The CAP and EU enlargement: Prospects for an alternative strategy to avoid the lock-in of CAP support

The integration of the central and east European countries (CEECs) into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could become a major problem. At the Copenhagen European summit in December 2002, the EU agreed a transitional period with a gradual phasing in of direct payments. However, this strategy will not solve the problems of the CAP: budgetary limits remain problematic, the policy ignores possible developments in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the extension of direct payments to the CEECs will further capitalize, and hence lock-in, agricultural support. The latter makes future reform even more difficult and, to overcome these problems, we suggest an alternative strategy to integrate the CEECs into the CAP. The EU should phase out direct payments by applying a bond scheme. Finally, we consider whether this option is politically viable.

The distribution of London residential property prices and the role of spatial lock-in

Much of mainstream economic analysis assumes that markets adjust smoothly, through prices, to changes in economic conditions. However, this is not necessarily the case for local housing markets, whose spatial structures may exhibit persistence, so that conditions may not be those most suited to the requirements of modern-day living. Persistence can arise from the existence of transaction costs. The paper tests the proposition that housing markets in Inner London exhibit a degree of path dependence, through the construction of a three-equation model, and examines the impact of variables constructed for the 19th and early 20th centuries on modern house prices. These include 19th-century social structures, slum clearance programmes and the 1908 underground network. Each is found to be significant. The tests require the construction of novel historical datasets, which are also described in the paper.

Winners and losers from industry reforms in the developing world: experiences from the electricity and mining sectors

The reform of previously state-owned and operated industries in many Less Developed Countries (LDCs) provide contrary experiences to those in the developed world, which have generally had more equitable distributional impacts. The economic reform policies proposed by the so-called 'Washington Consensus' state that privatisation provides governments with opportunities to raise revenues through the sale of under-performing and indebted state industries, thereby reducing significant fiscal burdens, and, at the same time, facilitating influxes of foreign capital, skills and technology, with the aim of improving operations and a "trickle-down" of benefits. However, experiences in many LDCs over the last 15-20 years suggest that reform has not solved the problem of chronic public-sector debt, and that poverty and socio-economic inequalities have increased during this period of 'neo-liberal' economics. This paper does not seek to challenge the policies themselves, but rather argues that the context in which reform has often taken place is of fundamental significance. The industry-centric policy advice provided by the IFIs typically causes a 'lock-in' of inequitably distributed 'efficiency gains', providing minimal, if any, benefits to impoverished groups. These arguments are made using case study analysis from the electricity and mining sectors.

Understanding consumer evaluations of personalised nutrition services in terms of the privacy calculus: a qualitative study

Background: Personalised nutrition (PN) may provide major health benefits to consumers. A potential barrier to the uptake of PN is consumers’ reluctance to disclose sensitive information upon which PN is based. This study adopts the privacy calculus to explore how PN service attributes contribute to consumers’ privacy risk and personalisation benefit perceptions. Methods: Sixteen focus groups (n = 124) were held in 8 EU countries and discussed 9 PN services that differed in terms of personal information, communication channel, service provider, advice justification, scope, frequency, and customer lock-in. Transcripts were content analysed. Results: The personal information that underpinned PN contributed to both privacy risk perception and personalisation benefit perception. Disclosing information face-to-face mitigated the perception of privacy risk and amplified the perception of personalisation benefit. PN provided by a qualified expert and justified by scientific evidence increased participants’ value perception. Enhancing convenience, offering regular face-to face support, and employing customer lock-in strategies were perceived as beneficial. Conclusion: This study suggests that to encourage consumer adoption, PN has to account for face-to-face communication, expert advice providers, support, a lifestyle-change focus, and customised offers. The results provide an initial insight into service attributes that influence consumer adoption of PN.

An HMV mapping study of a pulsating jet system

A new system for the generation of hydrodynamic modulated voltammetry (HMV) is presented. This system consists of an oscillating jet produced through the mechanical vibration of a large diaphragm. The structure of the cell is such that a relatively small vibration is transferred to a large fluid flow at the jet outlet. Positioning of an electrode (Pt, 0.5 mm or 25 mu m diameter) over the exit of this jet enables the detection of the modulated flow of liquid. While this flow creates modest mass transfer rates (time averaged similar to 0.015 cm s(-1)) it can also be used to create a HMV system where a 'lock-in' approach is adopted to investigate the redox chemistry in question. This is demonstrated for the Fe(CN)(6)(3-/4-) redox system. Here 'lock-in' to the modulated hydrodynamic signal is achieved through the deployment of bespoke software. The apparatus and procedure is shown to produce a simple and efficient way to obtain the desired signal. In addition the spatial variation of the HMV signal, phase correction and time averaged current with respect to the jet orifice is presented. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cavity-enhanced absorption: detection of nitrogen dioxide and iodine monoxide using a violet laser diode

We present an application of cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy with an off-axis alignment of the cavity formed by two spherical mirrors and with time integration of the cavity-output intensity for detection of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and iodine monoxide (IO) radicals using a violet laser diode at lambda = 404.278 nm. A noise-equivalent (1sigma = root-mean-square variation of the signal) fractional absorption for one optical pass of 4.5x10(-8) was demonstrated with a mirror reflectivity of similar to0.99925, a cavity length of 0.22 m and a lock-in-amplifier time constant of 3 s. Noise-equivalent detection sensitivities towards nitrogen dioxide of 1.8x10(10) molecule cm(-3) and towards the IO radical of 3.3x10(9) molecule cm(-3) were achieved in flow tubes with an inner diameter of 4 cm for a lock-in-amplifier time constant of 3 s. Alkyl peroxy radicals were detected using chemical titration with excess nitric oxide (RO2 + NO --> RO + NO2). Measurement of oxygen-atom concentrations was accomplished by determining the depletion of NO2 in the reaction NO2 + O --> NO + O-2. Noise-equivalent concentrations of alkyl peroxy radicals and oxygen atoms were 3x10(10) molecule cm(-3) in the discharge-flow-tube experiments.

The effect of BREEAM on clients and construction professionals

The effects and influence of the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Methods (BREEAM) on construction professionals are examined. Most discussions of building assessment methods focus on either the formal tool or the finished product. In contrast, BREEAM is analysed here as a social technology using Michel Foucault’s theory of governmentality. Interview data are used to explore the effect of BREEAM on visibilities, knowledge, techniques and professional identities. The analysis highlights a number of features of the BREEAM assessment process which generally go unremarked: professional and public understandings of the method, the deployment of different types of knowledge and their implication for the authority and legitimacy of the tool, and the effect of BREEAM on standard practice. The analysis finds that BREEAM’s primary effect is through its impact on standard practices. Other effects include the use of assessment methods to defend design decisions, its role in both operationalizing and obscuring the concept of green buildings, and the effect of tensions between project and method requirements for the authority of the tool. A reflection on assessment methods as neo-liberal tools and their adequacy for the promotion of sustainable construction suggests several limitations of lock-in that hinder variation and wider systemic change.

Note: Active optical detection of cloud from a balloon platform

A disposable backscatter instrument is described for optical detection of cloud in the atmosphere from a balloon-carried platform. It uses an ultra-bright light emitting diode (LED) illumination source with a photodiode detector. Scattering of the LED light by cloud droplets generates a small optical signal which is separated from background light fluctuations using a lock-in technique. The signal to noise obtained permits cloud detection using the scattered LED light, even in daytime. The response is interpreted in terms of the equivalent visual range within the cloud. The device is lightweight (150 g) and low power (∼30 mA), for use alongside a conventional meteorological radiosonde.

Baroclinic stationary waves in aquaplanet models

An aquaplanet model is used to study the nature of the highly persistent low-frequency waves that have been observed in models forced by zonally symmetric boundary conditions. Using the Hayashi spectral analysis of the extratropical waves, the authors find that a quasi-stationary wave 5 belongs to a wave packet obeying a well-defined dispersion relation with eastward group velocity. The components of the dispersion relation with k ≥ 5 baroclinically convert eddy available potential energy into eddy kinetic energy, whereas those with k < 5 are baroclinically neutral. In agreement with Green’s model of baroclinic instability, wave 5 is weakly unstable, and the inverse energy cascade, which had been previously proposed as a main forcing for this type of wave, only acts as a positive feedback on its predominantly baroclinic energetics. The quasi-stationary wave is reinforced by a phase lock to an analogous pattern in the tropical convection, which provides further amplification to the wave. It is also found that the Pedlosky bounds on the phase speed of unstable waves provide guidance in explaining the latitudinal structure of the energy conversion, which is shown to be more enhanced where the zonal westerly surface wind is weaker. The wave’s energy is then trapped in the waveguide created by the upper tropospheric jet stream. In agreement with Green’s theory, as the equator-to-pole SST difference is reduced, the stationary marginally stable component shifts toward higher wavenumbers, while wave 5 becomes neutral and westward propagating. Some properties of the aquaplanet quasi-stationary waves are found to be in interesting agreement with a low frequency wave observed by Salby during December–February in the Southern Hemisphere so that this perspective on low frequency variability, apart from its value in terms of basic geophysical fluid dynamics, might be of specific interest for studying the earth’s atmosphere.

The role of management and landscape context in the restoration of grassland phytophagous beetles

1. Declines in area and quality of species-rich mesotrophic and calcareous grasslands have occurred all across Europe.While the European Union has promoted schemes to restore these grasslands, the emphasis for management has remained largely focused on plants. Here we focus on restoration of the phytophagous beetles of these grasslands. Although local management, particularly that which promotes the establishment of host plants, is key to restoration success, dispersal limitation is also likely to be an important limiting factor during the restoration of phytophagous beetle assemblages. 2. Using a 3-year multi-site experiment, we investigated how restoration success of phytophagous beetles was affected by hay-spreading management (intended to introduce target plant species), success in restoration of the plant communities and the landscape context within which restoration was attempted. 3. Restoration success of the plants was greatest where green hay spreading had been used to introduce seeds into restoration sites. Beetle restoration success increased over time, although hayspreading had no direct effect. However, restoration success of the beetles was positively correlated with restoration success of the plants. 4. Overall restoration success of the phytophagous beetles was positively correlated with the proportion of species-rich grassland in the landscape, as was the restoration success of the polyphagous beetles. Restoration success for beetles capable of flight and those showing oligophagous host plant specialism were also positively correlated with connectivity to species-rich grasslands. There was no indication that beetles not capable of flight showed greater dependence on landscape scale factors than flying species. 5. Synthesis and applications. Increasing the similarity of the plant community at restoration sites to target species-rich grasslands will promote restoration success for the phytophagous beetles. However, landscape context is also important, with restoration being approximately twice as successful in those landscapes containing high as opposed to low proportions of species-rich grassland. By targeting grassland restoration within landscapes containing high proportions of species-rich grassland, dispersal limitation problems associated with restoration for invertebrate assemblages are more likely to be overcome.

Correcting for local oscillator phase offset in a DVB-T compliant receiver under multipath conditions

In 1997, the UK implemented the worlds first commercial digital terrestrial television system. Under the ETS 300 744 standard, the chosen modulation method, COFDM, is assumed to be multipath resilient. Previous work has shown that this is not necessarily the case. It has been shown that the local oscillator required for demodulation from intermediate-frequency to baseband must be very accurate. This paper shows that under multipath conditions, standard methods for obtaining local oscillator phase lock may not be adequate. This paper demonstrates a set of algorithms designed for use with a simple local oscillator circuit which will allow correction for local oscillator phase offset to maintain a low bit error rate with multipath present.

Local oscillator phase lock under multipath for video deghoster systems

Under multipath conditions, standard Video Intermediate Frequency (VIF) detectors generate a local oscillator phase error and consequently produce a dispersed non-ideal detected video signal due to the presence of additional IF carriers. The dispersed video causes problems when attempting to identify and remove the multipath interference, or ghosts, by the use of Digital Signal Processing and digital filtering. A digital phase lock system is presented which derives the correct phase for synchronous detection in the presence of multipath by using correlation information that has already been calculated as part of the deghosting process. As a result, the video deghoster system is made simpler, faster and more economical.

Real estate investment in global financial centers: risk, return and contagion

Global financial activity is heavily concentrated in a small number of world cities –international financial centers. The office markets in those cities receive significant flows of investment capital. The growing specialization of activity in IFCs and innovations in real estate investment vehicles lock developer, occupier, investment, and finance markets together, creating common patterns of movement and transmitting shocks from one office market throughout the system. International real estate investment strategies that fail to recognize this common source of volatility and risk may fail to deliver the diversification benefits sought.

Allosteric mechanism controls traffic in the chaperone/usher pathway

Many virulence organelles of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens are assembled via the chaperone/ usher pathway. The chaperone transports organelle subunits across the periplasm to the outer membrane usher, where they are released and incorporated into growing fibers. Here, we elucidate the mechanism of the usher-targeting step in assembly of the Yersinia pestis F1 capsule at the atomic level. The usher interacts almost exclusively with the chaperone in the chaperone:subunit complex. In free chaperone, a pair of conserved proline residues at the beginning of the subunit-binding loop form a ‘‘proline lock’’ that occludes the usher-binding surface and blocks usher binding. Binding of the subunit to the chaperone rotates the proline lock away from the usher-binding surface, allowing the chaperone-subunit complex to bind to the usher. We show that the proline lock exists in other chaperone/usher systems and represents a general allosteric mechanism for selective targeting of chaperone:subunit complexes to the usher and for release and recycling of the free chaperone.

Coupled Kelvin-wave and mirage-wave instabilities in semigeostrophic dynamics

A weak instability mode, associated with phase-locked counterpropagating coastal Kelvin waves in horizontal anticyclonic shear, is found in the semigeostrophic (SG) equations for stratified flow in a channel. This SG instability mode approximates a similar mode found in the Euler equations in the limit in which particle-trajectory slopes are much smaller than f/N, where f is the Coriolis frequency and N > f the buoyancy frequency. Though weak under normal parameter conditions, this instability mode is of theoretical interest because its existence accounts for the failure of an Arnol’d-type stability theorem for the SG equations. In the opposite limit, in which the particle motion is purely vertical, the Euler equations allow only buoyancy oscillations with no horizontal coupling. The SG equations, on the other hand, allow a physically spurious coastal “mirage wave,” so called because its velocity field vanishes despite a nonvanishing disturbance pressure field. Counterpropagating pairs of these waves can phase-lock to form a spurious “mirage-wave instability.” Closer examination shows that the mirage wave arises from failure of the SG approximations to be self-consistent for trajectory slopes f/N.