535 research outputs found
The impact of fiscal decentralization and market transition on local public finance in China: fiscal inadequacy and unmet social security needs
One of the frequently observed issues related to fiscal decentralisation in developing
and transition countries is that subnational governments may not have adequate
resources to finance the expenditure responsibilities decentralised to them. This often
results in expenditure needs not being met in poorer areas. In China, fiscal
decentralisation has taken place in an extreme form, where the social security
responsibility, a conventional central government function, has been devolved to
subnational governments during the fiscal reforms.
While existing studies have anatomised the problem of unmet fiscal needs in poorer
areas of China using economic and political economy theories of fiscal federalism,
they tend to under-estimate or neglect the fiscal needs induced by market
transition—the increasing demand for social security by workers from state and
non-state sectors since the mid-late 1990s. This research illustrates that excess fiscal
decentralisation, as in the case of China, could also create serious fiscal burdens for
relatively affluent local areas and generate unmet social security needs in these
localities. It is discovered that in response to the emerging social security burdens,
even the relatively affluent local governments are forced to adopt measures that may
counter the intent of social benefit programs or produce other detrimental
consequences.
In addition, this dissertation applies statistical analysis to ascertain a few inconclusive
issues raised by the China-specific literature. It is perceived that the negative
correlation between the share of consolidated provincial budgetary spending on social
security and health sector has become stronger and more significant in more recent
time. This suggests that the expansion of social security expenses at subnational levels
might have bid away budgetary resources for health. The result from the multiple
regression analysis indicates that the degree of market transition has explanatory
power on the size of provincial government, even when a number of other
independent variables are controlled for. However, the explanatory power of market
transition on the size of central-provincial fiscal transfer is not robust
Growth and nutrient efficiency of Betula alnoides clones in response to phosphorus supply
As phosphorus deficiency limits the productivity of many plantation forests in Asia, there is considerable interest in developing phosphorus-efficient clones for the region through targeted breeding programs. Therefore, we determined growth, nutrient concentrations and nutrient absorption and utility efficiencies of four Betula alnoides clones (C5, C6, 1-202 and BY1) in response to six phosphorus levels of 0, 17, 52, 70, 140 and 209 mg P plant-1 coded as P1 to P6, respectively. Maximum growth occurred in the P4, P5 and P6 plants since they had the largest height, biomass, leaf area and branch number. Phosphorus application increased the phosphorus concentrations of all clones. Nutrient loading was achieved with the P6 treatment because growth and biomass were not significantly higher, but root, stem and leaf phosphorus concentrations were approximately twice those of P4 plants. Clone BY1 had the highest phosphorus-efficiency, and is recommended for field application due to its maximum root collar diameter, biomass, root/shoot ratio, leaf area, nutrient absorption and utility efficiency among the four clones. The findings will help to improve the nutrient efficiency of this species in plantation forestry in Asia
Hadronic B Decays Involving Even Parity Charmed Mesons
Hadronic B decays containing an parity-even charmed meson in the final state
are studied. Specifically we focus on the Cabibbo-allowed decays and , where denotes generically a p-wave charmed meson.
The transition form factors are studied in the improved version
of the Isgur-Scora-Grinstein-Wise quark model. We apply heavy quark effective
theory and chiral symmetry to study the strong decays of p-wave charmed mesons
and determine the magnitude of the mixing angle. Except
the decay to the predictions for agree
with experiment. The sign of mixing angle is found to be
positive in order to avoid a severe suppression on the production of
. The interference between color-allowed and color-suppressed
tree amplitudes is expected to be destructive in the decay . Hence, an observation of the ratio
can be used to test the relative signs of
various form factors as implied by heavy quark symmetry. Although the predicted
at the level of exceeds the
present upper limit, it leads to the ratio
as expected from the factorization
approach and from the ratio . Therefore, it is
crucial to have a measurement of this mode to test the factorization
hypothesis. For decays, it is expected that \bar
D_{s0}^*D\gsim \bar D_{s1}D as the decay constants of the multiplet
become the same in the heavy quark limit.Comment: 27 pages, Belle's new data on DD_s^{**} productions in B decays and
on the radiative decay D_{s1}-> D_s\gamma are updated and discussed. Add two
reference
Molecular characterization of different Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum Glu-A1<sup>m</sup>x alleles
High-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) are important seed storage proteins associated with bread-making quality in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L., 2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD). Variation in the Glu-A1x locus in common wheat is scare. Diploid Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum (2n = 2x = 14, AmAm) is the first cultivated wheat. In the present study, allelic variations at the Glu-A1mx locus were systematically investigated in 197 T. monococcum ssp. monococcum accessions. Out of the 8 detected Glu-A1mx alleles, 5 were novel, including Glu-A1m-b, Glu-A1m-c, Glu-A1m-d, Glu-A1m-g, and Glu-A1m-h. This diversity is higher than that of common wheat. Compared with 1Ax1 and 1Ax2*, which are present in common wheat, these alleles contained three deletions/insertions as well as some single nucleotide polymorphism variations that might affect the elastic properties of wheat flour. New variations in T. monococcum probably occurred after the divergence between A and Am and are excluded in common wheat populations. These allelic variations could be used as novel resources to further improve wheat quality
Experimental NMR Realization of A Generalized Quantum Search Algorithm
A generalized quantum search algorithm, where phase inversions for the marked
state and the prepared state are replaced by phase rotations, is
realized in a 2-qubit NMR heteronuclear system. The quantum algorithm searches
a marked state with a smaller step compared to standard Grover algorithm. Phase
matching requirement in quantum searching is demonstrated by comparing it with
another generalized algorithm where the two phase rotations are and
respectively. Pulse sequences which include non 90 degree pulses are
given.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Plysics Letters
Direct Measurements of the Branching Fractions for and and Determinations of the Form Factors and
The absolute branching fractions for the decays and
are determined using singly
tagged sample from the data collected around 3.773 GeV with the
BES-II detector at the BEPC. In the system recoiling against the singly tagged
meson, events for and events for decays are observed. Those yield
the absolute branching fractions to be and . The
vector form factors are determined to be
and . The ratio of the two form
factors is measured to be .Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
A dynamic spectrum of monocytes arising from the in situ reprogramming of CCR2^{+} monocytes at a site of sterile injury
Monocytes are recruited from the blood to sites of inflammation, where they contribute
to wound healing and tissue repair. There are at least two subsets of monocytes: classical
or proinflammatory (CCR2^{hi}CX_{3}CR1^{low}) and nonclassical, patrolling, or alternative
(CCR2^{low}CX_{3}CR1^{hi}) monocytes. Using spinning-disk confocal intravital microscopy and mice
with fluorescent reporters for each of these subsets, we were able to track the dynamic
spectrum of monocytes that enter a site of sterile hepatic injury in vivo. We observed that
the CCR2^{hi}CX_{3}CR1^{low} monocytes were recruited early and persisted for at least 48 h, forming
a ringlike structure around the injured area. These monocytes transitioned, in situ,
from CCR2^{hi}CX_{3}CR1^{low} to CX_{3}CR1^{hi}CCR2^{low} within the ringlike structure and then entered
the injury site. This phenotypic conversion was essential for optimal repair. These results
demonstrate a local, cytokine driven reprogramming of classic, proinflammatory monocytes
into nonclassical or alternative monocytes to facilitate proper wound-healing
Measurements of J/psi Decays into 2(pi+pi-)eta and 3(pi+pi-)eta
Based on a sample of 5.8X 10^7 J/psi events taken with the BESII detector,
the branching fractions of J/psi--> 2(pi+pi-)eta and J/psi-->3(pi+pi-)eta are
measured for the first time to be (2.26+-0.08+-0.27)X10^{-3} and
(7.24+-0.96+-1.11)X10^{-4}, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
BESII Detector Simulation
A Monte Carlo program based on Geant3 has been developed for BESII detector
simulation. The organization of the program is outlined, and the digitization
procedure for simulating the response of various sub-detectors is described.
Comparisons with data show that the performance of the program is generally
satisfactory.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, uses elsart.cls, to be submitted to NIM
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