6,304 research outputs found
Protectionist Responses to the Crisis: Global Trends and Implications
In this paper we take a systematic look at recent trends in global protectionism and at the potential implications of a protectionist backlash for economic growth, using results from the recent economic literature and new model simulations. We find that there has so far been a moderate increase in actual protectionist measures to restrict trade through tariff and non-tariff barriers. At the same time, evidence from surveys shows that public pressure for more economic protection has been mounting since the mid-2000s, and has possibly intensified since the start of the financial crisis. However, no World Trade Organization (WTO) member has retreated into widespread trade restrictions or protectionism to date. Our model-based simulations suggest that the impairment of the global flow of trade would hamper the recovery from the crisis, as well as the long-term growth of the global economy. At the same time, it is unlikely that protectionism would help to correct existing current account imbalances. Moreover, the countries implementing protectionist measures should expect a deterioration of their international competitiveness, which would further affect the potential for longer-term real GDP growth.Protectionism ; trade ; financial crisis ; competitiveness ; World Trade Organization ; global imbalances.
Reconstructing the Inflaton Potential
A review is presented of recent work by the authors concerning the use of
large scale structure and microwave background anisotropy data to determine the
potential of the inflaton field. The importance of a detection of the
stochastic gravitational wave background is emphasised, and some preliminary
new results of tests of the method on simulated data sets with uncertainties
are described. (Proceedings of ``Unified Symmetry in the Small and in the
Large'', Coral Gables, 1994)Comment: 13 pages, uuencoded postscript file with figures included (LaTeX file
available from ARL), FERMILAB-Conf 94/189
Mechanical cleaning of graphene
Contamination of graphene due to residues from nanofabrication often
introduces background doping and reduces charge carrier mobility. For samples
of high electronic quality, post-lithography cleaning treatments are therefore
needed. We report that mechanical cleaning based on contact mode AFM removes
residues and significantly improves the electronic properties. A mechanically
cleaned dual-gated bilayer graphene transistor with hBN dielectrics exhibited a
mobility of ~36,000 cm2/Vs at low temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A pesquisa algodoeira no nordeste do Brasil.
Caracterizacao da producao de algodao na regiao setentrional do Brasil; Contribuicao da pesquisa e iniciativa privada a problematica do algodao do nordeste no passado; Desafios atuais; Acoes recentes da pesquisa com o algodao no nordeste; Sugestoes finais.bitstream/item/33264/1/A-PESQUISA-ALGODOEIRA.pd
Filtering techniques for the detection of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich clusters in multifrequency CMB maps
The problem of detecting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) clusters in multifrequency
CMB observations is investigated using a number of filtering techniques. A
multifilter approach is introduced, which optimizes the detection of SZ
clusters on microwave maps. An alternative method is also investigated, in
which maps at different frequencies are combined in an optimal manner so that
existing filtering techniques can be applied to the single combined map. The SZ
profiles are approximated by the circularly-symmetric template , with and , where the core radius and the overall amplitude of the effect
are not fixed a priori, but are determined from the data. The background
emission is modelled by a homogeneous and isotropic random field, characterized
by a cross-power spectrum with . The
filtering methods are illustrated by application to simulated Planck
observations of a patch of sky in 10 frequency
channels. Our simulations suggest that the Planck instrument should detect
SZ clusters in 2/3 of the sky. Moreover, we find the catalogue
to be complete for fluxes mJy at 300 GHz.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; Corrected figures. Submitted to MNRA
Levantamento e avaliacao da qualidade de sementes de algodao, Gossypium hirsutum L. distribuidas aos agricultores de alguns Estados do nordeste do Brasil.
bitstream/item/33361/1/LEVANTAMENTO-E-AVALIACAO.pd
Smart dual thermal network
Conventional district heating (DH) systems enable demand aggregation at district level and can provide high centralized heat generation performance values. However, thermal Renewable Energy Sources (RES) deployment at building level still remains low, and exploitation suboptimal, as it is limited by the instantaneous thermal load and storage capacity availability of each building. Buildings play the role of consumers that request a variable amount of heat over time and the thermal network the role of unidirectional heat supplier, without any smart interaction. The FP7 project A2PBEER has developed an innovative Smart Dual Thermal Network concept based on RES and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) as generation technologies, that enables transforming existing suboptimal DH systems, into integrated thermal networks with optimized performance and building level RES system production exploitation. It is based on an innovative Smart Dual Building Thermal Substation concept, which allows a bidirectional heat exchange of the buildings with the thermal network, and to aggregate district level distributed production and storage capacity (Virtual District Plant). With this approach buildings become prosumers maximizing decentralized RES production exploitation, as any possible local heat production surplus on any building of the district, will be delivered to the network to be used by other buildings. Additionally, this thermal network allows the delivery of the energy necessary to meet the heating and cooling demand of the buildings through a single hot water distribution network. In this way, it is possible to upgrade conventional DH systems to district heating and cooling systems, without the construction of a district cooling plant and a dedicated cooling distribution network. Cooling is produced at building level through sorption technologies using locally deployed solar collectors and the thermal network as energy sources. Finally, the district typologies and climatic conditions that maximize the potential of this thermal network concept have been identified.The research activities leading to the described developments and results, were funded by the FP7 project A2PBEER, under grant agreement No 906090. Special thanks to Olof Hallström and ClimateWell AB for making the TRNSYS model of the innovative sorption system and developing the component level simulation work
A low CMB variance in the WMAP data
We have estimated the CMB variance from the three-year WMAP data, finding a
value which is significantly lower than the one expected from Gaussian
simulations using the WMAP best-fit cosmological model, at a significance level
of 98.7 per cent. This result is even more prominent if we consider only the
north ecliptic hemisphere (99.8 per cent). Different analyses have been
performed in order to identify a possible origin for this anomaly. In
particular we have studied the behaviour of single radiometers and single year
data as well as the effect of residual foregrounds and 1/f noise, finding that
none of these possibilities can explain the low value of the variance. We have
also tested the effect of varying the cosmological parameters, finding that the
estimated CMB variance tends to favour higher values of than the one of
the WMAP best-fit model. In addition, we have also tested the consistency
between the estimated CMB variance and the actual measured CMB power spectrum
of the WMAP data, finding a strong discrepancy. A possible interpretation of
this result could be a deviation from Gaussianity and/or isotropy of the CMB.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Some new tests added. Section 5 largely
modified. Accepted for publication in MNRA
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