22,349 research outputs found
A Modelling Approach for Evaluating Agri-Environmental Policies at Sector Level
This paper presents a new approach to evaluate the cost effectiveness of agri-environmental policies at sector level. Policy uptake, cumulative environmental effects and public expenditure are identified as the main determinants of cost-effectiveness. On the basis of the sector-consistent, comparative-static, farm group model FARMIS, the determinants of policy cost-effectiveness at sector level are addressed. Firstly, intensity levels for the FARMIS activities are defined in order to model uptake of agri-environmental policies with FARMIS, secondly, life-cycle assessment data is attached to these intensity levels to determine environmental effects of the policies and thirdly, public expenditure is calculated under consideration of transaction costs. This paper concludes delineating the strengths and limitations of the approach
Effects of arcing due to spacecraft charging on spacecraft survival
A quantitative assessment of the hazard associated with spacecraft charging and arcing on spacecraft systems is presented. A literature survey on arc discharge thresholds and characteristics was done and gaps in the data and requirements for additional experiments were identified. Calculations of coupling of arc discharges into typical spacecraft systems were made and the susceptibility of typical spacecraft to disruption by arc discharges was investigated. Design guidelines and recommended practices to reduce or eliminate the threat of malfunction and failures due to spacecraft charging/arcing were summarized
The X-ray coronae of the two brightest galaxies in the Coma cluster
We use deep Chandra X-ray Observatory observations to examine the coronae of
the two brightest cluster galaxies in the Coma cluster of galaxies, NGC 4874
and NGC 4889. We find that NGC 4889 hosts a central depression in X-ray surface
brightness consistent with a cavity or pair of cavities of radius 0.6 kpc. If
the central cavity is associated with an AGN outburst and contains relativistic
material, its enthalpy should be around 5x10^55 erg. The implied heating power
of this cavity would be around an order of magnitude larger than the energy
lost by X-ray emission. It would be the smallest and youngest known cavity in a
brightest cluster galaxy and the lack of over pressuring implies heating is
still gentle. In contrast, NGC 4874 does not show any evidence for cavities,
although it hosts a well-known wide-angle-tail radio source which is visible
outside the region occupied by the X-ray corona. These two galaxies show that
AGN feedback can behave in varied ways in the same cluster environment.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, accepted by MNRA
A Chandra X-Ray Survey of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
We present results from Chandra observations of 14 ultraluminous infrared
galaxies (ULIRGs; log(L_IR/L_Sun) >= 12) with redshifts between 0.04 and 0.16.
The goals of the observations were to investigate any correlation between
infrared color or luminosity and the properties of the X-ray emission and to
attempt to determine whether these objects are powered by starbursts or active
galactic nuclei (AGNs). The sample contains approximately the same number of
high and low luminosity objects and ``warm'' and ``cool'' ULIRGs. All 14
galaxies were detected by Chandra. Our analysis shows that the X-ray emission
of the two Seyfert 1 galaxies in our sample are dominated by AGN. The remaining
12 sources are too faint for conventional spectral fitting to be applicable.
Hardness ratios were used to estimate the spectral properties of these faint
sources. The photon indices for our sample plus the Chandra-observed sample
from Ptak et al.(2003) peak in the range of 1.0-1.5, consistent with
expectations for X-ray binaries in a starburst, an absorbed AGN, or hot
bremsstrahlung from a starburst or AGN. The values of photon index for the
objects in our sample classified as Seyferts (type 1 or 2) are larger than 2,
while those classified as HII regions or LINERs tend to be less than 2. The
hard X-ray to far-infrared ratios for the 12 weak sources are similar to those
of starbursts, but we cannot rule out the possibility of absorbed, possibly
Compton-thick, AGNs in some of these objects. Two of these faint sources were
found to have X-ray counterparts to their double optical and infrared nuclei.Comment: 40 pages, 5 tables, 14 figures, accepted by Ap
A MATHEMATICAL SIMULATION TO STUDY PIKE TURN CHARACTERISTICS IN FRONT CRAWL SWIM
Swim turns represent an integral factor in determining the final outcome of a swimmer race. The aim of present study was to provide a comprehensive mathematical modelling for achieving kinematic parameters in freestyle flip (pike) turn. In proposed model all attempts have been applied to find out what swimmers should do in order that the turns are accomplished in shorter time. The mathematical model has been adopted to pike turn but can also be adopted to tuck turn with minor change in calculations. Theoretical considerations suggest that faster upper limbs rotation could lead to a torso pressure gradient, which would induce significant axial flow along the upper limbs toward the torso. Our results demonstrate the reality of the predicted rotational of body during front crawl swim pike turn. We hypothesize that in pike turn the body can be considered and simulated as two thin hinged prisms
Eddington-Born-Infeld action for dark energy and dark matter
We argue that Einstein gravity coupled to a Born-Infeld theory provides an
attractive candidate to represent dark matter and dark energy. For cosmological
models, the Born-Infeld field has an equation of state which interpolates
between matter, w=0 (small times), and a cosmological constant w=-1 (large
times). On galactic scales, the Born-Infeld field predicts asymptotically flat
rotation curves.Comment: A sign mistake in section on galactic scales is pointed out. This
sign invalidates the content of that section. See comment on manuscrip
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