Electrical characteristics of amorphous iron-tungsten contacts on silicon

The electrical characteristics of amorphous Fe-W contacts have been determined on both p-type and n-type silicon. The amorphous films were obtained by cosputtering from a composite target. Contact resistivities, pc=1×10^−7 and pc=2.8×10^−6, were measured on n+ and p+ silicon, respectively. These values remain constant after thermal treatment up to at least 500°C. A barrier height, φBn=0.61 V, was measured on n-type silicon

Dbl oncogene expression in MCF-10 A epithelial cells disrupts mammary acinar architecture, induces EMT and angiogenic factor secretion.

The proteins of the Dbl family are guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) of Rho GTPases and are known to be involved in cell growth regulation. Alterations of the normal function of these proteins lead to pathological processes such as developmental disorders, neoplastic transformation, and tumor metastasis. We have previously demonstrated that expression of Dbl oncogene in lens epithelial cells modulates genes encoding proteins involved in epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and induces angiogenesis in the lens. Our present study was undertaken to investigate the role of Dbl oncogene in epithelial cells transformation, providing new insights into carcinoma progression. To assess how Dbl oncogene can modulate EMT, cell migration, morphogenesis, and expression of pro-apoptotic and angiogenic factors we utilized bi- and three-dimensional cultures of MCF-10░A cells. We show that upon Dbl expression MCF-10░A cells undergo EMT. In addition, we found that Dbl overexpression sustain

A de Finetti representation theorem for infinite dimensional quantum systems and applications to quantum cryptography

According to the quantum de Finetti theorem, if the state of an N-partite system is invariant under permutations of the subsystems then it can be approximated by a state where almost all subsystems are identical copies of each other, provided N is sufficiently large compared to the dimension of the subsystems. The de Finetti theorem has various applications in physics and information theory, where it is for instance used to prove the security of quantum cryptographic schemes. Here, we extend de Finetti's theorem, showing that the approximation also holds for infinite dimensional systems, as long as the state satisfies certain experimentally verifiable conditions. This is relevant for applications such as quantum key distribution (QKD), where it is often hard - or even impossible - to bound the dimension of the information carriers (which may be corrupted by an adversary). In particular, our result can be applied to prove the security of QKD based on weak coherent states or Gaussian states against general attacks.Comment: 11 pages, LaTe

Meaningful characterisation of perturbative theoretical uncertainties

We consider the problem of assigning a meaningful degree of belief to uncertainty estimates of perturbative series. We analyse the assumptions which are implicit in the conventional estimates made using renormalisation scale variations. We then formulate a Bayesian model that, given equivalent initial hypotheses, allows one to characterise a perturbative theoretical uncertainty in a rigorous way in terms of a credibility interval for the remainder of the series. We compare its outcome to the conventional uncertainty estimates in the simple case of the calculation of QCD corrections to the e+e- -> hadrons process. We find comparable results, but with important conceptual differences. This work represents a first step in the direction of a more comprehensive and rigorous handling of theoretical uncertainties in perturbative calculations used in high energy phenomenology.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures. Language modified in order to make it more 'bayesian'. No change in results. Version published in JHE

Finite size mean-field models

We characterize the two-site marginals of exchangeable states of a system of quantum spins in terms of a simple positivity condition. This result is used in two applications. We first show that the distance between two-site marginals of permutation invariant states on N spins and exchangeable states is of order 1/N. The second application relates the mean ground state energy of a mean-field model of composite spins interacting through a product pair interaction with the mean ground state energies of the components.Comment: 20 page

Correlated Binomial Models and Correlation Structures

We discuss a general method to construct correlated binomial distributions by imposing several consistent relations on the joint probability function. We obtain self-consistency relations for the conditional correlations and conditional probabilities. The beta-binomial distribution is derived by a strong symmetric assumption on the conditional correlations. Our derivation clarifies the 'correlation' structure of the beta-binomial distribution. It is also possible to study the correlation structures of other probability distributions of exchangeable (homogeneous) correlated Bernoulli random variables. We study some distribution functions and discuss their behaviors in terms of their correlation structures.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

The small GTPase Rab29 is a common regulator of immune synapse assembly and ciliogenesis

Acknowledgements We wish to thank Jorge Galán, Gregory Pazour, Derek Toomre, Giuliano Callaini, Joel Rosenbaum, Alessandra Boletta and Francesco Blasi for generously providing reagents and for productive discussions, and Sonia Grassini for technical assistance. The work was carried out with the financial support of Telethon (GGP11021) and AIRC.Peer reviewedPostprin

When do generalized entropies apply? How phase space volume determines entropy

We show how the dependence of phase space volume $\Omega(N)$ of a classical system on its size $N$ uniquely determines its extensive entropy. We give a concise criterion when this entropy is not of Boltzmann-Gibbs type but has to assume a {\em generalized} (non-additive) form. We show that generalized entropies can only exist when the dynamically (statistically) relevant fraction of degrees of freedom in the system vanishes in the thermodynamic limit. These are systems where the bulk of the degrees of freedom is frozen and is practically statistically inactive. Systems governed by generalized entropies are therefore systems whose phase space volume effectively collapses to a lower-dimensional 'surface'. We explicitly illustrate the situation for binomial processes and argue that generalized entropies could be relevant for self organized critical systems such as sand piles, for spin systems which form meta-structures such as vortices, domains, instantons, etc., and for problems associated with anomalous diffusion.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Financial instability from local market measures

We study the emergence of instabilities in a stylized model of a financial market, when different market actors calculate prices according to different (local) market measures. We derive typical properties for ensembles of large random markets using techniques borrowed from statistical mechanics of disordered systems. We show that, depending on the number of financial instruments available and on the heterogeneity of local measures, the market moves from an arbitrage-free phase to an unstable one, where the complexity of the market - as measured by the diversity of financial instruments - increases, and arbitrage opportunities arise. A sharp transition separates the two phases. Focusing on two different classes of local measures inspired by real markets strategies, we are able to analytically compute the critical lines, corroborating our findings with numerical simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Redescription of Cardiosporidium cionae (Van Gaver and Stephan, 1907) (Apicomplexa: Piroplasmida), a plasmodial parassite of ascidian haemocytes

Cardiosporidium cionae (Apicomplexa), from the ascidian Ciona intestinalis L., is redescribed with novel ultrastructural, phylogenetic and prevalence data. Ultrastructural analysis of specimens of C. intestinalis collected from the Gulf of Naples showed sporonts and plasmodia of C. cionae within the host pericardial body. Several merogonic stages and free merozoites were found in the pericardial body, together with sexual stages. All stages showed typical apicomplexan cell organelles, i.e. apicoplasts, rhoptries and subpellicular microtubules. Merogonic stages of C. cionae were also produced inside haemocytes. A fragment of the rSSU gene of C. cionae was amplified by PCR using DNA extracted from the pericardial bodies. The amplified product showed closest affinity with other apicomplexan representatives and a 66 bp unique insertion, specific for C. cionae, at position 1644. Neighbour-joining phylogenetic analysis placed C. cionae in a clade with other piroplasm genera, including Cytauxzoon, Babesia and Theileria spp. The parasite was found in different populations of C. intestinalis with highest prevalence in October–November. Ultrastructural and DNA data showed that the organism, described in 1907 from the same host but not illustrated in detail, is a member of a novel marine apicomplexan radiation of tunicate parasites