Back to the Moon: Legal Challenges for Future Lunar Exploration

in Proceedings of the 69th International Astronautical Congress 2018 (2018, October)

This paper addresses the main legal challenges related to future human exploration of the Moon, with the goal to show possible solutions. In order to do so, it first presents an overview of current lunar ... [more ▼]

This paper addresses the main legal challenges related to future human exploration of the Moon, with the goal to show possible solutions. In order to do so, it first presents an overview of current lunar exploration programs, arguing that public and private missions raise different challenges and thus require specific models. Following, it accordingly assesses possible legal solutions for the regulation of these programs. On the one hand, States’ exploration programs may be governed by a revised version of the Intergovernmental Agreement already concluded for the International Space Station. On the other hand, private activities could be better organized relying on Articles VI-IX OST as integrated by a new UNGA Resolution, ad hoc bilateral agreements and specific provisions in national space legislations. Finally, the paper concludes underlining the importance of international cooperation as the key to ensure the peaceful use and exploration of outer space. [less ▲]

Back to the roots of ARPANET and Internet history with Alexandre Serres

in Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society (2019)

Alexandre Serres’ PhD, “Aux sources d’Internet: l’!emergence d’ARPANET” (“The origins of the Internet: the Emergence of ARPANET”), defended in 2000, is quite influential in Francophone research literature ... [more ▼]

Alexandre Serres’ PhD, “Aux sources d’Internet: l’!emergence d’ARPANET” (“The origins of the Internet: the Emergence of ARPANET”), defended in 2000, is quite influential in Francophone research literature and discourse on Internet histories. However, yet untranslated, it has remained little known in Anglophone scholarly circles. The results of this thesis, which strongly echoes other articles and interviews, that are part of this special issue on ARPANET, remain still relevant and valid and we have chosen to introduce the reader to the final part of Serres’ research – an inevitable choice within the 600 pages of this work. [less ▲]

Backgating high-current and breakdown characterisation of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrates

in Proceedings of the ESSDERC 2003. Estoril, Portugal (2003)

Backgating effect as well as breakdown and high-current performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrates are studied. The material structure of investigated devices differ in the thickness of ... [more ▼]

Backgating effect as well as breakdown and high-current performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrates are studied. The material structure of investigated devices differ in the thickness of stressrelaxing intermediate layer sequence (~1 μm and ~2.5 μm thick). It is shown that the transistor backgating effect is reduced for the thicker sequence. Similarly, the reverse gate current is two orders of the magnitude lower and the gate-drain breakdown voltage increases substantially in devices with the thicker sequence. Increase from ~40 V to ~160 V of the HEMT blocking capability measured under electrostatic discharge-like conditions is also observed. [less ▲]

Background Report to EN 1994 - Plastic moment resistance of composite beams

Report (2017)

As part of the development of the second generation of Eurocodes and harmonization of the different European Codes, some clarifications deal with the design value of concrete compression strength and the ... [more ▼]

As part of the development of the second generation of Eurocodes and harmonization of the different European Codes, some clarifications deal with the design value of concrete compression strength and the bending design of steel-composite sections. The following background document describes the issues in design and confusions between Eurocode 2 for the design of concrete structures and Eurocode 4 for the design of composite structures in steel and concrete. The first part is concentrated on the background information and the accentuation of limits for plastic bending design. While the second part represents the results of multiple comparisons between plastic and strain limited design leading to a new design approach. [less ▲]

Backscatter Sensors Communication for 6G Low-Powered NOMA-Enabled IoT Networks Under Imperfect SIC

in IEEE Systems Journal (2022)

The combination of nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) using power-domain with backscatter communication (BC) is expected to connect large-scale Internet of things (IoT) devices in the future sixth ... [more ▼]

The combination of nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) using power-domain with backscatter communication (BC) is expected to connect large-scale Internet of things (IoT) devices in the future sixth-generation era. This article introduces a BC in a multicell IoT network, where a source in each cell transmits a superimposed signal to its associated IoT devices using NOMA. The backscatter sensor tag (BST) also transmits data to IoT devices by reflecting and modulating the superimposed signal of the source. A new optimization framework is provided that simultaneously optimizes the total power of each source, power allocation coefficient of IoT devices, and RC of BST under imperfect successive interference cancellation decoding. This work aims to maximize the total energy efficiency (EE) of the IoT network subject to the quality of services of each IoT device. The problem is first transformed using the Dinkelbach method and then decoupled into two subproblems. The Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions and dual Lagrangian method are employed to obtain efficient solutions. In addition, we also calculate the EE of the conventional NOMA network without BC as a benchmark framework. Simulation results unveil the advantage of our considered NOMA BC network over the conventional NOMA network in terms of system total EE. [less ▲]

Backscatter-Assisted Data Offloading inOFDMA-based Wireless Powered Mobile EdgeComputing for IoT Networks

in IEEE Internet of Things Journal (2021)

Mobile edge computing (MEC) has emerged as a prominent technology to overcome sudden demands on computation-intensive applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) with finite processing capabilities ... [more ▼]

Mobile edge computing (MEC) has emerged as a prominent technology to overcome sudden demands on computation-intensive applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) with finite processing capabilities. Nevertheless, the limited energy resources also seriously hinders IoT devices from offloading tasks that consume high power in active RF communications. Despite the development of energy harvesting (EH) techniques, the harvested energy from surrounding environments could be inadequate for power-hungry tasks. Fortunately, Backscatter communications (Backcom) is an intriguing technology to narrow the gap between the power needed for communication and harvested power. Motivated by these considerations, this paper investigates a backscatter-assisted data offloading in OFDMA-based wireless-powered (WP) MEC for IoT systems. Specifically, we aim at maximizing the sum computation rate by jointly optimizing the transmit power at the gateway (GW), backscatter coefficient, time-splitting (TS) ratio, and binary decision-making matrices. This problem is challenging to solve due to its non-convexity. To find solutions, we first simplify the problem by determining the optimal values of transmit power of the GW and backscatter coefficient. Then, the original problem is decomposed into two sub-problems, namely, TS ratio optimization with given offloading decision matrices and offloading decision optimization with given TS ratio. Especially, a closedform expression for the TS ratio is obtained which greatly enhances the CPU execution time. Based on the solutions of the two sub-problems, an efficient algorithm, termed the fast-efficient algorithm (FEA), is proposed by leveraging the block coordinate descent method. Then, it is compared with exhaustive search (ES), bisection-based algorithm (BA), edge computing (EC), and local computing (LC) used as reference methods. As a result, the FEA is the best solution which results in a near-globally-optimal solution at a much lower complexity as compared to benchmark schemes. For instance, the CPU execution time of FEA is about 0.029 second in a 50-user network, which is tailored for ultralow latency applications of IoT networks. [less ▲]

Bad Hombres, Aloha Snackbar, and Le Cuck: Translanguaging and the production of whiteness.

in Translinguistics: Negotiating Innovation and Ordinariness (2019)

Bad representations and homotopy groups of Character Varieties

in Annales Henri Lebesgue (2022), 5

Let G be a connected, reductive, complex affine algebraic group, and let Xr denote the moduli space of G-valued representations of a rank r free group. We first characterize the singularities in Xr ... [more ▼]

Let G be a connected, reductive, complex affine algebraic group, and let Xr denote the moduli space of G-valued representations of a rank r free group. We first characterize the singularities in Xr resolving conjectures of Florentino-Lawton. In particular, we compute the codimension of the orbifold singular locus using facts about Borel-de Siebenthal groups. We then use this codimension to calculate some higher homotopy groups of the smooth locus of Xr, proving conjectures of Florentino-Lawton-Ramras. Lastly, using the earlier analysis of Borel-de Siebenthal groups, we prove a conjecture of Sikora about CI Lie groups. [less ▲]

BAG6 promotes PINK1 signaling pathway and is essential for mitophagy

in FASEB Journal (2021), 35(2), 21361

Bcl-2-associated athanogen-6 (BAG6) is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein involved in protein quality control. We previously demonstrated that BAG6 is essential for autophagy by regulating the ... [more ▼]

Bcl-2-associated athanogen-6 (BAG6) is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein involved in protein quality control. We previously demonstrated that BAG6 is essential for autophagy by regulating the intracellular localization of the acetyltransferase EP300, and thus, modifying accessibility to its substrates (TP53 in the nucleus and autophagy-related proteins in the cytoplasm). Here, we investigated BAG6 localization and function in the cytoplasm. First, we demonstrated that BAG6 is localized in the mitochondria. Specifically, BAG6 is expressed in the mitochondrial matrix under basal conditions, and translocates to the outer mitochondrial membrane after mitochondrial depolarization with carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazine, a mitochondrial uncoupler that induces mitophagy. In SW480 cells, the deletion of BAG6 expression abrogates its ability to induce mitophagy and PINK1 accumulation. On the reverse, its ectopic expression in LoVo colon cancer cells, which do not express endogenous BAG6, reduces the size of the mitochondria, induces mitophagy, leads to the activation of the PINK1/PARKIN pathway and to the phospho-ubiquitination of mitochondrial proteins. Finally, BAG6 contains two LIR (LC3-interacting Region) domains specifically found in receptors for selective autophagy and responsible for the interaction with LC3 and for autophagosome selectivity. Site-directed mutagenesis showed that BAG6 requires wild-type LIRs domains for its ability to stimulate mitophagy. In conclusion, we propose that BAG6 is a novel mitophagy receptor or adaptor that induces PINK1/PARKIN signaling and mitophagy in a LIR-dependent manner. [less ▲]

La BAGROI e la testualità della migrazione in Lussemburgo e nella Grande Regione

in Rêves d'Italie. Italies de rêve. (2008)