Replica trick with real replicas: A way to build in thermodynamic homogeneity

We use real replicas to investigate stability of thermodynamic homogeneity of the free energy of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model of spin glasses. Within the replica trick with the replica symmetric ansatz we show that the averaged free energy at low temperatures is not thermodynamically homogeneous. The demand of minimization of the inhomogeneity of thermodynamic potentials leads in a natural way to the hierarchical solution of the Parisi type. Conditions for the global thermodynamic homogeneity are derived and evaluated for the SK and $p$-spin infinite range models.Comment: 6 pages, presented at SPDSA2004 Hayama (Japan), to appear in Progr. Theor. Phy

Emerging Markets in Water: A Comparative Institutional Analysis of the Central Valley and Colorado-Big Thompson Projects

Water trading is a potential means to improve the productivity of developed water supplies and reconcile competing uses. Economic theory suggests that markets evolve in response to changes in supply and demand. This prediction is at odds with observed disparities in the pace of market development in regions facing similar pressures on scarce water resources. A dramatic example of this disparity is found in the regions served by the California Central Valley Project and the Colorado-Big Thompson Project.This article argues that the differences in market activity in the two areas can be explained largely by the underlying water allocation institutions. The article identifies key institutional features that affect the transaction costs of water trading and examines the rootsof the institutional diferences. The institutions governing market transactions today are largely a function of pre-existing property rights and political battles to build consensus and obtain federal financing for the projects. The article highlights the path-dependent nature of water allocation institutions and trading, but also suggests that complex inter-regional markets could still develop in California given ever-increasing competition for scarce water resources and advances in information technology that lower market transaction costs

Analysis of rheological behaviour of titanium feedstocks formulated with a water-soluble binder system for powder injection moulding

Binder selection and formulation are critical in powder injection moulding. Binders play a key role in controlling the rheological properties of a feedstock and influence whether the resulting feedstock can be successfully injection moulded, debound and sintered without defects. A four-step process was used to mix hydride-dehydride titanium alloy (processed) powder (Ti-6Al-4 V) with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) based water soluble binder system. The rheological properties, including flow behaviour index, flow activation energy, fluidity and melt flow index of the homogeneous feedstock, were determined with a capillary rheometer. All feedstock formulations exhibited shear thinning flow behaviour. The optimum feedstock consisting of 60 vol.% powder content, 32 vol.% PEG, 6 vol.% polyvinyl butyryl and 2 vol.% stearic acid was suitable for titanium injection moulding

An Investigation to Determine the Relationships among Self-Concept, Locus of Control, and Writing Achievement

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among self-concept, locus of control and writing achievement. The sample included sixty-seven students enrolled in eleventh-grade vocational English classes in a rural high school. The Self-Concept of Ability Scale was used to determine self-concept, the Intelligence Responsibility Questionnaire, to determine locus of control and the New York State Regents Competency Test in Writing to determine writing achievement. Data collected from these measures were statistically analyzed to determine correlation coefficients. No significant relationships were found between self-concept and locus of control, between locus of control and writing achievement or between self-concept and writing achievement. Further research was suggested using a more heterogeneous sample or different instruments to assess the variables. Differences between male and female students relative to the variables might also be determined

Re-Focusing the Basic Public Speaking Course: Changing to an Epideictic Framework to Create Community

This article will first look at five speeches given by various Nobel Prize winners to determine if speakers were asked to prepare and deliver something other than the traditional speech. Secondly, a review of Megan Smith’s legislator’s speeches, which were delivered in public and received media coverage, will be conducted. Lastly, this essay will suggest the reason for the new expectations and provide a new framework for public speaking courses

Agostinho Neto: Pure Poetic Discourse and Mobilization Rhetoric

Neto\u27s importance in relationship to the modern genre we will call militant or guerilla poetry and his considerable poetic gifts as well call for a mainstreaming of his literary contributions. Protest poetry might more aptly describe his oeuvre; the term is certainly a somewhat better representation of his content than guerilla poetry or poetry of combat. But whatever word is used to sum up that content, in the article on Neto one sees contextually how this talented poet fuses his ideologies with his structures, and intertextually how he avoids the diatribes, the invective and the stereotypically strident rhetoric of most guerilla poetry in a way scarcely imitated by his poetic counterparts. Selected details of his biography are also highlighted as they bear upon his poetry; e.g. his physician\u27s regard which is at stake in certain passages of Kinaxixi and Um aniversário

Jacobean Textile Design: Surviving (and Thriving) Through the Test of Time

Jacobean textile design sprang from the Tree of Life motif, an ancient design that carried religious symbolism for many early cultures. It represented a greater power and as such could provide protection and even fertility. When trade routes opened up between the East and West in the early 17th century, Europeans were eager for items made in the East and in particular for textiles from India embellished with The Tree of Life. This increase in trade provided a booming time for commerce. During the reign of James I in the early 1600’s, the English designers added their own creative touches to the Tree of Life, enhancing it with large, outrageous, exotic flowers, and highly designed leaves. Thus was born the Jacobean textile design. The textiles being imported into Europe from the East were expensive and therefore largely limited to the wealthy. As a result, textiles were often status symbols and considered to have considerable value, however, as technology advanced and textiles could be mass-produced more affordably, they became available to people of all economic groups. Over the years other artists, such as William Morris, have gained inspiration from the Jacobean textile design and made their own interpretations of it as well. Today, its complex arrangements of winding vines and fantasy flowers remain a popular design in home furnishings and other products

What\u27s Current in Asbestos Regulations

Asbestos, once valued as a superb insulator, is now recognized as a deadly carcinogen. The United States Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) estimates that 733,000 public and commercial buildings in the United States contain friable asbestos or asbestos-containing materials. Thus, it is not surprising that an avalanche of litigation has resulted from concerns over exposure to asbestos