2,323 research outputs found
Protein stabilizing potential of simulated honey sugar cocktail and honey: A case study with bovine serum albumin, ovalbumin and lysozyme / Wong Yin How
Get PDFThe protein stabilizing potential of honey was elucidated using simulated honey sugar cocktail (SHSC) on three model proteins, namely, bovine serum albumin (BSA), ovalbumin and lysozyme. The chemical (urea and guanidine hydrochloride) and thermal denaturation curves of these proteins were shifted towards higher denaturant concentration or temperature in the presence of different SHSC concentrations (8–30%) in a concentration dependent manner, when monitored by far-UV circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence and UV-difference spectral measurements. A comparison of the spectral properties of the partially-denatured proteins (at the mid-point of transition) in the absence and the presence of SHSC using far-UV and near-UV CD, UV-difference, intrinsic fluorescence, three-dimensional fluorescence and ANS fluorescence measurements showed significant retention of globular conformation in the partially-denatured proteins in the presence of SHSC. Honey quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA in a concentration dependent manner, showing complete quenching in the presence of 5% (w/v) honey. Increasing the protein concentration did not lead to any recovery in the protein fluorescence. Intrinsic fluorescence failed to produce any result in the urea denaturation of BSA in the presence of 5% (w/v) honey. Hence, chemical and thermal stabilizing potential of honey was evaluated on a model protein, BSA using far-UV CD and ANS fluorescence spectroscopy. A comparison of the chemical and thermal transition curves of BSA obtained in the absence and the presence of SHSC or honey showed greater shift of the transition curves towards higher denaturant concentration or temperature in the presence of honey compared to SHSC. Furthermore, greater retention of the globular conformation in the partially-denatured protein was also observed in the presence of honey compared to SHSC. Taken together, all these results suggested significant stabilization of native protein conformation in the presence of
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SHSC or honey against chemical and thermal denaturations, being relatively higher in the presence of honey
China's Current Account and Exchange Rate
Get PDFWe examine whether the Chinese exchange rate is misaligned and how Chinese trade flows respond to the exchange rate and to economic activity. We find, first, that the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), is substantially below the value predicted by estimates based upon a cross-country sample, when using the 2006 vintage of the World Development Indicators. The economic magnitude of the mis-alignment is substantial -- on the order of 50 percent in log terms. However, the misalignment is typically not statistically significant, in the sense of being more than two standard errors away from the conditional mean. However, this finding disappears completely when using the most recent 2008 vintage of data; then the estimated undervaluation is on the order of 10 percent. Second, we find that Chinese multilateral trade flows respond to relative prices -- as represented by a trade weighted exchange rate -- but the relationship is not always precisely estimated. In addition, the direction of the effects is sometimes different from what is expected a priori. For instance, Chinese ordinary imports actually rise in response to a RMB depreciation; however, Chinese exports appear to respond to RMB depreciation in the expected manner, as long as a supply variable is included. In that sense, Chinese trade is not exceptional. Furthermore, Chinese trade with the United States appears to behave in a standard manner -- especially after the expansion in the Chinese manufacturing capital stock is accounted for. Thus, the China-US trade balance should respond to real exchange rate and relative income movements in the anticipated manner. However, in neither the case of multilateral nor bilateral trade flows should one expect quantitatively large effects arising from exchange rate changes. And, of course, these results are not informative with regard to the question of how a change in the RMB/USD exchange rate would affect the overall US trade deficit. Finally, we stress the fact that considerable uncertainty surrounds both our estimates of RMB misalignment and the responsiveness of trade flows to movements in exchange rates and output levels. In particular, the results for trade elasticities are sensitive to econometric specification, accounting for supply effects, and for the inclusion of time trends.
Speculative Attacks: A Laboratory Study in Continuous Time
Get PDFWe examine speculative attacks in a controlled laboratory environment featuring continuous time, size asymmetries, and varying amounts of public information. Attacks succeeded in 233 of 344 possible cases. When speculators have symmetric size and access to information: (a) weaker fundamentals increase the likelihood of successful speculative attacks and hasten their onset, and (b) contrary to some theory, success is enhanced by public access to information about either the net speculative position or the fundamentals. The presence of a larger speculator further enhances success, and experience with large speculators increases small speculators’ response to the public information. However, giving the large speculator increased size or better information does not significantly strengthen his impact.currency crisis, speculative attack, laboratory experiment, coordination game, pre-emption, large player
Related Data for Thesis/Dissertation: Durable and changing views of English : A diachronic study of National Day Rally speeches in Singapore
No full textScholars who researched on language policies or language ideologies ventured into diachronic analysis due to its comparative value. They have drawn on a variety of sources to provide a diachronic perspective of language ideologies or policies over time. Diachronic studies which rely chiefly on official pronouncements on languages or language policies are rare. Focusing on Singapore, a close review of the scholarly discussion on language ideologies in Singapore and scholarly work which examines National Day Rally (NDR) speeches delivered by Singaporean politicians reveal that researchers in these domains have yet to conduct a diachronic analysis of the NDR speeches delivered from 1966 to 2017. Additionally, despite the abundance of work done on the concept of `othering’ in the field of Language Policy and Planning (LPP), there’s a paucity on scholarly work which examined the concept of positive representations of the othered. Furthermore, this study too strives to address Wee’s (2018) call for studies to examine the concept of ‘ideology pooling’.
This study therefore aims to find out whether Singaporean politicians’ views of English (with embedded language ideologies) have changed over time by conducting a diachronic analysis of National Day Rally (NDR) speeches delivered since independence. Specifically, this analysis composes two levels, namely a diachronic thematic analysis of views of English in Singapore (level 1) and a nuanced discourse analysis on practices of ‘othering’ (level 2).
To explicate, level 1 of the analysis entails conducting a diachronic thematic analysis of views of English in Singapore (level 1) with an additional focus on the concept of ’ideology pooling’. Instances of conflicting as well as shared ideologies (via diachronic thematic analysis) are systematically identified and analysed.
The concept of ‘othering’ gets examined after executing level 1. This second level of analysis looks at ways of ‘othering’ (e.g. how speakers/writers of Singlish/Standard English are othered) and whether ideologies are conveyed over time by positive or negative ‘othering’ (or a mixture of both). Particularly, it executes a 3-step nuanced, qualitative analysis that adopts Petersoo (2007)’s typology on the different types of others. Attempts have also been made to include the notion of ‘self-deprecation’ in the analysis of the NDR speeches by adapting Petersoo’s (2007) study such that it reflects the mentioned concept as a subset of positive ‘othering’.
This study has traced views of English (and their embedded ideologies) over time. Notably, views in this study refer to both implicit as well as explicit beliefs about English. Specifically, 3 dominant ideologies have been identified, namely, English as a lingua franca (unifying language), pragmatism and English /Singlish as a carrier of values/culture. I conclude that the Singaporean state and her citizenry are very much entrenched in the ideology of pragmatism. It is unlikely for the state to retract or alter its view of linguistic pragmatism in the near future since the state is very much embroiled with pragmatism. Some key findings include a discovery that proponents of Singlish too adopt a binary view of understanding English(es) in Singapore. Thus, a dynamic approach was proposed. Additionally, it was discovered that the state has a strong preference to use the discursive ‘othering’ practice of ‘internal negative ’othering’’ to convey Singlish’s undesirability for various state agendas. This preference would facilitate the perpetuation of the belief that standard English is the preferred variety.</p
Capital Flight: China's Experience
Get PDFWe study the empirical determinants of China’s capital flight. In addition to the covered interest differential, our empirical exercise includes a rather exhaustive list of macroeconomic variables and a few institutional factors. Overall, our regression exercise shows that China’s capital flight is quite well explained by its own history and covered interest differentials. The other possible determinants offer relatively small additional explanatory power. It is also found that China’s capital flight responds differently to the components of covered interest differentials and to the positive and negative components of these variables. The response pattern, however, depends on the choice of data frequency. The general impression is that the monthly results are more intuitive than the quarterly ones.covered interest differential, forward premium, expected depreciation, asymmetric response, macro determinants
Exchange rate misalignment estimates – Sources of differences
Get PDFWe study the differences in currency misalignment estimates obtained from alternative datasets derived from two International Comparison Program (ICP) surveys. A decomposition exercise reveals that the year 2005 misalignment estimates are substantially affected by the ICP price revision. Further, we find that differences in misalignment estimates are systematically affected by a country’s participation status in the ICP survey and its data quality – a finding that casts doubt on the economic and policy relevance of these misalignment estimates. The patterns of changes in estimated degrees of misalignment across individual countries, as exemplified by the BRIC economies, are highly variable.Penn effect regression; data revision; PPP-based data; measurement factors; economic factors
Modeling and simulation of selective laser melting process
No full textSelective Laser Melting (SLM) in 3D manufacturing is increasing in popularity due to the fact that it is full of potential. This technology is widely used in many industries, as there is a high possibility of creating large variety of materials, resulting in a broad range of physical and mechanical properties. As such, in this report, the author will focus on SLM process in 3D printing. The author will create a model using large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS) molecular dynamics simulator so as to perform simulations of the SLM process during 3D printing. After which, the author will use the output from the LAMMPS and serve it as an input to OVITO so as to visualize and to understand how the heat from the laser is transferred across the granular powder during additive manufacturing. In addition, the author will insert another layer of granular powder and applied heat so as to simulate the actual SLM process. The results obtained from this simulation will allow the industry to have a rough idea on the thermodynamics and molecular dynamics of SLM process on granular powder. In the future, this will provide the manufacturers with a platform to conduct simulation before the real manufacturing process is conducted. This will help to increase the success rate and reduce the cost of manufacturing failure. In addition, this will also speed up the production rate of complex materials.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering
Does academic calendar system matter?
No full textM.Phil.In this paper, we explore how the quarter calendar system affects the labor market perfor- mance and graduate school enrollment for college graduates in the U.S by analyzing the panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). The NLSY97 includes rich information about the youths’ labor market behaviors, their educational achievement, the characteristics of the schools they have attended, and other information necessary for estimating the labor market effect of the quarter system. Another advantage of the NLSY97 is that it collects students’ pre-college information such as SAT scores, high-school GPA, their parents’ highest education level, and ASVAB scores for measuring whether there is a selection bias of students’ abilities to choose a specific calendar system. We find that there is no significant difference in students’ abilities between the two types of calendars. We compare the differences between quarter and semester systems in order to uncover the channels of the quarter system and we also measure how the channels affect students’ labor market performance. The finding suggests that even though the quarter system has a positive effect on graduate school enrollment, it has a negative effect on students’ short-term employment. However, such an effect faded out a few years after college graduation.這篇論文主要利用面板數據NLSY97比較季學年(quarter calendar system)與半學年(semester calendar system)如何影響大學畢業生在勞動市場的表現和升學選擇。透過NLSY97追蹤受訪者的勞動市場表現、學業水平、就讀學校的特性、和受訪者入讀大學前的能力表現，我們發現不同能力的學生沒有偏向選擇就讀特定一種學年的大學。我們亦發現季學年對於畢業生的碩士和博士升學選擇有正面影響，但同時亦對畢業生在勞動市場的表現有負面影響。不過，這種負面影響只會維持於學生畢業後的一年。Wong, Yin Man.Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2017.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on 05, February, 2020)
China's Current Account and Exchange Rate
Get PDFWe examine whether the Chinese exchange rate is misaligned and how Chinese trade flows respond to the exchange rate and to economic activity. We find, first, that the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), is substantially below the value predicted by estimates based upon a cross-country sample, when using the 2006 vintage of the World Development Indicators. The economic magnitude of the mis-alignment is substantial -- on the order of 50 percent in log terms. However, the misalignment is typically not statistically significant, in the sense of being more than two standard errors away from the conditional mean. Moreover, this finding disappears completely when using the most recent 2008 vintage of data; then the estimated undervaluation is on the order of 10 percent. Second, we find that Chinese multilateral trade flows respond to relative prices -- as represented by a trade weighted exchange rate -- but the relationship is not always precisely estimated. In addition, the direction of the effects is sometimes different from what is expected a priori. For instance, Chinese ordinary imports actually rise in response to a RMB depreciation; however, Chinese exports appear to respond to RMB depreciation in the expected manner, as long as a supply variable is included. In that sense, Chinese trade is not exceptional. Furthermore, Chinese trade with the United States appears to behave in a standard manner -- especially after the expansion in the Chinese manufacturing capital stock is accounted for. Thus, the China-US trade balance should respond to real exchange rate and relative income movements in the anticipated manner. However, in neither the case of multilateral nor bilateral trade flows should one expect quantitatively large effects arising from exchange rate changes. And, of course, these results are not informative with regard to the question of how a change in the RMB/USD exchange rate would affect the overall US trade deficit.
Ventilators and gelatin as disabled assemblage : reimagining the intimacy between disabled people and assistive technology
No full textAssistive technology mediates the relationship between disabled and able-bodied lives. Recognizing the varied definitions and uses of technology, this thesis uses the phrase “assistive technology” to reimagine and reconceptualize the relationship between disabled people and their technology. Conjuring the idea of “support” or “aid,” an examination of assistive technology invites dialogue on relationships of both interdependence and mutual exchange. In this thesis, while assistive technology is used to encompass a wide range of technological mediums, particular attention is given to the intimate everyday uses of technology by disabled people. In closely reading ventilators and gelatin as forms of assistive technology, the chapters of this thesis explore and reimagine socially approved bodily relations to and with technology.
To examine assistive technology, this thesis begins at the level of the intimate, that is the quotidian spaces of care, treatment, and disabled life. I engage with two artifacts of visual culture; public discourses of ventilators in the Covid-19 pandemic and the “bio-shrine” gelatinous sculptures of artist Sharona Franklin. Specifically, the experiences of Michael Hickson and Sharona Franklin—two disabled people with varied experiences navigating ableism—are united in their intimate relationship with assistive technology. I ask, how does critical disability studies conceptualize technology? What materials, components, relationships, modes of labour, and forms of mediation are encompassed by the category “assistive technology”? And lastly, what are the potentials born from embracing our intimacy with technology? To consider these questions, I posit the framework of disabled assemblage which envisions the trans-corporeality of disabled life. Chapter 2 engages with the implications of the interwoven projects of ableism and racism on disabled life by considering the genealogies of scientific thought and technological development. Chapter 3 contributes to discourses of disability, aesthetics, and materiality by positing gelatin as a form of assistive technology. Through the framework of disabled assemblage, this thesis identifies not only the implications of redefining conceptions of assistive technology, but also the importance of examining assistive technology within critical disability studies. Arts, Faculty ofEnglish, Department ofGraduat
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