Propagation of Interplanetary Shocks in the Heliosphere

Interplanetary shocks are one of the crucial dynamic processes in the Heliosphere. They accelerate particles into a high energy, generate plasma waves, and could potentially trigger geomagnetic storms in the terrestrial magnetosphere disturbing significantly our technological infrastructures. In this study, two IP shock events are selected to study the temporal variations of the shock parameters using magnetometer and ion plasma measurements of the STEREO$-$A and B, the Wind, Cluster fleet, and the ACE spacecraft. The shock normal vectors are determined using the minimum variance analysis (MVA) and the magnetic coplanarity methods (CP). During the May 07 event, the shock parameters and the shock normal direction are consistent. The shock surface appears to be tilted almost the same degree as the Parker spiral, and the driver could be a CIR. During the April 23 event, the shock parameters do not change significantly except for the shock $\theta_{Bn}$ angle, however, the shape of the IP shock appears to be twisted along the transverse direction to the Sun-Earth line as well. The driver of this rippled shock is SIRs/CIRs as well. Being a fast-reverse shock caused this irregularity in shape

Effects of selection for low residual feed intake and feed restriction on gene expression profiles and thyroid axis in pigs

The overall purpose of this thesis project was to identify genetic mechanisms associated with differences in and regulation of feed intake and feed efficiency in pigs. The long-term goal of this research is to use this knowledge to improve feed efficiency in pigs, the largest variable cost in pork production, through genetic selection or management. The central hypothesis is that we can discover and characterize genetic pathways that control economically important traits related to feed intake and feed efficiency through transcriptional profiling of specific and relevant tissues during the growth period. Profiling studies were be based on two complementary animal-level contrasts and their interactions, including quantitative differences in a specific measure of feed efficiency, residual feed intake (RFI), and genetic differences for a candidate gene with known impact on feed intake and energy partitioning. In addition to the two profiling studies, we examined the effect of RFI selection on the thyroid axis as the thyroid hormones are critical component for growth and development of animals. We identified series of genes, pathways, and transcription factors that may underlie feed efficiency and feed intake in pigs using transcriptional profiling tools and specifically studied the thyroid axis and determined that the increased concentration of triiodothyronine that is peripherally produced may contribute to the decreased feed intake and increased efficiency observed in the low RFI pigs

The effect of (prenatal) smoke exposure on lung progenitor cell behavior and Cyp2a5 gene regulation

Lung progenitor cell behavior and Cyp2a5 gene regulationPrenatal smoke exposure (PSE) is associated with an increased risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cigarette smoke addiction in later in life. One of the proposed underlying mechanisms for PSE-induced risk for COPD and aberrant smoking behavior could be epigenetic modifications of particular genes. UMCG researcher Khosbayar Lkhagvadorj investigated the effect of (prenatal) smoke exposure on lung epithelial cell development and regeneration linked with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. This was addressed in PSE neonatal mouse offspring and patients with COPD. In addition, he investigated the effect of pre- and/or postnatal smoke exposure on Cyp2a5 DNA methylation in relation to the in vitro nicotine conversion in liver and lung. He has provided evidence in mouse and human lung tissue and organoid models that (prenatal) smoke exposure triggers abnormal lung development, tissue regeneration, and nicotine dependence. Firstly, (prenatal) smoke exposure impaired lung epithelial cell differentiation in mouse offspring, which was associated with EGFR signaling. Moreover, lower expression of the EGFR on alveolar type 2 cells could be related to impaired alveolar progenitor cell function in COPD patients, which could explain impaired lung regeneration in these patients. Secondly, PSE increased the nicotine metabolism, which could be linked to a persistent change of PSE-induced Cyp2a5 methylation across the three developmental stages. If our results in the mouse were translated to the human situation, smoking during pregnancy would pose a threat to the unborn child, as it not only affects the development of the fetal lung but may also increase the risk of nicotine addiction when the offspring starts smoking

Fiscal Federalism and Decentralization in Mongolia

Fiscal federalism has been an important topic among public finance theorists in the last four decades. Developing and transition countries have developed a variety of forms of fiscal decentralization as a possible strategy to achieve effective and efficient governmental structures. A generalized principle of decentralization due to the country specific circumstances does not exist. Therefore, decentralization has taken place in different forms in various countries at different times, and even exactly the same extent of decentralization may have had different impacts under different conditions. As a former socialist country Mongolia has had a highly centralized governmental sector. The result of the analysis below revealed that the Mongolia has introduced a number of decentralization measures, which followed a top down approach and were slowly implemented without any integrated decentralization strategy in the last decade. As a result Mongolia became de-concentrated state with fiscal centralization. The revenue assignment is lacking a very important element, for instance significant revenue autonomy given to sub-national governments, which is vital for the efficient service delivery at the local level. According to the current assignments of the expenditure and revenue responsibilities most of the provinces are unable to provide a certain national standard of public goods supply. Hence, intergovernmental transfers from the central jurisdiction to the sub-national jurisdictions play an important role for the equalization of the vertical and horizontal imbalances in Mongolia. The critical problem associated with intergovernmental transfers is that there is not a stable, predictable and transparent system of transfer allocation. The amount of transfers to sub-national governments is determined largely by political decisions on ad hoc basis and disregards local differences in needs and fiscal capacity. Thus a fiscal equalization system based on the fiscal needs of the provinces should be implemented. The equalization transfers will at least partly offset the regional disparities in revenues and enable the sub-national governments to provide a national minimum standard of local public goods.Fiscal Federalism; Decentralization; Revenue Autonomy; Expenditure Assignment; Intergovernmental transfers.

Non-thermal WIMPy Baryogenesis with Primordial Black Hole

We consider the possibility that the weakly interacting massive particles produced from the evaporation of primordial black hole can explain both the relic density of dark matter and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, through their annihilation which violate B and CP-symmetry. We find that the primordial black hole with mass less than $10^7 {\rm g}$ is a good candidate as an source of TeV dark matter with the total annihilation cross section $\left\langle\sigma_a \upsilon\right\rangle \lesssim 10^{-7} \ {\rm GeV}^{-2}$ and the B-violating scattering cross section $\left\langle\sigma_B \upsilon\right\rangle \lesssim 2\times 10^{-9} \ {\rm GeV^{-2}}$. This large annihilation cross section of dark matter in this model would make it available to search them in the indirect search for dark matter such as gamma-ray or neutrino observations

An Analysis of the New Budget Law of Mongolia of 2011

The government of Mongolia developed and passed a new Budget Law on 23 December 2011 in order to improve the legal framework for budgeting, budget relations and fiscal management by integrating the Budget Law of 2002 and Public Sector Management and Finance Law. The purpose of new Budget Law is to ensure fiscal stability, enhance the efficiency and predictability of resource allocation, and to increase citizens’ participation in the budgeting process. The new Budget Law in its 11 chapters and 66 articles redefines the budgeting principles, scope, composition, classification of the budget, clarifies expenditure and revenue assignment, improves authorities and responsibilities of the bodies that participate in the budgeting process, and improves regulations on budget transparency and accountability. The key new regulations introduced by the Budget Law concern the following areas: • Public investment budgeting; • Government debt management; • Program budgeting; • Public private partnership; • Formula based transfer allocation; and • Citizens’ participation in budgeting. The most important change introduced by new Budget Law is a reform of the intergovernmental fiscal relations system towards greater decentralization. The law clarifies expenditure assignments by clearly defining delegated functions and differentiating the functions among sub-national governments. It also introduces a formula based transfer allocation that will allow predictability and sustainability in the local budgeting process

Fiscal Federalism and Decentralization in Mongolia

Fiscal federalism has been an important topic among public finance theorists in the last four decades. Developing and transition countries have developed a variety of forms of fiscal decentralization as a possible strategy to achieve effective and efficient governmental structures. A generalized principle of decentralization due to the country specific circumstances does not exist. Therefore, decentralization has taken place in different forms in various countries at different times, and even exactly the same extent of decentralization may have had different impacts under different conditions. As a former socialist country Mongolia has had a highly centralized governmental sector. The result of the analysis below revealed that the Mongolia has introduced a number of decentralization measures, which followed a top down approach and were slowly implemented without any integrated decentralization strategy in the last decade. As a result Mongolia became de-concentrated state with fiscal centralization. The revenue assignment is lacking a very important element, for instance significant revenue autonomy given to sub-national governments, which is vital for the efficient service delivery at the local level. According to the current assignments of the expenditure and revenue responsibilities most of the provinces are unable to provide a certain national standard of public goods supply. Hence, intergovernmental transfers from the central jurisdiction to the sub-national jurisdictions play an important role for the equalization of the vertical and horizontal imbalances in Mongolia. The critical problem associated with intergovernmental transfers is that there is not a stable, predictable and transparent system of transfer allocation. The amount of transfers to sub-national governments is determined largely by political decisions on ad hoc basis and disregards local differences in needs and fiscal capacity. Thus a fiscal equalization system based on the fiscal needs of the provinces should be implemented. The equalization transfers will at least partly offset the regional disparities in revenues and enable the sub-national governments to provide a national minimum standard of local public goods

The Chicago Redlight Camera Project

Through our research, we found a massive issue regarding the redlight cameras in the Chicagoland area between the north and south side. Many of the tickets targeting low-income residents on the South Side