Back-scattering cross-section of a cylindrical uniform plasma column

In monostatic radar applications it is the signal back to the source that is responsible for target detection. The back-scattering cross-section allows one to calculate the amount of power reflected back in the direction of incidence. In this paper, we develop theoretically and calculate computationally the back-scattering cross-section of a cylindrical column of magnetized plasma with a uniform number density. The effect of the plasma number density and of the collision frequency are investigated.     

Proton magic-angle spinning-NMR investigation of surfactant aqueous suspensions

In this Note we present the advantages of 1H magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) for the investigation of surfactant suspensions via transverse relaxation rate (R2) measurements. 1H-relaxation rates can be determined by the classical CPMG method from high-resolution spectra obtained either under conditions of liquid-state NMR for monomers and small spherical micelles or by using MAS-NMR for larger aggregates. For a mixture of alkyl dioxyethylene sulfate and alkylbetaine (80:20, w/w), up to a percentage of surfactant in water of 20%, we found that R2 increased, in accordance with an increased micellar size and very likely the formation of an HI phase. However, above 25%, R2 decreased. This result suggests a change from a hexagonal to a lamellar phase that would be difficult to observe by proton NMR without magic-angle spinning because the lines would be very broad, or by light scattering because of sample opacity. This NMR approach seems to have been overlooked by the community of surfactant physical chemists. It can be complementary to other analytical techniques and presents the advantage of not requiring isotopic labeling.     

Normalité asymptotique des estimateurs semiparamétriques dans le modèle de Cox avec covariable manquante nonignorable

Let T denote a random duration until some event of interest. In the Cox model $\text{λ}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{(t)}\text{e}{}^{\mathrm{\beta Z(t)}}$, if the value of Z at event time is unobserved, Dupuy and Mesbah (Lifetime Data Analysis 8 (2002) 99–115) have proposed to estimate the parameters β and $\text{Λ}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{(t)=∫}{}_0{}^{\mathrm{t}}\text{λ}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{(s)}\text{d}\text{s}$ by maximizing a likelihood obtained from a joint model for survival and the longitudinal covariate data. We show that the estimators derived from this joint likelihood are asymptotically normally distributed. To cite this article: J.-F. Dupuy et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 336 (2003).     

Regular subsets of valued fields and Bhargava’s v-orderings

We generalize notions and results obtained by Amice for regular compact subsets S of a local field K and extended by Bhargava to general compact subsets of K. Considering any ultrametric valued field K and subsets S that are regular in a generalized sense (but not necessarily compact), we show that they still have strong properties such as having v-orderings ${\{a_n\}_{n\geq0}}$ which satisfy a generalized Legendre formula, which are very well ordered and well distributed sequences in the sense of Helsmoortel and which remain v-orderings when a finite number of the initial terms of the sequence are deleted.     

Une nouvelle approche pour la gestion de la qualité de service dans les réseaux UMTS

The fast expansion of the applications and services in the 3G mobile networks and the competition between the operators have increased the need to improve the QoS either for the subscribers or for the service providers. The umts operators’ principal goal is to guarantee their maximal benefit and offer the best QoS to the subscribers. Our work is funded on the optimisation of the network parameters, especially bit-rate. Our proposal’s goal is to offer the best rate distribution between the subscribers (bit-rate balancing) and to guarantee the load balancing between the network cells. It is based on network and radio engineering concepts. We used the genetic algorithm for the optimisation of the bit-rate allocation and we proposed a new process for the bit-rate and load balancing. The differentiation of the services treatment has been done by the definition of a priority based on each service requirements in QoS. To show the contribution of this approach in the practice, we simulated it on a Tunisian operator’s test platform model. The gotten results showed an increase of the connected users, some very weak blocking and call-drop rates and a better load balancing between the cells.     

Systematic synthesis of inhibitors of the two first enzymes of the bacterial heptose biosynthetic pathway: towards antivirulence molecules targeting lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis

L-Heptoses (L-glycero-D-manno-heptopyranoses) are constituents of the inner core of lipolysaccharide (LPS), a molecule playing key roles in the mortality of many infectious diseases as well as in the virulence of many human pathogens. The inhibition of the first enzymes of the bacterial heptose biosynthetic pathway is an almost unexplored field to date although it appears to be a very novel way for the development of antivirulence drugs. We report the synthesis of a series of D-glycero-D-manno-heptopyranose 7-phosphate (H7P) analogues and their inhibition properties against the isomerase GmhA and the the kinase HldE, the two first enzymes of the bacterial heptose biosynthetic pathway. The heptose structures have been modified at the 1-, 2-, 6- and 7-positions to probe the importance of the key structural features of H7P that allow a tight binding to the target enzymes; H7P being the product of GmhA and the substrate of HldE, the second objective was to find structures that could simultaneously inhibit both enzymes. We found that GmhA and HldE were extremely sensitive to structural modifications at the 6- and 7- positions of the heptose scaffold. To our surprise, the epimeric analogue of H7P displaying a D-glucopyranose configuration was found to be the best inhibitor of both enzymes but also the only molecule of this series that could inhibit GmhA (IC(50)=34 μM) and HldE (IC(50)=9.4 μM) in the low micromolar range. Noteworthy, this study describes the first inhibitors of GmhA ever reported, and paves the way to the design of a second generation of molecules targeting the bacterial virulence.     

Synthesis of functionalized cinnamaldehyde derivatives by an oxidative Heck reaction and their use as starting materials for preparation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase inhibitors

Cinnamaldehyde derivatives were synthesized in good to excellent yields in one step by a mild and selective, base-free palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidative Heck reaction starting from acrolein and various arylboronic acids. Prepared α,β-unsaturated aldehydes were used for synthesis of novel α-aryl substituted fosmidomycin analogues, which were evaluated for their inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase. IC(50) values between 0.8 and 27.3 μM were measured. The best compound showed activity comparable to that of the most potent previously reported α-aryl substituted fosmidomycin-class inhibitor.     

Adiabatic self-focusing in media with spatially variable nonlinearity

An optical medium whose nonlinearity can be spatially adjusted is considered to study beam reshaping. The concept is applied to perform adiabatic self-focusing of broad beams. Experimental results are obtained in a photorefractive lithium niobate crystal where the self-focusing nonlinearity is controlled over propagation by a temperature gradient. As a demonstration, gradual self-focusing is shown to transform an incoming beam into an output circular spot 10 times smaller over a 2 cm long crystal submitted to a 30 °C temperature gradient. Once formed, the adiabatic self-focused beam has inscribed a funnel waveguide in the crystal.