Understanding interface effects in perovskite thin films

The control of matter properties (transport, magnetic, dielectric,...) using synthesis as thin films is strongly hindered by the lack of reliable theories, able to guide the design of new systems, through the understanding of the interface effects and of the way the substrate constraints are imposed to the material. The present paper analyses the energetic contributions at the interfaces, and proposes a model describing the microscopic mechanisms governing the interactions at an epitaxial interface between a manganite and another transition metal oxide in perovskite structure (as for instance $\rm SrTiO_3$). The model is checked against experimental results and literature analysis

Solving Polynomial Systems via a Stabilized Representation of Quotient Algebras

We consider the problem of finding the isolated common roots of a set of polynomial functions defining a zero-dimensional ideal I in a ring R of polynomials over C. We propose a general algebraic framework to find the solutions and to compute the structure of the quotient ring R/I from the null space of a Macaulay-type matrix. The affine dense, affine sparse, homogeneous and multi-homogeneous cases are treated. In the presented framework, the concept of a border basis is generalized by relaxing the conditions on the set of basis elements. This allows for algorithms to adapt the choice of basis in order to enhance the numerical stability. We present such an algorithm and show numerical results

International cooperation and the reform of public procurement policies

The decision not to launch negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on three of the Singapore Issues in the so-called July 2004 package provides an opportunity to revisit the knowledge base on which proposals for further international collective action may be drawn. This paper examines the available evidence on public procurement practices in developing countries that could be relevant to further multilateral rule making on state purchasing. Although there is considerable agreement on ends (efficient, non-corrupt, and transparent public purchasing systems), little information is available on means and, in particular, on the effective and replicable strategies that developing countries can adopt to improve their public procurement systems. A concerted effort to substantially add to the knowledge base on public procurement reforms in developing countries, through targeted research and international exchange of information on implemented procurement policies and outcomes, is critical to identifying areas where further binding multilateral disciplines may be beneficial.Government Procurement,Corruption&Anitcorruption Law,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,Pharmaceuticals&Pharmacoeconomics,Business in Development

Dissimilarity-based representation for radiomics applications

Radiomics is a term which refers to the analysis of the large amount of quantitative tumor features extracted from medical images to find useful predictive, diagnostic or prognostic information. Many recent studies have proved that radiomics can offer a lot of useful information that physicians cannot extract from the medical images and can be associated with other information like gene or protein data. However, most of the classification studies in radiomics report the use of feature selection methods without identifying the machine learning challenges behind radiomics. In this paper, we first show that the radiomics problem should be viewed as an high dimensional, low sample size, multi view learning problem, then we compare different solutions proposed in multi view learning for classifying radiomics data. Our experiments, conducted on several real world multi view datasets, show that the intermediate integration methods work significantly better than filter and embedded feature selection methods commonly used in radiomics.Comment: conference, 6 pages, 2 figure

Government procurement : Market access, transparency, and multilateral trade rules

The authors examine the effects on national welfare and market access of two public procurement practices-discrimination against foreign suppliers of goods and services and nontransparency of the procedures used to allocate government contracts to firms. Both types of policies have become prominent in international trade negotiations, including the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade talks. Traditionally, the focus of international trade agreements has been on market access. However, many developing countries have opposed the launch of negotiations to extend the principle of nondiscrimination to procurement. As a result, the current focus in the Doha Round is on an effort to launch discussions on agreeing to principles of transparency in procurement. While transparency will not constrain the ability of governments to discriminate in favor of domestic firms, it could nonetheless improve market access by reducing corruption. The authors assess and compare the impact of eliminating discrimination and fostering greater domestic competition in procurement markets and enhancing transparency in state contracting. Their analysis concludes that greater domestic competition on procurement markets and greater transparency will improve economic welfare. But there is no clear-cut effect on market access of ending discrimination or improving transparency. This mismatch between market access and welfare effects may account for the slower progress in negotiating procurement disciplines in trade agreements than for traditional border measures such as tariffs, given that market access is the driving force behind trade agreements.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Decentralization,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT

Height References in Hydrography

Geoid, ellipsoid, land levelling, mean sea level, lowest astronomical tide, are reference levels used by hydrographers. From survey to chart production, hydrography operational techniques, require precise levelling of chart datum with reference to one of these levels. This presupposes in one hand, precise definitions and, in the other, a critical assessment of consistency with general reference level requirements: stability, accessibility, precision.El geoide, el eiipsoide, la nivelaciôn terrestre, el nivel medio del mar, la bajamar astronômica mâs baja, son niveles de referenda utilizados en hidrografîa. Desde el levantamiento a la producciôn de cartas, las técnicas operativas utilizadas durante las tareas hidrogrâficas requieren la nivelaciôn précisa del dâtum de cartas con la referenda a uno de estos niveles. Esto presupone, por un lado, definiciones précisas y, por el otro, una evaluaciôn crîtica de la coherencia con los requerimientos del nivel de referenda en general: estabilidad, accesibilidad y precision.Géoïde, ellipsoïde, nivellement terrestre, niveau moyen de la mer, niveau des plus basses mers astronomiques, sont autant de références utilisées en hydrographie. Les techniques mises en oeuvre lors des travaux hydrographiques, depuis les levés jusqu’à la construction confection des cartes marines, nécessitent la cotation du zéro hydrographique par rapport à l'une ou l'autre de ces références. Cela suppose d ’une part des définitions précises, d'autre part une évaluation critique des critères de conformité relatifs à toute référence, à savoir: stabilité, accessibilité, précision

Injection of vacancies at metal grain boundaries during the oxidation of nickel

Nickel foils have been oxidised at 1000 °C on one side only in laboratory air, the other side being protected from oxidation by a reducing atmosphere. After the oxidation treatment, the unoxidised face was carefully examined by using an atomic force microscope. Grain boundaries grooves were characterised and their depth were compared to the ones obtained on the same sample heat treated in the reducing atmosphere during the same time. Grain boundaries grooves are found to be much deeper in the case of the single side oxidised samples. It is shown that this additional grooving is directly linked to the growth of the oxide scale on the opposite side and that it can be explained by the diffusion of the vacancies produced at the oxide scale–metal interface, across the entire sample through grain boundaries. Moreover, the comparison between single side oxidised samples and samples oxidised on both sides points out that voids in grain boundaries are only observed in this latter case proving the vacancies condensation in the metal when the two faces are oxidised