EMC-signatures of microcontrollers under thermal stress analyzed by FSV

The EMC-signature of devices containing microcontrollers can differ due to thermal or mechanical stress. Research is presented to prove the feature selective validation method (FSV) to be sensitive enough to analyze differences in signatures

Comparison of two nanofiltration membrane reactors for a model reaction of olefin metathesis achieved in toluene

International audienceThe recent commercialisation of nanofiltration membranes resistant toward organic solvents is a real opportunity for fine chemistry. This study deals with different ways of integration of organic solvent nanofiltration for a specific type of reactions known as olefin metathesis and shows the use of two nanofiltration membrane reactors both running in cross-flow filtration mode (0.1 m s- 1). They are used either in semi-continuous or continuous mode. A model ring closing metathesis reaction is chosen for the demonstration. A commercially available pre-catalyst, namely Grubbs-Hoveyda II, as well as a commercial polyimide membrane (Starmem 122, MWCO 220 g mol- 1) are used. Firstly, nanofiltration of the single pre-catalyst allows establishing that the highest retention is obtained with a 40 bar pressure. Secondly, this pressure is used with the two membrane reactors before testing other conditions. Finally, interests and limitations of the two reactors are discussed

A Variability-Based Testing Approach for Synthesizing Video Sequences

A key problem when developing video processing software is the di culty to test di erent input combinations. In this paper, we present VANE, a variability-based testing approach to derive video sequence variants. The ideas of VANE are i) to encode in a variability model what can vary within a video sequence; ii) to exploit the variability model to generate testable con gurations; iii) to synthesize variants of video sequences corresponding to con gurations. VANE computes T-wise covering sets while optimizing a function over attributes. Also, we present a preliminary validation of the scalability and practicality of VANE in the context of an industrial project involving the test of video processing algorithms.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2012-32273Junta de Andalucía TIC-5906Junta de Andalucía P12-TIC-186

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE POWER ELECTRONIC TRANSISTOR PARAMETERS INFLUENCE TO THE NEAR-FIELD RADIATION FOR THE EMC APPLICATIONS

Abstract—With the increases of the module integration density and complexity in electrical and power electronic systems, serious problems related to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) can occur. For the safety, these disturbing effects must be considered during the electronic equipment design process. One of the concerns on EMC problems is induced by unintentional near-field (NF) radiations. The modeling and measurement of EM NF radiations is one of the bottlenecks which must be overcome by electronic engineers. To predict the unwanted different misbehaviors caused by the EM radiation, NF test benches for the reconstitution of scanning maps at some millimeters of electrical/electronic circuits under test were developed at the IRSEEM laboratory. Due to the difficulty of the design with commercial simulators, the prediction of EM NF emitted by active electronic systems which are usually based on the use of transistors necessitates more relevant and reliable analysis techniques. For this reason, the main focus of this article is on the experimental analysis of EM NF radiated by an MOSFET transistor with changing electrical parameters. Descriptions of the experimental test bench for the EM map scan of transistors radiation are provided. This experimental setup allows not only to detect the EM NF emission but also to analyze the influence of the excitation signal parameter

Variability Management in Domain-Specific Languages

International audienceDomain-specific languages (DSLs) allow domain experts to express solutions directly in terms of relevant domain concepts and, for example, use generative mechanisms to transform DSL' specifications into software artifacts (e.g. code, configuration files or documentation). Thus, abstracting away from the complexity of the rest of the system and the intricacies of its implementation. As a result, the construction of DSLs is becoming a recurrent activity during the development of software intensive systems. However, the construction of DSLs is a challenging task due to the specialized knowledge it requires; in order to successfully perform such activity, an engineer must own not only quite solid modeling skills but also the technical expertise for conducting the definition of specific artifacts such as grammars, metamodels, compilers, interpreters, among others. The situation becomes even more challenging in the context of multi-domain companies (e.g. Thales) where several domains coexist across the business units and, consequently, there is a need to deal with families of DSLs. A family of DSLs is a set of DSLs that share some commonalities and that differ by some variability that, in turn, is materialized in certain variation points existing at three different dimensions: functional, syntactical and semantical. Functional variation points refer to the capability of creating DSLs including only a subset of constructs of the whole language so it is possible to create stakeholder-specific DSLs while maintaining them as simpler as possible. Syntactic variation points refers to different representations of the same concept (e.g., graphical and textual representation). Finally, semantic variation points refer to different interpretation to the same concept by two members of the family (e.g., the concept \textit{fork} in the case of the state machines can be interpreted as a concurrency point where all the output transitions are dispatched simultaneously or simply as a bifurcation point where the output transitions are dispatched sequentially). Recent research works have demonstrated the benefits of the use of software product lines engineering (SPLE) in the construction of families DSLs. All of these works agree on the need of a modularization approach that enables the decomposition of a DSL into independent modules and a variability management mechanism for effectively dealing with the differences and commonalities among the DSLs members of the family.The research summarized in this document is aimed to contribute to this study. Concretely speaking, we work on the formalization of the alignment between the modularization approach and the variability management mechanism taking into account the three dimensions of the variability. Our preliminary results suggest the need of the definition of language interfaces for addressing each variability realization technique for the particular case of DSLs. In addition, an strategy should be conceived for modeling the multi-dimensional variability existing in families DSLs in such a way that facilitates the configuration and derivation of DSLs according to the specific needs of the users. As part of the validation process, we are applying all these ideas in a real word industrial case study in the context of Thales Group

Determining anion-quadrupole interactions among protein, DNA, and ligand molecules

Background An extensive search through the Protein Databank (about 4500 nonredundant structures) was previously completed within our lab to analyze the energetic and geometric characteristics of an understudied molecular interaction known as an anion-quadrupole (AQ) interaction. Such an interaction occurs when the positively charged edge of an aromatic ring, resulting from a quadruple moment (i.e., a dual dipole moment), renders the aromatic molecule noncovalently bound to a nearby anionic molecule. The study considered a very limited scenario of molecules that can participate in AQ interactions, consisting of the phenyl group of a phenylalanine (phe) amino acid as the aromatic participant and the carboxylate group of an aspartate (asp) or glutamate (glu) amino acid as the anionic participant. The results revealed anion-quadrupole pairs to be prevalent within most of the protein structures. It was also observed that the interaction energy for AQ pairs was heavily dependent on the angle between the anion and plane of the aromatic ring, favoring a more planar interaction. In light of these critical observations being made from such a limited scenario, only phe-glu and phe-asp pairs and in a reduced sample set of the PDB, we are now continuing this work of identifying AQ interactions using a greatly expanded strategy. We are following these four aims: 1. Optimizing the AQ-search program to run in a semi-parallel fashion and on a large cluster of processors in order to handle larger analyses, 2. Adding to our search additional anionic participants which will include non-protein structures such as DNA and small ligands, 3. Studying a subset of the AQ pairs with molecular dynamics simulations in buried and solvent exposed environments to observe non-static behavioral traits as well as the reproducibility of AQ interactions by force field parameters. 4. Building an online database for public access to our data and search program. Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the NSF-IGERT traineeship, Scalable Computing and Leading Edge Innovative Technologies (SCALE-IT), for providing the resources for this project

Using Real-World Data to Guide Ustekinumab Dosing Strategies for Psoriasis: A Prospective Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Study.

Variation in response to biologic therapy for inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis, is partly driven by variation in drug exposure. Real-world psoriasis data were used to develop a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model for the first-line therapeutic antibody ustekinumab. The impact of differing dosing strategies on response was explored. Data were collected from a UK prospective multicenter observational cohort (491 patients on ustekinumab monotherapy, drug levels, and anti-drug antibody measurements on 797 serum samples, 1,590 measurements of Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI)). Ustekinumab PKs were described with a linear one-compartment model. A maximum effect (Emax ) model inhibited progression of psoriatic skin lesions in the turnover PD mechanism describing PASI evolution while on treatment. A mixture model on half-maximal effective concentration identified a potential nonresponder group, with simulations suggesting that, in future, the model could be incorporated into a Bayesian therapeutic drug monitoring "dashboard" to individualize dosing and improve treatment outcomes

13C—methyl formate : observations of a sample of high mass starforming regions including Orion—KL and spectroscopic characterization

We have surveyed a sample of massive star-forming regions located over a range of distances from the Galactic centre for methyl formate, HCOOCH3, and its isotopologues H13COOCH3 and HCOO13CH3. The observations were carried out with the APEX telescope in the frequency range 283.4-287.4 GHz. Based on the APEX observations, we report tentative detections of the 13C-methyl formate isotopologue HCOO13CH3 towards the following four massive star-forming regions: Sgr B2(N-LMH), NGC 6334 IRS 1, W51 e2 and G19.61-0.23. In addition, we have used the 1 mm ALMA science verification observations of Orion-KL and confirm the detection of the 13C-methyl formate species in Orion-KL and image its spatial distribution. Our analysis shows that the 12C/13C isotope ratio in methyl formate toward Orion-KL Compact Ridge and Hot Core-SW components (68.4±10.1 and 71.4±7.8, respectively) are, for both the 13C-methyl formate isotopologues, commensurate with the average 12C/13C ratio of CO derived toward Orion-KL. Likewise, regarding the other sources, our results are consistent with the 12C/13C in CO. We also report the spectroscopic characterization, which includes a complete partition function, of the complex H13COOCH3 and HCOO13CH3 species. New spectroscopic data for both isotopomers H13COOCH3 and HCOO13CH3, presented in this study, has made it possible to measure this fundamentally important isotope ratio in a large organic molecule for the first time.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant 1008800. We are grateful to the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain for the financial support through grant No. FIS2011-28738-C02-02 and to the French Government through grant No. ANR-08-BLAN-0054 and the French PCMI (Programme National de Physique Chimie du Milieu Interstellaire). This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO. ALMA#2011.0.00009.SV.ALMAis a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA), and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada) and NSC and ASIAA (Taiwan), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO, and NAOJ. C.F. thanks Dahbia Talbi, Eric Herbst, and Anthony Remijan for enlightening discussions. Finally, we thank the anonymous referee for helpful comments

Glutamatergic Neurons in Rodent Models Respond to Nanoscale Particulate Urban Air Pollutants in Vivo and in Vitro

Background: Inhalation of airborne particulate matter (PM) derived from urban traffic is associated with pathology in the arteries, heart, and lung; effects on brain are also indicated but are less documented