Determinants of green building adoption

In this paper we investigate variations in the adoption of LEED-certified commercial buildings across 174 core-based statistical areas in the United States. Drawing upon a unique database and using a robust analytical framework, the determinants of the proportion LEED-certified space are modeled. We find that, despite high growth rates, LEED-certified stock accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total commercial stock. The average proportion is less than 1%. A further contribution of the paper is that our concentration measure avoids the biases associated with simple percentage measures that were used in previous studies of this topic. Strongest predictors of the proportion of LEED-certified commercial space in a local market are market size, educational attainment and economic growth. In terms of policy effectiveness, it is found that only a mandatory requirement to obtain LEED certification for new buildings has a significant positive effect on market penetration.

Building collaborative partnerships for climate change action in Maputo, Mozambique

The authors examine partnerships as a policy strategy for climate change governance in cities in the Global South. Partnerships offer the opportunity to link the actions of diverse actors operating at different scales and, thus, they may be flexible enough to deal with uncertain futures and changing development demands. However, simultaneously, partnerships may lack effectiveness in delivering action at the local level, and may constitute a strategy for some actors to legitimate their objectives in spite of the interests of other partners. Engaging with the specific example of urban governance in Maputo, Mozambique, the authors present an analysis of potential partnerships in this context, in relation to the actors that are willing and able to intervene to deliver climate change action. What, they ask, are the challenges to achieving common objectives in partnerships from the perspective of local residents in informal settlements? The analysis describes a changing context of climate change governance in the city, in which the prospects of access to international finance for climate change adaptation are moving institutional actors towards engaging with participatory processes at the local level. However, the analysis suggests a question about the extent to which local communities are actually perceived as actors with legitimate interests who can intervene in partnerships, and whether their interests are recognised.

A psychophysical and computational analysis of the spatio-temporal mechanisms underlying the flash-lag effect

Several accounts put forth to explain the flash-lag effect (FLE) rely mainly on either spatial or temporal mechanisms. Here we investigated the relationship between these mechanisms by psychophysical and theoretical approaches. In a first experiment we assessed the magnitudes of the FLE and temporal-order judgments performed under identical visual stimulation. The results were interpreted by means of simulations of an artificial neural network, that wits also employed to make predictions concerning the F LE. The model predicted that a spatio-temporal mislocalisation would emerge from two, continuous and abrupt-onset, moving stimuli. Additionally, a straightforward prediction of the model revealed that the magnitude of this mislocalisation should be task-dependent, increasing when the use of the abrupt-onset moving stimulus switches from a temporal marker only to both temporal and spatial markers. Our findings confirmed the model`s predictions and point to an indissoluble interplay between spatial facilitation and processing delays in the FLE.

Nuclear dependence of charm production

Using data taken by SELEX during the 1996-1997 fixed target run at Fermilab, we study the production of charmed hadrons on copper and carbon targets with Sigma(-), p, pi(-), and pi(+) beams. Parametrizing the dependence of the inclusive production cross section on the atomic number A as A(alpha), we determine alpha for D(+), D(0), D(s)(+), D(+)(2010), Lambda(+)(c), and their respective anti-particles, as a function of their transverse momentum p(t) and scaled longitudinal momentum x(F). Within our statistics there is no dependence of alpha on x(F) for any charm species for the interval 0.1 < x(F) < 1.0. The average value of alpha for charm production by pion beams is alpha(meson) = 0.850 +/- 0.028. This is somewhat larger than the corresponding average alpha(baryon) = 0.755 +/- 0.016 for charm production by baryon beams (Sigma(-), p).

Antihyperon polarization in high-energy inclusive processes

We propose a model for the antihyperon polarization in high-energy proton-nucleus inclusive reactions, based on the final-state interactions between the antihyperons and other produced particles (predominantly pions). To formulate this idea, we use the previously obtained low-energy pion-(anti-)hyperon interaction using effective chiral Lagrangians, and a hydrodynamic parametrization of the background matter, which expands and decouples at a certain freezeout temperature.

Scalar form factors and nuclear interactions

The scalar-isoscalar term in the two-pion exchange NN potential is abnormally large and does not respect the hierarchy of effects predicted by chiral perturbation theory. We argue that this anomaly is associated with non-perturbative effects, which are also present in the pi N scalar form factor.

NUCLEAR INTERACTIONS: THE CHIRAL PICTURE

Chiral expansions of the two-pion exchange components of both two- and three-nucleon forces are reviewed and a discussion is made of the predicted pattern of hierarchies. The strength of the scalar-isoscalar central potential is found to be too large and to defy expectations from the symmetry. The causes of this effect can be understood by studying the nucleon scalar form factor.

A memória dos imortais no Arquivo da Academia Brasileira de Letras

Esta dissertação apresenta uma análise dos arquivos pessoais sob o olhar do titular do arquivo, buscando subsídios que possibilitem o melhor desempenho das atividades do profissional que lida com esse tipo de acervo, apresentando o estatuto arquivístico dos arquivos pessoais dentro da Arquivologia e discutindo princípios e métodos aplicados no tratamento desses acervos. Possibilita ainda, uma discussão sobre os conceitos fundo e coleção através da apresentação da formação do arquivo dos acadêmicos da Academia Brasileira de Letras, além de analisar a lógica de acumulação dos arquivos pessoais de Marcos Vilaça e Nélida Piñon e suas estratégias de perpetuação, assim como a destinação que pretendem dar aos seus acervos. Será apresentado também um breve histórico da ABL, além da origem e evolução do seu Arquivo.

A abertura financeira reduz as restrições de crédito nos países emergentes?

Um dos principais entraves aos investimentos das firmas é a restrição ao financiamento. A existência de controles de capitais em determinados países pode aumentar o custo de captação das empresas, sobretudo para companhias menores ou para fabricantes de produtos não comercializáveis, que são mais dependentes de recursos domésticos. Este trabalho analisa o impacto da abertura financeira sobre os investimentos de uma amostra de 6.860 empresas de capital aberto de treze países emergentes. Os resultados sugerem que firmas residentes em países com menos controles de capitais possuem menores restrições ao financiamento dos investimentos. Adicionalmente, empresas maiores e produtoras de bens comercializáveis também são menos restritas ao crédito.

Cartografias mito-poéticas do imaginário nelidiano: das visões do mundo arcaico ao contemporâneo no romance fundador

Esta tesis trata de cómo se desarrolla en la obra de la escritora contemporánea Nélida Piñon una especie de pensamiento cartográfico, presente desde su primer romance Guia-mapa de Gabriel Arcanjo, publicado en 1961. Para que se interprete el universo literario nelidiano, formulamos nuestro trabajo estableciendo un confronto con el texto del mito iluminado por las reflexiones de Eliade (2007; 2007b; 2008) y Meletínski (2002); con el discurso filosófico pos-estructuralista, representado principalmente por las contribuciones de Deleuze y Guattari (1995; 1996; 1997) a respecto de una geografía del nomadismo; y de Foucault (1996; 2006) sobre el orden del discurso, o nacimiento de la literatura y el ser del lenguaje. Examinadas por la lectura crítica y comparativista de esta investigación, las cartografías mito-póeticas de Piñon son presentadas al lector asociándose a una geografía de los sentimientos y al que Maffesoli (2001) denomina deseo de errância y de perdición, particularmente en las obras Tebas do Meu Coração, A República dos Sonhos, O Presumível Coração da América e Fundador. Esa última novela, publicada en 1969, por lo tanto anterior a los otros textos mencionados, servirá como corpus principal de nuestro análisis, que objetiva demostrar como la narrativa de Piñon se conecta a un linaje literario estructurado a partir de las acciones de un determinado tipo de personaje conocido como inaugurador de ciudades o héroe civilizador o cultural. En la reedición de ese arquetipo de personaje, la autora instaura el elemento de la seducción, en un juego que se establece entre los sujetos masculino y femenino y que pone de manifiesto cuestiones relacionadas al erotismo, a la transgresión y al sagrado, abordadas en nuestro discurso por las consideraciones de Baudrillard (2008) y Bataille (1987). Para que se explicite la constitución de esos puntos, realizaremos un viaje de las visiones del mundo arcaico al contemporáneo por las páginas de Fundador, apuntando de qué manera la escritora brasileña retoma las imágenes del mito cosmogónico, del mito del eterno retorno y del paraíso terreal, que se inscriben como fundamento do su texto literario

Vector and axial-vector correlators in a non-local chiral quark model

The behavior of the non-perturbative parts of the isovector-vector and isovector and isosinglet axial-vector correlators at Euclidean momenta is studied in the framework of a covariant chiral quark model with non-local quark-quark interactions. The gauge covariance is ensured with the help of the P-exponents, with the corresponding modification of the quark-current interaction vertices taken into account. The low- and high-momentum behavior of the correlators is compared with the chiral perturbation theory and with the QCD operator product expansion, respectively. The V-A combination of the correlators obtained in the model reproduces quantitatively the ALEPH and OPAL data on hadronic tau decays, transformed into the Euclidean domain via dispersion relations. The predictions for the electromagnetic pi(+/-) - pi(0) mass difference and for the pion electric polarizability are also in agreement with the experimental values. The topological susceptibility of the vacuum is evaluated as a function of the momentum, and its first moment is predicted to be chi'(0) approximate to (50 MeV)(2). In addition, the fulfillment of the Crewther theorem is demonstrated.

Electromagnetic hadron form factors and higher Fock components

Investigation of the spacelike and timelike electromagnetic form factors of hadrons, within a relativistic microscopical model characterized by a small set of hypothesis, could shed light on the components of hadron states beyond the valence one. Our relativistic approach has been successfully applied first to the pion and then the extension to the nucleon has been undertaken. The pion case is shortly reviewed as an illustrative example for introducing the main ingredients of our approach, and preliminary results for the nucleon in the spacelike range -10 (GeV/c)(2) <= q(2) <= 0 are evaluated.

Flavor changing interaction models and strictly massless neutrinos

It is well known that experimental data, coming from solar and atmospheric neutrino detectors and also from experiments which look for neutrino oscillations. strongly suggest that neutrinos must have a mass different from zero. However at least the solar and/or the atmospheric neutrino data can be related to new flavor changing interactions beyond the standard model instead to the finite mass of neutrinos. This new physics may induce i) extra effects in neutrino-matter interactions, ii) CP violation in pion and lepton decays and, iii) muonium to antimuonium transition. We give two examples of models in which all those effects arise even with strictly massless neutrinos: the 331 model and multi-Higgs doublet extension of the standard model (mHDM) with flavor changing neutral currents in the charged lepton sector. It means that in this kind of models if neutrino masses were eventually needed, they will be independent of the parameters of the new interactions.

Chiral corrections to baryon properties with composite pions

A calculational scheme is developed to evaluate chiral corrections to properties of composite baryons with composite pions. The composite baryons and pions are bound states derived from a microscopic chiral quark model. The model is amenable to standard many-body techniques such as the BCS and random phase approximation formalisms. An effective chiral model involving only hadronic degrees of freedom is derived from the macroscopic quark model by projection onto hadron states. Chiral loops are calculated using the effective hadronic Hamiltonian. A simple microscopic confining interaction is used to illustrate the derivation of the pion-nucleon form factor and the calculation of picnic self-energy corrections to the nucleon and Delta (1232) masses.

Electromagnetic structure and weak decay of pseudoscalar mesons in a light-front QCD-inspired model

We study the scaling of the S-3(1)-S-1(0) meson mass splitting and the pseudoscalar weak-decay constants with the mass of the meson, as seen in the available experimental data. We use an effective light-front QCD-inspired dynamical model regulated at short distances to describe the valence component of the pseudoscalar mesons. The experimentally known values of the mass splitting, decay constants (from global lattice-QCD averages) and the pion charge form factor up to 4 [GeV/c](2) are reasonably described by the model.