14,146 research outputs found
Organising water: The hidden role of intermediary work
ABSTRACT: The increasingly complex challenges of making water management more sustainable require a critical and detailed understanding of the social organisation of water. This paper examines the hitherto neglected role that 'intermediary' organisations play in reshaping the relations between the provision and use of water and sanitation services. In response to new regulatory, environmental, social, and commercial pressures the relationships between water utilities, consumers, and regulators are changing, creating openings for both new and existing organisations to take on intermediary functions. Drawing on recent EU-funded research we provide the first systematic analysis of intermediary organisations in the European water sector, examining the contexts of their emergence, the ways they work, the functions they perform, and the impacts they can have. With a combination of conceptual and empirical analysis we substantiate and elaborate the case for appreciating the often hidden work of intermediaries. We caution, however, against over-simplistic conclusions on harnessing this potential, highlighting instead the need to reframe perspectives on how water is organised to contemplate actor constellations and interactions beyond the common triad of provider, consumer, and regulator
Gallium concentration dependence of room-temperature near-bandedge luminescence in n-type ZnO:Ga
We investigated the optical properties of epitaxial \textit{n}-type ZnO films
grown on lattice-matched ScAlMgO substrates. As the Ga doping concentration
increased up to cm, the absorption edge showed a
systematic blueshift, consistent with the Burstein-Moss effect. A bright
near-bandedge photoluminescence (PL) could be observed even at room
temperature, the intensity of which increased monotonically as the doping
concentration was increased except for the highest doping level. It indicates
that nonradiative transitions dominate at a low doping density. Both a Stokes
shift and broadening in the PL band are monotonically increasing functions of
donor concentration, which was explained in terms of potential fluctuations
caused by the random distribution of donor impurities.Comment: accepted for publication for Applied Physics Letters 4 figure
The Effect of Increased Exposure of UVC Light on Human Skin Microbiota
Many methods have been employed to prevent infections from opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised individuals. Among these are the use of ultraviolet light (UV). In this study, UVC light, was found to have a deleterious effect on specific skin flora. Organisms tested included Acinetobacter baumanii, Candida albicans, Candida kefyr, Corynebacterium renale, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Streptococcus pyogenes. Nutrient agar was used to cultivate most organisms. Blood agar was used for the cultivation of Streptococcus pyogenes and Enterococcus faecalis. Bacterial suspensions were made and utilized to plate each organism onto a set of 7 nutrient agar or blood agar plates. A portion of each of 6 of the plates was then exposed to UVC light for 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 seconds respectively. For each organism, increased exposure to UVC light resulted in a decrease of the number of colony forming units observed in the portion of the plate that was exposed to the UVC light. These data suggest that UVC light acts as an efficient bactericidal agent. Results obtained in this study may lead to innovative uses for UVC light in the prevention of disease
A deep Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope 610-MHz survey of the 1^HXMM–Newton/Chandra survey field
We present the results of a deep 610-MHz survey of the 1^HXMM–Newton/Chandra survey area with the Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope. The resulting maps have a resolution of ~7 arcsec and an rms noise limit of 60 μJy. To a 5σ detection limit of 300 μJy, we detect 223 sources within a survey area of 64 arcmin in diameter. We compute the 610-MHz source counts and compare them to those measured at other radio wavelengths. The well-known flattening of the Euclidean-normalized 1.4-GHz source counts below ~2 mJy, usually explained by a population of starburst galaxies undergoing luminosity evolution, is seen at 610 MHz. The 610-MHz source counts can be modelled by the same populations that explain the 1.4-GHz source counts, assuming a spectral index of −0.7 for the starburst galaxies and the steep spectrum active galactic nucleus (AGN) population. We find a similar dependence of luminosity evolution on redshift for the starburst galaxies at 610 MHz as is found at 1.4 GHz (i.e. 'Q'= 2.45^(+0.3)_(−0.4))
Spherical Formulation for Diagramatic Evaluations on a Manifold with Boundary
The mathematical formalism necessary for the diagramatic evaluation of
quantum corrections to a conformally invariant field theory for a
self-interacting scalar field on a curved manifold with boundary is considered.
The evaluation of quantum corrections to the effective action past one-loop
necessitates diagramatic techniques. Diagramatic evaluations and higher
loop-order renormalisation can be best accomplished on a Riemannian manifold of
constant curvature accommodating a boundary of constant extrinsic curvature. In
such a context the stated evaluations can be accomplished through a consistent
interpretation of the Feynman rules within the spherical formulation of the
theory for which the method of images allows. To this effect, the mathematical
consequences of such an interpretation are analyzed and the spherical
formulation of the Feynman rules on the bounded manifold is, as a result,
developed.Comment: 12 pages, references added. To appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravit
High performance photonic microwave filters based on a 50GHz optical soliton crystal Kerr micro-comb
We demonstrate a photonic radio frequency (RF) transversal filter based on an
integrated optical micro-comb source featuring a record low free spectral range
of 49 GHz yielding 80 micro-comb lines across the C-band. This record-high
number of taps, or wavelengths for the transversal filter results in
significantly increased performance including a QRF factor more than four times
higher than previous results. Further, by employing both positive and negative
taps, an improved out-of-band rejection of up to 48.9 dB is demonstrated using
Gaussian apodization, together with a tunable centre frequency covering the RF
spectra range, with a widely tunable 3-dB bandwidth and versatile dynamically
adjustable filter shapes. Our experimental results match well with theory,
showing that our transversal filter is a competitive solution to implement
advanced adaptive RF filters with broad operational bandwidths, high frequency
selectivity, high reconfigurability, and potentially reduced cost and
footprint. This approach is promising for applications in modern radar and
communications systems.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 107 reference
Simulated ecology-driven sympatric speciation
We introduce a multi-locus genetically acquired phenotype, submitted to
mutations and with selective value, in an age-structured model for biological
aging. This phenotype describes a single-trait effect of the environment on an
individual, and we study the resulting distribution of this trait among the
population. In particular, our simulations show that the appearance of a double
phenotypic attractor in the ecology induces the emergence of a stable
polymorphism, as observed in the Galapagos finches. In the presence of this
polymorphism, the simulations generate short-term speciation, when mating
preferences are also allowed to suffer mutations and acquire selective value.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, uses package RevTe
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