Together forever? Explaining exclusivity in party-firm relations

Parties and firms are the key actors of representative democracy and capitalism respectively and the dynamic of attachment between them is a central feature of any political economy. This is the first article to systematically analyse the exclusivity of party-firm relations. We consider exclusivity at a point in time and exclusivity over time. Does a firm have a relationship with only one party at a given point in time, or is it close to more than one party? Does a firm maintain a relationship with only one party over time, or does it switch between parties? Most important, how do patterns of exclusivity impact on a firm’s ability to lobby successfully? We propose a general theory, which explains patterns of party-firm relations by reference to the division of institutions and the type of party competition in a political system. A preliminary test of our theory with Polish survey data confirms our predictions, establishing a promising hypothesis for future research

X-linked cataract and Nance-Horan syndrome are allelic disorders

Nance-Horan syndrome (NHS) is an X-linked developmental disorder characterized by congenital cataract, dental anomalies, facial dysmorphism and, in some cases, mental retardation. Protein truncation mutations in a novel gene (NHS) have been identified in patients with this syndrome. We previously mapped X-linked congenital cataract (CXN) in one family to an interval on chromosome Xp22.13 which encompasses the NHS locus; however, no mutations were identified in the NHS gene. In this study, we show that NHS and X-linked cataract are allelic diseases. Two CXN families, which were negative for mutations in the NHS gene, were further analysed using array comparative genomic hybridization. CXN was found to be caused by novel copy number variations: a complex duplication–triplication re-arrangement and an intragenic deletion, predicted to result in altered transcriptional regulation of the NHS gene. Furthermore, we also describe the clinical and molecular analysis of seven families diagnosed with NHS, identifying four novel protein truncation mutations and a novel large deletion encompassing the majority of the NHS gene, all leading to no functional protein. We therefore show that different mechanisms, aberrant transcription of the NHS gene or no functional NHS protein, lead to different diseases. Our data highlight the importance of copy number variation and non-recurrent re-arrangements leading to different severity of disease and describe the potential mechanisms involved

Artificial neural networks for shape modeling of sea bottom

Artificial neural networks are applied for approximation and interpolation of function with multiple variables. Because of concurrent processing of data by neurons, fhis approach can be seen as promising alternate for standard algorithms. From these reasons, the analysis of capabilities for some models of neural networks has been carried out in the purpose for modeling the shape of sea bottom. The feed-forward multi-layer networks with different transfer functions have been tested. These networks have been trained by backpropagation algorithm and its versions with some improvements. Moreover, the gradient optimization technique by Levenberg-Marquardt has been applied. Finally, for determination of the depth in a point of the water area the two-layer network with the hidden layer of the radial neurons has been proposed

Analiza efektywności układu kotła cyrkulacyjnego typu oxy z membraną wysokotemperaturową typu three-end do separacji powietrza

W artykule analizie poddano kocioł z cyrkulacyjnym złożem fluidalnym. Do spalania węgla brunatnego w kotle użyto tlenu wytworzonego w wysokotemperaturowej membranie typu three-end. Pokazano sposób określenia powierzchni membran oraz energochłonności procesu membranowej separacji powietrza. Sprawność termiczną kotła, energochłonność membranowej separacji powietrza i powierzchnię modułu membranowego wyznaczono w funkcji odzysku tlenu w membranie. Zaproponowano wykorzystanie azotu z instalacji separacji powietrza do suszenia węgla. Dla takiego wariantu również wyznaczono charakterystyki układu. Stwierdzono, że przy wykorzystaniu azotu do suszenia sprawności termicznej kotła rośnie z 76% do 87%, przy wzroście stopnia odzysku tlenu od 0,45 do 0,9, i jest wyższa odpowiednio od 12% do 6% w porównaniu do układu bez suszenia. W zaproponowanym układzie separacji powietrza powierzchnia modułu membranowego zawiera się w przedziale 76,5-95,0 tys. m².In this paper boiler with circulating fluidized bed was analyzed. For the combustion of lignite in the boiler oxygen produced in the three-end high-temperature membrane was used. Paper shows a method of determining the surface of the membranes and energy consumption of the air separation process. Boiler thermal efficiency, energy consumption of the process and air separation membrane module surface was determined as a function of oxygen recovery in the membrane. Nitrogen from the air separation unit was proposed to be used for drying lignite. For this variant characteristics of the system were determined. It was found that the thermal efficiency of the boiler in case where nitrogen was used for lignite drying increased from 76% to 87% with increasing value of oxygen recovery ratio from 0.45 to 0.9 and is higher, respectively, from 12% to 6% in comparison to the system without drying. In the proposed air separation unit required membrane surface is in the range 76500-95000 m²

Artificial neural networks for interpolation and identification of underwater object features

Artificial neural networks can be applied for interpolation of function with multiple variables. Because of concurrent processing of data by neurons, that approach can be seen as hopeful alternative for numerical algorithms. From these reasons, the analysis of capabilities for some models of neural networks has been carried out in the purpose for identification of the underwater object properties. Features of the underwater objects can be recognized by characteristics of a amplitude according to the frequency of measured signals. The feed-forward multi-layer networks with different transfer functions have been applied. Those network models have been trained by some versions of back-propagation algorithm as well as the Levenberg-Marquardt gradient optimization technique. Finally, for determination of the amplitude for the frequency of signal by the two-layer network with the hidden layer of the radial neurons has been proposed

Infrared-to-Visible Upconversion in Erbium Pentaphosphate

Infrared-to-visible upconversion has been observed by many authors in a variety of rare-earth-doped crystals. This paper reports the study of the up-conversion found in stoichiometric erbium pentaphosphate, ErP$\text{}_{5}$O$\text{}_{1}$4. Strong green fluorescence was observed upon pumping the crystal with a cw diode laser at a wavelength of about 800 nm