Spillovers between non-commercial traders’ activity and spot prices? Analysis of the financialization mechanism in the crude oil market

PurposeThe purpose of this stud is to analyze the financialization effect on oil prices.Design/methodology/approachThis study applied the technique of multibreak point analysis with Bai and Perron test plus VAR methodology.FindingsFindings revealed that there was no effect on oil prices.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first paper combining the multibreakpoint analysis with VAR for the period analyzed in the present work

Masonry arches strengthened with composite unbonded tendons

In this paper an analytical model to evaluate the structural behavior of masonry arches and vaults strengthened with composite unbonded tendons placed at the extrados is presented. The tendons are fixed at the imposts. The model is formulated under the assumption of finite displacements. The displaced equilibrium configurations are identified by the stationariety of the potential of the acting forces. It is shown that when the tendon is not pretensioned an increase of the arch collapse load can be achieved only if the axial stiffness of the tendon is sufficiently large. Instead if the tendon is pretensioned an increase of the load that induces the first displacement of the arch is always achieved. If the stiffness of the tendon is sufficiently large the collapse load will be greater than the load that produces the first displacement of the arch

Unpredictable spillovers among water uses? An analysis of agricultural, industrial, and household uses of water in the Balkans

In times of water shortage, it becomes increasingly relevant for policymakers to understand the existing relationships between different types of water use, so as to encourage efficient water management. This article makes use of yearly data on agricultural, industrial, and household water use in the Balkan countries of Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia. It does so to identify the potential interactions among these three categories of water use. Using a deterministic model based on differential equations, we provide an analysis of the interactions among these different sectors of water use for the period between 2008 and 2017. Results show that interactions among these different categories do not remain constant over periods of time, either across or within the countries analysed. We find that, for most countries, industrial and household water uses are more likely to be characterised by mutualism and competition, instead of a predator-prey relationship. Agricultural water use, on the other hand, takes on the role of predator against the other two

Determination of quark-antiquark component of the photon wave function for u, d, s quarks

Based on the data for the transitions pi0, eta, eta' -> gamma gamma^*(Q^2) and reactions of the e^+ e^- -annihilations, e^+ e^- -> rho0, omega, phi and e^+ e^--> hadrons at 1<E_{e^+e^-}<3.7 GeV, we determine the light-quark components of the photon wave function gamma^*(Q^2) -> q anti-q (q= u, d, s) for the region 0< Q^2 <1 (GeV/c)^2.Comment: 17 pages, some typos correcte

Study of Spin and Decay-Plane Correlations of W Bosons in the e+e- -> W+W- Process at LEP

Data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt(s) = 189 - 209 GeV are used to study correlations of the spin of W bosons using e+e- -> W+W- -> lnqq~ events. Spin correlations are favoured by data, and found to agree with the Standard Model predictions. In addition, correlations between the W-boson decay planes are studied in e+e- -> W+W- -> lnqq~ and e+e- -> W+W- -> qq~qq~ events. Decay-plane correlations, consistent with zero and with the Standard Model predictions, are measured

Ultrarelativistic sources in nonlinear electrodynamics

The fields of rapidly moving sources are studied within nonlinear electrodynamics by boosting the fields of sources at rest. As a consequence of the ultrarelativistic limit the delta-like electromagnetic shock waves are found. The character of the field within the shock depends on the theory of nonlinear electrodynamics considered. In particular, we obtain the field of an ultrarelativistic charge in the Born-Infeld theory.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Search for Branons at LEP

We search, in the context of extra-dimension scenarios, for the possible existence of brane fluctuations, called branons. Events with a single photon or a single Z-boson and missing energy and momentum collected with the L3 detector in e^+ e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s}=189-209$ GeV are analysed. No excess over the Standard Model expectations is found and a lower limit at 95% confidence level of 103 GeV is derived for the mass of branons, for a scenario with small brane tensions. Alternatively, under the assumption of a light branon, brane tensions below 180 GeV are excluded

Measurement of the Cross Section for Open-Beauty Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at LEP

The cross section for open-beauty production in photon-photon collisions is measured using the whole high-energy and high-luminosity data sample collected by the L3 detector at LEP. This corresponds to 627/pb of integrated luminosity for electron-positron centre-of-mass energies from 189GeV to 209GeV. Events containing b quarks are identified through their semi-leptonic decay into electrons or muons. The e+e- -> e+e-b b~X cross section is measured within our fiducial volume and then extrapolated to the full phase space. These results are found to be in significant excess with respect to Monte Carlo predictions and next-to-leading order QCD calculations

Search for Charginos with a Small Mass Difference with the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for charginos nearly mass-degenerate with the lightest supersymmetric particle is performed using the 176 pb^-1 of data collected at 189 GeV in 1998 with the L3 detector. Mass differences between the chargino and the lightest supersymmetric particle below 4 GeV are considered. The presence of a high transverse momentum photon is required to single out the signal from the photon-photon interaction background. No evidence for charginos is found and upper limits on the cross section for chargino pair production are set. For the first time, in the case of heavy scalar leptons, chargino mass limits are obtained for any \tilde{\chi}^{+-}_1 - \tilde{\chi}^0_1 mass difference