516 research outputs found
Variational theory for a single polyelectrolyte chain revisited
We reconsider the electrostatic contribution to the persistence length,
, of a single, infinitely long charged polymer in the presence of
screening. A Gaussian variational method is employed, taking as the
only variational parameter. For weakly charged and flexible chains, crumpling
occurs at small length scales because conformational fluctuations overcome
electrostatic repulsion. The electrostatic persistence length depends on the
square of the screening length, , as first argued by
Khokhlov and Khachaturian by applying the Odijk-Skolnick-Fixman (OSF) theory to
a string of crumpled blobs. We compare our approach to previous theoretical
works (including variational formulations) and show that the result
found by several authors comes from the improper use of
a cutoff at small length scales. For highly charged and stiff chains, crumpling
does not occur; here we recover the OSF result and validate the perturbative
calculation for slightly bent rods.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Counterion Condensation and Fluctuation-Induced Attraction
We consider an overall neutral system consisting of two similarly charged
plates and their oppositely charged counterions and analyze the electrostatic
interaction between the two surfaces beyond the mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann
approximation. Our physical picture is based on the fluctuation-driven
counterion condensation model, in which a fraction of the counterions is
allowed to ``condense'' onto the charged plates. In addition, an expression for
the pressure is derived, which includes fluctuation contributions of the whole
system. We find that for sufficiently high surface charges, the distance at
which the attraction, arising from charge fluctuations, starts to dominate can
be large compared to the Gouy-Chapmann length. We also demonstrate that
depending on the valency, the system may exhibit a novel first-order binding
transition at short distances.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, to appear in PR
Information sharing, bank penetration and tax evasion in emerging markets
Tax evasion, which is typically considered an illegal activity, is a critical problem and is considered a barrier to economic growth. A review of the literature shows that tax and social security contributions, regulations, public sector services, the quality of institutions and tax compliance, play important roles in determining the degree to which firms attempt to evade taxes. Measuring tax evasion is problematic due to data requirements and inadequacies. Few tax evasion indices have been estimated but it appears that they cannot be used for international comparisons across countries. This important issue has largely been ignored in the literature, in particular for emerging markets. Consequently, this paper is conducted to develop a new tax evasion index (TEI) using the most substantial and recent data from the standardized World Bank Enterprises Survey 2006–2017. In addition, using the newly developed TEI, the paper examines the importance and contribution of information sharing and bank penetration to the degree of tax evasion in emerging markets. The paper uses a sample of 112 emerging markets from 2006–2017 and the Tobit model in estimation. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that the average TEI during the 2006– 2017 period for emerging markets is 0.62, with a range of (0.25, 0.75). In addition, we find that information sharing and bank penetration negatively affect the degree of tax evasion, as proxied by the TEI, in emerging markets. The empirical results also confirm the view that large firms are considered to have adopted good tax compliance practices, while firms located in remote areas are more likely to evade taxes. Policy implications have emerged on the basis of the empirical findings from the paper
Counterion Penetration and Effective Electrostatic Interactions in Solutions of Polyelectrolyte Stars and Microgels
Counterion distributions and effective electrostatic interactions between
spherical macroions in polyelectrolyte solutions are calculated via
second-order perturbation (linear response) theory. By modelling the macroions
as continuous charge distributions that are permeable to counterions,
analytical expressions are obtained for counterion profiles and effective pair
interactions in solutions of star-branched and microgel macroions. The
counterions are found to penetrate stars more easily than microgels, with
important implications for screening of bare macroion interactions. The
effective pair interactions are Yukawa in form for separated macroions, but are
softly repulsive and bounded for overlapping macroions. A one-body volume
energy, which depends on the average macroion concentration, emerges naturally
in the theory and contributes to the total free energy.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
The Persistence Length of a Strongly Charged, Rod-like, Polyelectrolyte in the Presence of Salt
The persistence length of a single, intrinsically rigid polyelectrolyte
chain, above the Manning condensation threshold is investigated theoretically
in presence of added salt. Using a loop expansion method, the partition
function is consistently calculated, taking into account corrections to
mean-field theory. Within a mean-field approximation, the well-known results of
Odijk, Skolnick and Fixman are reproduced. Beyond mean-field, it is found that
density correlations between counterions and thermal fluctuations reduce the
stiffness of the chain, indicating an effective attraction between monomers for
highly charged chains and multivalent counterions. This attraction results in a
possible mechanical instability (collapse), alluding to the phenomenon of DNA
condensation. In addition, we find that more counterions condense on slightly
bent conformations of the chain than predicted by the Manning model for the
case of an infinite cylinder. Finally, our results are compared with previous
models and experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 2 ps figure
Charge Fluctuations on Membrane Surfaces in Water
We generalize the predictions for attractions between over-all neutral
surfaces induced by charge fluctuations/correlations to non-uniform systems
that include dielectric discontinuities, as is the case for mixed charged lipid
membranes in an aqueous solution. We show that the induced interactions depend
in a non-trivial way on the dielectric constants of membrane and water and show
different scaling with distance depending on these properties. The generality
of the calculations also allows us to predict under which dielectric conditions
the interaction will change sign and become repulsive
CO2 Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth
The paper investigates the role of consumption of both renewable and sustainable energy, as well
as alternative and nuclear energy, in mitigating the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions,
based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The papers introduces a novel variable to
capture trade openness, which appears to be a crucial factor in inter-regional co-operation and
development, in order to evaluate its effect on the environment, The empirical analysis is based on
a sample of nine signatories to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership (CPTPP) for the period 1971-2014, which is based on data availability. The empirical
analysis is based on several time series econometric methods, such as the cointegration test, two
long run estimators, namely the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic
ordinary least squares (DOLS) methods, as well as the Granger causality test. There are several
noteworthy empirical findings: it is possibl
Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from Vietnam
The importance of non-renewable, renewable and sustainable energy sources and energy
consumption in the economic development strategy of a country is undeniable. The purpose of
the paper is to investigate the impacts of energy consumption on the economic growth of Vietnam
during the 1980-2014 period. By applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model
of Pesaran et al. (2001),
Analysis and prevention of dent defects formed during strip casting of twin-induced plasticity steels
Rapid-solidification experiments were conducted for understanding dent defects formed during strip casting of twin-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels. The rapid-solidification experiments reproduced the dent defects formed on these steels, which were generally located at valleys of the shot-blasted roughness on the substrate. The rapid-solidification experiment results reveal that the number of dips, the Mn content of the steel, and the surface roughness of the substrate affect the depth and size of dents formed on the solidified-shell surfaces, while the composition of the atmosphere gases and the carbon content of the steel are not factors. The formation of dents was attributed to the entrapment of gases inside the roughness valleys of the substrate surface and their volume expansion due to the temperature of the steel melt and the latent heat. The dents could be prevented when the thermal expansion of gases was suppressed by making longitudinal grooves on the substrate surface, which allowed the entrapped gases to escape. Sound solidified shells were obtained by optimizing the width and depth of the longitudinal grooves and by controlling the shot-blasting conditions.ope
- …