1,480 research outputs found
Permits vs. Offsets Under Investment Uncertainty
A global crediting mechanism would enable developing countries without binding emissions reduction targets to participate in the international carbon market. Linking the framework on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) as an offset program to major cap-and-trade programs is a particularly promising approach to increase both climate finance and cost-efficiency. However, the coexistence of permits and offsets also creates a classic case of interaction effects. In this paper, we explore how the availability of multiple compliance instruments affects energy investment incentives. Alternative trading and linkage schemes are compared using a real options model of firm-level investment decisions under stochastic prices and the ability to delay investments. We first isolate the critical design factors that drive private investments in the energy sector. We then identify policy regimes that balance the different concerns in the polarized debate for and against the inclusion of forest carbon offsets
Limnogeologúa de Laguna Chungará y cambio climático durante el Holoceno superior en el altiplano chileno septentrional
[Resumen] El estudio sísmico de la Laguna Chungará (69° 30' O, 18° 15'S, 4520 m. s.n.m,
Altiplano chileno septentrional) y el análisis sedimentológico de varios sondeos ha permitido reconstruir la evolución de la sedimentación lacustre en el lago durante el Holoceno Superior. Se han identificado dos asociaciones de facies: i) litoral, más somera, compuesta por facies de turbera y in plataforma lacustre, más profunda, compuesta por facies con abundantes fragmentos de Characeae. Estas facies alternan en tres ciclos sedimentarios provocados por fluctuaciones en el nivel del lago. Estas variaciones hidrológicas en la laguna han sido causadas por cambios en el balance hídrico que a su vez reflejan importantes fluctuaciones
climáticas durante el Holoceno Superior.[Abstract] We reconstruct the Late Holocene sedimentary history of Laguna Chungará (69° 30' W, 18° 10'5, 4520 m.a.s.l., northern Chilean Altiplano) based on high resolution seismic profiling and sedimentologic analyses of cores. Two sedimentary facies associations have been defined and interpreted: n macrophytedominant littoral, composed of black muds with macrophyte remains and peaty muds, and in Characeae-dominant lacustrine self, composed of gray muds and sands with abundant Characeae remains. The two facies associations define three cycles caused by oscillations in the lake level from shallower (macrophyte) to deeper (Characeae) conditions. Changes in the hydrology of Laguna Chungará reflect variations in the effective moisture (precipitation - evaporation) in the Altiplano during the Late Holocene
High-temperature oxidation evaluation usingcrystal microbalance
High-temperature oxidising environments are frequently encountered but the limited number of in
situ techniques that can be implemented has hindered the monitoring possibilities and a better
comprehension of the oxidation phenomenon. In this paper, the high-temperature oxidation
behaviours of three alloys (AISI 316L, AISI 310 and HAYNES\uae HR-120\uae) were studied by using crystal
microbalances. Two types of crystal were tested: quartz or gallium orthophosphate crystals. First
the behaviour of thin sputtered deposited alloys on quartz slides was studied at 400 and 700\ub0C
under air oxidising conditions and compared to bulk samples. Kinetics measurements were
performed on the three alloy films deposited on the resonators at 400 or 700\ub0C: it was possible to
measure very small mass variations associated with thin oxide formation between 5 and 180 nm of
thickness. The crystal microbalance technique gives promising perspectives in understanding the
high-temperature corrosion and scaling mechanisms and also for in situ monitoring
Pentosan polysulfate inhibits atherosclerosis in watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits; differential modulation of metalloproteinase-2 and -9
Pentosan polysulfate (PPS), a heparinoid compound essentially devoid of anticoagulant activity, modulates cell growth and decreases inflammation. We investigated the effect of PPS on the progression of established atherosclerosis in Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits. After severe atherosclerosis developed on an atherogenic diet, WHHL rabbits were treated with oral PPS or tap water for 1 month. The aortic intima-to-media ratio and macrophage infiltration were reduced, plaque collagen content was increased, and plaque fibrous caps were preserved by PPS treatment. Plasma lipid levels and post-heparin hepatic lipase activity remained unchanged. However, net collagenolytic activity in aortic extracts was decreased, and the levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) activity were increased by PPS. Moreover, PPS treatment decreased tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)-stimulated proinflammatory responses, in particular activation of nuclear factor-κB and p38, and activation of MMPs in macrophages. In conclusion, oral PPS treatment prevents progression of established atherosclerosis in WHHL rabbits. This effect may be partially mediated by increased MMP-2 and TIMP activities in the aortic wall and reduced TNFα-stimulated inflammation and MMP activation in macrophages. Thus, PPS may be a useful agent in inhibiting the progression of atherosclerosis
Study of the Reliability of Statistical Timing Analysis for Real-Time Systems
Presented at 23rd International Conference on Real-Time Networks and Systems (RTNS 2015). 4 to 6, Nov, 2015, Main Track. Lille, France.Probabilistic and statistical temporal analyses have been developedas a means of determining the worst-case
execution and responsetimes of real-time software for decades. A number of such methodshave been proposed in
the literature, of which the majority claim tobe able to provide worst-case timing scenarios with respect to agiven
likelihood of a certain value being exceeded. Further, suchclaims are based on either some estimates associated
with a probability,or probability distributions with a certain level of confidence.However, the validity of the claims
are very much dependent on anumber of factors, such as the achieved samples and the adopteddistributions for
analysis.In this paper, we investigate whether the claims made are in facttrue as well as the establishing an
understanding of the factors thataffect the validity of these claims. The results are of importancefor two reasons:
to allow researchers to examine whether there areimportant issues that mean their techniques need to be refined;
andso that practitioners, including industrialists who are currently usingcommercial timing analysis tools based on
these types of techniques,understand how the techniques should be used to ensure theresults are fit for their
purposes
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Operationalising and measuring language dominance
The paper offers a new way to measure language ability in bilinguals, based on measures of lexical richness. The validity of proposed approach is tested in a variety of ways
Non-diagonal open spin-1/2 XXZ quantum chains by separation of variables: Complete spectrum and matrix elements of some quasi-local operators
The integrable quantum models, associated to the transfer matrices of the
6-vertex reflection algebra for spin 1/2 representations, are studied in this
paper. In the framework of Sklyanin's quantum separation of variables (SOV), we
provide the complete characterization of the eigenvalues and eigenstates of the
transfer matrix and the proof of the simplicity of the transfer matrix
spectrum. Moreover, we use these integrable quantum models as further key
examples for which to develop a method in the SOV framework to compute matrix
elements of local operators. This method has been introduced first in [1] and
then used also in [2], it is based on the resolution of the quantum inverse
problem (i.e. the reconstruction of all local operators in terms of the quantum
separate variables) plus the computation of the action of separate covectors on
separate vectors. In particular, for these integrable quantum models, which in
the homogeneous limit reproduce the open spin-1/2 XXZ quantum chains with
non-diagonal boundary conditions, we have obtained the SOV-reconstructions for
a class of quasi-local operators and determinant formulae for the
covector-vector actions. As consequence of these findings we provide one
determinant formulae for the matrix elements of this class of reconstructed
quasi-local operators on transfer matrix eigenstates.Comment: 40 pages. Minor modifications in the text and some notations and some
more reference adde
Dendritic Cells Cause Bone Lesions in a New Mouse Model of Histiocytosis.
Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease caused by the clonal accumulation of dendritic Langerhans cells, which is often accompanied by osteolytic lesions. It has been reported that osteoclast-like cells play a major role in the pathogenic bone destruction seen in patients with LCH and these cells are postulated to originate from the fusion of DCs. However, due to the lack of reliable animal models the pathogenesis of LCH is still poorly understood. In this study, we have established a mouse model of histiocytosis- recapitulating human disease for osteolytic lesions seen in LCH patients. At 12 weeks after birth, severe bone lesions were observed in our multisystem histiocytosis (Mushi) model, when CD8α conventional dendritic cells (DCs) are transformed (MuTuDC) and accumulate. Most importantly, our study demonstrates that bone loss in LCH can be accounted for the transdifferentiation of MuTuDCs into functional osteoclasts both in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, we have shown that injected MuTuDCs reverse the osteopetrotic phenotype of oc/oc mice in vivo. In conclusion, our results support a crucial role of DCs in bone lesions in histiocytosis patients. Furthermore, our new model of LCH based on adoptive transfer of MuTuDC lines, leading to bone lesions within 1-2 weeks, will be an important tool for investigating the pathophysiology of this disease and ultimately for evaluating the potential of anti-resorptive drugs for the treatment of bone lesions
Photoswitching in nanoporous, crystalline solids: an experimental and theoretical study for azobenzene linkers incorporated in MOFs
In this article, we use the popular photoswitchable molecule, azobenzene, to demonstrate that the embedding in a nanoporous, crystalline solid enables a precise understanding of light-induced, reversible molecular motion. We investigate two similar azobenzene-containing, pillared-layer metal–organic frameworks (MOFs): Cu2(AzoBPDC)2(BiPy) and Cu2(NDC)2(AzoBiPy). Experimental results from UV-vis spectroscopy and molecular uptake experiments as well as theoretical results based on density-functional theory (DFT) show that in the Cu2(AzoBPDC)2(BiPy) MOF structure, the azobenzene side groups undergo photoisomerization when irradiated with UV or visible light. In a very similar MOF structure, Cu2(NDC)2(AzoBiPy), the experimental studies show an unexpected absence of photoisomerization. The DFT calculations reveal that in both MOFs the initial and final states of the photoswitching process (the trans and the cis conformation) have similar energies, which strongly suggests that the reason for the effective blocking of photoswitching in the AzoBiPy-based MOFs must be related to the switching process itself. More detailed calculations show that in Cu2(NDC)2(AzoBiPy) a naphthalene linker from the molecular framework blocks the photoisomerization trajectory which leads from the trans to the cis conformation. For Cu2(AzoBPDC)2(BiPy), as a result of the different geometry, such a steric hindrance is absent
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