Preparation of transparent PMMA/Fe(IO3)3 nanocomposite films from microemulsion polymerization

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/Fe(IO₃)₃ nanocomposite thin films are obtained by in situ particle generation in microemulsions and subsequent photopolymerization of a mixture containing methyl methacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and crystallized iron iodate (Fe(IO₃)₃) nanorods. Hyper‐Rayleigh scattering measurements combined with X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering are first used to probe in situ the crystallization kinetics of iron iodate nanorods in water‐in‐oil microemulsions prepared with methyl methacrylate as the oil phase and marlophen NP12 as a surfactant. Trimethylolpropane triacrylate is then added as a crosslinker before spin‐coating. Films are deposited on glass substrates for the nonlinear optical characterizations and on silicon wafers for the piezoelectric and mechanical measurements. Nanocomposite films treated by corona discharge are finally characterized through optical microscopy, laser Doppler vibrometry, and Brillouin spectroscopy. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1203‐1211, 2013     

Simple Views on Metal/Oxide Interfaces: Contributions of the Long-Range Interactions to the Adhesion Energy

The image and van der Waals contributions to the metal/oxide work of adhesion are compared through the extent to which they follow the known prevalent trends, i.e. the increase in work of adhesion (a) with narrowing oxide band gap and (b) with increasing conduction electron density of the metal. The van der Waals interaction is shown to follow both trends, while the image term is suggested to be significant only for dense metals in contact with very ionic oxides. The relative contribution of these long-range interactions to the overall metal/oxide work of adhesion is found to be maximized for systems involving metals with low electronic densities and oxides with wide band gaps. At variance, high metallic electronic densities and narrow oxide gaps likely favour short-range interactions arising from charge transfer.     

Comparative resistance of food proteins to adult and infant in vitro digestion models

IgE‐mediated allergy to milk and egg is widespread in industrialised countries and mainly affects infants and young children. It may be connected to an incomplete digestion of dietary proteins causing an inappropriate immune response in the gut. In order to study this, a biochemical model of infant gastroduodenal digestion has been developed, which has reduced levels of protease (eightfold for pepsin and tenfold for trypsin and chymotrypsin), phosphatidylcholine and bile salts, compared with the adult model. This model has been used to study the behaviour of three characterised food‐relevant proteins (bovine β‐lactoglobulin (β‐Lg), β‐casein (β‐CN) and hen's egg ovalbumin), all of which are relevant cows' milk and hens' egg allergens. Digestion products were characterised using electrophoresis, immunochemical techniques and MS. These showed that ovalbumin and β‐CN were digested more slowly using the infant model compared with the adult conditions. Resistant fragments of β‐CN were found in the infant model, which correspond to previously identified IgE epitopes. Surprisingly, β‐Lg was more extensively degraded in the infant model compared with the adult one. This difference was attributed to the tenfold reduction in phosphatidylcholine concentration in the infant model limiting the protective effect of this phospholipid on β‐Lg digestion.     

Al0.3Ga0.7As-GaAs microwave resonant tunneling oscillator

We describe the design of a microwave oscillator using resonant tunneling diodes. The devices are fabricated from Al_0.3Ga_0.7As-GaAs double barrier hetero-structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Design criteria improving current drivability are established from a theoretical study of tunneling transmission probabilities. Very high peak current densities up to 3.10⁴ A/cm², favorable for high frequency operation as an oscillator, have been achieved experimentally. The devices exhibit stable oscillations at liquid nitrogen temperature and at room temperature when the tunnel diode oscillator is constructed with a stabilizing network.     

Photodétecteurs en intégration monolithique sur guides optiques : modélisation et vérifications expérimentales

The authors developed a model on optical guided structures with complex refractive indices, on 9 desktop-computer. This model allows to predict the coupling efficiency of photodetectors monolithically integrated with optical waveguides. An oscillatory behaviour of the absorption coefficient versus the absorbing layer thinkness has been pointed out. Comparisons with experimental resuylts obtained with device made in different laboratories show a good agrement     

Modeling and analysis of an unreliable flow line composed of parallel-machine stages

This paper focuses on flow lines composed of multiple parallel-machine stages. The system is similar to a classical flow line, the only difference being that a given stage may consist of parallel machines. A method for modeling and analyzing this type of flow lines is presented. The technique used amounts to replacing each parallel-machine stage by a single equivalent machine in order to obtain a classically-structured flow line with machines in series. Equations for computing the parameters of equivalent machines are submitted. These parameters can then be used to carry out performance diagnosis of the corresponding stage, or as input data for existing analysis methods to evaluate the production performance of flow lines. The method presented in this paper has been successfully implemented and tested in the industry over the past few years.     

Détection d’obstacles routiers par stéréovision : l’approche « v-disparité »

This paper presents an innovating real time method for detecting road obstacles by on board stereovision. After having exposed the stakes of the obstacles detection, having presented the state of the art and having identified the problems to be solved, the developed approach is described. It is based on the analysis of the “v-disparity” image, which provides a suitable representation of the geometric content of the road scene. The method is then evaluated with respect to the problems generally affecting stereovision approaches. The theoretical good properties of the “v-disparity” algorithm — genericity, effectiveness, robustness, and computational efficiency — are thus experimentally confirmed. Thanks to the performances obtained, the described algorithm is used for on board driving assistance applications.