Implementation, Compilation, Optimization of Object-Oriented Languages, Programs and Systems - Report on the Workshop ICOOOLPS'2006 at ECOOP'06

ICOOOLPS'2006 was the first edition of ECOOP-ICOOOLPS workshop. It intended to bring researchers and practitioners both from academia and industry together, with a spirit of openness, to try and identify and begin to address the numerous and very varied issues of optimization. This succeeded, as can be seen from the papers, the attendance and the liveliness of the discussions that took place during and after the workshop, not to mention a few new cooperations or postdoctoral contracts. The 22 talented people from different groups who participated were unanimous to appreciate this first edition and recommend that ICOOOLPS be continued next year. A community is thus beginning to form, and should be reinforced by a second edition next year, with all the improvements this first edition made emerge.Comment: The original publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co

The Galactic Isotropic γ\gamma-ray Background and Implications for Dark Matter

We present an analysis of the radial angular profile of the galacto-isotropic (GI) $\gamma$-ray flux--the statistically uniform flux in circular annuli about the Galactic center. Two different approaches are used to measure the GI flux profile in 85 months of Fermi-LAT data: the BDS statistic method which identifies spatial correlations, and a new Poisson ordered-pixel method which identifies non-Poisson contributions. Both methods produce similar GI flux profiles. The GI flux profile is well-described by an existing model of bremsstrahlung, $\pi^0$ production, inverse Compton scattering, and the isotropic background. Discrepancies with data in our full-sky model are not present in the GI component, and are therefore due to mis-modeling of the non-GI emission. Dark matter annihilation constraints based solely on the observed GI profile are close to the thermal WIMP cross section below 100 GeV, for fixed models of the dark matter density profile and astrophysical $\gamma$-ray foregrounds. Refined measurements of the GI profile are expected to improve these constraints by a factor of a few.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, references adde

Determination of Angle of Light Deflection in Higher-Derivative Gravity Theories

Gravitational light deflection is known as one of three classical tests of general relativity and the angle of deflection may be computed explicitly using approximate or exact solutions describing the gravitational force generated from a point mass. In various generalized gravity theories, however, such explicit determination is often impossible due to the difficulty with obtaining an exact expression for the deflection angle. In this work, we present some highly effective globally convergent iterative methods to determine the angle of semiclassical gravitational deflection in higher- and infinite-derivative formalisms of quantum gravity theories. We also establish the universal properties that the deflection angle always stays below the classical Einstein angle and is a strictly decreasing function of the incident photon energy, in these formalisms.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figure

Implementation, Compilation, Optimization of Object-Oriented Languages, Programs and Systems - Report on the Workshop ICOOOLPS'2007 at ECOOP'07

ICOOOLPS'2007 was the second edition of the ECOOP-ICOOOLPS workshop. ICOOOLPS intends to bring researchers and practitioners both from academia and industry together, with a spirit of openness, to try and identify and begin to address the numerous and very varied issues of optimization. After a first successful edition, this second one put a stronger emphasis on exchanges and discussions amongst the participants, progressing on the bases set last year in Nantes. The workshop attendance was a success, since the 30-people limit we had set was reached about 2 weeks before the workshop itself. Some of the discussions (e.g. annotations) were so successful that they would required even more time than we were able to dedicate to them. That's one area we plan to further improve for the next edition

Coherent thermal conductance in multilayer photonic crystals

We present an exact calculation of the coherent thermal conductance in a 1-D multilayer photonic crystals (PC) using the S-matrix method. In particular, we study the thermal conductance in a bilayer structure of slabs of Si/vacuum or Al$_2$O$_3$/vacuum by means of the exact expression for the radiative heat flux. We compare our results with results obtained in previous works. Our results show that the coupling of surface modes as well as material losses play a fundamental role in the definition of the thermal conductance of PCs

Surface Electromagnetic Waves Thermally Excited: Radiative Heat Transfer, Coherence Properties and Casimir Forces Revisited in the Near Field

We review in this article the influence of surface waves on the thermally excited electromagnetic field. We study in particular the field emitted at subwalength distances of material surfaces. After reviewing the main properties of surface waves, we introduce the fluctuation-dissipation theorem that allows to model the fluctuating electromagnetic fields. We then analyse the contribution of these waves in a variety of phenomena. They give a leading contribution to the density of electromagnetic states, they produce both temporal coherence and spatial coherence in the near field of planar thermal sources. They can be used to modify radiative properties of surfaces and to design partially spatially coherent sources. Finally, we discuss the role of surface waves in the radiative heat transfer and the theory of dispersion forces at the subwavelength scale.Comment: Redig\'{e} \`{a} la fin de l'ann\'{e}e 2004. Accept\'{e} dans Surface Science Report

International Workshop on Implementation, Compilation, Optimization of Object-Oriented Languages, Programs and Systems - Report on the Workshop ICOOOLPS'2007 at ECOOP'07

ICOOOLPS'2007 was the second edition of the ECOOP-ICOOOLPS workshop. ICOOOLPS intends to bring researchers and practitioners both from academia and industry together, with a spirit of openness, to try and identify and begin to address the numerous and very varied issues of optimization. After a first successful edition, this second one put a stronger emphasis on exchanges and discussions amongst the participants, progressing on the bases set last year in Nantes. The workshop attendance was a success, since the 30-people limit we had set was reached about 2 weeks before the workshop itself. Some of the discussions (e.g .annotations) were so successful that they would required even more time than we were able to dedicate to them. That's one area we plan to further improve for the next edition

Lipopolysaccharide from crypt-specific core microbiota modulates the colonic epithelial proliferation-to-differentiation balance

We identified a crypt-specific core microbiota (CSCM) dominated by strictly aerobic, nonfermentative bacteria in murine cecal and proximal colonic (PC) crypts and hypothesized that, among its possible functions, it may affect epithelial regeneration. In the present work, we isolated representative CSCM strains using selective media based upon our initial 16S rRNA-based molecular identification (i.e., Acinetobacter, Delftia, and Stenotrophomonas). Their tropism for the crypt was confirmed, and their influence on epithelial regeneration was demonstrated in vivo by monocolonization of germfree mice. We also showed that lipopolysaccharide (LPS), through its endotoxin activity, was the dominant bacterial agonist controlling proliferation. The relevant molecular mechanisms were analyzed using colonic cryptderived organoids exposed to bacterial sonicates or highly purified LPS as agonists. We identified a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent program affecting crypts at different stages of epithelial differentiation. LPS played a dual role: it repressed cell proliferation through RIPK3-mediated necroptosis of stem cells and cells of the transit-amplifying compartment and concurrently enhanced cell differentiation, particularly the goblet cell lineage

The map-1 Gene Family in Root-Knot Nematodes, Meloidogyne spp.: A Set of Taxonomically Restricted Genes Specific to Clonal Species

Taxonomically restricted genes (TRGs), i.e., genes that are restricted to a limited subset of phylogenetically related organisms, may be important in adaptation. In parasitic organisms, TRG-encoded proteins are possible determinants of the specificity of host-parasite interactions. In the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita, the map-1 gene family encodes expansin-like proteins that are secreted into plant tissues during parasitism, thought to act as effectors to promote successful root infection. MAP-1 proteins exhibit a modular architecture, with variable number and arrangement of 58 and 13-aa domains in their central part. Here, we address the evolutionary origins of this gene family using a combination of bioinformatics and molecular biology approaches. Map-1 genes were solely identified in one single member of the phylum Nematoda, i.e., the genus Meloidogyne, and not detected in any other nematode, thus indicating that the map-1 gene family is indeed a TRG family. A phylogenetic analysis of the distribution of map-1 genes in RKNs further showed that these genes are specifically present in species that reproduce by mitotic parthenogenesis, with the exception of M. floridensis, and could not be detected in RKNs reproducing by either meiotic parthenogenesis or amphimixis. These results highlight the divergence between mitotic and meiotic RKN species as a critical transition in the evolutionary history of these parasites. Analysis of the sequence conservation and organization of repeated domains in map-1 genes suggests that gene duplication(s) together with domain loss/duplication have contributed to the evolution of the map-1 family, and that some strong selection mechanism may be acting upon these genes to maintain their functional role(s) in the specificity of the plant-RKN interactions

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion