Assessment of global and regional PM CAMSRA data: comparison to observed data in Morocco.

Given the strong impact of air quality on health, environment, and economy, Morocco has implemented an air quality network to assess air pollutants including PM (particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 μm). This network which is composed of 29 fixed measurement stations is spatially limited and does not provide sufficient time resolution. The scarcity of measured air quality data led to seek an optimal alternative source to conduct related data-based studies.

Alkaline treatment combined with enzymatic hydrolysis for efficient cellulose nanofibrils production.

Cellulose nanofibrils were efficiently produced from eucalyptus fibers using a combined NaOH and enzymatic treatment followed by a pilot scale grinding process. The structural changes of fibers were assessed after NaOH treatments at 5, 10 and 15 wt% concentrations. A progressive shift from a cellulose I to a cellulose II crystalline structure was observed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Hierarchical thermoplastic biocomposites reinforced with flax fibres modified by xyloglucan and cellulose nanocrystals.

This work is focused on the modification of the interphase zone in short flax fibres / polypropylene (PP) composites by a bio-inspired modification of fibres called "nanostructuration" that uses the adsorption of biomass by-products, i.e. cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and xyloglucan (XG), to create hierarchical flax fibres.

Regulating surface sulfonation on cellulose nanocrystals and self-assembly behaviors.

Gradiented sulfonation was performed for the surface modification of cellulose nanocrystals by conjugate addition with sodium vinyl sulfonate moieties. The self-assembly behaviors of the modified nanocrystals in the liquid state as suspensions and in the solid state as films were regulated by their surface chemistry and crystalline properties.

Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Reveals the Structural Details of Thermosensitive Polymer-Grafted Cellulose Nanocrystal Suspensions.

Thanks to the use of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), a detailed structural description of thermosensitive polymer-grafted cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was obtained and the behavior of aqueous suspensions of these derivatized biosourced particles upon temperature increase was revealed. Although literature data show that the surface grafting of thermosensitive polymers drastically enhances the colloidal properties of CNCs, direct space microscopic investigation techniques fail in providing sufficient structural information on these objects. In the case of CNCs decorated with temperature-sensitive polyetheramines following a peptide coupling reaction, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of SANS spectra shows that CNCs are homogeneously covered by a shell comprising polymer chains in a Gaussian conformation with a thickness equal to their radius of gyration in solution, thus revealing a mushroom regime.

Perfluorosulfonyl Imide versus Perfluorosulfonic Acid Ionomers in Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells at Low Relative Humidity.

Designing highly conductive ionomers at high temperature and low relative humidity is challenging in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Perfluorosulfonyl imide ionomers were believed to achieve this goal, owing to their exceptional acidity and excellent thermal stability. Perfluorosulfonyl imide ionomers are less conductive than the analogous perfluorosulfonic acids despite similar membrane microstructure.

Multifunctional composite films with vertically aligned ZnO nanowires by leaching-enabled capillary rise infiltration.

Nanocomposite films (NCFs) with vertically aligned nanowires (NWs) provide several useful properties owing to their unique morphology. One of the key challenges in producing such an NCF is retaining the vertical alignment of NWs during NCF fabrication. Although current methods such as layer-by-layer assembly and solution-based processes with field-induced alignment of NWs have been successfully demonstrated, these approaches require multiple steps thus are time-consuming, and only suitable for lab-scale production, consequently limiting their widespread applicability.

New Antimony-Based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Material as Electron Extraction Layer for Efficient and Stable Polymer Solar Cells.

Hybrid organic-inorganic materials are a new class of materials used as interfacial layers (ILs) in polymer solar cells (PSCs). A hybrid material, composed of antimony as the inorganic part and diaminopyridine as the organic part, is synthesized and described as a new material for application as the electron extraction layer (EEL) in PSCs and compared to the recently demonstrated hybrid materials using bismuth instead of antimony. The hybrid compound is solution-processed onto the photoactive layer based on a classical blend, which is composed of a PTB7-Th low band gap polymer as the donor mixed with PCBM fullerene as the acceptor material.

/ controller design for an active anti-roll bar system of heavy vehicles using parameter dependent weighting functions.

Vehicle rollover is a very serious problem when considering the safety of heavy vehicles, which can result in large financial and environmental consequences. This paper investigates the interest of a Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) controller for an active anti-roll bar system of single unit heavy vehicles, in order to enhance roll stability. We propose a parameter dependent controller with weighting functions, scheduled by the forward velocity (the varying parameter of the vehicle LPV model) and by the normalized load transfers at the two axles (part of the parameter dependent weighting functions) providing an on-line performance adaptation to the vehicle rollover risk.

High dynamic range capture and sensor calibration to improve microscale halftone ink and paper surface quantification.

Microscale measurements of halftone dots allow us to investigate the ink transmittance as a function of the position on the halftone dots and to characterize the edges of the halftone dots. In this work, an optical microscope mounted with a commercial camera and a High Dynamic Range (HDR) capture method were combined to measure accurately the printed dots at the microscale. Each stage of the method development has been quantified and compared to simple imaging.

Model for Metal Extraction from Chloride Media with Basic Extractants: A Coordination Chemistry Approach.

The metal extraction mechanism of basic extractants is typically described as an anion exchange process, but this mechanism does not correctly explain all observations. This paper introduces a novel model for the extraction of metals by basic extractants from chloride media supported by experimental data on methyltrioctylammonium chloride and Aliquat 336 chloride systems. This model relies on the hypothesis that the metal species least stabilized in the aqueous phase by hydration (i.

Integration of LaMnO films on platinized silicon substrates for resistive switching applications by PI-MOCVD.

The next generation of electronic devices requires faster operation velocity, higher storage capacity and reduction of the power consumption. In this context, resistive switching memory chips emerge as promising candidates for developing new non-volatile memory modules. Manganites have received increasing interest as memristive material as they exhibit a remarkable switching response.

Generating conformational transition paths with low potential-energy barriers for proteins.

The knowledge of conformational transition paths in proteins can be useful for understanding protein mechanisms. Recently, we have introduced the As-Rigid-As-Possible (ARAP) interpolation method, for generating interpolation paths between two protein conformations. The method was shown to preserve well the rigidity of the initial conformation along the path.

Simulating aggregates of bivalents in 2n = 40 mouse meiotic spermatocytes through inhomogeneous site percolation processes.

We show that an inhomogeneous Bernoulli site percolation process running upon a fullerene's dual [Formula: see text] can be used for representing bivalents attached to the nuclear envelope in mouse Mus M. Domesticus 2n = 40 meiotic spermatocytes during pachytene. It is shown that the induced clustering generated by overlapping percolation domains correctly reproduces the probability distribution observed in the experiments (data) after fine tuning the parameters.

Underwater operational noise level emitted by a tidal current turbine and its potential impact on marine fauna.

Marine renewable energy development raised concerns over the impact of underwater noise. Here we assess the acoustic impacts of an operating tidal current turbine (Paimpol-Bréhat site, France) on marine fauna. Its source level (SL) has been measured in situ using 19 drifting transects at distances between 100 m to 2400 m from the turbine.

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) Detection of Mucorales DNA in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid To Diagnose Pulmonary Mucormycosis.

Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to improving the outcome of mucormycosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the contribution of quantitative PCR detection of Mucorales DNA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids for early diagnosis of pulmonary mucormycosis. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples ( = 450) from 374 patients with pneumonia and immunosuppressive conditions were analyzed using a combination of 3 quantitative PCR assays targeting the main genera involved in mucormycosis in France (, , and ).

A Review on Recent Developments and Prospects for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Hollow Pt-alloy Nanoparticles.

Due to their interesting electrocatalytic properties for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), hollow Pt-alloy nanoparticles (NPs) supported on high-surface-area carbon attract growing interest. However, the suitable synthesis methods and associated mechanisms of formation, the reasons for their enhanced specific activity for the ORR, and the nature of adequate alloying elements and carbon supports for this type of nanocatalysts remain open questions. This Review aims at shedding light on these topics with a special emphasis on hollow PtNi NPs supported onto Vulcan C (PtNi/C).

An experimental model to investigate the biomechanical determinants of pharyngeal mucosa coating during swallowing.

The development of innovative experimental approaches is necessary to gain insights in the complex biomechanics of swallowing. In particular, unraveling the mechanisms of formation of the thin film of bolus coating the pharyngeal mucosa after the ingestion of liquid or semi-liquid food products is an important challenge, with implication in dysphagia treatment and sensory perceptions. The aim here is to propose an original experimental model of swallowing (i) to simulate the peristaltic motions driving the bolus from the oral cavity to the esophagus, (ii) to mimic and vary complex physiological variables of the pharyngeal mucosa (lubrication, deformability and velocity) and (iii) to measure the thickness and the composition of the coatings resulting from bolus flow.

How can water quality be improved when the urban waste water directive has been fulfilled? A case study of the Lot river (France).

The Lot river, a major tributary of the downstream Garonne river, the largest river on the Northern side of the Pyrenees Mountains, was intensively studied in the 1970s. A pioneering program called "Lot Rivière Claire" provided a diagnosis of water quality at the scale of the whole watershed and proposed an ambitious program to manage nutrient pollution and eutrophication largely caused by urban wastewater releases. Later on, the implementation of European directives from 1991 to 2000 resulted in the nearly complete treatment of point sources of pollution in spite of a doubling of the basin's population.

Enhanced Second-Order Nonlinearity for THz Generation by Resonant Interaction of Exciton-Polariton Rabi Oscillations with Optical Phonons.

Semiconductor microcavities in the strong-coupling regime exhibit an energy scale in the terahertz (THz) frequency range, which is fixed by the Rabi splitting between the upper and lower exciton-polariton states. While this range can be tuned by several orders of magnitude using different excitonic media, the transition between both polaritonic states is dipole forbidden. In this work, we show that, in cadmium telluride microcavities, the Rabi-oscillation-driven THz radiation is actually active without the need for any change in the microcavity design.

ART-RRT: As-Rigid-As-Possible exploration of ligand unbinding pathways.

This article proposes a method to efficiently generate approximate ligand unbinding pathways. It combines an efficient tree-based exploration method with a morphing technique from Computer Graphics for dimensionality reduction. This method is computationally cheap and, unlike many existing approaches, does not require a reaction coordinate to guide the search.

Magnesium Anthracene System-Based Electrolyte as a Promoter of High Electrochemical Performance Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries.

The development of efficient, inexpensive, and safe rechargeable batteries for large-scale environmentally benign cells is one of the key requirements to accommodate and satisfy various technological applications. To date, the development of magnesium battery as a promising candidate for next-generation battery systems has been hindered by the lack of high performance and stable electrolyte. In this work, we have developed an original, safe, and high-performance class of electrolytes based on a simple mixture of commercially available compounds, that is, Mg(TFSI), anthracene, MgCl, and diglyme solvent.