Back diffusion of electrons in argon subjected to uniform time invariant orthogonal electric and magnetic fields

In this study, the processes of back diffusion in Ar subjected to crossed fields are analyzed by using the Monte Carlo simulation method in the E/N range of 50 to 500 Td (1 Td = 1 × 10–17 V cm2) for 0 \u3c B/N \u3c 25 × 10−19 T cm3. At a given constant E/N, escape factors decrease with an increasing crossed, reduced magnetic field B/N. This reduction in the escape factor is more pronounced in the lower E/N range. Furthermore, the mean number of collisions of back scattered electrons is quite large, and at a given E/N, the mean number of collisions decreases as the crossed B/N increases

Modeling institutional evolution

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper proposes a formal framework to analyze the process of institutional evolution in relation with economic progress. Institutions have both formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may exhibit varying processes of change. N is hypothesized to evolve with the level of capital stock, as in learning by doing, whereas F is chosen optimally by a government that maximizes output subject to social and political costs. F and N together define the production technology and affect the income level. Consistent with evidence, simulations of the model's solution reveal that optimum F exhibits a punctuated pattern. © 2012 Elsevier B.V

2-loop Functional Renormalization for elastic manifolds pinned by disorder in N dimensions

We study elastic manifolds in a N-dimensional random potential using functional RG. We extend to N>1 our previous construction of a field theory renormalizable to two loops. For isotropic disorder with O(N) symmetry we obtain the fixed point and roughness exponent to next order in epsilon=4-d, where d is the internal dimension of the manifold. Extrapolation to the directed polymer limit d=1 allows some handle on the strong coupling phase of the equivalent N-dimensional KPZ growth equation, and eventually suggests an upper critical dimension of about 2.5.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Macroeconomic Impact of Bank Regulation and Supervision: A cross-country investigation

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Bank regulation and supervision (RS) is a formal institutional mechanism that aims to reduce the adverse selection and moral hazard risks in the banking sector. This paper offers an empirical exploration of the relationship between banking-sector performance and RS using data on the legal quality of bank regulation and supervision. The main channels via which RS affects bank performance are considered to be depositor trust, investment mobilization, and borrower discipline. An event study of up to fifty-three countries provides robust evidence that RS has significant positive effects on bank deposits and investment rate and significant negative effects on nonperforming loans

Modeling Institutional Evolution

This paper proposes an original formal framework to analyze institutional evolution. Institutions have formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may evolve at different paces, although eventually converging towards each other through an dynamic interactive process. N evolves with capital accumulation, as in learning by doing, and F is optimally chosen by the government who maximizes output given the social and political costs of changing F. As transaction-cost-reducing mechanisms, F and N together define the production technology and affect the income level. As consistent with the evidence, calibrations of the model reveal that optimum F exhibits a punctuated equilibra.Institutional evolution, punctuated equilibria, growth

Trade, Technique and Composition Effects: What is Behind the Fall in World-Wide SO2 Emissions 1990-2000?

Combining unique data bases on emissions with sectoral output and employment data, we study the sources of the fall in world-wide SO2 emissions and estimate the impact of trade on emissions. Contrarily to concerns raised by environmentalists, an emission-decomposition exercise shows that scale effects are dominated by technique effects working towards a reduction in emissions. A second exercise comparing the actual trade situation with an autarky benchmark estimates that trade, by allowing clean countries to become net importers of emissions, leads to a 10% increase in world emissions with respect to autarky in 1990, a figure that shrinks to 3.5% in 2000. Additionally, back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that emissions related to transport are of the same magnitude. In a third exercise, we use linear programming to simulate extreme situations where world emissions are either maximal or minimal. It turns out that effective emissions correspond to a 90% reduction with respect to the worst case, but that another 80% reduction could be reached if emissions were minimal

Measuring the Quality of Bank Regulation and Supervision, with an Application to Transition Economies

This study develops a method to evaluate the quality of a legal framework for bank regulation and supervision (RS) by developing an extensive set of criteria and a coding system. Using this method, we generate an original set of measurements for RS by evaluating the letter of banking laws of 23 transition economies. In doing so, we also utilize the Basle guidelines on banking supervision and the related literature. The indices of RS indicate that legal banking reforms in Poland, Hungary and Estonia have been more ambitious than the rest of the countries in transition. In general, however, banking laws in transition economies indicate a lower regulatory and supervisory quality than indicated by the German banking law, if one is willing to choose the latter as a benchmark. This data set permits an empirical analysis of the relationship between legal RS and macroeconomic performance. The empirical evidence in the paper shows a significant positive relationship between RS and real GDP growth in transition economies.Bank regulation and supervision, growth, transition economies

Microbial protein out of thin air : fixation of nitrogen gas by an autotrophic hydrogen-oxidizing bacterial enrichment

For the production of edible microbial protein (MP), ammonia generated by the Haber-Bosch process or reclaimed ammonia from waste streams is typically considered as the nitrogen source. These processes for ammonia production are highly energy intensive. In this study, the potential for using nitrogen gas (N-2) as a direct nitrogen source for MP production by hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria (HOB) was evaluated. The use of N-2 versus ammonium as nitrogen source during the enrichment process resulted in differentiation of the bacterial community composition of the enrichments. A few previously unknown potential N-2-fixing HOB taxa (i.e., representatives of the genus Azonexus and the family Comamonadaceae) dominated the enrichments. The biomass yield of a N-2-fixing HOB enrichment was 30-50% lower than that of the ammonium-based HOB enrichment from the same inoculum source. The dried biomass of N-2-fixing HOB had a high protein content (62.0 +/- 6.3%) and an essential amino acid profile comparable to MP from ammonium-based HOB. MP from N-2-fixing HOB could potentially be produced in situ without entailing the emissions caused by ammonia production and transportation by conventional means. It could be a promising substitute for N-2-fixing protein-rich soybean because it has 70% higher protein content and double energy conversion efficiency from solar energy to biomass

End-use energy utilization efficiency of Nigerian residential sector

In this paper, the end-use efficiencies of the different energy carriers and the overall energy efficiency in the Nigerian residential sector (NRS) were estimated using energy and energy analysis. The energy and energy flows were considered from 2006 to 2011. The overall energy efficiency ranges from 19.15% in 2006 to 20.19% in 2011 with a mean of (19.96±0.23)% while the overall energy efficiency ranges from 4.34% in 2006 to 4.40% in 2011 with a mean of (4.31±0.059)%. The energy and energy efficiency margin was 15.58% with a marginal improvement of 0.07% and 0.02%, respectively when compared with previous results. The contribution of the energy carriers to the total energy and energy inputs were 1.45% and 1.43% for electricity, 1.95% and 3% for fossil fuel and 96.6% and 95.57% for bio-fuel. The result shows that approximately 65% of the residence use wood and biomass for domestic cooking and heating, and only a fraction of the residence have access to electricity. LPG was found to be the most efficient while kerosene, charcoal, wood and other biomass the least in this order. Electricity utilization energy efficiency is affected by vapor-compression air conditioning application apart from low potential energy applications. In addition, this paper has suggested alternatives in the end-use application and has demonstrated the relevance of energy analysis in enhancing sustainable energy policies and management and improved integration technique

Визуализация потока воздуха в вихревой трубе с использованием различных моделей турбулентности

Visualization of air flow in Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube performed by numerical simulations with standard k-ε and SAS-SST turbulence models is presented in the paper. SAS-SST turbulence model predicted the existence of secondary largescale vortex structures within the computational domain instead k-ε model showed axisymmetrical flow. Existence of large-scale secondary vortex structures is in agreement with experimental data.В статье представлены результаты визуализации потока воздуха в вихревой трубе Ранка-Хилша, выполненной с помощью численного моделирования. Были использованы k-ε и SAS-SST модели турбулентности. SAS-SST модель турбулентности показала наличие вторичных крупномасштабных вихревых структур в расчетном домене, в отличие от k-ε модели. Факт наличия крупномасштабных вторичных вихревых структур хорошо согласуется с экспериментальными данными