Infrared and magnetic characterization of the multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6 thin films in a broad temperature range

Infrared reflectance spectra of an epitaxial Bi2FeCrO6 thin film prepared by pulsed laser deposition on LaAlO3 substrate were recorded between 10 and 900 K. No evidence for a phase transition to the paraelectric phase was observed, but some phonon anomalies were revealed near 600 K. Most of the polar modes exhibit only a gradual softening, which results in a continuous increase of the static permittivity on heating. It indicates that the ferroelectric phase transition should occur somewhere above 900 K. Magnetic measurements performed up to 1000 K, revealed a possible magnetic phase transition between 600 and 800 K, but the exact critical temperature cannot be determined due to a strong diamagnetic signal from the substrate. Nevertheless, our experimental data show that the B-site ordered Bi2FeCrO6 is one of the rare high-temperature multiferroics.Comment: subm. to PR

A Match in Time Saves Nine: Deterministic Online Matching With Delays

We consider the problem of online Min-cost Perfect Matching with Delays (MPMD) introduced by Emek et al. (STOC 2016). In this problem, an even number of requests appear in a metric space at different times and the goal of an online algorithm is to match them in pairs. In contrast to traditional online matching problems, in MPMD all requests appear online and an algorithm can match any pair of requests, but such decision may be delayed (e.g., to find a better match). The cost is the sum of matching distances and the introduced delays. We present the first deterministic online algorithm for this problem. Its competitive ratio is $O(m^{\log_2 5.5})$ $= O(m^{2.46})$, where $2 m$ is the number of requests. This is polynomial in the number of metric space points if all requests are given at different points. In particular, the bound does not depend on other parameters of the metric, such as its aspect ratio. Unlike previous (randomized) solutions for the MPMD problem, our algorithm does not need to know the metric space in advance

Development of expressed sequence tag and expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat marker resources for Musa acuminata.

Banana (Musa acuminata) is a crop contributing to global food security. Many varieties lack resistance to biotic stresses, due to sterility and narrow genetic background. The objective of this study was to develop an expressed sequence tag (EST) database of transcripts expressed during compatible and incompatible banana-Mycosphaerella fijiensis (Mf) interactions. Black leaf streak disease (BLSD), caused by Mf, is a destructive disease of banana. Microsatellite markers were developed as a resource for crop improvement

The many faces of graph dynamics

International audienceThe topological structure of complex networks has fascinated researchers for several decades, resulting in the discovery of many universal properties and reoccurring characteristics of different kinds of networks. However, much less is known today about the network dynamics: indeed, complex networks in reality are not static, but rather dynamically evolve over time. Our paper is motivated by the empirical observation that network evolution patterns seem far from random, but exhibit structure. Moreover, the specific patterns appear to depend on the network type, contradicting the existence of a " one fits it all " model. However, we still lack observables to quantify these intuitions, as well as metrics to compare graph evolutions. Such observables and metrics are needed for extrapolating or predicting evolutions, as well as for interpolating graph evolutions. To explore the many faces of graph dynamics and to quantify temporal changes, this paper suggests to build upon the concept of centrality, a measure of node importance in a network. In particular, we introduce the notion of centrality distance, a natural similarity measure for two graphs which depends on a given centrality, characterizing the graph type. Intuitively, centrality distances reflect the extent to which (non-anonymous) node roles are different or, in case of dynamic graphs, have changed over time, between two graphs. We evaluate the centrality distance approach for five evolutionary models and seven real-world social and physical networks. Our results empirically show the usefulness of centrality distances for characterizing graph dynamics compared to a null-model of random evolution, and highlight the differences between the considered scenarios. Interestingly, our approach allows us to compare the dynamics of very different networks, in terms of scale and evolution speed

Development of expressed sequence tag and expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat marker resources for Musa acuminata.

Banana (Musa acuminata) is a crop contributing to global food security. Many varieties lack resistance to biotic stresses, due to sterility and narrow genetic background. The objective of this study was to develop an expressed sequence tag (EST) database of transcripts expressed during compatible and incompatible banana-Mycosphaerella fijiensis (Mf) interactions. Black leaf streak disease (BLSD), caused by Mf, is a destructive disease of banana. Microsatellite markers were developed as a resource for crop improvement.201