Scaling properties of work fluctuations after quenches at quantum transitions

We study the scaling properties of the statistics of the work done on a generic many-body system at a quantum phase transition of any order and type, arising from quenches of a driving control parameter. For this purpose we exploit a dynamic finite-size scaling framework. Namely, we put forward the existence of a nontrivial finite-size scaling limit for the work distribution, defined as the large-size limit when appropriate scaling variables are kept fixed. The corresponding scaling behaviors are thoroughly verified by means of analytical and numerical calculations in two paradigmatic many-body systems as the quantum Ising model and the Bose-Hubbard model.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures. Revised versio

Granular jamming as controllable stiffness mechanism for endoscopic and catheter applications

peer reviewe

Granular Jamming as Controllable Stiffness Mechanism for Endoscopic and Catheter Applications

peer reviewe

Granular Jamming as Controllable Stiffness Mechanism for Endoscopic and Catheter Applications

Context During minimally invasive procedures, most of the devices (endoscopes, catheters, guidewires, etc.) need to be sufficiently flexible to avoid damaging patient tissues or causing pain, but have to be stiff enough to transmit force for support or for puncture. In the case of vascular stenosis, the guidewire has to be flexible to reach the stenosis (through the blood vessels), but it requires a rigid support to pass through the occlusion for treatment, to avoid buckling or deformation due to the force application. In order to solve this duality on the rigidity, controllable stiffness mechanisms can be used. Various mechanisms to control the stiffness can be found in the literature [1]. One of the promising solutions to achieve this objective is based on granular material jamming [2]. This research aims at studying the scaling laws of such solutions for miniaturized applications (with diameters below 3mm), the mechanical rules of design and the optimization based on the stiffness performances. Granular jamming The granular jamming is based on the locking of granular material. In this study, a flexible membrane is filled with a granular material (glass beads). When the pressure difference between outside and inside the membrane is low, the grains are free to move with respect to each other. In this configuration, the system is very flexible. Once the difference of pressure is increased, the grains are locked to each other due to the inter-grain friction. In this configuration, the system is more rigid. It is possible to adjust the stiffness of the device by controlling the pressure difference across the membrane. Materials and methods In this work, the performances of the stiffness change thanks to the granular jamming are quantified by mechanical testing. On the one hand, three point bending and cantilever beam tests are performed to quantify the flexural stiffness EI (product of the Young Modulus, E, and the second moment of area, I) of the solutions. Various granular materials and diameters of the samples are studied. On the other hand, triaxial compression tests are performed to observe the influence of the pressure difference on the rigidity obtained via granular jamming, using different granular materials. Results and discussion The tests described previously provide information on the performances of the granular jamming solution as well as an indication of the most important parameters to optimize. An optimal size of grains is highlighted by the results of these mechanical tests. The results of the triaxial compression tests show that the pressure difference is the most important parameter influencing the Young Modulus. The bending tests show that the second moment of area greatly impacts this stiffness. Removing the influence of the geometry, the equivalent Young Modulus is positively influenced for smaller diameters which is promising for the applications targeted in this work. Some of these results, as well as pictures and conclusions are illustrated in the poster file available in the following link : https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/239703/3/20161125PosterNCBMElblanc.pdf. One of the perspectives of this work is to develop a model for linking the results obtained from the different mechanical tests and to observe the optimization of the grains (shape and size) and cross-section of the samples with respect to the change of stiffness obtained. Further studies on stimulation method and on materials should be performed. References - [1] Kuder, I. K. et Al., ?Variable stiffness material and structural concepts for morphing applications?, Progress in Aerospace Sciences, pp.33-55, 2013. - [2] Loeve, A. J. et Al., ?Vacuum packed particles as flexible endoscope guides with controllable rigidity?, Granular Matter, pp. 543-554, 2010

Characterization and Modeling of Granular Jamming: Models for Mechanical Design

peer reviewedThe use of granular jamming is proposed for designing structures with tunable rigidity of their tools (with the ability of being flexible devices for shaping and deformation but rigid for shape-locking and force transmission). The granular jamming consists in modifying the apparent rigidity of a structure by controlling the vacuum in a membrane filled with granular material. When the difference of pressure is low, the grains are free to move with respect to each other and the structure is flexible. When the vacuum in the membrane is increased, the grains are blocked and the structure is more rigid. Different mechanical characterizations of the granular jamming have been performed (triaxial compression and tension and cantilever beam bending tests) for different glass bead sizes ranging between 100 μm and 1 mm (used as granular material) at different vacuum levels (between 0 kPa and 90 kPa ). The grain size slightly influences the stiffness while the pressure difference is the main parameter to tune the stiffness of the structure. Based on these experiments, analytical models have been developed and validated. The tension characteristics can be directly deduced from the compression behavior and the bending modulus can be obtained by a combination of the tension and compression moduli. The proposed analytical models present the advantage of a simple formulation and are suitable for estimating the performance of other structures based on the granular jamming. The models can estimate and predict satisfactorily the results of granular jamming and can be used for designing mechanical structures based on this mechanism

Projet ARIM'eau : rapport d'activités

Le rapport d’activités présente les réalisations du projet ARIM’eau pour l’année 2018-2020 sur le territoire du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (SLSJ).De façon plus spécifique, l’équipe de recherche sur les eaux souterraines du Centre d’études sur les ressources minérales (CERM) de l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) via le projet ARIM’eau a réalisé : Neuf (9) projets d’accompagnement répondant à des problématiques retrouvées sur le territoire des municipalités. Les projets d’accompagnement ont permis de répondre directement aux questions des cinq (5) municipalités régionales de comté (MRC) du SLSJ ainsi que de la Première Nation des Pekuakamiulnuatsh. Sept (7) projets de recherche, soit un (1) projet du CERM, trois (3) projets de fin d’études (PFE) et trois (3) stages. Ces projets de recherche ont permis de générer des nouvelles connaissances sur le territoire du SLSJ. Avec les quarante et un (41) nouveaux rapports d’experts-conseils récupérés dans les municipalités, cela a permis d'ajouter sur le territoire municipalisé du SLSJ : • Quatre cent soixante-dix-huit (478) stations d’information ; • Quarante-cinq (45) coupes stratigraphiques ; • Cent vingt-cinq (125) échantillons et analyses d’eau souterraine ; • Vingt-huit (28) cartes de concentration des éléments physico-chimiques ; • Une (1) carte de vulnérabilités ; • Deux (2) modèles stratigraphiques 3D ; • Un (1) modèle conceptuel local de l’hydroconnectivité des milieux aquifères • Un (1) modèle d’hydroconnectivité entre les milieux humides et les eaux souterraines Avec les données déjà structurées numériquement, ce sont mille sept cent quatre-vingt-neuf (1 789) nouvelles stations d’information qui ont été ajoutées dans la base de données. Six (6) ateliers d’implantation et de transfert des données provenant du programme d’acquisition de connaissances sur les eaux souterraines du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (PACES-SLSJ) et quatre (4) ateliers de sensibilisation de la population aux eaux souterraines. Six (6) atlas sur les eaux souterraines personnalisées et une (1) mise à jour de la base de données PACES-SLSJ. Cinq (5) présentations scientifiques à des congrès nationaux et internationaux. Cinq (5) rencontres du comité de suivi du projet ARIM’eau

Newly identified biologically active and proteolysis-resistant VEGF-A isoform VEGF111 is induced by genotoxic agents

Ultraviolet B and genotoxic drugs induce the expression of a vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) splice variant (VEGF111) encoded by exons 1–4 and 8 in many cultured cells. Although not detected in a series of normal human and mouse tissue, VEGF111 expression is induced in MCF-7 xenografts in nude mice upon treatment by camptothecin. The skipping of exons that contain proteolytic cleavage sites and extracellular matrix–binding domains makes VEGF111 diffusible and resistant to proteolysis. Recombinant VEGF111 activates VEGF receptor 2 (VEGF-R2) and extracellularly regulated kinase 1/2 in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells and porcine aortic endothelial cells expressing VEGF-R2. The mitogenic and chemotactic activity and VEGF111's ability to promote vascular network formation during embyonic stem cell differentiation are similar to those of VEGF121 and 165. Tumors in nude mice formed by HEK293 cells expressing VEGF111 develop a more widespread network of numerous small vessels in the peritumoral tissue than those expressing other isoforms. Its potent angiogenic activity and remarkable resistance to proteolysis makes VEGF111 a potential adverse factor during chemotherapy but a beneficial therapeutic tool for ischemic diseases

Tendon lesion and VEGF-111 injection

Introduction: Tendon lesion is one of the most frequent pathology in sports and by physical workers. This pathology often becomes chronic. For this reason, it is of interest to develop new treatments. Injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) seems to be a promising one by releasing growth factors (GF) locally. Among all the GF released by activated platelets, the vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is known to induce positive effects on vascular function and angiogenesis, and could be implicated in the healing process of tendons. Recently, a novel VEGF-A isoform was identified, the VEGF-111, a biologically active and proteolysis-resistant VEGF-A isoform, also known to present beneficial effects on ischemic diseases. This prompted us to evaluate whether VEGF-111 would have a therapeutic interest within the framework of the tendon pathology. Methods: 60 Rats were divided into 2 groups: A: control (no injection), B: VEGF-111 treatment. A 5mm defect was surgically induced in rat Achilles tendon after resection of plantaris tendon. Rats received a local injection of VEGF-111 (100ng) in situ after the surgery and were placed in their cages without immobilization. After 5, 15 and 30 days, the traumatized Achilles tendons of 10 rats of both groups were removed and dissected during their healing process. Immediately after sampling, tendons were submitted to a biomechanical tensile test up to rupture, using a “Cryo-jaw”. Rats were then euthanized. Statistical analyses were made with an ANOVA. Values are significant when p-value is below 0.05. Results: Our results showed that the developed force necessary to induce tendon rupture during biomechanical tensile test was greater for tendons which had received an injection of 100ng of VEGF-111. These results were already noticed from day 5 onwards. The ratio between force and weight increased with time in both groups, but this ratio was greater for tendons which had been submitted to an injection of VEGF111. The surface area of the section of the tendons increased between 5 and 15 days followed by a stabilization. After 30 days, sections in both groups were similar. Thus, the constraint was similar after 5 and 15 days but was better for VEGF111 group after one month. Discussion - Conclusion: This experimentation has shown that a 100ng injection of VEGF-111 stimulated tendon healing process as suggested by the increased force needed to break tendons during its healing process and the increased of constraint in comparison with the control group. Other experimentations with different concentration of VEGF111 are now in process. Acknowledgement : This experimentation was partially financed by “Standard de Liège 2007” and “Lejeune-Lechien 2008” grants

Instabilities in crystal growth by atomic or molecular beams

The planar front of a growing a crystal is often destroyed by instabilities. In the case of growth from a condensed phase, the most frequent ones are diffusion instabilities, which will be but briefly discussed in simple terms in chapter II. The present review is mainly devoted to instabilities which arise in ballistic growth, especially Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). The reasons of the instabilities can be geometric (shadowing effect), but they are mostly kinetic or thermodynamic. The kinetic instabilities which will be studied in detail in chapters IV and V result from the fact that adatoms diffusing on a surface do not easily cross steps (Ehrlich-Schwoebel or ES effect). When the growth front is a high symmetry surface, the ES effect produces mounds which often coarsen in time according to power laws. When the growth front is a stepped surface, the ES effect initially produces a meandering of the steps, which eventually may also give rise to mounds. Kinetic instabilities can usually be avoided by raising the temperature, but this favours thermodynamic instabilities. Concerning these ones, the attention will be focussed on the instabilities resulting from slightly different lattice constants of the substrate and the adsorbate. They can take the following forms. i) Formation of misfit dislocations (chapter VIII). ii) Formation of isolated epitaxial clusters which, at least in their earliest form, are `coherent' with the substrate, i.e. dislocation-free (chapter X). iii) Wavy deformation of the surface, which is presumably the incipient stage of (ii) (chapter IX). The theories and the experiments are critically reviewed and their comparison is qualitatively satisfactory although some important questions have not yet received a complete answer.Comment: 90 pages in revtex, 45 figures mainly in gif format. Review paper to be published in Physics Reports. Postscript versions for all the figures can be found at http://www.theo-phys.uni-essen.de/tp/u/politi

Injection de concentrés plaquettaires et régénération tendineuse : modèle animal

peer reviewedIntroduction : La régénération tendineuse en traumatologie du sport demeure un processus actuellement difficile à gérer et de nouvelles voies thérapeutiques sont en cours d’exploration. La littérature récente fait état d’effets bénéfiques sur la régénération tendineuse de concentrés plaquettaires (platelet-rich plasma ou PRP), administrés in situ, dus au relargage de facteurs de croissance par activation des plaquettes et à leur activité stimulante au cours de la cicatrisation. Dès lors, nous avons souhaité tester l’effet bénéfique de ce traitement sur des rats préalablement lésés au niveau de leur tendon d’Achille. Matériel et Méthode : Une section unilatérale du tendon d’Achille a été réalisée chez 60 rats Sprague Dawley adultes. De ces 60 rats, 30 ont subi une cicatrisation naturelle (rats contrôles) et 30 rats ont bénéficié d’une injection in situ de PRP le jour de la lésion. Diverses études biomécaniques, biochimiques et histologiques ont été réalisées sur ces tendons d’Achille en cours de cicatrisation à respectivement J5, J15 et J30 après lésion. Dix rats supplémentaires ont servi de témoins sains (sans lésion tendineuse). L’étude biomécanique appréciait la résistance maximale des tendons à la traction à l’aide de mors type « cryo-jaws ». L’étude histologique évaluait l’évolution cellulaire pendant la phase de cicatrisation. L’analyse transcriptomique étudiait l’expression de gènes codant pour le collagène de type III, les métalloprotéases matricielles (MMP-9) et la ténomoduline (TNMD), ainsi qu’un dosage d’hydroxyproline permettant d’évaluer la quantité de collagène présente dans le tendon au cours de la cicatrisation. Résultats : L’étude biomécanique démontre la meilleure résistance des tendons traités avec du PRP par rapport aux tendons contrôles à J5 (+19%), J15 (+30%) et significativement à J30 (+43%). L’étude histologique suggère qu’une injection de PRP stimule la prolifération cellulaire, favorise l’organisation tissulaire, stimule l’angiogenèse et la réorganisation architectural du collagène. L’étude biochimique ne permet pas d’expliquer les effets bénéfiques puisqu’il n’y a pas de différence dans l’expression des gènes des différentes molécules matricielles (collagène de type III, MMP-9 et TNMD) ni dans la quantité d’hydroxyproline qui s’accroit au cours du temps de la cicatrisation de façon similaire dans les deux groupes. Conclusion : L’injection de PRP améliore et accélère la cicatrisation tendineuse et augmente la résistance aux contraintes mécaniques du tendon en cours de cicatrisation