetic routes for usnic acid and cladoxanthone A. Thus, the preparation of the key intermediate for access to usnic acid was optimized and the first coupling tests in the presence of a porphyrin were encouraging. Similarly, the proposed synthetic routes for cladoxanthone A are promising.L’étude physicochimique de trois lichens récoltés en Limousin, Usnea florida, Flavoparmelia caperata et Cladonia incrassata, a permis d’isoler et de caractériser 16 composés issus du métabolisme secondaire. Dans un premier temps, ces lichens ont été sélectionnés lors d’un criblage analytique préliminaire réalisé sur 17 espèces. L’activité antimicrobienne des extraits acétoniques a été évaluée, puis leur fractionnement bioguidé a été mis en œuvre. Les deux isomères de l’acide usnique, 3 dibenzofuranes, 4 depsides, 3 depsidones, un acide aliphatique, un phtalide et un stérol ont été isolés. Une xanthone trichlorée, la cladoxanthone A, a été extraite et identifiée pour la première fois à partir d’une source naturelle. L’effet de tous les composés a été évalué sur Staphyloccocus aureus par bioautographie. Pour les produits isolés en quantité suffisante, des tests de dilution en milieu liquide ont permis de déterminer leurs CMI, en comparaison avec le Phénonip®, conservateur couramment utilisé dans l’industrie cosmétique. Les acides didymique et condidymique en particulier s’avèrent être de bons candidats pour une utilisation en tant que conservateurs. Dans un second temps, compte tenu de leur potentielle application industrielle, nous avons exploré des voies de synthèse de l’acide usnique et de la cladoxanthone A. Ainsi, la préparation de l’intermédiaire clé pour l’accès à l’acide usnique a été optimisée et les premiers essais de couplage en présence d’une porphyrine sont encourageants. De même, les voies de synthèse proposées et mises en œuvre pour la cladoxanthone A sont prometteuses

Optically tailored access to metastable electronic states

On irradiating a molecular system with a laser beam of ultraviolet or visible frequency, photon absorption occurs when an electronic state is at a suitable energy level relative to an initial state. Despite meeting this criterion, interesting metastable states can remain inaccessible because of symmetry constraints. In this Letter a mechanism, based on the input of an off-resonant beam, is shown to enable the population of such states. This is achievable because the laser-modified process involves different selection rules compared to conventional photon absorption. The effects of applying the stimulus beam to either a one- or two-photon process are examined

Quantitative Analysis of Experimental and Synthetic Microstructures for Sedimentary Rock

A quantitative comparison between the experimental microstructure of a sedimentary rock and three theoretical models for the same rock is presented. The microstructure of the rock sample (Fontainebleau sandstone) was obtained by microtomography. Two of the models are stochastic models based on correlation function reconstruction, and one model is based on sedimentation, compaction and diagenesis combined with input from petrographic analysis. The porosity of all models closely match that of the experimental sample and two models have also the same two point correlation function as the experimental sample. We compute quantitative differences and similarities between the various microstructures by a method based on local porosity theory. Differences are found in the degree of anisotropy, and in fluctuations of porosity and connectivity. The stochastic models differ strongly from the real sandstone in their connectivity properties, and hence need further refinement when used to model transport.Comment: to appear in Physica A (1999), in prin