Supersymmetric Reflection Matrices

We briefly review the general structure of integrable particle theories in 1+1 dimensions having N=1 supersymmetry. Examples are specific perturbed superconformal field theories (of Yang-Lee type) and the N=1 supersymmetric sine-Gordon theory. We comment on the modifications that are required when the N=1 supersymmetry algebra contains non-trivial topological charges.Comment: 7 pages, Revtex, 2 figures, talk given at the International Seminar on Supersymmetry and Quantum Field Theory, dedicated to the memory of D.V.Volkov, Kharkov (Ukraine), January 5-7, 199

Betting practices among players in Portuguese championships: from cultural to illegal behaviours

The growth of the online sports betting market has generated new risk areas and threats to sport integrity, such as match-fixing. In recent years, institutional concern to fight against the phenomenon has been intensified and a set of countermeasures has been adopted. One of the most widely implemented measures to protect integrity in sport is to ban athletes and sports players from betting on the competitions in which they are involved. In some countries, such as Portugal, this practice has become a crime under the new legislation. Despite the legal and sporting restrictions and the prevention programmes carried out for sport institutions to explain the gambling rules, there are many athletes who are putting bets on their own competitions and even in their own games. Through interviews with key informant actors and ethnographic fieldwork, this article describes betting patterns among sports actors in Portugal and explains the perceptions and incentives that lead them to bet in their own sports, competitions and games. The results show different conceptions of integrity between the normative discourse on legal and sport governance institutions and sports actors’ opinion, essentially, the premise that suggest a direct link between betting on one’s own games and manipulation of these games. In some cases, betting in one’s own games helps to strengthen fair play values. However, the spreading of online betting, together with the perception of inefficient controls in the implementation of sporting and legal regulations, creates opportunity structures for fixing matches and taking financial profit though gambling activities.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

To report, or not to report? From code of silence suppositions within sport to public secrecy realities

One of the main obstacles to detect undesirable conducts such as manipulation of games and competitions, and to combat corrupt behaviour in the sports world is the existence of the so-called “code of silence” among the sport’s actors. Therefore, integrity educational campaigns, codes of conduct, ethics and disciplinary norms include the obligation to report any suspicion, approach, tentative or case of match-fixing. In some countries, such as Portugal, the obligation to denounce is incorporated into criminal law. Although several protected reporting channels have been implemented for sport institutions and federations to encourage whistle-blowing practices, the level of denouncement is still low. Through the analysis of official discourses, ethnography and interviews with key informants, this article demonstrates that despite the formal norms, reporting on corruption in sport, mainly match-fixing, is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences for the athletes’ career. More than a code of silence within sports, what exist is a series of public secrecies that deliberately recognize the existence of informal institutions that create and materialize those dangers. However, while integrity actors show awareness of the situation, the official narrative and formal norms avoid considering these problems and, moreover, throw this evidence out of the integrity narrative framework. The result is a delegitimate and non-realistic narrative that pushes sports actors to keep quiet more than promoting ethical behaviours and whistle-blowing.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Cultivating cannabis in a Paraguayan nature reserve: Incentives and moral justification for breaking the law

Paraguay has become the main cannabis producer in South America and one of the largest exporters in the world. Some investigations about the cultivation of marijuana in the country portray a cruel environment in which peasants are exploited in “almost feudal” conditions by intermediaries who buy their crops at unreasonably low prices. However, a group of peasants who use the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve as their labour area have created a safe and profitable ecosystem for developing their business. Based on interviews with key informants and visits to the area, the article describes the constraints and incentives that lead those peasants to engage in criminal activities, the strategies they have used to establish protective barriers, and the moral justifications that emerge as a result of their success in doing business. Although there are violent practices and extortion, we claim that the decision-making process to get involved in illegal markets is a free action influenced by alternative moral understandings that provide reasons and justifications for breaking the law. The moral map of these cannabis growers goes far beyond the mere economic justification of generating material resources and is related to economic, institutional, and social premises linked to a generalized aspiration of dignity and a life worth living. The functioning of informal institutions learned through previous interactions with state and non-state actors who regulate and protect the market, the perceived social approval/legitimation of the activity by referent groups, and the awareness of the capacity and skills necessary to successfully conduct the business have a crucial importance in the moral reformulation.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Contribuições do núcleo interinstitucional de agroecologia de Jaguariúna/SP em processos participativos de desenvolvimento rural sustentável.

Resumo: Neste relato apresentamos a experiência da construção de conhecimento agroecológico, desenvolvida na Embrapa Meio Ambiente, Jaguariúna-SP, realizada a partir de 2008. O trabalho contempla a criação e o desenvolvimento de um Núcleo de Agroecologia, interinstitucional e transdiciplinar, composto por pesquisadores, técnicos e agricultores. O objetivo do núcleo é promover, de forma participativa, ações para a evolução do processo de transição agroecológica regional e a construção do conhecimento agroecológico, a partir da identificação das questões limitantes do processo e da integração entre agentes de desenvolvimento regional e agricultores. Os membros do núcleo interinstitucional gerenciam uma área demonstrativa, denominada Sítio Agroecológico, utilizada para demonstrar concretamente conceitos e conhecimentos dos processos ecológicos nos sistemas produtivos, pela implantação, manutenção e monitoramento de unidades de observação. O Sítio configura-se como um elemento integrador do núcleo inteinstitucional, já que ao promover a troca de experiências entre os membros a partir do exercício prático e presencial de atividades em campo

Quantum Field Theory Description of Tunneling in the Integer Quantum Hall Effect

We study the tunneling between two quantum Hall systems, along a quasi one-dimensional interface. A detailed analysis relates microscopic parameters, characterizing the potential barrier, with the effective field theory model for the tunneling. It is shown that the phenomenon of fermion number fractionalization is expected to occur, either localized in conveniently modulated barriers or in the form of free excitations, once lattice effects are taken into account. This opens the experimental possibility of an observation of fractional charges with internal structure, close to the magnetic length scale. The coupling of the system to external gauge fields is performed, leading us to the exact quantization of the Hall conductivity at the interface. The field theory approach is well supported by a numerical diagonalization of the microscopic Hamiltonian.Comment: 34 pages, PUPT-1468. (3 figures available upon resquest to the authors at [email protected] or [email protected]

Differences in Perceptions of the Housing Cost Burden Among European Countries

In this article we perform a comparative analysis of the self-reported perception of the housing cost burden as an indicator of potential financial distress. We employ EU-SILC data on five European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – for years from 2005 to 2010. Wide differences emerge between Germany, France and the UK on the one hand, and Italy and Spain on the other. Estimation of the housing cost burden by means of logit models allows us to relate the probability of a high burden to both micro and macro-economic variables and to identify differences among countries. As for socio-economic variables, our results reveal the existence of life-cycle effects and a lower burden for homeowners. As for aggregate variables, GDP growth and higher consumer confidence contribute to reducing the probability of a high burden, whereas high levels of unemployment and inequality contribute to increase it. At country level, we observe differences in the size of the impact of the explanatory variables on the probability of perceiving a high burden, especially for covariates such as age, homeownership status and education

Avaliação da resistência à penetração em diferentes sistemas em lote de reforma agrária no município de Itapeva, SP.

O sistema vivo, complexo e dinâmico do solo tem sido, no ultimo século, considerado apenas um suporte inerte para a obtenção de lucro pela agricultura convencional e os passivos de degradação de sua estrutura física, química e biológica já são entraves à melhoria de qualidade de vida dos agricultores, dentro da realidade de escassez de recursos e assistência técnica dos assentamentos rurais do estado de São Paulo (PRIMAVESI, 2002; GLIESSMAN, 2009). Um dos legados do manejo inadequado com maquinaria pesada e cultivo intensivo, deixado nos solos da maioria das áreas destinadas à assentamentos rurais, é a compactação ou o chamado "pé-de-grande" (RAMOS FILHO e PELLEGRINI, 2006). A destruição da bioestrutura do solo compromete a estabilidade, resistência às intempéries, fornecimento de água e oxigênio para os cultivos e, portanto, constitui-se na principal causa dos problemas de produtividade na agricultura tropical (PRIMAVESI, 2002). Dentro deste contexto têm surgido nos últimos anos diversas iniciativas de alternativas de manejo agroecológico do solo na forma de sistemas agroflorestais (SAFs). Pelo fato de aliar no mesmo espaço e/ou tempo o cultivo de grande diversidade de espécies agrícolas anuais, florestais perenes, herbáceas, arbustivas e arbóreas, os SAFs imitam e se fundamentam na estrutura multiestratificada complexa e na dinâmica dos processos ecológicos de ecossistemas florestais naturais (PENEIREIRO et al., 2002). A camada de estratos acima do solo e a "capa" de folhas o protege dos impactos do sol, chuva e vento, evitando a destruição de sua estrutura, a sua erosão e compactação. A incorporação frequente de matéria orgânica reconstrói o solo e a camada ampla e complexa de raízes abaixo da superfície promove a descompactação, aeração e aumento da infiltração de água. Experiências de SAF com objetivo de aliar conservação do solo com produção agrícola vêm sendo construídas no assentamento Pirituba II, localizado no município de Itapeva, SP, cujo histórico anterior é de produção convencional de grãos com uso intensivo de maquinaria pesada em extensas áreas de monocultivo. O presente estudo foi realizado no lote dos agricultores João Pereira da Silva e Eva Conceição da Silva que tem trabalhado com agrofloresta desde 2006. Dentro deste contexto, o monitoramento do sistema por indicadores de sustentabilidade se constitui em uma ferramenta essencial de qualificação da experiência e de base para melhorias de práticas de manejo, indicando modificações em atributos-chave na dinâmica do agroecossistema (DEPONTI et al., 2002). Neste sentido o objetivo principal deste trabalho foi analisar os efeitos do uso e manejo agroecológico do solo na forma de SAF, através de medições com equipamento de medição de compactação, o penetrômetro