Inter-industry labor mobility in Taiwan, China

Do flexible labor markets lubricate growth? Using data from Taiwan, China, to analyze the effects of labor market flexibility, the authors find that: 1) Workers are more likely to move to industries that tend to be similar to their industry of origin (including intrasectoral moves that would be considered intersectoraal if there were more sectoral disaggregation). The degree of similarity between two industries is measured in several ways, all of them based on the input-output flows across industries. Workers are more likely to move from industry"i"to industry"j"if"i"supplies a large share of"j's"inputs, receives a large share of its inputs from"j,"or uses many of the same inputs. 2) Moves to more similar industries produce larger wage gains. This is especially true when the industries'similarity is based on their using many of the same inputs. Thid may be partly because the close proximity of industries, occupations, and individuals provides an environment in which ideas flow quickly from person to person. 3) Gains are more likely to accrue to industries as a result of labor mobility.Labor Policies,Water and Industry,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Public Health Promotion,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Industrial Management,Banks&Banking Reform

Is African manufacturing skill-constrained?

Total factor productivity has been low in most Sub-Saharan Africa. It is often said that the binding constraint on African industrial development is the inadequate supply of technologically capable workers. And many cross-country studies imply that the low level of human capital in Africa is an important source of low growth in per capita income. The results of the authors'study do not necessarily conflict with this view. They indicate that in non-competitive industrial sectors, with little inflow of new technology, the contribution of technological abilities, however it is measured, is limited. If liberalization of the economy generated greater competition, or if export growth were accelerated --permitting the import of inputs embodying new technology - local skills could contribute significantly more in raising output. The experience of other countries also suggests that as the economy opens to flows of international knowledge - whether through technology transfers or through informal transfers from purchasers of export - the technological capacity of local industry becomes important. The policy implications of this analysis are clear: Without the prospect of a more competitive environment, continued efforts to develop high-level industrial skills may be wasteful. But the absence of such skills may limit the benefits to the industrial sector from future liberalization, as a result of which the supply response toimproved incentives may be weak.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Curriculum&Instruction,ICT Policy and Strategies,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies,Curriculum&Instruction,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Utilization of Unnatural Amino Acids in Novel Bioconjugates and Probing Applications

Bioconjugations are utilized in many fields including materials science, biochemistry and medicine, despite the limited chemistries available in biomolecules. Unnatural amino acids can be used to expand the chemical diversity in proteins, affording a greater variety of functional groups for bioconjugations which. The site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids confers greater control and specificity over the reactions. Applications of unnatural amino acid based bioconjugations will be explored in this thesis. Optimization of solid supported immobilization of GFP and the extension of the technology to a carboxylesterase will be described. Fluorescent labeling of a medically relevant enzyme, Utag, will be optimized as the first step in developing a novel screening system for prostate cancer. Development of reactions to functionalize divalent bioconjugates into multivalent complexes will also be discussed. The utility of GFP containing an unnatural amino acid will be extended using various conjugation partners. Additionally, the unique chemistry of 3-fluorotyrosine will be utilized to study the radical pathway of a multifunctional hemoglobin, Dehaloperoxidase. In short, unnatural amino acid technology will be leveraged to explore novel applications and reactions of bioconjugates and the radical pathway of Dehaloperoxidase

The Impact of the Strawberry Bud Weevil (Anthonomus signatus) on Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) in Maine

The response of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) plants to the loss of flower buds through the feeding and oviposition activities of the strawberry bud weevil (Anthonomus signatus), and the potential impact of this bud loss on fruit yield and quality, was studied through greenhouse and field experiments. With two cultivars of raspberry (‘Killarney’ and ‘Encore’) grown in a greenhouse, manual clipping of flower buds to simulate strawberry bud weevil (SBW) damage demonstrated that the impact on yield is dependent upon the number of buds lost, their position on the inflorescence and cultivar. In a 2006 greenhouse study, removal of primary flower buds resulted in an increase in fruit size from secondary buds for both varieties, suggesting yield compensation. However, removal of secondary or tertiary buds did not result in any increase in the size of fruits from primary flower buds. Removal of two secondary flower buds from every lateral on a cane did not have a significant impact on total yield (weight). Clipping all buds except the terminal cluster reduced total yields by 76%. Clipping all of the buds except the primary bud on each lateral decreased the total yields by up to 93%. When all buds other than primary buds were removed, size of fruits from primary flower buds increased slightly for ‘Encore’ but not nearly enough to compensate for the loss of yield compared to the control (no buds removed). Flower bud clipping treatments in a field experiment were not characterized by any significant impact on yield in ‘Reveille’ raspberry. Up to 31% of the flower buds were removed from canes without significantly affecting fruit weight, fruit number or fruit size. However, wide variation within treatments as a result of environmental factors, including winter injury and shading, seemed to have more of an impact on the treatments than clipping buds. Also, the buds were all clipped on the same day, which is not representative of actual SBW damage in the field and may, therefore, not have produced a response characteristic to SBW damage. In two sequential field surveys of fourteen commercial raspberry fields in Maine, up to 22% and 59% damage to flower buds was found in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Flower buds on raspberry plants were concentrated near the base of the cane, whereas damage caused by SBW was distributed over the canes; there was more damage present where there were more buds. The data suggests that SBW is an important pest in raspberries in Maine. The most effective scouting method for estimating actual bud damage in the field was visual estimates of clipped buds. Other scouting methods, such as the sticky traps, pheromone traps, sweep nets and beat cloths to monitor live clipper, were not effective at predicting actual bud damage. These studies have shown the need for development of effective monitoring methods for SBW in raspberry fields in Maine, and a better understanding of the ability of the raspberry plants to compensate for bud damage

“Why Are You Seeking Out Farm Training?” 2022 New Farmer Survey Results

The “Why Are You Seeking Out Farm Training?” survey received 118 responses in the winter of 2022 from new and beginning farmers. According to the USDA, new and beginning farmers are people who have been farming for less than 10 years. The respondents shared their priorities on what training needs they have for the topics of ‘sales and marketing’ and ‘business management’. The top choices included collaborative marketing, online sales, farm stands sales, financing, bookkeeping, and business goal setting. UMaine Extension educators and other service providers will use the survey results to design farm trainings based on the interests and needs of new and beginning farmers.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/extension_ag/1015/thumbnail.jp

Amperometric detection of bioamines in cancer borealis using microchip capillary electrophoresis integrated with micellar chromatography

In order to study neuromodulation in Cancer borealis, commonly known as the Jonah crab, we designed a microchip capillary electrophoretic (CE) device with micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) to separate bioamines and detect their concentrations using amperometric detection (AD). The analysis will be used to characterize the bioamines: dopamine, octopamine, tyramine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA). The device measures the concentration of bioamines in microdialysate samples taken directly from the pericardial cavity of the crab. The research on Jonah crabs will be applied to enhance our understanding of the crab neurology. Since the structure and in some instances, the function of the neuromodulators are conserved, this research may be applicable to human studies. Researchers who use our device will be able to detect nanomolar concentrations of bioamines. This will help them to better understand the nervous system of crabs. This could also lead to a better understanding of the human nervous system and how to treat and manage neurodegenerative diseases. In order to obtain data, the device incorporates carbon paste electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes, which literature suggests should be able to detect 50 nanomolar concentrations using amperometry. Moreover, the buffer solution includes sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles to separate two structural isomers of interest - octopamine and dopamine - by their difference in affinity. Combining these methods and applying voltage across the long channel separates bioamines via electroosmotic flow (EOF) based on their electrophoretic mobility. At the end of the CE channel there are electrodes to measure bioamine concentration via AD. An SU-8 mold was prepared by standard lithography techniques. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels were formed from an SU-8 mold through replica molding. Carbon paste electrodes were screen printed into the PDMS electrode channel. We observed electroosmotic flow in CE by inserting fluoroisothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran dye and applying high voltage. Electrodes were placed in channel near the outlet to electrochemically detect the concentration of each bioamine. The limit of detection (LOD) for carbon paste electrodes was observed to be 10 mM using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). Our device provides low cost fabrication, high time resolution, high sensitivity, and multi-analyte detection of bioamines in Cancer borealis

Mentoring Experiences of Women in Graduate Education: Factors that Matter

This exploratory study focused on the mentoring experiences of women faculty members and graduate students within a counseling psychology graduate program. Results from semi-structured interviews and focus groups identified the women’s contextual mentoring experiences in higher education and highlighted several factors that contribute to mentorship experiences unique to women in graduate higher education. Findings demonstrate the importance of relational mentoring relationships and investment by mentors. Implications for building upon mentoring theories for women and future research are discussed

Grounding-line basal melt rates determined using radar-derived internal stratigraphy

We use ice-penetrating radar data across grounding lines of Siple Dome and Roosevelt Island, Antarctica, to measure the spatial pattern, magnitude and duration of sub-ice-shelf melting at these locations. Stratigraphic layers across the grounding line show, in places, a large-amplitude downwarp at, or slightly downstream of, the grounding line due to sub-ice-shelf basal melting. Localized downwarping indicates that melting is transient; melt rates, or the grounding line position, have changed within a few hundred years in order to produce the observed stratigraphy. Elsewhere, no meltrelated stratigraphic signature is preserved. In part, heterogeneity in the amount of sub-ice-shelf melt is due to regional circulation patterns in the sub-shelf cavity, but local (on the order of tens of kilometers) heterogeneity in the melt pattern may reflect small differences in the shape of the ice-shelf base at the grounding line. We find that all of the grounding lines crossed have been in place for at most ~400 years

Transport of a passive scalar in wide channels with surface topography

We generalize classical dispersion theory for a passive scalar to derive an asymptotic long-time convection-diffusion equation for a solute suspended in a wide, structured channel and subject to a steady low-Reynolds-number shear flow. Our theory, valid for small roughness amplitudes of the channel, holds for general surface shapes expandable as a Fourier series. We determine an anisotropic dispersion tensor, which depends on the characteristic wavelengths and amplitude of the surface structure. For surfaces whose corrugations are tilted with respect to the applied flow direction, we find that dispersion along the principal direction (i.e., the principal eigenvector of the dispersion tensor) is at an angle to the main flow direction and becomes enhanced relative to classical Taylor dispersion. In contrast, dispersion perpendicular to it can decrease compared to the short-time diffusivity of the particles. Furthermore, for an arbitrary surface shape represented in terms of a Fourier decomposition, we find that each Fourier mode contributes at leading order a linearly-independent correction to the classical Taylor dispersion tensor.Comment: under consideration for publication in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (JPCM