10,494 research outputs found
The effects of China’ s VAT enlargement reform on the income redistribution of urban households
Background: China's former goods and service tax (GST) system subjects sale of goods to VAT and provision of services to business tax. The VAT enlargement reform launched in 2012 aimed to replace the business tax with VAT step by step. This paper is intended to explore the redistribution effects of this reform. Methods: On basis of input-output model and statutory tax rates, this paper derives the measurement of full GST burden of households in China where both VAT and business tax are imposed. Using the 2012 urban household survey data, the redistribution effects of the VAT enlargement reform is estimated by comparing the Gini coefficient and general entropy indexes before and after the reform. Results: The VAT enlargement reform has improved the redistribution effects of China's GST system mainly through lowering the average tax burden and reducing the inequality within the lowest-income group, though the inequality among different income groups was not reduced considerably. Conclusions: Compared with overall rate reduction, greater relief to necessity items could improve the redistribution effects of the future VAT system more effectively
Giant magnetoimpedance in crystalline Mumetal
We studied giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect in commercial crystalline
Mumetal, with the emphasis to sample thickness dependence and annealing
effects. By using appropriate heat treatment one can achieve GMI ratios as high
as 310%, and field sensitivity of about 20%/Oe, which is comparable to the best
GMI characteristics obtained for amorphous and nanocrystalline soft magnetic
materials.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Optical spectroscopy study of Nd(O,F)BiS2 single crystals
We present an optical spectroscopy study on F-substituted NdOBiS
superconducting single crystals grown using KCl/LiCl flux method. The
measurement reveals a simple metallic response with a relatively low screened
plasma edge near 5000 \cm. The plasma frequency is estimated to be 2.1 eV,
which is much smaller than the value expected from the first-principles
calculations for an electron doping level of x=0.5, but very close to the value
based on a doping level of 7 of itinerant electrons per Bi site as
determined by ARPES experiment. The energy scales of the interband transitions
are also well reproduced by the first-principles calculations. The results
suggest an absence of correlation effect in the compound, which essentially
rules out the exotic pairing mechanism for superconductivity or scenario based
on the strong electronic correlation effect. The study also reveals that the
system is far from a CDW instability as being widely discussed for a doping
level of x=0.5.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Pulse generation without gain-bandwidth limitation in a laser with self-similar evolution
With existing techniques for mode-locking, the bandwidth of ultrashort pulses from a laser is determined primarily by the spectrum of the gain medium. Lasers with self-similar evolution of the pulse in the gain medium can tolerate strong spectral breathing, which is stabilized by nonlinear attraction to the parabolic self-similar pulse. Here we show that this property can be exploited in a fiber laser to eliminate the gain-bandwidth limitation to the pulse duration. Broad (̃200 nm) spectra are generated through passive nonlinear propagation in a normal-dispersion laser, and these can be dechirped to ̃20-fs duration
Generating Diffusion MRI scalar maps from T1 weighted images using generative adversarial networks
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (diffusion MRI) is a non-invasive
microstructure assessment technique. Scalar measures, such as FA (fractional
anisotropy) and MD (mean diffusivity), quantifying micro-structural tissue
properties can be obtained using diffusion models and data processing
pipelines. However, it is costly and time consuming to collect high quality
diffusion data. Here, we therefore demonstrate how Generative Adversarial
Networks (GANs) can be used to generate synthetic diffusion scalar measures
from structural T1-weighted images in a single optimized step. Specifically, we
train the popular CycleGAN model to learn to map a T1 image to FA or MD, and
vice versa. As an application, we show that synthetic FA images can be used as
a target for non-linear registration, to correct for geometric distortions
common in diffusion MRI
Strawberry Verticillium Wilt Detection Network Based on Multi-Task Learning and Attention
© 2013 IEEE. Plant disease detection has an inestimable effect on plant cultivation. Accurate detection of plant disease can control the spread of disease early and prevent unnecessary loss. Strawberry verticillium wilt is a soil-borne, multi-symptomatic disease. To detect strawberry verticillium wilt accurately, we first propose a disease detection network based on Faster R-CNN and multi-task learning to detect strawberry verticillium wilt. Then, the strawberry verticillium wilt detection network (SVWDN), which uses attention mechanisms in the feature extraction of the disease detection network, is proposed. SVWDN detects verticillium wilt according to the symptoms of detected plant components (i.e.,young leaves and petioles). Compared with other existing methods for detecting disease from the whole plant appearance, the SVWDN automatically classifies the petioles and young leaves while determining whether the strawberry has verticillium wilt. To provide a dataset for evaluating and testing our method, we construct a large dataset that contains 3, 531 images with 4 categories (Healthy-leaf, Healthy-petiole, Verticillium-leaf and Verticillium-petiole). Each image also has a label to indicate whether the strawberry is suffering from verticillium wilt. With the proposed strawberry verticillium wilt detection network, we achieved a mAP of 77.54% on object detection of 4 categories and 99.95% accuracy for strawberry verticillium wilt detection
Genome-Wide Footprints of Pig Domestication and Selection Revealed through Massive Parallel Sequencing of Pooled DNA
Background Artificial selection has caused rapid evolution in domesticated species. The identification of selection footprints across domesticated genomes can contribute to uncover the genetic basis of phenotypic diversity. Methodology/Main Findings Genome wide footprints of pig domestication and selection were identified using massive parallel sequencing of pooled reduced representation libraries (RRL) representing ~2% of the genome from wild boar and four domestic pig breeds (Large White, Landrace, Duroc and Pietrain) which have been under strong selection for muscle development, growth, behavior and coat color. Using specifically developed statistical methods that account for DNA pooling, low mean sequencing depth, and sequencing errors, we provide genome-wide estimates of nucleotide diversity and genetic differentiation in pig. Widespread signals suggestive of positive and balancing selection were found and the strongest signals were observed in Pietrain, one of the breeds most intensively selected for muscle development. Most signals were population-specific but affected genomic regions which harbored genes for common biological categories including coat color, brain development, muscle development, growth, metabolism, olfaction and immunity. Genetic differentiation in regions harboring genes related to muscle development and growth was higher between breeds than between a given breed and the wild boar. Conclusions/Significance These results, suggest that although domesticated breeds have experienced similar selective pressures, selection has acted upon different genes. This might reflect the multiple domestication events of European breeds or could be the result of subsequent introgression of Asian alleles. Overall, it was estimated that approximately 7% of the porcine genome has been affected by selection events. This study illustrates that the massive parallel sequencing of genomic pools is a cost-effective approach to identify footprints of selection
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