2,229 research outputs found
Roles of Fiscal Policy in New Zealand
Economic growth is one of the objectives of the current government. Fiscal policy, encompassing government expenditure and taxation decisions, can significantly impact on economic growth. This paper proposes a framework which views fiscal policy through three lenses and applies this approach to consider how fiscal policy affects economic growth. The three lenses are: fiscal sustainability, fiscal structure and fiscal stabilisation. The paper reviews international literature pertaining to these three lenses and discusses the extent to which these lenses are incorporated into New Zealand’s current fiscal framework. Contemporary New Zealand fiscal challenges are discussed and, in light of these challenges, the paper concludes with consideration of areas to investigate which may yield improvements to the New Zealand fiscal framework.Fiscal policy, sustainability, stability, structure, taxation, government spending, economic growth
Mechanical Faraday effect for orbital angular momentum-carrying beams
When linearly polarised light is transmitted through a spinning window, the plane of polarisation is rotated. This rotation arises through a phase change that is applied to the circularly polarised states corresponding to the spin angular momentum (SAM). Here we show an analogous effect for the orbital angular momentum (OAM), where a differential phase between the positive and negative modes (±ℓ) is observed as a rotation of the transmitted image. For normal materials, this rotation is on the order of a micro radian, but by using a slow-light medium, we show a rotation of a few degrees. We also note that, within the bounds of our experimental parameters, this rotation angle does not exceed the scale of the spatial features in the beam profile
Accurate Determination of Phenotypic Information from Historic Thoroughbred Horses by Single Base Extension
Historic DNA have the potential to identify phenotypic information otherwise invisible in the historical, archaeological and palaeontological record. In order to determine whether a single nucleotide polymorphism typing protocol based on single based extension (SNaPshot™) could produce reliable phenotypic data from historic samples, we genotyped three coat colour markers for a sample of historic Thoroughbred horses for which both phenotypic and correct geotypic information were known from pedigree information in the General Stud Book. Experimental results were consistent with the pedigrees in all cases. Thus we demonstrate that historic DNA techniques can produce reliable phenotypic information from museum specimens.© 2010 Campana et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Linear and nonlinear properties of the Goldreich-Schubert-Fricke instability in stellar interiors with arbitrary local radial and latitudinal differential rotation
We investigate the linear and nonlinear properties of the
Goldreich-Schubert-Fricke (GSF) instability in stellar radiative zones with
arbitrary local (radial and latitudinal) differential rotation. This
instability may lead to turbulence that contributes to redistribution of
angular momentum and chemical composition in stars. In our local Boussinesq
model, we investigate varying the orientation of the shear with respect to the
'effective gravity', which we describe using the angle . We first perform
an axisymmetric linear analysis to explore the effects of varying on the
local stability of arbitrary differential rotations. We then explore the
nonlinear hydrodynamical evolution in three dimensions using a modified
shearing box. The model exhibits both the diffusive GSF instability, and a
non-diffusive instability that occurs when the Solberg-H\{o}iland criteria are
violated. We observe the nonlinear development of strong zonal jets ("layering"
in the angular momentum) with a preferred orientation in both cases, which can
considerably enhance turbulent transport. By varying we find the
instability with mixed radial and latitudinal shears transports angular
momentum more efficiently (particularly if adiabatically unstable) than cases
with purely radial shear . By exploring the dependence on box size,
we find the transport properties of the GSF instability to be largely
insensitive to this, implying we can meaningfully extrapolate our results to
stars. However, there is no preferred length-scale for adiabatic instability,
which therefore exhibits strong box-size dependence. These instabilities may
contribute to the missing angular momentum transport required in red giant and
subgiant stars and drive turbulence in the solar tachocline.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS
(28th June 2023
Beef cattle ectoparasites
The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311
Religion as practices of attachment and materiality: the making of Buddhism in contemporary London
This article aims to explore Buddhism’s often-overlooked presence on London’s urban landscape, showing how its quietness and subtlety of approach has allowed the faith to grow largely beneath the radar. It argues that Buddhism makes claims to urban space in much the same way as it produces its faith, being as much about the practices performed and the spaces where they are enacted as it is about faith or beliefs. The research across a number of Buddhist sites in London reveals that number of people declaring themselves as Buddhists has indeed risen in recent years, following the rise of other non-traditional religions in the UK; however, this research suggests that Buddhism differs from these in several ways. Drawing on Baumann’s (2002) distinction between traditionalist and modernist approaches to Buddhism, our research reveals a growth in each of these. Nevertheless, Buddhism remains largely invisible in the urban and suburban landscape of London, adapting buildings that are already in place, with little material impact on the built environment, and has thus been less subject to contestation than other religious movements and traditions. This research contributes to a growing literature which foregrounds the importance of religion in making contemporary urban and social worlds
Top-Down Attentional Control in Parkinsonʼs Disease: Salient Considerations
Abstract ■ Cognitive dysfunction in Parkinsonʼs disease (PD) has been hypothesized to reflect a failure of cortical control. In keeping with this hypothesis, some of the cognitive deficits in PD resemble those seen in patients with lesions in the lateral pFC, which has been associated with top-down attentional control. However, there is no direct evidence for a failure of top-down control mechanisms in PD. Here we fill this gap by demonstrating disproportionate control by bottom-up attention to dimensional salience during attentional set shifting. Patients needed significantly more trials to criterion than did controls when shifting to a low-salient dimension while, remarkably, needing significantly fewer trials to criterion than did controls when shifting to a highsalient dimension. Thus, attention was captured by bottom-up attention to salient information to a greater extent in patients than in controls. The results provide a striking reinterpretation of prior set-shifting data and provide the first direct evidence for a failure of top-down attentional control, resembling that seen after catecholamine depletion in the pFC.
REMPI Spectroscopy of HfF
The spectrum of electronic states at 30000--33000 cm in hafnium
fluoride has been studied using (1+1) resonance-enhanced multi-photon
ionization (REMPI) and (1+1) REMPI. Six and ten
vibronic bands have been characterized. We report the molecular constants for
these bands and estimate the electronic energies of the excited states using a
correction derived from the observed isotope shifts. When either of two closely
spaced electronic states is used as an intermediate state to access
autoionizing Rydberg levels, qualitatively distinct autoionization spectra are
observed. The intermediate state-specificity of the autoionization spectra
bodes well for the possibility of using a selected state as an
intermediate state to create ionic HfF in various selected quantum states,
an important requirement for our electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) search
in HfF.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
The Effects Of Acute Resistance Exercise On Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Measure Of Body Composition
Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is a reference laboratory method for estimating body composition but there are questions concerning the pre-testing guidelines that should be followed to increase validity and reliability of this methodology. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if acute, localized resistance exercise disrupts the validity of DXA total body composition estimates. METHODS: In a crossover design, 18 healthy, resistance-trained, college-aged adults, including 7 females (age: 22.7 ± 1.9 y; height: 165.4 ± 8.4 cm; body mass: 62.1 ± 10.9 kg; body fat: 25.9 ± 7.3%) and 11 males (age: 24.2 ± 4.1 y; height: 180.0 ± 5.1 cm; body mass: 90.2 ± 9.5 kg; body fat: 18.7 ± 7.2%) completed three conditions in a randomized order: lower-body resistance exercise (RELOWER), upper-body resistance exercise (REUPPER), and rest (REST). The resistance exercise (RE) protocol consisted of a RE warm-up consisting of 2 sets of 12-15 repetitions of 3 upper-body exercises (upper), or 3 lower-body exercises (lower) or nothing (rest). The RE circuit consisted of 5 sets of 10 repetitions per exercise, with 1-minute rest intervals between circuits. A DXA scan was performed immediately before exercise and at 60 minutes post exercise. DXA estimates of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM; calculated as lean soft tissue plus bone mineral content) were analyzed using 3 x 2 (condition x time) analysis of variance with repeated measures, follow-up pairwise comparisons, and evaluation of the partial eta-squared (ηp2) effect sizes. RESULTS: Pre-exercise FM and FFM did not differ between conditions (0.2 to 0.4 kg; p \u3e 0.14 for all). For FM, no statistically significant interaction or main effects were present (interaction: p=0.80, ηp2=0.01; time main effect: p=0.14, ηp2=0.12; condition main effect: p=0.92, ηp2=0.01). For FFM, no statistically significant interaction (p=0.13, ηp2=0.12) or condition main effect (p=0.56, ηp2=0.03) was present. However, a statistically significant time main effect was present (p=0.009, ηp2=0.34). Pairwise comparisons indicated that post-condition FFM estimates were 0.20 ± 0.07 kg lower than pre-condition values in all conditions combined. CONCLUSION: No differences were seen among conditions, indicating that DXA total body composition estimates may be relatively robust to the effects of acute, localized RE. However, investigation of segmental estimates is warranted due to RE-induced blood flow redistributio
Prototype finline-coupled TES bolometers for CLOVER
CLOVER is an experiment which aims to detect the signature of gravitational
waves from inflation by measuring the B-mode polarization of the cosmic
microwave background. CLOVER consists of three telescopes operating at 97, 150,
and 220 GHz. The 97-GHz telescope has 160 feedhorns in its focal plane while
the 150 and 220-GHz telescopes have 256 horns each. The horns are arranged in a
hexagonal array and feed a polarimeter which uses finline-coupled TES
bolometers as detectors. To detect the two polarizations the 97-GHz telescope
has 320 detectors while the 150 and 220-GHz telescopes have 512 detectors each.
To achieve the target NEPs (1.5, 2.5, and 4.5x10^-17 W/rtHz) the detectors are
cooled to 100 mK for the 97 and 150-GHz polarimeters and 230 mK for the 220-GHz
polarimeter. Each detector is fabricated as a single chip to ensure a 100%
operational focal plane. The detectors are contained in linear modules made of
copper which form split-block waveguides. The detector modules contain 16 or 20
detectors each for compatibility with the hexagonal arrays of horns in the
telescopes' focal planes. Each detector module contains a time-division SQUID
multiplexer to read out the detectors. Further amplification of the multiplexed
signals is provided by SQUID series arrays. The first prototype detectors for
CLOVER operate with a bath temperature of 230 mK and are used to validate the
detector design as well as the polarimeter technology. We describe the design
of the CLOVER detectors, detector blocks, and readout, and present preliminary
measurements of the prototype detectors performance.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures; to appear in the Proceedings of the 17th
International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology, held 10-12 May 2006 in
Pari
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