Partial decoupling between strain and polarization in mono-oriented Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin film

The structural evolution of epitaxial mono-oriented (i.e. with the c-axis perpendicular to the interface) ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2,Ti0.8)O3 thin film has been investigated, using high resolution, temperature dependent, X-ray diffraction. The full set of lattice parameters was obtained, it allowed to estimate the variation of the polarization as a function of temperature, underlying the difference between the polarization-induced tetragonality and the elastic one. The temperature evolution of the misfit strain has been calculated and found to be in good agreement with the theoretical temperature-misfit strain phase diagramComment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Discussion on various model of multiple scattering in acoustics and elastic heterogeneous media

International audienceThe propagation of acoustic or elastic wave through an heterogeneous domain is investigated in 2D. For heterogeneous medium composed of discrete scattered embedded in a homogeneous matrix, effective medium theories consists in modeling the coherent part of the wave obtained form equivalent propagation along various distribution of scatterer. The main objective is to determine attenuation and dispersion of the wave. In the case of half-space or slab, transmission and reflection coefficient can be obtained. Here various model are presented and compared in the classical case: half-space heterogeneous domain probed by incident plane wave. A synthetic formalism is the occasion to generalized this problem to any bounded domain. It is the occasion to highlight some particular features of this full 2D-problem (where translational invariance along one direction is broken). In particular a new synthetic formulation of the QCA is proposed. Asymptotic calculation will be presented for low-frequency regime or dilute media

Efficient shape reconstruction of non-circular tubes using broadband acoustic measurements

International audienceWe propose an algorithm for reconstructing the boundaries of a non-circular cylindrical tube from broadband acoustic measurements. This algorithm is based on the minimization of a cost function, which is the average over frequency of the absolute difference between the estimated and the measured scattered field. The estimated field is computed efficiently (very fast) using ICBA, an analytic method that provides an approximate solution of the forward problem. Numerical results show that our algorithm is robust and provides an accurate reconstruction without any explicit regularization

Time-domain numerical simulations of multiple scattering to extract elastic effective wavenumbers

Elastic wave propagation is studied in a heterogeneous 2-D medium consisting of an elastic matrix containing randomly distributed circular elastic inclusions. The aim of this study is to determine the effective wavenumbers when the incident wavelength is similar to the radius of the inclusions. A purely numerical methodology is presented, with which the limitations usually associated with low scatterer concentrations can be avoided. The elastodynamic equations are integrated by a fourth-order time-domain numerical scheme. An immersed interface method is used to accurately discretize the interfaces on a Cartesian grid. The effective field is extracted from the simulated data, and signal-processing tools are used to obtain the complex effective wavenumbers. The numerical reference solution thus-obtained can be used to check the validity of multiple scattering analytical models. The method is applied to the case of concrete. A parametric study is performed on longitudinal and transverse incident plane waves at various scatterers concentrations. The phase velocities and attenuations determined numerically are compared with predictions obtained with multiple scattering models, such as the Independent Scattering Approximation model, the Waterman-Truell model, and the more recent Conoir-Norris model.Comment: Waves in Random and Complex Media (2012) XX

Identification of novel APOB mutations by targeted next-generation sequencing for the molecular diagnosis of familial hypobetalipoproteinemia

International audienceFamilial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) is a co-dominant disorder characterized by decreased plasma levels of LDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (ApoB). Currently, genetic diagnosis in FHBL relies largely on Sanger sequencing to identify APOB and PCSK9 gene mutations and on western blotting to detect truncated ApoB species

Vers un monitoring électrique des garnitures mécaniques d'étanchéité

Cet article s'intéresse à l'évolution en temps réel du contact d'une garniture mécanique d'étanchéité en fonctionnement. Afin de simuler ce contact frottant, un banc spécifique de mesures a été développé, mettant en jeux des bagues identiques au dispositif industriel et présentant des surfaces avec des finitions industrielles. Ce banc permet d'obtenir des informations sur l'état mécanique du contact en le faisant traverser par un courant électrique sonde. Deux paramètres importants ont été explorés : la lubrification et la charge. L'étude présentée montre des signatures électriques spécifiques qui font de la mesure électrique un outil adapté pour suivre en temps réel l'évolution de l'état du contact

Distribution of prophages in the oenococcus oeni species

Oenococcus oeni is the most exploited lactic acid bacterium in the wine industry and drives the malolactic fermentation of wines. Although prophage-like sequences have been identified in the species, many are not characterized, and a global view of their integration and distribution amongst strains is currently lacking. In this work, we analyzed the complete genomes of 231 strains for the occurrence of prophages, and analyzed their size and positions of insertion. Our data show the limited variation in the number of prophages in O. oeni genomes, and that six sites of insertion within the bacterial genome are being used for site-specific recombination. Prophage diversity patterns varied significantly for different host lineages, and environmental niches. Overall, the findings highlight the pervasive presence of prophages in the O. oeni species, their role as a major source of within-species bacterial diversity and drivers of horizontal gene transfer. Our data also have implications for enhanced understanding of the prophage recombination events which occurred during evolution of O. oeni, as well as the potential of prophages in influencing the fitness of these bacteria in their distinct niches.Evolution expérimentale en mileu extrême de la bactérie lactique Oenococcus oeni et applications à la sélection de levains malo-lactiques plus performant