Scaling limit for a drainage network model

We consider the two dimensional version of a drainage network model introduced by Gangopadhyay, Roy and Sarkar, and show that the appropriately rescaled family of its paths converges in distribution to the Brownian web. We do so by verifying the convergence criteria proposed by Fontes, Isopi, Newman and Ravishankar.Comment: 15 page

Quasi-free Standing Epitaxial Graphene on SiC by Hydrogen Intercalation

Quasi-free standing epitaxial graphene is obtained on SiC(0001) by hydrogen intercalation. The hydrogen moves between the 6root3 reconstructed initial carbon layer and the SiC substrate. The topmost Si atoms which for epitaxial graphene are covalently bound to this buffer layer, are now saturated by hydrogen bonds. The buffer layer is turned into a quasi-free standing graphene monolayer with its typical linear pi-bands. Similarly, epitaxial monolayer graphene turns into a decoupled bilayer. The intercalation is stable in air and can be reversed by annealing to around 900 degrees Celsius.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Perspectives en matière de croissance de la productivité et du PIB potentiel.

Compte rendu d’une conférence internationale, organisée en avril 2006 par la Banque de France et la Banque du Canada, visant à comparer les quantifications et diagnostics concernant les écarts de croissance de la productivité et du PIB potentiel des pays industrialisés.Croissance, croissance potentielle, productivité, institutions, réformes.

Analysis of the seismic site effects along the ancient Via Laurentina (Rome)

This paper presents an evaluation of the Local Seismic Response (LSR) along the route of the ancient Roman road Via Laurentina, which has been exposed in several areas of southwest Rome over the last decade during the construction of new buildings and infrastructures. It is an example of LSR analysis applied to ancient and archaeological sites located in alluvial valleys with some methodological inferences for the design of infrastructure and urban planning. Since the ancient road does not cross the alluvial valley (namely the Fosso di Vallerano Valley) normal to its sides, it was not possible to directly perform 2D numerical modelling to evaluate the LSR along the road route. Therefore, outputs of 2D numerical models, obtained along three cross sections that were normal oriented respect to the valley, were projected along the route of the Via Laurentina within a reliable buffer attributed according to an available high-resolution geological model of the local subsoil. The modelled amplification functions consider physical effects due to both the 2D shape of the valley and the heterogeneities of the alluvial deposits. The 1D and 2D amplification functions were compared to output that non-negligible effects are related to the narrow shape of the fluvial valley and the lateral contacts between the lithotecnical units composing the alluvial fill. The here experienced methodology is suitable for applications to the numerical modelling of seismic response in case of linear infrastructures (i.e., roads, bridges, railways) that do not cross the natural system along physically characteristic directions (i.e. longitudinally or transversally)

Field Redefinitions, T-duality and Solutions in Closed String Field Theories

We investigate classical solutions in closed bosonic string field theory and heterotic string field theory that are obtained order by order starting from solutions of the linearized equations of motion, and we discuss the ``field redefinitions'' which relate massless fields in the string field theory side and the low energy effective theory side. Massless components of the string field theory solutions are not corrected and from them we can infer corresponding solutions in the effective theory: the chiral null model and the pp-wave solution with B-field, which have been known to be alpha'-exact. These two sets of solutions in the two sides look slightly different because of the field redefinitions. It turns out that T-duality is a useful tool to determine them: We show that some part of the field redefinitions can be determined by using the correspondence between T-duality rules in the two sides, irrespective of the detail of the interaction terms and the integrating-out procedure. Applying the field redefinitions, we see that the solutions in the effective theory side are reproduced from the string field theory solutions.Comment: LaTeX, 40 pages, no figure v2: minor corrections v3: minor correctio

Ultrafast Momentum Imaging of Pseudospin-Flip Excitations in Graphene

The pseudospin of Dirac electrons in graphene manifests itself in a peculiar momentum anisotropy for photo-excited electron-hole pairs. These interband excitations are in fact forbidden along the direction of the light polarization, and are maximum perpendicular to it. Here, we use time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the resulting unconventional hot carrier dynamics, sampling carrier distributions as a function of energy and in-plane momentum. We first show that the rapidly-established quasi-thermal electron distribution initially exhibits an azimuth-dependent temperature, consistent with relaxation through collinear electron-electron scattering. Azimuthal thermalization is found to occur only at longer time delays, at a rate that depends on the substrate and the static doping level. Further, we observe pronounced differences in the electron and hole dynamics in n-doped samples. By simulating the Coulomb- and phonon-mediated carrier dynamics we are able to disentangle the influence of excitation fluence, screening, and doping, and develop a microscopic picture of the carrier dynamics in photo-excited graphene. Our results clarify new aspects of hot carrier dynamics that are unique to Dirac materials, with relevance for photo-control experiments and optoelectronic device applications.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure

Human cachexia induces changes in mitochondria, autophagy and apoptosis in the skeletal muscle

Cachexia is a wasting syndrome characterized by the continuous loss of skeletal muscle mass due to imbalance between protein synthesis and degradation, which is related with poor prognosis and compromised quality of life. Dysfunctional mitochondria are associated with lower muscle strength and muscle atrophy in cancer patients, yet poorly described in human cachexia. We herein investigated mitochondrial morphology, autophagy and apoptosis in the skeletal muscle of patients with gastrointestinal cancer-associated cachexia (CC), as compared with a weight-stable cancer group (WSC). CC showed prominent weight loss and increased circulating levels of serum C-reactive protein, lower body mass index and decreased circulating hemoglobin, when compared to WSC. Electron microscopy analysis revealed an increase in intermyofibrillar mitochondrial area in CC, as compared to WSC. Relative gene expression of Fission 1, a protein related to mitochondrial fission, was increased in CC, as compared to WSC. LC3 II, autophagy-related (ATG) 5 and 7 essential proteins for autophagosome formation, presented higher content in the cachectic group. Protein levels of phosphorylated p53 (Ser46), activated caspase 8 (Asp384) and 9 (Asp315) were also increased in the skeletal muscle of CC. Overall, our results demonstrate that human cancer-associated cachexia leads to exacerbated muscle-stress response that may culminate in muscle loss, which is in part due to disruption of mitochondrial morphology, dysfunctional autophagy and increased apoptosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing quantitative morphological alterations in skeletal muscle mitochondria in cachectic patients

Transport in strongly-coupled graphene-LaAlO3/SrTiO3 hybrid systems

We report on the transport properties of hybrid devices obtained by depositing graphene on a LaAlO3/SrTiO3 oxide junction hosting a 4 nm-deep two-dimensional electron system. At low graphene-oxide inter-layer bias the two electron systems are electrically isolated, despite their small spatial separation, and very efficient reciprocal gating is shown. A pronounced rectifying behavior is observed for larger bias values and ascribed to the interplay between electrostatic depletion and tunneling across the LaAlO3 barrier. The relevance of these results in the context of strongly-coupled bilayer systems is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure