A dynamic motion simulator for future European docking systems

Europe's first confrontation with docking in space will require extensive testing to verify design and performance and to qualify hardware. For this purpose, a Docking Dynamics Test Facility (DDTF) was developed. It allows reproduction on the ground of the same impact loads and relative motion dynamics which would occur in space during docking. It uses a 9 degree of freedom, servo-motion system, controlled by a real time computer, which simulates the docking spacecraft in a zero-g environment. The test technique involves and active loop based on six axis force and torque detection, a mathematical simulation of individual spacecraft dynamics, and a 9 degree of freedom servomotion of which 3 DOFs allow extension of the kinematic range to 5 m. The configuration was checked out by closed loop tests involving spacecraft control models and real sensor hardware. The test facility at present has an extensive configuration that allows evaluation of both proximity control and docking systems. It provides a versatile tool to verify system design, hardware items and performance capabilities in the ongoing HERMES and COLUMBUS programs. The test system is described and its capabilities are summarized

Thermal stability of titanium hydride thin films

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Local hydrogen environments in Gd 1− x Fe x thin films amorphous alloys from effusion experiments

International audienceThin films of hydrogenated Gd,-XFeX (0.25 =%< 0.90) amorphous-alloys were prepared by reactive evaporation. Effusion experiments, showing several hydrogen release peaks, allowed us to describe the site distribution of hydrogen in these alloys. The different local environments correspond to tetrahedral sites and the stability of these sites increases with the number of rare-earth neighbors

Depth of interaction and bias voltage depenence of the spectral response in a pixellated CdTe detector operating in time-over-threshold mode subjected to monochromatic X-rays

High stopping power is one of the most important figures of merit for X-ray detectors. CdTe is a promising material but suffers from: material defects, non-ideal charge transport and long range X-ray fluorescence. Those factors reduce the image quality and deteriorate spectral information. In this project we used a monochromatic pencil beam collimated through a 20μm pinhole to measure the detector spectral response in dependance on the depth of interaction. The sensor was a 1mm thick CdTe detector with a pixel pitch of 110μm, bump bonded to a Timepix readout chip operating in Time-Over-Threshold mode. The measurements were carried out at the Extreme Conditions beamline I15 of the Diamond Light Source. The beam was entering the sensor at an angle of \texttildelow20 degrees to the surface and then passed through \texttildelow25 pixels before leaving through the bottom of the sensor. The photon energy was tuned to 77keV giving a variation in the beam intensity of about three orders of magnitude along the beam path. Spectra in Time-over-Threshold (ToT) mode were recorded showing each individual interaction. The bias voltage was varied between -30V and -300V to investigate how the electric field affected the spectral information. For this setup it is worth noticing the large impact of fluorescence. At -300V the photo peak and escape peak are of similar height. For high bias voltages the spectra remains clear throughout the whole depth but for lower voltages as -50V, only the bottom part of the sensor carries spectral information. This is an effect of the low hole mobility and the longer range the electrons have to travel in a low field

Magnetic behavior of Fe x Sn 1 − x amorphous alloys near the critical composition

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Densification of amorphous silicon prepared by hydrogen‐ion‐beam‐assisted evaporation

International audienceHydrogenated amorphous silicon films were deposited by ion-beam-assisted evaporation onto substrates maintained at 120 °C. The influence of the substrate bias was studied. By combined infrared spectrometry and thermal desorption spectrometry experiments, it is inferred that the bombardment of the growing a-Si:H film by energetic hydrogen ions produces a densification of the material without modification of the Si:H bonding

Improvement of the stability under illumination of a-Si:H films elaborated by ion-beam-assisted evaporation using a hydrogen–argon plasma

International audienceHydrogenated amorphous silicon films were deposited by ion-beam-assisted evaporation using a hydrogen-argon plasma. The influence of the substrate temperature was studied. Light induced photoconductivity decay measurements showed that high stability materials can be obtained under well defined conditions. By combined infrared spectrometry and thermal desorption spectrometry experiments, it was demonstrated that microstructure has a great influence on the stability against light induced defects

Growth and characterization studies of Fe 4 N thin films prepared by ion beam assisted evaporation

International audienceThin films of iron nitrides have been prepared using an ion beam assisted evaporation method. X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectrometry show that the films generally consist in a mixture of Fe and Fe 4 N phases. For high source powers and temperatures higher than 300 °C it was possible to obtain the pure Fe 4 N phase

Intense visible photoluminescence in amorphous SiOx and SiOx:H films prepared by evaporation

International audienceVisible photoluminescence PL can be observed in a-SiO x and a-SiO x :H alloys prepared by evaporation of SiO in ultrahigh vacuum and under a flow of hydrogen ions, respectively. The hydrogen and oxygen bonding is studied by infrared spectrometry. The hydrogen stability is followed by thermal desorption spectrometry experiments. The evolution of the PL with annealing treatments shows that the PL can be attributed to a quantum confinement effect in a-Si clusters embedded in the matrix of a-SiO x. Hydrogen does not greatly contribute to the PL efficiency and to the thermal evolution of the a-Si clusters

Silver Nanoparticles from Annona muricata Peel and Leaf Extracts as a Potential Potent, Biocompatible and Low Cost Antitumor Tool

Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world and requires new therapies for its treatment. In this context, the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been developed to treat different types of tumors. The Annona muricata plant is known for having anticancer activity. Its main compounds present in the leaves, stems and skin, allowing for its use as reducing agents. In this manuscript, AgNPs with leaf extract (AgNPs-LE) and fruit peel extract (AgNPs-PE) of A. muricata were biosynthesized obtaining an average nanoparticle diameter sizes smaller than 50 nm, being 19.63 ± 3.7 nm and 16.56 ± 4.1 nm, and with a surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) at 447 and 448 nm, respectively. The lactone functional group present in the LE and PE extracts was identified by the FTIR technique. The behavior and antiproliferation activity of AgNPs-LE and AgNPs-PE were evaluated in breast, colon and melanoma cancer cell lines. Our results showed that Annona muricata fruit peel, which is a waste product, has an antitumor effect more potent than leaf extract. This difference is maintained with AgNPs where the destruction of cancer cells was, for the first time, achieved using concentrations that do not exceed 3 μg/mL with a better therapeutic index in the different tumor strains. In conclusion, we present a low-cost one-step experimental setup to generate AgNPs-PE whose in-vitro biocompatibility and powerful therapeutic effect make it a very attractive tool worth exploiting.Fundacion Empresa Universidad de Granada (Project PR/18/001)Fundación Mutua Madrileña (Project FMM-AP16683-2017)Consejería de Salud Junta de Andalucía (PI-0089-2017)Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RTI2018-101309-B-C22