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Croatian regions are faced with different types of development issues, where demographic risks, including regional migrations, present important obstacles in attempts to achieve regional convergence and further economic development. In parallel with this, polarisation tendencies exist which can have multiplicative, multi-level and long-term unfavourable effects. The studies have confirmed that it is urgent to manage determined demographic polarisation, before it causes higher development disparities. The aim of this paper is to present chosen demographic characteristics of the Croatian regions which should be included in managing demographic polarisation and to give an overview of the possibilities seen through European Union cohesion policy (its framework, funds and innovative delivery tools) that can be used to prevent the causes and consequences of this polarisation. The results determine regional demographic polarisation interconnected with economic disparities in Croatia. Textual analysis in the paper confirms regional demographic issues are internalised in different strategic and regional policy planning documents, while discussion gives recommendations about implementation potential regarding also new approaches in cohesion policy. Utilisation of specific regional endogenous resources is important in managing polarisations which implies that it is necessary to deal with different cohesion policy instruments directed towards the various regional socioeconomic problems in order to address demographic risk. Besides European Structural and Investment Funds here can be applied tools concerning urban development that are also elaborated in the paper. Conclusions can be observed in deciding on future population and regional policy actions as well as in studies which deal with the cumulative effects of regional polarisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into polarisation in hyperlink networks has for the most part neglected the longitudinal nature of the process. To overcome this deficit, this study uses temporal exponential random graph models (TERGMs) to investigate the degree of polarisation present in a hyperlink network on climate change that originates in the UK. Adopting an inferential perspective has the advantage of overcoming some of the methodological difficulties that beset current research. The approach presented distinguishes between a general, an intermediate, and a local level of the network structure and models the expected degree of polarisation on all three levels. The results show that contrary to some of the assumptions, the degree of fragmentation on the general level is lower than expected, while polarisation is present in how the relationships between the single network communities develop over time and in the like-minded link formation patterns of climate advocates and sceptics in these communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this era of rapid development, hundreds of new cities and surrounding regions or city-region are emerging in the developing countries like China, India, and Malaysia. New cities provide an opportunity for resilient socio-economic landscape development. Development of new cities and city region is similar to draw on blank paper that helps in eradication of the pressing issues of urban areas like slum development, non-employment, pollution, lack of infrastructure and others. The concept of development of the new city in isolation effects the sustainability of the city as it is an integral part of the region. Regional settings of the new city will determine the long-term sustainability. When the new city grows in isolation, it will give rise to the polarisation of resources, services, and population leading to the regional economic imbalance. This very problem is a lesson for the development of new cities as a city should not be treated as the single system but a part of the larger system known as the city-region. Allocation of infrastructure in a city should be based on the resilient socio-economic landscapes of future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclei in the upper-sd shell usually exhibit characteristics of spherical single particle excitations. In the recent years, employment of sophisticated techniques of gamma spectroscopy has led to observation of high spin states of several nuclei near A≃40. In a few of them multiparticle, multihole rotational states coexist with states of single particle nature. We have studied a few nuclei in this mass region experimentally, using various campaigns of the Indian National Gamma Array setup. We have compared and combined our empirical observations with the large-scale shell model results to interpret the structure of these nuclei. Indication of population of states of large deformation has been found in our data. This gives us an opportunity to investigate the interplay of single particle and collective degrees of freedom in this mass region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-mode microstructured POF (mPOF) pressed into a V-groove by a vertical force is suggested as a proof of concept for mass sensing. The working mechanism is based on the stress-induced birefringence in the mPOF that depends on several parameters such as the length of the pressed fibre section or its rotational orientation relative to the induced birefringent frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review our recent work analysing the polarisation effects in optically injected VCSELs operating at the important telecom wavelength of 1550 nm. We summarise our studies on the polarisation, time and temperature dependence of the nonlinear dynamics induced in these devices when subject to different types of polarised optical injection. In addition, we also discuss the potentials of VCSELs for the optical emulation of different neuronal behaviours offering prospects for novel uses of these devices in future neuromorphic systems and novel computing paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Norway's large ocean areas in the North require efficient methods to detect vessels in the High North. Radar satellites in orbit today offer dual- or quad-polarised data, which ease the task of detecting vessels in a SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) image. FFI has developed an automatic ship detection tool, AEGIR, which uses all polarisation channels to detect vessels. Combining the available channels increases the ship to sea contrast. 19 RADARSAT-2 quad-polarisation images have been run through AEGIR, and it showed that cross-polarisation and (HH-VV)*HV are best for ship detection for all incidence angels. HH-polarisation works well for high incidence angels. RADARSAT-2 offers new high resolution wide modes, which makes it possible to use high resolution and quad-pol images for operational ship detection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper multifractal nature of polarisation (pol) and depolarisation (depol) current of a transformer insulation is identified and shown using a multifractal spectra. Multifractal analysis is carried out on pol and depol current of oil-impregnated pressboard samples of different moisture contents. Multifractal analysis is also carried out for pol and depol current of a transformer before and after oil reclamation. It is shown using multifractal spectra that pol and depol current of transformer insulation are fractal and scales with time. The sandbox method is used in this work to determine multifractal spectrum of pol and depol current for the moment order q = −10 to q = 10, and application of sandbox method to determine multifractal spectrum of pol and depol current is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Design and analysis of various photonic crystal fibers are reported, particularly for their single-mode single-polarization operation, dispersion control and nonlinear applications by using full-vectorial finite element simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The observation of redshift-dependent coherent orientations of quasar polarisation vectors over cosmological distances in some regions of the sky is reviewed. Based on a good-quality sample of 355 measured quasars, this observation seems to infer the existence of a new effect acting on light propagation on such huge distances. A solution in terms of nearly massless axion-like particles has been proposed in the literature and its current status is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the analysis of measurements of the linear polarisation of visible light coming from quasars, the existence of large-scale coherent orientations of quasar polarisation vectors in some regions of the sky has been reported. Here, we show that this can be explained by the mixing of the incoming photons with nearly massless pseudoscalar (axion-like) particles in extragalactic magnetic fields. We present a new treatment in terms of wave packets and discuss its implications for the circular polarisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibre interferometers are among the most sensitive and versatile of transduction mechanisms. They also have several unique features, some of which are explored in this paper. Fibre interferometers find numerous applications, most notably as gyroscopes (Sagnac interferometers) and as acoustic detectors. The fibre optic pathways both enable very flexible physical geometries and simultaneously impose particular constraints on the implementation of the system, primarily through the inevitable impact of numerous multi-path phenomena but also due to the manifestations of, sometimes very small, non linear interactions. The paper highlights some of these phenomena and discusses their impact on system design, demonstrating how appropriate implementation can produce impressive sensor system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-cool dwarfs with effective temperatures between ≈1400 K and ≈2200 K are known to have dusty atmospheres. Asymmetries of the dwarf surface may arise from rotationally-induced flattening and dust-cloud coverage, and may result in non-zero linear polarisation through dust scattering. Here we present our linear polarimetric imaging measurements using FORS1 at the Very Large Telescope, in Paranal, in the Bessel I filter, and for a subset of our sample in the Bessel R and the Gunn z filters. We report a polarisation degree of (-0.31±+0.07)% for LHS102BC. We fail to detect linear polarisation in the rest of our sample, with upper-limits on the polarisation degree of each object of 0.09% to 0.76% (95% of confidence level), depending on the targets and the bands. For six targets, our data indicate polarisation degrees smaller (at the 2-σ level) than previously reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results showing that, thanks to axion-photon mixing in external magnetic fields, it is actually possible to produce an effect similar to the one needed to explain the large-scale coherent orientations of quasar polarisation vectors in visible light that have been observed in some regions of the sky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarised positrons have a range of applications in modern physics: from surface science measurements requiring energies as low as a few eV, to studies of the proton structure function and of the fundamental interactions of elementary particles at energies approaching the TeV scale. The common challenge for all of these studies is to generate sufficient numbers of positrons. A discussion of this topic is pertinent to these proceedings as it has been suggested that anti-protons can be efficiently polarised through a hyperfine spin-flip interaction with polarised positrons. In this paper I review the current state of high-intensity sources of polarised positrons. Emphasis is placed on those sources being developed to meet the requirements of future e+ e- colliders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brief overview of the HERA physics program is given, covering deep inelastic scattering observations from the H1 and ZEUS experiments and results from recent polarisation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COMPASS experiment at CERN SPS investigates several aspects of the nucleon spin structure using the high energy longitudinally polarised muon beam and a large polarised solid target providing longitudinal or transverse polarisations. Results obtained during the 3 years of running (2002–2004) with a 6LiD target are summarized. They concern the measurements of longitudinal double spin cross-section asymmetries for the inclusive DIS, for the production of high pT hadron pairs and D mesons (direct determination of ΔG/G), the measurements of Collins and Sivers asymmetries with a tranversely polarised target, the measurements of transverse and longitudinal polarisations for produced Lambda. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A summary on some of the recent measurements made by the H1 Collaboration in ep collisions at HERA is given. Those include determination of electroweak parameters, charm and beauty structure functions of the proton and heavy quark production. First results on charged current cross section with polarised lepton beam are also presented. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A selection of data obtained by the spin physics community is presented, which provides new insight into the QCD structure of the nucleon. New or more precise results and an improved theoretical understanding in several recent topics of interest in this field are now evident, especially in the emerging area of transversity distributions. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarimetry of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows in the last few years has been considered one of the most effective tool to probe the geometry, energetic, dynamics and the environment of GRBs. We report some of the most recent results and discuss their implications and future perspectives. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data taken with the H1 detector, with longitudinally polarised electrons and positrons in collision with unpolarised protons at HERA, are used to measure the charged current cross section σCCtot for Q2 > 400 GeV2 and inelasticity y < 0.9. The polarisation dependence of the measured cross section is in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarization characteristics of potential electrochemical components of an unregulated battery hybrid system were studied. The components under study included two lead-acid cells (2 Ah prismatic cell and a 1 Ah cylindrical cell), and a 1.7 Ah cylindrical nickel metal hydride cell as the high power density but low energy density component, and a 30 Ah zinc-air cell as the high energy density but moderate power density component. The prismatic lead-acid cell was found to have more favorable characteristics than the cylindrical design for an electrochemical battery hybrid system. In comparison to the lead-acid system, the nickel-metal hydride cell, because of its greater charge potential and current required, is not a good candidate for an unregulated hybrid system. The zinc-air system has desirable polarization characteristics for the high-energy hybrid component. Overall, under identical load and cut-off voltage, a hybrid system utilizing the zinc-air and lead-acid batteries provided 40% greater energy than a zinc-air/nickel-metal hybrid system, translating to longer operational time [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On cycling of VRLA batteries, the charge voltage is limited to 2.50-2.53 V/cell. This leads to intense oxygen evolution. When absorptive glass mat (AGM) is used as separator, the transport of oxygen is impeded and it is not possible for the whole amount of O2 evolved at the positive plate to reach the negative plate and recombine to water there. Hence, the oxygen cycle is inefficient. Through measuring the gas leaving the battery cells it is possible to determine the inefficiency of the oxygen cycle (OC). The present paper reports the authors' finding that there is an upper limit of the efficiency of the OC in VRLA batteries of the AGM type. The degree of polarization of these batteries is determined by the transport of oxygen through the AGM separator. With increase in temperature the inefficiency of the OC increases, especially at temperatures higher than 40°C. On cycling of VRLA batteries, the AGM separator undergoes certain structural changes, which impair the efficiency of the oxygen cycle [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Polarisation of light affords the means to perform robust orientational measurements of single molecules and sub-wavelength asymmetric scatterers. The precision with which such measurements can be made can be quantified using Fisher information and the Cramér-Rao lower bound. Specifically, a fundamental limit of 0.5/N radians (on average) is found where N is the number of detected photons. Measurement precision is shown to be lost in many realistic measurement scenarios, particularly for inference from null readings. The severity of these precision losses is however also shown to decrease as redundancy in the measurement is increased. Extraneous sources, such as a second fluorescing molecule, can contaminate measured data subsequently causing a further loss of precision. Results are hence also presented in this vein. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PSR J1906+0746 is a highly relativistic binary pulsar, discovered with the P-ALFA survey in June 2005 [4]. Within a such system, it is expected to observe geodetic precession with a high precession rate. Possible first signs of pulse profile evolution were observed using archival data of the Parkes MultiBeam Survey and by Kasian et al. [3]. By combining the data from the Nançay and Jodrell Bank Radiotelescopes, we report on the clear detection of pulse profiles changes, a shift between both components of the pulse at a rate of 2.1°±0.1° per year. However, only a marginal variation in the relative amplitude was found. We also noticed variations in the slope of the Polarisation Position Angle and in the circular polarisation in the main pulse area, using Nançay polarimetric data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of singular system analysis in optical systems can provide significant computational advantages for signal propagation and representation. Furthermore it allows insight to be gained into the performance and suitability of an optical system to a given task. In this talk we shall consider singular system analysis within the context of high numerical aperture electromagnetic focusing and imaging problems. Consideration will be given to the coherence properties of light and how singular system analysis also allows further computational gains to be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponentially growing demand for portable electronics, such as laptop computers and cellular phones, has rapidly increased interest for the development of more efficient Li-ion batteries, particularly for high rate applications. Presently, commercially available cells use LiCoO2 as cathodic material, and in an effort to improve energy density, mixed LiNiyCo1-yO2 layered compounds are presently receiving considerable attention. An alternate approach for increasing both rate and capacity capabilities, namely the use of “two-phase” cathode materials, is the subject of this presentation. By increasing rate capability and, at the same time, decreasing polarization at the cathode, increases in energy and specific capacities are obtained [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]