A Generalized Construction for Lumps and Non-Abelian Vortices

We construct the general vortex solution in a fully-Higgsed, color-flavor locked vacuum of a non-Abelian gauge theory, where the gauge group is taken to be the product of an arbitrary simple group and U(1), with a Fayet-Iliopoulos term. The strict correspondence between vortices and lumps in the associated Non-Linear Sigma-Model which arise in the limit of strong coupling is pointed out. The construction of the vortex moduli space is derived here as a consequence of this correspondence.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, Contribution to "Continuous Advances in QCD 2008", Minneapolis, May 200

Planning Innovation and Regional Development: the Spreading of Urban Strategic Planning in Southern Italy

For decades the Italian system of planning has been strongly characterized by a regulatory approach and the question of cities’ development had been taken into account within general land use plans. In the 1990s this approach has been considered a strong constraint on the regeneration of cities and the revitalization of their economic potential. Therefore, in the last decade the improvement of flexibility and participation within planning processes were considered primary objectives both at regional and local levels. In addition to spatial regulatory plans, large and medium sized cities became increasingly interested in developing urban strategic plans following the model of some European “success stories†of urban regeneration (such as Barcelona, Lyon, Glasgow). In a first phase, these planning experiments were prevalently carried out by the cities of the Northern regions (such us Torino, Firenze, Venezia, Trento) and supported by strong voluntary public-private partnerships. In a second phase, after a financial programme by the Ministry of Economy, more then 150 cities in the Southern regions started strategic planning processes. These latest strategic plans (at present under observation both from policy makers and urban-regional scientists) should be evaluated in a very different way in comparison with the strategic plans carried out in Northern Italy. That’s for two main reasons: • First, because the majority of Southern cities still lag behind from an economic point of view, in addiction to very problematic governance environments and fragmented local societies; • Secondly, as a consequence of the financial support provided to municipalities, because the national and the regional authorities require Southern cities to improve, through strategic planning, their capacity to implement effective regeneration programmes and to increase their access to the EU structural funds. Starting from these distinctive issues, this paper aims to critically discuss the spreading of strategic planning in Southern Italian regions, trying to analyse the ongoing process of innovation as regards the objectives undertaken at national level.

Nutritional and sensory evaluation of ready-to-eat salads during shelf life

The evolution of the antioxidant and sensory properties of six commercially available ready-to-eat salads, rocket, iceberg lettuce, baby lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, curly endive and radicchio, was studied throughout the shelf life. Both the storage under modified atmosphere and in unsealed pouch in a domestic refrigerator were considered and compared. Ascorbic acid, total phenolics content and antioxidant capacity were chosen as the most representative nutritional parameters for this purpose. The data obtained were analyzed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Radicchio, lamb’s lettuce and rocket showed an initial higher content of the quality parameters studied and demonstrated a better resistance to air exposure than the other salads, being ascorbic acid the most affected parameter. Modified atmosphere packaging demonstrated to be a very useful and reliable technology to extend nutritional and sensory properties during the shelf life period for all the vegetables studied

Continuum states of CO+

Continuum states of the CO+ cation are studied as a function of internuclear distances in the range 1.7-3.0 a(0). R-matrix wavefunctions are constructed for 1Sigma(+), (2)Pi, (2)Delta and 4Pi total symmetries by study of collisions of electrons with a CO2+ target. Complex quantum defects are obtained from above threshold energy scattering calculations, yielding resonance energy curves and corresponding electronic couplings to the CO+ continuum. Results are presented and discussed for the high-n Feshbach resonances of the CO+ spectrum converging to excited states of CO2+. These curves are responsible for the recently observed dissociative recombination of Co2+

Free trade as a force of political stability? The case of mainland China and Hong Kong

Is free trade a force of political stability? This article argues that, while political stability could be a cause, it is not always a consequence of free trade. To test this argument, the article analyses the political causes and consequences of the external and internal trade liberalisation initiatives of Mainland China and Hong Kong through a selection of their current and proposed free trade agreements and free trade zones, namely, the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Hong Kong Free Port, and China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Together, these initiatives comprise a uniquely outlier case study on individual customs territories in a common state jurisdiction with contrary political economies. This article concludes that the effectiveness of free trade as a force of political stability is, by and large, more of a perception than a reality

Mentoring Programmes as a successful instrument for career development of people with disabilities and disadvantaged

[Excerpt] For many years the Mentoring, as a form of support for young people without work experience, is well-known practice. In the past ten years the Mentoring has proved itself as a wide-applied method of support in the career of people with disabilities. A good example of successfully held Mentoring programme in Europe is the “Equal Employment Opportunities: Mentoring and Training for Disabled People and Employers” Project. It is a transnational initiative supported by the “Leonardo da Vinci” Programme of the European Commission. The project includes 3 European countries: Bulgaria, Greece and the UK. The duration of the project was 24 months

Analysing and combining multiple credit assessments of financial institutions

The last consultative papers of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision set the path for a future where a wealth of credit assessment sources may be available. New external credit assessment institutions and internal ratings-based assessments will be added to ratings of major international rating agencies and to benchmark assessment methods used by supervisors or central banks. In its first part, this paper contributes to the development of a toolbox to analyse and compare credit assessments by examining the ratings of three leading rating agencies on a set of credit institutions. The analysis decomposes the historical default rate corresponding to a rating into two components drawing on a 'core' of published information and an 'analyst contribution'. In the second part of the paper, correlation and variance analysis of the analyst contributions lead to a combination of the available ratings, building on both the common core and the analyst part JEL Classification: C21, C51, G15, G21, G28

Life cycle assessment of photovoltaic implementation: an Italian case study

The energy efficiency is the possibility and ability to carry out a production process consume with the involves of less energy and minor environmental impact. Life Cycle Assessment is one of the major tools involved in the economic, social and environmental evaluation. The aim of this work is the LCA application to an Italian company that provides to install a photovoltaic plant for the energy self-maintenance, in order to break down costs and environmental impacts. The photovoltaic business can be an interesting solution especially for companies which consume more energy during the day. In the case study was highlighted that an average of 400.00 €/month was spent, equal to about 900 kWh / month. The company installed a 10 kWp photovoltaic system and with this implementation the energy consumption diminished of 84% and the costs of 57%