1,852 research outputs found
Microlithosia jagbiri Ranjan 2017, sp.nov.
No full textMicrolithosia jagbiri Singh &Joshi, sp.nov. (Figs. 1–4) Type locality: Valmikinagar, Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar, India Type material: Holotype: ♂, India, Bihar, Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Valmikinagar, 26.VI.2011. (Coll. N. Singh). Paratype: 1 ♂, same data as in the holotype. Description: Adult (Fig. 1). Forewing length 9 mm. Adult with head, thorax, and forewing orange yellow; the latter with paler cilia. Forewing costa almost straight, termen slightly curved. Hindwing paler than forewing. Male genitalia (Figs. 2–4): uncus narrow, long, curved towards apex; apex of cucullus oval with some minute spines; sacculus reaching half the length of valvae, apical portion strongly curved, slightly asymmetrical (outer edge of right sacculus with a minute spine at the curving place, inner edge of left sacculus with a slightly larger spine before curve); aedeagus short, broad; vesica with two unequal, basal groups of strong spines, three spines at apex. Diagnosis: Externally, the species of Microlithosia are very similar, so the male genitalia are diagnostic for species differentiation. The male genitalia structure of M. jagbiri, sp. nov. is closely similar to M. decreta and M. champhaiensis, but differs from M. decreta in the strong curve of the slightly asymmetrical sacculus, and two prominent groups of spines in vesica (in decreta the sacculus is symmetrical and with a shallow curve, subapical spine is strong; furthermore, the second group of vesica is represented by a strong spine); from M. champhaiensis differs by the presence of two groups of strong spines (in champhaiensis series of small spines is present). Another closely similar species is M. pseudodecreta, but it differs from new species in the single group of spines in vesica and branched saccular process. Etymology: The new species is named in honour of our revered teacher and an eminent arctiid specialist from India, Prof. Jagbir Singh Kirti.Published as part of Ranjan, Rahul, 2017, A new species of Microlithosia Daniel, 1954 from India (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae), pp. 383-385 in Zootaxa 4319 (2) on pages 383-384, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4319.2.10, http://zenodo.org/record/88912
Microlithosia Daniel The 1954
No full textKey to the species of Microlithosia Daniel The key presented below is based on male genital attributes so, M. johara Bucsek is not included due to its unknown male. 1 Valvae with basal saccular process reduced to a knob like structure (in M. pseudodecreta) or a small triangular process (in remaining three species of the group); vesica with group/series of prominent/small spines............................................................ 2 - Valvae with basal saccular process prominent; vesica lacking cornuti............................................................................................. 5 2 Vesica with series of small spines.................................................................................................... M. champhaiensis Singh &Kirti - Vesica with single or two groups of prominent spines...................................................................................................................... 3 3 Vesica with single group of large spines; cucullus tapering, forming a triangular apex............................ M. pseudodecreta Bucsek - Vesica with two groups of large spines; cucullus simple, apex rounded........................................................................................... 4 4 One group of cornuti is well formed, another represented by a prominent curved spine.................................... M. decreta (Butler) - Both the groups of cornuti are well formed, with three small spines at apex of vesica................ M. jagbiri Singh & Joshi, sp. nov. 5 Valvae with apex of cucullus constricted and angular............................................................................. M. umbripuncta de Joannis - Valvae with apex of cucullus rounded............................................................................................................................................... 6 6 Both sacculi with two strong teeth at curving place; basal process of sacculus asymmetrical........................................................... ........................................................................................................................................ M. nanlingica Dubatolov, Kishida & Wang - Right sacculus bifurcated (with single teeth), left sacculus without any apical spine, but bears a row of small spines at base; basal process of sacculus symmetrical ........................................................................................................................ M. shaowuica DanielPublished as part of Ranjan, Rahul, 2017, A new species of Microlithosia Daniel, 1954 from India (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae), pp. 383-385 in Zootaxa 4319 (2) on pages 384-385, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4319.2.10, http://zenodo.org/record/88912
A new species of Microlithosia Daniel, 1954 from India (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae)
No full textThe genus Microlithosia Daniel, 1954 is a member of the subtribe Lithosiina, tribe Lithosiini of the subfamily Arctiinae and family Erebidae. It was described as a monotypic genus for its type species, M. shaowuica Daniel, 1954 from SE China (Fujian, Shaowu).Recently, the genus was reviewed by Dubatolov & Kishida (2012) with the inclusion of four species: M. shaowuica Daniel,1954 (from its type locality, and additionally from South Central China (Hunan)), M. nanlingica Dubatolov, Kishida & Wang, 2012 from South-East China (Guangdong), M. umbripuncta (de Joannis 1928) from North Vietnam and Thailand (Chiang Mai, Chanthaburi, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Kanchanaburi, Chumphon, Phitsanulok), and M. decreta (Butler 1877) from Borneo and Thailand (Nakhon Ratchasima). Later on, Bucsek (2012, 2014) described two new species, M. pseudodecreta Bucsek, 2012 and M. johara Bucsek, 2014 both from Peninsular Malaysia. Kirti and Singh (2016) subsequently added a further species, M. champhaiensis Singh & Kirti, from India (Mizoram, Champhai). So at present, Microlithosia comprises seven species, with single from India. </jats:p
Profitability and Pricing in Treasury Bill Auctions: Evidence from Pakistan
Get PDFBehaviour in the first three years of auctions for Pakistani treasury bills is studied. Bidding strategies rapidly converged to a consistent pattern after the auctions started in 1991. Factors that influenced the expected profitability of auction participation are identified. Auction participation was on average low and did not differ between types of bidders. Prices bids are found to reflect both ‘buy and sell’ and ‘buy and hold’ strategies, and were affected by risk considerations and bidder-specific variables. The Pakistani experience suggests the robustness of auctions as a market-based allocation mechanism, and their value in public debt management.
Offshoring and Occupational Specificity of Human Capital
Get PDFThis paper develops a dynamic general equilibrium model in which workers acquire human capital specific to the task they complete. The dynamic nature of the model allows for differentiation between short and long run effects of offshoring on productivity and labour market outcomes. The welfare effects of increased offshoring are unambiguously positive; their magnitude depends on the difference between autarky and world relative prices, but not on the skill-content of offshored and inshored tasks. For reasonable terms of trade, the steady state welfare gains are found to be between 1.8% and 4% in the calibrated model. The distribution of the gains from trade critically depends on the time horizon: in the short term, workers with human capital specific to the inshored occupations gain, while workers with human capital specific to the offshored occupations lose. In the long run, the gains from trade are equally distributed among ex-ante identical agents.Offshoring; Sectoral Labour Reallocation; Human Capital
Experimental Study of Multiphase Pump Wear
Get PDFThe goal of this research is to better understand upstream Oil & Gas Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) reliability issues. The objective of this research is to determine how Liquid-Gas-Particulate (LGP) turbine pump wear differs from Liquid-Particulate (LP) turbine pump wear. This objective is novel because little is known about LGP wear, yet such wear is common in ESPs. To accomplish the research objective, an experimental study of a gas handling ESP was conducted. Tests of two Baker Hughes 1025 MVP G400 Severe Duty turbine pumps were conducted with water, air, and sand. One pump was tested with a Gas Volume Fraction (GVF) of 20% while the other was tested with a GVF of 0%. It was found that particulates migrate radially outward through the pump and cause diffuser sidewall wear to increase through the pump. It was also found that various impeller flow path areas experience more LGP wear than LP wear. In general, pump wear progress faster for LGP wear than for LP wear. It is believed that this is caused primarily by the thinning effect that gas can have on a fluid���s viscosity
Mechanistic Studies of One-Electron Reduced Bipyridine Reactions Relevant to Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
Get PDFabstract: Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will inevitably lead to long-term changes in climate that can have serious consequences. Controlling anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, however, represents a significant technological challenge. Various chemical approaches have been suggested, perhaps the most promising of these is based on electrochemical trapping of carbon dioxide using pyridine and derivatives. Optimization of this process requires a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of the reactions of reduced pyridines with carbon dioxide, which are not currently well known. This thesis describes a detailed mechanistic study of the nucleophilic and Bronsted basic properties of the radical anion of bipyridine as a model pyridine derivative, formed by one-electron reduction, with particular emphasis on the reactions with carbon dioxide. A time-resolved spectroscopic method was used to characterize the key intermediates and determine the kinetics of the reactions of the radical anion and its protonated radical form. Using a pulsed nanosecond laser, the bipyridine radical anion could be generated in-situ in less than 100 ns, which allows fast reactions to be monitored in real time. The bipyridine radical anion was found to be a very powerful one-electron donor, Bronsted base and nucleophile. It reacts by addition to the C=O bonds of ketones with a bimolecular rate constant around 1* 107 M-1 s-1. These are among the fastest nucleophilic additions that have been reported in literature. Temperature dependence studies demonstrate very low activation energies and large Arrhenius pre-exponential parameters, consistent with very high reactivity. The kinetics of E2 elimination, where the radical anion acts as a base, and SN2 substitution, where the radical anion acts as a nucleophile, are also characterized by large bimolecular rate constants in the range ca. 106 - 107 M-1 s-1. The pKa of the bipyridine radical anion was measured using a kinetic method and analysis of the data using a Marcus theory model for proton transfer. The bipyridine radical anion is found to have a pKa of 40±5 in DMSO. The reorganization energy for the proton transfer reaction was found to be 70±5 kJ/mol. The bipyridine radical anion was found to react very rapidly with carbon dioxide, with a bimolecular rate constant of 1* 108 M-1 s-1 and a small activation energy, whereas the protonated radical reacted with carbon dioxide with a rate constant that was too small to measure. The kinetic and thermodynamic data obtained in this work can be used to understand the mechanisms of the reactions of pyridines with carbon dioxide under reducing conditions.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Chemistry 201
Yeast translation elongation factor eEF3 promotes late stages of tRNA translocation
Get PDFIn addition to the conserved translation elongation factors eEF1A and eEF2, fungi require a third essential elongation factor, eEF3. While eEF3 has been implicated in tRNA binding and release at the ribosomal A and E sites, its exact mechanism of action is unclear. Here, we show that eEF3 acts at the mRNA–tRNA translocation step by promoting the dissociation of the tRNA from the E site, but independent of aminoacyl-tRNA recruitment to the A site. Depletion of eEF3 in vivo leads to a general slowdown in translation elongation due to accumulation of ribosomes with an occupied A site. Cryo-EM analysis of native eEF3-ribosome complexes shows that eEF3 facilitates late steps of translocation by favoring non-rotated ribosomal states, as well as by opening the L1 stalk to release the E-site tRNA. Additionally, our analysis provides structural insights into novel translation elongation states, enabling presentation of a revised yeast translation elongation cycle
Regulating privatized infrastructures and airport services
Get PDFFor a World Bank Institute course on transport privatization, the authors cover basic issues associated with the regulation of privatized airport infrastructure and services: 1) Economic characteristics of airport. Three types of activities are carried out in airports: essential operational services (aeronautical and non-aeronautical), handling services (aeronautical and non-aeronautical), and commercial activities. Demand for basic airport services is directly influenced by trip purpose. The two types of airline customers (business and leisure travelers) need different levels of flexibility and tend to travel at different times. Analyzing airport capacity (practical and saturation) under peak demand is essential to airport success. Among other important issues: runway cost, level and volume of service, pollution, congestion, and air traffic control. 2) Recent trends in the airport industry. The movement toward privatization may involve public ownership and private operation, including joint ventures; partial or majority divestiture; management contracts; and BOT (build-operate-transfer) schemes and variants, including BOOT (build-own-operate-transfer) schemes and LDO (lease-develop-operate) schemes. Or it may involve private ownership and operation. 3) Price regulation. Topics covered include traditional pricing policies'price regulation through an RPI-X formula; charges for congestion, noise, and other externalities; investment plans; and design of the regulatory system. 4) Regulation of quality in the industry. Topics covered: regulation of services to passengers (as measured by targets for check-in queues, immigration queues, baggage reclaim queues, concourse crowding, shopping, parking, and so on); fault repair times; average levels of passenger boarding and disembarkation and baggage delivery; safety; and investment obligation. 5) Performance indicators in the industry. Topics covered: strategic indicators and other financial indicators (including revenues), as well as indicators of cost, productivity, and quality of service.Transport and Trade Logistics,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Decentralization,Roads&Highways,Airports and Air Services,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Transport and Trade Logistics
Myopic Loss Aversion, Asymmetric Correlations, and the Home Bias
Get PDFMyopic loss aversion has been used to explain why a high equity premium might be consistent with plausible levels of risk aversion. The intuition is that it plays the role of high risk aversion in portfolio choice. But if so, should these agents not perceive larger gains from international diversification than standard preference agents with realistic levels of risk aversion? They might not because stock market returns are asymmetrically correlated. We analyze the portfolio problem of a myopic loss averse investor who has to choose between home and foreign equities in the presence of asymmetrically correlated returns. Perhaps surprisingly, depending on the horizon, this investor behaves similarly to one with standard preferences in the context of the home bias puzzlemyopic loss aversion, home bias, asymmetric correlations, equity premium puzzle
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