Net on-chip Brillouin gain based on suspended silicon nanowires

The century-old study of photon-phonon coupling has seen a remarkable revival in the past decade. Driven by early observations of dynamical back-action, the field progressed to ground-state cooling and the counting of individual phonons. A recent branch investigates the potential of traveling-wave, optically broadband photon-phonon interaction in silicon circuits. Here, we report continuous-wave Brillouin gain exceeding the optical losses in a series of suspended silicon beams, a step towards selective on-chip amplifiers. We obtain efficiencies up to $10^{4} \, \text{W}^{-1}\text{m}^{-1}$, the highest to date in the phononic gigahertz range. We also find indications that geometric disorder poses a significant challenge towards nanoscale phonon-based technologies.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Étude structurale de l'hélicase réplicative et de l'activation du primosome de Helicobacter pylori

During bacterial chromosomal replication, unwinding of double stranded DNA is performed by the hexameric helicase DnaB. In Escherichia coli, the positioning of DnaB hexamers onto replication forks in the 5’to 3’ direction is dedicated by helicase loader. DnaB then interacts with the DnaG primase helicase binding domain (DnaGHBD) to form the primosome. Helicobacter pylori does not encode for a DnaC homologue, which is also the case of most bacterial species. Moreover, H. pylori DnaB (HpDnaB) could complement two temperature–sensitive mutants of E. coli dnaBts and dnaCts, suggesting that the HpDnaB was able to bypass DnaC in these cells. To gain insights into HpDnaB mode of activation, we have solved the crystal structure of HpDnaB at 6.7Å resolution. The structure reveals a novel dodecameric organisation where HpDnaB assembles as planar stack-twisted double hexamers via N-terminal domain (NTD)-rings interactions. Small angle X-ray scattering analysis (SAXS) demonstrates that HpDnaB adopts a modified and dynamic structure in solution but maintains dodecameric architecture. We have then investigated the structure of HpDnaB upon interaction with HpDnaGHBD and/or ssDNA using size exclusion chromatography coupled to multiangle light scattering and SAXS. These experiments show that upon interaction with HpDnaGHBD, HpDnaB double hexamer dissociates into single hexamers to form a complex with HpDnaGHBD. Moreover, we found that HpDnaB also forms hexamers in complex with ssDNA in the presence of AMP-PNP. Collectively, these data suggest that primosome assembly in H. pylori results in the dissociation of the double hexamer into two HpDnaB6•HpDnaG3 sister primosomesDurant la réplication du chromosome bactérien, le désappariement du double brin d'ADN est réalisé par l'hélicase hexamérique DnaB. Chez Escherichia coli, le positionnement de l'hexamère de DnaB sur l'ADN simple brin dans le sens 5'-3'est permis par le facteur de chargement. La primase DnaG interagit ensuite avec l'hélicase pour former le primosome. Chez Helicobacter pylori, aucun facteur de chargement n'a été identifié, ce qui est également le cas pour la majorité des espèces bactériennes. De plus, DnaB d'H. pylori (HpDnaB) peut complémenter des souches mutantes d'E.coli DnaBts et DnaCts suggérant que HpDnaB peut jouer le rôle des deux protéines. Pour mieux comprendre le mode d'action de HpDnaB, nous avons résolu sa structure cristallographique à une résolution de 6.7 Å. Celle-ci révèle que la protéine s'assemble en dodécamère, formé par deux hexamères interagissant par leurs domaines N-terminaux (NTD). Nos expériences en diffusion des rayons X aux petits angles (SAXS) montrent que le dodécamère de HpDnaB adopte une conformation modifiée et dynamique en solution. Nous avons ensuite étudié la structure de HpDnaB après interaction avec HpDnaGHBD et/ou l'ADN simple brin par chromatographie d'exclusion stérique couplée à la diffusion de la lumière multi-angles (SEC-MALS) et par SAXS. Ces expériences suggèrent qu'après interaction avec HpDnaGHBD, le double hexamère est dissocié en simples hexamères formant un complexe avec HpDnaGHBD. De plus, HpDnaB forme des hexamères avec l'ADN simple brin en présence d'AMP-PNP. L'ensemble de nos résultats suggère que la formation du primosome d'H. pylori conduit à la dissociation du dodécamère en deux complexes HpDnaB6•HpDnaG

ASSESSMENT OF MASS TRANSPORT PROPERTIES IN BIMODAL MICROPOROUS NETWORKS BY COMBINING GRAVIMETRIC AND INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY

International audienceInterest of this study is to develop classical macroscopic diffusion measurements to probe and allow distinguishing a true hierarchical material from the other material. To this aim, the AGIR methodology (Analysis by Gravimetry and IR spectroscopy) will be used Gravimetric measurements provide more classical approach to molecular uptake measurements, whereas infrared (IR) spectroscopy can provide additional data on the interaction, orientation and environment of the molecules on the solid surfaces. In this study we evaluated the mass transport properties in a mechanical mixture of hierarchical H-MFI and H-FAU zeolites. Using AGIR technique, we have been able to distinguish the diffusivity of each component present in the mechanical mixture of following pure zeolites: H-MFI and H-FAU respectively. The potential and limitations of this new methodology will be discussed

III-V photonic crystal wire cavity laser on silicon wafer

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Structure and primase-mediated activation of a bacterial dodecameric replicative helicase

International audienceReplicative helicases are essential ATPases that unwind DNA to initiate chromosomal replication. While bacterial replicative DnaB helicases are hexameric, Helicobacter pylori DnaB (HpDnaB) was found to form double hexamers, similar to some archaeal and eukaryotic replicative helicases. Here we present a structural and functional analysis of HpDnaB protein during primosome formation. The crystal structure of the HpDnaB at 6.7 ˚ A resolution reveals a dode-cameric organization consisting of two hexamers assembled via their N-terminal rings in a stack-twisted mode. Using fluorescence anisotropy we show that HpDnaB dodecamer interacts with single-stranded DNA in the presence of ATP but has a low DNA unwinding activity. Multi-angle light scattering and small angle X-ray scattering demonstrate that interaction with the DnaG primase helicase-binding domain dissociates the helicase dodecamer into single ringed primosomes. Functional assays on the proteins and associated complexes indicate that these single ringed primosomes are the most active form of the helicase for ATP hydrolysis, DNA binding and unwinding. These findings shed light onto an activation mechanism of HpDnaB by the primase that might be relevant in other bacteria and possibly other organisms exploiting dodecameric helicases for DNA replication

A Hybrid Approach to Identifying the Most Predictive and Discriminant Features in Supervised Classification Problems

International audienceIn this paper, we are interested in the predictive and discriminant nature of features in supervised classification problems. We discuss the notions of prediction and discrimination and propose a hybrid approach combining supervised classifiers, model explanation, multicriteria decision making and pattern mining for identifying the most predictive and discriminant features in a dataset. The explanation of models learned by supervised classifiers produces rankings of features according to various performance measures. Based on that, multicriteria decision making and pattern mining methods are used to, respectively, select the most important features and interpret their role in terms of prediction and discrimination. Finally, we present and discuss two experiments on public datasets illustrating the potential of the approach

Modulation contrast optimization for wavelength conversion of a 20 Gbit/s data signal in hybrid InP/SOI photonic crystal nanocavity

5 pagesInternational audiencePhotonic crystal cavity-based switching is studied both theoretically and experimentally in order to identify the best configuration to maximize "wavelength conversion" efficiency. In particular, it is shown that an enhanced contrast can be reached when the probe is blue-shifted with respect to the resonance. The use of an InP/SOI hybrid photonic crystal nanocavity is reported for the first time for all-optical error-free "wavelength conversion" at 20 Gbit/s with an NRZ-OOK signal

Explaining Multicriteria Decision Making with Formal Concept Analysis

International audienceMulticriteria decision making aims at helping a decision maker choose the best solutions among alternatives compared against multiple conflicting criteria. The reasons why an alternative is considered among the best are not always clearly explained. In this paper, we propose an approach that uses formal concept analysis and background knowledge on the criteria to explain the presence of alternatives on the Pareto front of a multicriteria decision problem