Scenarios for Mauritius, 1990-2050

This Working Paper constitutes Chapter 16 of the book manuscript, "Understanding Population-Development-Environment Interactions: A Case Study on Mauritius". The Mauritius case study was carried out by IIASA in scientific collaboration with the University of Mauritius and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The paper presents and discusses findings from the interdisciplinary computer model simulating alternative future population-development-environment interactions for the period 1990 to 2050. It serves to answer some of the main questions raised by the project, such as "what is the effect of population growth and education on development and the environment of Mauritius". In a first section, some general elements which should be kept in mind when doing scenario experiments are discussed, relating to hard-wired and soft links in the PDE-Mauritius model. Next, alternative "unadjusted" future scenarios are constructed and compared in order to identify the partial impact of various population, economic, and environmental assumptions. A subsequent section demonstrates how those unadjusted scenarios are transformed into consistent multi-component scenarios, labeled as "adjusted scenarios". Those scenarios present consistent development alternatives and hence offer answers to the relevant questions under various development paths

Three-dimensional quantification of the morphology and intragranular void ratio of a shelly carbonate sand

Shelly carbonate sands represent an extreme soil type in terms of their mechanical behavior which derives from the bioclastic nature of the constituent grains. In their uncemented form, these deposits exhibit very high compressibility, which has posed a number of geotechnical engineering problems; in most cases related to the reduction in the bearing capacities of both shallow and deep foundations. Remarkable features of these carbonate sands include the complex shape and the structural weakness of the grains and the high inter and intra granular porosity. Previous studies, have quoted the interlocking of the angular shelly particles to be at the origin of their high friction angles and high initial void ratio, however, up until now, no scientific micro-scale examination has been carried out. This paper presents a non-invasive image based investigation into the grain morphology of a carbonate sand from the Persian Gulf. This sand has a median grain size of 570μm and a high CaCO3 content in the form of aragonite and calcite. Three-dimensional images from x-ray computed tomography (3DXRCT) with a size of 6μm were used. The presence of various skeletal bodies such as shells of small organisms with distinct densities and composition poses real challenges for an accurate segmentation. Image processing algorithms were developed in order to identify the individual sand grains and quantify their properties. Earlier work on silica sands has highlighted the importance of 3D non-invasive techniques in providing an accurate distribution of the grain sizes when compared to more traditional techniques such as sieving analysis and 2D microscopy. The methodology here proposed allows an accurate quantification of grain shape and size and the assessment of grain damage following mechanical deformation. This study, contributes towards improving our understanding of the engineering properties of carbonate sands and thus, predicting their response under loading

New light curves and ephemeris for the close eclipsing binary V963 PER

We have obtained CCD photometry in 2010-11 of V963 Per (=GSC3355 0394), which is a recently identified close binary star with unequal eclipse depths. The seven new eclipse timings yield an improved ephemeris, but we caution that secondary eclipse can be affected by variation of the light curve. This variation seems to be on a monthly timescale at the few percent level.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Demographic Aspects of Changes in the Soviet Pension System

The paper discusses the consequences of possible demographic changes in the USSR as a whole and at the regional level upon the pension system under different assumptions about retirement ages. Some general recommendations on changes in the pension system based on international experience are presented

V532 oph is a new R coronae borealis star

V532 Oph has been found to be a member of the rare, hydrogen-deficient R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars from new photometric and spectroscopic data reported in this article. The light curve of V532 Oph shows the sudden, deep, irregularly spaced declines characteristic of RCB stars. Its optical spectrum is typical of a warm (Teff ∼ 7000 K) RCB star, showing weak or absent hydrogen lines, C2 Swan bands, and no evidence for 13C. In addition, the star shows small pulsations typical of an RCB star and an infrared excess due to circumstellar dust. It also appears to be significantly reddened by foreground dust. The distance to V532 Oph is estimated to be 5.5-8.7 kpc. These new data show that this star was misclassified as an eclipsing binary in the General Catalog of Variable Stars. The new data presented here for V532 Oph reveal the power of high-quality, high-cadence, all-sky photometric surveys, such as ASAS-3, to identify new RCB candidates on the basis of light-curve data alone, now that they have been collecting data for durations sufficiently long to reveal multiple declines. Despite their small numbers, RCB stars may be of great importance in understanding the late stages of stellar evolution. In particular, their measured isotopic abundances imply that many, if not most, RCB stars are produced by WD mergers, which may be the low-mass counterparts of the more massive mergers thought to produce type Ia supernovae. Therefore, establishing the population of RCB stars in the Galaxy will help constrain the frequency of these WD mergers. © 2009. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. All rights reserved

Cataclysmic Variables from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey

We present 855 cataclysmic variable candidates detected by the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) of which at least 137 have been spectroscopically confirmed and 705 are new discoveries. The sources were identified from the analysis of five years of data, and come from an area covering three quarters of the sky. We study the amplitude distribution of the dwarf novae CVs discovered by CRTS during outburst, and find that in quiescence they are typically two magnitudes fainter compared to the spectroscopic CV sample identified by SDSS. However, almost all CRTS CVs in the SDSS footprint have ugriz photometry. We analyse the spatial distribution of the CVs and find evidence that many of the systems lie at scale heights beyond those expected for a Galactic thin disc population. We compare the outburst rates of newly discovered CRTS CVs with the previously known CV population, and find no evidence for a difference between them. However, we find that significant evidence for a systematic difference in orbital period distribution. We discuss the CVs found below the orbital period minimum and argue that many more are yet to be identified among the full CRTS CV sample. We cross-match the CVs with archival X-ray catalogs and find that most of the systems are dwarf novae rather than magnetic CVs.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures, accepted MNRA

On the Symmetries of the Edgar-Ludwig Metric

The conformal Killing equations for the most general (non-plane wave) conformally flat pure radiation field are solved to find the conformal Killing vectors. As expected fifteen independent conformal Killing vectors exist, but in general the metric admits no Killing or homothetic vectors. However for certain special cases a one-dimensional group of homotheties or motions may exist and in one very special case, overlooked by previous investigators, a two-dimensional homethety group exists. No higher dimensional groups of motions or homotheties are admitted by these metrics.Comment: Plain TeX, 7 pages, No figure

Embolization with the Amplatzer Vascular Plug in TIPS Patients

Vessel embolization can be a valuable adjunct procedure in transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). During the creation of a TIPS, embolization of portal vein collaterals supplying esophageal varices may lower the risk of secondary rebleeding. And after creation of a TIPS, closure of the TIPS itself may be indicated if the resulting hepatic encephalopathy severely impairs mental functioning. The Amplatzer Vascular Plug (AVP; AGA Medical, Golden Valley, MN) is well suited for embolization of large-diameter vessels and has been employed in a variety of vascular lesions including congenital arteriovenous shunts. Here we describe the use of the AVP in the context of TIPS to embolize portal vein collaterals (n = 8) or to occlude the TIPS (n = 2)

Scaling algebras and pointlike fields: A nonperturbative approach to renormalization

We present a method of short-distance analysis in quantum field theory that does not require choosing a renormalization prescription a priori. We set out from a local net of algebras with associated pointlike quantum fields. The net has a naturally defined scaling limit in the sense of Buchholz and Verch; we investigate the effect of this limit on the pointlike fields. Both for the fields and their operator product expansions, a well-defined limit procedure can be established. This can always be interpreted in the usual sense of multiplicative renormalization, where the renormalization factors are determined by our analysis. We also consider the limits of symmetry actions. In particular, for suitable limit states, the group of scaling transformations induces a dilation symmetry in the limit theory.Comment: minor changes and clarifications; as to appear in Commun. Math. Phys.; 37 page