Paul Sabatier University

About: Paul Sabatier University is a education organization based out in Toulouse, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Adipose tissue. The organization has 15431 authors who have published 23386 publications receiving 858364 citations.

β-NaMnO2: A High-Performance Cathode for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Abstract: There is much interest in Na-ion batteries for grid storage because of the lower projected cost compared with Li-ion. Identifying Earth-abundant, low-cost, and safe materials that can function as intercalation cathodes in Na-ion batteries is an important challenge facing the field. Here we investigate such a material, β-NaMnO2, with a different structure from that of NaMnO2 polymorphs and other compounds studied extensively in the past. It exhibits a high capacity (of ca. 190 mA h g–1 at a rate of C/20), along with a good rate capability (142 mA h g–1 at a rate of 2C) and a good capacity retention (100 mA h g–1after 100 Na extraction/insertion cycles at a rate of 2C). Powder XRD, HRTEM, and 23Na NMR studies revealed that this compound exhibits a complex structure consisting of intergrown regions of α-NaMnO2 and β-NaMnO2 domains. The collapse of the long-range structure at low Na content is expected to compromise the reversibility of the Na extraction and insertion processes occurring upon charge and disch...

Small Peptides Switch the Transcriptional Activity of Shavenbaby During Drosophila Embryogenesis

Abstract: A substantial proportion of eukaryotic transcripts are considered to be noncoding RNAs because they contain only short open reading frames (sORFs). Recent findings suggest, however, that some sORFs encode small bioactive peptides. Here, we show that peptides of 11 to 32 amino acids encoded by the polished rice (pri) sORF gene control epidermal differentiation in Drosophila by modifying the transcription factor Shavenbaby (Svb). Pri peptides trigger the amino-terminal truncation of the Svb protein, which converts Svb from a repressor to an activator. Our results demonstrate that during Drosophila embryogenesis, Pri sORF peptides provide a strict temporal control to the transcriptional program of epidermal morphogenesis.

Possibility theory as a basis for qualitative decision theory

Abstract: A counterpart to von Neumann and Morgenstern' expected utility theory is proposed in the framework of possibility theory. The existence of a utility function, representing a preference ordering among possibility distributions (on the consequences of decision-maker's actions) that satisfies a series of axioms pertaining to decision-maker's behavior, is established. The obtained utility is a generalization of Wald's criterion, which is recovered in case of total ignorance; when ignorance is only partial, the utility takes into account the fact that some situations are more plausible than others. Mathematically, the qualitative utility is nothing but the necessity measure of a fuzzy event in the sense of possibility theory (a so-called Sugeno integral). The possibilistic representation of uncertainty, which only requires a linearly ordered scale, is qualitative in nature. Only max, min and order-reversing operations are used on the scale. The axioms express a risk-averse behavior of the decision maker and correspond to a pessimistic view of what may happen. The proposed qualitative utility function is currently used in flexible constraint satisfaction problems under incomplete information. It can also be used in association with possibilistic logic, which is tailored to reasoning under incomplete states of knowledge.