What Drives Venture Capital Fundraising in India: An Empirical Analysis of Systematic and Non-Systematic Factors

In this paper, we develop a consolidated Supply-Demand framework of the Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem for India. Further, we empirically analyze the supply side of this ecosystem to ascertain the influence of systematic (macro) and non-systematic (micro) factors on VC fundraising. At the macro level, our results indicate that relatively strong fundamentals of the Indian economy in the past decade as compared with the severe recessionary tendencies in the developed economies have been critical in determining the aggregate volume of VC fundraising. Among the micro factors, past performance and reputation of the individual fund managers have been instrumental in determining their fund raising potential.

Direct measurements of growing amorphous order and non-monotonic dynamic correlations in a colloidal glass-former

The transformation of flowing liquids into rigid glasses is thought to involve increasingly cooperative relaxation dynamics as the temperature approaches that of the glass transition. However, the precise nature of this motion is unclear, and a complete understanding of vitrification thus remains elusive. Of the numerous theoretical perspectives(1-4) devised to explain the process, random first-order theory (RFOT; refs 2,5) is a well-developed thermodynamic approach, which predicts a change in the shape of relaxing regions as the temperature is lowered. However, the existence of an underlying `ideal' glass transition predicted by RFOT remains debatable, largely because the key microscopic predictions concerning the growth of amorphous order and the nature of dynamic correlations lack experimental verification. Here, using holographic optical tweezers, we freeze a wall of particles in a two-dimensional colloidal glass-forming liquid and provide direct evidence for growing amorphous order in the form of a static point-to-set length. We uncover the non-monotonic dependence of dynamic correlations on area fraction and show that this non-monotonicity follows directly from the change in morphology and internal structure of cooperatively rearranging regions(6,7). Our findings support RFOT and thereby constitute a crucial step in distinguishing between competing theories of glass formation.

Cold gas in cluster cores: global stability analysis and non-linear simulations of thermal instability

We perform global linear stability analysis and idealized numerical simulations in global thermal balance to understand the condensation of cold gas from hot/virial atmospheres (coronae), in particular the intracluster medium (ICM). We pay particular attention to geometry (e.g. spherical versus plane-parallel) and the nature of the gravitational potential. Global linear analysis gives a similar value for the fastest growing thermal instability modes in spherical and Cartesian geometries. Simulations and observations suggest that cooling in haloes critically depends on the ratio of the cooling time to the free-fall time (t(cool)/t(ff)). Extended cold gas condenses out of the ICM only if this ratio is smaller than a threshold value close to 10. Previous works highlighted the difference between the nature of cold gas condensation in spherical and plane-parallel atmospheres; namely, cold gas condensation appeared easier in spherical atmospheres. This apparent difference due to geometry arises because the previous plane-parallel simulations focused on in situ condensation of multiphase gas but spherical simulations studied condensation anywhere in the box. Unlike previous claims, our non-linear simulations show that there are only minor differences in cold gas condensation, either in situ or anywhere, for different geometries. The amount of cold gas depends on the shape of tcool/tff; gas has more time to condense if gravitational acceleration decreases towards the centre. In our idealized plane-parallel simulations with heating balancing cooling in each layer, there can be significant mass/energy/momentum transfer across layers that can trigger condensation and drive tcool/tff far beyond the critical value close to 10.

Essential and Non-Essential Work of Fracture of PI/SiO2 Hybrid Thin Films

Essential work of fracture (EWF) analysis is used to study the effect of the silica doping level on fracture toughness of polyimide/silica (PI/SiO2) hybrid films. By using double-edge-notched-tension (DENT) specimens with different ligament lengths, it seems that the introduction of silica additive can improve the specific essential work of fracture (w (e) ) of PI thin films, but the specific non-essential work of fracture (beta w (p) ) will decease significantly as the silica doping level increasing from 1 to 5 wt.%, and even lower than that of neat PI. The failure process of the fracture is investigated with online scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and the parameters of non-essential work of fracture, beta and w (p) , are calculated based on finite element (FE) method.

Stability Analysis Of The Moving Interface In Piston- And Non-Piston-Like Displacements

From the macroscopic point of view, expressions involving reservoir and operational parameters are established for investigating the stability of moving interface in piston- and non-piston-like displacements. In the case of axi-symmetrical piston-like displacement, the stability is related to the moving interface position and water to oil mobility ratio. The capillary effect on the stability of moving interface depends on whether or not the moving interface is already stable and correlates with the wettability of the reservoir rock. In the case of non-piston-like displacement, the stability of the front is governed by both the relative permeability and the mobility ratio.

R&D Policy in Economies with Endogenous Growth and Non-Renewable Resources

The aim of this paper is to analyze how active R&D policies affect the growth rate of an economy with endogenous growth and non-renewable resources. We know from Scholz and Ziemens (1999) and Groth (2006) that in infinitely lived agents (ILA) economies, any active R&D policy increases the growth rate of the economy. To see if this result also appears in economies with finite lifetime agents, we developed an endogenous growth overlapping generations (OLG) economy à la Diamond which uses non-renewable resources as essential inputs in final good’s production. We show analytically that any R&D policy that reduces the use of natural resources implies a raise in the growth rate of the economy. Numerically we show that in economies with low intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES), active R&D policies lead the economy to increase the depletion of non-renewable resources. Nevertheless, we find that active R&D policies always imply increases in the endogenous growth rate, in both scenarios. Furthermore, when the IES coefficient is lower (greater) than one, active R&D policies affect the growth rate of the economy in the ILA more (less) than in OLG economies.

‘Neptune’ between ‘Hesperus’ and ‘Vulcan’: On descriptive names and non-existence

[EN]This work will focus on some aspects of descriptive names. The New Theory of Reference, in line with Kripke, takes descriptive names to be proper names. I will argue in this paper that descriptive names and certain theory in reference to them, even when it disagrees with the New Theory of Reference, can shed light on our understanding of (some) non-existence statements. I define the concept of descriptive name for hypothesised object (DNHO). My thesis being that DNHOs are, as I will specify, descriptions: a proposition expressed by the utterance ‘n is F’, where ‘n’ is a DNHO, is not singular at all; it is a descriptive proposition. To sum up, concerning proper names, the truth lies closer to the New Theory of Reference, but descriptivism is not altogether false. As for DNHOs descriptivism is, in some cases, the right fit.

Phylogeography and non-invasive landscape genetics of the European pine marten ("martes martes" L. 1758) : insights into ancient and contemporary processes shaping genetic variation

283 p. : graf., map.

Persistence and Non-target Impact of Imazapyr Associated with Smooth Cordgrass Control in an Estuary

The herbicide (±-2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)- 5-oxo-1 H -imidazol-2-yl]-3-pyridinecarboxylic acid (imazapyr) has shown potential to control smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel), a noxious weed in many estuaries throughout the world. Research was conducted under tidal estuary conditions in Willapa Bay, Washington, to determine imazapyr’s persistence and aquatic risk and impact to non-target estuary species. Persistence of imazapyr in water and sediment followed an exponential decay.(PDF has 6 pages.)