Intersecting Homeliness: Vietnamese Australian Reflections of a Suburban Home (Strathfield, NSW)

In year 2013, I lived in Vietnam. Once a year, the Vietnamese people have a particular tradition called khom đất, where the people set out a guest table filled with delicious feast of food and paper clothing, shoes, accessories and money for the spirits of the house. Khom in khom đất means a set of rituals or prayer to bow down and pay respect. Đất means land. It is a ritual which acknowledges the spirits within the home and the agency these spirits have to the home. There would be separate rituals for different types of spirits and incense would burn as an offering to various places. For example, an incense and food offering would be on an alter directly above the fire stove in the kitchen to be grateful to the fire spirit of the home. There is a belief that if the fire spirit gets angry, the spirit may be a danger to the family. The spirit has the agency and a power over the home. It is a ritual to recognise that a home has its ghosts, its history and its spirits that reside long before the current people residents and that they have the power to protect or destroy. Mostly, it is to recognaise that land and place is not to be owned, and matters such as fire or water or wood is not mere commodities. Rather, these materialities are living and only would be at our disposal to help us when they given the respect and recognition that they are living and are powerful agents.Within the Vietnamese language, there is no specific word for differentiate ‘home’ and ‘house’ but rather, use the word ‘house’ to mean both the building and the home – nhà (Rather then state, ‘I go home’ one states literally, ‘I return to the house’ – Tôi về nhà). To state house rather than home could mean that home is not to be possessed but rather, has it’s own agency, vitality and spirit.With this in mind, I will tell you about a particular uncanny phenomenon that has happened in my family home in Strathfield (a loved family home where my family still resides in) that has happened 10 years ago and has not escaped the memories of any of us. I hope to capture, in a self-reflexive way, the merging of the past and the present within the Vietnamese migrant experience living in the Australian landscape, with its dark history of the forced displacement of Indigenous peoples. I wish to mourn and acknowledge that the land that has given my refugee family opportunity to begin life safely and freely, and my birthplace is a stolen land. And that we are always both grateful and in mourning with our homeland

LUXE: A new experiment to study non-perturbative QED

Laser Und XFEL Experiment (LUXE), is a new High Energy and Laser Physics experiment planned to be installed in DESY. It will study the interactions of a very-intense Laser beam with the high-energy, high-quality electron beams from the European XFEL accelerator, to measure characteristics of non-perturbative quantum electrodynamics.Comment: Proceedings to Les Rencontres de Physique de la Vall\'ee d'Aoste, LaThuile2022, La Thuile, Italy, 6 Mar 2022 - 12 Mar 2022 9 pp. (2022

LUXE: A new experiment to study non-perturbative QED

Laser Und XFEL Experiment (LUXE), is a new High Energy and Laser Physics experiment planned to be installed in DESY. It will study the interactions of a very-intense Laser beam with the high-energy, high-quality electron beams from the European XFEL accelerator, to measure characteristics of non-perturbative quantum electrodynamics.Comment: Proceedings to Les Rencontres de Physique de la Vall\'ee d'Aoste, LaThuile2022, La Thuile, Italy, 6 Mar 2022 - 12 Mar 2022 9 pp. (2022

Studies towards a total synthesis of Hippeastrine

Tricarbonyl(ŋ5 -carboxylic acid methyl ester)iron(1+) hexafluorophosphate(1−) (97) was easily prepared in a moderate yield by a tandem Wittig-Michael addition using (3-methoxycarbonylallyl)triphenylphosphonium bromide (94). The resulting cyclohexa-1,3-dienecarboxylic acid methyl ester (95) was complexed with Fe2(CO)9 to obtain tricarbonyl(cyclohexa-1,3-dienecarboxylic acid methyl ester)iron(0) (96) was converted into the highly electrophilic tricarbonyl(ŋ5 -carboxylic acid methyl ester)iron(1+) hexafluorophosphate(1−) by hydride abstraction using triphenylcarbenium hexafluorophosphate (97). 4-Bromo-1,2-(methylenedioxy)benzene (132), 6-bromopiperonylic acid (98) and 2-bromo-5-methoxy benzoic acid (140) were converted into aryllithium reagents through lithiumbromide exchange by treatment with n-butyllithium. Lithiation and deuteration of 6-bromopiperonylic acid (98) , 2-bromobenzoic acid (136) and of 2-bromo-5-methoxybenzoic acid (140) were investigated by using various reagents such as n-butyllithium, LiHMDS and NaH to find the best route for the arylation of 98 to go onwards our target (+/−)-hippeastrine (107 and 108). Tricarbonyl[ŋ4-1-methyl ester-5-(3',4'-methylenedioxy)phenylcyclohexa- 1,3-diene]iron(0) (134) was prepared by preparing the aryllithium reagent 132 by lithium-bromide exchange and converting it into an organocuprate nucleophile with copper(I) bromide. Arylation with the cation 97 resulted in the formation of the complex 134. Tricarbonyl[ŋ4 -1-methyl ester-5- (3',4'-methylenedioxy-6'-carboxyphenyl)cyclohexa- 1,3-diene]iron(0) (99) was synthesised in the same way as complex (134), using the lithiated 6-bromopiperonylic acid (98) as the reagent. The structures of the compounds were determined by IR, 1HNMR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry

EBSD investigation of SiC for HTR fuel particles

Xavier Bourrat : Present Address ISTO - CNRS-Université d'OrléansInternational audienceElectron back-scattering diffraction (EBSD) can be successfully performed on SiC coatings for HTR fuel particles. EBSD grain maps obtained from thick and thin unirradiated samples are presented, along with pole figures showing textures and a chart showing the distribution of grain aspect ratios. This information is of great interest, and contributes to improving the process parameters and ensuring the reproducibility of coating

Recherche de technicouleur avec l'expérience ATLAS. Développement d'outils et étude des performances du calorimètre à argon liquide

En 2011, le LHC a fourni près de 5 fb 1 de données aux expériences. Ces données ont été utilisées pour comprendre plus avant les détecteurs, leurs performances et effectuer des analyses de physique. Cette thèse est organisée en cinq chapitres. Le premier est une introduction théorique au Modèle Standard et à une de ses extensions possible : la TechniCouleur. Le deuxième chapitre donne un bref aperçu de l'accélérateur LHC et de l'expérience ATLAS. Dans le troisième chapitre, l'un des principaux sous-système de l'expérience ATLAS est présenté : le calorimètre à argon liquide. L'algorithme de contrôle de l'acquisition et de la qualité des données que j'ai développé au cours de ma thèse est également présenté. Le quatrième chapitre présente une étude des performances de la reconstruction des jets basée sur l'ensemble des données acquises en 2010. Cette étude a montré qu'en 2010, la résolution en énergie des jets dans le Monte-Carlo a été sous-estimée d'un facteur relatif d'environ 10% par rapport aux données. Cette étude a été ensuite reconduite pour évaluer l'impact de la réduction de la HV dans des zones du calorimètre sur la résolution en énergie des jets. Cet impact a été jugée négligeable. Pour des jets produits avec une rapidité |y| 265 GeV ou M(\rho_{T}) > 243 GeV.In 2011 the LHC has provided almost 5 fb-1 of data to the experiments. These data have been used to perform a deep commissioning of the detectors, understand the performances of the detector and perform physics analysis. This thesis is organized in five chapter. The first one is a theoretical introduction to the Standard Model and to one of its possible extension: the TechniColor. The second chapter gives a brief overview of the LHC and the ATLAS experiments. In the third chapter one of the key subsystem of the ATLAS experiment is presented: the LAr calorimeters. The monitoring of the data acquisition developed during my thesis is also presented in this chapter. The fourth chapter presents a study of the jet performances based on the data set acquired in 2010. This study has shown that in 2010, the Monte Carlo was underestimating the jet energy resolution by a relative factor of about $10\%$. This study was refocused to evaluate the impact of the reduced LAr HV area on the jet energy resolution. The impact of the HV reduced region was found to be negligible. For jets produced with a rapidity |y| 265 GeV or M(\rho_{T}) > 243 GeV.SAVOIE-SCD - Bib.électronique (730659901) / SudocGRENOBLE1/INP-Bib.électronique (384210012) / SudocGRENOBLE2/3-Bib.électronique (384219901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Photocrosslinkable gelatin hydrogel for epidermal tissue engineering

Natural hydrogels are promising scaffolds to engineer epidermis. Currently, natural hydrogels used to support epidermal regeneration are mainly collagen- or gelatin-based, which mimic the natural dermal extracellular matrix but often suffer from insufficient and uncontrollable mechanical and degradation properties. In this study, a photocrosslinkable gelatin (i.e., gelatin methacrylamide (GelMA)) with tunable mechanical, degradation, and biological properties is used to engineer the epidermis for skin tissue engineering applications. The results reveal that the mechanical and degradation properties of the developed hydrogels can be readily modified by varying the hydrogel concentration, with elastic and compressive moduli tuned from a few kPa to a few hundred kPa, and the degradation times varied from a few days to several months. Additionally, hydrogels of all concentrations displayed excellent cell viability (>90%) with increasing cell adhesion and proliferation corresponding to increases in hydrogel concentrations. Furthermore, the hydrogels are found to support keratinocyte growth, differentiation, and stratification into a reconstructed multilayered epidermis with adequate barrier functions. The robust and tunable properties of GelMA hydrogels suggest that the keratinocyte laden hydrogels can be used as epidermal substitutes, wound dressings, or substrates to construct various in vitro skin models

Liquid crystalline properties of type I collagen: Perspectives in tissue morphogenesis

Collagen molecules form the major part of tissues like bone, cornea or tendon where they organize into ordered fibrillar networks. The acid-soluble protein spontaneously assembles in liquid crystalline phases, characterized in polarized light microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Collagen fibrillogenesis obtained in condensed media establishes a link between the fibrillar networks described in vivo and the mesomorphic states obtained in vitro. Cellematrix interactions on these biomimetic materials are currently analysed with perspectives in tissue engineering. In a morphogenetic context, we propose the hypothesis of a liquid crystalline order, between soluble precursor molecules, preceding fibrillogenesis

Corneal keratocyte transition to mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and reversal using serum-free medium supplemented with FGF-2, TGF-ß3 and retinoic acid

Keratocytes of the corneal limbal stroma can derive populations of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) when expanded in vitro. However, once a corneal MSC (cMSC) phenotype is achieved, regaining the keratocyte phenotype can be challenging, and there is no standardised differentiation medium. Here, we investigated the transition of keratocytes to cMSC and compared different supplements in their ability to return cMSC to a keratocyte phenotype. Immunofluorescence and RT-qPCR demonstrated in vivo keratocyte expression of ALDH3A1, CD34 and keratocan, but not any of the typical MSC markers (CD73, CD90, CD105). As the keratocytes were expanded in vitro, the phenotypic profile reversed and the cells expressed MSC markers but not keratocyte markers. Differentiating the cMSC back to a keratocyte phenotype using non-supplemented, serum-free medium restored keratocyte markers but did not maintain cell viability or support corneal extracellular matrix (ECM) production. Supplementing the differentiation medium with combinations of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) and retinoic acid (RA) maintained viability, restored expression of CD34, ALDH3A1 and keratocan, and facilitated production of abundant ECM as shown by immunofluorescent staining for collagen-I and lumican, alongside quantitative assays for collagen and glycosaminoglycan production. However, no differentiation medium was able to downregulate the expression of MSC markers in the 21-day culture period. This study shows that the keratocyte to MSC transition can be partially reversed using serum-free media and supplementation with RA, FGF-2 and TGF-β3 can enhance this effect. This is relevant for development of corneal regenerative strategies that require the production of a keratocyte phenotype