The Ill-Posed Problem in Growth Empirics

A problem encountered in growth empirics is that the number of explanatory variables is large compared to the number of observations. This makes it impossible to condition on all regressors when determining if a variable is important. We investigate methods used to resolve this problem: Extreme bounds, Sala-i-Martin’s test, BACE, general-to-specific, minimum t-statistics, BIC and AIC. We prove that the problem in general is ill-posed and that the existing methods are inconsistent. We propose a test and apply it to determine if "good policy" increases the effectiveness of foreign aid on growth. The test rejects inference regarding good policy.AIC; BACE; BIC; extreme bounds; general-to-specific; ill-posed inverse problem; robustness

Enhanced Modelling and Efficient Realisation of Cyber- Physical Systems

This report describes the work carried out for the first half of the PhD project titled Enhanced Modelling and Efficient Realisation of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). The work contributions cover methods and tools to address the challenges of CPS development using a model-based approach. First the report introduces a technique to assist stakeholders in organising design information produced during modelling. Then a modelling language extension that supports reasoning about the energy consumption of the CPUs of a CPS is presented. Afterwards a technique that enables one to include real system components into the system simulation is described and finally the report presents a technology that enables construction of code generators for multiple target languages. In addition to covering the work contributions, this report also describes future work plans that will lead to the completion of the PhD project by April 2016

Evaluation of Development Process and Methodology for Co-Models

An embedded control system often requires a tight association between computational and physical system components. In such cases, embedded system development is difficult, as it requires the collaboration among stakeholders with different backgrounds (software engineers, mechanical engineers, managers etc.). With the constant increase in design complexity, caused by advances in implementation technologies, new ways of approaching embedded system development are needed.This thesis presents an evaluation of a tool-oriented development process and methodology, supporting embedded system development. The philosophy of the development process and methodology, is that design complexity can be managed through collaborative work and multi-disciplinary modeling. To obtain input for the evaluation work, the development process is applied during a case study, involving the development of a route following robot and a model of this. To demonstrate the value of this model, it is simulated to predict route completion times for the physical robot.The evaluation work identifies possibilities and challenges of the development process and methodology, with respect to traditional physicalprototyping. This will support developers in choosing the most optimal way of approaching development. In addition to this, suggestions for extensions to the methodology are provided. These intend to increasethe value the development process and methodology may bring thedevelopment work

Roots of Diversity Relations

The species-area relationship is one of the central generalizations in ecology; however, its origin has remained a puzzle. Since ecosystems are understood as energy transduction systems, the regularities in species richness are considered to result from ubiquitous imperatives in energy transduction. From a thermodynamic point of view, organisms are transduction mechanisms that distribute an influx of energy down along the steepest gradients to the ecosystem's diverse repositories of chemical energy, that is, populations of species. Transduction machineries, that is, ecosystems assembled from numerous species, may emerge and evolve toward high efficiency on large areas that hold more matter than small ones. This results in the well-known logistic-like relationship between the area and the number of species. The species-area relationship is understood, in terms of thermodynamics, to be the skewed cumulative curve of chemical energy distribution that is commonly known as the species-abundance relationship

Liuostila NMR-spektroskopian pulssisarjojen suunnittelu : ominaisuuksia ja sovellutuksia

NMR spectroscopy enables the study of biomolecules from peptides and carbohydrates to proteins at atomic resolution. The technique uniquely allows for structure determination of molecules in solution-state. It also gives insights into dynamics and intermolecular interactions important for determining biological function. Detailed molecular information is entangled in the nuclear spin states. The information can be extracted by pulse sequences designed to measure the desired molecular parameters. Advancement of pulse sequence methodology therefore plays a key role in the development of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy. A range of novel pulse sequences for solution-state NMR spectroscopy are presented in this thesis. The pulse sequences are described in relation to the molecular information they provide. The pulse sequence experiments represent several advances in NMR spectroscopy with particular emphasis on applications for proteins. Some of the novel methods are focusing on methyl-containing amino acids which are pivotal for structure determination. Methyl-specific assignment schemes are introduced for increasing the size range of 13C,15N labeled proteins amenable to structure determination without resolving to more elaborate labeling schemes. Furthermore, cost-effective means are presented for monitoring amide and methyl correlations simultaneously. Residual dipolar couplings can be applied for structure refinement as well as for studying dynamics. Accurate methods for measuring residual dipolar couplings in small proteins are devised along with special techniques applicable when proteins require high pH or high temperature solvent conditions. Finally, a new technique is demonstrated to diminish strong-coupling induced artifacts in HMBC, a routine experiment for establishing long-range correlations in unlabeled molecules. The presented experiments facilitate structural studies of biomolecules by NMR spectroscopy.Liuostila NMR-spektroskopian pulssisarjojen suunnittelu: Ominaisuuksia ja sovellutuksia Proteiinit ovat solujen työjuhtia. Proteiinit osallistuvat esimerkiksi molekyylien kuljetukseen ja kemiallisten reaktioiden katalyysiin. Proteiinin rakenne kertoo, mikä on sen funktio. Tätä tietoa voidaan käyttää solujen sisäisen toiminnan ymmärtämiseen ja soveltaa uusien lääkeaineiden kehittämiseen. Proteiinit ovat liian pieniä havaittavaksi edes parhaalla mahdollisella mikroskoopilla. Proteiinien kolmiulotteinen rakenne voidaan kuitenkin määrittää atomitasolla ydinmagneettisen resonanssin (NMR) avulla. NMR tekniikka perustuu samaan periaatteeseen, jota käytetään aivojen magneettikuvantamisessa sairaaloissa, mutta proteiinien pienen koon takia laitteelta vaaditaan huomattavasti voimakkaampaa magneettikenttää. Kun proteiini laitetaan koeputkessa magneettikentään, proteiinien atomit alkavat käyttäytyä pienten antennien tavoin. Samalla tavalla kuin radioaaltoja vastaanottavat laitteet tunnistavat tiettyjä taajuuksia, proteiinit absorboivat vain rakenteeseensa sopivaa säteilyä. Tällä tavalla voidaan kustakin atomista syntyvät signaalit tunnistaa ja lopulta proteiinin koko rakenne määrittää. NMR:n avulla voidaan tutkia myös proteiinin muita ominaisuuksia kuten sen dynamiikkaa ja sen vuorovaikutuksia muiden molekyylien kanssa. Proteiineissa on kuitenkin paljon atomeja ja tästä johtuen myös niiden spektreissä on paljon signaaleja, jotka ovat usein päällekkäin. Näinollen signaalien alkuperän määrittäminen on vaikeaa. Useita radiopulsseja voi yhdistää pulssisarjaksi, joka on verrattavissa nuotteihin. Pulssisarjojen avulla on mahdollista tuottaa sellaisia spektrejä, joissa yksittäiset signaalit ovat erillään ja tunnistettavissa. Jo pari kymmentä vuotta pienten proteiinien rakenteen määrittäminen on ollut mahdollista NMR:n avulla. Suurempien molekyylien kolmiulotteisen rakenteen määrittäminen on kuitenkin edelleen haastavaa. Tässä suhteessa uusien pulssisarjojen kehittäminen on erityisen tärkeää sillä niiden avulla spektrien sisältämä tieto on helpommin tulkittavissa, sisältää enemmän yksityiskohtia ja lisäksi itse spektrien tuottaminen on tehokkaampaa. Tämä väitöstyö käsittelee ydinmagneettisen resonanssin menetelmien kehittämistä ja niiden soveltamista biomolekyylien rakenteen selvittämiseen. Työ mahdollistaa yhä kookkaampien proteiinien rakenteiden määrittämisen ja parantaa käytössäolevien menetelmien ominaisuuksia. Väitöskirja tarkastetaan perjantaina 7. marraskuuta 2008 klo 12 Viikin Biokeskus 2:ssa

Does Professional Development of Preschool Teachers Improve Child Socio-Emotional Outcomes?

From 2011 to 2013 a randomized controlled trial has been run in Danish preschools to obtain evidence on improvements of early childhood education by providing training to the preschool teachers. The purpose of the intervention is to improve child socio-emotional outcomes (measured by SDQ), especially for socially disadvantaged children. The intervention preschools received extra training of the preschool teachers, whereas control preschools did not receive any training. The results show improvements in several subscales of the SDQ scale. However, the intervention proves less beneficial for socially disadvantaged children, in particular as a consequence of unfavorable preschool characteristics

A novel cell factory for efficient production of ethanol from dairy waste

BACKGROUND: Sustainable and economically feasible ways to produce ethanol or other liquid fuels are becoming increasingly relevant due to the limited supply of fossil fuels and the environmental consequences associated with their consumption. Microbial production of fuel compounds has gained a lot of attention and focus has mostly been on developing bio-processes involving non-food plant biomass feedstocks. The high cost of the enzymes needed to degrade such feedstocks into its constituent sugars as well as problems due to various inhibitors generated in pretreatment are two challenges that have to be addressed if cost-effective processes are to be established. Various industries, especially within the food sector, often have waste streams rich in carbohydrates and/or other nutrients, and these could serve as alternative feedstocks for such bio-processes. The dairy industry is a good example, where large amounts of cheese whey or various processed forms thereof are generated. Because of their nutrient-rich nature, these substrates are particularly well suited as feedstocks for microbial production. RESULTS: We have generated a Lactococcus lactis strain which produces ethanol as its sole fermentation product from the lactose contained in residual whey permeate (RWP), by introducing lactose catabolism into a L. lactis strain CS4435 (MG1363 Δ(3)ldh, Δpta, ΔadhE, pCS4268), where the carbon flow has been directed toward ethanol instead of lactate. To achieve growth and ethanol production on RWP, we added corn steep liquor hydrolysate (CSLH) as the nitrogen source. The outcome was efficient ethanol production with a titer of 41 g/L and a yield of 70 % of the theoretical maximum using a fed-batch strategy. The combination of a low-cost medium from industrial waste streams and an efficient cell factory should make the developed process industrially interesting. CONCLUSIONS: A process for the production of ethanol using L. lactis and a cheap renewable feedstock was developed. The results demonstrate that it is possible to achieve sustainable bioconversion of waste products from the dairy industry (RWP) and corn milling industry (CSLH) to ethanol and the process developed shows great potential for commercial realization