Dislocation dynamics simulations with climb: kinetics of dislocation loop coarsening controlled by bulk diffusion

Dislocation climb mobilities, assuming vacancy bulk diffusion, are derived and implemented in dislocation dynamics simulations to study the coarsening of vacancy prismatic loops in fcc metals. When loops cannot glide, comparison of the simulations with a coarsening model based on the line tension approximation shows good agreement. Dislocation dynamics simulations with both glide and climb are then performed. Allowing for glide of the loops along their prismatic cylinders leads to faster coarsening kinetics, as direct coalescence of the loops is now possible.     

Collision damage processes due to energetic heavy ions in silver chloride

The optical absorption band induced by energetic heavy ions implanted into AgCl single crystals at 77°K must be connected with the formation of silver colloids. The experimental (primitization and E.P.R. spectra) and theoretical study, makes it possible to obtain an approximate value of cluster radius. The colloid concentration is correlated with nuclear stopping power. It is shown that the collision efficiency is modified by a chemical effect. Finally the conditions of cluster formation are analysed.     

Compound synthesis in TiO2 implanted with Rubidium

Rubidium ions, with energy in the range 0.1 MeV, 2.0 MeV have been implanted in TiO₂ single crystals at RT and LNT.

Defects induced by implantation have been studied by optical spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, RBS, TEM and electrical conductivity.

During implantation, the implanted samples are blue colored after irradiation. This coloration is due to an optical absorption band localized at 900 nm which corresponds to optical transition of intrinsic defects identified as Ti³⁺. These defects are induced by a chemical reaction between the implanted ions and the oxygen of the lattice as in the case of D⁺, H⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺ implanted in rutile.^1-3

The synthesis of a new phase in heavily implanted rutile is exhibited by using a thermal treatment and by combining techniques such as RBS, TEM and X-ray diffraction at glancing angle in the temperature range 300°C-700°C.

This compound does not correspond to metallic precipitates of rubidium which are observed in MgO implanted with Rb ions.

Planar defects have been observed in the implanted area. A correlation is exhibited between these defects and the precipitates of the new phase. From X-ray diffraction measurements and TEM observations, the composition of the synthetized compound is likely Rb₂TiO₃.     

An in situ atomic force microscope for normal‐incidence nanofocus X‐ray experiments

A compact high‐speed X‐ray atomic force microscope has been developed for in situ use in normal‐incidence X‐ray experiments on synchrotron beamlines, allowing for simultaneous characterization of samples in direct space with nanometric lateral resolution while employing nanofocused X‐ray beams. In the present work the instrument is used to observe radiation damage effects produced by an intense X‐ray nanobeam on a semiconducting organic thin film. The formation of micrometric holes induced by the beam occurring on a timescale of seconds is characterized.     

Simultaneous quantitative profiling of 20 isoprostanoids from omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids by LC–MS/MS in various biological samples

Isoprostanoids are a group of non-enzymatic oxygenated metabolites of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It belongs to oxylipins group, which are important lipid mediators in biological processes, such as tissue repair, blood clotting, blood vessel permeability, inflammation and immunity regulation. Recently, isoprostanoids from eicosapentaenoic, docosahexaenoic, adrenic and α-linolenic namely F₃-isoprostanes, F₄-neuroprostanes, F₂-dihomo-isoprostanes and F₁-phytoprostanes, respectively have attracted attention because of their putative contribution to health. Since isoprostanoids are derived from different substrate of PUFAs and can have similar or opposing biological consequences, a total isoprostanoids profile is essential to understand the overall effect in the testing model. However, the concentration of most isoprostanoids range from picogram to nanogram, therefore a sensitive method to quantify 20 isoprostanoids simultaneously was formulated and measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The lipid portion from various biological samples was extracted prior to LC–MS/MS evaluation. For all the isoprostanoids LOD and LOQ, and the method was validated on plasma samples for matrix effect, yield of extraction and reproducibility were determined. The methodology was further tested for the isoprostanoids profiles in brain and liver of LDLR^−/− mice with and without docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation. Our analysis showed similar levels of total F₂-isoprostanes and F₄-neuroprostanes in the liver and brain of non-supplemented LDLR^−/− mice. The distribution of different F₂-isoprostane isomers varied between tissues but not for F₄-neuroprostanes which were predominated by the 4(RS)-4-F_4t-neuroprostane isomer. DHA supplementation to LDLR^−/− mice concomitantly increased total F₄-neuroprostanes levels compared to F₂-isoprostanes but this effect was more pronounced in the liver than brain.     

Decarboxylation of aromatic carboxylic acids by gold(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes

A recently isolated gold(I) complex, [Au(IPr)(OH)], permits the transformation of carboxylic acids to the corresponding decarboxylated gold(I)-aryl complex without the use of silver co-catalyst under mild reaction conditions.     

Composition and authentication of virgin olive oil from French PDO regions by chemometric treatment of Raman spectra

The search for the origin and the authentication of virgin olive oils (VOOs) is a problem of topical interest. VOOs with the protected designation of origin (PDO) label can be subject to fraudulent practices owing to high price commanded by these oils. This work evaluates the capability of confocal Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometric treatments for determining the fatty acid and triacylglycerol (TAG) compositions of VOOs and for authenticating the PDO labels of six French VOOs. Fatty acid and TAG compositions were determined by chemometric analysis of the Raman spectra using the partial least square (PLS) algorithms. Predictions have provided good results on the high percentage compounds, but for the fatty acids at very low percentages the predicted results were very poor. The PLS‐discriminant analysis model on Raman spectra was able to correctly classify 92.3% of French PDOs and 100% of PDO samples made with only one principal cultivar. However, it was noticeable that the first regression coefficient (which explains the greatest amount of variation of the data) obtained for each PDO could be compared one by one with the first regression coefficient obtained for the quantitative analysis of fatty acids and TAGs. The first regression coefficients obtained for PDOs differed widely from each other. Their study allowed interpreting the PDOs according to their chemical composition. This work confirms that fatty acid and TAG percentages may be used to authenticate French VOOs into PDOs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectra of direct excitation of phosphorescence in an isotopic mixed naphthalene crystal

Distributed polarizabilities of a series of n-alkanes C _n H_2n+2 (n = 2-7) in various conformations have been determined using Bader's topological theory of atoms in molecules. Using an appropriate localization scheme, a simple distributed model is constructed, where the methyl and methylene groups are characterized by their dipole polarizability tensors in local frames, and all charge flow polarizabilities between them are retained. A set of average polarizability parameters is proposed that takes into account the local environment of the methyl and methylene groups, and that not only reproduces the polarizability tensor for any member of the n-alkane series in an arbitrary conformation, but also is suitable for the calculation of induction energies.     

Linearly polarized, single-mode spontaneous emission in a photonic nanowire

We introduce dielectric elliptical photonic nanowires to funnel efficiently the spontaneous emission of an embedded emitter into a single optical mode. Inside a wire with a moderate lateral aspect ratio, the electromagnetic environment is largely dominated by a single guided mode, with a linear polarization oriented along the ellipse major axis. The resulting monomode spontaneous emission is maintained over a broad wavelength range, a key asset of this 1D photonic structure. Our theoretical analysis is completed by an experimental study of GaAs elliptical photonic wires with embedded InAs quantum dots. In particular, the fraction of collected photons with the desired linear polarization can exceed 95%.     

Fire impact on forest soils evaluated using near-infrared spectroscopy and multivariate calibration

The assessment of physico-chemical properties in forest soils affected by fires was evaluated using near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy coupled with chemometric methods. In order to describe the soil properties, measurements were taken of the total organic carbon on solid phase, the total nitrogen content, the organic carbon and the specific absorbences at 254 and 280 nm of humic substances, organic carbon in humic and fulvic acids, concentrations of NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺ and phosphorus in addition to NIR spectra. Then, a fire recurrence index was defined and calculated according to the different fires extents affecting soils. This calculation includes the occurrence of fires as well as the time elapsed since the last fire. This study shows that NIR spectroscopy could be considered as a tool for soil monitoring, particularly for the quantitative prediction of the total organic carbon, total nitrogen content, organic carbon in humic substances, concentrations of phosphorus, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ and NH₄⁺ and humic substances UVSA₂₅₄. Further validation in this field is necessary however, to try and make successful predictions of K⁺, organic carbon in humic and fulvic acids and the humic substances UVSA₂₈₀. Moreover, NIR coupled with PLS can also be useful to predict the fire recurrence index in order to determine the spatial variability. Also this method can be used to map more or less burned areas and possibly to apply adequate rehabilitation techniques, like soil litter reconstitution with organic enrichments (industrial composts) or reforestation. Finally, the proposed recurrence index can be considered representative of the state of the soils.