Chemical analysis of sternal gland secretion of paper waspPolistes dominulus (Christ) and its social parasitePolistes sulcifer (Zimmermann) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

The secretion of the tegumental glands of the fifth and sixth gastral sternites ofP. dominulus and of its social parasiteP. sulcifer was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Seven long-chain carboxylic acids have been identified: hexadecanoic, octadecadienoic and octadecenoic acids are the major components of the gland secretion ofP. dominulus and octadecenoic acid the main compounds ofP. sulcifer sternal gland secretion. The same carboxylic acids have been found on the nest pedicel.     

Distribution of nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity in the mouse brain

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous intercellular messenger with a wide range of neural functions. NO is synthesized by activation of different isoforms of nitric oxide synthases (NOS). At present NOS immunoreactivity has been described in mouse brain in restricted and definite areas and no detailed mapping studies have yet been reported for NOS immunoreactivity. We have studied the distribution of neuronal NOS-containing neurons in the brain of three months male mice, using a specific commercial polyclonal antibody against the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Neuronal cell bodies exhibiting nNOS immunoreactivity were found in several distinct nuclei throughout the brain. The neurons that were positively stained exhibited different intensities of reaction. In some brain areas (i.e., cortex, striatum, tegmental nuclei) neurons were intensely stained in a Golgi-like fashion. In other regions, immunoreactive cells are moderately stained (i.e., magnocellular nucleus of the posterior commissure, amygdaloid nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus, lateral periaqueductal gray) or weakly stained (i.e., vascular organ of the lamina terminalis, hippocampus, inferior colliculus, reticular nucleus). In the mouse, the NO-producing system appears well developed and widely diffused. In particular, nNOS immunoreactive neurons seem chiefly present in several sensory pathways like all the nuclei of the olfactory system, as well as in many regions of the lymbic system. These data suggest a widespread role for the NO system in the mouse nervous system.     

Dinh Van珠宝——香港国际金融中心/利园商场店

<正>法国珠宝商、Jean Dinh Van,是世界知名的珠宝商卡地亚(Cartier)的学徒。1965年,Dinh Van在巴黎推出其同名珠宝品牌时,他就想创建一个集人性化、活泼、有性格的珠宝品牌,而最重要的是这些珠宝要能体现出现代的元素。正是基于这种理念,Stefarno Tordiglione Design设计了在香港国际金融中心和利园商场两家当代珠宝店。     

Spatial Cournot competition with non-extreme directional constraints

The circular city model and the linear city model are extended to allow for asymmetric directional transportation costs. A two-stage location-then-quantity model is proposed. We show that in the circular city model, maximal dispersion arises in equilibrium, while in the linear city model, the unique equilibrium is represented by both firms agglomerating in a non-central point of the segment.     

Knowledge flows across European regions

The recent resurgence of growth studies has clearly established that technological progress and knowledge accumulation are among the most important factors in determining the performance of regional and national economic systems. In this paper we propose new evidence on knowledge flows across European regions based on patenting at the European Patent Office. We examine in- and out-flows of patent citations as a proxy of knowledge connections, while looking also at their dynamics through time. The econometric analysis is based on a model where the exchange of knowledge across regions is mainly affected by geographical distance together with a set of spatial variables. The main result is that knowledge flows decrease as the geographical distance between the origin and the destination region increase. Furthermore, knowledge flows tend to be higher among contiguous regions and areas within the same country. These results prove to be robust with respect to the inclusion of other characteristics of the origin and destination regions (production structure, economic conditions and technological efforts) as well as different estimation methods.     

Solar radiation and cooling load calculation for radiant systems: Definition and evaluation of the Direct Solar Load

The study of the influence of solar radiation on the built environment is a basic issue in building physics and currently it is extremely important because glazed envelopes are widely used in contemporary architecture.In the present study, the removal of solar heat gains by radiant cooling systems is investigated. Particular attention is given to the portion of solar radiation converted to cooling load, without taking part in thermal absorption phenomena due to the thermal mass of the room. This specific component of the cooling load is defined as the Direct Solar Load.A simplified procedure to correctly calculate the magnitude of the Direct Solar Load in cooling load calculations is proposed and it is implemented with the Heat Balance method and the Radiant Time Series method.The F ratio of the solar heat gains directly converted to cooling load, in the case of a low thermal mass radiant ceiling, is calculated for different kinds of office rooms with a large glazed external surface. An example of cooling load calculation developed with the proposed procedure is given.     

Influence of raised floor on zone design cooling load in commercial buildings

The installation of a raised floor system can change the thermal behaviour of the building by reducing the interaction between the heat gains and the thermally massive concrete slab. In this study, the influence of the raised floor on the summer design day zone cooling load profile is evaluated with EnergyPlus for an office building located in San Francisco. The effects of structure type, window-to-wall ratio and the presence of carpet on the thermal behaviour of the raised floor are also investigated. The results show that the mere presence of the raised floor largely affects the zone cooling load profile and the peak cooling load over the range of −7 to +40%. The most significant parameters are the zone orientation, i.e. the exposure to direct solar radiation, and the presence of floor carpeting. If carpeting is present, commonly used in U.S. office buildings, the overall impact on zone peak cooling load is reduced, ranging from 0 to 5% greater for the raised floor than without it. Without carpet the peak cooling load is 4% greater with raised floor than without it in the north zone, 22% in the east and west zones, and 12% in the south zone.     

奢侈的水上盛宴

时尚和经典是Galaxy号设计的关键词，这艘5层的游艇反映了Benedetti造船所的最高水平。     

Different design scenarios related to an open loop groundwater heat pump in a large building: Impact on subsurface and primary energy consumption

A multidisciplinary methodology is proposed for analyzing opportunities to use existing boreholes and an open-loop groundwater heat pump to provide summer cooling needs for large university buildings in Turin (NW Italy). The approach starts from a model of the buildings to determine the time profile of the cooling load. This curve is then coupled with a model of the off-design behaviour of the heat pump, which allows calculation of its energy performance (coefficient of performance, electricity consumption, etc.) as well as profiles of water discharge to the aquifer in terms of mass flow rate and temperature.Covering the peak energy needs of the buildings requires a variable amount of groundwater during the day. This could be provided varying the withdrawals from the aquifer but, as possible alternatives, two storage system solutions are examined: (1) chilled water storage and (2) groundwater storage. Simulations show that in both cases the use of storage systems produces environmental advantages, as the extent of the thermal plume reduces significantly. Moreover, chilled water storage presents a benefit in terms of reduced total primary energy consumption. The additional costs incurred by storage systems could necessitate public funding as well as system optimization.     

Banking structure and regional economic growth: lessons from Italy

Following the literature on the comparative advantage of small versus large banks at lending to small businesses and in light of the worldwide decline in the number of intermediaries that specialise in this type of lending associated with deregulation in the banking industry, we examine the role that specific categories of banks have played in the context of Italy’s regional economic growth. Over the estimation period, 1970–1993, which ends in the year of full implementation of the banking reform that introduced statutory de-specialisation and branching liberalisation, Italy featured not only a substantial presence of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the real sector, as is still the case, but also a large and heterogeneous set of credit institutions with different ownership, size and lending styles. Exploiting these peculiarities we study the role of specific intermediaries and gather indirect evidence concerning the likely effects, ceteris paribus, of the current consolidation processes. The main findings, stemming from panel regressions with fixed effects, are as follows. The overall size of the financial sector has a weak impact on growth, but some intermediaries are better than others: cooperative banks and special credit institutions play a positive role, banks of national interest (basically large private banks) and public law banks (government-owned banks) either do not affect growth or have a negative influence depending on how growth is measured. Cooperative banks were mostly small banks and special credit institutions were all but large conglomerates with standardized credit policies, hence our results lend support to the current worldwide concerns of a reduction in the availability of credit to SMEs resulting from consolidation and regulatory reforms in the banking industry.