Unbalanced Growth

We study a model designed to understand the concept of unbalanced growth. We define leading sectors to be those that raise the profits from industrialization for other sectors the most. We identify the leading sectors and show that subsidizing them in sequences will raise welfare if the future is not discounted too strongly.

A Content Analysis of the MPAA Rating System and its Evolution

This thesis analyzes the content within PG-13 and R-rated films from 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014 to determine if there is any indication of ratings creep. Ratings creep is a term used to describe the increase of adult content in movies; especially in movies aimed at a younger audience. The film industry since the beginning has had to adapt to an ever-changing society. From small silent pictures to big-budget digital productions the film industry has evolved into what it is today, a statement of freedom of expression. It is this freedom of expression, however, that has placed the industry in difficult situations, as society every now and again demands the censorship of Hollywood. After the Production Code of 1930 and the Legion of Decency passed, the MPAA adopted a more ideal form of self-regulation by establishing a prototype of today’s modern movie rating system. CARA, a committee consisting of parents aimed at informing other parents of each film’s content, today determines the rating each movie receives prior to any public screening. This thesis analyzes four categories in each film: profanity, sexuality/nudity, drug/alcohol use, and violence. Although there has been a slight increase in few of the categories the overall results of this content analysis show no hard evidence of ratings creep or an increase in adult content over the past 40 years

Estudio de los cambios topograficos a corto y mediano plazo en ortoqueratología y su relación con la biomecánica corneal

Objectiu: Avaluar la relació dels canvis topogràfics i biomecànics en pacients amb ortoqueratologia. Metodologia: En aquest estudi han participat 18 subjectes sans, sense tractaments corneals previs, amb una miopia no major de -5.50 D i -2.00 D d’astigmatisme. Es van realitzar mesures amb CORVIS (tonòmetre sense contacte) i Pentacam (topògraf / tomògraf de Scheimpflug) prèvies a l’adaptació, així com al dia següent (matí i tarda) i a la setmana següent (matí i tarda). A cada visita es van determinar diversos paràmetres de biomecànica corneal i de topografia, per comparar-los entre ells i amb els obtinguts en altres visites. Resultats: Es van trobar diferències significatives en els valors de topografia anterior entre baseline y el matí posterior a una nit d’ús de les lents (canvi nocturn) y entre el matí i la tarda del mateix dia (regressió diürna). Es va trobar correlació entre el paràmetre absolut IntegrRadius i els canvis de Kf anterior entre baseline i matí (r=0.420, p=0.041), el que convertiria al paràmetre IntegrRadius en un indicador de l’efectivitat del procediment. Conclusions: L’adaptació amb lents de contacte d’ortoqueratologia nocturna condueix a canvis topogràfics i de biomecànica cornial. Alguns paràmetres de biomecànica cornial es troben relacionats i poden ser predictius dels canvis topogràfics originats per les lents de contacte

Developing and characterization of catfish skin hydrolysates including antioxidant and antimicrobial properties

Catfish skin (CS) contains considerable amount of protein that may be hydrolyzed enzymatically to generate hydrolysates (CSH) which may have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The generation of natural compounds with these properties is of special interest to the food industry. The objective of this study was to develop and characterize CSH including antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. CSH were produced from different enzymatic reaction periods using alkaline protease, and their characterization, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and some functional properties were evaluated. A selected CSH was analyzed for peptide composition and partial amino acid sequences. The color analysis showed that darker, more yellow, and redder CSH were generated throughout the time of hydrolysis. CSH at 4, 5, and 6 h of hydrolysis showed considerable antioxidant activity and antimicrobial properties in-vitro, high emulsion stability, and low oil holding capacity influenced by the time of hydrolysis. Low-molecular weight peptides with positive charges were suggested as responsible for the antimicrobial activity. CSH were developed and characterized. Further research is suggested, especially on identification, isolation, and synthesis of specific peptides from CSH with both antioxidant and antimicrobial activity

N.O.V.I.: Note Organizer for the Visually Impaired

Visually impaired students face extra challenges when it comes to the basic necessity of note-taking. Current assistive technology is fragmented in function. These students often need to combine solutions such as voice recording lectures, hiring someone to transcribe notes to braille, hiring a reader, etc. The amount of time and money they need for these solutions proves to be a great disadvantage, and we wish to provide an easier solution that will give these students a more independent and productive learning experience. Our solution is an application that can offer intuitive, convenient, and comprehensive access to notes for the visually impaired. We would implement our solution through an iOS mobile application that would allow users to upload hand written or text notes so that they could be organized and accessed through voice prompts. Users with visual disabilities would then have a platform to store and organize their notes in order to increase their ability to learn independently

Theoretical and numerical investigations of the parametric resonance of the mechanical vibrissa

In nature, vibrissae are tactile hairs of mammals used as sensor elements for the exploring the surrounding area. These hairs, also known as whiskers, can be found in different locations on an animals body. Mystacial vibrissae are distributed over a whiskerpad on a muzzle. Carpal vibrissae are located on the downside aspect of the forelimbs of mammals. The vibrissal hair has a conical shape and grows from a special heavily innervated hair follicle incorporating a capsule of blood. As the hair itself has no receptors along its length, the vibrissa may be considered as a system for transmitting forces and torques that arise from the contact between the hair and an object to sensory receptors inside the follicle. The present thesis deals with the vibrational motion of vibrissae dur- ing natural exploratory behaviour from the mechanical point of view. The phenomenon of the parametric resonance of the vibrissa is investigated the- oretically and numerically. In the first part of this thesis, two mechanical models of an elastic beam are presented based on findings in the literature. The first model considers a straight beam with the linearly decreasing radius of the circular cross-section. The second model takes into account the circu- lar natural configuration of the cylindrical beam. Within these models, the small transverse vibration of the beam under a periodic following force at the tip are analysed using the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and asymptotic methods of mechanics. In the second part of the thesis, the numerical analysis of the problems is performed based on the finite element method using ANSYS 16.2 software. For each model, the dynamical response of the system on the parametric excitation is simulated for different frequency values. It is shown theoretically and numerically that at specific ranges of the excitation frequency the phenomenon of the parametric resonance of the beam takes place. That means that the amplitude of vibrations of the beam increases exponentially with time, when it is stimulated within one of the frequency ranges of the parametric resonance. These ranges depend on the geometrical and material parameters of the beam model, as well as the am- plitude of the periodic excitation.Tesi

Does Implicit Voting Matter? Coalitional Bargaining in EU the Legislative Process

This paper theorises how decision-makers in the EU legislative process reach consensual decisions and in which policy direction through a mechanism of “implicit voting”. I introduce spatial model coalitional bargaining using a utility function that incorporates decision-maker considerations of the policy gains they expect to obtain for an outcome and the policy concessions they will need to give to other decision-makers so as to have this outcome accepted. The model predicts the formation of a compact coalition where the differences among the distances between each decision-maker position and the coalitional position are less pronounced than in competing alternative coalitions. This coalition will be able to implement this policy position as the outcome of the legislative process. The empirical evaluation of the model with DEU for 44 proposals and 111 issues of EU legislative process shows that the compact coalition offers a good prediction of how consensus in arrived at in the EU, suggesting that implicit voting explains well how EU decisional actors make consensual decisions and the direction this consensus takes

A theoretical model of the diffusion process to spherical and isotropic fruits

Many models are using now in order to can study of the table green olives diffusion process. Different models had been consistent in order to determinate the magnitude order of the diffusion coefficient effectiveness; we can to mention the thin plate model, the hollow cylinder and the hollow sphere model. But none them describe geometrically in a correct way this fruit. For this reason, we had developed a new model to spherical and isotropic fruits in order to can to adapt its diffusion behavior with the same geometry. So, all spherical isotropic fruit with pit are in conditions of to be treaty with this methodEEA MendozaFil: Maldonado, Mariela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Raul Cesar. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentin