Eddy current testing of ferromagnetic materials: modelling of multiple flows in a planar stratified medium

International audienceFollowing a previous work carried out at the laboratory in the case of one flaw located in a cylindrical ferromagnetic piece, the development presented herein address the case of multiple interacting flaws located inside a planar, stratified and ferromagnetic medium. Simulation results are obtained through the application of the Volume Integral Method (VIM)

Prognostic implications of carboxyl-terminus of Hsc70 interacting protein and lysyl-oxidase expression in human breast cancer

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund - Copyright @ 2010 Patani.Background: Ubiquitin modification of proteins influences cellular processes relevant to carcinogenesis. CHIP (carboxyl-terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein) is a chaperone-dependent E3 ubiquitin ligase, regulating the stability of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) interacting proteins. CHIP is implicated in the modulation of estrogen receptor (ESR1) and Her-2/neu (ERBB2) stability. LOX (lysyl-oxidase) serves intracellular roles and catalyses the cross-linking of extracellular matrix (ECM) collagens and elastin. LOX expression is altered in human malignancies and their peri-tumoral stroma. However, paradoxical roles are reported. In this study, the level of mRNA expression of CHIP and LOX were assessed in normal and malignant breast tissue and correlated with clinico-pathological parameters. Materials and Methods: Breast cancer (BC) tissues (n = 127) and normal tissues (n = 33) underwent RNA extraction and reverse transcription; transcript levels were determined using real-time quantitative PCR and normalized against CK-19. Transcript levels were analyzed against TNM stage, nodal involvement, tumor grade and clinical outcome over a ten-year follow-up period. Results: CHIP expression decreased with increasing Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI): NPI-1 vs. NPI-3 (12.2 vs. 0.2, P = 0.0264), NPI-2 vs. NPI-3 (3 vs. 0.2, P = 0.0275). CHIP expression decreased with increasing TNM stage: TNM-1 vs. TNM-2 (12 vs. 0, P = 0.0639), TNM-1 vs. TNM-2-4 (12 vs. 0, P = 0.0434). Lower transcript levels were associated with increasing tumor grade: grade 1 vs. grade 3 (17.7 vs. 0.3, P = 0.0266), grade 2 vs. grade 3 (5 vs. 0.3, P = 0.0454). The overall survival (OS) for tumors classified as ‘low-level expression’, was poorer than those with ‘high-level expression’ (118.1 vs. 152.3 months, P = 0.039). LOX expression decreased with increasing NPI: NPI-1 vs. NPI-2 (3 vs. 0, P = 0.0301) and TNM stage: TNM-1 = 3854639, TNM-2 = 908900, TNM-3 = 329, TNM-4 = 1.232 (P = NS). Conclusion: CHIP expression is associated with favorable prognostic parameters, including tumor grade, TNM stage and NPI. CHIP expression predicts OS. LOX expression is associated with improved NPI. In addition to their prognostic utility, mechanistic insights into tumor suppressor function may offer potential therapeutic strategies

CONCUR Test-Of-Time Award 2020 Announcement

This short article announces the recipients of the CONCUR Test-of-Time Award 2020

Accurate Simulation of EMAT Probes for Ultrasonic NDT Based on Experimental Measurements

During the last years, CEALIST has been developing EMATprobes dedicated to liquid sodium ultrasound applications, including telemetry, defect detection in sodium immersed welds, defect sizing, andmore recently using phased array probes, beam forming images and synthetic focusing. At the same time, simulation tools based on the numerical methods available at CEA LIST have been integrated within the CIVA software platform. This paper focuses on the experimental calibration of the simulation models for liquid sodium EMAT transducers. In particular, it tries to answer the questions regarding choices of input data for the developed models with the goal of carrying out realistic simulations. The full system measurement model, including coil impedances, gains and analog filters need to be taken into account to obtain predictive simulations. Physical measurements allow the precise determination of the needed parameters and allow verifying the different aspects of the EMAT probe behavior. The developed model is then used to propose a design that is optimized with respect to the generation of longitudinal waves in liquid sodium

A global modeling approach of the leakage phenomena in dielectrics

Thanks to its low noise level, the LSBB environment provides particular environment to carry out high quality electrical characterizations. In this paper, we propose a complete modeling approach of the experimental results from our experimental microelectronic setup. The tested device is a Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) floating gate capacitor which can be found in electrostatic non volatile memories such as Flash. The main idea is to characterize and model the leakage current through the tunnel oxide. We proposed, in a previous work, a model for charge loss considering a fractional Poisson process, involving only two parameters, expressed as a Mittag-Leffler (ML) function. Here, we also propose a combo of Fowler-Nordheim (FN) and Poole-Frenkel (PF) models for leakage currents, based on tunnel effect transport through the oxide. It gives the leakage current on a medium-to-long scale of time while the ML model can possibly take into account a shorter time step. The perspective is to find a relationship between these different models, used in various fields, to propose a generic model of phenomena involving leakage in complex and porous materials at different scales of time and space

High-performance, mini modules (∼1 cm2) of halide perovskite indoor photovoltaics with carbon counter electrode and sensor powering

Halide perovskite indoor photovoltaics present a promising pathway for sustainably powering the rapidly growing network of wireless sensors in the Internet of Things. However, the widespread adoption of these devices is hindered by the use of costly and unstable metal back electrodes such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag). In this study, we demonstrate a scalable, single-step blade-coating method for depositing carbon back electrodes and investigate their performance in conjunction with various hole-selective layers (HSLs). Among the various HSLs tested, Spiro-OMeTAD and CuSCN, when paired with the carbon electrode, showed the best performance, achieving power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to 17.2% under 1000 lux indoor illumination for 1 cm2 devices. In comparison, their Au-based counterparts reached a higher PCE of 29.3%. Shelf-life stability studies on unencapsulated devices revealed that the extent of J–V hysteresis and PCE degradation strongly depends on the choice of HSL/electrode combination. However, for all devices, regardless of the selected HSL, a gradual increase in hysteresis was observed over time. Finally, mini-modules of carbon-based halide perovskite indoor PV devices were successfully used to power a temperature sensor for indoor temperature monitoring

Design, Construction and In Situ Testing of a Muon Camera for Earth Science and Civil Engineering Applications

The MUST2 (MUon Survey Tomography based on Micromegas detectors for Unreachable Sites Technology) camera is based on a thin Time Projection Chamber read by a resistive Micromegas. This innovative combination presents interesting distinctive features compared to existing muon detection technologies. It allows a wide angular acceptance of the detector with a low weight and compact volume, well adapted for confined spaces or underground operation. The current work presents the results obtained during the calibration measurements at the reference site, the Low Background Noise Laboratory (LBNL). Preliminary results from field measurement campaign carried out at the dam overlooking the village of Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt (South-East of France) are presented and discussed

CONCUR Test-of-time award 2020 announcement

This short article announces the recipients of the CONCUR Test-of-Time Award 2020

Correlated 0.01Hz-40Hz seismic and Newtonian noise and its impact on future gravitational-wave detectors

We report correlations in underground seismic measurements with horizontal separations of several hundreds of meters to a few kilometers in the frequency range 0.01Hz to 40Hz. These seismic correlations could threaten science goals of planned interferometric gravitational-wave detectors such as the Einstein Telescope as well as atom interferometers such as MIGA and ELGAR. We use seismic measurements from four different sites, i.e. the former Homestake mine (USA) as well as two candidate sites for the Einstein Telescope, Sos Enattos (IT) and Euregio Maas-Rhein (NL-BE-DE) and the site housing the MIGA detector, LSBB (FR). At all sites, we observe significant coherence for at least 50% of the time in the majority of the frequency region of interest. Based on the observed correlations in the seismic fields, we predict levels of correlated Newtonian noise from body waves. We project the effect of correlated Newtonian noise from body waves on the capabilities of the triangular design of the Einstein Telescope's to observe an isotropic gravitational-wave background (GWB) and find that, even in case of the most quiet site, its sensitivity will be affected up to $\sim$20Hz. The resolvable amplitude of a GWB signal with a negatively sloped power-law behaviour would be reduced by several orders of magnitude. However, the resolvability of a power-law signal with a slope of e.g. $\alpha=0$ ($\alpha=2/3$) would be more moderately affected by a factor $\sim$ 6-9 ($\sim$3-4) in case of a low noise environment. Furthermore, we bolster confidence in our results by showing that transient noise features have a limited impact on the presented results