Winners and losers of rapid growth in Turkey: Analysis of the spatial variability of convergence

This paper investigates spatial variability of regional convergence for the 2004-2017 period in Turkey. Results from neoclassical convergence model which are robust to inclusion of a spatial battery points out the existence of convergence. However, additional results highlight that regional convergence is spatially heterogeneous. While underdeveloped regions exhibit higher convergence, convergence speed is not distributed evenly among these underdeveloped eastern regions. These findings point out that, last epoch of Turkish transformation fails to have equity enhancing effects at local level, rather there are winners and losers of the rapid growth of 2000s.     

Environmental Engel curves in Italy: A spatial econometric investigation

This paper adopts a spatial econometric methodology to investigate the relationship between income and direct household emissions in Italy, as posited by the environmental Engel curve. The spatial approach is motivated by an expanding strand of studies that have detected significant spatial interactions in household-polluting activities responsible for the generation of direct household emissions. Our results suggest the presence of significant spatial dependence for household emissions emerging among regions. At the same time, increases in the level of income do not seem to be coupled with a higher demand for environmental quality by Italian households.     

Evaluating the role of resilience in reducing economic losses from disasters: A multi-regional analysis of a seaport disruption

Models to estimate economic impacts of disasters have recently been augmented to include resilience. However, most research has incorporated only a limited set of resilience tactics and has not estimated their individual loss reduction effect. We present a comprehensive framework for estimating the relative effects of a broad set of post-disaster resilience tactics. Our methodological innovation is illustrated by adapting the TERM multi-regional CGE model for a seaport disruption, distinguishing inherent resilience working through the price system from adaptive resilience and other inherent tactics to cope with input shortages. We also overcome a path-dependency problem in the modelling process.     

混凝土框架结构负弯矩区围板型粘钢加固节点抗震空间效应研究

本文以某办公楼改造工程为实例,对框架结构负弯矩区围板型粘钢加固方法的空间效应进行研究。通过ANSYS有限元软件,采用模态分析、谱分析、时程分析对3组模型进行仿真计算,对3组模型的抗震空间效应结果进行对比分析,结果均显示围板型粘钢加固方法具有较好的抗震性能。本文结果对多层或高层结构某区域梁负弯矩加固后的局部效应具有指导意义。     

Does interior color contrast enhance spatial memory?

This study investigated the effect of contrast in neutral-, warm-, and cool-colored spaces on spatial memory. Spatial memory was measured in terms of architectural scale and recollection of architectural elements and furniture. Participants (N = 114) viewed a short virtual simulation video of a residential studio and were asked to sketch a map of the architectural elements on distributed grid paper. Spatial memory was measured in terms of scale, and item recall rate. Contrast and hue had no significant effect on the memorization of proportional scale. However, high-contrast schemes allowed for a significantly higher recollection of architectural elements than low-contrast schemes. In comparing the effect of hues, a significant difference was seen in recalling detailed furniture and lighting items. Participants reported significantly better spatial memory of neutral and warm color schemes than of cool color schemes. There was no interaction effect between contrast and hue in the color combinations. These results can be applied in the design of color schemes for architectural spaces requiring enhanced spatial cognition and memory.     

西藏燕麦主要种植区灌溉定额空间分布及影响因素

燕麦为西藏自治区典型牧草之一,由于种植区地域辽阔,灌溉试验结果受限,西藏燕麦主要种植区的灌溉定额尚不明确。本文在西藏燕麦主要种植区内选取28个典型站点进行资料收集,遵循农业气候相似原则进行区域划分,基于水量平衡法揭示了西藏燕麦主要种植区灌溉定额的空间分布特征,并根据统计学原理分析了其影响因素。研究表明:燕麦主要种植区的灌溉定额呈由西藏中部至东部呈现先递增后递减的趋势,50%水文年下的燕麦灌溉定额在56~265 mm之间变化。降雨量是影响研究区内燕麦灌溉定额的主要因素(R²为0.515),ET₀次之(R²为0.152);其它气象因素中,日照时数对研究区燕麦灌溉定额影响较大(R²为0.462),且呈正相关关系;相对湿度对燕麦灌溉定额影响较小。西藏燕麦主要种植区的灌溉定额及其空间分布可为西藏自治区灌溉用水管理提供支撑。     

On the performance of improved quadrature spatial modulation

Quadrature spatial modulation (QSM) utilizes the in‐phase and quadrature spatial dimensions to transmit the real and imaginary parts of a single signal symbol, respectively. The improved QSM (IQSM) transmits two signal symbols per channel use through a combination of two antennas for each of the real and imaginary parts. The main contributions of this study can be summarized as follows. First, we derive an upper bound for the error performance of the IQSM. We then design constellation sets that minimize the error performance of the IQSM for several system configurations. Second, we propose a double QSM (DQSM) that transmits the real and imaginary parts of two signal symbols through any available transmit antennas. Finally, we propose a parallel IQSM (PIQSM) that splits the antenna set into equal subsets and performs IQSM within each subset using the same two signal symbols. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed constellations significantly outperform conventional constellations. Additionally, DQSM and PIQSM provide a performance similar to that of IQSM while requiring a smaller number of transmit antennas and outperform IQSM with the same number of transmit antennas.     

Temporal and spatial evolution measurement of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy on hydrogen retention in tantalum

Fuel retention measurement on plasma-facing components is an active field of study in magnetic confinement nuclear fusion devices.The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS)diagnostic method has been well demonstrated to detect the elemental distribution in PFCs.In this work,an upgraded co-axis LIBS system based on a linear fiber bundle collection system has been developed to measure the hydrogen(H) retention on a tantalum(Ta) sample under a vacuum condition.The spatial resolution measurement of the different positions of the LIBS plasma can be achieved simultaneously with varying delay times.The temporal and spatial evolution results of LIBS plasma emission show that the H plasma observably expands from the delay times of 0-200 ns.The diameter of Ta plasma is about 6 mm which is much less than the size of H plasma after 200 ns.The difference in the temporal and spatial evolution behaviors between H plasma and Ta plasma is due to the great difference in the atomic mass of H and Ta.The depth profile result shows that H retention mainly exists on the surface of the sample.The temporal and spatial evolution behaviors of the electron excited temperature are consistent with that of the Ta emission.The result will further improve the understanding of the evolution of the dynamics of LIBS plasma and optimize the current collection system of in situ LIBS in fusion devices.     

Estimating epidemic coupling between populations from the time to invasion

Identifying the mechanisms by which diseases spread among populations is important for understanding and forecasting patterns of epidemics and pandemics. Estimating transmission coupling among populations is challenging because transmission events are difficult to observe in practice, and connectivity among populations is often obscured by local disease dynamics. We consider the common situation in which an epidemic is seeded in one population and later spreads to a second population. We present a method for estimating transmission coupling between the two populations, assuming they can be modelled as susceptible–infected–removed (SIR) systems. We show that the strength of coupling between the two populations can be estimated from the time taken for the disease to invade the second population. Confidence in the estimate is low if only a single invasion event has been observed, but is substantially improved if numerous independent invasion events are observed. Our analysis of this simplest, idealized scenario represents a first step toward developing and verifying methods for estimating epidemic coupling among populations in an ever-more-connected global human population.     

Anti-Inflammatory Treatment with FTY720 Starting after Onset of Symptoms Reverses Synaptic Deficits in an AD Mouse Model

Therapeutic approaches providing effective medication for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients after disease onset are urgently needed. Previous studies in AD mouse models suggested that physical exercise or changed lifestyle can delay AD-related synaptic and memory dysfunctions when treatment started in juvenile animals long before onset of disease symptoms, while a pharmacological treatment that can reverse synaptic and memory deficits in AD mice was thus far not identified. Repurposing food and drug administration (FDA)-approved drugs for treatment of AD is a promising way to reduce the time to bring such medication into clinical practice. The sphingosine-1 phosphate analog fingolimod (FTY720) was approved recently for treatment of multiple sclerosis patients. Here, we addressed whether fingolimod rescues AD-related synaptic deficits and memory dysfunction in an amyloid precursor protein/presenilin-1 (APP/PS1) AD mouse model when medication starts after onset of symptoms (at five months). Male mice received intraperitoneal injections of fingolimod for one to two months starting at five to six months. This treatment rescued spine density as well as long-term potentiation in hippocampal cornu ammonis-1 (CA1) pyramidal neurons, that were both impaired in untreated APP/PS1 animals at six to seven months of age. Immunohistochemical analysis with markers of microgliosis (ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1; Iba1) and astrogliosis (glial fibrillary acid protein; GFAP) revealed that our fingolimod treatment regime strongly down regulated neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and neocortex of this AD model. These effects were accompanied by a moderate reduction of Aβ accumulation in hippocampus and neocortex. Our results suggest that fingolimod, when applied after onset of disease symptoms in an APP/PS1 mouse model, rescues synaptic pathology that is believed to underlie memory deficits in AD mice, and that this beneficial effect is mediated via anti-neuroinflammatory actions of the drug on microglia and astrocytes.