WOOD AS A BIOFUEL IN ROMANIA: A SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON DISCREPANT REPORTED NUMBERS

Author(s):  
Gabriela BABAN ◽  
Bogdan POPA

Nearly 50% of Romanian households use wood as a source of heating. A series of contradicting official reports regarding the demand and supply of firewood in Romania indicates that the consumed volume is higher than the available quantity. This study aims to characterise the dynamics of the firewood market and shed light on the officially reported figures. We analysed certain variables and their influence on firewood demand for six consecutive years. The demand was significantly higher than the supply and was strongly correlated with the unemployment rate. This socio-economic facet leads us to believe that abruptly diminishing fuelwood consumption is an unrealistic policy objective of the authorities.

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. e1500797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeny Mikheev ◽  
Adam J. Hauser ◽  
Burak Himmetoglu ◽  
Nelson E. Moreno ◽  
Anderson Janotti ◽  
...  

Resistances that exceed the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit (known as bad metal behavior) and non-Fermi liquid behavior are ubiquitous features of the normal state of many strongly correlated materials. We establish the conditions that lead to bad metal and non-Fermi liquid phases in NdNiO3, which exhibits a prototype bandwidth-controlled metal-insulator transition. We show that resistance saturation is determined by the magnitude of Ni egorbital splitting, which can be tuned by strain in epitaxial films, causing the appearance of bad metal behavior under certain conditions. The results shed light on the nature of a crossover to a non-Fermi liquid metal phase and provide a predictive criterion for Anderson localization. They elucidate a seemingly complex phase behavior as a function of film strain and confinement and provide guidelines for orbital engineering and novel devices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 41-41
Author(s):  
John D Anderson ◽  
Josh Maples ◽  
James Mitchell

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated policy responses to it were highly disruptive of supply chains throughout the economy in 2020 – disruptive on an unprecedented scale. Massive shocks on both the demand and supply sides of the market presented particular challenges in agricultural product markets. These were arguably most pronounced in the protein sector. This paper will examine these protein sector supply chain shocks, exploring the nature and causes of the market disruptions during the height of the pandemic, evaluating the effects of these shocks from an economic perspective, and identifying potential market and policy responses that could mitigate the adverse effects of similar events in the future.


Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 363 (6425) ◽  
pp. 383-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Nichols ◽  
Lawrence W. Cheuk ◽  
Melih Okan ◽  
Thomas R. Hartke ◽  
Enrique Mendez ◽  
...  

Strongly correlated materials are expected to feature unconventional transport properties, such that charge, spin, and heat conduction are potentially independent probes of the dynamics. In contrast to charge transport, the measurement of spin transport in such materials is highly challenging. We observed spin conduction and diffusion in a system of ultracold fermionic atoms that realizes the half-filled Fermi-Hubbard model. For strong interactions, spin diffusion is driven by super-exchange and doublon-hole–assisted tunneling, and strongly violates the quantum limit of charge diffusion. The technique developed in this work can be extended to finite doping, which can shed light on the complex interplay between spin and charge in the Hubbard model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Cai ◽  
Prabin Parajuli ◽  
Guilu Long ◽  
Chee Wei Wong ◽  
Lin Tian

AbstractStrongly correlated polaritons in Jaynes–Cummings (JC) lattices can exhibit quantum phase transitions between the Mott-insulating and superfluid phases at integer fillings. The prerequisite to observe such phase transitions is to pump polariton excitations into a JC lattice and prepare them into appropriate ground states. Despite previous efforts, it is still challenging to generate many-body states with high accuracy. Here, we present an approach for the robust preparation of many-body ground states of polaritons in finite-sized JC lattices by optimized nonlinear ramping. We apply a Landau–Zener type of estimation to this finite-sized system and derive the optimal ramping index for selected ramping trajectories, which can greatly improve the fidelity of the prepared states. With numerical simulation, we show that by choosing an appropriate ramping trajectory, the fidelity in this approach can remain close to unity in almost the entire parameter space. This approach can shed light on high-fidelity state preparation in quantum simulators and advance the implementation of quantum simulation with practical devices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-702
Author(s):  
Radouan Hab-arrih ◽  
Ahmed Jellal ◽  
Dionisis Stefanatos ◽  
Abdeldjalil Merdaci

In this work, we investigate the Schrödinger dynamics of photon excitation numbers and entanglement in a system composed by two non-resonant time-dependent coupled oscillators. By considering π periodically pumped parameters (oscillator frequencies and coupling) and using suitable transformations, we show that the quantum dynamics can be determined by two classical Meissner oscillators. We then study analytically the stability of these differential equations and the dynamics of photon excitations and entanglement in the quantum system numerically. Our analysis shows two interesting results, which can be summarized as follows: (i) Classical instability of classical analog of quantum oscillators and photon excitation numbers (expectations Nj) are strongly correlated, and (ii) photon excitations and entanglement are connected to each other. These results can be used to shed light on the link between quantum systems and their classical counterparts and provide a nice complement to the existing works studying the dynamics of coupled quantum oscillators.


Author(s):  
Nela Steliac

The efficient operation of the labour market is a matter of high stake for every state, considering that it reflects the balance between supply and demand. The extent to which such balance is achieved is highlighted by the Beveridge curve. This paper examines the efficient operation of the Romanian labour market, as measured by the relevant indicators of labour demand and supply. In order to capture the evolution of these indicators across the three target sub-periods (the crisis, the rebound and the resumption of an upward trend), the timeline subject to survey was 2008Q2-2016Q3. The survey conducted for this purpose revealed fluctuations in the number and rate of job vacancies, respectively in the unemployment rate. However, in the last part of the surveyed period, the trend of such indicators was downward for the unemployment rate and upward for the number and rate of job vacancies. Even so, these indicators failed to match the levels recorded before the outbreak of the economic crisis. Due to such evolutions, the Beveridge curve presented shifts of direction specific to the three sub-periods. Throughout the last part of the surveyed period, the curve seemed to recover slightly towards the top-left direction at national level. However, regionally, the evolutions of labour supply and demand varied, and the Beveridge curves varied accordingly. Surprisingly, it was not Bucharest-Ilfov, considered the best economically developed area in Romania, which reported the best correlation between labour supply and demand, but the Central region.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asmus Leth Olsen ◽  
Frederik Hjorth ◽  
Nikolaj Harmon ◽  
Sebastian Barfort

Abstract We investigate the usefulness of the dice game paradigm to public administration as a standardized way of measuring (dis)honesty among individuals, groups, and societies. Measures of dishonesty are key for the field’s progress in understanding individual, organizational, and societal differences in unethical behavior and corruption. We first describe the dice game paradigm and its advantages and then discuss a range of considerations for how to implement it. Next, we highlight the potential of the dice game paradigm across two diverse studies: prospective public employees in Denmark (n = 441) and prospective public employees in 10 different countries with very different levels of corruption (n = 1,091). In the first study, we show how individual-level behavioral dishonesty is very strongly negatively correlated with public service motivation. In the second study, we find that widely used country-level indicators of corruption are strongly correlated with the average behavioral dishonesty among prospective public employees. The results illustrate the importance of the validated dice game paradigm to shed light on core questions that link micro- and macro-level dynamics of dishonesty and corruption in the public sector.


2004 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Antônio De Oliveira ◽  
Solange R. Bonomo Assumpção

O ponto (.) tem sido tratado, tradicionalmente, como um recurso para indicar uma pausa máxima de voz que ocorre após um grupo fônico de final descendente. Nesta mesma perspectiva, se trabalha o ponto (.) nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental. Nos casos em que os autores consagrados se utilizam do ponto (.) onde tradicionalmente se esperaria um ponto e vírgula, ou uma vírgula, costuma-se dizer que estamos diante de um “eficiente recurso estilístico” (cf. Cunha, 1970). Mas como é que os aprendizes se utilizam do ponto (.) em suas produções escritas nas séries iniciais? O objetivo deste texto é mostrar, a partir da análise da produção escrita de alunos das quatro primeiras séries do Ensino Fundamental, quais são as funções atribuídas por estes mesmos alunos ao ponto (.). Nosso quadro de análise pode ser caracterizado como sendo o do interacionismo sociodiscursivo de Bronckart (1999) e das propostas de Beaugrande (1997) para uma ciência do texto e do discurso. Para examinar as redações que constituíram o nosso corpus, valemo-nos de uma análise estatística em que procuramos controlar tanto a utilização quanto a não utilização do ponto (.). Portanto, consideramos a presença do ponto (.) nas situações previstas e não previstas pelas regras de pontuação, assim como a ausência do ponto (.) onde, de acordo com essas mesmas regras, ele deveria ter ocorrido. Nossa análise dos dados indicou que o emprego do ponto (.) mantém estreita relação com a organização tópica do texto. Os alunos privilegiam os tópicos de maior extensão, as porções de informação mais bem delimitadas e as unidades de informação que tenham sido, discursivamente, colocadas em foco. Abstract The full stop has been traditionally considered as a device to indicate a maximum vocal pause that occurs after a final downward phonic cluster. It is in this perspective that it is taught in elementary school. In those cases in which famous authors use the full stop instead of the expected comma or semi-colon, prescriptive grammarians say that we are witnessing “an efficient stylistic strategy” (cf. Cunha, 1970). But the question is: how do learners of the written language use the full stop in their first written productions? The aim of this paper is to shed light, on the basis of an examination of first to fourth grade student texts, on the functions these students assign to the full stop. The analytical framework we use here is the sociodiscoursive interactionism of Bronckart (1999) and de Beaugrande’s conceptions about the text. The data of the corpus were submitted to a statistical analysis in which both the presence and the absence of the full stop were taken into account. The results of this quantitative analysis have indicated that the use of the full stop is strongly correlated with the topic organization of the text. The students use the full stop to signal longer topics, information units that are better designed as well as information units, which have been elected as the focus of the discourse.


Te Kaharoa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemi Kelly ◽  
Andre Poyser

The increased use of te reo Māori by the government and the corporate sector in Aotearoa has created numerous opportunities for te reo translators who are engaged to translate voluminous te reo Māori documents, websites and apps, digital and social media messages and public signage which have been proliferated in recent times. These translation works represent significant economic activity as te reo Māori translators are awarded contracts valued at thousands of dollars. The economic eco-system created by the increased opportunities in the use of te reo Māori translation is a dynamic one that requires detailed study and attention from te reo scholars given the need for quality assurance and maintenance of the standards of the language. To set the backdrop for the paper a literature review on the history and development of te reo Māori translation will be presented. The historical antecedents of the te reo Māori translation economy will be traced and highlighted as the springboard for the current state of the te reo Māori translation economy which will then be discussed. An in-depth analysis of the licensing process for te reo Māori translators will be presented and arguments for an expanded role of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori in providing oversight of translation contracts will be made. We will present a theoretical framework for the economic considerations surrounding the te reo Māori translation ecosystem and provide a narrative and schematic description of a te reo Māori translator’s work as a paid economic activity. In doing this we shed light on the growing economic importance of te reo Māori.


Author(s):  
JIMMY ALEXANDER MELO MORENO

This paper examines the changes in real hourly wages in Colombia along the recovery phase taking place from March 2009 to March 2014. The starting finding is that the distribution of wages at trough looks like translations to the left of recovery distribution. To shed light on those procyclical translations this paper performs a sequential decomposition on change of wages in 1) cyclical demand and supply factors, 2) changes in the attributes of workers, 3) changes and spillovers effects of minimum wage and 4) a residual. As literature suggests, this paper shows that procyclicality of real wages is associated mainly to shifts in labor demand-supply factors and to updates of skills --usually linked to the secular trend of wage distribution. As a novelty, evidence suggests that there is a positive spillover from monthly Minimum Wage on hourly wages explaining 25% of the divergence between distributions.


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