Vector meson production in pp collisions at s=7 TeV\sqrt{s}=7\rm{~TeV}, measured with the ALICE detector

Vector mesons are key probes of the hot and dense state of strongly interacting matter produced in heavy ion collisions. Their dileptonic decay channel is particularly suitable for these studies, since dileptons have negligible final state interactions in hadronic matter. A preliminary measurement of the $\phi$ and $\omega$ differential cross sections was performed by the ALICE experiment in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV, through their decay in muon pairs. The $p_{\rm T}$ and rapidity regions covered in this analysis are $p_{\rm T}>1$ GeV$/c$ and $2.5 < y < 4$.Comment: 4 pages, 4, figures, proceedings of the Quark Matter 2011 conferenc

Erosion resistant coatings

Apparatus for measuring the resistance of materials to erosion is examined and a scheme for standardization of the test parameters is described. Current materials being used for protecting aircraft parts from erosion are surveyed, their chief characteristics being given. The superior properties of urethane coatings are pointed out. The complete cycle for painting areas subject to erosion is described

Instanton theory for bosons in disordered speckle potential

We study the tail of the spectrum for non-interacting bosons in a blue-detuned random speckle potential. Using an instanton approach we derive the asymptotic behavior of the density of states in d dimensions. The leading corrections resulting from fluctuations around the saddle point solution are obtained by means of the Gel'fand-Yaglom method generalized to functional determinants with zero modes. We find a good agreement with the results of numerical simulations in one dimension. The effect of weak repulsive interactions in the Lifshitz tail is also discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, revtex

Wave function correlations and the AC conductivity of disordered wires beyond the Mott-Berezinskii law

In one-dimensional disordered wires electronic states are localized at any energy. Correlations of the states at close positive energies and the AC conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$ in the limit of small frequency are described by the Mott-Berezinskii theory. We revisit the instanton approach to the statistics of wave functions and AC transport valid in the tails of the spectrum (large negative energies). Applying our recent results on functional determinants, we calculate exactly the integral over gaussian fluctuations around the exact two-instanton saddle point. We derive correlators of wave functions at different energies beyond the leading order in the energy difference. This allows us to calculate corrections to the Mott-Berezinskii law (the leading small frequency asymptotic behavior of $\sigma(\omega)$) which approximate the exact result in a broad range of $\omega$. We compare our results with the ones obtained for positive energies.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Editorial: new challenges In theory and practice of corporate governance

The aim of international conference “New Challenges in Corporate Governance: Theory And Practice” is to move the field closer to a global theory by advancing our understanding of corporate governance, which combines insights from the literature on firm governance bundles with insights from the national governance systems literature, investigating new perspectives and challenges for corporate governance and outlining possible scenarios of its development

Social innovation practices: focus on success factors for crowdfunding

This article explores what are the success factor for interaction with platforms of crowdfunding in Italy. Through a Principal Component Analysis we outline three variables and through a multiple regression analysis we demonstrate that the interaction on crowdfunding is positive correlated with socio-economic propensity and cultural level. The analysis has been conducted on a sample of 316 of projects funded in the Crowdfunding platform Produzioni dal Basso, the first platform born in Italy. We draw on SD logic and relationship marketing to underscore the importance of networks of actors and integration to create a co-creation of value. This view emphasizes the social and economic factors that influence, and are influenced by, crowdfundin

Why does the Jeans Swindle work?

When measuring the mass profile of any given cosmological structure through internal kinematics, the distant background density is always ignored. This trick is often refereed to as the "Jeans Swindle". Without this trick a divergent term from the background density renders the mass profile undefined, however, this trick has no formal justification. We show that when one includes the expansion of the Universe in the Jeans equation, a term appears which exactly cancels the divergent term from the background. We thereby establish a formal justification for using the Jeans Swindle.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Enterprise Risk Management, Corporate Governance And Systemic Risk: Some Research Perspectives

The general goal of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) processes is to generate economic value through the coverage of firm business risk, on the one hand, and by exploiting the positive side of uncertainty conditions, on the other hand. The increasing attention attributed to ERM in the creation of economic value has led to even greater interactions between risk management mechanisms and the corporate governance system. In other words, in the last two decades, the relationships between corporate governance and ERM increased since the ERM processes have been considered more and more as critical drivers to combine strategic objectives with relative low volatility of company performance. The basic idea is that a good corporate governance system must deal about specific risks along with their interactions and, at the same time, the firm’s business risk as a whole. Moreover, an efficient and effective ERM system provides clear information about linkages between strategic opportunities and risk exposure and offers tools able to manage in an optimal way the negative side of business risk (or downside risk) as wellas its positive side (or upside risk). Accordingly, extant studies concerning the relationships between ERM and corporate governance have been focusing on a micro-level of analyses (i.e., the individual organization) and, specifically, on a firm’s benefits that stem from the adoption of proper ERM processes that are consistent with corporate governance goals and are able to sustain the increase of economic value while maintaining a bearable business risk over time. From our initial analyses, a gap in literature arises. We argue that the interdependence between ERM and corporate governance may be analyzed from a broader point of view as well (i.e., the firm and its task environment composed by its suppliers, customers, and partners). In particular, our research idea is to enlarge traditional studies about interrelations between corporate governance and ERM taking into account whether such interrelations could be a driver of risk transfer from the focal organization to other organizations that belong to its task environment. Moreover, this study aims to deepen the mechanisms by which the transfer of risk from a focal organization to its task environment may foster the emergence of systemic risk, i.e., a macro risk coming from domino and/or network effects. Therefore, our paper aims to find new research areas by combining micro and macro issues tied to corporate governance, ERM and systemic risk. The starting point of our work is the three following assumptions: 1) The compliance of a firm to ERM processes as well as to corporate governance rules implies the reduction as much as possible of firm business risk; 2) The reduction of the firm business risk leads to externalizing the firm business risk through risk-sharing mechanisms; 3) The risk-sharing may arise like a driver of systemic risk especially in those industries featured by strong network interrelations. Starting from the above assumptions, the paper goal is to open a new research area which combines four academic fields (ERM, corporate governance, corporate finance, and macro-finance). So far, our initial findings tell us that the following research questions arise: RQ1: What are the conditions under which the transfer of business risk towards organizations that belong to a firm task environment is likely to become a source of systemic risk in a specific industry? RQ2: How does the capital structure of a focal firm affect its propensity to transfer business risk not only to commercial but also to financial stakeholders included in firm task environment? RQ3: How does the transfer of business risk influence the capital cost of the focal firm as well as of the organizations that absorbed such risk