Thermal properties of metal matrix composites with planar distribution of carbon fibres

High thermal conductivity (TC) and a tunable coefficient of thermal expansion are essential properties for heat management materials operating in a wide temperature range. We combine both properties in a composite with a low‐density metal matrix reinforced with pitch‐based carbon fibres. The thermal conductivity of the metal matrix was increased by 50%, the thermal expansion coefficient was reduced by a factor of five. The samples were produced by powder metallurgy and have a planar random distribution of fibres, leading to high performance in two dimensions

Mimicking of pulse shape-dependent learning rules with a quantum dot memristor

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the European Union (FPVII (2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 318287 Landauer) as well as the state of Bavaria. The Brazilian authors acknowledge the support of CNPq. V. L.-R. acknowledges the support of FAPESP (grants 2014/02112-3 and 2015/10765-0).We present the realization of four different learning rules with a quantum dot memristor by tuning the shape, the magnitude, the polarity and the timing of voltage pulses. The memristor displays a large maximum to minimum conductance ratio of about 57000 at zero bias voltage. The high and low conductances correspond to different amounts of electrons localized in quantum dots, which can be successively raised or lowered by the timing and shapes of incoming voltage pulses. Modifications of the pulse shapes allow altering the conductance change in dependence on the time difference. Hence, we are able to mimic different learning processes in neural networks with a single device. In addition, the device performance under pulsed excitation is emulated combining the Landauer-Büttiker formalism with a dynamic model for the quantum dot charging, which allows explaining the whole spectrum of learning responses in terms of structural parameters that can be adjusted during fabrication such as gating efficiencies and tunneling rates. The presented memristor may pave the way for future artificial synapses with a stimulus-dependent capability of learning.PostprintPeer reviewe

Light-evoked Somatosensory Perception of Transgenic Rats That Express Channelrhodopsin-2 in Dorsal Root Ganglion Cells

In vertebrate somatosensory systems, each mode of touch-pressure, temperature or pain is sensed by sensory endings of different dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, which conducted to the specific cortical loci as nerve impulses. Therefore, direct electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerve endings causes an erroneous sensation to be conducted by the nerve. We have recently generated several transgenic lines of rat in which channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) transgene is driven by the Thy-1.2 promoter. In one of them, W-TChR2V4, some neurons were endowed with photosensitivity by the introduction of the ChR2 gene, coding an algal photoreceptor molecule. The DRG neurons expressing ChR2 were immunohistochemically identified using specific antibodies to the markers of mechanoreceptive or nociceptive neurons. Their peripheral nerve endings in the plantar skin as well as the central endings in the spinal cord were also examined. We identified that ChR2 is expressed in a certain population of large neurons in the DRG of W-TChR2V4. On the basis of their morphology and molecular markers, these neurons were classified as mechanoreceptive but not nociceptive. ChR2 was also distributed in their peripheral sensory nerve endings, some of which were closely associated with CK20-positive cells to form Merkel cell-neurite complexes or with S-100-positive cells to form structures like Meissner's corpuscles. These nerve endings are thus suggested to be involved in the sensing of touch. Each W-TChR2V4 rat showed a sensory-evoked behavior in response to blue LED flashes on the plantar skin. It is thus suggested that each rat acquired an unusual sensory modality of sensing blue light through the skin as touch-pressure. This light-evoked somatosensory perception should facilitate study of how the complex tactile sense emerges in the brain

Pre-treatment and extraction techniques for recovery of added value compounds from wastes throughout the agri-food chain

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually force to look for alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the imperatives of the nowadays society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative physical, physico-chemical and chemical methods of food waste pre-treatment and extraction for recovery of added value compounds and detection by modern technologies and are an outcome of the COST Action EUBIS, TD1203 Food Waste Valorisation for Sustainable Chemicals, Materials and Fuels

Approche physico-chimique et sensorielle de l’oxydation des lipides en émulsions

International audienc

Sur place(s): AURAspitalités

« Sur place(s) – AURAspitalités » est un podcast en six chapitres réalisé par Anthony Pecqueux (sociologue, CNRS, CMW) et Marianne Villière (artiste). Il se compose de six récits qui interrogent des formes d’hospitalité saisies depuis des places publiques de villages et bourgs de la région Auvergne - Rhône - Alpes, plus précisément des Parcs Naturels Régionaux du Vercors, du Pilat, des Monts d’Ardèche, de Chartreuse, du massif des Bauges et des Baronnies Provençales