A Review and Synthesis of the Outcomes from Low Carbon Networks Fund Projects

The Low Carbon Networks Fund (LCNF) was established by Ofgem in 2009 with an objective to “help Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) understand how they provide security of supply at value for money and facilitate transition to the low carbon economy”. The £500m fund operated in a tiered format, funding small scale projects as Tier 1 and running a Tier 2 annual competitive process to fund a smaller number of large projects. By 31st March 2015, forty Tier 1 projects and twenty-three Tier 2 projects had been approved with project budgets totalling £29.5m and £220.3m respectively. The LCNF governance arrangements state that projects should focus on the trialling of: new equipment (more specifically, that unproven in GB), novel arrangements or applications of existing equipment, novel operational practices, or novel commercial arrangements. The requirement that learning gained from projects could be disseminated was a key feature of the LCNF. The motivation for the review reported here was a recognition that significant learning and data had been generated from a large volume of project activity but, with so many individual reports published, that it was difficult for outside observers to identify clear messages with respect to the innovations investigated under the programme. This review is therefore intended to identify, categorise and synthesise the learning outcomes published by LCNF projects up to December 2015

Energy Spread of the Unstable State and Proton Decay Observation

Because of the extreme smallness of the energy spread of the unstable state describing the decaying proton, due in its turn to the anomalous smallness of the resonance width expected for the proton decay, the application of the Heisenberg time-energy relation predicts the measurement times for the proton decay observation to be so long as to forbid a "continuous" observation of the decay. This might account for the missing observation of the proton decay

Complementarity between Position and Momentum as a Consequence of Kochen-Specker Arguments

We give two simple Kochen-Specker arguments for complementary between the position and momentum components of spinless particles, arguments that are identical in structure to those given by Peres and Mermin for spin-1/2 particles.Comment: 4 pages, LaTe

Observables have no value: a no-go theorem for position and momentum observables

A very simple illustration of the Bell-Kochen-Specker contradiction is presented using continuous observables in infinite dimensional Hilbert space. It is shown that the assumption of the \emph{existence} of putative values for position and momentum observables for one single particle is incompatible with quantum mechanics.Comment: 6 pages, 1 Latex figure small corrections, refference and comments adde

Differential regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 and -2 by insulin in the baboon (Papio anubis) endometrium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of insulin on expression and synthesis of IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 in the baboon endometrium in vitro.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Baboon endometrial explants collected from cycling, ovariectomized, steroid-treated, simulated-pregnant and pregnant animals were cultured for 48 h in the presence or absence of insulin, with or without estradiol, progesterone and hCG.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Insulin clearly inhibited IGFBP-1 production and mRNA expression in a time- and dose-dependent manner, whereas IGFBP-2 synthesis was not significantly affected. The inhibitory effects of insulin on IGFBP-1 were more evident in explants of non-pregnant tissue or tissue away from the implantation site. In the absence of insulin, synthesis of IGFBP-1 was induced in explants with low levels of de novo synthesis whereas IGFBP-2 synthesis was inhibited. This effect was potentiated by steroids and hCG in the explant cultures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Insulin differentially regulates endometrial IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 secretion in the baboon.</p

Orbital migration of interacting low-mass planets in evolutionary radiative turbulent models

The torques exerted by a locally isothermal disk on an embedded planet lead to rapid inward migration. Recent work has shown that modeling the thermodynamics without the assumption of local isothermality reveals regions where the net torque on an embedded planet is positive, leading to outward migration of the planet. When a region with negative torque lies directly exterior to this, planets in the inner region migrate outwards and planets in the outer region migrate inwards, converging where the torque is zero. We incorporate the torques from an evolving non-isothermal disk into an N-body simulation to examine the behavior of planets or planetary embryos interacting in the convergence zone. We find that mutual interactions do not eject objects from the convergence zone. Small numbers of objects in a laminar disk settle into near resonant orbits that remain stable over the 10 Myr periods that we examine. However, either or both increasing the number of planets or including a correlated, stochastic force to represent turbulence drives orbit crossings and mergers in the convergence zone. These processes can build gas giant cores with masses of order ten Earth masses from sub-Earth mass embryos in 2-3 Myr.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Non-local quantum correlations and detection processes in QFT

Quantum detection processes in QFT must play a key role in the description of quantum field correlations, such as the appearance of entanglement, and of causal effects. We consider the detection in the case of a simple QFT model with a suitable interaction to exact treatment, consisting of a quantum scalar field coupled linearly to a classical scalar source. We then evaluate the response function to the field quanta of two-level point-like quantum model detectors, and analyze the effects of the approximation adopted in standard detection theory. We show that the use of the RWA, that characterizes the Glauber detection model, leads in the detector response to non-local terms corresponding to an instantaneously spreading of source effects over the whole space. Other detector models, obtained with non-standard or the no-application of RWA, give instead local responses to field quanta, apart from source independent vacuum contribution linked to preexisting correlations of zero-point field.Comment: 23 page

Introduction; An Overview: Energy and Policy

Includes an introduction to the theme of the journal issue and an overview of the problem. Introduction: This issue of Carolina planning focuses on energy. The magazine's coverage includes a number of policy alternatives pertinent to state, local, and national decision-makers in their deliberation over the energy problem. To provide some background information, the periodical begins with a short look at energy patterns and the institutional arrangements presently existing in North Carolina to manage resources. Next, an article and comment discusses national and state strategies for combatting a future petroleum crisis like the 1973 Arab oil embargo. Then, the benefits of a peak load pricing scheme are explained and proposed for North Carolina utilities. Following, are three articles on two widely discussed alternative energy forms: the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor and solar energy. The magazine concludes with an elaboration on energy conservation and the special role local governments might play in the effort. This collection, we feel, provides a broadly-based, yet in-depth assessment of important aspects of the state's and nation's energy problems, from the point of view of the planner, government official, and citizen. An Overview: Over the past three decades, North Carolina, like the rest of the nation, has seen a spectacular rise in the consumption of energy. What are the major forms of energy use in North Carolina? Basically, the state's power comes from four sources: electricity (which is generated from coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, and fuel oil power), natural gas, gasoline, and fuel oil. How do the trends for each source measure up, and what plans are being made for management of the state's energy resources? The following description presents a brief overview of the existing situation, in terms of demand and supply of existing resources, and their management, in order to provide background information for this energy issue