Generalized Ginzburg-Landau models for non-conventional superconductors

We review some recent extensions of the Ginzburg-Landau model able to describe several properties of non-conventional superconductors. In the first extension, s-wave superconductors endowed with two different critical temperatures are considered, their main thermodynamical and magnetic properties being calculated and discussed. Instead in the second extension we describe spin-triplet superconductivity (with a single critical temperature), studying in detail the main predicted physical properties. A thorough discussion of the peculiar predictions of our models and their physical consequences is as well performed.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

On the water-bag model of dispersionless KP hierarchy

We investigate the bi-Hamiltonian structure of the waterbag model of dKP for two component case. One can establish the third-order and first-order Hamiltonian operator associated with the waterbag model. Also, the dispersive corrections are discussed.Comment: 19 page

Modelling Ordinal Responses with Uncertainty: a Hierarchical Marginal Model with Latent Uncertainty components

In responding to rating questions, an individual may give answers either according to his/her knowledge/awareness or to his/her level of indecision/uncertainty, typically driven by a response style. As ignoring this dual behaviour may lead to misleading results, we define a multivariate model for ordinal rating responses, by introducing, for every item, a binary latent variable that discriminates aware from uncertain responses. Some independence assumptions among latent and observable variables characterize the uncertain behaviour and make the model easier to interpret. Uncertain responses are modelled by specifying probability distributions that can depict different response styles characterizing the uncertain raters. A marginal parametrization allows a simple and direct interpretation of the parameters in terms of association among aware responses and their dependence on explanatory factors. The effectiveness of the proposed model is attested through an application to real data and supported by a Monte Carlo study

Heat flux evaluation in high temperature ring-on-ring contacts

A comprehensive methodology to investigate heat flux in a ring-on-ring tribometer is presented. Thermal fluxes under high contact pressures and temperature differences were evaluated through an experimental campaign and by a numerical procedure of inverse analysis applied to surface temperature measurements. An approximation of a two-dimensional time-dependent analytical solution for the temperature distribution was first developed and subsequently adapted to mimic the specific testing configuration characteristics; the problem was finally simplified to enable further inverse analysis. Experiments were performed using an innovative high temperature ring-on-ring tribometer. The evaluated contact heat transfer rates were reported as a function of normal load and temperature difference between the discs under steady-state conditions; the results reported here show that, in the present test configuration, the temperature difference has stronger influence than the applied load in terms of heat transfer induced by contact

Does financial development cause economic growth in the ASEAN-4 countries

This paper empirically examines the short- and long-run finance-growth nexus during the post-1997 financial crisis in the ASEAN-4 countries (i.e., Indonesia,Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines) by employing battery of times series techniques such as autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, vector error correction model (VECM), variance decompositions (VDCs) and impulseresponse functions (IRFs). Based on the ARDL models, the study documents a long-run equilibrium between economic growth, finance depth, share of investment and inflation. The study also finds that the common sources of economic progress/regress among the countries are price stability and financial development. Granger causality tests based on the VECM further reveals that there are: (i) no causality between finance-growth in Indonesia; the finding in favour of “the independent hypothesis” of Lucas (1988); (ii) a unidirectional causality running from finance to growth in Malaysia, thus supporting “the finance-growth led hypothesis” or “the supply-leading view”; (iii) a bidirectional causality between finance-growth in Thailand, the finding accords with “the feedback hypothesis” or “bidirectional causality view”; and (iv) a unidirectional causality stemming from growth to finance in the Philippines, the finding echoes with “the growth-led finance hypothesis” or “the demand following view” of Robinson (1952). Based on the VDCs and IRFs, the study discovers that the variations in the economic growth rely very much on its own innovations. If policy makers want to promote growth in the ASEAN-4 countries, priority should be given for long run policies, i.e., the enhancement of existing financial institutions both in the banking sector and stock market

Basic properties of nonsmooth Hormander's vector fields and Poincare's inequality

We consider a family of vector fields defined in some bounded domain of R^p, and we assume that they satisfy Hormander's rank condition of some step r, and that their coefficients have r-1 continuous derivatives. We extend to this nonsmooth context some results which are well-known for smooth Hormander's vector fields, namely: some basic properties of the distance induced by the vector fields, the doubling condition, Chow's connectivity theorem, and, under the stronger assumption that the coefficients belong to C^{r-1,1}, Poincare's inequality. By known results, these facts also imply a Sobolev embedding. All these tools allow to draw some consequences about second order differential operators modeled on these nonsmooth Hormander's vector fields.Comment: 60 pages, LaTeX; Section 6 added and Section 7 (6 in the previous version) changed. Some references adde

On the groundstate energy of tight knots

New results on the groundstate energy of tight, magnetic knots are presented. Magnetic knots are defined as tubular embeddings of the magnetic field in an ideal, perfectly conducting, incompressible fluid. An orthogonal, curvilinear coordinate system is introduced and the magnetic energy is determined by the poloidal and toroidal components of the magnetic field. Standard minimization of the magnetic energy is carried out under the usual assumptions of volume- and flux-preserving flow, with the additional constraints that the tube cross-section remains circular and that the knot length (ropelength) is independent from internal field twist (framing). Under these constraints the minimum energy is determined analytically by a new, exact expression, function of ropelength and framing. Groundstate energy levels of tight knots are determined from ropelength data obtained by the SONO tightening algorithm developed by Pieranski (Pieranski, 1998) and collaborators. Results for torus knots are compared with previous work done by Chui & Moffatt (1995), and the groundstate energy spectrum of the first prime knots (up to 10 crossings) is presented and analyzed in detail. These results demonstrate that ropelength and framing determine the spectrum of magnetic knots in tight configuration.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure

Buddhist-Derived Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation for the Treatment of Psychopathology: a Systematic Review

Although clinical interest has predominantly focused on mindfulness meditation, interest into the clinical utility of Buddhist-derived loving-kindness meditation (LKM) and compassion meditation (CM) is also growing. This paper follows the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis) guidelines and provides an evaluative systematic review of LKM and CM intervention studies. Five electronic academic databases were systematically searched to identify all intervention studies assessing changes in the symptom severity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (text revision fourth edition) Axis I disorders in clinical samples and/or known concomitants thereof in sub-clinical/healthy samples. The comprehensive database search yielded 342 papers and 20 studies (comprising a total of 1,312 participants) were eligible for inclusion. The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies was then used to assess study quality. Participants demonstrated significant improvements across five psychopathology-relevant outcome domains: (i) positive and negative affect, (ii) psychological distress, (iii) positive thinking, (iv) interpersonal relations, and (v) empathic accuracy. It is concluded that LKM and CM interventions may have utility for treating a variety of psychopathologies. However, to overcome obstacles to clinical integration, a lessons-learned approach is recommended whereby issues encountered during the (ongoing) operationalization of mindfulness interventions are duly considered. In particular, there is a need to establish accurate working definitions for LKM and CM

One or Two Statement Approach for the Income Statement of Czech Companies?

Purpose of the article: The article examines the IAS 1 revised that allows the company to choose between a reclassification of items by nature or by function (destination), it also provides two alternative presentations of the income statement: a single statement of comprehensive income or two statements, the first containing the components of net income, and the second that, starting from net income, shows the other components of expanded income. Methodology/methods: First we outline the principal theories of the statement of comprehensive income, secondly we concentrate the research to obtain the empirical data. The research is developed in the following steps: selection of the companies surveyed; selection of the documents to be analysed; election of the empirical aspects to be studied. Scientific aim: The aim of the research is to define which format has been adopted by companies listed on the Czech Republic Stock Exchange for the new Income Statement to be prepared according to the International Accounting Standards – IAS 1 revised in 2007. In particular, we examine the Consolidated Financial Statements 2010 published online. Findings: This article illustrates the two choices that have the companies to present items of net income, items of other comprehensive income and total comprehensive income: they can create one continuous statement of comprehensive income or two separate consecutive statements. Conclusions: The results show that the Czech financial statements have not a firms’ propensity to separate the section of the income statement in two statements rather than to integrate it into a single one, while the reclassification of the income statements privileges the reclassification by nature

R&D Paths of Pixel Detectors for Vertex Tracking and Radiation Imaging

This report reviews current trends in the R&D of semiconductor pixellated sensors for vertex tracking and radiation imaging. It identifies requirements of future HEP experiments at colliders, needed technological breakthroughs and highlights the relation to radiation detection and imaging applications in other fields of science.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, submitted to the European Strategy Preparatory Grou