The STAR MAPS-based PiXeL detector

The PiXeL detector (PXL) for the Heavy Flavor Tracker (HFT) of the STAR experiment at RHIC is the first application of the state-of-the-art thin Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) technology in a collider environment. Custom built pixel sensors, their readout electronics and the detector mechanical structure are described in detail. Selected detector design aspects and production steps are presented. The detector operations during the three years of data taking (2014-2016) and the overall performance exceeding the design specifications are discussed in the conclusive sections of this paper

Shear Alignment and Instability of Smectic Phases

We consider the shear flow of well-aligned one-component smectic phases, such as thermotropic smectics and lamellar diblock copolymers, below the critical region. We show that, as a result of thermal fluctuations of the layers, parallel ($c$) alignment is generically unstable and perpendicular ($a$) alignment is stable against long-wavelength undulations. We also find, surprisingly, that both $a$ and $c$ are stable for a narrow window of values for the anisotropic viscosity.Comment: To appear in PRL. Revtex, 1 figure

Shear instabilities of freely standing thermotropic smectic-A films

In this Letter we discuss theoretically the instabilities of thermotropic freely standing smectic-A films under shear flow\cite{re:wu}. We show that, in Couette geometry, the centrifugal force pushes the liquid crystal toward the outer boundary and induces smectic layer dilation close to the outer boundary. Under strong shear, this effect induces a layer buckling instability. The critical shear rate is proportional to $1/\sqrt{d}$, where $d$ is the thickness of the film.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Tractability in Constraint Satisfaction Problems: A Survey

International audienceEven though the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) is NP-complete, many tractable classes of CSP instances have been identified. After discussing different forms and uses of tractability, we describe some landmark tractable classes and survey recent theoretical results. Although we concentrate on the classical CSP, we also cover its important extensions to infinite domains and optimisation, as well as #CSP and QCSP

Modeling of a two-regime crystallization in a multicomponent lipid system under shear flow

The kinetics of phase transitions of milk fat triacylglycerols, as model multicomponent lipid systems, were studied under shear in a Couette cell at 17 °C, 17.5 °C and 20 °C under shear rates ranging from 0 to 2880s^-1 using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Two-dimensional diffraction patterns were captured during the crystallization process. No effect of shear on onset time for phase α from the liquid was observed. Afterwards a two-regime crystallization process was observed. During the first regime, as observed in other systems, shear reduced the onset time of the phase transition from phase α to 2880s−. The model previously developed for palm oil (ODE model) worked well to describe this regime, confirming the general value of the proposed ODE model. However, the ODE model did not satisfactorily describe the second regime. We found that, as the system gets closer to equilibrium, the growth regime becomes controlled by diffusion, manifested by the kinetics following a $$\sqrt t$$ dependence. This regime was found to be consistent with a mechanism combining step growth at a kink with progressive selection of the crystallizing moieties. This mechanism is in agreement with the displacement of the diffraction peak positions, which revealed how increased shear rate promotes the crystallization of the higher melting fraction affecting the composition of the crystallites

Simulation of Balloon-Expandable Coronary Stent Apposition with Plastic Beam Elements

International audienceThe treatment of the coronary artery disease by balloon-expandable stent apposition is a fully endovascular procedure. As a consequence, limited imaging data is available to cardiologists, who could benefit from additional per-operative information. This study aims at providing a relevant prediction tool for stent apposition, in the form of a mechanically precise simulation, fast enough to be compatible with clinical routine. Our method consists in a finite element discretisation of the stent using 1D connected beam elements, with nonlinear plastic behaviour. The artery wall is modelled as a surface mesh interacting with the stent. As a proof of concept, the simulation is compared to micro-CT scans, which were acquired during the apposition of a stent in a silicone coronary phantom. Our results show that the simulation is able to accurately reproduce the stent final geometry, in a computational time greatly lower than for classic 3D finite element codes. Although this first validation step is preliminary, our work is to be extended towards more realistic scenarios, notably with the introduction of a personalised artery model and the corresponding in vivo validation