1,139 research outputs found
Implications of the SNO and the Homestake Results for the BOREXINO Experiment
Using the recent result of the SNO solar neutrino experiment, we have
demonstrated in a model independent way that the contribution of Be-7 and other
medium energy neutrinos to the event rate of the Homestake experiment is 4
sigma smaller than the BP2000 SSM prediction. We have considered the
implications of this result for the future BOREXINO experiment.Comment: 9 pages, no figure
Accaparement de terres et droits de l'homme: rôle des sociétés et des entités financières européennes dans l'accaparement de terres en dehors de l'Union européenne
Dans les travaux de recherche antérieurs sur l'accaparement de terres, les auteurs se sont
initialement intéressés aux sociétés étrangères investissant dans d'autres pays et ont mis
notamment l'accent sur les sociétés implantées dans des pays tels que la Chine, les États du
Golfe, la Corée du Sud et l'Inde. Ces dernières années, il est devenu évident que la palette des
pays d'origine des investisseurs fonciers est bien plus large et comprend des acteurs
implantés en Atlantique Nord et dans l'Union européenne. Dans la présente étude, nous
fournissons des données qualitatives et quantitatives pour illustrer le rôle des entités
financières et des sociétés établies dans l'Union européenne dans les transactions foncières
opérées en dehors de l'Union. Cette étude analyse également le phénomène international de
"ruée vers la terre" avec les droits de l'homme en arrière-plan, en examinant les répercussions
de certaines transactions foncières auxquelles des investisseurs basés dans l'Union
européenne participent, ainsi que leurs effets sur les populations qui vivent dans les secteurs
visés par les investissements. Ces recherches s'appuient en partie sur l'étude réalisée en 2014
par Cotula sur les facteurs favorisant l'accaparement de terres et les répercussions de ce
phénomène sur les droits de l'homme, mais s'en écartent également par la façon dont
l'accent est mis expressément sur certains cas d'abus et de violations, potentielles ou
effectives des droits de l'homme dans le cadre d'activités dans lesquelles des sociétés et des
entités financières européennes sont impliquées. Dans nos conclusions, nous proposons une
série de recommandations sur la façon dont l'Union européenne peut s'attaquer de façon
efficace à ces problèmes
Land Grabbing and Human Rights: the Involvement of European Corporate and Financial Entities in Land Grabbing outside the European Union
In early research on land grabbing, the initial focus was on foreign companies investing abroad, with a particular focus on those based in countries such as China, Gulf States, South Korea, and India. In recent years, it has become evident that the range of countries land investors originate in is far broader, and includes both North Atlantic - and EU-based actors.
In this study, we offer both quantitative and qualitative data illustrating the involvement of EU-based corporate and financial entities in land deals occurring outside of the EU. This study also analyses the global land rush within a human rights framework, examining the implications of particular land deals involving EU-based investors and their impact on communities living in areas where the investments are taking place.
The research presented here builds partly on Cotula’s 2014 study on the drivers and human rights implications of land grabbing, but differs in that it focuses explicitly on particular cases of possible, actual or potential human rights abuses and violations, in the context of activities involving European corporate and financial entities. In our conclusions, we offer a series of recommendations on how the EU can more effectively address these issues
Operational sex ratio, sexual conflict and the intensity of sexual selection.
Modern sexual selection theory indicates that reproductive costs rather than the operational sex ratio predict the intensity of sexual selection. We investigated sexual selection in the polygynandrous common lizard Lacerta vivipara. This species shows male aggression, causing high mating costs for females when adult sex ratios (ASR) are male-biased. We manipulated ASR in 12 experimental populations and quantified the intensity of sexual selection based on the relationship between reproductive success and body size. In sharp contrast to classical sexual selection theory predictions, positive directional sexual selection on male size was stronger and positive directional selection on female size weaker in female-biased populations than in male-biased populations. Thus, consistent with modern theory, directional sexual selection on male size was weaker in populations with higher female mating costs. This suggests that the costs of breeding, but not the operational sex ratio, correctly predicted the strength of sexual selection
Statistical Analysis of Different Muon-antineutrino->Electron-antineutrino Searches
A combined statistical analysis of the experimental results of the LSND and
KARMEN \numubnueb oscillation search is presented. LSND has evidence for
neutrino oscillations that is not confirmed by the KARMEN experiment. This
joint analysis is based on the final likelihood results for both data sets. A
frequentist approach is applied to deduce confidence regions. At a combined
confidence level of 36%, there is no area of oscillation parameters compatible
with both experiments. For the complementary confidence of 1-0.36=64%, there
are two well defined regions of oscillation parameters (sin^2(2th),Dm^2)
compatible with both experiments.Comment: 25 pages, including 10 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Tests of CPT Invariance at Neutrino Factories
We investigate possible tests of CPT invariance on the level of event rates
at neutrino factories. We do not assume any specific model but phenomenological
differences in the neutrino-antineutrino masses and mixing angles in a Lorentz
invariance preserving context, such as it could be induced by physics beyond
the Standard Model. We especially focus on the muon neutrino and antineutrino
disappearance channels in order to obtain constraints on the
neutrino-antineutrino mass and mixing angle differences; we found, for example,
that the sensitivity
could be achieved.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, RevTeX4. Final version to be published in Phys.
Rev.
Epilepsy due to PNPO mutations: genotype, environment and treatment affect presentation and outcome
Mutations in PNPO are a known cause of neonatal onset seizures that are resistant to pyridoxine but responsive to pyridoxal phosphate (PLP). Mills etal. show that PNPO mutations can also cause neonatal onset seizures that respond to pyridoxine but worsen with PLP, as well as PLP-responsive infantile spasm
Transnational land investment web
Despite international media’s waning attention, research and political debates on global land grabbing have not subsided. We argue the importance of understanding the ‘transnational land investment web’ of corporate and state actors and institutions, which are not always immediately visible. Focusing on transnational corporations (TNCs) based in the European Union (EU), we examine five sets of actors and institutional spheres through which these actors are able to grab lands beyond Europe. It is crucial to understand these not as individual sets of actors or institutions, but as interconnected sets, comprising a web. These are EU-based: (1) Private companies using regular institutional platforms; (2) Finance capital companies; (3) Public–private partnerships; (4) Development Finance Institutions; and (5) Companies using EU policies to gain control of land through the supply chain. One implication of this complex web is that democratic governance in the context of land grabs becomes an even more daunting challenge
‘Stepping away from the computer and into the sweats': The construction and negotiation of exercise identities in a Norwegian public company
While research has found that a developed exercise identity enables individuals to view exercise participation as self- reinforcing, the social barriers to such exercise identity development and participation have not been fully addressed. The subsequent aim of this study was to explore some of the social complexities at play in terms of how company employees construct and manage their exercise identities within a work place setting. A case-study method was used to address the research issue over a nine-month period. The case to be studied included a sample of 72 employees from a Norwegian public company who participated in an on-going work-based exercise programme called ‘Exercise for all’. The principal means of data collection comprised participant observation, individual interviews and exercise logbooks. The data were subject to inductive analysis. The primary barriers to exercise participation included high levels of social comparison in a competitive working context, particularly in relation to ‘competent colleagues’, and feelings of guilt associated with partaking in ‘recreational’ activities during work hours. Strategies engaged with to overcome and negotiate such obstacles included justifying participation through a health-related discourse, and constructing a more distinct ‘worker-exerciser’ identity
Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF
Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for
indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on
particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with
the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers
gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section
physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional
algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps"
that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth
procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This
combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at
sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D
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