10,163 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
Enhanced Pauli blocking of light scattering in a trapped Fermi gas
Pauli blocking of spontaneous emission by a single excited-state atom has
been predicted to be dramatic at low temperature when the Fermi energy
exceeds the recoil energy . The photon scattering
rate of a ground-state Fermi gas can also be suppressed by occupation of the
final states accessible to a recoiling atom, however suppression is diminished
by scattering events near the Fermi edge. We analyze two new approaches to
improve the visibility of Pauli blocking in a trapped Fermi gas. Focusing the
incident light to excite preferentially the high-density region of the cloud
can increase the blocking signature by 14%, and is most effective at
intermediate temperature. Spontaneous Raman scattering between imbalanced
internal states can be strongly suppressed at low temperature, and is
completely blocked for a final-state in the
high imbalance limit.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. v4: to appear in Journal of Physics B: Atomic,
Molecular, and Optical Physic
Partition function for a singular background
We present a method for evaluating the partition function in a varying
external field. Specifically, we look at the case of a non-interacting,
charged, massive scalar field at finite temperature with an associated chemical
potential in the background of a delta-function potential. Whilst we present a
general method, valid at all temperatures, we only give the result for the
leading order term in the high temperature limit. Although the derivative
expansion breaks down for inhomogeneous backgrounds we are able to obtain the
high temperature expansion, as well as an analytic expression for the zero
point energy, by way of a different approximation scheme, which we call the
{\it local Born approximation} (LBA).Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, revtex4, typos corrected. To appear in Phys. Lett.
The Exclusive Admiralty Jurisdiction
In Cline v. Price the owners of a minority interest in a fishing vessel, being dissatisfied with the use to which it was being put, brought suit in Superior Court against the majority owners. The action prayed the appointment of a receiver, an accounting, and a partition of the vessel by sale and distribution of the proceeds. A demurrer was sustained by the lower court and affirmed by the Supreme Court. The ground assigned was that the suit, essentially one for partition, was exclusively within the admiralty jurisdiction of the United States, and the state courts have no jurisdiction to afford such relief. This pitfall of exclusive admiralty jurisdiction is one which the practitioner in our maritime state of Washington may often have occasion to meet. It shall be the purpose of this article to discuss some of the fundamental aspects of the admiralty jurisdiction in general, with particular emphasis upon those classes of cases where the suitor is limited in his choice of forum to the federal courts sitting in admiralty
An Evaluation of the Inclusion of Alternative Forages With Grass Silage-Based Diets on Carcass Composition and Meat Quality of Beef Cattle Offered Two Contrasting Grass Silages
Recent studies have shown that the inclusion of some alternative forages with grass silage-based diets can increase animal performance of beef cattle. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of including either maize or whole crop wheat (WCW) silages with grass silage-based diets on meat quality of beef cattle offered two levels of concentrate
IUE program SUGSD: Varability time scale of H Ly-alpha from Uranus
The scientific motivation for this program was to determine the time scale for the variability of the H Lyman-alpha emission from Uranus. The purpose of this series of observation is to determine its variability on shorter time scales. A series of observations was carried out in coordination with ESA to cover as completely as possible one 24 hour period of the Uranian H Lyman-alpha emission. The observations were obtained on April 23 and 24. Two additional ovservations on April 25 and 26 were obtained to search for longer term trends. A small modulation in the brightness was observed and the results presented
Modulation of cognitive performance and mood by aromas of peppermint and ylang-ylang
This study provides further evidence for the impact of the aromas of plant essential oils on aspects of cognition and mood in healthy participants. One hundred and forty-four volunteers were randomly assigned to conditions of ylang-ylang aroma, peppermint aroma, or no aroma control. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research computerized assessment battery, with mood scales completed before and after cognitive testing. The analysis of the data revealed significant differences between conditions on a number of the factors underpinning the tests that constitute the battery. Peppermint was found to enhance memory whereas ylang-ylang impaired it, and lengthened processing speed. In terms of subjective mood peppermint increased alertness and ylang-ylang decreased it, but significantly increased calmness. These results provide support for the contention that the aromas of essential oils can produce significant and idiosyncratic effects on both subjective and objective assessments of aspects of human behavior. They are discussed with reference to possible pharmacological and psychological modes of influence
Landowner willingness to engage in long-term timber leases in West Virginia, USA
As global competition increases for wood-based products, the need for more efficient supply chains becomes increasingly important. In the forest products sector, these supply chains involve individuals and firms ranging from private forestland owners with standing timber to factories producing final finished products. Under the assumption that ‘transparent’ supply chains are beneficial to members within the supply chain, the authors are investigating how this transparency can be increased and what benefits might accrue to private forest owners who are associated with a specific supply chain under a long-term agreement. In recent years, hunting lease agreements between family forest owners and various organized hunt clubs or individuals have become commonplace in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia. Can long-term timber leases become a new opportunity for landowners, forestry professionals, and wood-based industries? This paper describes a survey of private forestland owners in West Virginia that investigated the perceived concerns, benefits and barriers landowners have with regard to entering long-term timber leases with forestry professionals and timber firms
Integrated water resources management as a new approach to water security
Access to safe water is a worldwide problem facing three quarters of a billion people every day. The problem of access to water is not primarily due to an overall scarcity of water, but rather the unequal geographical and seasonal distribution of the water resources. The key issue at stake here is, how to make water available. The new approach presented by international institutions for improving water access is Integrated Water Resource Management. This chapter questions this new approach and highlights the depoliticizing implications
Exact metric around a wiggly cosmic string
The exact metric around a wiggly cosmic string is found by modifying the
energy momentum-tensor of a straight infinitely thin cosmic string to include
an electric current along the symmetry axis.Comment: 5 page
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