17,059 research outputs found
Being rich in energy resources â a blessing or a curse
âBeing rich in energy resources â a blessing or a curseâ finds that an energy resource curse plagues many EU supplier states. This in turn directly affects Europeâs energy supply security and threatens to engulf Europe in unwanted hostilities at home and abroad. The study addresses seven issues including the evidence suggesting that a curse exists among Europeâs external energy suppliers, active programs to limit that risk, the significance of economic diversification, the applicability of dividend programs, the link between corruption and security of energy supplies, additional possible actions of the Union, and further threats posed by resource cursed countries. It establishes a definitive links between corruption and supply security, poor transparency, and inequality, and proves that a low level of economic diversification is a reliable indicator for the existence of the curse. It also finds that there are examples of excellence in recovering from and even converting the curse to a blessing. In looking at the policy instruments available to the Union, the study determines that the Union does have the technical expertise and financial means to restructure political and economic systems and strengthen public administrations and institutions and found that Europeâs successful implementation of similar past programs could be taken, at least in part, as models for future efforts. Finally, the study recommends the controversial approach of conditionality in the use of aid and finds that the Union should legislate standards for the reporting and auditing of energy exports and imports at home and abroad.Resource Curse; Oil Curse; Energy Security; Energy Policy; EU; European Union; Foreign Policy; Development Policy;
Revisiting the oil curse: are oil rich nations really doomed to autocracy and inequality?
There is an adage about wealth and democracy that says âthe more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances it will sustain democracy.â Accordingly, one would expect that nations rich in natural resources, and particularly those with large deposits of oil â a clear absolute advantage â would shine far beyond all others as beacons of democracy and freedom. Unfortunately, nothing seems further from the truth. Studies undoubtedly show that oil dependence leads to a skewing of political forces. It concentrates production to geographic enclaves and concentrates power into the hands of a few elites. It becomes a fishermanâs market for rent-seeking behavior, where those with money jockey for positions and influence to acquire lucrative contracts, the revenues from which are used to further bribe and manipulate those in power. Consequently, those in power secure the positions of their benefactors, creating a vicious circle of corruption and patronage, secured from open inspection of a free press, public accountability, or standards of international business and political practice. They tend to have stratified social classes with a tiny minority earning millions while a vast portion of the population wallow in abject poverty. How is it possible to be so rich, yet so poor? Is this phenomenon, known as the âoil curse,â or in social science parlance, the âresource curseâ truly to blame? Does oil really impede democracy and economic growth? âRevisiting the oil curse: are oil rich nations really doomed to autocracy and inequality?â addresses precisely these questions, and the answers are no less than disturbing.Resource Curse; Oil Curse; Dutch Disease; Energy Policy; Economic Development Policy;
Unusual localisation effects in quantum percolation
We present a detailed study of the quantum site percolation problem on simple
cubic lattices, thereby focussing on the statistics of the local density of
states and the spatial structure of the single particle wavefunctions. Using
the Kernel Polynomial Method we refine previous studies of the metal-insulator
transition and demonstrate the non-monotonic energy dependence of the quantum
percolation threshold. Remarkably, the data indicates a ``fragmentation'' of
the spectrum into extended and localised states. In addition, the observation
of a chequerboard-like structure of the wavefunctions at the band centre can be
interpreted as anomalous localisation.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure
The Semileptonic Decay Fraction of B Mesons in the Light of Interfering Amplitudes
Consequences of the interference between spectator amplitudes for the
lifetimes and semileptonic decay fractions of B^0 and B^+ mesons are discussed.
Assuming duality and constructive interference between spectator amplitudes we
are able to explain the low experimental value for the semileptonic decay
fraction of mesons. Extracting these amplitudes from a fit to 11 exclusive
hadronic B decay fractions we find
a_1 = 1.05 +/- 0.03 +/- 0.10,
a_2 =+0.227 +/ 0.012 +/- 0.022,
an inclusive semileptonic decay fraction of
(11.2 +/- 0.5 +/- 1.7),
and a lifetime ratio
tau(B^+) / tau(B^0) = 0.83 +/- 0.01 +/- 0.01.Comment: 9 page
Translation of Time-Reversal Violation in the Neutral K-Meson System into a Table-Top Mechanical System
Weak interactions break time-reversal (T) symmetry in the two-state system of
neutral K mesons. We present and discuss a two-state mechanical system, a
Foucault-type pendulum on a rotating table, for a full representation of K0
K0bar transitions by the pendulum motions including T violation. The pendulum
moves with two different oscillation frequencies and two different magnetic
dampings. Its equation of motion is identical with the differential equation
for the real part of the CPT-symmetric K-meson wave function. The pendulum is
able to represent microscopic CP and T violation with CPT symmetry owing to the
macroscopic Coriolis force which breaks the symmetry under reversal-of-motion.
Video clips of the pendulum motions are shown as supplementary material.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 1 external url with video clip
The Preparation of Liposomes Derived From Mixed Micelles of Lecithin Added by Sodium Cholate, Followed by Dialysing Using Hemoflow High Flux F60S
Liposomes are used for drug carriers meaning that drugs are incorporated in the membrane or the vesicle of the liposomes. In this study, liposomes were prepared from mixed micelles, consisting of phosphatidylcholine, without or with cholesterol and sodium cholate was added in several ratios namely 0.44; 0.55; 0.63; 0.70; 0.90 and 1.10. After the preparation, the sodium cholate has been removed by a dialysis membrane, using the Hemoflow High Flux, which is generally used for haemodialysis. The Hemoflow High Flux is a tool in an effort to obtain a simple, quick, effective method for removing sodium cholate in the process of preparing liposomes. The effectiveness of this tool was proved by the particle size of the liposome which was measured by the Malvern Particle Sizer. The particle size of the liposome consisting of phosphatidylcholine (PC) without cholesterol and with cholesterol was 63-68 nm at all ratios and approximately 125 nm at the ratio of 0.55; 0.63; 0.70, respectively. The particle size of the liposome tended to be smaller after dialyzing, although the concentration of lipids tended to increase. However, a large amount of buffer solution has to be used with this method
Anisotropy, phonon modes, and lattice anharmonicity from dielectric function tensor analysis of monoclinic cadmium tungstate
We determine the frequency dependence of four independent CdWO Cartesian
dielectric function tensor elements by generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry
within mid-infrared and far-infrared spectral regions. Single crystal surfaces
cut under different angles from a bulk crystal, (010) and (001), are
investigated. From the spectral dependencies of the dielectric function tensor
and its inverse we determine all long wavelength active transverse and
longitudinal optic phonon modes with and symmetry as well as their
eigenvectors within the monoclinic lattice. We thereby demonstrate that such
information can be obtained completely without physical model line shape
analysis in materials with monoclinic symmetry. We then augment the effect of
lattice anharmonicity onto our recently described dielectric function tensor
model approach for materials with monoclinic and triclinic crystal symmetries
[Phys. Rev. B, 125209 (2016)], and we obtain excellent match between all
measured and modeled dielectric function tensor elements. All phonon mode
frequency and broadening parameters are determined in our model approach. We
also perform density functional theory phonon mode calculations, and we compare
our results obtained from theory, from direct dielectric function tensor
analysis, and from model lineshape analysis, and we find excellent agreement
between all approaches. We also discuss and present static and above
reststrahlen spectral range dielectric constants. Our data for CdWO are in
excellent agreement with a recently proposed generalization of the
Lyddane-Sachs-Teller relation for materials with low crystal symmetry [Phys.
Rev. Lett. 117, 215502 (2016)].Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1512.0859
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