pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Individual uncertainty and the political acceptability of road pricing policies

This paper investigates the issue of political feasibility of a road pricing policies (RPP). Referring to a literature developed in international trade theory (Fernandez and Rodrick, 1991), this paper presents a model regarding the role and relevance of individual specific uncertainty in explaining the political acceptability of RPP. It is shown that: a) without money transfers, i.e., reimbursements of the tax levied, and with no uncertainty, RPP might not be accepted thus giving rise to an evident trade-off between economic efficiency and political acceptability; b) when individual specific uncertainty is assumed, optimal level of RPP, may, under given conditions concerning the number of voters and people preferences, become politically acceptable. Two different strategies can be envisaged to render RPP politically feasible: gradual and radical. The first strategy foresees a low corrective tax that eliminates only a small proportion of the excessive use of the public good and provides an acceptable balance between monetary loss and environment improvement. Alternatively, a radical strategy would foresee a much higher level of tax substantially reducing the number of people consuming the public good and providing a potentially higher and concentrated payoff to those still consuming it after the policy is implemented. This latter policy appears more easily sustainable under majority than unanimity voting.
A game theory model for currency markets stabilization

The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology to stabilize the currency markets by adopting Game Theory. Our idea is to save the Euro from the speculative attacks (due the crisis of the Euro-area States), and this goal is reached by the introduction, by the normative authority, of a financial transactions tax. Specifically, we focus on two economic operators: a real economic subject (as for example the Ferrari S.p.A., our first player), and a financial institute of investment (the Unicredit Bank, our second player). The unique solution which allows both players to win something, and therefore the only one collectively desirable, is represented by an agreement between the two subjects. So the Ferrari artificially causes an inconsistency between currency spot and futures markets, and the Unicredit takes the opportunity to win the maximum possible collective sum, which later will be divided with the Ferrari by contract.
Examining young recreational sportswomen’s intentions to engage in sun-protective behaviour: the role of ingroup and image norms

We examined the sun-protective intentions and behavior of young Caucasian Australian sportswomen aged between 17 and 35 years (N = 100). The study adopted a 2 x 2 experimental design, comparing group norms (supportive vs. non-supportive) and image norms (tanned vs. pale) related to sun-protection, and taking into account group identification with friends and peers in the sport. While no significant findings emerged involving image norms, regression analyses revealed a significant 2-way interaction for group norm x identification on recreational sportswomen's intentions to engage in sun-protection in the next fortnight. Participants identifying strongly with their group had stronger intentions to engage in sun-protection when exposed to a norm reflecting fellow recreational sportswomen engaging in sun-protective actions in comparison to those exposed to a non-supportive group. In addition, while prior intentions to engage in sun protection were not significantly related to sun-protection behavior, post-manipulation intentions after exposure to the sun-protective information that was provided were significantly related to follow-up behavior. Overall, the findings supported the importance of group-based social influences, rather than tanned media images, on sun-protective decisions among young recreational sportswomen and provided a targeted source for intervention strategies encouraging sun safety among this at-risk group for repeated sun exposure.Full Tex
On the influence of marine biogeochemical processes over CO 2 exchange between the atmosphere and ocean

The ocean holds a large reservoir of carbon dioxide (CO2), and mitigates climate change through uptake of anthropogenic CO2. Fluxes of CO2 between the atmosphere and surface ocean are regulated by a number of physical and biogeochemical processes, resulting in a spatiotemporally heterogeneous CO2 distribution. Determining the influence of each individual process is useful for interpreting marine carbonate system observations, and is also necessary to investigate how changes in these drivers could affect air-sea CO2 exchange. Biogeochemical processes exert an influence primarily through modifying seawater dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) and total alkalinity (AT), thus changing the seawater partial pressure of CO2 (psw). Here, we propose a novel conceptual framework through which the size of the CO2 source or sink generated by any biogeochemical process, denoted Φ, can be evaluated. This is based on the ‘isocapnic quotient’ (Q), which defines the trajectory through (AT,CT) phase space for which there is no change in psw. We discuss the limitations and uncertainties inherent in this technique, which are negligible for most practical purposes, and its links with existing, related approaches. We investigate the effect on Φ of spatiotemporal heterogeneity in Q in the present day surface ocean for several key biogeochemical processes. This leads the magnitude of the CO2 source or sink generated by processes that modify AT to vary spatiotemporally. Finally, we consider how the strength of each process as a CO2 source or sink may change in a warmer, higher-CO2 future ocean
The Spitzer c2d survey of weak-line T Tauri stars. III. The transition from primordial disks to debris disks.

We present 3.6 to 70 μm Spitzer photometry of 154 weak-line T Tauri stars (WTTSs) in the Chamaeleon, Lupus, Ophiuchus, and Taurus star formation regions, all of which are within 200 pc of the Sun. For a comparative study, we also include 33 classical T Tauri stars which are located in the same star-forming regions. Spitzer sensitivities allow us to robustly detect the photosphere in the IRAC bands (3.6 to 8 μm) and the 24 μm MIPS band. In the 70 μm MIPS band, we are able to detect dust emission brighter than roughly 40 times the photosphere. These observations represent the most sensitive WTTSs survey in the mid- to far-infrared to date and reveal the frequency of outer disks (r = 3-50 AU) around WTTSs. The 70 μm photometry for half the c2d WTTSs sample (the on-cloud objects), which were not included in the earlier papers in this series, those of Padgett et al. and Cieza et al., are presented here for the first time. We find a disk frequency of 19% for on-cloud WTTSs, but just 5% for off-cloud WTTSs, similar to the value reported in the earlier works. WTTSs exhibit spectral energy distributions that are quite diverse, spanning the range from optically thick to optically thin disks. Most disks become more tenuous than L disk/L * = 2 × 10–3 in 2 Myr and more tenuous than L disk/L * = 5 × 10–4 in 4 Myr
Fruiting body, spores and in vitro produced mycelium of Ganoderma lucidum from Northeast Portugal: A comparative study of the antioxidant potential of phenolic and polysaccharidic extracts

Ganoderma lucidum is one of the most extensively studied mushrooms due to its medicinal properties. Herein, a systematic study was carried out in order to compare the antioxidant activity of phenolic and polysaccharidic extracts from fruiting body, spores and mycelium, obtained in three different culture media, of G. lucidum from Northeast Portugal. Phenolic extracts were characterized using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detection, while polysaccharidic extracts were hydrolysed and further characterized using HPLC and refraction index detection. In general, the phenolic extracts (Ph) proved to have higher antioxidant potential than their corresponding polysaccharidic extracts (Ps). Amongst phenolic extracts, FB-Ph provided the highest antioxidant activity (EC50 ≤ 0.6 mg/ml) and the highest content in total phenolics (~29 mg GAE/g extract) and phenolic acids (p-hydroxybenzoic and p-coumaric acids). S-Ps was the polysaccharidic extract with the best antioxidant activity (EC50 ≤ 2 mg/ml); nevertheless, the highest levels of total phenolics were obtained in FB-PS (~56 mg GAE/g extract), while the highest levels of total polysaccharides (~14 mg PE/g extract) and individual sugars were observed in mycelia obtained from solid culture media, M-PDA-Ps and M-sMMN-Ps. The free radical scavenging properties, reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition of G. lucidum seemed to be correlated with phenolic compounds mostly in a free form, but also linked to polysaccharides
Simultaneous estimation of global background synaptic inhibition and excitation from membrane potential fluctuations in layer III layer III neurones of the rat entorhinal cortex in vitro

It is becoming clear that the detection and integration of synaptic input and its conversion into an output signal in cortical neurones is strongly influenced by background synaptic activity or “noise”. The majority of this noise results from the spontaneous release of synaptic transmitters, interacting with ligand-gated ion channels in the postsynaptic neurone (e.g. Berretta and Jones, 1996; Jones and Woodhall, 2005; LoTurco et al., 1990; Otis et al., 1991; Ropert et al., 1991; Salin and Prince, 1996; Staley, 1999; Woodhall et al., 2005). The function of synaptic noise has been the subject of debate for some years, but there is increasing evidence that it modifies or controls neuronal excitability and, thus, the integrative properties of cortical neurones. In the present study we have investigated a novel approach (Rudolph et al., 2004) to simultaneously quantify synaptic inhibitory and excitatory synaptic noise, together with postsynaptic excitability, in rat entorhinal cortical neurones in vitro. The results suggest that this is a viable and useful approach to the study of the function of synaptic noise in cortical networks
Maritime data integration and analysis: Recent progress and research challenges

The correlated exploitation of heterogeneous data sources offering very large historical as well as streaming data is important to increasing the accuracy of computations when analysing and predicting future states of moving entities. This is particularly critical in the maritime domain, where online tracking, early recognition of events, and real-time forecast of anticipated trajectories of vessels are crucial to safety and operations at sea. The objective of this paper is to review current research challenges and trends tied to the integration, management, analysis, and visualization of objects moving at sea as well as a few suggestions for a successful development of maritime forecasting and decision-support systems
Educating for digital futures: what the learning strategies of digital media professionals can teach higher education

This article explores how universities might engage more effectively with the imperative to develop students’ twenty-first century skills for the information society, by examining learning challenges and professional learning strategies of successful digital media professionals. The findings of qualitative interviews with professionals from Australian games, online publishing, apps and software development companies reinforce an increasing body of literature that suggests that legacy university structures and pedagogical approaches are not conducive to learning for professional capability in the digital age. Study participants were ambivalent about the value of higher education to digital careers, in general preferring a range of situated online and face-to-face social learning strategies for professional currency. This article draws upon the learning preferences of the professionals in this study to present a model of twenty-first century learning, as linked with extant theory relating to informal, self-determined learning and communities of practice.Full Tex
Binaries discovered by the SPY project. IV. Five single-lined DA double white dwarfs

Contains fulltext :
                  33267.pdf ( ) (Open Access)
                
                  Contains fulltext :
                  33267.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)We present results from our ongoing follow-up observations of double white dwarf binaries detected in the ESO SN Ia Progenitor SurveY (SPY). We discuss our observing strategy and data analysis and present the orbital solutions of five close double white dwarf binaries: HE0320-1917, HE1511-0448, WD0326-273, WD1013-010 and WD1210+140. Their periods range from 0.44 to 3.22 days. In none of these systems we find any spectral lines originating from the companion. This rules out main sequence companions and indicates that the companion white dwarfs are significantly older and cooler than the bright component. Infrared photometry suggests the presence of a cool, helium-rich white dwarf companion in the binary WD 0326-273. We briefly discuss the consequences of our findings for our understanding of the formation and evolution of double white dwarfs
Output, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and international trade: Evidence from a panel of 69 countries

This paper uses panel cointegration techniques to examine the causal relationship between output, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, and international trade for a sample of 69 countries during the period 1980-2007. In the short-run, Granger causality tests show that there is evidence of a bidirectional causality between output and trade (exports or imports), a one way causality running from renewable energy consumption to trade, and a bidirectional feedback causality between non-renewable energy consumption and trade. Interestingly, there is no direct short-run causality between the three variables renewable energy, non-renewable energy and output. However, there is an indirect short-run causality running from renewable energy to both non-renewable energy and output, which occurs through trade. Also, there is an indirect and bidirectional short-run causality between non-renewable energy and output through trade. In the long-run, OLS, FMOLS and DOLS estimates suggest that renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and trade have a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth. Our policy recommendations are to encourage trade openness because this may reduce the share of non-renewable energy consumption in total energy consumption. Indeed, through technology transfer and economies of scale, more trade openness could be a good policy for combating global warming by encouraging the use of renewable energies, while increasing output.
Sport development programmes for Indigenous Australians: innovation, inclusion and development, or a product of \u27white guilt\u27?

Under the legacy of neoliberalism, it is important to consider how the indigenous people, in this case of Australia, are to advance, develop and achieve some approximation of parity with broader societies in terms of health, educational outcomes and economic participation. In this paper, we explore the relationships between welfare dependency, individualism, responsibility, rights, liberty and the role of the state in the provision of Government-funded programmes of sport to Indigenous communities. We consider whether such programmes are a product of \u27white guilt\u27 and therefore encourage dependency and weaken the capacity for independence within communities and individuals, or whether programmes to increase rates of participation in sport are better viewed as good investments to bring about changes in physical activity as (albeit a small) part of a broader social policy aimed at reducing the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, education and employment
Using the damage from 2010 Haiti earthquake for calibrating vulnerability models of typical structures in Port-au-Prince (Haiti)

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, that hits the city of Port-au-Prince, capital city of Haiti, a multidisciplinary working group of specialists (seismologist, geologists, engineers and architects) from different Spanish Universities and also from Haiti, joined effort under the SISMO-HAITI project (financed by the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid), with an objective: Evaluation of seismic hazard and risk in Haiti and its application to the seismic design, urban planning, emergency and resource management. In this paper, as a first step for a structural damage estimation of future earthquakes in the country, a calibration of damage functions has been carried out by means of a two-stage procedure. After compiling a database with observed damage in the city after the earthquake, the exposure model (building stock) has been classified and through an iteratively two-step calibration process, a specific set of damage functions for the country has been proposed. Additionally, Next Generation Attenuation Models (NGA) and Vs30 models have been analysed to choose the most appropriate for the seismic risk estimation in the city. Finally in a next paper, these functions will be used to estimate a seismic risk scenario for a future earthquake.This work has been developed thanks to the financial support of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), project SISMO-HAITI
Foundations of responsible leadership: Asian versus Western executive responsibility orientations toward key stakeholders.

Exploring the construct of social-responsibility orientation across three Asian and two Western societies (Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and the United States), we show evidence that top-level executives in these societies hold fundamentally different beliefs about their responsibilities toward different stakeholders, with concomitant implications for their understanding and enactment of responsible leadership. We further find that these variations are more closely aligned with institutional factors than with cultural variables, suggesting a need to clarify the connection between culture and institutions on the one hand and culture and social-responsibility orientations on the other
Trees, Tight-Spans and Point Configuration

Tight-spans of metrics were first introduced by Isbell in 1964 and
rediscovered and studied by others, most notably by Dress, who gave them this
name. Subsequently, it was found that tight-spans could be defined for more
general maps, such as directed metrics and distances, and more recently for
diversities. In this paper, we show that all of these tight-spans as well as
some related constructions can be defined in terms of point configurations.
This provides a useful way in which to study these objects in a unified and
systematic way. We also show that by using point configurations we can recover
results concerning one-dimensional tight-spans for all of the maps we consider,
as well as extend these and other results to more general maps such as
symmetric and unsymmetric maps.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure
Numerical study of the enlarged O(5) symmetry of the 3-D
  antiferromagnetic RP2 spin model

We investigate by means of Monte Carlo simulation and Finite-Size Scaling
analysis the critical properties of the three dimensional O(5) non linear sigma
model and of the antiferromagnetic RP2 model, both of them regularized on a
lattice. High accuracy estimates are obtained for the critical exponents,
universal dimensionless quantities and critical couplings. It is concluded that
both models belong to the same Universality Class, provide that rather non
standard identifications are made for the momentum-space propagator of the RP2
model. We have also investigated the phase diagram of the RP2 model extended by
a second-neighbor interaction. A rich phase diagram is found, where most phase
transitions are first order.Comment: 3 postscript figure
Connecting the Quenched and Unquenched Worlds via the Large N_c World

In the large N_c(number of colors) limit, quenched QCD and QCD are identical.
This implies that, in the effective field theory framework, some of the low
energy constants in (N_c=3) quenched QCD and QCD are the same up to
higher-order corrections in the 1/N_c expansion. Thus the calculation of the
nonleptonic kaon decays relevant for the Delta I=1/2 rule in the quenched
approximation is expected to differ from the unquenched one by an O(1/N_c)
correction. However, the calculation relevant to the CP-violation parameter
epsilon'/epsilon would have a relatively big higher-order correction due to the
large cancellation in the leading order. Some important weak matrix elements
are poorly known that even constraints with 100% errors are interesting. In
those cases, quenched calculations will be very useful.Comment: 8 pages, one figure; minor typos correcte
Non-Thermal Dark Matter, High Energy Cosmic Rays and Late-Decaying
  Particles From Inflationary Quantum Fluctuations

It has been suggested that the origin of cosmic rays above the GZK limit
might be explained by the decay of particles, X, with mass of the order of
10^{12} GeV. Generation of heavy particles from inflationary quantum
fluctuations is a prime candidate for the origin of the decaying X particles.
  It has also been suggested that the problem of non-singular galactic halos
might be explained if dark matter originates non-thermally from the decay of
particles, Y, such that there is a free-streaming length of the order of
0.1Mpc. Here we explore the possibility that quantum fluctuations might account
for the Y particles as well as the X particles. For the case of non-thermal
WIMP dark matter with unsuppressed weak interactions we find that there is a
general problem with deuterium photo-dissociation, disfavouring WIMP dark
matter candidates. For the case of more general dark matter particles, which
may have little or no interaction with conventional matter, we discuss the
conditions under which X and Y scalars or fermions can account for non-thermal
dark matter and cosmic rays. For the case where X and Y scalars are
simultaneously produced, we show that galactic halos are likely to have a
dynamically significant component of X scalar cold dark matter in addition to
the dominant non-thermal dark matter component.Comment: 18 Pages, LaTeX. Substantially revised with corrected WIMP
  cross-section
Evidence of hot high velocity photoionized plasma falling on actively
  accreting T-Tauri Stars

The HeII (1640 A) line and the resonance doublet of NV (UV1) provide a good
diagnostic tool to constrain the excitation mechanism of hot (Te>40,000K)
atmospheric/magnetospheric plasmas in T Tauri stars (TTSs). Making use of the
data available in the Hubble Space Telescope Archive, this work shows that
there are, at least, two distinct physical components contributing to the
radiation in these tracers: the accretion flow sliding on the magnetosphere and
the atmosphere.
  The NV profiles are symmetric and at rest with respect to the star in most
sources. The velocity dispersion of the profile increases from non-accreting
(40 km/s) to accreting (120 km/s) TTSs suggesting that the macroturbulence in
the line formation region decreases as the stars approach the main sequence.
Evidence of the NV line being formed in a hot solar-like wind has been found in
RW Aur, HN Tau and AA Tau.
  The HeII profile has a strong narrow component that dominates the line flux;
the dispersion of this component ranges from 20 to 60 km/s. The sources of this
radiation is uncertain. Current data suggest that both accretion shocks and
atmospheric emission might contribute to the line flux. In some sources de HeII
line shows a broad and rewards shifted emission component often accompanied by
semiforbidden OIII emission that has a critical density of about 3.4e10 cm-3.
  In spite of the different origins (inferred from the kinematics of the line
formation region), NV and HeII fluxes are strongly correlated, with the
possible exception of the heaviest accretors.Comment: Submitted to Ap