Small electron acceleration episodes in the solar corona

We study the energetics of nonthermal electrons produced in small acceleration episodes in the solar corona. We carried out an extensive survey spanning 2004--2015 and shortlisted 6 impulsive electron events detected at 1 AU that was not associated with large solar flares(GOES soft X-ray class $>$ C1) or with coronal mass ejections. Each of these events had weak, but detectable hard Xray (HXR) emission near the west limb, and were associated with interplanetary type III bursts. In some respects, these events seem like weak counterparts of "cold/tenuous" flares. The energy carried by the HXR producing electron population was $\approx 10^{23}$ -- $10^{25}$ erg, while that in the corresponding population detected at 1 AU was $\approx 10^{24}$--$10^{25}$ erg. The number of electrons that escape the coronal acceleration site and reach 1 AU constitute 6 % to 148 % of those that precipitate downwards to produce thick target HXR emission

Nucleophilicity/Electrophilicity Excess in Analyzing Molecular Electronics

Intramolecular electron transfer capability of all metal aromatic and anti-aromatic aluminum cluster compounds is studied in terms of density functional theory based global and local reactivity descriptors. This study will provide important inputs towards the fabrication of the material required for molecular electronics.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 13 table

GM crops and gender issues

Correspondence in the December issue by Jonathan Gressel not only states that gender issues in rural settings have not been adequately addressed with respect to weed control biotech but also asserts that such technology can increase the quality of life of rural women in developing countries. Improved weed control is a labor-saving technology that can result in less employment in a labor surplus rural economy. Often in rural areas, wage income is the main source of income and an important determinant of the quality of life, particularly where employment opportunities are generally limited. Apart from soil preparation, planting and weeding, harvesting is also 'femanual' work that can generate more employment if yields are higher. Biotech can enhance the quality of life of women but only if the technology is associated with overall generation of rural employment

AdS (In)stability: Lessons From The Scalar Field

We argued in arXiv:1408.0624 that the quartic scalar field in AdS has features that could be instructive for answering the gravitational stability question of AdS. Indeed, the conserved charges identified there have recently been observed in the full gravity theory as well. In this paper, we continue our investigation of the scalar field in AdS and provide evidence that in the Two-Time Formalism (TTF), even for initial conditions that are far from quasi-periodicity, the energy in the higher modes at late times is exponentially suppressed in the mode number. Based on this and some related observations, we argue that there is no thermalization in the scalar TTF model within time-scales that go as $\sim 1/\epsilon^2$, where $\epsilon$ measures the initial amplitude (with only low-lying modes excited). It is tempting to speculate that the result holds also for AdS collapse.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Measuring the impact of the investment climate on total factor productivity : the cases of China and Brazil

This study measures the impact of investment climate factors on total factor productivity (TFP) of firms in Brazil and China. The analysis is conducted in two steps: first an econometric production function is estimated to produce a measure of TFP at the firm level. In the second step, variation in TFP across firms is statistically related to a indicators of the investment climate as well as firm characteristics. The results yield a number of insights about the factors underlying productivity. In both countries, and in a variety of industry groups, indicators of poor investment climate, especially delays in customs clearance and interruptions in utility services, have significant negative effects on TFP. Reducing customs clearance time by one day in China could increase TFP by 2-6 percent. Indicators such as email usage have positive effects on TFP. In the case of China, state-owned firms and firms located in the interior are shown to be much less productive than privately owned firms and firms located in the east. In Brazil, the results present an interesting contrast between the apparel industry and the electronics industry. In the apparel industry, older firms in competitive markets are more productive, while in the case of electronics, newer firms with higher market shares are more productive.Economic Theory&Research,Technology Industry,Water and Industry,ICT Policy and Strategies,Economic Growth