A finite element finite-strain formulation for modeling colliding blocks of Gent materials

The present paper is devoted to the analysis of the contact/impact problems with Coulomb friction and large deformation between two hyperelastic bodies of Gent model. The total Lagrangian formulation is adopted to describe the geometrically non-linear behavior. For the finite element implementation, the explicit expression of the incremental law of Gent model is derived. A first order algorithm is applied for the numerical integration of the time-discretized equation of motion. Efficiency and accuracy of the resulting method is illustrated on a two-dimensional static contact problem and a three-dimensional dynamic contact problem as compared with ANSYS simulations.     

Caractérisation et résultats de fiabilité de transistors à haute mobilité électronique (HEMT)

The telecommunication systems require introduction of high performance devices especially for microwave applications. The emergence of molecular beam epitaxy as a growth technique allows the fabrication of heterostructure-based performing devices. Thus, this communication will focus on the reliability of technologies used for the development of field effect transistor using heterostructures and called HEMT (high electron mobility transistor).     

Synthesis of 3-Adenyl- and 3-Thyminylcyclobutane-1,1-dimethanols and Their Homo-octameric Phosphodiesters

Starting from 3-(benzyloxy)cyclobutane-1,1-dimethanol, 3-thyminyl- and 3-adenylcyclobutane-1,1-dimethanol were synthesized by direct introduction of the heterocycles (Scheme 1). The mono-O-substituted methoxytrityl derivatives were separately converted to octameric phosphodiesters on an aminomethyl-polystyrene carrier by the phosphotriester method. These oligomers of carba-nucleosides were prepared in order to study their annealing behaviour towards ribo- and deoxyribo-nucleic acids as well as their potential for homologous hybridization.     

Diodes lasers en régime de forte modulation sinusoïdale de courant : modélisation et expériences â 1,3 µm

We present a theoretical and experimental study of laser diodes under strong sinusoidal current modulation. Situations where the diodes are biased above threshold are considered. The first part describes different behaviors occurring under strong modulation. The GaAs lasers are compared to the InGaAsP lasers. The major result of numerical calculations shows that the existence of anomalous behaviors (period doubling, chaos,...) can be predicted from the weak-signal response of the laser. In a second part, we report on the expérimentais results obtained with an InGaAsP laser at 1.3 µ.m and their comparison with the theoretical calculations from a rate equation model. This kind of laser does not exhibit any anomalous behaviour under strong modulation, but distorsion effects occur. The calculated spectra of the laser intensity are in excellent agreement with measurements, which validates both the use of the rate equation model and the choice of the laser-parameters. In contrast, the spectral analysis at the optical frequency shows that the optical phase-equation previously used by many authors is uncomplete and that longitudinal and/or transversal variations of the α-factor have to be taken into account.     

First-order distributed feedback dye laser effect in reflection pumping geometry

Tunable distributed feedback lasing output based on reflection grating configuration instead of the traditional transmission one was realized from rhodamine 6G (R6G)-doped ethanol and 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-6- (p-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran-(DCM)-doped methanol. Pure gain coupling and additional index coupling were obtained in R6G-doped ethanol and DCM-doped methanol, respectively. The tuning, which was found to be independent of the refractive index of the lasing media, went through the entire stimulated emission band for the two cases. Dual-peak lasing emission indicative of the existence of an index grating was observed in DCM-doped methanol. The interval between the two peaks increased with pump energy.     

Pyridine as proton acceptor in the concerted proton electron transfer oxidation of phenol

Taking pyridine as a prototypal example of biologically important nitrogen bases involved in proton-coupled electron transfers, it is shown with the example of the photochemically triggered oxidation of phenol by Ru(III)(bpy)(3) that this proton acceptor partakes in a concerted pathway whose kinetic characteristics can be extracted from the overall kinetic response. The treatment of these data, implemented by the results of a parallel study carried out in heavy water, allowed the determination of the intrinsic kinetic characteristics of this proton acceptor. Comparison of the reorganization energies and of the pre-exponential factors previously derived for hydrogen phosphate and water (in water) as proton acceptors suggests that, in the case of pyridine, the proton charge is delocalized over a primary shell of water molecules firmly bound to the pyridinium cation.     

Electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of bismanganese porphyrin-corrole dyads

A series of homobimetallic manganese cofacial porphyrin-corrole dyads were synthesized and investigated as to their electrochemistry, spectroelectrochemistry, and ligand binding properties in nonaqueous media. Four dyads were investigated, each of which contained a Mn(III) corrole linked in a face-to-face arrangement with a Mn(III) porphyrin. The main difference between compounds in the series is the type of spacer, 9,9-dimethylxanthene, anthracene, dibenzofuran, or diphenylether, which determines the distance and interaction between the metallomacrocycles. Each redox process of the porphyrin-corrole dyads was assigned on the basis of spectroscopic and electrochemical data and by comparison with reactions and properties of the monocorrole and the monoporphyrin which were examined under the same solution conditions. The Mn(III) porphyrin part of the dyad undergoes two major one-electron reductions in pyridine and benzonitrile, the first of which involves a Mn(III)/Mn(II) process and the second the addition of an electron to the conjugated π-ring system of the macrocycle. The Mn(III) corrole part of the dyads also exhibits two major redox processes, one involving Mn(III)/Mn(II) and the other Mn(III) to Mn(IV) under the same solution conditions. The potentials and reversibility of each electron transfer reaction were shown to depend upon the solvent, type of spacer separating the two macrocycles, and the presence or absence of axial ligation, the latter of which was investigated in detail for the case of acetate ion which was found to bind within the cavity of the dyad to both manganese centers, both before and after the stepwise electroreduction to the Mn(II) forms of the two macrocycles. An intramolecular chloride ion exchange between the porphyrin part of the dyads which contain Mn(III)Cl and the singly oxidized corrole in the dyad is observed after the Mn(III)/Mn(IV) reaction of the corrole, suggesting that chloride is coordinated inside the cavity in the neutral compound.     

Polymerization of Acetylene in Liquid Crystal Media

The synthesis of polyacetylene in a new class of solvents - liquid crystals - will be reported. The effect of the solvent molecules orientation in the polymer's structure and its properties will be discussed.     

Diffusion of Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein in Living OLN-93 Cells Investigated by Raster-Scanning Image Correlation Spectroscopy (RICS)

Many membrane proteins and lipids are partially confined in substructures ranging from tens of nanometers to micrometers in size. Evidence for heterogeneities in the membrane of oligodendrocytes, i.e. the myelin-producing cells of the central nervous system, is almost exclusively based on detergent methods. However, as application of detergents can alter the membrane phase behaviour, it is important to investigate membrane heterogeneities in living cells. Here, we report on the first investigations of the diffusion behavior of the myelin-specific protein MOG (myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein) in OLN-93 as studied by the recently developed RICS (raster-scanning image correlation spectroscopy) technique. We implemented RICS on a standard confocal laser-scanning microscope with one-photon excitation and analog detection. Measurements on FITC-dextran were used to evaluate the performance of the system and the data analysis procedure. Ellen Gielen and Nick Smisdom contributed equally to this work.