Free electron laser experiment at Orsay: A review

In this paper we review the results obtained in the last two years with the Orsay free electron laser.     

Effects of sodium salicylate on the febrile response and increased levels of cyclic AMP in cerebrospinal fluid during endogenous pyrogen-induced fever in rabbits

To further evaluate the causality between endogenous pyrogen (EP)-induced fever and cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) level, the effects of sodium salicylate (SS) on the febrile response and increased levels of cyclic AMP in both cerebrospinal fluid (c.s.f.) and plasma during EP-induced fever in rabbits were observed. The results suggest that cyclic AMP is probably involved in the central mediation of EP-induced fever and that increased concentration of cyclic AMP in c.s.f. associated with EP-induced fever is not the result of temperature elevation but appears to be caused by the increased synthesis in the central nervous system. In addition it is confirmed that blood is impossibly a contributory source of increased cyclic AMP in c.s.f. during EP fever, and that SS may act subsequent to the increase in cyclic AMP.     

A 300-MHz 25-/spl mu/A/Mb-leakage on-chip SRAM module featuring process-variation immunity and low-leakage-active mode for mobile-phone application processor

An on-chip 1-Mb SRAM suitable for embedding in the application processor used in mobile cellular phones was developed. This SRAM supports three operating modes - high-speed active mode, low-leakage low-speed active mode, and standby mode - and uses a subdivisional power-line control (SPC) scheme. The combination of three operating modes and the SPC scheme realizes low-power operation under actual usage conditions. It operates at 300 MHz, with leakage of 25 /spl mu/A/Mb in standby mode, and 50 /spl mu/A/Mb at the low-leakage active mode. This SRAM also uses a self-bias write scheme that decreases of minimum operating voltage by about 100 mV.     

End-to-End QoS for Video Delivery Over Wireless Internet

Providing end-to-end quality of service (QoS) support is essential for video delivery over the next-generation wireless Internet. We address several key elements in the end-to-end QoS support, including scalable video representation, network-aware end system, and network QoS provisioning. There are generally two approaches in QoS support: the network-centric and the end-system centric solutions. The fundamental problem in a network-centric solution is how to map QoS criterion at different layers respectively, and optimize total quality across these layers. We first present the general framework of a cross-layer network-centric solution, and then describe the recent advances in network modeling, QoS mapping, and QoS adaptation. The key targets in end-system centric approach are network adaptation and media adaptation. We present a general framework of the end-system centric solution and investigate the recent developments. Specifically, for network adaptation, we review the available bandwidth estimation and efficient video transport protocol; for media adaptation , we describe the advances in error control, power control, and corresponding bit allocation. Finally, we highlight several advanced research directions.     

Extremely low-loss 1.5%-/spl Delta/ 32-channel athermal arrayed-waveguide grating multi/demultiplexer

A silica-based 1.5%-/spl Delta/ 100 GHz-spacing 32-channel athermal arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) with compact size and extremely low insertion loss is described. By reducing the fibre coupling loss and the excess loss in a silicone-filled groove, an insertion loss of 1.3 dB was achieved with this athermal AWG.     

Minimum-energy multicast in mobile ad hoc networks using network coding

The minimum energy required to transmit one bit of information through a network characterizes the most economical way to communicate in a network. In this paper, we show that, under a layered model of wireless networks, the minimum energy-per-bit for multicasting in a mobile ad hoc network can be found by a linear program; the minimum energy-per-bit can be attained by performing network coding. Compared with conventional routing solutions, network coding not only allows a potentially lower energy-per-bit to be achieved, but also enables the optimal solution to be found in polynomial time, in sharp contrast with the NP-hardness of constructing the minimum-energy multicast tree as the optimal routing solution. We further show that the minimum energy multicast formulation is equivalent to a cost minimization with linear edge-based pricing, where the edge prices are the energy-per-bits of the corresponding physical broadcast links. This paper also investigates minimum energy multicasting with routing. Due to the linearity of the pricing scheme, the minimum energy-per-bit for routing is achievable by using a single distribution tree. A characterization of the admissible rate region for routing with a single tree is presented. The minimum energy-per-bit for multicasting with routing is found by an integer linear program. We show that the relaxation of this integer linear program, studied earlier in the Steiner tree literature, can now be interpreted as the optimization for minimum energy multicasting with network coding. In short, this paper presents a unifying study of minimum energy multicasting with network coding and routing.     

Structure and superconductivity in FexCu1−xBa2YCu2O7+y superconductors synthesized by high pressure

Comprehensive studies of X-ray diffraction, oxygen content, superconductivity and Mössbauer effect have been made on Fe_xCu_1−xBa₂YCu₂O_7+y superconductors (0.00≤x≤0.70) synthesized by ambient (AM) and high pressure (HP). Results indicate that all the HP-samples have tetragonal structure, smaller lattice parameter c and unit-cell volume than the AM-samples. The studies of oxygen content, and Mössbauer spectroscopy indicate that the HP-samples have higher oxygen content, carrier concentration and average valence of Fe than the AM-samples. Moreover, for the HP-samples more Fe atoms located in CuO_x chains have fivefold-oxygen coordination. These are important reasons for the enhancement of T_c in the HP-samples.     

Ultra-strong, well-apodised Bragg gratings in chalcogenide rib waveguides

The first ultra-strong, near-perfect, raised-apodised Bragg gratings in As/sub 2/S/sub 3/ chalcogenide rib waveguides using /spl lambda/=532 nm light and a modified Sagnac holographic writing setup are demonstrated. Good agreement is achieved between the experimental results and the numerical modelling of the gratings using the transfer matrix analysis for thin film structures.     

Liquid–gas critical phenomena under confinement: small-angle neutron scattering studies of CO2 in aerogel

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a well-established technique for investigating the behavior of confined binary liquid solutions, as it can probe the correlation length and susceptibility in pores on length scales 1 – 100 nm. We applied SANS to explore the influence of confinement on critical behavior of an individual fluid carbon dioxide (CO₂) in a highly porous aerogel. The results demonstrate that quenched disorder induced by aerogel significantly depresses density fluctuations. Despite the negligible volume occupied by aerogel (< 4%), the macroscopic phase separation of confined CO₂ into coexisting liquid and gaseous phases is suppressed and below the critical temperature of the bulk fluid frozen methastable microdomains are formed. Experimental data show that critical adsorption is as important as the effect of confinement in defining the behavior of confined fluids.