[en] Coupling both thermography and bio-Impedance, some biophysical acupuncture mechanisms are statically studied on a small population of 18 subjects. Results show that a possible way of understanding acupuncture, in an electrical way, should be to consider ionic flux redistribution between vascular and extra cell compartments. This is a two steps mechanism. The first one is starting with needles insertion and the second one is lasting with more intensity after removing them from skin.

[en] Is it possible to link erythrosedimentation to a global monofrequency of 50KHz bio impedance analysis parameters? Two populations, Control (N=20, average age of 38 ± 18 years, 55% female predominance) versus neopathology undergoing chemotherapy treatment (N=10, average age of 51 ± 10 years, 70% female predominance) were exposed to two simple tests: Blood composition and erythrosedimentation and global Bio Impedance mono frequency (50 KHz) assessment analysis. The Results of simple statistical tests (average, anova) show that the two populations were significantly different (1%), using both biological bood tests or BIA. Only the neopathological group showed a significant correlation between the erythrosedimentation the bio impedance parameters such as Phase angle or Xc (ratio − 0.93 and − 0.93)

[en] Liquid noble based particle detectors often use the organic wavelength shifter 1,1,4,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene (TPB) which shifts UV scintillation light to the visible regime, facilitating its detection, but which also can scintillate on its own. Dark matter searches based on this type of detector commonly rely on pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) for background mitigation. Alpha-induced scintillation therefore represents a possible background source in dark matter searches. The timing characteristics of this scintillation determine whether this background can be mitigated through PSD. We have therefore characterized the pulse shape and light yield of alpha induced TPB scintillation at temperatures ranging from 300 K down to 4 K, with special attention given to liquid noble gas temperatures. We find that the pulse shapes and light yield depend strongly on temperature. In addition, the significant contribution of long time constants above ∼50 K provides an avenue for discrimination between alpha decay events in TPB and nuclear-recoil events in noble liquid detectors.

[en] PbZr_1−xTi_xO3 (PZT) has been intensively studied for various ferroelectric applications. Its promising application for micro-electro-mechanical system has reignited the interests due to its outstanding ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Most PZT ceramics employed in devices are synthesized with a Zr/Ti ratio close to the tetragonal–rhombohedral morphotropic phase boundary (x = 0.48) due to its high electro-mechanical coupling at this composition. Morphotropic phase boundary is particularly interesting to study for the investigation of phase transition. In this work, we report the epitaxial growth and electrical characterization of epitaxial PZT (Zr/Ti = 52/48) thin films on Nb-doped SrTiO3. PZT films, with thickness from 30 nm to 65 nm, were deposited by sol–gel method and eventually crystallized at 700 °C by rapid thermal annealing in oxygen. Film ferroelectricity was confirmed by Sawyer–Tower circuit measurement. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates a thickness-dependent structural phase, i.e., a phase transition from tetragonal phase for the thinner film to a biphasic (tetragonal + pseudo-cubic) structure for the thicker film, which is characterized by ellipsometry as a phase separation from the bottom surface of the film to the top one. This phase transition is related to a composition gradient within the film thickness. - Highlights: • We report on the thickness dependency of phase transition in epitaxial Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ films. • The films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic ellipsometry. • This phase transition was found to be related to a Zr/Ti composition gradient