Governance choices and policy outcomes in the Latin American and caribbean electricity sector

The paper first provides, for Latin America and the Caribbean, country-specific synthetic quantitative measures of the degree of adoption of governance reforms in the electricity sector, focusing on four key dimensions (market structure, private sector participation (PSP), regulatory autonomy and operational organization). These measures are then correlated with standard policy performance outcomes measures. The findings suggest that, the reforms, considered jointly, were statistically significantly associated with higher technical and process quality but not with social or service improvements. Considered individually, increased regulatory autonomy enjoyed the highest positive correlation with desirable outcomes, but PSP has no significant correlation with any of the outcomes. In sum, as of 2018, governance reforms, considered jointly, had still not delivered on some promised payoffs, notably in addressing energy poverty, although the sensitivity analysis suggests that, for some indicators, the relationships are stronger for larger than for smaller countries.     

The effect of maturity and tissue on the ability of mid infrared spectroscopy to predict the geographical origin of banana (Musa Cavendish)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sample presentation (tissue type) and maturity (ripe and unripe) on the classification of banana (Musa Cavendish) samples sourced from two different geographical regions and analysed using mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopy. The coefficient of determination (R²) and the standard error of cross-validation (SECV) obtained using partial least squares discriminant analysis were 0.83 (0.33), 0.75 (0.25) and 0.94 (0.19) for the prediction of maturity, geographical origin and tissue type, respectively. No effect of either of type of tissue (e.g. pulp or peel) or maturity was observed. The results of this study demonstrated that MIR spectroscopy might be used to classify the origin of the banana samples at different degrees of ripeness. However, one of the limitations of this study is on the number of samples analysed and further validation must be recommended using samples from other sources, regions and harvest seasons.     

Space charge region effects in bidirectional illuminated P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction photodetectors

Organic semiconductors are widely investigated for their application in photovoltaics and photodetectors. We show that the efficiency of these devices is strongly influenced by the position of the space charge region, due to unintentional doping, and wavelength-dependent absorption properties in bulk heterojunctions. Spray-coated P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction photodiodes with thicknesses up to 4.2 μm and semitransparent top contact enable the characterization of exciton generation and separation in both irradiation directions. A large difference in external quantum efficiency (EQE) is observed for top and bottom illuminated configurations and is explained by a bias dependent arrangement of the space charge region at the two contact electrodes. Numerical drift–diffusion simulations allow to get insight into first order mechanisms behind the spectral features of EQE data in highly-doped organic photodiodes.     

Babesia Bovis Ligand-Receptor Interaction: AMA-1 Contains Small Regions Governing Bovine Erythrocyte Binding

Apical membrane antigen 1 is a microneme protein which plays an indispensable role during Apicomplexa parasite invasion. The detailed mechanism of AMA-1 molecular interaction with its receptor on bovine erythrocytes has not been completely defined in Babesia bovis. This study was focused on identifying the minimum B. bovis AMA-1-derived regions governing specific and high-affinity binding to its target cells. Different approaches were used for detecting ama-1 locus genetic variability and natural selection signatures. The binding properties of twelve highly conserved 20-residue-long peptides were evaluated using a sensitive and specific binding assay based on radio-iodination. B. bovis AMA-1 ectodomain structure was modelled and refined using molecular modelling software. NetMHCIIpan software was used for calculating B- and T-cell epitopes. The B. bovis ama-1 gene had regions under functional constraint, having the highest negative selective pressure intensity in the Domain I encoding region. Interestingly, B. bovis AMA-1-DI (¹⁰⁰YMQKFDIPRNHGSGIYVDLG¹¹⁹ and ¹²⁰GYESVGSKSYRMPVGKCPVV¹³⁹) and DII (³⁰²CPMHPVRDAIFGKWSGGSCV³²¹)-derived peptides had high specificity interaction with erythrocytes and bound to a chymotrypsin and neuraminidase-treatment sensitive receptor. DI-derived peptides appear to be exposed on the protein’s surface and contain predicted B- and T-cell epitopes. These findings provide data (for the first-time) concerning B. bovis AMA-1 functional subunits which are important for establishing receptor-ligand interactions which could be used in synthetic vaccine development.     

浅谈阿里地区蔬菜产业发展现状

阿里地区以蔬菜产业作为主要农业产业,近年来,随着人民生活水平以及对物质生活需求的提升,阿里地区的蔬菜产业也蓬勃发展。文章从阿里地区的基本概况出发,介绍了该地区的农牧业发展现状以及现阶段存在的困难和问题,也给出了下一步发展的建议。以期为阿里地区的蔬菜产业发展提供借鉴。     

叠前深度偏移技术在白秋地区应用效果分析

白秋地区位于南阳凹陷东南部,构造背景是一个被后期北东向断层切割复杂化了的鼻状构造,该区地下构造复杂,断层发育,地层被多期断层交汇切割,同时埋深又比较大,使得常规地震处理不能对该地区地层准确成像。叠前深度偏移技术在白秋地区的应用,提高了区内地层的成像精度,精细刻画了较小的断层断块,满足了地质人员的解释需求。     

Diffuse reflectance behavior of the printed cotton/nylon blend fabrics treated with zirconium and cerium dioxide and citric acid in near- and short-wave IR radiation spectral ranges

Near- and short-wave IR emission spectra of printed cotton/nylon blend fabrics coated with inorganic compounds in order to tune their diffuse reflectance behavior to the ones with woodland and desert backgrounds are investigated. In this regard, cotton/nylon blend fabrics printed with a four-color digital pattern were used as the substrate, and different concentrations of zirconium and cerium dioxide (ZrO₂ and CeO₂) with and without citric acid as a cross-linker were loaded on these fabrics using the pad-dry-cure method. The diffuse reflectance of the coated fabrics with various concentrations of nanoparticles and a cross-linker was first measured by near-infrared (NIR) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Then, fabrics with an optimum concentration of nanoparticles and appropriate reflectivity profiles similar to woodland and desert were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), washing, and rubbing fastness properties. In general, NIR and short-wave infrared (SWIR) reflectance of fabrics coated with ZrO₂ and CeO₂ nanoparticles in range of 1% to 1.5% (w/v [%]) was suitable for matching with different environments. According to the findings obtained from the durability test, it was concluded that the washing fastness of the treated fabrics with CeO₂ nanoparticles was excellent in both environments. FE-SEM images of the treated fabrics containing ZrO₂ and CeO₂ indicated that the presence of nanoparticles on the surface of fabrics in woodland patterns was greater than the desert ones. However, the coated fabrics with CeO₂ and citric acid in the woodland pattern have shown better dispersion with a mean particle size of 30 to 60 nm.     

不同跨接模型对临界区域热力性质计算的影响

经典状态方程虽然能够描述远临界区域的热力学性质，但由于临界区密度涨落的影响，无法精确描述流体在近临界的热力学性质。在简单的经典状态方程基础上引入跨接模型，使得跨接方程能够较好地描述流体近临界区和远临界区的热力学性质。以较为常用的PR方程为基础，比较了引入不同跨接模型（跨接正弦模型‐1（CSM ）、跨接解析正弦模型（ASM ）和跨接正弦模型‐2（NSM ））后的跨接方程对丁烷、戊烷及己烷的相平衡和单相区性质的计算效果，发现PR／CSM方程和PR／ASM方程相平衡计算精度相当，优于PR／NSM 方程，对于单相区性质，PR／ASM方程计算偏差最小，优于PR／CSM方程和PR／NSM方程，而且PR／ASM方程的跨接函数为显式函数的形式，简化了计算过程，使用更方便。     

日本の寒地，北海道における2030年代の水稲生育への温暖化の影響予測とその対応(日语原文)

北海道では1980年代から2010年代まで，水稲圃場栽培期間である5–9月の気温は年代とともに上昇した。そこで，直近の2010年代（2010—2019年平均）と比べて， 2つの2030年代の予測気象から，既報の関係式より水稲生育を予測した。その結果，2030年代では2010年代に比べ，限界移植日（移植早限）が水稲栽培17地域の平均で8～9日早い。また，早限出穂期が1～5日早く，晩限出穂期が1～5日遅く，安全出穂期間が2～10日長い。出穂期は1～3日早い。出穂期から晩限出穂まで2～9日長いため，遅延型冷害の発生がやや少ない。生育期別気象は，出穂前24日以降30日間では生育が早いため平均気温が同じかやや低い。出穂前10日以降40日間および出穂期以降40日間では平均気温がやや高く，日射量はやや少ない。そのため，玄米収量は96～98％とやや低く，潜在収量性を示す気候登熟量示数は同じである。障害不稔発生に関係する穂ばらみ期冷害危険期の平均気温はわずかに低いかほぼ同じであるため，冷害発生の危険性は残る。一方，不稔発生をもたらす低温域の出現頻度には，地域間で差異がある。精米蛋白質含有率は同じであるが，アミロース含有率はやや低く，やや良食味である。米粒外観品質では被害粒歩合と着色粒歩合は一定の傾向がなく，未熟粒歩合はやや高い。精米白度は同じであるが，玄米白度はやや高い。以上の予測に対する技術的対応方向を示した。