Showing papers by "Mines ParisTech published in 2016"

Sustainable design of a closed-loop location-routing-inventory supply chain network under mixed uncertainty

Abstract: Considering economic, environmental and social impacts, this paper presents a new sustainable closed-loop location-routing-inventory model under mixed uncertainty. The environmental impacts of CO2 emissions, fuel consumption, wasted energy and the social impacts of created job opportunities and economic development are considered in this paper. The uncertain nature of the network is handled using a stochastic-possibilistic programming approach. Furthermore, for large-sized problems, a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm and lower bounds are developed and discussed. Finally, a real case study is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the model in real-world applications, and several in-depth analyses are conducted to develop managerial implications.

The DNA methyltransferase DNMT3C protects male germ cells from transposon activity.

Abstract: DNA methylation is prevalent in mammalian genomes and plays a central role in the epigenetic control of development. The mammalian DNA methylation machinery is thought to be composed of three DNA methyltransferase enzymes (DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B) and one cofactor (DNMT3L). Here, we describe the discovery of Dnmt3C, a de novo DNA methyltransferase gene that evolved via a duplication of Dnmt3B in rodent genomes and was previously annotated as a pseudogene. We show that DNMT3C is the enzyme responsible for methylating the promoters of evolutionarily young retrotransposons in the male germ line and that this specialized activity is required for mouse fertility. DNMT3C reveals the plasticity of the mammalian DNA methylation system and expands the scope of the mechanisms involved in the epigenetic control of retrotransposons.

Design, synthesis, and testing toward a 57-codon genome

Abstract: Recoding--the repurposing of genetic codons--is a powerful strategy for enhancing genomes with functions not commonly found in nature. Here, we report computational design, synthesis, and progress toward assembly of a 3.97-megabase, 57-codon Escherichia coli genome in which all 62,214 instances of seven codons were replaced with synonymous alternatives across all protein-coding genes. We have validated 63% of recoded genes by individually testing 55 segments of 50 kilobases each. We observed that 91% of tested essential genes retained functionality with limited fitness effect. We demonstrate identification and correction of lethal design exceptions, only 13 of which were found in 2229 genes. This work underscores the feasibility of rewriting genomes and establishes a framework for large-scale design, assembly, troubleshooting, and phenotypic analysis of synthetic organisms.

Molecular Design of Semiconducting Polymers for High-Performance Organic Electrochemical Transistors

Abstract: The organic electrochemical transistor (OECT), capable of transducing small ionic fluxes into electronic signals in an aqueous environment, is an ideal device to utilize in bioelectronic applications. Currently, most OECTs are fabricated with commercially available conducting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-based suspensions and are therefore operated in depletion mode. Here, we present a series of semiconducting polymers designed to elucidate important structure–property guidelines required for accumulation mode OECT operation. We discuss key aspects relating to OECT performance such as ion and hole transport, electrochromic properties, operational voltage, and stability. The demonstration of our molecular design strategy is the fabrication of accumulation mode OECTs that clearly outperform state-of-the-art PEDOT-based devices, and show stability under aqueous operation without the need for formulation additives and cross-linkers.

ARIA 2016: Care pathways implementing emerging technologies for predictive medicine in rhinitis and asthma across the life cycle

Abstract: The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) initiative commenced during a World Health Organization workshop in 1999. The initial goals were (1) to propose a new allergic rhinitis classification, (2) to promote the concept of multi-morbidity in asthma and rhinitis and (3) to develop guidelines with all stakeholders that could be used globally for all countries and populations. ARIA-disseminated and implemented in over 70 countries globally-is now focusing on the implementation of emerging technologies for individualized and predictive medicine. MASK [MACVIA (Contre les Maladies Chroniques pour un Vieillissement Actif)-ARIA Sentinel NetworK] uses mobile technology to develop care pathways for the management of rhinitis and asthma by a multi-disciplinary group and by patients themselves. An app (Android and iOS) is available in 20 countries and 15 languages. It uses a visual analogue scale to assess symptom control and work productivity as well as a clinical decision support system. It is associated with an inter-operable tablet for physicians and other health care professionals. The scaling up strategy uses the recommendations of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. The aim of the novel ARIA approach is to provide an active and healthy life to rhinitis sufferers, whatever their age, sex or socio-economic status, in order to reduce health and social inequalities incurred by the disease.

MACVIA clinical decision algorithm in adolescents and adults with allergic rhinitis

Abstract: The selection of pharmacotherapy for patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) depends on several factors, including age, prominent symptoms, symptom severity, control of AR, patient preferences, and cost. Allergen exposure and the resulting symptoms vary, and treatment adjustment is required. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) might be beneficial for the assessment of disease control. CDSSs should be based on the best evidence and algorithms to aid patients and health care professionals to jointly determine treatment and its step-up or step-down strategy depending on AR control. Contre les MAladies Chroniques pour un VIeillissement Actif en Languedoc-Roussillon (MACVIA-LR [fighting chronic diseases for active and healthy ageing]), one of the reference sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, has initiated an allergy sentinel network (the MACVIA-ARIA Sentinel Network). A CDSS is currently being developed to optimize AR control. An algorithm developed by consensus is presented in this article. This algorithm should be confirmed by appropriate trials.

Revisiting marketization: from interface-markets to market-agencements

Abstract: This article proposes to get rid of the vain opposition between markets as de-socializing forces and markets as civilizing processes by exploring the close relationship between innovation and competition. This suggests abandoning the traditional view of markets as interfaces for the novel conception of market as agencements. Indeed, a thorough examination of the notion of market competition leads to distinguish two ways of describing markets, depending on the role played by product innovations. In interface-markets, innovation strategies aim to reduce competitive pressure, while in market-agencements they are the expression of competition itself. In the former, the definition of market goods is secondary, whereas in the latter it is at the heart of the confrontation between economic agents. The competitive dynamics of market-agencements, which makes the establishment of new bilateral transactions and of product innovation the dominant rule, results in the constant expansion of the market sphere. The marke...

Second strain gradient elasticity of nano-objects

Abstract: Mindlin's second strain gradient continuum theory for isotropic linear elastic materials is used to model two different kinds of size-dependent surface effects observed in the mechanical behaviour of nano-objects. First, the existence of an initial higher order stress represented by Mindlin's cohesion parameter, b0, makes it possible to account for the relaxation behaviour of traction-free surfaces. Second, the higher order elastic moduli, ci, coupling the strain tensor and its second gradient are shown to significantly affect the apparent elastic properties of nano-beams and nano-films under uni-axial loading. These two effects are independent from each other and allow for separated identification of the corresponding material parameters. Analytical results are provided for the size-dependent apparent shear modulus of a nano-thin strip under shear. Finite element simulations are then performed to derive the dependence of the apparent Young modulus and Poisson ratio of nano-films with respect to their thickness, and to illustrate hole free surface relaxation in a periodic nano-porous material.

Nonlinear regularization operators as derived from the micromorphic approach to gradient elasticity, viscoplasticity and damage.

Abstract: The construction of regularization operators presented in this work is based on the introduction of strain or damage micromorphic degrees of freedom in addition to the displacement vector and of their gradients into the Helmholtz free energy function of the constitutive material model. The combination of a new balance equation for generalized stresses and of the micromorphic constitutive equations generates the regularization operator. Within the small strain framework, the choice of a quadratic potential w.r.t. the gradient term provides the widely used Helmholtz operator whose regularization properties are well known: smoothing of discontinuities at interfaces and boundary layers in hardening materials, and finite width localization bands in softening materials. The objective is to review and propose nonlinear extensions of micromorphic and strain/damage gradient models along two lines: the first one introducing nonlinear relations between generalized stresses and strains; the second one envisaging several classes of finite deformation model formulations. The generic approach is applicable to a large class of elastoviscoplastic and damage models including anisothermal and multiphysics coupling. Two standard procedures of extension of classical constitutive laws to large strains are combined with the micromorphic approach: additive split of some Lagrangian strain measure or choice of a local objective rotating frame. Three distinct operators are finally derived using the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient. A new feature is that a free energy function depending solely on variables defined in the intermediate isoclinic configuration leads to the existence of additional kinematic hardening induced by the gradient of a scalar micromorphic variable.

Vehicle routing problems with multiple trips

Abstract: This paper presents a survey on the Multi-Trip Vehicle Routing Problem (MTVRP) and on related routing problems where vehicles are allowed to perform multiple trips. The first part of the paper focuses on the MTVRP. It gives an unified view on mathematical formulations and surveys exact and heuristic approaches. The paper continues with variants of the MTVRP and other families of routing problems where multiple trips are sometimes allowed. For the latter, it specially insists on the motivations for having multiple trips and the algorithmic consequences. The expected contribution of the survey is to give a comprehensive overview on a structural property of routing problems that has seen a strongly growing interest in the last few years and that has been investigated in very difierent areas of the routing literature.

Maternal LSD1/KDM1A is an essential regulator of chromatin and transcription landscapes during zygotic genome activation

Abstract: During fertilization, an egg cell and a sperm cell combine to make a cell called a zygote that then divides many times to form an embryo. Many of the characteristics of the embryo are determined by the genes it inherits from its parents. However, not all of these genes should be “expressed” to produce their products all of the time. One way of controlling gene expression is to add a chemical group called a methyl tag to the DNA near the gene, or to one of the histone proteins that DNA wraps around. Soon after fertilization, a process called reprogramming occurs that begins with the rearrangement of most of the methyl tags a zygote inherited from the egg and sperm cells. This dynamic process is thought to help to activate a new pattern of gene expression. Reprogramming is assisted by “maternal factors” that are inherited from the egg cell. KDM1A is a histone demethylase enzyme that can remove specific methyl tags from certain histone proteins, but how this affects the zygote is not well understood. Now, Ancelin et al. (and independently Wasson et al.) have investigated the role that KDM1A plays in mouse development. Ancelin et al. genetically engineered mouse eggs to lack KDM1A and used them to create zygotes, which die before or shortly after they have divided for the first time. The zygotes display severe reprogramming faults (because methyl tags accumulate at particular histones) and improper gene expression patterns, preventing a correct maternal-to-zygotic transition. Further experiments then showed that KDM1A also regulates the expression level of specific mobile elements, which indicates its importance in maintaining the integrity of the genome. These findings provide important insights on the crucial role of KDM1A in establishing the proper expression patterns in zygotes that are required for early mouse development. These findings might help us to understand how KDM1A enzymes, and histone demethylases more generally, perform similar roles in human development and diseases such as cancer.

Recovering Heavy Metal Ions from Complex Solutions Using Polyethylenimine Derivatives Encapsulated in Alginate Matrix

Abstract: A new sorbent was manufactured by immobilization of polyethylenimine (PEI) derivatives (glutaraldehyde-cross-linked PEI, and carbon disulfide-grafted PEI) into an alginate matrix. These composite materials take advantage of the sorption properties of both PEI and alginate, and the encapsulating properties of the biopolymer. The sorption properties of these composite materials were tested for the recovery of Cd(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) ions from aqueous solutions. Kinetic, equilibrium, and desorption behaviors were successively investigated. Special attention was paid to competitive sorption and to the effect of inorganic ions on sorption efficiency. Sorbent morphology was observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis system (EDX). SEM-EDX results show a homogeneous distribution of heavy metals in beads after metal sorption. Alginate was found to have a better sorption capacity for all heavy metals studied in simple systems. Conversely, calcium an...

Influence of moisture uptake on the static, cyclic and dynamic behaviour of unidirectional flax fibre-reinforced epoxy laminates

Abstract: This papers aims to characterize the influence of moisture uptake on the mechanical behaviour of unidirectional flax fibre-reinforced epoxy laminates. Monotonic and cyclic tensile tests and free vibration characterization are carried out. Results show that UD flax-epoxy composites, when exposed to hygrothermal conditioning at 70 °C and 85% RH, exhibit a diffusion kinetic which follows a one dimensional Fickian behaviour. The mass uptake at equilibrium is approximately 3.3% and the diffusion coefficient 6.5 × 10 −6 m 2 s −1 . Water vapour sorption is shown to induce a significant change in the shape of the tensile stress-strain curve, a decrease in the dynamic elastic modulus of about 20% and a 50% increase in the damping ratio. Contrary to all expectations, water saturation does not degrade the monotonic tensile strength of such a flax-epoxy composites and leads to an increase in the fatigue strength for a high number of cycles.

Biofunctionalization of polydioxythiophene derivatives for biomedical applications

Abstract: The polydioxythiophenes PEDOT and more recently ProDOT have emerged as champion materials in the field of organic bioelectronics, both in the domain of biosensing and also for integration with living cells (both in vitro and in vivo). Although polydioxythiophenes in their pristine forms have shown great promise for bioelectronics, in order to broaden the spectrum of applications, a biofunctionalization step is essential. In this review we summarise the methods that have been used thus far to biofunctionalize polydioxythiophenes in an effort to improve the biotic/abiotic interface. We provide an introduction to this class of materials, focusing particularly on the different methods of synthesis (chemical oxidative polymerization, vapor phase polymerization or direct electrochemical polymerization) and discuss the implications of synthesis on biofunctionalization. Rather than provide an exhaustive review, we chose to highlight key examples of biofunctionalization techniques for polydioxythiophenes for specific biomedical applications. Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion of the importance of biofunctionalization methods in future bioelectronics applications, and some ideas for future directions in this field.

Inkjet printing of high molecular weight PVDF-TrFE for flexible electronics

Abstract: Introduction of the revolutionary drop-on-demand (DoD) inkjet printing technique formicroelectronics allows the use offlexible substrate, organic and inorganicmaterials, and low-cost volume fabrication.However, inks of different functionalmaterials for varieties of applications are still under development. Polyvinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE), a potential candidate for mechanical and acoustic sensors, actuators, energy harvesting and nonvolatilememory applications, is a copolymer that exhibits piezo-, pyroand ferro-electric properties. During this work, inkjetprintedfilms using highmolecular weight PVDF-TrFEwere developed and characterized to investigate theirmorphology and crystallinity.Modifiedwaveform and very low jetting frequency have been used to accommodate relaxation time of the polymeric ink during jetting. Crystallographic studies confirm the presence of aβ-phase, which exhibits spontaneous polarization per unit cell.

Reliable 300 mm Wafer Level Hybrid Bonding for 3D Stacked CMOS Image Sensors

Abstract: 3D Stacked Image sensor is the stacking of a Back-Side Illuminated (BSI) CMOS Image Sensor on a logic die. It enables compact size, higher performances and additional functionalities compared to standard BSI sensors. The highest footprint reduction is obtained with 3D hybrid bonding with metal interconnects between top and bottom tiers. Hybrid bonding process with oxide / copper direct bonding allows the highest scalability of interconnect pitch. In this study we present the morphological and electrical characterizations of a test vehicle. The hybrid bonding of wafers from two different technology nodes is performed using a dual damascene integration for the hybrid bonding level. The main parameters to assess the bonding interface quality are analyzed such as the influence of the pad design, the impact of reworkability and wafer -- to-wafer overlays. The process robustness is studied through reliability tests and electromigration measurements.

Alginate and Algal-Based Beads for the Sorption of Metal Cations: Cu(II) and Pb(II)

Abstract: Alginate and algal-biomass (Laminaria digitata) beads were prepared by homogeneous Ca ionotropic gelation. In addition, glutaraldehyde-crosslinked poly (ethyleneimine) (PEI) was incorporated into algal beads. The three sorbents were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX): the sorption occurs in the whole mass of the sorbents. Sorption experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of pH, sorption isotherms, and uptake kinetics. A special attention was paid to the effect of drying (air-drying vs. freeze-drying) on the mass transfer properties. For alginate, freeze drying is required for maintaining the porosity of the hydrogel, while for algal-based sorbents the swelling of the material minimizes the impact of the drying procedure. The maximum sorption capacities observed from experiments were 415, 296 and 218 mg Pb g(-1) and 112, 77 and 67 mg Cu g(-1) for alginate, algal and algal/PEI beads respectively. Though the sorption capacities of algal-beads decreased slightly (compared to alginate beads), the greener and cheaper one-pot synthesis of algal beads makes this sorbent more competitive for environmental applications. PEI in algal beads decreases the sorption properties in the case of the sorption of metal cations under selected experimental conditions.