Synthesis of rigid rod polymers

Summary Rigid rod polymers containing long rigid side chains have been prepared. The initial approach to this class of materials involved the synthesis of a poly (p-phenyleneterephthalamide) (PPT) backbone with diphenylthiazolothiazole pendant groups. The synthesis and preliminary characterization of the monomer and polymer are reported.     

Improving packet filters management through automatic and dynamic schemes

The development of complex access control architectures raises the problem of their management. In this article, we describe an architecture providing packet filters automatic configuration in Internet based networks. Our architecture improves existing proposals in three different fields. It suppresses the security officer interactions with the management architecture when topology changes occur thus preventing temporary security holes. Moreover our architecture proposes three optimisations to provide the access control processes with efficient configurations. Simulations show that the complexity of these configurations is close to the complexity found in configurations created by hand. Finally we describe how the notion of access control integrity can be incorporated in our management architecture at a reasonable cost.     

Simple iterative receivers for MIMO LP-OFDM systems

In this paper,Lp-ofdm is combined with differentMimo schemes in order to improve performance in terms of diversity gain and to exploit capacity brought by theMimo channel. The original contribution is the development of a generic iterative receiver designed forLp mimo transmission able to work whatever the antenna configuration and the spatial coding scheme. By using a globalMmse criterion, interference terms coming from space-time coding and linear precoding are jointly treated leading to a very good trade-off between performance and complexity compared to trellis based detectors particularly for high order modulations, high number of antennas and/or large size of precoding matrices.     

Evaluation of trace element contamination using Armadillo officinalis Duméril, 1816 (Crustacea,Isopoda) as a tool: An ultrastructural study

To estimate trace element bioaccumulation in Armadillo officinalis, specimens were collected from Ghar El Melh lagoon then exposed for 3 weeks in contaminated sediments with copper, zinc, and cadmium. From the first week until the end of the experiment, a decrease in A. officinalis growth related to the increase of Cd concentration in the sediment was recorded. However, a mass gain was highlighted under Cu and Zn exposures. At the end of experiment, body metal concentrations were measured using flame atomic emission spectrometry. Results of the bioaccumulation factor showed that the species could be considered as a macroconcentrator of copper (BAF > 2) and a deconcentrator of zinc (BAF < 2). Microscopy observations of hepatopancreas cells showed morphological and histological changes even at the lowest concentration. They consisted in the microvillus border destruction, lipid droplets modifications, trace element accumulation, and the condensation of the majority of cellular organelles. The degree of these alterations was found to be dose‐dependent. Through these results, the isopod A. officinalis could be used as relevant monitor organisms for soil metal contamination.     

Defocus estimation from stroboscopic cryo-electron microscopy data

Defocus estimation is an important step for improving the resolution of single particle reconstructions. It can be troublesome to estimate the defocus from low-dose cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) data, particularly if there is not sufficient contrast present in the Fourier transform of the micrograph. Most existing approaches estimate the defocus from the presence of Thon rings within the power spectrum, employing image enhancement techniques to highlight these rings. In this paper, an approach to estimating the defocus from a stroboscopic image series is described. The image series is used to obtain two statistical metrics: figure of merit (FOM) and Q-factor. These metrics have been used to estimate the defoci from low-dose stroboscopic cryo-EM data consisting of a variable number of images.     

Combined extraction processes of lipid from Chlorella vulgaris microalgae: microwave prior to supercritical carbon dioxide extraction

Extraction yields and fatty acid profiles from freeze-dried Chlorella vulgaris by microwave pretreatment followed by supercritical carbon dioxide (MW-SCCO(2)) extraction were compared with those obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction alone (SCCO(2)). Work performed with pressure range of 20-28 Mpa and temperature interval of 40-70 °C, gave the highest extraction yield (w/w dry weight) at 28 MPa/40 °C. MW-SCCO(2) allowed to obtain the highest extraction yield (4.73%) compared to SCCO(2) extraction alone (1.81%). Qualitative and quantitative analyses of microalgae oil showed that palmitic, oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic acid were the most abundant identified fatty acids. Oils obtained by MW-SCCO(2) extraction had the highest concentrations of fatty acids compared to SCCO(2) extraction without pretreatment. Native form, and microwave pretreated and untreated microalgae were observed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). SEM micrographs of pretreated microalgae present tearing wall agglomerates. After SCCO(2), microwave pretreated microalgae presented several micro cracks; while native form microalgae wall was slightly damaged.     

Effect of a supplementation of Euphorbia heterophylla on nutritional meat quality of Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus L.)

The aim of the present work was to study the effect of dietary supplementation of Euphorbia heterophylla on the quality of the Guinea pig meat. Forty guinea pigs were divided into two groups fed ad libitum during 46 days a Panicum maximum diet (Panicum diet) or a mixed diet (75% Panicum maximum + 25% Euphorbia heterophylla) (Paneuphorbia diet) to compare their effects on performances and on the composition of guinea pig tissues and carcass. Daily weight gain, liver weight, carcass yield, and the lipid content of both the carcass and the perirenal fat were significantly increased by the Paneuphorbia diet. Feeding Paneuphorbia diet increased (P < 0.05) the n-3 PUFA content in perirenal fat, muscle, liver and in the carcass and decreased (P < 0.05) the n-6/n-3 ratios in all these tissues and the carcass. In conclusion, this study shows that Euphorbia heterophylla is a source of n-3 fatty acids which can improve significantly the n-3 PUFA content of Guinea pig meat and carcass.     

Conception assistée par ordinateur de circuits millimétriques incluant des discontinuités de type ligne à ailettes

Single and complex fin line discontinuities are precisely computed by means of the modal analysis combined with the spectral domain approach. Validity of the results is established by measurements of the scattering parameters of symmetrical configurations including these discontinuities in a «back to back» arrangement. Frequency dependent equivalent networks are derived and they can be used as data base in circuit simulation programs.     

2D Eddy current sensor array

This paper presents the design and development of a two-dimensional eddy current sensor array and the improved response of the array using a super-resolution algorithm. A computational model of the array is derived using dyadic Green's function and volume integral method. This application was realized for detecting fatigue cracks, introduced in AISI 304 samples by subjecting them to cyclical loading.     

Design and analysis of two stream ciphers based on chaotic coupling and multiplexing techniques

In this paper, we design and implement two new stream ciphers based on Pseudo Chaotic Number Generators (PCNGs) which integrate discrete chaotic maps, namely, Piecewise Linear Chaotic Map (PWLCM), Skewtent and Logistic map. They are weakly coupled by a predefined matrix A for the first PCNG and they are coupled by a binary diffusion matrix D for the second one. Each PCNG includes a chaotic multiplexing technique that allows the enhancement of the robustness of the system. The structure is implemented with finite precision N = 32 bits in C language. Security performance of the proposed stream ciphers is analysed and several cryptanalytic and statistical tests are applied. Experimental results highlight robustness as well as efficiency in terms of computation time of these two stream ciphers.