Elastic, strong and tough ionically conductive elastomers.

Stretchable elastic materials with high strength, toughness, and good ionic conductivity are highly desirable for wearable devices and stretchable batteries. Unfortunately, limited success has been reported to attain all of these properties simultaneously. Here, we report a family of ionically conductive elastomers (ICEs) without compromise between mechanical properties (high stiffness, reversible elasticity, fracture resistance) and ionic conductivity, by introducing a multiple network elastomer (MNE) architecture into a low polymer.

Granular aqueous suspensions with controlled interparticular friction and adhesion.

We present a simple route to obtain large quantities of suspensions of non-Brownian particles with -responsive surface properties to study the relation between their flow and interparticle interactions. We perform an alkaline hydrolysis reaction on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles to obtain poly(sodium methacrylate) (PMAA-Na) particles. We characterize the quasi-static macroscopic frictional response of their aqueous suspensions using a rotating drum.

Tuning the water intrinsic permeability of PEGDA hydrogel membranes by adding free PEG chains of varying molar masses.

We explore the effect of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molar mass on the intrinsic permeability and structural characteristics of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate PEGDA/PEG composite hydrogel membranes. We observe that by varying the PEG content and molar mass, we can finely adjust the water intrinsic permeability by several orders of magnitude. Notably, we show the existence of maximum water intrinsic permeability, already identified in a previous study to be located at the critical overlap concentration * of PEG chains, for the highest PEG molar mass studied.

Sieving and Clogging in PEG-PEGDA Hydrogel Membranes.

Hydrogels are promising systems for separation applications due to their structural characteristics (i.e., hydrophilicity and porosity).

Bridging steady-state and stick-slip fracture propagation in glassy polymers.

Both an experimental and a theoretical investigation of fracture propagation mechanisms acting at the process zone scale in glassy polymers are presented. The main aim is to establish a common modeling for different kinds of glassy polymers presenting either steady-state fracture propagation or stick-slip fracture propagation or both, depending on loading conditions and sample shapes. From the experimental point of view, new insights are provided by the AFM measurements of viscoplastic strain fields acting within the micrometric process zone in a brittle epoxy resin, which highlight an extremely slow unexpected steady-state regime with finite plastic strains of about 30% around a blunt crack tip, accompanied by propagating shear lips.

Investigating the relationship between the mechanical properties of plasma polymer-like thin films and their glass transition temperature.

This work aims at understanding the influence of the substrate temperature () on the viscoelastic properties of propanethiol plasma polymer films (PPFs). By means of state-of-the-art AFM characterization-based techniques including peak force quantitative nanomechanical mapping (PFQNM), nano dynamic mechanical analysis (nDMA) and "scratch" experiments, it has been demonstrated that the mechanical behaviour of PPFs is dramatically affected by the thermal conditions of the substrate. Indeed, the material behaves from a high viscous liquid ( viscosity ∼ 10 Pa s) to a viscoelastic solid (loss modulus ∼ 1.

Hydrogel Matrix-Grafted Impedimetric Aptasensors for the Detection of Diclofenac.

Driven by the growing concern about the release of untreated emerging pollutants and the need for determining small amounts of these pollutants present in the environment, novel biosensors dedicated to molecular recognition are developed. We have designed biosensors using a novel class of grafted polymers, surface-attached hydrogel thin films, on conductive transducers as a biocompatible matrix for biomolecule immobilization. We showed that they can be dedicated to the molecular recognition of diclofenac (DCL).

Combining Ellipsometry and AFM To Probe Subnanometric Precursor Film Dynamics of Polystyrene Melts.

We investigate the evolution over time of the space profiles of precursor films spreading away from a droplet of polymer in the poorly explored pseudo-partial wetting case. We use polystyrene melt droplets on oxidized silicon wafers. Interestingly, the film thicknesses measured by ellispometric microscopy are found in the 0.

[Testicular tumors: A diagnostic challenge of imaging].

Objectives: Reviewing the characterization and the follow-up imaging of testicular tumors.

Material And Methods: Literature review (PubMed, Medline) of urological and radiological studies dealing with testicular tumors using keywords: Testicular tumors; Color Doppler ultrasound; US elastography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Contrast enhanced sonography.

Results: Ultrasound remains the basic exam for the tumor characterization.

Five simultaneous artificial intelligence data challenges on ultrasound, CT, and MRI.

Purpose: The goal of this data challenge was to create a structured dynamic with the following objectives: (1) teach radiologists the new rules of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while building a large multicentric prospective database of ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and MRI patient images; (2) build a network including radiologists, researchers, start-ups, large companies, and students from engineering schools, and; (3) provide all French stakeholders working together during 5 data challenges with a secured framework, offering a realistic picture of the benefits and concerns in October 2018.

Materials And Methods: Relevant clinical questions were chosen by the Société Francaise de Radiologie. The challenge was designed to respect all French ethical and data protection constraints.

Anisotropic Superattenuation of Capillary Waves on Driven Glass Interfaces.

Metrological atomic force microscopy measurements are performed on the silica glass interfaces of photonic band-gap fibers and hollow capillaries. The freezing of attenuated out-of-equilibrium capillary waves during the drawing process is shown to result in a reduced surface roughness. The roughness attenuation with respect to the expected thermodynamical limit is determined to vary with the drawing stress following a power law.

Nondestructive measurement of the roughness of the inner surface of hollow core-photonic bandgap fibers.

We present optical and atomic force microscopy measurements of the roughness of the core wall surface within a hollow core photonic bandgap fiber (HC-PBGF) over the [3×10  μm-30  μm] spatial frequency range. A recently developed immersion optical profilometry technique with picometer-scale sensitivity was used to measure the roughness of air-glass surfaces inside the fiber at unprecedentedly low spatial frequencies, which are known to have the highest impact on HC-PBGF scattering loss and, thus, determine their loss limit. Optical access to the inner surface of the core was obtained by the selective filling of the cladding holes with index matching liquid using techniques borrowed from micro-fluidics.

Multiscale Surface-Attached Hydrogel Thin Films with Tailored Architecture.

A facile route for the fabrication of surface-attached hydrogel thin films with well-controlled chemistry and tailored architecture on wide range of thickness from nanometers to micrometers is reported. The synthesis, which consists in cross-linking and grafting the preformed and ene-reactive polymer chains through thiol-ene click chemistry, has the main advantage of being well-controlled without the addition of initiators. As thiol-ene click reaction can be selectively activated by UV-irradiation (in addition to thermal heating), micropatterned hydrogel films are easily synthesized.

MR imaging of Schmorl's nodes: Imaging characteristics and epidemio-clinical relationships.

Purpose: The purpose of our prospective study was to assess the presentation of Schmorl's nodes (SN) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and investigate their possible association with demographic and clinical findings.

Materials And Methods: Three hundred and thirty-three patients were prospectively included. Thirteen (3.

Submicrometric Films of Surface-Attached Polymer Network with Temperature-Responsive Properties.

Temperature-responsive properties of surface-attached poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) network films with well-controlled chemistry are investigated. The synthesis consists of cross-linking and grafting preformed ene-reactive polymer chains through thiol-ene click chemistry. The formation of surface-attached and cross-linked polymer films has the advantage of being well-controlled without any caution of no-oxygen atmosphere or addition of initiators.

Picometer-scale surface roughness measurements inside hollow glass fibres.

A differential profilometry technique is adapted to the problem of measuring the roughness of hollow glass fibres by use of immersion objectives and index-matching liquid. The technique can achieve picometer level sensitivity. Cross validation with AFM measurements is obtained through use of vitreous silica step calibration samples.

Glass transition accelerates the spreading of polar solvents on a soluble polymer.

We study the wetting of polymer layers by polar solvents. As previously observed, when a droplet of solvent spreads, both its contact angle and velocity decrease with time as a result of solvent transfers from the droplet to the substrate. We show that, when the polymer is initially glassy, the angle decreases steeply for a given value of the velocity, Ug.

Electron cotunneling transport in gold nanocrystal arrays.

We describe current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of alkyl-ligated gold nanocrystals ~5 nm arrays in a long screening length limit. Arrays with different alkyl ligand lengths have been prepared to tune the electronic tunnel coupling between the nanocrystals. For long ligands, electronic diffusion occurs through sequential tunneling and follows activated laws, as a function of temperature σ∝e(-T(0)/T) and as a function of electric field I∝e(-E(0)/E).

Micrometer scale resolution of materials by stray-field Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

As Magnetic Resonance Imaging devices are becoming more and more powerful, resolutions as small as 10 μm can now be obtained. But, this is only possible when systems with slow transverse relaxation rates, like living tissues, are investigated. In this case, the time available for gradients space-encoding is long, and high k values can be reached in the Fourier domain.

Microstructure evolution of hydrated cement pastes.

We propose an original method based on both proton nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion and high-resolution NMR spectra to investigate the microstructure of synthesized Ca3SiO5-hydrated cement paste. This method allows a clear assessment of the local proton chemical sites as well as the determination of dynamical information of moving proton species in pores. We show also how the microstructure evolves during and after completion of hydration in a range of length scales between 2 and 500 nm.

Degenerative mineralization in the fibrous capsule of silicone breast implants.

The formation of a fibrous capsule made of long collagen fibers surrounding breast implants represents an unavoidable phenomenon as the patient's reaction to the presence of a foreign body. Depending upon the size and shape of the implants and the chemicals percolating through the shell, this fibrous capsule is continuously remodeled. The compaction of the foreign debris in the vicinity of the silicone shell is followed by the loss of cellular activity, shrinkage and necrosis.

Interactions between chloride and cement-paste materials.

The durability of cement-based materials with respect to exterior aggressions is one of the current priorities in civil engineering. Depending on their use, the cement-based materials can be exposed to different types of aggressive environments. For instance, damages to concrete structures in contact with a saline environment (sea water on bridges, deicing salts on roads, etc.

[Clinical practice guidelines in cancerology: comparative study of three decision support-systems for breast and prostate cancer in Lorraine french region].

Oncolor, the French regional cancer network of Lorraine, proposes clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, the treatment and the follow-up of cancers. In addition to paper documents, two computerized supports, a web site and the Kasimir software have been developed to make the use of these guidelines and their updating easier. This study aims at evaluating these three tools in breast and prostate cancer and to determine if computerized supports provide an additional help and an added value.

Mineralization followup with the use of NMR spectroscopy and others.

High-resolution solid state NMR spectroscopy appears to be a powerful method for a better understanding of bone structures and bone substitutes and implants. It is particularly efficient to estimate osteoformation via bioceramic bone colonization. Pathological calcification occurring in bioprosthetic heart valves and breast prostheses can be characterized as a complement to X-ray spectrometry.