Exploring the Complexity of Location Choices of the Creative Class in Europe: Evidence from the EU Labor Force Survey 1995-2010

This paper proposes a new idea for the current argument over Florida's cultural policies, as location choices of the creative class is a complex process involving some basic aspects of socio-economic progress. Based on the European Labor Force Survey (EU LFE) dataset, tolerance and openness indicators which represent the quality of a "people climate" are found to be positively correlated with the creative class’s location in large regions and less so in smaller ones, where business climate-related parameters, i.e., the quality of local governments and the location of universities, have stronger positive effects on locational choices of the creative class. Moreover, graduates with non-creative jobs and creative professionals (i.e., workers who provide creative solutions during the work process such as high-tech technicians or legal and healthcare workers) are concerned more about the people climate, while creative workers with a degree and a creative core (e.g., workers who provide original ideas such as scientists, engineers and artists) are more likely to prioritize a business climate. Therefore, we argue that the promotion of a "tolerant" climate, as Florida advocates, is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, policy makers should appropriately relate different preferences of creative workers to their unique strengths. This provides more insights into defining the concept of creativity beyond prioritized individual success, as well as understanding the preferences and actual needs of highly skilled workers in Europe

MNHMT2009-18260 Thermal Conductivities and Viscosities of Al 2 O 3 -water Nanofluids with Low Volume Concentrations

ABSTRACT Al 2 O 3 -water nanofluids containing low volume concentrations (0.1-0.5 vol. %) of Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles with 40nm and 65nm average particle size were produced using a two-step method with ultrasonication and without any surfactant. The thermal conductivities and viscosities were evaluated by KD2-pro thermal property meter and rotational viscometer respectively at different temperature. Thermal conductivities measurements show that the thermal conductivities of Al 2 O 3 -water nanofluids are higher than water. The thermal conductivities with average particle size of 40nm and 65nm are respectively enhanced by 17.9% and 11.2% when approximately 0.5vol.% of Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles are added. Furthermore, the experimental results show the thermal conductivities increased nearly linearly with the nanoparticle volume concentration increasing, and significantly increased with the temperature increasing. Comparison between the experiments and the theoretical models shows that the measured thermal conductivities are much higher than the values calculated from theoretical models, indicating new heat transport mechanisms included in nanofluids. In the contrast to thermal conductivities, the viscosities measurements show that the viscosities of the Al 2 O 3 -water nanofluids significantly decrease with increasing temperature, and increased nonlinearly with the nanoparticle volume concentration. As the volume concentration of nanoparticles is increased up to 0.5%, the viscosities of Al 2 O 3 -water nanofluids with average particle size of 40nm and 65nm are respectively increased nonlinearly up to 28.3% and 17.5%, which exceed the Einstein model predictions

Transcriptome landscape of the human placenta

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The placenta is a key component in understanding the physiological processes involved in pregnancy. Characterizing genes critical for placental function can serve as a basis for identifying mechanisms underlying both normal and pathologic pregnancies. Detailing the placental tissue transcriptome could provide a valuable resource for genomic studies related to placental disease.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have conducted a deep RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) study on three tissue components (amnion, chorion, and decidua) of 5 human placentas from normal term pregnancies. We compared the placental RNA-Seq data to that of 16 other human tissues and observed a wide spectrum of transcriptome differences both between placenta and other human tissues and between distinct compartments of the placenta. Exon-level analysis of the RNA-Seq data revealed a large number of exons with differential splicing activities between placenta and other tissues, and 79% (27 out of 34) of the events selected for RT-PCR test were validated. The master splicing regulator <it>ESRP1 </it>is expressed at a proportionately higher level in amnion compared to all other analyzed human tissues, and there is a significant enrichment of ESRP1-regulated exons with tissue-specific splicing activities in amnion. This suggests an important role of alternative splicing in regulating gene function and activity in specific placental compartments. Importantly, genes with differential expression or splicing in the placenta are significantly enriched for genes implicated in placental abnormalities and preterm birth. In addition, we identified 604-1007 novel transcripts and 494-585 novel exons expressed in each of the three placental compartments.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data demonstrate unique aspects of gene expression and splicing in placental tissues that provide a basis for disease investigation related to disruption of these mechanisms. These data are publicly available providing the community with a rich resource for placental physiology and disease-related studies.</p

Triboelectric effect based instantaneous self-powered wireless sensing with self-determined identity

Sensors are the foundation of modern Internet of Things, artificial intelligent, smart manufacturing etc, but most of them require power to operate without spontaneous unique identifiable function. Herein we propose a novel instantaneous force-driven self-powered self-identified wireless sensor based on triboelectric effect to meet the huge demand of true self-powered wireless sensors. The device consists of a microswitch controlled triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) in parallel with a capacitor-inductor oscillating circuit, and a wireless transmitter. The system is fully powered by the output of the TENG to generate a resonant frequency containing sensing and device identity information, which is then coupled to the transmitter for realizing a long-range wireless communication. The device, with the multiple functions of energy harvesting, sensing, identity generation and wireless signal transmission, is a standalone device, which responds to each trigger without losing sensing information. It eliminates the requirement of electric components for traditional wireless communication, such as rectification circuit, energy storage units, microprocessor, wireless communication chip, etc. Thus, we developed a true self-powered identifiable wireless sensor with great potential for widespread applications

A bony-crested Jurassic dinosaur with evidence of iridescent plumage highlights complexity in early paravian evolution

The Jurassic Yanliao theropods have offered rare glimpses of the early paravian evolution and particularly of bird origins, but, with the exception of the bizarre scansoriopterygids, they have shown similar skeletal and integumentary morphologies. Here we report a distinctive new Yanliao theropod species bearing prominent lacrimal crests, bony ornaments previously known from more basal theropods. It shows longer arm and leg feathers than Anchiornis and tail feathers with asymmetrical vanes forming a tail surface area even larger than that in Archaeopteryx. Nanostructures, interpreted as melanosomes, are morphologically similar to organized, platelet-shaped organelles that produce bright iridescent colours in extant birds. The new species indicates the presence of bony ornaments, feather colour and flight- related features consistent with proposed rapid character evolution and significant diversity in signalling and locomotor strategies near bird origins

Emulsion Electrospinning of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Nanofibrous Membranes for High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Electrospinning is a simple, versatile technique for fabricating fibrous nanomaterials with the desirable features of extremely high porosities and large surface areas. Using emulsion electrospinning, polytetrafluoro­ethylene/polyethene oxide (PTFE/PEO) membranes were fabricated, followed by a sintering process to obtain pure PTFE fibrous membranes, which were further utilized against a polyamide 6 (PA6) membrane for vertical contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) measurements of the sintered electrospun PTFE membranes revealed the presence of both positive and negative surface charges owing to the transfer of positive charge from PEO which was further corroborated by FTIR measurements. To enhance the ensuing triboelectric surface charge, a facile negative charge-injection process was carried out onto the electrospun (ES) PTFE subsequently. The fabricated TENG gave a stabilized peak-to-peak open-circuit voltage (<i>V</i>_oc) of up to ∼900 V, a short-circuit current density (<i>J</i>_sc) of ∼20 mA m^–2, and a corresponding charge density of ∼149 μC m^–2, which are ∼12, 14, and 11 times higher than the corresponding values prior to the ion-injection treatment. This increase in the surface charge density is caused by the inversion of positive surface charges with the simultaneous increase in the negative surface charge on the PTFE surface, which was confirmed by using EFM measurements. The negative charge injection led to an enhanced power output density of ∼9 W m^–2 with high stability as confirmed from the continuous operation of the ion-injected PTFE/PA6 TENG for 30 000 operation cycles, without any significant reduction in the output. The work thus introduces a relatively simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly technique for fabricating fibrous fluoropolymer polymer membranes with high thermal/chemical resistance in TENG field and a direct ion-injection method which is able to dramatically improve the surface negative charge density of the PTFE fibrous membranes

Infrared Drying as a Quick Preparation Method for Dried Tangerine Peel

To establish the most convenient and effective method to dry tangerine peels, different methods (sun drying, hot-air drying, freeze drying, vacuum drying, and medium- and short-wave infrared drying) were exploited. Our results indicated that medium- and short-wave infrared drying was the best method to preserve nutraceutical components; for example, vitamin C was raised to 6.77 mg/g (D.W.) from 3.39 mg/g (sun drying). Moreover, the drying time can be shortened above 96% compared with sun drying. Importantly, the efficiency of DPPH radical scavenging was enhanced from 26.66% to 55.92%. These findings would provide a reliable and time-saving methodology to produce high-quality dried tangerine peels

Analysis of Regional Difference and Spatial Influencing Factors of Human Settlement Ecological Environment in China

The importance of regions in shaping sustainable economic growth trajectories has been the subject of extensive research in recent years. When sustainable growth has been investigated in developing countries, a particular focus has been on China’s unsustainable development approach, which is characterized by high energy consumption and high pollution. Crucially, most of the research so far has focused on topics concerning ecological environment improvement. However, little is known regarding how the quality of human settlements environment can be accurately measured in terms of the concept of strong sustainability at the regional level. This study investigated human settlement environmental quality across 30 provinces in China from the perspective of strong sustainability and attempts to shed light on its spatial influence factors. Estimates are presented using a projection pursuit method. The results reveal that the quality of human settlement ecological environment declined over the period 2002–2014 with a significant geographical disparity in index performance. The results also suggest an observable spatial effect. The energy structure, energy intensity, and environmental control in a province not only have significantly positive effects on ecological quality of a province itself, but also bring spillover effects on its neighboring provinces. These three factors are also important in determining human settlement ecological quality in China