MODELING AND MEASURING PRODUCTION PROCESSES FOR A MULTI‐SPECIES FISHERY: ALTERNATIVE TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY ESTIMATES FOR THE NORTHERN SPAIN HAKE FISHERY

ABSTRACT. The economic performance of fisheries is difficult to measure, due to the importance of (multi‐species) biological dynamics, property rights and regulatory issues affecting fishermen's behavior and efficiency. However, an understanding of performance patterns is essential for enhancing the economic and biological viability of fisheries. In this paper we estimate and evaluate alternative primal stochastic approaches to modeling and measuring technical efficiency for the Northern Spain hake fishery. We then compare the resulting efficiency measures to identify variations in their potential interpretation, and application to policy guidance. We find that multi‐output models are more theoretically and empirically justifiable than aggregate output production function models, and provide additional policy‐relevant insights, but that relative production and efficiency estimates are not sub‐stantively affected by model specification.     

The compressibility theorem for quantum simple fluids at equilibrium

An extension of the compressibility theorem for quantum simple fluids within the pathintegral approach is presented. First, it is demonstrated that in the absence of quantum exchange, the isothermal compressibility can be formulated in an exact manner with the use of the pair radial correlation function of the path-integral centroids corresponding to the particles of the fluid. This adds up to the two known formulations based on the pair correlations between true quantum particles, namely the instantaneous and the pair linear response correlations. To complement this extension, an exact Ornstein-Zernike equation for pair centroid correlations is derived, which permits accurate estimates for the isothermal compressibility to be obtained. Several fluids are studied, new numerical results for the latter quantity are reported to support the theoretical points, and some difficulties present in this sort of calculation are discussed. The systems studied are the following: the quantum hard sphere fluid with and without attractive Yukawa interaction, liquid helium-4 and liquid para-hydrogen. Finally, the possibilities of extending the theorem to deal with quantum exchange are considered, and it is shown that the extension and its computational Ornstein-Zernike scheme also hold for a Bose fluid.     

Structural and response functions at equilibrium in path-integral quantum simple fluids

A discussion on the physical meaning of the r-space structures that can be defined in path-integral quantum simple fluids far from exchange is presented by making the connection with their associated experimentally measurable properties in k-space (response functions). The role played in this issue by weak external fields acting on the fluid is examined by considering both the standard quantum treatment of neutron scattering and the path-integral functional analysis approach. For the sake of completeness, the same discussion is presented for the approximate Gaussian Feynman-Hibbs effective potential picture that can be derived from the path-integral, and also the structural interrelations between both formalisms are stated. To illustrate the points addressed in this paper results for liquid helium-4 at 4.2 K (SVP), obtained with the use of the Aziz-Slaman and the ab initio SAPT2 pair potentials, are reported.     

Cluster modelling of O(1s) core excitons at the (100) surface of alkaline-earth oxides

Calculations have been performed on the O(1s) X-ray absorption spectra of the O^2- ion in the series of alkaline-earth oxides MgO, CaO, SrO. The static exchange approach has been used to calculate the near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra for a range of cluster models (up to 50 atoms), representing both the (100) surface and the bulk of the different lattices. The clusters have been embedded in a proper representation of both the surrounding crystal ions and the Madelung potential generated by the infinite crystal. In the surface clusters discrete levels lying around 1.5 eV below the calculated ionization potential were found and characterized. This surface state has been studied further by performing complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) calculations in which the polarization of the crystal ions has been taken into account by means of a core polarization potential (CPP) method as well as the Mott-Littleton approach. After inclusion of this potential, the calculated ionization potentials show good agreement with XPS measurements.     

Bis(salicylaldiminate) copper(II) and palladium(II) complexes: towards columnar mesophases

Copper and palladium complexes of new salicylaldimines derived from 3,4,5-tridecyloxyaniline, 2,3,4-tridecyloxyaniline and 4-decyloxyaniline have been synthesized and characterized. All the ligands bear four or more aliphatic chains with the aim of inducing columnar mesophases at low temperatures. In particular, metal complexes derived from 4-(3,4,5-tridecyloxybenzoyloxy)-salicyliden-3,4,5-tridecyloxyaninile display rectangular columnar mesophases at (or near) room temperature. These mesophase assignments have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction. A significant decrease of the melting points of the compounds is observed in the tridecyloxyaniline derivatives compared with those of similar complexes derived from mono- or di-decyloxyaniline.     

Drift-dominated current flow in forward-biased semiconductor devices

The drift-diffusion equations of semiconductor physics, allowingfor field-dependent drift velocities, are analysed by the methodof matched asymptotic expansions for one-dimensional PN andPNPN forward-biased structures. The analysis is relevant todescribing the structure of the solutions to the drift-diffusionequations for large electric fields when drift velocity saturationeffects become significant. In this high-field limit, the boundarylayer structure for the solutions to the drift-diffusion equationsis seen to differ substantially from that near equilibrium.In particular, boundary layers for the carrier concentrationscan occur near the contacts. The asymptotic solutions and thecurrent-voltage relations, constructed in the high-field limit,are found to agree well with direct numerical solutions to thedrift-diffusion equations.