First example of ring carbomer of 1,4-cyclohexadiene

While a series of carbo-mers of 1,3-cyclohexadienes was reported through the use of a specifically developed synthetic strategy, no example of their 1,4-regioisomers was known. Inspired by the methodology elaborated for the preparation of the 1,3-isomers, the synthesis of the first example of carbo-mer of 1,4-cyclohexadiene is presented. Comparison of physico-chemical properties of this first representative with those of the recently described 1,4-regioisomer, especially UV-vis absorption properties, is also addressed

En route to a dianilinyl-substituted carbo-cyclohexadiene with promising electrical properties

The macro-aromatic carbo-benzene core para-disubstituted by 4-anilinyl groups is known to be an efficient single-molecule conductor, exhibiting a conductance of 106 nS measured by the scanning tunneling microscopy-break junction technique. The linear carbo-butadiene analogue bearing the same anilinyl substituents was found to be less efficient, with a conductance of 2.7 nS. The reason of this difference could be elucidated through the study of the charge transport properties of a cyclically locked carbo-butadiene core in a carbo-cyclohexadiene derivative. In this paper, advances in the synthesis of this challenging dianilinyl-substituted carbo-cyclohexadiene are presented

Metrology with Atom Interferometry: Inertial Sensors from Laboratory to Field Applications

Developments in atom interferometry have led to atomic inertial sensors with extremely high sensitivity. Their performances are for the moment limited by the ground vibrations, the impact of which is exacerbated by the sequential operation, resulting in aliasing and dead time. We discuss several experiments performed at LNE-SYRTE in order to reduce these problems and achieve the intrinsic limit of atomic inertial sensors. These techniques have resulted in transportable and high-performance instruments that participate in gravity measurements, and pave the way to applications in inertial navigation.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Improved Identity Management with Verifiable Credentials and FIDO

We describe how FIDO and W3C VCs can overcome the problems of existing identity management systems. We describe our conceptual model and architecture, and the protocol we used by extending FIDO’s UAF in order to provide both strong authentication and strong authorization. We built a pilot implementation for U.K. NHS patients to validate our implementation. Patients were able to use a mobile phone with a fingerprint reader to access restricted NHS sites in order to make and cancel appointments and order repeat prescription drugs. Our initial user trials with 10 U.K. NHS patients found the system to be easy to use, and fingerprints to be preferable to using usernames and passwords for authentication

Know Your Customer: Opening a new bank account online using UAAF

Universal Authentication and Authorization Framework is a user-centric, privacy by design and decentralized system that allows anyone to easily benefit from a reliable digital identity made of multi-purpose and multi-origin attributes. In this article, we present the implementation of this framework in the context of online banking. We demonstrate how it can facilitate enforcing Know Your Customer when opening a new bank account online by allowing users to combine verifiable identity attributes issued by different organizations

A User-Centric Identity Management Framework based on the W3C Verifiable Credentials and the FIDO Universal Authentication Framework

We present a user-centric and decentralized digital identity system that allows anyone to easily benefit from an enriched digital identity made of multi-purpose and multi-origin attributes. It increases usability by the elimination of user passwords. It also makes this digital identity highly trustworthy both for the user (in terms of privacy and sovereignty) and the service provider who requires highly certified information about the user being enrolled to and/or authenticated on its services. We built our system based on the Universal Authentication Framework specified by the FIDO Alliance and the data model proposed by the W3C Verifiable Credentials WG. The whole system has been implemented in a banking scenario

Femtosecond laser-induced sub-wavelength plasma inside dielectrics: I. Field enhancement

The creation of high energy density ($\gtrsim10^6$ joules per cm$^3$) over-critical plasmas in a large volume has essential applications in the study of warm dense matter, being present in the hot cores of stars and planets. It was recently shown that femtosecond Bessel beams enable creating over-critical plasmas inside sapphire with sub-wavelength radius and several tens of micrometers in length. Here, the dependence of field structure and absorption mechanism on the plasma density transverse profile are investigated by performing self-consistent Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations. Two { limiting} cases are considered: one is a homogeneous step-like profile, that can sustain plasmon formation, the second is an inhomogeneous Gaussian profile, where resonance absorption occurs. Comparing experimental absorption measures to analytical predictions allows determining the plasma parameters used in PIC simulations. The PIC simulation results are in good agreement with experimental diagnostics of total absorption, near-field fluence distribution, and far-field radiation pattern. We show that in each case an ambipolar field forms at the plasma surface due to the expansion of the hot electrons and that electron sound waves propagate into the over-critical region.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, published in Physics of Plasma

Adorym: A multi-platform generic x-ray image reconstruction framework based on automatic differentiation

We describe and demonstrate an optimization-based x-ray image reconstruction framework called Adorym. Our framework provides a generic forward model, allowing one code framework to be used for a wide range of imaging methods ranging from near-field holography to and fly-scan ptychographic tomography. By using automatic differentiation for optimization, Adorym has the flexibility to refine experimental parameters including probe positions, multiple hologram alignment, and object tilts. It is written with strong support for parallel processing, allowing large datasets to be processed on high-performance computing systems. We demonstrate its use on several experimental datasets to show improved image quality through parameter refinement

The European AntibotABE Framework Program and Its Update: Development of Innovative Botulinum Antibodies

The goal of the AntiBotABE Program was the development of recombinant antibodies that neutralize botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) A, B and E. These serotypes are lethal and responsible for most human botulinum cases. To improve therapeutic efficacy, the heavy and light chains (HC and LC) of the three BoNT serotypes were targeted to achieve a synergistic effect (oligoclonal antibodies). For antibody isolation, macaques were immunized with the recombinant and non-toxic BoNT/A, B or E, HC or LC, followed by the generation of immune phage-display libraries. Antibodies were selected from these libraries against the holotoxin and further analyzed in in vitro and ex vivo assays. For each library, the best ex vivo neutralizing antibody fragments were germline-humanized and expressed as immunoglobulin G (IgGs). The IgGs were tested in vivo, in a standardized model of protection, and challenged with toxins obtained from collections of Clostridium strains. Protective antibody combinations against BoNT/A and BoNT/B were evidenced and for BoNT/E, the anti-LC antibody alone was found highly protective. The combination of these five antibodies as an oligoclonal antibody cocktail can be clinically and regulatorily developed while their high “humanness” predicts a high tolerance in humans.Peer reviewe