5,909 research outputs found
Anisotropic elasticity in confocal studies of colloidal crystals
We consider the theory of fluctuations of a colloidal solid observed in a
confocal slice. For a cubic crystal we study the evolution of the projected
elastic properties as a function of the anisotropy of the crystal using
numerical methods based on the fast Fourier transform. In certain situations of
high symmetry we find exact analytic results for the projected fluctuations.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Political risk in light rail transit PPP projects
Since 2003 public-private partnerships (PPPs) have
represented between 10 and 13.5% of the total investment
in public services in the UK. The macro-economic and
political benefits of PPPs were among the key drivers for
central government's decision to promote this form of
procurement to improve UK public services. Political
support for a PPP project is critical and is frequently cited as the most important critical success factor. This paper investigates the significance of political support and reviews the treatment of political risk in a business case by the public sector project sponsor for major UK-based light rail transit PPP projects during their development stage. The investigation demonstrates that in the early project stages it is not traditional quantitative Monte Carlo risk analysis that is important; rather it is the identification and representation of political support within a business case together with an understanding of how this information is then used to inform critical project decisions
From a fossil-fuel to a biobased economy : the politics of industrial biotechnology
Industrial biotechnology involves the replacement of petrochemical processes and inputs with more energy-efficient and renewable biological ones. It is already being used in the production of biofuels and bioplastics and has been touted as a means by which modern economies can be shifted toward a more competitive, low-carbon growth model. This paper does two things. First, it outlines the policy framework established in the European Union and the narrative of a knowledge-based bioeconomy (KBBE) underpinning this. Second, it argues that the âwin â winâ rhetoric contained within the KBBE narrative is misleading. Among the different groups commenting on the use of industrial biotechnology, the paper locates cleavages between farmers and agribusiness, between those convinced and those sceptical of environmental technofixes, and between procorporate and anticorporate NGOs. Taken together, they show the purported transition from a fossil-fuel to a bio-based economy to be a resolutely political one
The outsourcing of social care in Britain : what does it mean for voluntary sector workers?
While recent decades have witnessed a growth in the outsourcing of public services in Britain, the post-1997 UK Labour governments have sought to put in place mechanisms aimed at encouraging long-term collaborative contracting relationships marked by less reliance on cost-based competition. This article explores empirically how far these mechanisms have achieved their aims and thereby acted to protect the employment conditions of staff, and links this exploration to debates concerning the employment implications of organizational reforms within public sectors internationally. It concludes that in terms of bringing income security to the voluntary sector and stability to employment terms and conditions these efforts have been unsuccessful, and consequently casts doubts on more optimistic interpretations of the employment effects of organizational restructuring in the British public sector
On Local Approximations to the Nonlinear Evolution of Large-Scale Structure
We present a comparative analysis of several methods, known as local
Lagrangian approximations, which are aimed to the description of the nonlinear
evolution of large-scale structure. We have investigated various aspects of
these approximations, such as the evolution of a homogeneous ellipsoid,
collapse time as a function of initial conditions, and asymptotic behavior. As
one of the common features of the local approximations, we found that the
calculated collapse time decreases asymptotically with the inverse of the
initial shear. Using these approximations, we have computed the cosmological
mass function, finding reasonable agreement with N-body simulations and the
Press-Schechter formula.Comment: revised version with color figures, minor changes, accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 30 pages, 13 figure
A Compact Solid State Detector for Small Angle Particle Tracking
MIDAS (MIcrostrip Detector Array System) is a compact silicon tracking
telescope for charged particles emitted at small angles in intermediate energy
photonuclear reactions. It was realized to increase the angular acceptance of
the DAPHNE detector and used in an experimental program to check the
Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule at the Mainz electron microtron, MAMI. MIDAS
provides a trigger for charged hadrons, p/pi identification and particle
tracking in the region 7 deg < theta < 16 deg. In this paper we present the
main characteristics of MIDAS and its measured performances.Comment: 13 pages (9 figures). Submitted to NIM
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