S&T activities and firm performance - microeconomic evidence from manufacturing in Shanghai

This paper examines the impact of R&D expenditure and technology import on the level and the growth of productivity, as well as on the general economic performance in manufacturing firms with various ownership structures in Shanghai, China. The empirical analyses are based on the firm-level information of a sample of manufacturing firms for the period 1998–2003. We find clear-cut evidence indicating that firms with foreign participation have a productivity advantage over their domestic counterparts. The expenditures on technology import not only have a direct and positive effect on productivity, but also indirectly enhance the absorptive capacity of firms to facilitate in-house R&D activities. This is particularly true for firms with foreign participation, or for firms in sectors with relatively high technical standards. Furthermore, R&D expenditure and technology import may also have positive effects on profitability and export performance, depending on the ownership structure of the firm and the technical standard in the sector.Science and Technology policy; Science and Technology investment; R&D

The Effects of Different Land Covers on Foundation Heat Exchangers Design in Chinese Rural Areas

The Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system is extensively applied all around world for building heating and cooling. A new system type which uses foundation heat exchangers (FHXs) to reduce system capital cost has been suggested. This paper aims at studying the effects of different land covers on FHXs design lengths; consequently these affect the system capital cost. The FHXs are more applicable to rural areas since it requires enough space for laying the heat exchangers. In Chinese rural area, FHXs buried at 8 locations in 4 different cli-mates are investigated. In each location, the FHX design lengths under bare soil, concrete and vegetation are simulated. It is found that, in warm climates, land cover type has little effect on the results. In other climates, the FHX design length under bare soil and results under concrete are respectively 5.8%-18.1% and 15.9%-38.3% longer than the results under vegetation cover

Model for ground temperature estimations and its impact on horizontal ground heat exchanger design

The ground-source heat pump systems are highly efficient and energy saving. Its main disadvantage is a significantly higher installation cost compared to conventional systems. The length of the ground heat exchanger (GHX) piping, consequently, the first cost, depends on several factors; one key factor is the undisturbed ground temperature estimations. Xing and Spitler model was developed which provides a new set of ground temperature results for GHX design. There are two common methods in United States to be used for ground temperature estimations - ASHRAE Handbook method and ASHRAE district heating manual method. This paper presents the impact of Xing and Spitler model development on the horizontal ground heat exchanger (HGHX) design. An analytical HGHX simulation tool is developed. 12 geographically diverse sites in United States are chosen for the case study. Three different HGHX configurations are investigated. For each site, HGHX design length using the Xing and Spitler model estimated ground temperatures as inputs are compared to design results based on measured ground temperatures; the calculated HGHX design length percentage error are within ±18.9%. The calculated HGHX design length percentage error using the ASHRAE Handbooks results and ASHRAE district heating manual results are within ±38.3% and ±57.7% respectively.Mechanical and Aerospace Engineerin

Transcriptomic and Physiological Variations of Three Arabidopsis Ecotypes in Response to Salt Stress.

Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses in agriculture worldwide. Analysis of natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis is an effective approach to characterize candidate salt responsive genes. Differences in salt tolerance of three Arabidopsis ecotypes were compared in this study based on their responses to salt treatments at two developmental stages: seed germination and later growth. The Sha ecotype had higher germination rates, longer roots and less accumulation of superoxide radical and hydrogen peroxide than the Ler and Col ecotypes after short term salt treatment. With long term salt treatment, Sha exhibited higher survival rates and lower electrolyte leakage. Transcriptome analysis revealed that many genes involved in cell wall, photosynthesis, and redox were mainly down-regulated by salinity effects, while transposable element genes, microRNA and biotic stress related genes were significantly changed in comparisons of Sha vs. Ler and Sha vs. Col. Several pathways involved in tricarboxylic acid cycle, hormone metabolism and development, and the Gene Ontology terms involved in response to stress and defense response were enriched after salt treatment, and between Sha and other two ecotypes. Collectively, these results suggest that the Sha ecotype is preconditioned to withstand abiotic stress. Further studies about detailed gene function are needed. These comparative transcriptomic and analytical results also provide insight into the complexity of salt stress tolerance mechanisms

Neonatal rhesus monkey is a potential animal model for studying pathogenesis of EV71 infection

AbstractData from limited autopsies of human patients demonstrate that pathological changes in EV71-infected fatal cases are principally characterized by clear inflammatory lesions in different parts of the CNS; nearly identical changes were found in murine, cynomolgus and rhesus monkey studies which provide evidence of using animal models to investigate the mechanisms of EV71 pathogenesis. Our work uses neonatal rhesus monkeys to investigate a possible model of EV71 pathogenesis and concludes that this model could be applied to provide objective indicators which include clinical manifestations, virus dynamic distribution and pathological changes for observation and evaluation in interpreting the complete process of EV71 infection. This induced systemic infection and other collected indicators in neonatal monkeys could be repeated; the transmission appears to involve infecting new monkeys by contact with feces of infected animals. All data presented suggest that the neonatal rhesus monkey model could shed light on EV71 infection process and pathogenesis

Experimental study of the Sb-Sn-Zn alloy system

experimental description of the SbSn-Zn system by methods scanning electron microskope and differetial scanning calorimetryexperimentální popis ternární soustavy Sb-Sn-Zn metodami skenovací elektronové mikroskopie a diferenční skenovací kalorimetrieexperimental description of the SbSn-Zn system by methods scanning electron microskope and differetial scanning calorimetr

Genetic diversity and population structure of core watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) genotypes using DArTseq-based SNPs

Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. lanatus] is an economically important vegetable belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. Genotypes that exhibit agronomically important traits are selected for the development of elite cultivars. Understanding the genetic diversity and the genotype population structure based on molecular markers at the genome level can speed up the utilization of diverse genetic resources for varietal improvement. In the present study, we carried out an analysis of genetic diversity based on 3882 SNP markers across 37 core watermelon genotypes, including the most widely used watermelon varieties and wild watermelon. Based on the SNP genotyping data of the 37 watermelon genotypes screened, gene diversity and polymorphism information content values across chromosomes varied between 0.03–0.5 and 0.02–0.38, with averages of 0.14 and 0.13, respectively. The two wild watermelon genotypes were distinct from cultivated varieties and the remaining 35 cultivated genotypes were differentiated into three major clusters: 20 genotypes were grouped in cluster I; 11 genotypes were grouped in cluster II; three advanced breeding lines of yellow fruit flesh and genotype SW043 were grouped in cluster III. The results from neighbour-joining dendrogram, principal coordinate analysis and STRUCTURE analysis approaches were consistent, and the grouping of genotypes was generally in agreement with their origins. Here we reveal the genetic relationships among the core watermelon genotypes maintained at the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. The molecular and phenotypic characterization of the existing core watermelon genotypes, together with specific agronomic characteristics, can be utilized by researchers and breeders for future watermelon improvement

Machine Learning from Garden Path Sentences: The Application of Computational Linguistics

This paper discusses the application of computational linguistics in the machine learning (ML) system for the processing of garden path sentences. ML is closely related to artificial intelligence and linguistic cognition. The rapid and efficient processing of the complex structures is an effective method to test the system. By means of parsing the garden path sentence, we draw a conclusion that the integration of theoretical and statistical methods is helpful for the development of ML system