Ultrasonic triggering of giant magnetocaloric effect in MnAs thin films

Mechanical control of magnetic properties in magnetostrictive thin films offers the unexplored opportunity to employ surface wave acoustics in such a way that acoustic triggers dynamic magnetic effects. The strain-induced modulation of the magnetic anisotropy can play the role of a high frequency varying effective magnetic field leading to ultrasonic tuning of electronic and magnetic properties of nanostructured materials, eventually integrated in semiconductor technology. Here, we report about the opportunity to employ surface acoustic waves to trigger magnetocaloric effect in MnAs(100nm)/GaAs(001) thin films. During the MnAs magnetostructural phase transition, in an interval range around room temperature (0{\deg}C - 60{\deg}C), ultrasonic waves (170 MHz) are strongly attenuated by the phase coexistence (up to 150 dB/cm). We show that the giant magnetocaloric effect of MnAs is responsible of the observed phenomenon. By a simple anelastic model we describe the temperature and the external magnetic field dependence of such a huge ultrasound attenuation. Strain-manipulation of the magnetocaloric effect could be a further interesting route for dynamic and static caloritronics and spintronics applications in semiconductor technology

Adaptive density estimation for stationary processes

We propose an algorithm to estimate the common density $s$ of a stationary process $X_1,...,X_n$. We suppose that the process is either $\beta$ or $\tau$-mixing. We provide a model selection procedure based on a generalization of Mallows' $C_p$ and we prove oracle inequalities for the selected estimator under a few prior assumptions on the collection of models and on the mixing coefficients. We prove that our estimator is adaptive over a class of Besov spaces, namely, we prove that it achieves the same rates of convergence as in the i.i.d framework

Understanding the local structure of Eu3+- and Y3+-stabilized zirconia: insights from luminescence and X-ray absorption spectroscopic investigations

This study combines bulk structural and spectroscopic investigations of Eu$^{3+}$- or Y$^{3+}$/Eu$^{3+}$ co-doped tetragonal and cubic zirconia polymorphs to gain an indepth understanding of the solid solution formation process. Our bulk structural characterizations show that the dopant is homogenously distributed in the ZrO$_{2}$ host structure resulting in an increase of the bulk symmetry with increasing dopant substitution (from 8 to 26 mol%). The local site symmetry around the Eu$^{3+}$ dopant, however, determined with luminescence spectroscopy (TRLFS), remains low in all samples. Results obtained with X-ray pair distribution function and X-ray absorption spectroscopy show that the average coordination environment in the stabilized zirconia structures remains practically unchanged. Despite this very constant average dopant environment, siteselective TRLFS data show the presence of three nonequivalent Eu$^{3+}$ environments in the ZrO$_{2}$ solid structures. These Eu$^{3+}$ environments are assumed to arise from Eu$^{3+}$ incorporation at superficial sites, which increase in abundance as the size of the crystallites decrease, and incorporation on two bulk sites differing in the location of the oxygen vacancies with respect to the dopant cation

QTL mapping of carrot resistance to leaf blight with connected populations: stability across years and consequences for breeding

Combining biparental and multiparental connected population analyses was useful for the identification of 11 QTLs in two new genetic backgrounds of carrot resistance to Alternaria dauci and for breeding recommendations. Leaf blight due to the fungus Alternaria dauci is the major carrot foliar disease worldwide. Some resistance QTLs have been previously identified in one population, but the evaluation of additional genetic backgrounds with higher level of resistance would give opportunities for breeders to combine them by pyramiding. For this purpose, two segregating populations were evaluated twice across 4 years in the same environment (1) to compare the efficiency of the single vs. the connected populations approach for characterizing the new sources of carrot resistance to Alternaria dauci; (2) to evaluate the stability of QTLs over the years; and (3) to give recommendations to breeders for marker-assisted selection. Single and connected analyses were complementary; their combination allowed the detection of 11 QTLs. Connected analyses allowed the identification of common and specific QTLs among the two populations and the most favorable allele at each QTL. Important contrasts between allelic effects were observed with four and five most favorable alleles coming from the two resistant parental lines, whereas two other favorable alleles came from the susceptible parental line. While four QTLs were consistent across years, seven were detected within a single year. The heritabilities for both populations PC2 and PC3 were high (75 and 78 %, respectively), suggesting that the resistance of carrot to A. dauci was little affected by these environmental conditions, but the instability of QTL over years may be due to changing environmental conditions. The complementarity between these parental lines in terms of interesting allelic combinations is also discussed

Fecal coliform accumulation and depuration in the oyster Crassostrea gigas

Experiments on fecal coliform accumulation and depuration in the oyster Crassostrea gigas were performed under two seasons (winter, summer), under various conditions of bacterial concentration (from 101 to 103 CFU ml-1) and suspended matter (10 to 50 mg l-1). Contamination process in the bivalve is mainly influenced by the bacterial density in the seawater. Influence of suspended matter concentration was less effective. Maximal bacterial accumulation was reached within 30 min. in summer (18 °C) and 5 hours in winter (11 °C). Concerning depuration process a 10 fold decrease of initial contamination required 3 hours and a 100 fold decrease was achieved within 10 hours. Time required for depuration was mainly dependent on the initial bacterial concentration in the oyster

Detecting modules in dense weighted networks with the Potts method

We address the problem of multiresolution module detection in dense weighted networks, where the modular structure is encoded in the weights rather than topology. We discuss a weighted version of the q-state Potts method, which was originally introduced by Reichardt and Bornholdt. This weighted method can be directly applied to dense networks. We discuss the dependence of the resolution of the method on its tuning parameter and network properties, using sparse and dense weighted networks with built-in modules as example cases. Finally, we apply the method to data on stock price correlations, and show that the resulting modules correspond well to known structural properties of this correlation network.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. v2: 1 figure added, 1 reference added, minor changes. v3: 3 references added, minor change

Les Houches "Physics at TeV Colliders 2003" Beyond the Standard Model Working Group: Summary Report

The work contained herein constitutes a report of the ``Beyond the Standard Model'' working group for the Workshop "Physics at TeV Colliders", Les Houches, France, 26 May--6 June, 2003. The research presented is original, and was performed specifically for the workshop. Tools for calculations in the minimal supersymmetric standard model are presented, including a comparison of the dark matter relic density predicted by public codes. Reconstruction of supersymmetric particle masses at the LHC and a future linear collider facility is examined. Less orthodox supersymmetric signals such as non-pointing photons and R-parity violating signals are studied. Features of extra dimensional models are examined next, including measurement strategies for radions and Higgs', as well as the virtual effects of Kaluza Klein modes of gluons. An LHC search strategy for a heavy top found in many little Higgs model is presented and finally, there is an update on LHC $Z'$ studies.Comment: 113 pages, ed B.C. Allanach, v5 has changes to part XV