Gaudin models with irregular singularities

We introduce a class of quantum integrable systems generalizing the Gaudin model. The corresponding algebras of quantum Hamiltonians are obtained as quotients of the center of the enveloping algebra of an affine Kac-Moody algebra at the critical level, extending the construction of higher Gaudin Hamiltonians from hep-th/9402022 to the case of non-highest weight representations of affine algebras. We show that these algebras are isomorphic to algebras of functions on the spaces of opers on P^1 with regular as well as irregular singularities at finitely many points. We construct eigenvectors of these Hamiltonians, using Wakimoto modules of critical level, and show that their spectra on finite-dimensional representations are given by opers with trivial monodromy. We also comment on the connection between the generalized Gaudin models and the geometric Langlands correspondence with ramification.Comment: Latex, 72 pages. Final version to appear in Advances in Mathematic

Zambezi Valley Development Study

In June 2011, CCSI released a consultative draft report on Resource-Based Sustainable Development in the Lower Zambezi Basin, the result of a year-long inquiry into how the vast resource deposits in Tete province, combined with other major investments along the Nacala and Beira corridors, can be the basis for sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth in the Lower Zambezi Basin. The report recommends a framework of actions by Mozambique and its public and private partners to ensure that Mozambique reaps a major boost to economic development from its vast resource endowments, while also respecting the profitability of private-sector investments in these important projects. In short, the report aims for a “win-win” arrangement in which all stakeholders, public and private, derive benefits from the mining sector in Tete Province. The consultative draft was presented in Mozambique in June 2011, to serve as the basis for discussion, comment, and engagement with the range of stakeholders- government, private sector, development partners, regional banks, and civil society. Comments are welcome on the report. CCSI looks forward to working with stakeholders in the region on implementation

Finance for Zero: Redefining Financial-Sector Action to Achieve Global Climate Goals

As of 2023, the financial system is woefully misaligned with the world’s climate goals. Six times the current annual level of investment in non-fossil fuel investments is needed between 2023 and 2030 to stay on a 1.5ºC warming pathway. The ratio of clean-energy lending and equity underwriting by banks relative to fossil fuels needs to reach 4 to 1 by 2030, whereas for 1,142 assessed banks, the ratio was between 0.8 and 1 at the end of 2021. As providers, underwriters, and fiduciaries of trillions of dollars of capital flows annually, financial institutions (FIs) play a critical role in decarbonizing the economy and scaling access to clean, affordable energy. Optimally, the roles and opportunities for the financial sector should be guided by an official pathway and associated policy tools, such as carbon pricing, public finance and guarantees, strategic subsidies, sectoral regulations, and so on. Unfortunately, that policy framework to shape and guide the financial sector does not yet exist. In the absence of strong government leadership, there has been a proliferation of bottomup models, tools, metrics, methodologies, and initiatives designed to measure and evaluate the climate performance of financial institutions. While the rapid growth of these initiatives demonstrates the financial sector’s engagement, meaningful progress in realigning global finance to support climate goals has been limited. These frameworks and tools often overstate or misrepresent the extent to which they support meaningful action toward achieving climate goals, and at times rely on misaligned targets or metrics that undermine their effectiveness as tools for setting or assessing corporate commitments. Overall, existing commitments and strategies are not sufficiently aligned with the actions needed from financial sector actors to achieve climate goals. There are deep and inherent limitations to bottom-up approaches to achieving decarbonization, some that are within the capability of financial institutions to address but many that are beyond their remit. This report focuses on the things the financial sector can and should do even in the absence of a robust long-term policy framework

Devil in the Bidding Detail

In light of the recent boom in natural resource prices, India is one of them many countries facing heightened scrutiny of the allocation and terms of their resource deals. In India, that scrutiny has uncovered a multi-billion dollar controversy over coal block allocations that has gridlocked Parliament. More generally, citizens in resource-producing countries around the world are asking whether the public is getting a fair value for their countries resources, or whether investors and politicians are walking away with the prize. Finally, the important questions are being asked: how should resources be managed to ensure that they benefit the citizenry, rather than sitting idle or ending up enriching the rich and powerful at the expense of the public

Landau Theory of Domain Wall Magnetoelectricity

We calculate the exact analytical solution to the domain wall properties in a multiferroic system with two order parameters that are coupled bi-quadratically. This is then adapted to the case of a magnetoelectric multiferroic material such as BiFeO3, with a view to examine critically whether the domain walls can account for the enhancement of magnetization reported for thin films fo this material, in view of the correlation between increasing magnetization and increasing volume fraction of domain walls as films become thinner. The present analysis can be generalized to describe a class of magnetoelectric devices based upon domain walls rather than bulk properties.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

A zinc-doped endodontic cement facilitates functional mineralization and stress dissipation at the dentin surface

The purpose of this study was to evaluate nanohardness and viscoelastic behavior of dentin surfaces treated with two canal sealer cements for dentin remineralization. Dentin surfaces were subjected to: i) 37% phosphoric acid (PA) or ii) 0.5 M ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) conditioning prior to the application of two experimental hydroxyapatite-based cements, containing sodium hydroxide (calcypatite) or zinc oxide (oxipatite), respectively. Samples were stored in simulated body fluid during 24 h or 21 d. The intertubular and peritubular dentin were evaluated using a nanoindenter to assess nanohardness (Hi). The load/displacement responses were used for the nano-dynamic mechanical analysis to estimate complex modulus (E*) and tan delta (?). The modulus mapping was obtained by imposing a quasistatic force setpoint to which a sinusoidal force was superimposed. AFM imaging and FESEM analysis were performed. After 21 d of storage, dentin surfaces treated with EDTA+calcypatite, PA+calcypatite and EDTA+oxipatite showed viscoelastic discrepancies between peritubular and intertubular dentin, meaning a risk for cracking and breakdown of the surface. At both 24 h and 21 d, tan ? values at intertubular dentin treated with the four treatments performed similar. At 21 d time point, intertubular dentin treated with PA+oxipatite achieved the highest complex modulus and nanohardness, i.e., highest resistance to deformation and functional mineralization, among groups. Intertubular and peritubular dentin treated with PA+oxipatite showed similar values of tan ? after 21 d of storage. This produced a favorable dissipation of energy with minimal energy concentration, preserving the structural integrity at the dentin surface

Graduate dress code: How undergraduates are planning to use hair, clothes and make-up to smooth their transition to the workplace

This article explores the relationship between students’ identities, their ideas about professional appearance and their anticipated transition to the world of work. It is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with 13 students from a vocationally-focused university in England. It was found that participants viewed clothing and appearance as an important aspect of their transition to the workplace. They believed that, if carefully handled, their appearance could help them to fit in and satisfy the expectations of employers, although some participants anticipated that this process of fitting in might compromise their identity and values. The article addresses students’ anticipated means of handling the tension between adapting to a new environment and ‘being themselves’. It is argued that the way this process is handled is intertwined with wider facets of identity – most notably those associated with gender.The article is based on research funded by the University of Derby. © 2015 IP Publishing Ltd. ((http://www.ippublishing.com). Reproduced by permission

Irregular Wakimoto modules and the Casimir connection

We study some non-highest weight modules over an affine Kac-Moody algebra at non-critical level. Roughly speaking, these modules are non-commutative localizations of some non-highest weight "vacuum" modules. Using free field realization, we embed some rings of differential operators in endomorphism rings of our modules. These rings of differential operators act on a localization of the space of coinvariants of any module over the Kac-Moody algebra with respect to a certain level subalgebra. In a particular case this action is identified with the Casimir connection.Comment: Final version, available at Springerlink.co

Improvement in PWV estimation from GPS due to the absolute calibration of antenna phase center variations

Climatology of column-integrated atmospheric water vapor over Spain has been carried out by means of three techniques: soundings, sun photometers and GPS receivers. Comparing data from stations equipped with more than one of these instruments, we found that a large discontinuity occurred on November 6, 2006, in the differences between the data series from GPS receivers and those from the other two techniques. Prior to that date, the GPS data indicate a wet bias of 2–3 mm for all stations when compared with sounding or photometer data, whereas after that date this bias practically reduces to zero. The root mean square error also decreases about half of its value. On November 6, 2006, the International GNSS Service adopted an absolute calibration model for the antennas of the GPS satellites and receivers instead of the relative one. This change is expected to be an improvement, increasing the accuracy of station position determination and consequently benefiting post-processing products such as zenith total delay from which the atmospheric water vapor content is calculated

Columnar aerosol characterization over Scandinavia and Svalbard

An overview of sun photometer measurements of aerosol properties in Scandinavia and Svalbard was provided by Toledano et al. (2012) thanks to the collaborative effort of various research groups from different countries that maintain a number of observation sites in the European Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The spatial coverage of this kind of data has remarkably improved in the last years, thanks, among other things, to projects carried out within the framework of the International Polar Year 2007-08. The data from a set of operational sun photometer sites belonging either to national or international measurement networks (AERONET, GAW-PFR) were evaluated. The direct sun observations provided spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent (AE), that are parameters with sufficient long-term records for a first characterization at all sites. At the AERONET sites, microphysical properties derived from inversion of sun-sky radiance data were also examined. AOD (500nm) ranged from 0.08 to 0.10 in Arctic and sub-Arctic sites whereas the aerosol load was higher in more populated areas in Southern Scandinavia (average AOD about 0.10–0.12 at 500 nm).Financial support was provided by: the Spanish CICYT (CGL2008-05939-CO3-01/CLI, CGL2009-09740 and CGL2011-13085-E); the Norwegian Research Council for POLARCAT-Norway; and the Swedish National Space Board and ESA for Norrköping and Palgrunden sites. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement Nr. 262254 [ACTRIS]