1,664 research outputs found
A simple assessment of housing retrofit policies for the UK: what should succeed the energy company obligation?
Despite the need for large-scale retrofit of UK housing to meet emissions reduction targets, progress to date has been slow and domestic energy efficiency policies have struggled to accelerate housing retrofit processes. There is a need for housing retrofit policies that overcome key barriers within the retrofit sector while maintaining economic viability for customers, funding organizations, and effectively addressing UK emission reductions and fuel poverty targets. In this study, we use a simple assessment framework to assess three policies (the Variable Council Tax, the Variable Stamp Duty Land Tax, and Green Mortgage) proposed to replace the UK’s current major domestic retrofit programme known as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). We show that the Variable Council Tax and Green Mortgage proposals have the greatest potential for overcoming the main barriers to retrofit policies while maintaining economic viability and contributing to high-level UK targets. We also show that, while none of the assessed schemes are capable of overcoming all retrofit barriers on their own, a mix of all three policies could address most barriers and provide key benefits such as wide coverage of property markets, operation on existing financial infrastructures, and application of a “carrot-and-stick” approach to incentivize retrofit. Lastly, we indicate that the specific support and protection of fuel-poor households cannot be achieved by a mix of these policies and a complementary scheme focused on fuel-poor households is required
Vortex Fluctuations in High-Tc Films: Flux Noise Spectrum and Complex Impedance
The flux noise spectrum and complex impedance for a 500 {\AA} thick YBCO film
are measured and compared with predictions for two dimensional vortex
fluctuations. It is verified that the complex impedance and the flux noise
spectra are proportional to each other, that the logarithm of the flux noise
spectra for different temperatures has a common tangent with slope , and that the amplitude of the noise decreases as , where is
the height above the film at which the magnetic flux is measured. A crossover
from normal to anomalous vortex diffusion is indicated by the measurements and
is discussed in terms of a two-dimensional decoupling.Comment: 5 pages including 4 figures in two columns, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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Hybrid UCB banks in China – public storage as ethical biocapital
In China, under the heading of “private-for-public” banking, hybrid UCB banking has been politically supported by the government and is based on regulation developed since the 1990s. Although hybrid UCB banking was regarded as an “ethical” alternative to private UCB banking due to its accessibility to “the people”, this study, based on archival research and interviews with bankers, medical professionals, scientists and pregnant women contends that the practice of this ideal needs to be closely scrutinized. Analysing UCB bank networks in China in terms of “public biovalue” and “ethical biocapital”, we illustrate, first, how the synergy of public and private storage of UCB in hybrid models benefit private storage, and how transparency and oversight may increase donation and the uptake of UCB. Second, we describe the problems associated with this hybrid model. Finally, we show how the biovalue of public storage is used as ethical biocapital to buttress UCB networks
Factores cr?ticos de ?xito en los centros comerciales de Lima Metropolitana y el Callao
Durante la segunda mitad de la d?cada de 1990, se presentaron en el Per? condiciones favorables en lo econ?mico, social, pol?tico y tecnol?gico que fueron aprovechadas por inversionistas, principalmente extranjeros, para una paulatina expansi?n de centros comerciales. El a?o 1997 marc? el resurgimiento y expansi?n del sector comercio con la inauguraci?n del Jockey Plaza Shopping Center. Al a?o siguiente, se construy? el centro comercial Larcomar, financiado con similares caracter?sticas al Jockey Plaza. Sin embargo, el ?xito de ambos centros comerciales no fue de inmediato.Aunque contaban con la aceptaci?n del p?blico, debieron esperar algunos a?os para que se posicionaran en el mercado, lograran identificar las necesidades de los consumidores y adecuaran su oferta y su tenant mix a los requerimientos de cada segmento objetivo de consumidores. En la siguiente d?cada, la tendencia continu? con la construcci?n de Megaplaza Norte, Primavera Park & Plaza, Minka y Plaza Lima Sur. En vista de la expansi?n de los centros comerciales en Lima Metropolitana, la presente investigaci?n tiene como prop?sito describir la situaci?n actual de este nuevo sector, as? como analizar e identificar los factores cr?ticos que han determinado su ?xito, desarrollo, expansi?n y las perspectivas de su crecimiento. El estudio se hace a trav?s de un an?lisis comparativo con otros centros comerciales en Am?rica del Sur, as? como por medio de encuestas a retailers y consumidores en los 12 centros comerciales m?s importantes de Lima Metropolitana
Interactions, Distribution of Pinning Energies, and Transport in the Bose Glass Phase of Vortices in Superconductors
We study the ground state and low energy excitations of vortices pinned to
columnar defects in superconductors, taking into account the long--range
interaction between the fluxons. We consider the ``underfilled'' situation in
the Bose glass phase, where each flux line is attached to one of the defects,
while some pins remain unoccupied. By exploiting an analogy with disordered
semiconductors, we calculate the spatial configurations in the ground state, as
well as the distribution of pinning energies, using a zero--temperature Monte
Carlo algorithm minimizing the total energy with respect to all possible
one--vortex transfers. Intervortex repulsion leads to strong correlations
whenever the London penetration depth exceeds the fluxon spacing. A pronounced
peak appears in the static structure factor for low filling fractions . Interactions lead to a broad Coulomb gap in the distribution of
pinning energies near the chemical potential , separating
the occupied and empty pins. The vanishing of at leads to a
considerable reduction of variable--range hopping vortex transport by
correlated flux line pinning.Comment: 16 pages (twocolumn), revtex, 16 figures not appended, please contact
[email protected]
Combining QCD Matrix Elements at Next-to-Leading Order with Parton Showers in Electroproduction
We present a method to combine next-to-leading order (NLO) matrix elements in
QCD with leading logarithmic parton showers by applying a suitably modified
version of the phase-space-slicing method. The method consists of subsuming the
NLO corrections into a scale-dependent phase-space-slicing parameter, which is
then automatically adjusted to cut out the leading order, virtual, soft and
collinear contributions in the matrix element calculation. In this way a
positive NLO weight is obtained, which can be redistributed by a parton shower
algortihm. As an example, we display the method for single-jet inclusive cross
sections at O(alpha_s) in electroproduction. We numerically compare the
modified version of the phase-space-slicing method with the standard approach
and find very good agreement on the percent level.Comment: 21 pages, 2 eps figures. Revised section 2. To appear in PR
The Current-Temperature Phase Diagram of Layered Superconductors
The behavior of clean layered superconductors in the presence of a finite
electric current and in zero-magnetic field behavior is addressed. The
structure of the current temperature phase diagram and the properties of each
of the four regions will be explained. We will discuss the expected current
voltage and resistance characteristics of each region as well as the effects of
finite size and weak disorder on the phase diagram. In addition, the reason for
which a weakly non-ohmic region exists above the transition temperature will be
explained.Comment: 8 pages (RevTeX), 4 encapsulated postscript figure
Dynamic scaling for 2D superconductors, Josephson junction arrays and superfluids
The value of the dynamic critical exponent is studied for two-dimensional
superconducting, superfluid, and Josephson Junction array systems in zero
magnetic field via the Fisher-Fisher-Huse dynamic scaling. We find
, a relatively large value indicative of non-diffusive
dynamics. Universality of the scaling function is tested and confirmed for the
thinnest samples. We discuss the validity of the dynamic scaling analysis as
well as the previous studies of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition
in these systems, the results of which seem to be consistent with simple
diffusion (). Further studies are discussed and encouraged.Comment: 19 pages in two-column RevTex, 8 embedded EPS figure
QCD Coherence and the Top Quark Asymmetry
Coherent QCD radiation in the hadroproduction of top quark pairs leads to a
forward--backward asymmetry that grows more negative with increasing transverse
momentum of the pair. This feature is present in Monte Carlo event generators
with coherent parton showering, even though the production process is treated
at leading order and has no intrinsic asymmetry before showering. In addition,
depending on the treatment of recoils, showering can produce a positive
contribution to the inclusive asymmetry. We explain the origin of these
features, compare them in fixed-order calculations and the Herwig++, Pythia and
Sherpa event generators, and discuss their implications.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 2 table
Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV
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