Efficient bacterial chromosome segregation typically requires the coordinated action of a three-component machinery, fueled by adenosine triphosphate, called the partition complex. We present a phenomenological model accounting for the dynamic activity of this system that is also relevant for the physics of catalytic particles in active environments. The model is obtained by coupling simple lin...

The establishment of specific molecular bonds between a cell and a facing surface is involved in many physiological and technological situations. Using micrometric magnetic particles, we have explored the formation of specific molecular bonds between the cell and surfaces bearing complementary ligands under passive conditions. Streptavidin-coated particles were targeted to the cell surface of a...

We have performed a Monte Carlo simulation of a sub-micrometric twisted nematic cell with nearly 106 particles using an off-lattice molecular model of a liquid crystal. This computer experiment is a proof of principle that molecular models can be pushed to the limit of the system sizes addressable with finite element models thus bridging the mesoscopic gap for multiscale modelling while providi...

Powders with nanometric crystallites of two ternary alloys Fe0.90Cr0.05Si0.05 and Fe0.85Cr0.10Si0.05 were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) in a planetary high-energy ball mill at various milling times followed annealing vacuum 900 K to induce an oxygen-induced surface segregation Cr Si atoms. The powders characterized X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) scanning electr...

The synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid compounds based on phenylphosphonate and their use as precursors to form LiMnxFe(1-x)PO₄ composites containing carbonaceous substances with sub-micrometric morphology are presented. The experimental procedure includes the preliminary synthesis of Fe2+ and/or Mn2+ phenylphosphonates with the general formula Fe(1-x)Mnx[(C₆H₅PO₃)(H₂O)] (with 0 < x < 1), wh...

Tribological properties of composites of low density polyethylene (LDPE) reinforced with 1, 5, 10, 20 wt% micrometric Boehmite (B) and/or preheated Boehmite (HB) powders were studied in combination with two silane coupling agents (SCAs): vinyltri(2-methoxyethoxy)silane (VTMES)-SCA 972 and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propylmethacrylate (3MPS)-SCA 989. When coupling agents are used, the samples not subje...

Supercritical fluids extraction of emulsions (SEE) is an innovative technique used for the production of micro, nano-particles with controlled size and distribution. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) is used to extract selectively the organic solvents from the droplets of the emulsion, in which the biopolymer is dissolved, producing the precipitation of the polymer and the subsequent format...

Surface temperature measurements were performed with a Scanning Thermal Microscope. We aim at proving an eventual sub-micrometric resolution of this metrology when using a wollaston wire probe of micrometric size. A dedicated CMOS device was designed with arrays of lines 0.35μm in size with 0.8 μm and 10μm periods. Integrated Circuits with or without a passivition layer were tested. To enhance ...

The increasing CO(2) concentration in the Earth's atmosphere, mainly caused by fossil fuel combustion, has led to concerns about global warming. A technology that could possibly contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the in-situ mineral sequestration (long term geological storage) or the ex-situ mineral sequestration (controlled industrial reactors) of CO(2). In the present study, w...

Arsenic-rich (~140-1520 mg x kg(-1)) suspended particulate matter (SPM) was collected daily with an automatic sampler in the Upper Isle River (France) draining a former gold mining district in order to better understand the fate of arsenic during the suspended transport (particles smaller than 50 μm). Various techniques at a micrometric scale (EPMA, quantitative SEM-EDS with an automated partic...