Shooting two birds with two bullets: how to find Minimum Mean OSPA estimates

Most area-defense formulations follow from the assumption that threats must first be identified and then neutralized. This is reasonable, but inherent to it is a process of labeling: threat A must be identified and then threat B, and then action must be taken. This manuscript begins from the assumption that such labeling (A & B) is irrelevant. The problem naturally devolves to one of Random Finite Set (RFS) estimation: we show that by eschewing any concern of target label we relax the estimation procedure, and it is perhaps not surprising that by such a removal of constraint (of labeling) performance (in terms of localization) is enhanced. A suitable measure for the estimation of unlabeled objects is the Mean OSPA (MOSPA). We derive a general algorithm which provided the optimal estimator which minimize the MOSPA. We call such an estimator a Minimum MOSPA (MMOSPA) estimator

The Dilemmas of Tax Coordination in the Enlarged European Union

This study evaluates the economic effects of corporate tax coordination in the enlarged European Union using a computable general equilibrium model and a comprehensive set of scenarios for both a common corporate EU tax base and for full harmonisation of tax bases and tax rates. Our main findings are as follows: (i) Corporate tax coordination can yield modest aggregate welfare gains, but the details of the coordination policies determine outcomes and economic gains cannot be taken for granted. (ii) All scenarios for coordination leave some EU Member States as winners and others as losers. An agreement on tax coordination is therefore likely to require elaborate compen¬sation mechanisms. (iii) The large and diverse country effects suggest that Enhanced Cooperation for a subset of the Member States may be the most likely route towards tax coordination. Coordination among a subset of relatively homogenous Member States will lead to less radical policy changes, but also to smaller gains. (iv) Identifying winners and losers from coordination for the purpose of a compensation mechanism may be problematic, since countries experiencing gains in GDP and welfare tend to lose tax revenues, and vice versa.

Corporate dreams – Appropriate aspirations and the building of trust in annual reports

This paper argues that the corporate annual report is not only a document comprising retrospective accounts of financial position and performance, but also a text that points to the future by means of presenting dreams, aspirations and fantasies. However, these dreams are not to be seen as irrational deviations from the rationalistically oriented discourse of accounting. Quite to the contrary, the three corporate dreams identified in this study – the colonial dream, the evolutionary dream and the efficiency dream – are part of the ongoing self-narration of the company, in which it tries to display an allegiance to a set of appropriate aspirations that are considered legitimate in contemporary global capitalism. Drawing upon ideas from narrative theory, annual reports from 2005 to 2010 collected from NASDAQ OMX Stockholm have been analyzed with the purpose of understanding how corporate dreams are used in financial communication. These corporate dreams contribute, the paper argues, to the construction of legitimacy and trust

К ПРОБЛЕМЕ НАУЧНОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ТРУДА ПЕДАГОГА

У статті розглянуті питання наукової організації праці педагога, особливості НОП в освітній діяльності, проблеми компетентності вчителі в умовах сучасної школи.The article deals with scientific organization of work of the teacher, especially under examination in educational activities, problems of competence of teachers in modern schools

Webtag: a new web tool providing tags/anchors for RT-PCR experiments with prokaryotes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Webtag is a tool providing oligonucleotide sequences (usually called tags or anchors) that are absent from a specified genome. These tags/anchors can be appended to gene specific primers for reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction experiments, circumventing genomic DNA contamination.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The use of a relational database, in conjunction with a series of scripts written in PHP and Perl, allows the user to rapidly obtain tags that are: 1) suitable for a specific organism, and 2) compatible with other oligonucleotides to be used in the experimental procedures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This new web tool allows scientists to easily and rapidly obtain suitable tags for RT-PCR experiments, and is available at <url>http://www.egs.uu.se/software/webtag/</url>.</p