The influence of diversification and market structure on the R&D intensity of large Australian firms

This article empirically investigates the determinants of R&D intensity for large Australian firms (1994–1997). The results indicate that more focused firms have higher R&D intensities and that lower levels of industry competition are associated with lower R&D intensities.

Unveiling temporal correlations characteristic of a phase transition in the output intensity of a fiber laser

We use advanced statistical tools of time-series analysis to characterize the dynamical complexity of the transition to optical wave turbulence in a fiber laser. Ordinal analysis and the horizontal visibility graph applied to the experimentally measured laser output intensity reveal the presence of temporal correlations during the transition from the laminar to the turbulent lasing regimes. Both methods unveil coherent structures with well-defined time scales and strong correlations both, in the timing of the laser pulses and in their peak intensities. Our approach is generic and may be used in other complex systems that undergo similar transitions involving the generation of extreme fluctuations.

Investigating optical complexity of the phase transition in the intensity of a fibre laser radiation

Fibre lasers have been shown to manifest a laminar-to-turbulent transition when increasing its pump power. In order to study the dynamical complexity of this transition we use advanced statistical tools of time-series analysis. We apply ordinal analysis and the horizontal visibility graph to the experimentally measured laser output intensity. This reveal the presence of temporal correlations during the transition from the laminar to the turbulent lasing regimes. Both methods allow us to unveil coherent structures with well defined time-scales and strong correlations both, in the timing of the laser pulses and in their peak intensities.

How did varying levels of intensity of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake differentially affect women’s fertility decisions and children’s health outcomes?

This paper uses a difference in difference model to investigate the impact of a large scale and high mortality 2005 earthquake in Pakistan on women’s fertility decisions and children’s health outcomes. Using a nationally representative, cross sectional DHS data from 2006 and geographical data from USGS, this paper investigates how variation in earthquake intensity levels can differentially impact total fertility for women and the likelihood of children suffering from diseases such as diarrhea, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) and fever. The post-earthquake results demonstrate a statistically significant increase in total fertility for areas closer to the epicenter of the earthquake, within a 100km radius of the rupture surface and at higher altitudes. Similarly, for children who were in-utero at the time of the earthquake, the probability of having early symptoms of ARI or fever was much smaller in lower earthquake intensity zones compared to the highest intensity zone.

(Table T2) Relative signal intensity of intact polar lipids in sediments from ODP Sites 207-1257 and 207-1258

We report results from the analysis of intact polar lipids (IPLs) in sediments from Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1257 and 1258. IPLs, constituting the cell membranes of living organisms, were detected in organic-lean sediments but not in underlying organic-rich black shales. Microbial activity in organic-lean sediments is likely due to sulfate-dependent oxidation of methane whereas difficulties detecting IPLs in black shales are interpreted to result from unfavorable signal-to-noise ratios due to low cell concentrations in combination with extremely high analytical noise created by uncharacterized organic matrix. IPLs found are consistent with a low-diversity community of archaea and bacteria. The concentrations of IPLs are more than one order of magnitude lower than those in Neogene deep subsurface sediments at the Peruvian margin, suggestive of significantly lower cell concentrations in Demerara Rise. This finding is consistent with inferred low rates of subsurface microbial activity.

(Table 1) Peak intensity of minerals in ODP Hole 126-793B

Sediments and rocks recovered during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 126 at Sites 792 and 793 in the Izu-Bonin forearc basin are described with a primary focus on clay mineralogy. Evidence for diagenetic hydrothermal alteration processes is present in the upper Oligocene to lower Miocene sediments at these sites. The vitric and pumiceous sand/sandstone and pumiceous gravel contain high concentrations of smectites, zeolites, and gypsum. Microscopic observations show that the volcanic glass and feldspars have been altered to smectites and zeolites. The authigenic mineral assemblages indicate that these minerals resulted from precipitation from circulating fluids, as well as from the alteration of glass and feldspar under temperature conditions that may have reached 200°-300°C. Mineral assemblages in microfractures display thermal gradients that possibly reflect cooling effects.

Functional management of ankle sprains: what volume and intensity of walking is undertaken in the first week

BACKGROUND:
Acute ankle sprains are usually managed functionally, with advice to undertake progressive weight-bearing and walking. Mechanical loading is an important modular of tissue repair; therefore, the clinical effectiveness of walking after ankle sprain may be dose dependent. The intensity, magnitude and duration of load associated with current functional treatments for ankle sprain are unclear.
AIM:
To describe physical activity (PA) in the first week after ankle sprain and to compare results with a healthy control group.
METHODS:
Participants (16-65 years) with an acute ankle sprain were randomised into two groups (standard or exercise). Both groups were advised to apply ice and compression, and walk within the limits of pain. The exercise group undertook additional therapeutic exercises. PA was measured using an activPAL accelerometer, worn for 7 days after injury. Comparisons were made with a non-injured control group.
RESULTS:
The standard group were significantly less active (1.2 ± 0.4 h activity/day; 5621 ± 2294 steps/day) than the exercise (1.7 ± 0 .7 h/day, p=0.04; 7886 ± 3075 steps/day, p=0.03) and non-injured control groups (1.7 ± 0.4 h/day, p=0.02; 8844 ± 2185 steps/day, p=0.002). Also, compared with the non-injured control group, the standard and exercise groups spent less time in moderate (38.3 ± 12.7 min/day vs 14.5 ± 11.4 min/day, p=0.001 and 22.5 ± 15.9 min/day, p=0.003) and high-intensity activity (4.1 ± 6.9 min/day vs 0.1 ± 0.1 min/day, p=0.001 and 0.62 ± 1.0 min/day p=0.005).
CONCLUSION:
PA patterns are reduced in the first week after ankle sprain, which is partly ameliorated with addition of therapeutic exercises. This study represents the first step towards developing evidence-based walking prescription after acute ankle sprain.

Understanding changes in mobility & subsistence from terminal Pleistocene to Late Holocene in the highlands of New Guinea through intensity of lithic reduction, changing site types, and paleoclimate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

The effect of earlier mating and improving fertility on greenhouse gas emissions intensity of beef production in northern Australian herds

Approximately 5% of Australian national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are derived from the northern beef industry. Improving the reproductive performance of cows has been identified as a key target for increasing profitability, and this higher efficiency is also likely to reduce the GHG emissions intensity of beef production. The effects of strategies to increase the fertility of breeding herds and earlier joining of heifers as yearlings were studied on two properties at Longreach and Boulia in western Queensland. The beef production, GHG emissions, emissions intensity and profitability were investigated and compared with typical management in the two regions. Overall weaning rates achieved on the two properties were 79% and 74% compared with typical herd weaning rates of 58% in both regions. Herds with high reproductive performance had GHG emissions intensities (t CO2-e t–1 liveweight sold) 28% and 22% lower than the typical herds at Longreach and Boulia, with most of the benefit from higher weaning rates. Farm gross margin analysis showed that it was more profitable, by $62 000 at Longreach and $38 000 at Boulia, to utilise higher reproductive performance to increase the amount of liveweight sold with the same number of adult equivalents compared with reducing the number of adult equivalents to maintain the same level of liveweight sold and claiming a carbon credit for lower farm emissions. These gains achieved at two case study properties which had different rainfall, country types, and property sizes suggest similar improvements can be made on-farm across the Mitchell Grass Downs bioregion of northern Australia.

Assessment of grazing selectivity in relation to land cover: a comparison between sheep and goats

Portugal’s Northeast production of sheep and goats are based on the exploitation of landscape by-products such as spontaneous native vegetation and agriculture leftovers. Shepherds tend the flocks throughout grazing itineraries every day, crossing a mosaic of patches of varied land uses. During the journey, the shepherd acts together with the sheep and goats to select each patch in creating an ordered sequence of land uses. The focus of the research is on the land-use composition of the grazing itineraries; determinate how they depend on the patterns of the landscape mosaic. It is utilized a data set of 26 monthly herd’s itineraries, 13 of sheep and 13 of goats, to investigate the relationship of the land uses crossed by the flocks and the land uses of the landscape, evaluating the land-use preferences and selectivity of the sheep and goats. It is utilized the divergences in the time spent and distance travelled by the herds and the area of the land uses in the landscape, the chi-square test to relate the preferred land used and the season, and the discriminate analysis to distinguish the preferences and the selectivity of the herd of sheep and the herd of goats. The herds of the sheep and the goats presented different land-use preferences over the seasons and the discriminant analysis shows that they have different landscape preferences. The herd of sheep has the highest selectivity indexes for the annual irrigated crops, the agricultural complex systems and the agroforestry land uses. The highest selectivity indexes for the herd of goats were found for the deciduous forest, the agriculture with natural and semi-natural spaces and the shrublands land uses. It was concluded that the landscape management for sheep and goats herding has to be different: the agricultural land uses are essential to the flocks of sheep and the forest land uses are decisive to the flocks of goats.

Effects of different intensity of early leaf removal on vegetative and productive activity and grape quality (cv. Nero d'Avola, Vitis vinifera)

Mestrado Vinifera Euromaster - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL

Intensity of bitterness of processed Yerba Mate leaves originated in two contrasted light environments.

The bitterness intensity of beverage prepared from the leaves produced on the males and females of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), grown in the forest understory and monoculture, was evaluated. The leaves were grouped by their position (in the crown and on the branch tips) and by the leaf age. The leaf gas exchange, leaf temperature and photosynthetic photon flux density were observed. Inter and intra-specific competition for light and self-shading showed the same effect on yerba mate beverage taste. All the shading types resulted in bitterer taste of the processed yerba mate leaves compared to the leaves originated under the direct sun exposure. The leaves from the plants grown in the monoculture showed less bitterness than those grown in the forest understory. This conclusion was completely opposite to the conventionally accepted paradigm of the yerba mate industries. The leaves from the tips (younger leaves) of the plants grown in the monoculture resulted a beverage of softer taste; the males produced less bitter leaves in any light environment (forest understory or in the crown in monoculture). The taste was related to the photosynthetic and transpiration rate, and leaf temperature. Stronger bitterness of the leaves provided from the shade conditions was related to the decreased leaf temperature and transpiration in the diurnal scale.

Avaliação de espécies de Paspalum sob pastejo

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Compostos de reserva das plantas e atividade enzimática do solo em pastos de Brachiaria manejados sob ofertas de forragem e lotação rotacionada

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)