Growth kinetics of physical vapor transport processes: Crystal growth of the optoelectronic material mercurous chloride

Physical vapor transport processes were studied for the purpose of identifying the magnitude of convective effects on the crystal growth process. The effects of convection on crystal quality were were studied by varying the aspect ratio and those thermal conditions which ultimately affect thermal convection during physical vapor transport. An important outcome of the present study was the observation that the convection growth rate increased up to a certain value and then dropped to a constant value for high aspect ratios. This indicated that a very complex transport had occurred which could not be explained by linear stability theory. Better quality crystals grown at a low Rayleigh number confirmed that improved properties are possible in convectionless environments

Equivariant quantization of orbifolds

Equivariant quantization is a new theory that highlights the role of symmetries in the relationship between classical and quantum dynamical systems. These symmetries are also one of the reasons for the recent interest in quantization of singular spaces, orbifolds, stratified spaces... In this work, we prove existence of an equivariant quantization for orbifolds. Our construction combines an appropriate desingularization of any Riemannian orbifold by a foliated smooth manifold, with the foliated equivariant quantization that we built in \cite{PoRaWo}. Further, we suggest definitions of the common geometric objects on orbifolds, which capture the nature of these spaces and guarantee, together with the properties of the mentioned foliated resolution, the needed correspondences between singular objects of the orbifold and the respective foliated objects of its desingularization.Comment: 13 page

Non-Commutative Corrections to the MIC-Kepler Hamiltonian

Non-commutative corrections to the MIC-Kepler System (i.e. hydrogen atom in the presence of a magnetic monopole) are computed in Cartesian and parabolic coordinates. Despite the fact that there is no simple analytic expression for non-commutative perturbative corrections to the MIC-Kepler spectrum, there is a term that gives rise to the linear Stark effect which didn't exist in the standard hydrogen model.Comment: 5 page

Effect of physical aging on the low-frequency vibrational density of states of a glassy polymer

The effects of the physical aging on the vibrational density of states (VDOS) of a polymeric glass is studied. The VDOS of a poly(methyl methacrylate) glass at low-energy (<15 meV), was determined from inelastic neutron scattering at low-temperature for two different physical thermodynamical states. One sample was annealed during a long time at temperature lower than Tg, and another was quenched from a temperature higher than Tg. It was found that the VDOS around the boson peak, relatively to the one at higher energy, decreases with the annealing at lower temperature than Tg, i.e., with the physical aging.Comment: To be published in Europhys. Let

Cuts and flows of cell complexes

We study the vector spaces and integer lattices of cuts and flows associated with an arbitrary finite CW complex, and their relationships to group invariants including the critical group of a complex. Our results extend to higher dimension the theory of cuts and flows in graphs, most notably the work of Bacher, de la Harpe and Nagnibeda. We construct explicit bases for the cut and flow spaces, interpret their coefficients topologically, and give sufficient conditions for them to be integral bases of the cut and flow lattices. Second, we determine the precise relationships between the discriminant groups of the cut and flow lattices and the higher critical and cocritical groups with error terms corresponding to torsion (co)homology. As an application, we generalize a result of Kotani and Sunada to give bounds for the complexity, girth, and connectivity of a complex in terms of Hermite's constant.Comment: 30 pages. Final version, to appear in Journal of Algebraic Combinatoric

The Use of Mouse Models for Understanding the Biology of Down Syndrome and Aging

Down syndrome is a complex condition caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21. The biology of aging may be different in individuals with Down syndrome; this is not well understood in any organism. Because of its complexity, many aspects of Down syndrome must be studied either in humans or in animal models. Studies in humans are essential but are limited for ethical and practical reasons. Fortunately, genetically altered mice can serve as extremely useful models of Down syndrome, and progress in their production and analysis has been remarkable. Here, we describe various mouse models that have been used to study Down syndrome. We focus on segmental trisomies of mouse chromosome regions syntenic to human chromosome 21, mice in which individual genes have been introduced, or mice in which genes have been silenced by targeted mutagenesis. We selected a limited number of genes for which considerable evidence links them to aspects of Down syndrome, and about which much is known regarding their function. We focused on genes important for brain and cognitive function, and for the altered cancer spectrum seen in individuals with Down syndrome. We conclude with observations on the usefulness of mouse models and speculation on future directions

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from Psidium guajava L.

A (GA)n and (GT)n microsatellite-enriched library was constructed and 23 nuclear simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were characterized in the guava species (Psidium guajava L.). All SSR loci were found to be polymorphic after screening for diversity in different cultivars, and across-taxa amplification tests showed the potential transferability of most SSR markers in three other Psidium species. First to be published for P. guajava, this new SSR resource will be a powerful tool for genetic studies of guava, including cultivars identification and linkage mapping, as well as potentially for interspecific genetic studies within the genus Psidium. (Résumé d'auteur

Tribological and corrosion wear of graphite ring against Ti6Al4V disk in artificial sea water

Severe degradations result from the friction of two antagonists in sea water environment. It is proposed to evaluate materials resistance to wear with a tribocorrosion experimental set-up which is mechanically and electrochemically instrumented. The method is illustrated with graphite and Ti6Al4V.The deposition of graphite on Ti6Al4V samples is observed and modifies the contact characteristics. Processes of graphite wear due to mechanical effect are characterised. Observations clearly indicate that Ti6Al4V degradations depend on the electrochemical potential imposed and more precisely on the electrochemical conditions in the contact zone

Ammaedara

Ammaedara ou Ad Medera, suivant les sources, apparaît dans l’histoire au Ier siècle après Jésus-Christ mais cette station de la route de Carthage à Theveste, sur le territoire des Musulames, peut être antérieure. Le nom a une consonance libyque et dans les environs immédiats de l’agglomération le temple de Saturne a les caractéristiques d’un sanctuaire d’origine indigène. Emplacement stratégique pourvu d’une bonne source (dans le lit de l’Oued), le lieu fut choisi sans doute à la fin du règne..

Paradoxical effects of the topoisomerase inhibitor, ethoxidine, in the cellular processes leading to angiogenesis on EaHy.926 endothelial cells

Topoisomerase I generates transient single-stranded breaks in DNA and have the capacity to fragment the genome. Thus, this enzyme is the target for some of the most successful anticancer drugs. Ethoxidine, a benzo[c]phenanthridines derivative, was identified as a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase I. As angiogenesis is a critical step in tumorigenesis, this study was designed to test the potential effect of ethoxidine on different processes leading to neovascularisation on EaHy endothelial cells including adhesion, migration and proliferation. Ethoxidine was tested at two concentrations, 100 μM and 10 μM . VEGF (20 ng/mL) was used as control. Adherent cells were evaluated using crystal violet staining, migration using a model of wound healing. Proliferation was analyzed using CyQUANT Cell Proliferation Assay Kit. Both O2- and NO productions were assessed using electronic paramagnetic resonance technique. All the effects of ethoxidine were evaluated at 24 h treatment. Low concentration of ethoxidine promoted migration to the same extent as that produced by VEGF whereas high concentration inhibited this process. Ethoxidine significantly enhanced adhesion at similar level than VEGF at low concentration. It was without effect at high concentration. Although ethoxidine had no effect at low concentration, it significantly reduced cell proliferation at high concentration. At any concentration tested, ethoxidine did not modify basal O2- production. Interestingly, ethoxidine significantly increase NO production at low concentration but it was without effect at high concentration. As control experiment, VEGF enhanced Eahy cells NO production under the same experimental conditions. Altogether, the present study highlights paradoxical effects of ethoxidine depending on the concentration used. At low concentration, it promotes both Eahy cells migration and adhesion without any effect on proliferation. Importantly, these effects were associated with an increase of NO production. In contrast at high concentration, ethoxidine reduced Eahy cells migration and proliferation but had no effect neither on adhesion nor NO release. Of note is the fact that ethoxidine did not alter endothelial cells oxidative stress at any concentration tested. Thus, these data underscore the potential anti-tumoral property of ethoxidine at high concentration and endothelial cells in the present study. The property of ethoxidine in inhibiting proliferation in both cell type probably account for its high antitumor activity