Regulatory Highlights – The Year 2016 In Review and Implications for 2017

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (“PUCT” or “Commission”) started out last year much the same way that it is starting out this year—the key item on its agenda will be the sale of Oncor Electric Delivery, LLC out of the EFH bankruptcy—however this sale will be to NextEra Energy Resources, LLC instead of two entities spearheaded by the Hunt family. Many of the other key issues initiated in 2016 have carried over into 2017, including the implications of Reliability Must Run, the determination of a standard for reliability, and the use and deployment of both distributed generation and emergency response service, and possible transitions of Lubbock Power & Light (“LP&L”) and Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative (“Rayburn”) load into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”). A review and discussion of these issues demonstrates that the market design, which continues to evolve around many of the same key issues and in particular renewable development, is influenced by legislative changes, agency guidance and changes to rules.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

Examining the Analytic Structure of Green's Functions: Massive Parallel Complex Integration using GPUs

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are employed for a numerical determination of the analytic structure of two-point correlation functions of Quantum Field Theories. These functions are represented through integrals in d-dimensional Euclidean momentum space. Such integrals can in general not be solved analytically, and therefore one has to rely on numerical procedures to extract their analytic structures if needed. After describing the general outline of the corresponding algorithm we demonstrate the procedure by providing a completely worked-out example in four dimensions for which an exact solution exists. We resolve the analytic structure by highly parallel evaluation of the correlation functions momentum space integral in the complex plane. The (logarithmically) divergent integral is regularized by applying a BPHZ-like Taylor subtraction to the integrand. We find perfect agreement with the exact solution. The fact that each point in the complex plane does not need any information from other points makes this a perfect candidate for GPU treatment. A significant gain in speed as compared to sequential execution is obtained. We also provide typical running times on several GPUs.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Restructuring of Agribusiness in the CEE Countries Following the Transition

The foreign direct investment (FDI) is a form of the capital flow having several century traditions. In the privatization as well as modernization of economies following the economic and political transition of the countries in the Central and Eastern Europe at the 1990s the role of the foreign direct investment was significant. According to the research, besides to the general positive effects of the FDI (production culture, market demand orientated product and technology innovation, supplier nets of SMEs, diffused know-how, quality demands, etc.) also led to economic dependency as well as market structure deformations (see oil industry, sugar industry, retail chains). The point of view of sectors the foreign direct investment has flowed insignificantly into the agriculture (raw material production), while it has been significant into the food industry. The paper discusses the relations as well as causes of them.Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of a dilute two-dimensional electron system exhibiting Rashba spin splitting

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) at 5 K in B-fields up to 7 T, we investigate the local density of states of a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) created by Cs adsorption on p-type InSb(110). The 2DES, which in contrast to previous STS studies exhibits a 2D Fermi level, shows standing waves at B = 0 T with corrugations decreasing with energy and with wave numbers in accordance with theory. In magnetic field percolating drift states are observed within the disorder broadened Landau levels. Due to the large electric field perpendicular to the surface, a beating pattern of the Landau levels is found and explained quantitatively by Rashba spin splitting within the lowest 2DES subband. The Rashba splitting does not contribute significantly to the standing wave patterns in accordance with theory.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

The Archaeology of Jemez Resistance and Revitalization in the Pueblo Revolt Era

Anthropolog

Fraud and First Amendment Protections of False Speech: How United States v. Alvarez Impacts Constitutional Challenges to Ag-Gag Laws

This article first explains the background and functions of undercover investigations of agricultural production facilities, and explains the bases upon which states pass laws intended to prevent these investigations. It then gives a background of research already conducted on the constitutionality of Ag-Gag laws, and examines the relevance of the Supreme Court case Alvarez. Based on the analysis provided in Alvarez, the article demonstrates that Ag-Gag laws would not be exempt from heightened First Amendment scrutiny as fraud statutes. Moreover, it demonstrates that, in particular, the Iowa and Utah Ag-Gag laws would not survive the heightened scrutiny outlined in Alvarez

The Innovative Materiality of Revitalization Movements: Lessons from the Pueblo Revolt of 1680

Although Wallace’s revitalization movement model has been successfully utilized in scores of ethnographic and ethnohistorical studies of societies throughout the world, revitalization is considerably less well-documented in archaeological contexts. An examination of the materiality of revitalization movements affords an opportunity to redress this lack by investigating how material culture creates and constrains revitalization phenomena. In this article I reconsider the revitalization model through a case study focusing on the archaeology of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, emphasizing the central role of materiality in the formation and mediation of these movements. In doing so, I examine the archaeological signatures of revitalization movements, concluding that they are highly negotiated and heterogeneous phenomena and that the materiality of these episodes cultivates cultural innovation. I also seek to demonstrate that the distinctive types of material culture produced through revitalization are not epiphenomenal but, rather, are crucially constitutive of revitalizing processes.Anthropolog

The Battle of Astialakwa: Conflict Archaeology of the Spanish Reconquest in Northern New Mexico

Anthropolog