1,019 research outputs found
Lifshitz-Slyozov Scaling For Late-Stage Coarsening With An Order-Parameter-Dependent Mobility
The coarsening dynamics of the Cahn-Hilliard equation with order-parameter
dependent mobility, , is addressed at
zero temperature in the Lifshitz-Slyozov limit where the minority phase
occupies a vanishingly small volume fraction. Despite the absence of bulk
diffusion for , the mean domain size is found to grow as , due to subdiffusive transport of the order parameter
through the majority phase. The domain-size distribution is determined
explicitly for the physically relevant case .Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, no figure
Riverine Carbon Cycling Over the Past Century in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States
Rivers are an important component of the terrestrial-aquatic ocean continuum as they serve as a conduit for transporting carbon from the land to the coastal ocean. It is essential to track the fate of this carbon, including how much carbon is buried in the riverbed, outgassed to the atmosphere, and exported to the ocean. However, it is often difficult to quantify these carbon transport processes on the watershed scale because observational data obtained by field surveys can only be used to estimate the magnitude of these processes at distinct points. In this study, we used a coupled terrestrial-aquatic ecosystem model to assess the century-long full carbon budget of the riverine ecosystem across the watersheds of Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. In addition, we examined the individual and combined impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on these terrestrial ecosystems and the resultant CO2emissions of their associated rivers. We found that climate variability and land conversion (from cropland to impervious surfaces and forest) are the most important factors governing the long-term change in riverine carbon dynamics. We also highlighted the importance of riverine CO2 emissions in the overall regional carbon budget
Board composition, ownership structure and financial distress: insights from UK FTSE 350
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the possible implications of compliance with corporate governance (CG) provisions, including board composition and ownership structures, on the firmâs likelihood of falling into financial distress.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a random-effects logistic regression model as a baseline analysis using a sample of 110 FTSE 350 manufacturing companies from 2014 to 2019. This technique is supported by conducting a two-stage Heckman regression model to overcome the potential existence of endogeneity problems.
Findings
The empirical evidence suggests that board composition and ownership structure are heterogeneously associated with financial distress probabilities in that they might have either reduced or increased the financial distress of the sampled firms. Specifically, board independence, board gender diversity, audit committee independence and institutional ownership negatively influence the likelihood of financial distress. In contrast, and consistent with the expectations, ownership concentration is positively attributed to financial distress, while the board size, audit committee size and managerial ownership have insignificant impacts on financial distress.
Originality/value
The study extends the existing body of knowledge by examining the collective effect of board characteristics and ownership structures on firmsâ financial distress likelihood among a sample of manufacturing firms within the FTSE 350 index post the 2008 global financial crisis and following the recent CG reforms in the UK during the study period from 2014 to 2019
Relative impacts of global changes and regional watershed changes on the inorganic carbon balance of the Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is a large coastal-plain estuary that has experienced considerable anthropogenic changeover the past century. At the regional scale, land-use change has doubled the nutrient input from rivers and led to an increase in riverine carbon and alkalinity. The bay has also experienced global changes, including the rise of atmospheric temperature and CO2. Here we seek to understand the relative impact of these changes on the inorganic carbon balance of the bay between the early 1900s and the early 2000s. We use a linked landâestuarineâocean modeling system that includes both inorganic and organic carbon and nitrogen cycling. Sensitivity experiments are performed to isolate the effect of changes in (1) atmospheric CO2, (2) temperature,(3) riverine nitrogen loading and (4) riverine carbon and alkalinity loading. Specifically, we find that over the past century global changes have increased ingassing by roughly the same amount (âŒ30 Gg-C yrâ1) as has the increased riverine loadings. While the former is due primarily to increases in atmospheric CO2, the latter results from increased net ecosystem production that enhances ingassing. Interestingly, these increases in ingassing are partially mitigated by increase temperatures and increased riverine carbon and alkalinity in-puts, both of which enhance outgassing. Overall, the bay has evolved over the century to take up more atmospheric CO2 and produce more organic carbon. These results suggest that over the past century, changes in riverine nutrient loads have played an important role in altering coastal carbon budgets, but that ongoing global changes have also substantially affected coastal carbonate chemistry
Impacts of Multiple Environmental Changes on LongâTerm Nitrogen Loading From the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Excessive nutrient inputs from land, particularly nitrogen (N), have been found to increase the occurrence of hypoxia and harmful algal blooms in coastal ecosystems. To identify the main contributors of increased N loading and evaluate the efficacy of water pollution control policies, it is essential to quantify and attribute the longâterm changes in riverine N export. Here, we use a stateâofâtheâart terrestrialâaquatic interface model to examine how multiple environmental factors may have affected N export from the Chesapeake Bay watershed since 1900. These factors include changes in climate, carbon dioxide, land use, and N inputs (i.e., atmospheric N deposition, animal manure, synthetic N fertilizer use, and wastewater discharge). Our results estimated that ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3â) export increased substantially (66% for NH4+ and 123% for NO3â) from the 1900s to the 1990s and then declined (32% for NH4+ and 14% for NO3â) since 2000. The temporal trend of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) export paralleled that of dissolved inorganic N, while particulate organic nitrogen export was relatively constant during 1900â2015. Precipitation was the primary driver of interannual variability in N export to the Bay. Wastewater discharge explained most of the longâterm change in riverine NH4+ and DON fluxes from 1900 to 2015. The changes in atmospheric deposition, wastewater, and synthetic fertilizer were responsible for the trend of riverine NO3â. In light of our modelâbased attribution analysis, terrestrial nonâpoint source nutrient management will play an important role in achieving water quality goals
Recent experimental results in sub- and near-barrier heavy ion fusion reactions
Recent advances obtained in the field of near and sub-barrier heavy-ion
fusion reactions are reviewed. Emphasis is given to the results obtained in the
last decade, and focus will be mainly on the experimental work performed
concerning the influence of transfer channels on fusion cross sections and the
hindrance phenomenon far below the barrier. Indeed, early data of sub-barrier
fusion taught us that cross sections may strongly depend on the low-energy
collective modes of the colliding nuclei, and, possibly, on couplings to
transfer channels. The coupled-channels (CC) model has been quite successful in
the interpretation of the experimental evidences. Fusion barrier distributions
often yield the fingerprint of the relevant coupled channels. Recent results
obtained by using radioactive beams are reported. At deep sub-barrier energies,
the slope of the excitation function in a semi-logarithmic plot keeps
increasing in many cases and standard CC calculations over-predict the cross
sections. This was named a hindrance phenomenon, and its physical origin is
still a matter of debate. Recent theoretical developments suggest that this
effect, at least partially, may be a consequence of the Pauli exclusion
principle. The hindrance may have far-reaching consequences in astrophysics
where fusion of light systems determines stellar evolution during the carbon
and oxygen burning stages, and yields important information for exotic
reactions that take place in the inner crust of accreting neutron stars.Comment: 40 pages, 63 figures, review paper accepted for EPJ
Electron spin as a spectrometer of nuclear spin noise and other fluctuations
This chapter describes the relationship between low frequency noise and
coherence decay of localized spins in semiconductors. Section 2 establishes a
direct relationship between an arbitrary noise spectral function and spin
coherence as measured by a number of pulse spin resonance sequences. Section 3
describes the electron-nuclear spin Hamiltonian, including isotropic and
anisotropic hyperfine interactions, inter-nuclear dipolar interactions, and the
effective Hamiltonian for nuclear-nuclear coupling mediated by the electron
spin hyperfine interaction. Section 4 describes a microscopic calculation of
the nuclear spin noise spectrum arising due to nuclear spin dipolar flip-flops
with quasiparticle broadening included. Section 5 compares our explicit
numerical results to electron spin echo decay experiments for phosphorus doped
silicon in natural and nuclear spin enriched samples.Comment: Book chapter in "Electron spin resonance and related phenomena in low
dimensional structures", edited by Marco Fanciulli. To be published by
Springer-Verlag in the TAP series. 35 pages, 9 figure
Bounds and optimisation of orbital angular momentum bandwidths within parametric down-conversion systems
The measurement of high-dimensional entangled states of orbital angular
momentum prepared by spontaneous parametric down-conversion can be considered
in two separate stages: a generation stage and a detection stage. Given a
certain number of generated modes, the number of measured modes is determined
by the measurement apparatus. We derive a simple relationship between the
generation and detection parameters and the number of measured entangled modes.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
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