447 research outputs found

    ANALIZING WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE IMPACTS USING A MULTINOMIAL LOGIT LAND USE MODEL

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    We develop a two-stage, multinomial logit model of UK land use to investigate the impact of policy changes upon agriculture. The model utilizes a large panel database covering the entirety of England and Wales for 14 years between 1969 and 2004 integrated with the economic and physical environment determinants of all major agricultural land use types. Our model performs well in out-of-sample prediction of current land use and we use it to assess a proposed implementation of the Water Framework Directive via a tax on fertilizer. Results indicate that such policy change would generate substantial switching from arable to grassland systems, reducing significantly the amount of nitrate leaching into UK water-bodies.Water Framework Directive, Land use models, Discrete choice models, Multinomial logit, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

    Thermocurrents and their Role in high Q Cavity Performance

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    Over the past years it became evident that the quality factor of a superconducting cavity is not only determined by its surface preparation procedure, but is also influenced by the way the cavity is cooled down. Moreover, different data sets exists, some of them indicate that a slow cool-down through the critical temperature is favourable while other data states the exact opposite. Even so there where speculations and some models about the role of thermo-currents and flux-pinning, the difference in behaviour remained a mystery. In this paper we will for the first time present a consistent theoretical model which we confirmed by data that describes the role of thermo-currents, driven by temperature gradients and material transitions. We will clearly show how they impact the quality factor of a cavity, discuss our findings, relate it to findings at other labs and develop mitigation strategies which especially addresses the issue of achieving high quality factors of so-called nitrogen doped cavities in horizontal test

    An 8 GeV Linac as the Booster Replacement in the Fermilab Power Upgrade: a Snowmass 2021 White Paper

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    Following the PIP-II 800 MeV Linac, Fermilab will need an accelerator that extends from that linac to the MI injection energy of ~8 GeV, completing the modernization of the Fermilab high-intensity accelerator complex. This will maximize the beam available for neutrino production for the long baseline DUNE experiment to greater than 2.5 MW and enable a next generation of intensity frontier experiments. In this white paper, we propose an 8 GeV Linac for that purpose. The Linac consists of an extension of the PIP-II Linac to 2.4 GeV using PIP-II 650 MHz SRF cryomodules, followed by a 2.4-->8.0 GeV Linac composed of 1300 MHz SRF cryomodules, based upon the LCLS-II cryomodules developed at Fermilab. The 8 GeV Linac will incorporate recent improvements in SRF technology. The research needed to implement this Linac is described.Comment: contribution to Snowmass 202

    Life cycle assessment of emerging technologies: Evaluation techniques at different stages of market and technical maturity

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    Life cycle assessment (LCA) analysts are increasingly being asked to conduct life cycleâ based systems level analysis at the earliest stages of technology development. While early assessments provide the greatest opportunity to influence design and ultimately environmental performance, it is the stage with the least available data, greatest uncertainty, and a paucity of analytic tools for addressing these challenges. While the fundamental approach to conducting an LCA of emerging technologies is akin to that of LCA of existing technologies, emerging technologies pose additional challenges. In this paper, we present a broad set of market and technology characteristics that typically influence an LCA of emerging technologies and identify questions that researchers must address to account for the most important aspects of the systems they are studying. The paper presents: (a) guidance to identify the specific technology characteristics and dynamic market context that are most relevant and unique to a particular study, (b) an overview of the challenges faced by early stage assessments that are unique because of these conditions, (c) questions that researchers should ask themselves for such a study to be conducted, and (d) illustrative examples from the transportation sector to demonstrate the factors to consider when conducting LCAs of emerging technologies. The paper is intended to be used as an organizing platform to synthesize existing methods, procedures and insights and guide researchers, analysts and technology developer to better recognize key study design elements and to manage expectations of study outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154465/1/jiec12954-sup-0001-SuppMat.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154465/2/jiec12954.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154465/3/jiec12954_am.pd

    Pack light on the move: Exploitation and exploration in a dynamic environment

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    This paper revisits a recent study by Posen and Levinthal (Man Sci 58:587–601, 2012) on the exploration/exploitation tradeoff for a multi- armed bandit problem, where the reward probabilities undergo random shocks. We show that their analysis suffers two shortcomings: it assumes that learning is based on stale evidence, and it overlooks the steady state. We let the learning rule endogenously discard stale evidence, and we perform the long run analyses. The comparative study demonstrates that some of their conclusions must be qualified

    Stigma and Fear: the 'Psy Professional' in Cultural Artifacts

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    This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The loss of reason called madness provokes perhaps the greatest human fear, for it is reason that dignifies humanity and separates us from beasts. The ‘psy professionals’ - those who prescribe and administer treatments for madness - are frequently portrayed in fiction, film, comics, computer games and entertainments, along with the mad themselves and the asylums that confine them. Overall, these depictions are malign: the reader/watcher/player is encouraged to fear the mad, the madhouse and the mad-doctor. Choosing to use less abrasive vocabulary to name the condition of madness makes no difference to the terror the condition arouses, for the content of many books and games aims to inspire fear. In spite of considerable efforts over many years, the stigma which attaches to mental illness remains firmly in place for patients, while psy professionals also carry their share of “some of the discredit of the stigmatized” (Goffman 1968, p 43) and join patients in a stigmatized group. Popular belief often equates the psy professions with madness (Walter, 1989). This paper explores ways in which the fear of madness, and the stigma which clings to sufferers and their professional carers, is perpetuated by a constant stream of popular cultural artifacts
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