@article{pmid39065908,

title = {Potential of a New, Flexible Electrode sEMG System in Detecting Electromyographic Activation in Low Back Muscles during Clinical Tests: A Pilot Study on Wearables for Pain Management},

author = {Antoine Frasie and Hugo Massé-Alarie and Mathieu Bielmann and Nicolas Gauthier and Mourad Roudjane and Isabelle Pagé and Benoit Gosselin and Jean-Sébastien Roy and Younes Messaddeq and Laurent J Bouyer},

doi = {10.3390/s24144510},

issn = {1424-8220},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-07-01},

journal = {Sensors (Basel)},

volume = {24},

number = {14},

abstract = {BACKGROUND: While low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide, its clinical objective assessment is currently limited. Part of this syndrome arises from the abnormal sensorimotor control of back muscles, involving increased muscle fatigability (i.e., assessed with the Biering-Sorensen test) and abnormal muscle activation patterns (i.e., the flexion-extension test). Surface electromyography (sEMG) provides objective measures of muscle fatigue development (median frequency drop, MDF) and activation patterns (RMS amplitude change). This study therefore assessed the sensitivity and validity of a novel and flexible sEMG system (NSS) based on PEVA electrodes and potentially embeddable in textiles, as a tool for objective clinical LBP assessment.nnMETHODS: Twelve participants wearing NSS and a commercial laboratory sEMG system (CSS) performed two clinical tests used in LBP assessment (Biering-Sorensen and flexion-extension). Erector spinae muscle activity was recorded at T12-L1 and L4-L5.nnRESULTS: NSS showed sensitivity to sEMG changes associated with fatigue development and muscle activations during flexion-extension movements ( < 0.05) that were similar to CSS ( > 0.05). Raw signals showed moderate cross-correlations (MDF: 0.60-0.68; RMS: 0.53-0.62). Adding conductive gel to the PEVA electrodes did not influence sEMG signal interpretation ( > 0.05).nnCONCLUSIONS: This novel sEMG system is promising for assessing electrophysiological indicators of LBP during clinical tests.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid37864005,

title = {XRF online analyzer for measurements of PO content in phosphate slurry},

author = {Ismail Ben Amar and Andrew Thomas and Claus Bachmann and Anass Hafnaoui and Hafid Griguer and Amine Miled and Younès Messaddeq},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-45181-5},

issn = {2045-2322},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-10-01},

journal = {Sci Rep},

volume = {13},

number = {1},

pages = {17925},

abstract = {Online X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) setup was constructed and optimized for analysing the PO content in phosphate slurry (PS). Serval samples were analysed using two configurations of the setup, one with low and vertical flow and another with high and horizontal flow. The mean absolute error achieved through the first configuration was 0.87% and 0.38% using the second configuration. Reference samples were analyzed using the two configurations to construct the calibration curves. The curves cover a concentration range of PO from 13.50 to 18.50% when considering the horizontal flow configuration, and a range of 14.00-15.60% when considering the vertical flow setup. An experimental study was conducted in order to optimize the measurement parameters for the online measurement of PO in the phosphate slurry using the horizontal flow setup. A good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of [Formula: see text] was attained using an excitation energy of 20 kV or 25 kV, an excitation current of 600 µA, a distance of 18 mm between the sample and the detector, a measurement time of 60 s per spectrum and the use of an Aluminum filter between the X-ray tube and the measurement window. Online X-ray fluorescence analysis of P entails some challenges due to the low characteristic energy of P, the phosphate slurry matrix and the online analysis mode. However, the outcomes of this study indicate that XRF is a promising technology to meet the requirement for digitalization of chemical analysis of phosphate products.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid37720752,

title = {Effect of Photoinitiators Doped in PDMS for Femtosecond-Laser Writing: Characterization and Outcomes},

author = {Antsar R Hlil and Jean-Sebastien Boisvert and Hatem M Titi and Yalina Garcia-Puente and Wagner Correr and Sebastien Loranger and Jyothis Thomas and Ali Riaz and Younès Messaddeq and Raman Kashyap},

doi = {10.1021/acsomega.3c01202},

issn = {2470-1343},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-09-01},

journal = {ACS Omega},

volume = {8},

number = {36},

pages = {32340--32351},

abstract = {Herein, we have characterized in depth the effect of femtosecond (fs)-laser writing on various polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based composites. The study combines systematic and nanoscale characterizations for the PDMS blends that include various photoinitiators (organic and inorganic agents) before and after fs-laser writing. The results exhibit that the photoinitiators can dictate the mechanical properties of the PDMS, in which Young's modulus of PDMS composites has higher elasticity. The study illustrates a major improvement in refractive index change by 15 times higher in the case of PDMS/BP-Ge [benzophenone (BP) allytriethylgermane] and Irgacure 184. Additional enhancement was achieved in the optical performance levels of the PDMS composites (the PDMS composites of Irgacure 184/500, BP-Ge, and Ge-ATEG have a relative difference of less than 5% in comparison with pristine PDMS), which are on par with glasses. This insightful study can guide future investigators in choosing photoinitiators for particular applications in photonics and polymer chemistry.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid37482898,

title = {Unveiling Structural Insights into Nanocrystal-Doped Optical Fibers via Confocal Raman Microscopy},

author = {Victor Fuertes and Adolfo Del Campo and Nicolas Grégoire and Philippe Labranche and Jose Francisco Fernández and Younes Messaddeq},

doi = {10.1021/acsami.3c07512},

issn = {1944-8252},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-08-01},

journal = {ACS Appl Mater Interfaces},

volume = {15},

number = {30},

pages = {36724--36737},

abstract = {An in-depth characterization of nanoparticle-doped optical fibers is crucial to understand the potential new functionalities of the engineered glass and thus their applicability fields. The high temperatures of the manufacturing process strongly affect the nanoparticle features, and therefore, their analysis is necessary after fiber drawing. However, the difficulties associated with the use of atomic resolution microscopies to analyze the nanoparticle features in the fiber core, mainly related to sample preparation and expensive costs, usually prevent their study. In this work, we overcome some of those limitations and demonstrate, for the first time, the suitability of structurally and microstructurally studying in detail nanocrystals contained in a fiber core of ∼10 μm by combining confocal Raman microscopy, Rayleigh light-scattering microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A thorough study of cubic-shaped and rod-shaped YPO nanocrystals contained in optical fibers reveals their crystallization in tetragonal (t) and monoclinic (m) structures, respectively. The symmetric (ν) and asymmetric stretching (ν) Raman modes display a different and remarkable red shift as particle size decreases in both types of nanocrystals, which in the case of the cubic-shaped nanocrystals is fitted to an exponential function along with a Raman peak broadening. Moreover, their Raman dependence vs temperature is evaluated up to 600 °C, observing a phonon softening that follows a linear behavior, which is discussed in detail. These findings add new insights to pure m-YPO, which was unknown to date, and the REPO family and open up new avenues that can be extrapolated to other nanostructures incorporated into optical fiber cores, which will advance progress in the field of nanoparticle-doped optical fibers.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid37258637,

title = {The role of tungsten oxide in Er-doped bismuth-germanate glasses for optical amplification in L-band},

author = {Hüseyin Can Çamiçi and Théo Guérineau and V A G Rivera and Rodrigo Ferreira Falci and Sophie LaRochelle and Younès Messaddeq},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-35995-8},

issn = {2045-2322},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-05-01},

journal = {Sci Rep},

volume = {13},

number = {1},

pages = {8835},

abstract = {A series of novel Er-doped bismuth-germanate glasses containing different tungsten concentrations with a molar composition of 97.5[(75 - x)GeO-25BiO-(x)WO]-2SbO-0.5ErO (x = 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mol%) were fabricated. Their thermal properties are measured by differential scanning calorimetry. A structural investigation by Raman spectroscopy suggested that changes occurred in the glass network by WO incorporation. By laser excitation at 980 nm, a strong emission from Er ions at 1532 nm is observed, while the WO addition caused changes in the emission spectra. The emission cross-section spectra of Er are calculated by both McCumber and Füchtbauer-Ladenburg theories and their comparison showed these theories yielded slightly different results, but in both cases, the calculations showed that a gain signal in L-band can be achieved when 30% of the Er ions are at the excited state. This study proves that the Er-doped bismuth-germanate glasses are suitable for optical fiber amplifier applications operating at C- and L-band.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid37012273,

title = {Demonstration of laser cooling in a novel all oxide GAYY silica glass},

author = {Jyothis Thomas and Thomas Meyneng and Amirhossein Tehranchi and Nicolas Gregoire and Frederic Monet and Denis Seletskiy and Younès Messaddeq and Raman Kashyap},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-31912-1},

issn = {2045-2322},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-04-01},

journal = {Sci Rep},

volume = {13},

number = {1},

pages = {5436},

abstract = {We demonstrate laser induced cooling in ytterbium doped silica (SiO) glass with alumina, yttria co-doping (GAYY-Aluminum: Yttrium: Ytterbium Glass) fabricated using the modified chemical vapour deposition (MCVD) technique. A maximum temperature reduction by - 0.9 K from room temperature (296 K) at atmospheric pressure was achieved using only 6.5 W of 1029 nm laser radiation. The developed fabrication process allows us to incorporate ytterbium at concentration of 4 × 10 ions/m which is the highest value reported for laser cooling without clustering or lifetime shortening, as well as to reach a very low background absorptive loss of 10 dB/km. The numerical simulation of temperature change versus pump power well agrees with the observation and predicts, for the same conditions, a temperature reduction of 4 K from room temperature in a vacuum. This novel silica glass has a high potential for a vast number of applications in laser cooling such as radiation-balanced amplifiers and high-power lasers including fiber lasers.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid36878977,

title = {Toward low-loss mid-infrared GaO-BaO-GeO optical fibers},

author = {Théo Guérineau and Samar Aouji and Steeve Morency and Florian Calzavara and Patrick Larochelle and Philippe Labranche and Jerome Lapointe and Sylvain Danto and Thierry Cardinal and Evelyne Fargin and Martin Bernier and Réal Vallée and Younès Messaddeq},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-30522-1},

issn = {2045-2322},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-03-01},

journal = {Sci Rep},

volume = {13},

number = {1},

pages = {3697},

abstract = {The development of efficient and compact photonic systems in support of mid-infrared integrated optics is currently facing several challenges. To date, most mid-infrared glass-based devices are employing fluoride or chalcogenide glasses (FCGs). Although the commercialization of FCGs-based optical devices has rapidly grown during the last decade, their development is rather cumbersome due to either poor crystallization and hygroscopicity resilience or poor mechanical-thermal properties of the FCGs. To overcome these issues, the parallel development of heavy-metal oxide optical fiber from the barium-germanium-gallium oxide vitreous system (BGG) has revealed a promising alternative. However, over 30 years of fiber fabrication optimization, the final missing step of drawing BGG fibers with acceptable losses for meters-long active and passive optical devices had not yet been reached. In this article, we first identify the three most important factors that prevent the fabrication of low-loss BGG fibers i.e., surface quality, volumic striae and glass thermal-darkening. Each of the three factors is then addressed in setting up a protocol enabling the fabrication of low-loss optical fibers from gallium-rich BGG glass compositions. Accordingly, to the best of our knowledge, we report the lowest losses ever measured in a BGG glass fiber i.e., down to 200 dB km at 1350 nm.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{pmid36369471,

title = {Near-infrared quantum cutting luminescence in Pr/Yb doped lead bismuth borate glass},

author = {Meruva Seshadri and Ilza T C Santos and Maria Jose V Bell and Jerome Lapointe and Younes Messaddeq and Virgilio Anjos},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-022-23808-3},

issn = {2045-2322},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-11-01},

journal = {Sci Rep},

volume = {12},

number = {1},

pages = {19311},

abstract = {In this paper, thermally stable lead-bismuth-borate glasses were doped with 0.5 mol% of Pr ions at several concentration levels of Yb ions. Structural characterizations were performed via Raman, differential scanning calorimetry, optical absorption and fluorescence spectra. The Judd-Ofelt intensity parameter, [Formula: see text], of Pr doped glass was comparatively higher than those from reported ones, which reflects the increase of co-valency and asymmetry of chemical bonds in the local environment of Pr. Near-infrared emission in 900-2200 nm wavelength range was recorded through 443 nm blue laser pumping. Visible to near-IR quantum cutting and concentration quenching mechanisms were discussed to understand the luminescent behaviour. Intense IR emission ([Formula: see text] features generated by absorbing one visible photon leads to quantum efficiencies close to 128% in Pr/Yb co-doped samples which may improve the solar spectrum absorption and accordingly, increase the efficiency of c-Si solar cells. Emission cross-section, lifetime, figure of merit and gain bandwidth corresponding to Pr: [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]m) were comparatively reported suggesting that the glass with molar composition 0.5Pr/0.1Yb might be a potential candidate for [Formula: see text]m laser operation with low pump threshold.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}