Insertion d'une fibre optique dans une structure composite = Embedment of optical fibre into a composite structure

National audienceLe but de cette étude est de déterminer quelle est le type de fibre optique le plus approprié pour une insertion dans une structure composite. En effet, il semble inutile de développer des capteurs à fibres optiques très sophistiqués, si l'effort subi par la structure n'est pas transmise au capteur. Tout d'abord, la mécanique de la rupture est utilisée pour évaluer les propriétés mécaniques des fibres optiques. Les fibres optiques monomodes et multimodes sont soumises à un test de traction uniaxial. Celle-ci se comporte comme un matériau fragile qui casse avant d'avoir subi une déformation plastique significative. Puis, une analyse de l'adhésion de la fibre optique avec une structure composite est présentée en s'appuyant sur un test de pull-out

SERS detection of biomolecules using lithographied nanoparticles towards a reproducible SERS biosensor

International audienceIn this paper we highlight the accurate spectral detection of bovine serum albumin and ribonuclease-A using a Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrate based on gold nanocylinders obtained by Electron-Beam Lithography (EBL). The nanocylinders have diameter from 100 to 180 nm with a gap of 200 nm. We demonstrate that optimizing the size and the shape of the lithographied gold nanocylinders, we can obtain SERS spectra of proteins at low concentration. This SERS study enabled us to estimate high enhancement factors (105 for BSA and 107 for RNase-A) of important bands in the protein Raman spectrum measured for 1mM concentration. We demonstrate that to reach the highest enhancement it is necessary to optimize the SERS signal and that the main parameter of optimization is the LSPR position. The LSPR have to be suitably located between the laser excitation wavelength which is 632.8 nm and the position of the considered Raman band. Our study underlines the efficiency of gold nanocylinders arrays in spectral detection of proteins

Dépôt de couches minces comme barrière au transport gazeux

L'étude vise à modifier les propriétés de perméation au gaz d'un polymère par dépôt d'une couche mince. Le substrat impose des techniques de dépôt en basse température afin d'assurer son intégrité. Il convient de relever deux défis : le premier est de parvenir à réaliser un dépôt à porosité réduite afin d'en garantir la fonctionnalité. La perméation à l'hydrogène permet de l'étudier. Le second réside dans la tenue mécanique: l'adhésion sous sollicitations sévères est un paramètre critique. Une des applications visées est la conception de liner de type 4 pour le stockage hydrogène

LMDA Canada: Canadian Newsletter, November 16, 1998

Contents include: Letter from the Editor, Effing the Ineffable, Adapting Theatre History, A Readiness to Receive, The Theatre Center Proudly Presents Body Geometry, Necessary Theatre Manifesto, Writing out Dramaturgy, Report from the Rock, Out of the Blocks and Onto the Track, Rocky Mountain Highs: Dramaturgy and the 1998 playRites Colony, News from the Factory Theatre, Theatre Centre Research Programhttps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdanewsletter/1030/thumbnail.jp

A CT-based revised description and phylogenetic analysis of the skull of the basal maniraptoran Ornitholestes hermanni Osborn 1903

Ornitholestes hermanni was one of the first small-bodiedtheropods named in the 1900s. It is known from a singlespecimen discovered during the American MuseumExpedition of 1900, at the Jurassic Morrison Formationsite known as Bone Cabin Quarry, in Wyoming. It haslong been a critical taxon in understanding the evolutionof the Coelurosauria, the clade that includestyrannosauroids, living birds, and their commonancestors. The holotype specimen comprises a nearlycomplete skull and most of a postcranial skeleton. Despitethis abundant material, its precise phylogeneticrelationships have been difficult to determine. This is inpart due to the intense mediolateral crushing of the skulland the relatively generalized postcranial anatomy. Herewe present the results of a micro- computed tomographybasedinvestigation of the cranial anatomy and subsequentincorporation of these data into a phylogenetic data matrixdesigned to test coelurosaurian interrelationships. We findrobust evidence across different optimality criteria thatOrnitholestes is the earliest-branching oviraptorosaurianspecies. Using parsimony as an optimality criterion, thisphylogenetic position is supported by 14 unambiguoussynapomorphies, including: a short frontal process of thepostorbital; short, deep, and pendant paroccipitalprocesses; a large mandibular foramen; an anterodorsallyoriented dentary symphysis; a surangular that is longerthan the dentary; short maxillary and dentary tooth rows;and procumbent dentary and premaxillary teeth. UsingBayesian fossilized birth-death models, we find highposterior probabilities (>.99) that Ornitholestes is theearliest-branching oviraptorosaurian species. Weadditionally find strong support in both analyses that thesuperficially bat-like and possibly arborealscansoriopterygids are an early branching lineage withinOviraptorosauria. This new phylogenetic position fills in apersistent ghost lineage in Oviraptorosauria and confirmsthat scansoriopterygids are basally branchingoviraptorosaurians that represent an independent origin ofaerial habits, separate from those of dromaeosaurs andavialans.Fil: Chapelle, Kimberley E.. American Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Norell, Mark. American Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Ford, David P.. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Hendrickx, Christophe. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Radermacher, Viktor J.. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Balanoff, Amy. University Johns Hopkins; Estados UnidosFil: Zanno, Lindsay E.. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Choiniere, Jonah N.. University of the Witwatersrand; Sudáfrica81st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate PaleontologyMc LeanEstados UnidosSociety of Vertebrate Paleontolog

Features of mammalian microRNA promoters emerge from polymerase II chromatin immunoprecipitation data

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNA regulators of protein coding genes. miRNAs play a very important role in diverse biological processes and various diseases. Many algorithms are able to predict miRNA genes and their targets, but their transcription regulation is still under investigation. It is generally believed that intragenic miRNAs (located in introns or exons of protein coding genes) are co-transcribed with their host genes and most intergenic miRNAs transcribed from their own RNA polymerase II (Pol II) promoter. However, the length of the primary transcripts and promoter organization is currently unknown. Methodology: We performed Pol II chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-chip using a custom array surrounding regions of known miRNA genes. To identify the true core transcription start sites of the miRNA genes we developed a new tool (CPPP). We showed that miRNA genes can be transcribed from promoters located several kilobases away and that their promoters share the same general features as those of protein coding genes. Finally, we found evidence that as many as 26% of the intragenic miRNAs may be transcribed from their own unique promoters. Conclusion: miRNA promoters have similar features to those of protein coding genes, but miRNA transcript organization is more complex. © 2009 Corcoran et al

Supervised Classification: Quite a Brief Overview

The original problem of supervised classification considers the task of automatically assigning objects to their respective classes on the basis of numerical measurements derived from these objects. Classifiers are the tools that implement the actual functional mapping from these measurements---also called features or inputs---to the so-called class label---or output. The fields of pattern recognition and machine learning study ways of constructing such classifiers. The main idea behind supervised methods is that of learning from examples: given a number of example input-output relations, to what extent can the general mapping be learned that takes any new and unseen feature vector to its correct class? This chapter provides a basic introduction to the underlying ideas of how to come to a supervised classification problem. In addition, it provides an overview of some specific classification techniques, delves into the issues of object representation and classifier evaluation, and (very) briefly covers some variations on the basic supervised classification task that may also be of interest to the practitioner

Profiling allele-specific gene expression in brains from individuals with autism spectrum disorder reveals preferential minor allele usage.

One fundamental but understudied mechanism of gene regulation in disease is allele-specific expression (ASE), the preferential expression of one allele. We leveraged RNA-sequencing data from human brain to assess ASE in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). When ASE is observed in ASD, the allele with lower population frequency (minor allele) is preferentially more highly expressed than the major allele, opposite to the canonical pattern. Importantly, genes showing ASE in ASD are enriched in those downregulated in ASD postmortem brains and in genes harboring de novo mutations in ASD. Two regions, 14q32 and 15q11, containing all known orphan C/D box small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), are particularly enriched in shifts to higher minor allele expression. We demonstrate that this allele shifting enhances snoRNA-targeted splicing changes in ASD-related target genes in idiopathic ASD and 15q11-q13 duplication syndrome. Together, these results implicate allelic imbalance and dysregulation of orphan C/D box snoRNAs in ASD pathogenesis