Gamow shell-model calculations of drip-line oxygen isotopes

We employ the Gamow shell model (GSM) to describe low-lying states of the oxygen isotopes 24O and 25O. The many-body Schrodinger equation is solved starting from a two-body Hamiltonian defined by a renormalized low-momentum nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction, and a spherical Berggren basis. The Berggren basis treats bound, resonant, and continuum states on an equal footing, and is therefore an appropriate representation of loosely bound and unbound nuclear states near threshold. We show that such a basis is necessary in order to obtain a detailed and correct description of the low-lying 1+ and 2+ excited states in 24O. On the other hand, we find that a correct description of binding energy systematics of the ground states is driven by proper treatment and inclusion of many-body correlation effects. This is supported by the fact that we get 25O unstable with respect to 24O in both oscillator and Berggren representations starting from a 22O core. Furthermore, we show that the structure of these loosely bound or unbound isotopes are strongly influenced by the 1S0 component of the NN interaction. This has important consequences for our understanding of nuclear stability.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Time delay as a key to Apoptosis Induction in the p53 Network

A feedback mechanism that involves the proteins p53 and mdm2, induces cell death as a controled response to severe DNA damage. A minimal model for this mechanism demonstrates that the respone may be dynamic and connected with the time needed to translate the mdm2 protein. The response takes place if the dissociation constant k between p53 and mdm2 varies from its normal value. Although it is widely believed that it is an increase in k that triggers the response, we show that the experimental behaviour is better described by a decrease in the dissociation constant. The response is quite robust upon changes in the parameters of the system, as required by any control mechanism, except for few weak points, which could be connected with the onset of cancer

1/z-renormalization of the mean-field behavior of the dipole-coupled singlet-singlet system HoF_3

The two main characteristics of the holmium ions in HoF_3 are that their local electronic properties are dominated by two singlet states lying well below the remaining 4f-levels, and that the classical dipole-coupling is an order of magnitude larger than any other two-ion interactions between the Ho-moments. This combination makes the system particularly suitable for testing refinements of the mean-field theory. There are four Ho-ions per unit cell and the hyperfine coupled electronic and nuclear moments on the Ho-ions order in a ferrimagnetic structure at T_C=0.53 K. The corrections to the mean-field behavior of holmium triflouride, both in the paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic phase, have been calculated to first order in the high-density 1/z-expansion. The effective medium theory, which includes the effects of the single-site fluctuations, leads to a substantially improved description of the magnetic properties of HoF_3, in comparison with that based on the mean-field approximation.Comment: 26pp, plain-TeX, JJ

Priorities for sustainable turfgrass management: a research and industry perspective

This paper provides a brief review and assessment of the key environmental, regulatory and technical issues facing the turfgrass sector with specific reference to the European context. It considers the range of externalities or ‘drivers for change' facing the industry, and the challenges and opportunities available for promoting and achieving more sustainable turfgrass management within the sports, landscape and amenity sectors. The analysis confirms that there are a number of key areas where a concerted research and industrial effort is required. These include responding to the pressures from government demands for greater environmental regulation, the increasing pressure on natural resources (notably water, energy and land), the emerging role of turf management in supporting ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity, the continued need to promote integrated pest management, and the looming challenges posed by a changing climate, and urgent need to adapt. Whilst many of these externalities appear to be risks to the sports turf industry, there will also be significant opportunities, for those where the labour, energy and agronomic costs are minimized and where the drive to adopt a multifunctional approach to sportsturf management is embraced

Fear and its implications for stock markets

The value of stocks, indices and other assets, are examples of stochastic processes with unpredictable dynamics. In this paper, we discuss asymmetries in short term price movements that can not be associated with a long term positive trend. These empirical asymmetries predict that stock index drops are more common on a relatively short time scale than the corresponding raises. We present several empirical examples of such asymmetries. Furthermore, a simple model featuring occasional short periods of synchronized dropping prices for all stocks constituting the index is introduced with the aim of explaining these facts. The collective negative price movements are imagined triggered by external factors in our society, as well as internal to the economy, that create fear of the future among investors. This is parameterized by a ``fear factor'' defining the frequency of synchronized events. It is demonstrated that such a simple fear factor model can reproduce several empirical facts concerning index asymmetries. It is also pointed out that in its simplest form, the model has certain shortcomings.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to the Proceedings of Applications of Physics in Financial Analysis 5, Turin 200

A stochastic theory for temporal fluctuations in self-organized critical systems

A stochastic theory for the toppling activity in sandpile models is developed, based on a simple mean-field assumption about the toppling process. The theory describes the process as an anti-persistent Gaussian walk, where the diffusion coefficient is proportional to the activity. It is formulated as a generalization of the It\^{o} stochastic differential equation with an anti-persistent fractional Gaussian noise source. An essential element of the theory is re-scaling to obtain a proper thermodynamic limit, and it captures all temporal features of the toppling process obtained by numerical simulation of the Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile in this limit.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Bursts and Shocks in a Continuum Shell Model

We study a "burst" event, i. e. the evolution of an initial condition having support only in a finite interval of k-space, in the continuum shell model due to Parisi. We show that the continuum equation without forcing or dissipation can be explicitly written in characteristic form and that the right and left moving parts can be solved exactly. When this is supplemented by the appropriate shock condition it is possible to find the asymptotic form of the burst.Comment: 15 pages, 2 eps figures included, Latex 2e. Contribution to the proceedings of the conference: Disorder and Chaos, in honour of Giovanni Paladin, September 22-24, 1997, in Rom

Vortices Clustering: The Origin of the Second Peak in the Magnetisation Loops of High Temperature Superconductors

We study vortex clustering in type II Superconductors. We demonstrate that the ``second peak'' observed in magnetisation loops may be a dynamical effect associated with a density driven instability of the vortex system. At the microscopic level the instability shows up as the clustering of individual vortices at (rare) preferential regions of the pinning potential. In the limit of quasi-static ramping the instability is related to a phase transition in the equilibrium vortex system.Comment: 11 pages + 3 figure

Determining consumer expectations, attitudes and buying behaviour towards “low input” and organic foods

This paper reviews the first results and achievements of the QLIF SP1 “Determining consumer expectations and attitudes towards organic/low input food quality and safety”. The paper aims to illustrate the array of methodologies used and to discuss the ongoing research in light of the first results