cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
WOOL IN 1980
Creators: name: Watson, Alistair S.
name: Watson, Alistair S.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1980
Subjects: subject: Marketing
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: Since the introduction of a reserve price scheme in 1970, the interest in wool marketing previously shown by agricultural economists has not been maintained outside the public service and the wool industry itself. Nor is the subject as divisive amongst wool growers with, in general, 'orderly marketing' now acceptable to all factions of wool growers. The history of wool marketing discussion in Australia is reviewed and some reasons for this changing climate of opinion are discussed. An attempt is made to assess the actual performance of the buffer stock scheme in the light of the academic literature of the 1960s.
THE IAC'S APPROACH TO AGRICULTURAL POLICY
Creators: name: Edwards, Geoff W.
name: Edwards, Geoff W.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1980
Subjects: Agricultural and Food Policy

description: The main recommendations contained in the IAC's reports on rural references are outlined. The Commission's reasoning on four issues that are widely viewed as important to the formulation of rural policy is examined. The four issues are: assistance to industry; terms of trade; uncertainty and instability; and adjustment policy. Criticisms are made of the IAC's argument on these issues, and some inconsistencies between reports are indicated. It is concluded that the IAC has made a valuable contribution to the discussion of rural policy in Australia even though its recommendations are sometimes sounder than the argument offered to support them.
Population transfer via a finite temperature state
Creators: name: Huang, Wei
name: Zhu, Baohua
name: Wu, Wei
name: Yin, Shan
name: Zhang, Wentao
name: Guo, Chu
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study quantum population transfer via a common intermediate state initially in thermal equilibrium with a finite temperature $T$, exhibiting a multi-level Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage structure. We consider two situations for the common intermediate state, namely a discrete two-level spin and a bosonic continuum. In both cases we show that the finite temperature strongly affects the efficiency of the population transfer. We also show in the discrete case that strong coupling with the intermediate state, or a longer duration of the controlled pulse would suppress the effect of finite temperature. In the continuous case, we adapt the thermofield-based chain-mapping matrix product states algorithm to study the time evolution of the system plus the continuum under time-dependent controlled pulses, which shows a great potential to be used to solve open quantum system problems in quantum optics.
description: 5 pages, 3 figures
Planets in Stellar Clusters Extensive Search. III. A search for transiting planets in the metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791
Creators: name: Mochejska, B. J.
name: Stanek, K. Z.
name: Sasselov, D. D.
name: Szentgyorgyi, A. H.
name: Bakos, G. A.
name: Devor, J.
name: Hradecky, V.
name: Marrone, D. P.
name: Winn, J. N.
name: Zaldarriaga, M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We have undertaken a long-term project, Planets in Stellar Clusters Extensive Search (PISCES), to search for transiting planets in open clusters. In this paper we present the results for NGC 6791 -- a very old, populous, metal rich cluster. We have monitored the cluster for over 300 hours, spread over 84 nights. We have not detected any good transiting planet candidates. Given the photometric precision and temporal coverage of our observations, and current best estimates for the frequency and radii of short-period planets, the expected number of detectable transiting planets in our sample is 1.5. We have discovered 14 new variable stars in the cluster, most of which are eclipsing binaries, and present high precision light curves, spanning two years, for these new variables and also the previously known variables.
description: 18 pages LaTeX, including 11 figures and 6 tables. Limb darkening included in the computation of the planet detection efficiency. Version with full resolution figures available through ftp at ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/bmochejs/PISCES/papers/3_N6791/
WOOL-GROWER ADOPTION OF SALE BY SAMPLE
Creators: name: Findlay, Christopher C.
name: Findlay, Christopher C.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1980
Subjects: subject: Marketing
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: Adoption levels of the innovation, sale of wool by sample, were less than complete but still increasing even after the innovation had been available for a number of years. A model that offers an explanation of the innovation process by individual growers is discussed and tested using econometric methods. The model is converted to testable form, given the data available, with the help of techniques used in studies of demand for travel. Variables found to have a significant influence on adoption levels include grower characteristics, which influence the profitability of innovation, and search variables such as contact with other growers and policies of wool brokers.
Anti-predator function of not covering eggs in the initial phase of nesting in Grey Partridge Perdix perdix: a field experiment
Creators: name: Černý, Martin
name: Šálek, Miroslav
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Capsule: An experiment in the field supports the hypothesis that Grey Partridges Perdix perdix purposely expose their first laid eggs in order to test the predation risk at their nest site. Aims: To test the hypothesis that female Grey Partridges leave first laid eggs uncovered to assess the predation risk at their chosen nesting site. Methods: Four area-independent experiments with artificial nests were used. Predation risk was estimated by daily nest failure rate. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used in statistical analysis. Results: We found that Grey Partridge females could predict nest site safety. At nest sites where the first uncovered egg was depredated, there was a higher predation risk for the whole clutch. Conclusion: Our data statistically support the hypothesis that leaving the first egg uncovered serves to provide a more conspicuous bait for potential predators and could be a female tactic for better recognizing predation risk at a nesting site. Thus, if the first uncovered egg is depredated, the female may start a new clutch elsewhere without wasting investment in the clutch at a site under high predation risk.
SUPPLY RESPONSE OF AUSTRALIAN WHEAT GROWERS
Creators: name: Sanderson, B.A.
name: Quilkey, John J.
name: Freebairn, John W.
name: Sanderson, B.A.
name: Quilkey, John J.
name: Freebairn, John W.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1980
Subjects: subject: Marketing
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: Alternative specifications of models of the supply response of Australian wheat growers and their economic implications are considered in terms of the existence and nature of production lags, and the choice between expected prices and expected gross returns as the preferred explanator of producers' response to changing economic conditions. The analysis indicates that there are lags which are due primarily to the difficulties and costs of rapid adjustment rather than to the time required to revise expectations. The statistical results were similar for the alternative specifications of gross margins and prices as the economic decision variables. However, the price elasticities derived using the gross margins specification were about a third of those using the prices specification. The gross margins specification yielded additional information in the form of yield and input cost elasticities.
Galactic Centre as an efficient source of cosmic rays
Creators: name: Anjos, Rita C.
name: Catalani, Fernando
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: After the discovery of Fermi Bubbles and the excess of gamma-ray emission, the Galactic Centre has received increasing attention with the aim to understand its role in the origin and acceleration of primary cosmic rays (CRs). Based on a diffusion/re-acceleration model, we use the GALPROP software to solve the diffusion equation for the cosmic rays and compare the results with the CRs spectrum, motivated by relationship between several energetic sources at the Galactic Centre and the generated diffuse GeV-TeV gamma-rays. We calculate the cosmic ray distribution, gamma-ray flux from Galactic Centre and explore its contribution on the spectrum and chemical composition of cosmic rays observed at Earth. We also discuss the effects of nuclei interactions with different interstellar gas models.
description: 11 pages, 6 figures
Insight into the sequence-structure relationship of TLR cytoplasm’s Toll/Interleukin-1 receptor domain towards understanding the conserved functionality of TLR 2 heterodimer in mammals
Creators: name: Soumya Kanti Ghosh
name: Saha, Bhaskar
name: Banerjee, Raja
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: 60506 Virology

description: The signaling response of TLR2 to ligands has always been as a homodimer or in heterodimerization with TLR1/TLR6. The Toll/Interleukin-1 Receptor (TIR) domain of the TLR cytoplasmic region regulates the dimerization and interactions with adaptor molecules to build an active signaling complex. To understand the conservation of functionality of the TLR2-heterodimers between the distantly related species human(h) and mice(m), the pattern of TIR-TIR interaction in heterodimers has been studied through the sequence-structural point of view. Comparative analysis of primary sequence and structural pattern of TLRs(1/2/6) corroborates higher sequence homology between TLR1 and TLR6. Molecular docking analysis of TLR2-TLR1 and TLR2-TLR6 cytoplasmic dimers in both mouse and human have identified that for interaction the BB loop/near-BB loop residues of TLR2 are involved with the near-DD loop of TLR1 and DD loop residues of TLR6 within the TIR domains, which may cause to differential signaling. Molecular dynamics simulation of dimers for both human and mice species recognize stable interface between near-BB/BB loop region of TLR2 and discrete near-DD and DD loop region of TLR1 and TLR6 respectively. The observed dimerization pattern in both the species is further supported by Alanine scanning mutation study. However, Solvent Accessible Surface Area (SASA) of BB and DD loop regions of the cytoplasmic monomers and the heterodimers suggests that while TLR2 BB loop is actively associated as the dimer interface with its heterodimer partners in both the species, the DD loop acts as the active interfacing region in hTLR1 and mTLR6. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITIES FROM A SAMPLE OF LIGHT PLAINS FARMS - CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND
Creators: name: Mason, George
name: Mason, George
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1960
Subjects: Livestock Production/Industries
Productivity Analysis

description: The study described in this article is concerned with the derivation of an average production function for 50 sheep farms on an area of light land in the Malvern County, Canterbury Plains, New Zealand. It is based on farm survey data for the 1955/6 season. The locality of the survey was chosen chiefly because it contained 51,000 acres of essentially similar soils, the Lismore series, and an adequate number of farms exhibiting a fairly high degree of homogeneity in their management. Although there are variations in farm management in the area, the predominant pattern consists of the maintenance of half bred, threequarter bred, or Romney-cross ewe flocks for the production of Downcross fat lambs. Most of the replacements for ewe flocks are purchased from other areas but some of the larger properties breed their own. The average winter carrying capacity of the sheep farms in the area was 1.7 ewe equivalents per acre for 1956. The system of farming is practically confined to a pastoral one due to the desiccating effect of the north west Fohn type winds which prevail during the summer. These conditions, combined with a shallow shingly soil, result in unreliable yields of cash crops and small seeds.
Topology Optimization of Two Fluid Heat Exchangers
Creators: name: Høghøj, Lukas Christan
name: Nørhave, Daniel Ruberg
name: Alexandersen, Joe
name: Sigmund, Ole
name: Andreasen, Casper Schousboe
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science (cs.CE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: A method for density-based topology optimization of heat exchangers with two fluids is proposed. The goal of the optimization process is to maximize the heat transfer from one fluid to the other, under maximum pressure drop constraints for each of the fluid flows. A single design variable is used to describe the physical fields. The solid interface and the fluid domains are generated using an erosion-dilation based identification technique, which guarantees well-separated fluids, as well as a minimum wall thickness between them. Under the assumption of laminar steady flow, the two fluids are modelled separately, but in the entire computational domain using the Brinkman penalization technique for ensuring negligible velocities outside of the respective fluid subdomains. The heat transfer is modelled using the convection-diffusion equation, where the convection is driven by both fluid flows. A stabilized finite element discretization is used to solve the governing equations. Results are presented for two different problems: a two-dimensional example illustrating and verifying the methodology; and a three-dimensional example inspired by shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The optimized designs for both cases show an improved heat transfer compared to the baseline designs. For the shell-and-tube case, the full freedom topology optimization approach is shown to yield performance improvements of up to 113% under the same pressure drop.
Effects of density-dependent quark mass on phase diagram of three-flavor quark matter
Creators: name: Zhang, Xiao-Bing
name: Li, Xue-Qian
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Considering the density dependence of quark mass, we investigate the phase transition between the (unpaired) strange quark matter and the color-flavor-locked matter, which are supposed to be two candidates for the ground state of strongly interacting matter. We find that if the current mass of strange quark $m_s$ is small, the strange quark matter remains stable unless the baryon density is very high. If $m_s$ is large, the phase transition from the strange quark matter to the color-flavor-locked matter in particular to its gapless phase is found to be different from the results predicted by previous works. A complicated phase diagram of three-flavor quark matter is presented, in which the color-flavor-locked phase region is suppressed for moderate densities.
description: 4 figures
Computational insight into the selective allosteric inhibition for PTP1B versus TCPTP: a molecular modelling study
Creators: name: Garcia-Marin Javier
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Pharmacology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: All over the world, diabetes mellitus type 2 has spread as a problematic pandemic. Despite currently available treatments, approved drugs still show undesirable side effects and loss of efficacy or target symptoms instead of causes. Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), since its discovery, has emerged as a very promising target against this disease. Although the information regarding the enzyme is immense, little is known about the selectivity between this enzyme and its closest homologue, lymphocyte T tyrosine phosphatase (TCPTP), which is responsible for complicated side effects. In this study, on the basis of different computational approaches, we are able to highlight the importance of a phenylalanine residue located in PTP1B, but not in TCPTP, as a crucial hotspot that causes selectivity and stability for the whole ligand bound system. These results not only allow to explain the selectivity determinants of PTP1B but also provide a useful guide for the design of new allosteric inhibitors. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
Issues in Designing Effective Microfinance Impact Assessment Systems
Creators: name: Simanowitz, Anton
name: Simanowitz, Anton
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2004
Subjects: Financial Economics

description: This paper is based on work conducted by Imp-Act - a three-year action-research programme aiming to improve the quality of microfinance services and their impact on poverty. Learning from the experiences of 30 microfinance organisations (MFOs) in four continents, Imp-Act is developing and encouraging the use of internal practitioner-focused impact assessment that can serve as a means to improve practice and service delivery, not merely satisfy the needs of external stakeholders. The paper looks specifically at the benefits of designing and implementing effective practitioner-focused client and impact assessment. It considers the types of questions MFOs should be asking in terms of use of impact assessment tools, such as indicators. It makes the point that impact assessment must be context-specific, taking into consideration the type of information to be gathered and the purpose of this information. Above all, it stresses that impact assessment is an ongoing process, rather than a one-off event which benefits neither the clients nor the organisation.
Exploration and evaluation of bioactive phytocompounds against BRCA proteins by in silico approach
Creators: name: H. Prabhavathi
name: K. R. Dasegowda
name: K. H. Renukananda
name: K. Lingaraju
name: H. Raja Naika
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Medicine
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: The proteins encoded by the two major breast cancer genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2), ensure the stability of DNA and prevent uncontrolled cell growth; mutation of these genes is linked to the development of hereditary breast cancers. Exploration of human breast cancer inhibitors plays a vital role in the drug discovery process. In the current work, in silico studies were performed which involves a computational approach for the identification of active phytocompounds from the diverse set of medicinal plant products against the BRCA receptor. The in silico study through pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics properties shown promising outcomes for these phytocompounds data set as breast cancer inhibitors. It was observed that the compounds conformed to the Lipinski’s rule of five and had good bioavailability. The drug-likeness model score and ADMET profile of the designed ligands also established their potential as a drug candidate. The docking study provided useful insights on potential target-lead interactions and indicated that the newly designed leads had a good binding affinity for BRCA targets. A pharmacophore model was built to explore the scaffolds for BRCA inhibitory activity. An effort is made to screen an inhibitor against BRCA targets by combining the use of ADMET, docking score, and pharmacophore model. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
XGNN: Towards Model-Level Explanations of Graph Neural Networks
Creators: name: Yuan, Hao
name: Tang, Jiliang
name: Hu, Xia
name: Ji, Shuiwang
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Machine Learning (stat.ML)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Graphs neural networks (GNNs) learn node features by aggregating and combining neighbor information, which have achieved promising performance on many graph tasks. However, GNNs are mostly treated as black-boxes and lack human intelligible explanations. Thus, they cannot be fully trusted and used in certain application domains if GNN models cannot be explained. In this work, we propose a novel approach, known as XGNN, to interpret GNNs at the model-level. Our approach can provide high-level insights and generic understanding of how GNNs work. In particular, we propose to explain GNNs by training a graph generator so that the generated graph patterns maximize a certain prediction of the model.We formulate the graph generation as a reinforcement learning task, where for each step, the graph generator predicts how to add an edge into the current graph. The graph generator is trained via a policy gradient method based on information from the trained GNNs. In addition, we incorporate several graph rules to encourage the generated graphs to be valid. Experimental results on both synthetic and real-world datasets show that our proposed methods help understand and verify the trained GNNs. Furthermore, our experimental results indicate that the generated graphs can provide guidance on how to improve the trained GNNs.
Moduli Fixing in Realistic String Vacua
Creators: name: Faraggi, Alon E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: I illustrate the existence of quasi-realistic heterotic-string models in which all the untwisted Kaehler and complex structure moduli, as well as all of the twisted sectors moduli, are projected out by the generalized GSO projections. I discuss the conditions and characteristics of the models that produce this result. The existence of such models offers a novel perspective on the realization of extra dimensions in string theory. In this view, while the geometrical picture provides a useful mean to classify string vacua, in the phenomenologically viable cases there is no physical realization of extra dimensions. The models under consideration correspond to Z2 X Z2 orbifolds of six dimensional tori, plus additional identifications by internal shifts and twists. The special property of the Z2 X Z2 orbifold is that it may act on the compactified dimensions as real, rather than complex, dimensions. This property enables an asymmetric projection on all six internal coordinates, which enables the projection of all the untwisted Kaehler and complex structure moduli.
description: 31 pages. Standard LaTeX. Additional section on twisted moduli. typos corrected. Revised version to appear in NPB
The response of terrestrial salamanders to forest harvesting in southwestern British Columbia
Creators: name: Maxcy, Katherine Alexandra
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2009

description: Forest harvesting reduces the abundance of terrestrial salamanders although the mechanism of the response is unknown. Maintaining riparian buffers around headwater streams has been suggested as one strategy to protect amphibians from the effects of forest harvesting. To understand better the proximate response of terrestrial salamanders to forest harvesting and to determine the efficacy of 30 m riparian buffers in mitigating these effects, I sampled amphibians with increasing distance from streams before and after harvesting. The three treatments were each replicated twice: control, 30 m buffer and clearcut. The relative abundance of aquatic-breeding salamanders (Ambystoma gracile and Taricha granulosa) changed little one year post-harvest in the buffer and clearcut treatments indicating harvesting did not immediately impact their numbers. The response of the terrestrial salamanders to forest harvesting was more variable. The relative abundance of Ensatina eschscholtzii decreased on the buffer and clearcut sites while the relative abundance of Plethodon vehiculum increased after harvesting. I suggest the changes in relative abundance by the terrestrial-breeding salamanders are due to changes in movement patterns which alter their capture rates rather than an actual increase or decrease in relative abundance for either salamander. Movement patterns provided ambiguous results for all four salamanders as to whether they were showing compensatory behaviour in response to harvesting. The movement distances and rates of the four species did not appear to be related to habitat type. The growth rates of Ambystoma gracile, Ensatina eschscholtzii, and Plethodon vehiculum recaptured in clearcuts were lower than those individuals recaptured in forested habitat, indicating there was some cost associated with being in clearcut habitat. Thirty-meter riparian buffers appear to be effective in mitigating the effects of forest harvesting for three of the four salamanders captured. The proportion of captures within 30 m increased in the buffer after harvesting for Ambystoma gracile, Taricha granulosa, and Plethodon vehiculum. Buffer strips may be even more critical to juvenile survival since over 80% of juvenile Ambystoma gracile were captured within 30 m of the stream in the buffer treatment and only 40% in the control and clearcut treatments respectively. Additionally, the proportion of aquatic-breeding salamanders moving parallel to the stream increased postharvest in the buffer treatments indicating the riparian buffer may be used as a corridor for movement during their breeding migrations. Overall, all species were present on treated sites after harvesting indicating direct mortality from the physical process of logging itself was limited. Shifts in distribution and increased parallel movement for the aquatic-breeding salamanders in the buffer treatments indicate these buffers are acting as corridors for movement.
Fingerprint-based similarity search identified p-anisidine as an anticancer agent in HeLa and a prospective phytochemical ETV1 transcription factor inhibitor
Creators: name: Ambily Nath I.V
name: Achuthsankar S. Nair
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Cancer
subject: Plant Biology

description: Overexpression of E26 transformation-specific (ETS) PEA3 subfamily transcription factor (TF) ETV1 is reportedly oncogenic and metastatic in several cancers. Albeit, a few synthetic small molecule inhibitors of ETV1 have been identified to date. In this context, we hereby proposed a phytochemical lead development scheme to gather inhibitor scaffolds for ETV1. A fingerprint-based similarity search was conducted to screen plant compounds structurally similar to known ETV1 perturbagens. At default cutoffs, 20 compounds were retrieved whose pharmacokinetic, docking, and scaffold analysis rendered eight compounds for final evaluation in HeLa cells by MTT assay. CID7732 (p-anisidine) belonging to the subclass aminophenyl ethers was emerged as a promising anticancer agent with an IC50 of 27.769 µg/mL. This is the first natural product-based chemical hunt carried out for ETV1 repressors. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
Improving Organisational Learning Through Impact Assessment
Creators: name: Copestake, James
name: Copestake, James
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2000
Subjects: Financial Economics

description: This paper considers impact assessment (IA) for a specific microfinance organisation working in an uncertain environment. It argues that there are significant learning points both for new clients and for the organisations who supply their services and products, which can result in improved, more targeted service provision. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part argues that improved capacity to assess the impact of services is a necessary element of the transition of many microfinance organisations (MFOs) from externally-funded clones to autonomous, flexible and competitive businesses. The second part explores impact assessment design by discussing the need to achieve a balance in choice of goals, data collection, data analysis, choice of indicators and staffing.
Entanglement of two-mode Gaussian states: characterization and experimental production and manipulation
Creators: name: Laurat, Julien
name: Keller, Gaëlle
name: Oliveira-Huguenin, Jose-Augusto
name: Fabre, Claude
name: Coudreau, Thomas
name: Serafini, Alessio
name: Adesso, Gerardo
name: Illuminati, Fabrizio
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A powerful theoretical structure has emerged in recent years on the characterization and quantification of entanglement in continuous-variable systems. After reviewing this framework, we will illustrate it with an original set-up based on a type-II OPO with adjustable mode coupling. Experimental results allow a direct verification of many theoretical predictions and provide a sharp insight into the general properties of two-mode Gaussian states and entanglement resource manipulation.
From random walk to single-file diffusion
Creators: name: Lin, B.
name: Meron, M.
name: Cui, B.
name: Rice, S. A.
name: Diamant, H.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We report an experimental study of diffusion in a quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) colloid suspension which behaves like a Tonks gas. The mean squared displacement as a function of time is described well with an ansatz encompassing a time regime that is both shorter and longer than the mean time between collisions. This ansatz asserts that the inverse mean squared displacement is the sum of the inverse mean squared displacement for short time normal diffusion (random walk) and the inverse mean squared displacement for asymptotic single-file diffusion (SFD). The dependence of the single-file 1D mobility on the concentration of the colloids agrees quantitatively with that derived for a hard rod model, which confirms for the first time the validity of the hard rod SFD theory. We also show that a recent SFD theory by Kollmann leads to the hard rod SFD theory for a Tonks gas.
description: 4 pages, 4 figures
High prevalence regimes in the pair quenched mean-field theory for the susceptible-infected-susceptible model on networks
Creators: name: Silva, Diogo H.
name: Rodrigues, Francisco A.
name: Ferreira, Silvio C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Reckoning of pairwise dynamical correlations significantly improves the accuracy of mean-field theories and plays an important role in the investigation of dynamical processes on complex networks. In this work, we perform a nonperturbative numerical analysis of the quenched mean-field theory (QMF) and the inclusion of dynamical correlations by means of the pair quenched mean-field (PQMF) theory for the susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) model on synthetic and real networks. We show that the PQMF considerably outperforms the standard QMF on synthetic networks of distinct levels of heterogeneity and degree correlations, providing extremely accurate predictions when the system is not too close to the epidemic threshold while the QMF theory deviates substantially from simulations for networks with a degree exponent $γ>2.5$. The scenario for real networks is more complicated, still with PQMF significantly outperforming the QMF theory. However, despite of high accuracy for most investigated networks, in a few cases PQMF deviations from simulations are not negligible. We found correlations between accuracy and average shortest path while other basic networks metrics seem to be uncorrelated with the theory accuracy. Our results show the viability of the PQMF theory to investigate the high prevalence regimes of recurrent-state epidemic processes on networks, a regime of high applicability.
description: 8 pages, 5 figures
Assessing the Social Performance of Microfinance Using QUIP: Findings From Huancayo, Chimbote and Cajamarca, Peru
Creators: name: Revolledo-Wright, Katie
name: Revolledo-Wright, Katie
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2004
Subjects: Financial Economics

description: There is already substantial evidence to suggest that microfinance has polarising effects (Buckley, 1997, Copestake, 2002, Hulme, 2000 Marr, 2002; Wright, 2001). This should come as no surprise. Whilst every effort should be made to reduce negative impacts, it is inevitable that some clients will benefit more than others. Research needs to be designed in such a way as to reveal the reasons behind diverse impact. This paper draws upon a series of studies of village banking programmes in Peru to argue in favour of using a qualitative indepth individual interview protocol (QUIP) to reveal and analyse diverse impact. It finds that those least able to benefit were low-income women with dependent children. In addition, those clients exiting the programme did so due to an inability to repay loans due to their own ill health or that of their relatives, pointing to the importance of kinship obligations and the highly gendered dimension of health care which prevents them from using loans for their own businesses. Conflict within groups was found to be another major reason for exit.
Resonant tunneling in short Josephson SFS junctions
Creators: name: Radović, Z.
name: Petković, I.
name: Chtchelkatchev, N. M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Josephson effect in short ballistic SINIS and SIFIS double-tunnel junctions, consisting of clean superconductors (S), a normal metal (N) or metallic ferromagnet (F), and insulating interfaces (I) is studied. For SINIS double-tunnel junctions, sharp peaks in the critical Josephson current as a function of the junction width result from the resonant amplification of the Andreev process when the quasi-bound states enter the superconducting gap. For SIFIS double-tunnel junctions spin split quasi-bound states partially amplify the supercurrent and trigger the transitions between 0 and $π$ states of the junction. Instead of the critical current reaching a peak value (which happens when the Andreev states cross the Fermi surface in SINIS junctions), a narrow dip opens up exactly at the peak due to the compensation of partial currents flowing in opposite directions. This is related to the spin polarization of Andreev states and explains the coexistence of stable and metastable 0 and $π$ states in the vicinity of the transition. With increased barrier transparency, the described mechanism of $0-π$ transitions is modified by the broadening and overlapping of quasi-bound states (transmission resonances). Temperature-induced transitions both from 0 to $π$ and from $π$ to 0 states are studied by computing the phase diagram (temperature vs. junction width) for different interfacial transparencies varying from metallic (transparent) to the tunnel limit.
EU Policy-Making: Reform of the CAP and EU Trade in Beef & Dairy with Developing Countries
Creators: name: Halderman, Michael
name: Nelson, Michael Byron
name: Halderman, Michael
name: Nelson, Michael Byron
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Agricultural and Food Policy
subject: Livestock Production/Industries
subject: European Union
subject: Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
subject: Policy Making
subject: Trade
subject: Developing Countries
subject: Livestock
subject: Beef
subject: Dairy

description: The present study is part of the PPLPI effort to identify significant political and institutional factors and processes that currently hinder or prevent the poor in developing countries from taking greater advantage of opportunities to benefit from livestock. The study examines the political economy of policy-making concerning trade in livestock and livestock products (LLPs) between the European Union (EU) and developing countries (DCs). The main objective is to determine and assess how relevant EU policy is made, including the role of key actors and forces both domestic and international. The political economy of relevant LLP trade-related issues are examined at four levels: (a) the EU member state, (b) the European Union itself, (c) the international trading system, and (d) developing countries. Several issues cross, or are relevant to, the different levels of analysis. A related objective is to identify "entry points" and provide strategic recommendations aimed at achieving positive change. Two livestock commodities, beef and dairy, were selected as central to the study. The EU is a prodigious producer of livestock and livestock products, and it plays a major role in international trade in LLPs. EU subsidies and trade barriers have been the subject of intense criticism by some European Union member states, developed and developing country trading partners, international organizations, academics, advocacy NGOs and others.
Syacium undetermined
Creators: name: Cicimurri, David J.
name: Ebersole, Jun A.
name: Stringer, Gary L.
name: Starnes, James E.
name: Phillips, George E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Pleuronectiformes
Paralichthyidae
Syacium
Syacium undetermined

description: Syacium sp.
Fig. 25G–H
Material examined
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – Mississippi • 3 sagittae; Catahoula Formation; MMNS VP-12074, GLS otolith comparative collection (2 specimens).
Description
The sagittae have a primarily square outline (sensu Smale et al. 1995). The margins are generally smooth but can be variable and irregular. The inner face is slightly convex and smooth (Fig. 25H). A highly specialized, fusiform sulcus slants downward from the posterodorsal margin to almost the anteroventral margin (Fig. 25G). The sulcus is widest just behind its midline but is narrower at the anterior and posterior ends. Although the sulcus extends across approximately 75% of the inner face, it is narrow and represents roughly 20% of the height. The sulcus is divided into ostial and caudal areas. The ostium is located near the lower portion of the anterior and anteroventral margins but does not reach the margins. The ostium is tapered and almost pointed at the anterior end. The cauda is longer and wider than the ostium, and the anterior of the cauda is tapered, whereas the center portion is enlarged. The cauda is excavated slightly deeper than the ostium. The ostium and cauda are conspicuously connected or fused, and the structure is filled with colliculum. A marked circumsulcal depression extends from above the ostium, around the cauda, and ends below the ostium. The circumsulcal depression forms an elevated flattened area for the fusiform sulcus. A ventral furrow is not present. The outer face is fairly flat on the dorsal and ventral areas, but is slightly convex in the center.
Remarks
The Syacium sp. otoliths from the Catahoula Formation are very similar to the Syacium sp. sagittae from the Rupelian Glendon Limestone Member of the Byram Formation of Alabama (Ebersole et al. 2021). This genus appears to be rare in Paleogene strata across the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains of the USA, but it is somewhat more common (although still rare) during the Neogene (Stringer 1992; Nolf & Stringer 2003; Nolf 2013; Stringer et al. 2017; Stringer & Bell 2018; Ebersole et al. 2019; Stringer & Shannon 2019; Stringer & Hulbert 2020).
description: Published as part of Cicimurri, David J., Ebersole, Jun A., Stringer, Gary L., Starnes, James E. & Phillips, George E., 2025, Late Oligocene fishes (Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes) from the Catahoula Formation in Wayne County, Mississippi, USA, pp. 1-131 in European Journal of Taxonomy 984 (1) on page 84, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.984.2851, http://zenodo.org/record/15126034
Seismic evidence for near solid-body rotation in two Kepler subgiants and implications for angular momentum transport
Creators: name: Deheuvels, S.
name: Ballot, J.
name: Eggenberger, P.
name: Spada, F.
name: Noll, A.
name: Hartogh, J. W. den
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Asteroseismic measurements of the internal rotation of subgiants and red giants all show the need for invoking a more efficient transport of angular momentum than theoretically predicted. Constraints on the core rotation rate are available starting from the base of the red giant branch (RGB) and we are still lacking information on the internal rotation of less evolved subgiants. We identified two young Kepler subgiants, KIC8524425 and KIC5955122, whose mixed modes are clearly split by rotation. Using the full Kepler data set, we extracted the mode frequencies and rotational splittings for the two stars using a Bayesian approach. We then performed a detailed seismic modeling of both targets and used the rotational kernels to invert their internal rotation profiles. We found that both stars are rotating nearly as solid bodies, with core-envelope contrasts of $Ω_{\rm g}/Ω_{\rm p}=0.68\pm0.47$ for KIC8524425 and $0.72\pm0.37$ for KIC5955122. This result shows that the internal transport of angular momentum has to occur faster than the timescale at which differential rotation is forced in these stars (between 300 Myr and 600 Myr). By modeling the additional transport of angular momentum as a diffusive process with a constant viscosity $ν_{\rm add}$, we found that values of $ν_{\rm add}>5\times10^4$~cm$^2$.s$^{-1}$ are required to account for the internal rotation of KIC8524425, and $ν_{\rm add}>1.5\times10^5$~cm$^2$.s$^{-1}$ for KIC5955122. These values are lower than or comparable to the efficiency of the core-envelope coupling during the main sequence, as given by the surface rotation of stars in open clusters. On the other hand, they are higher than the viscosity needed to reproduce the rotation of subgiants near the base of the RGB. Our results yield further evidence that the efficiency of the internal redistribution of angular momentum decreases during the subgiant phase.
description: Accepted in A&A, 16 pages, 11 figures
The Politics of Livestock Sector Policy and the Rural Poor in Bolivia
Creators: name: Fairfield, Tasha
name: Fairfield, Tasha
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Livestock Production/Industries
subject: Bolivia
subject: policymaking
subject: livestock
subject: rural development
subject: poverty
subject: camelid
subject: altiplano

description: This paper presents a case study of how livestock policies are made and implemented in a national context, and how they can be improved to better serve the interests of the poor. It seems that good opportunities for improving rural livelihoods in Bolivia through livestock policy are to be found in the camelid sector. Markets for camelid meat, fiber, and leather are currently small but hold significant potential to benefit poor herders in the Andean highlands. The study used the key informant method supplemented with official documents, newspaper sources and recently published research on the livestock sector. Interviews helped reveal policymaker's concerns, whereas field trips allowed the researcher to talk to a few peasants and learn their perspectives from the bottom. Newspapers contained many lively stories of how well-intentioned policies went awry at the implementation stage, while published research analyzed various political, institutional and technical aspects of policymaking in the sector. The author concludes that given the weak state capacity the range of feasible public policies that could be implemented to foster pro-poor development is limited. The clearest role for the state lies in the realm of animal health and sanitation, in particular, the establishment and maintenance of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)-free zones, prevention programs to control the incidence of sarcocistiosis, a camelid parasite, and support for municipal governments in improving sanitary conditions in slaughterhouses. The National Service for Agricultural and Livestock Sanitation (SENASAG) is a relatively new government agency, created in 2000 to handle such animal disease issues. To date, however, it has focused most of its resources on establishing an FMD-free zone for cattle production in the eastern lowlands. Three strategic entry points are recommended that can both improve the performance of the sector and the participation of the poor in productive activities.
Supplementary Material from IqgC is a potent regulator of macropinocytosis in the presence of NF1 and its loading to macropinosomes is dependent on RasG
Creators: name: Putar, Darija
name: Čizmar, Anja
name: Chao, Xiaoting
name: Šimić, Marija
name: Šoštar, Marko
name: Ćutić, Tamara
name: Mijanović, Lucija
name: Smolko, Ana
name: Tu, Hui
name: Cosson, Pierre
name: Weber, Igor
name: Cai, Huaqing
name: Filić, Vedrana
Publisher: name: The Royal Society
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 310199
subject: Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 310803
subject: Plant cell and molecular biology
classificationCode: 310902
subject: Animal cell and molecular biology

description: RasG is a major regulator of macropinocytosis in Dictyostelium discoideum. Its activity is under the control of an IQGAP-related protein IqgC, which acts as a RasG-specific GAP (GTPase activating protein). IqgC colocalizes with the active Ras at the macropinosome membrane during its formation and for some time after the cup closure. However, the loss of IqgC induces only a minor enhancement of fluid uptake in axenic cells that already lack another RasGAP, NF1. Here, we show that IqgC plays an important role in the regulation of macropinocytosis in the presence of NF1 by restricting the size of macropinosomes. We further provide evidence that interaction with RasG is indispensable for the recruitment of IqgC to forming macropinocytic cups. We also demonstrate that IqgC interacts with another small GTPase from the Ras superfamily, Rab5A, but is not a GAP for Rab5A. Since mammalian Rab5 plays a key role in early endosome maturation, we hypothesized that IqgC could be involved in macropinosome maturation via its interaction with Rab5A. Although an excessive amount of Rab5A reduces the RasGAP activity of IqgC in vitro and correlates with IqgC dissociation from endosomes in vivo, the physiological significance of the Rab5A-IqgC interaction remains elusive.