138 research outputs found

    FINANSŲ KRIZIŲ TIPAI, JŲ PALYGINAMOJI ANALIZĖ LIETUVOJE

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    Straipsnyje nagrinėjama finansų krizių sąvoka, aptariami finansų krizių skirstymo teoriniai aspektai. Nustačius, kad finansų kriziųklasifikavimas ir skirstymas pagal panašius požymius leistų jas geriau suprasti ir palengvintų jų poveikio ekonomikai analizę, sudarytafinansų krizių tipų klasifikacinė lentelė. Apibendrinamojoje finansų krizių tipų klasifikacinėje lentelėje pateikiami finansųkrizių tipai, nurodomos pagrindinės jų kilimo priežastys, pristatyti pagrindiniai poveikio ekonomikai rodikliai bei išvardyti istoriniaišių finansų krizių tipų pavyzdžiai. Tyrimo metu nustatytos trys Lietuvos ekonomiką neigiamai paveikusios finansų krizės – „Bankųkrizė“ (1995), „Rusijos finansų krizė“ (1998) ir „Globali finansų krizė“ (2008), apibrėžtos jų kilimo priežastys. Akcentuojant darnausekonominio vystymosi prielaidas Lietuvoje ir siekiant tyrimų pagrindu kurti regioninę politiką, šios finansų krizės suklasifikuotospagal sudarytą tipologiją.PAGRINDINIAI ŽODŽIAI: finansų krizė, finansų krizių klasifikavimas, finansų krizių tipai

    Dance Type and Flight Parameters Are Associated with Different Mushroom Body Neural Activities in Worker Honeybee Brains

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    Background: Honeybee foragers can transmit the information concerning the location of food sources to their nestmates using dance communication. We previously used a novel immediate early gene, termed kakusei, to demonstrate that the neural activity of a specific mushroom body (MB) neuron subtype is preferentially enhanced in the forager brain. The sensory information related to this MB neuron activity, however, remained unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we used kakusei to analyze the relationship between MB neuron activity and types of foraging behavior. The number of kakusei-positive MB neurons was higher in the round dancers that had flown a short distance than in the waggle dancers that had flown a long distance. Furthermore, the amount of kakusei transcript in the MBs inversely related to the waggle-phase duration of the waggle dance, which correlates with the flight distance. Using a narrow tunnel whose inside was vertically or axially lined, we manipulated the pattern of visual input, which is received by the foragers during flight, and analysed kakusei expression. The amount of kakusei transcript in the MBs was related to the foraging frequency but not to the tunnel pattern. In contrast, the number of kakusei-positive MB neurons was affected by the tunnel patterns, but not related to foraging frequency. Conclusions/Significance: These results suggest that the MB neuron activity depends on the foraging frequency, whereas the number of active MB neurons is related to the pattern of visual input received during foraging flight. Our results sugges

    An Analysis of Uniform Shear Flow Past a Porous Plate Attached to a Plane Surface

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    This is a good first study on the applicability of the wake-source model to shear flow around and through a screen. Since previous work [4] dealt with uniform flow, the authors have properly chosen shear flow as the next step in extending the work. Moreover, shear flow is probably more important than uniform flow in practical situations, and so this study should be of interest to designers who need quantitative information on the effectiveness of wind breaks and the like. To be truly useful, however, this study should be continued in order to vary plate porosity and wind shear rate. The present experiments were carried out for a single plate and for one upstream velocity profile. The pressure-drop coefficient K for the plate was 18.1, which is higher than values for normal porous materials like woven screens, and the average shear rate G of the velocity profile was 216 s" 1 , which corresponds to a moderate 53 percent change in velocity from the bottom to the top of the screen. These conditions produced a downstream velocity profile that was satisfactorily predicted by the wake-source model, but this tells us little about the accuracy of the model for other conditions. Additional experimental results would not only establish the range of validity of the model but would also provide useful data for design purposes. For the latter, the quantity of interest is likely the reduction of velocity produced by the windbreak, and thus it would be beneficial to have a plot, say, of mean velocity reduction as a function of the screen coefficient K, with G as a free parameter. I hope the present work is the initial step in an endeavour of this sort. The authors do, in fact, infer that the study is being continued and to that end I would suggest several changes in future work. First, the mapping of the velocity field upstream of the plate is presently incomplete and the matching location too arbitrary. It would be interesting to learn, for example, the effect on predicted downstream profile if the matching were carried out at x/h = -1.1, say, and not at x/h = -2.2. Secondly, it should be straightforward to measure the plate's pressure-drop coefficient and so verify the value calculated in the text. Finally, it would be useful to investigate non-uniform shear flows. Uniform shear is the logical case after uniform flow, as mentioned above, but it is not true that the theory demands a uniform shear flow which has a constant vorticity. The model requires only that the flow be inviscid, not irrotational. Consequently the approaching flow may hav

    CIB W062 Symposium 2006 Study on Maximum Flow Rates and Sizing Method of Overflow Pipes in Water Tanks

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    Abstract When examining the standard of the air-gap in open tanks with overflow pipes, it is necessary to determine the height of the highest water level and maximum capacity of overflow pipe in tanks. However, it is not cleared not only to determine the height and the capacity, but also to decide the size of overflow pipe. Therefore, the experimental study was carried out for the purpose to obtain them. In this paper, it was reported the experiment result concerning the FRP water tank with overflow pipe of inside diameters 50 mm and 100 mm. As a result, empirical formulae of the height by incoming flow rates and inside diameters, and the maximum flow rate of overflow pipes are shown. Moreover, methods to decide the size of overflow pipes are proposed

    Detection of Neural Activity in the Brains of Japanese Honeybee Workers during the Formation of a “Hot Defensive Bee Ball”

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    Anti-predator behaviors are essential to survival for most animals. The neural bases of such behaviors, however, remain largely unknown. Although honeybees commonly use their stingers to counterattack predators, the Japanese honeybee (Apis cerana japonica) uses a different strategy to fight against the giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia japonica). Instead of stinging the hornet, Japanese honeybees form a “hot defensive bee ball” by surrounding the hornet en masse, killing it with heat. The European honeybee (A. mellifera ligustica), on the other hand, does not exhibit this behavior, and their colonies are often destroyed by a hornet attack. In the present study, we attempted to analyze the neural basis of this behavior by mapping the active brain regions of Japanese honeybee workers during the formation of a hot defensive bee ball. First, we identified an A. cerana homolog (Acks = Apis cerana kakusei) of kakusei, an immediate early gene that we previously identified from A. mellifera, and showed that Acks has characteristics similar to kakusei and can be used to visualize active brain regions in A. cerana. Using Acks as a neural activity marker, we demonstrated that neural activity in the mushroom bodies, especially in Class II Kenyon cells, one subtype of mushroom body intrinsic neurons, and a restricted area between the dorsal lobes and the optic lobes was increased in the brains of Japanese honeybee workers involved in the formation of a hot defensive bee ball. In addition, workers exposed to 46°C heat also exhibited Acks expression patterns similar to those observed in the brains of workers involved in the formation of a hot defensive bee ball, suggesting that the neural activity observed in the brains of workers involved in the hot defensive bee ball mainly reflects thermal stimuli processing

    Measurement and comparison of individual external doses of high-school students living in Japan, France, Poland and Belarus -- the "D-shuttle" project --

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    Twelve high schools in Japan (of which six are in Fukushima Prefecture), four in France, eight in Poland and two in Belarus cooperated in the measurement and comparison of individual external doses in 2014. In total 216 high-school students and teachers participated in the study. Each participant wore an electronic personal dosimeter "D-shuttle" for two weeks, and kept a journal of his/her whereabouts and activities. The distributions of annual external doses estimated for each region overlap with each other, demonstrating that the personal external individual doses in locations where residence is currently allowed in Fukushima Prefecture and in Belarus are well within the range of estimated annual doses due to the background radiation level of other regions/countries

    Small Molecules with Similar Structures Exhibit Agonist, Neutral Antagonist or Inverse Agonist Activity toward Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor

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    Small differences in the chemical structures of ligands can be responsible for agonism, neutral antagonism or inverse agonism toward a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). Although each ligand may stabilize the receptor conformation in a different way, little is known about the precise conformational differences. We synthesized the angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker (ARB) olmesartan, R239470 and R794847, which induced inverse agonism, antagonism and agonism, respectively, and then investigated the ligand-specific changes in the receptor conformation with respect to stabilization around transmembrane (TM)3. The results of substituted cysteine accessibility mapping studies support the novel concept that ligand-induced changes in the conformation of TM3 play a role in stabilizing GPCR. Although the agonist-, neutral antagonist and inverse agonist-binding sites in the AT1 receptor are similar, each ligand induced specific conformational changes in TM3. In addition, all of the experimental data were obtained with functional receptors in a native membrane environment (in situ)

    Investigation on the possibility of artificial propagation, cultivation and brood stock management of Vannamei shrimp

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    Project was carried out at the Gomishan Centre for training and education which is located 15 km far from Gomishan City in the Golestan Province. Prebroodstocks were chosen from ponds (stocking density: 3/m^2). 860 male and 890 female broodstocks were separated and transferred into greenhouse (400 m^2). The average growth rate per day was 0.3 g and survival rate was 90%. After reaching 42 g in males and 52 g in females they were ready for Eyes stalk Brood stocks were transferred into propagation hall in June and after a week females gone under Eyes stalk. 10,890,000 eggs were yielded from 50 females and consequently 7, 187, 0.50 nauplius were produced. Each broodstock spawned 1.34 Times. The maximum hatching was 75% that in was average 64.2%. Mass of Cetocerous Algae was mass produced to be fed for post larvae. Finally 35,000 PL15 were yielded. PL15 were transferred into two half hectare and one 1 ha ponds in July. The stocking density was 18 PL/m^2. Biometric parameters together with air and water temperatures, and pH were recorded daily. Results indicate that the maximum survival rate was 58% (pond No. 5) and minimum was 52% (pond No. 17). The average weight after 101 days cultivating was 23 g which is appropriate. Also the average daily growth rate was 0.2g and the FCR was 1

    Increased Neural Activity of a Mushroom Body Neuron Subtype in the Brains of Forager Honeybees

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    Honeybees organize a sophisticated society, and the workers transmit information about the location of food sources using a symbolic dance, known as ‘dance communication’. Recent studies indicate that workers integrate sensory information during foraging flight for dance communication. The neural mechanisms that account for this remarkable ability are, however, unknown. In the present study, we established a novel method to visualize neural activity in the honeybee brain using a novel immediate early gene, kakusei, as a marker of neural activity. The kakusei transcript was localized in the nuclei of brain neurons and did not encode an open reading frame, suggesting that it functions as a non-coding nuclear RNA. Using this method, we show that neural activity of a mushroom body neuron subtype, the small-type Kenyon cells, is prominently increased in the brains of dancer and forager honeybees. In contrast, the neural activity of the two mushroom body neuron subtypes, the small-and large-type Kenyon cells, is increased in the brains of re-orienting workers, which memorize their hive location during re-orienting flights. These findings demonstrate that the small-type Kenyon cell-preferential activity is associated with foraging behavior, suggesting its involvement in information integration during foraging flight, which is an essential basis for dance communication

    Children with Moderate Acute Malnutrition with No Access to Supplementary Feeding Programmes Experience High Rates of Deterioration and No Improvement: Results from a Prospective Cohort Study in Rural Ethiopia

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    Background: Children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) have an increased risk of mortality, infections and impaired physical and cognitive development compared to well-nourished children. In parts of Ethiopia not considered chronically food insecure there are no supplementary feeding programmes (SFPs) for treating MAM. The short-term outcomes of children who have MAM in such areas are not currently described, and there remains an urgent need for evidence-based policy recommendations. Methods: We defined MAM as mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of ≥11.0cm and <12.5cm with no bilateral pitting oedema to include Ethiopian government and World Health Organisation cut-offs. We prospectively surveyed 884 children aged 6–59 months living with MAM in a rural area of Ethiopia not eligible for a supplementary feeding programme. Weekly home visits were made for seven months (28 weeks), covering the end of peak malnutrition through to the post-harvest period (the most food secure window), collecting anthropometric, socio-demographic and food security data. Results: By the end of the study follow up, 32.5% (287/884) remained with MAM, 9.3% (82/884) experienced at least one episode of SAM (MUAC <11cm and/or bilateral pitting oedema), and 0.9% (8/884) died. Only 54.2% of the children recovered with no episode of SAM by the end of the study. Of those who developed SAM half still had MAM at the end of the follow up period. The median (interquartile range) time to recovery was 9 (4–15) weeks. Children with the lowest MUAC at enrolment had a significantly higher risk of remaining with MAM and a lower chance of recovering. Conclusions: Children with MAM during the post-harvest season in an area not eligible for SFP experience an extremely high incidence of SAM and a low recovery rate. Not having a targeted nutrition-specific intervention to address MAM in this context places children with MAM at excessive risk of adverse outcomes. Further preventive and curative approaches should urgently be considered
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