Bright solitary waves in a Bose-Einstein condensate and their interactions

We examine the dynamics of two bright solitary waves with a negative nonlinear term. The observed repulsion between two solitary waves -- when these are in an antisymmetric combination -- is attributed to conservation laws. Slight breaking of parity, in combination with weak relaxation of energy, leads the two solitary waves to merge. The effective repulsion between solitary waves requires certain nearly ideal conditions and is thus fragile.Comment: 6 pages, 14 figure

Mitigation and screening for environmental assessment

This article considers how, as a matter of law and policy, mitigation measures should be taken into account in determining whether a project will have significant environmental effects and therefore be subject to assessment under the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. This is not straightforward: it is problematic to distinguish clearly between an activity and the measures proposed to minimise or mitigate for the adverse consequences of the activity. The issue is a salient one in impact assessment law, but under-explored in the literature and handled with some difficulty by the courts. I argue that there is an unnecessarily and undesirably narrow approach currently taken under the EIA Directive, which could be improved upon by taking a more adaptive approach; alternatively a heightened standard of review of ‘significance’, and within this of the scope for mitigation measures to bring projects beneath the significance threshold, may also be desirable

FINTECH in Scotland : building a digital future for the financial sector

Financial technology (Fintech) is developing rapidly, utilizing software and programming code in innovative ways. It is driving efficiency up and costs down. The digitalization of transactions is now a cross disciplinary science that looks set to disintermediate banking. The adoption of its new method represents both a big opportunity and a big threat to the financial sector. This paper set outs how the sector is changing and what needs to be done for Scotland to capitalize on it. In particular, we present the results of both a direct and indirect impact analysis on two policy recommendation scenarios, inertia or the one in which Scotland becomes a digital hub. In the inertia scenario Scotland drops behind in the adoption of Fintech. We propose that, to avoid this, certain policy recommendations are adopted to foster the right conditions for the best case scenario. Our analysis shows the economic impact of a proactive approach to Fintech could be substantial and the infrastructure spend to achieve it minimal by comparison

Critical Behaviour of the 3d Gross-Neveu and Higgs-Yukawa Models

We measure the critical exponents of the three dimensional Gross-Neveu model with two four-component fermions. The exponents are inferred from the scaling behaviour of observables on different lattice sizes. We also calculate the exponents, through a second order epsilon-expansion around 4d, for the three dimensional Higgs-Yukawa model, which is expected to be in the same universality class and we find that the exponents agree. We conclude that the equivalence of the two models remains valid in 3d at fixed small N_f values.Comment: 14 Latex pages 8 PSfigures included at the end,BI-TP-93/31,AZPH-TH/93-19,SPhT 93/0

Root uptake of lipophilic zinc-rhamnolipid complexes

This study investigated the formation and plant uptake of lipophilic metal-rhamnolipid complexes. Monorhamnosyl and dirhamnosyl rhamnolipids formed lipophilic complexes with copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn). Rhamnolipids significantly increased Zn absorption by Brassica napus var. Pinnacle roots in 65Zn-spiked ice-cold solutions, compared with ZnSO4 alone. Therefore, rhamnolipid appeared to facilitate Zn absorption via a nonmetabolically mediated pathway. Synchrotron XRF and XAS showed that Zn was present in roots as Zn-phytate-like compounds when roots were treated with Zn-free solutions, ZnSO4, or Zn-EDTA. With rhamnolipid application, Zn was predominantly found in roots as the Zn-rhamnolipid complex. When applied to a calcareous soil, rhamnolipids increased dry matter production and Zn concentrations in durum (Triticum durum L. cv. Balcali-2000) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. BDME-10) shoots. Rhamnolipids either increased total plant uptake of Zn from the soil or increased Zn translocation by reducing the prevalence of insoluble Zn-phytate-like compounds in roots