The borders of mobile handset ecosystems: Is coopetition inevitable?

Today, the mobile phone industry witnesses important changes, shifting from a value chain to a burgeoning business ecosystem. This paper deals with the relationships that are at the very core of mobile OS ecosystems for IMTs (smartphones and PDA): Microsoft-OS, Symbian-OS, Palm-OS and RIM-OS over the period 1998–2006. Our study confirms that an ecosystem’s borders are unclear. More than half of our sample’ relationships are shared by at least two different ecosystems. The ecosystems we studied do not differ in terms of exclusive relationship which suggests that coopetitive strategies are particularly relevant in mobile platforms war.     

Development of a 3D HUD using a tunable bandpass filter for wavelength multiplexing

A 3D stereoscopic head‐up display using a tunable bandpass filter to perform left and right image spectral separation is presented. Using a single filter reduces the size and the cost of the head‐up display optical engine and enables each spectral band to be accurately tuned. Experiments performed on the first prototype demonstrate the ability to continuously tune the bandpass frequency on 30‐nm range while keeping a 20‐nm bandwidth. Such a system avoids the use of a bulky and costly rotating wheel and enables the use of holographic optical elements known to be wavelength selective.     

A Similarity Metric for Retrieval of Compressed Objects: Application for Mining Satellite Image Time Series

This paper addresses the problem of building an index of compressed object databases. We introduce an informational similarity measure based on the coding length of two part codes. Then, we present a methodology for compressing the database by taking into account interobject redundancies and by using the informational similarity measure. The method produces an index included in the code of the data volume. This index is built such that it contains the minimal sufficient information to discriminate the data-volume objects. Then, we present an optimal two-part coder for compressing spatio-temporal events contained in satellite image time series (SITS). The two-part coder allows us to measure similarity and then to derive an optimal index of SITS spatio-temporal events. The resulting index is representative of the SITS information content and enables queries based on information content.     

Stress and plastic deformation of MEA in running fuel cell

Numerical modelling of mechanical stresses in running fuel cell is provided. The evolution of stresses and plastic deformations in the membrane has been obtained during the turn-on phase. The operating conditions have been taken into account by imposing the heating sources and the humidity field. The results have been presented on two scales: the global scale reflects the stress evolution in the entire fuel cell and the local one corresponds to the tooth/channel structure. It has been shown that the stresses are strongly heterogeneous on the both scales and time dependent. From the mechanical point of view, the most sensible zone is under the GDL/seal joint interface. In the running fuel cell the heterogeneity decreases while it rises in the fuel cell just after the assembly. The stresses reach the maximum values during the humidification step, the magnitude of these stresses is sufficient for initiation of the plastic deformations in the Nafion membrane.     

Dislocations interfaciales et cohérence dans le système épitaxique fer-or

Iron was deposited in ultrahigh vacuum onto thin single-crystal films of gold oriented with (111) parallel to the surface plane. Study by electron diffraction and electron microscopy has shown that the initial growth of iron occurs by successive monolayers. Three stages in the deposit growth have been found: first the deposited film of iron is strained to match the gold substrate exactly; then interfacial dislocations appear at the gold-iron interface; and finally iron nuclei of b.c.c. structure are formed. The interfacial dislocations are in mixed orientation with their Burgers vectors $\text{1}\text{2}$a 〈110〉 inclined to the gold-iron interface; it is found that they have a poor efficiency for accommodating the misfit between the substrate and the deposit, so that for deposits of average thickness greater than 8 Å the interface is mostly incoherent.     

In vitro screening of potential probiotic activities of selected lactobacilli isolated from unpasteurized milk products for incorporation into soft cheese

The aim was to select potentially probiotic lactobacilli from 88 strains isolated from unpasteurized milk and cheese products, and to incorporate these bacteria in a viable state into a soft cheese, without changing its quality. The survival of these bacteria was assessed in acidic and bile conditions, after freezing at -80 degrees C. Four strains from unpasteurized Camembert--two Lactobacillus plantarum strains and two Lb. paracasei/casei strains--were identified and typed by PCR and PFGE and were found to display potentially probiotic characteristics in addition to resistance to low pH and bile. These characteristics were resistance to lysozyme, adhesion to CACO-2 cells, antimicrobial effects against common foodborne pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, innocuity following the ingestion of high doses by mice and appropriate antibiotic susceptibility profiles. The potential of Lb. plantarum strain UCMA 3037 for incorporation into a soft cheese (Pont-l'Eveque registered designation of origin (RDO)) was investigated. This strain grew well and survived in sufficient numbers (more than 10(7) cfu/g throughout the shelf-life of the product) in the cheese. This strain did not change the quality score of the product until the best before date (75 days after manufacture). Thus, unpasteurized Camembert is a natural source of potentially probiotic lactobacilli, which could be used as an additive in the development of potentially probiotic soft cheeses. Further work is required to demonstrate the persistence and efficacy of these strains in the human host upon ingestion.     

Functional properties of the α-chain of a major legumin subunit of Pisum sativum legumin

The constituting polypeptides of a heavy pea legumin subunit were separated. The interfacial and emulsifying properties of the α-chains were studied and compared with those of the respective subunit and the native legumin molecules. The α-polypeptides show modified interface behaviour as compared to the legumin. Faster diffusion and higher adsorption barriers during the phase of rearrangement, higher interface coverage in the equilibrium state and improved emulsifying properties were measured.     

Selected physico-chemical properties of succinylated legumin from pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Selected physico-chemical properties of pea legumin before and after succinylation have been investigated using isoelectric focusing, PAGE, SDS-PAGE, hydrophobicity measurements, SE-HPLC and RP-HPLC. Exhaustive succinylation shifted the I.P. of legumin from 4.75 to 3.5. The stepwise dissociation of legumin by increasing succinylation has been confirmed both by means of PAGE in a nondenaturing system, and by SE-HPLC. The results of SDS-PAGE provided evidence for the exposure of α-polypeptide chains in the native legumin. High succinylation resulted in a decrease of the surface hydrophobicity (S₀) measured by both fluorescence probes (cis-parinaric acid and anilino-naphtalene sulfonic acid). RP-HPLC gave a response both to conformational changes and the introduced succinyl residues.