Public good in French universities: principles and practice of the ‘republican’ model

Drawing on 45 semi-structured interviews conducted in four public universities as part of an international comparative project, we examine the cultural, political, social and economic forces at play in the way the ‘public good’ is perceived, translated and debated within the French higher education context. Our findings indicate that a variety of views of the public good value/contribution of higher education co-exist, which, in a context of reform, reflect various understandings of how the principles and practices driving the French ‘republican’ model work or should work

Continuous atom laser with Bose-Einstein condensates involving three-body interactions

We demonstrate, through numerical simulations, the emission of a coherent continuous matter wave of constant amplitude from a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a shallow optical dipole trap. The process is achieved by spatial control of the variations of the scattering length along the trapping axis, including elastic three body interactions due to dipole interactions. In our approach, the outcoupling mechanism are atomic interactions and thus, the trap remains unaltered. We calculate analytically the parameters for the experimental implementation of this CW atom laser.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Current facilitation by plasmon resonances between parallel wires of finite length

The current voltage (IV) characteristics for perpendicular transport through two sequentially coupled wires of finite length is calculated analytically. The transport within a Coulomb blockade step is assisted by plasmon resonances that appear as steps in the IV characteristics with positions and heights depending on inter- and intrawire interactions. In particular, due to the interwire interactions, the peak positions shift to lower voltages in comparison to the noninteracting wires which reflects the facilitation of current by interactions. The interwire interactions are also found to enhance the thermally activated current.Comment: 5 pages, 1figur

Cross-Over between universality classes in a magnetically disordered metallic wire

In this article we present numerical results of conduction in a disordered quasi-1D wire in the possible presence of magnetic impurities. Our analysis leads us to the study of universal properties in different conduction regimes such as the localized and metallic ones. In particular, we analyse the cross-over between universality classes occurring when the strength of magnetic disorder is increased. For this purpose, we use a numerical Landauer approach, and derive the scattering matrix of the wire from electron's Green's function.Comment: Final version, accepted for publication in New Journ. of Physics, 27 pages, 28 figures. Replaces the earlier shorter preprint arXiv:0910.427

Effects of a Weight Loss Program on Metabolic Syndrome, Eating Disorders and Psychological Outcomes: Mediation by Endocannabinoids?

To evaluate the effects of weight loss on endocannabinoids, cardiometabolic and psychological parameters, eating disorders (ED) as well as quality of life (QoL) and to elucidate the role of endocannabinoids in metabolic syndrome (MS). In total, 114 patients with obesity were prospectively included in a 12-month weight loss program. Plasma endocannabinoids were measured by mass spectrometry; ED, psychological and QoL-related parameters were evaluated by self-reported questionnaires; physical activity was measured by accelerometer. Nutritional assessment was done by a 3-day food diary. Among completers (n = 87), body weight decreased in 35 patients (-9.1 ± 8.6 kg), remained stable in 39 patients, and increased in 13 patients (+5.8 ± 3.4 kg). 75% of patients with MS at baseline were free of MS at follow-up, and their baseline plasma N-palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) values were significantly lower when compared to patients with persisting MS. At baseline, there was a positive relationship between PEA and waist circumference (p = 0.005, R2 = 0.08), fasting glucose (p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.12), total cholesterol (p = 0.001, R2 = 0.11), triglycerides (p = 0.001, R2 = 0.11), LDL-cholesterol (p = 0.03, R2 = 0.05) as well as depression score (p = 0.002, R2 = 0.29). Plasma PEA might play a role in metabolic improvement after weight loss. Even in subjects without weight loss, a multidisciplinary intervention improves psychological outcomes, ED, and QoL