20,063 research outputs found

    Efficient remittance services for development in the Pacific

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    Capital inflows to the Pacific islands from aid, foreign investment and remittances are an important source of development finance. Remittances are the fastest growing; they now total US400millionperyearandcanbeexpectedtogrowevenfurtheraslabourmobilityisusedtodealwithseasonallabourshortagesinAustraliaandNewZealandandlimitedjobopportunitiesinthePacific.ThetransactioncostsofsendingremittancestothePacificislandsareveryhighforthemostwidelyusedmethods.ThispaperexaminestheNewZealand−Tongaremittancecorridor,wheretypicaltransactionsinvolvecostsintheorderof15to20percentforbankdraftsandtransfersthroughmoneytransfercompaniessuchasWesternUnion.Cheapertransfermethodsusingautomatedtellermachines(ATMs)arefeasibleandhavetransactioncostsoflessthan5percentbutarenotwidelyused.Thisspreadof10percentagepointsbetweenthemostpopularandthecheapestremittancemethodsmeansapotentiallossforTongaoftheequivalentof4percentofGDP.ExtrapolatingfromthisremittancecorridortotherestofthePacific,avoidabletransactioncostsmaytotalUS 400 million per year and can be expected to grow even further as labour mobility is used to deal with seasonal labour shortages in Australia and New Zealand and limited job opportunities in the Pacific. The transaction costs of sending remittances to the Pacific islands are very high for the most widely used methods. This paper examines the New Zealand- Tonga remittance corridor, where typical transactions involve costs in the order of 15 to 20 per cent for bank drafts and transfers through money transfer companies such as Western Union. Cheaper transfer methods using automated teller machines (ATMs) are feasible and have transaction costs of less than 5 per cent but are not widely used. This spread of 10 percentage points between the most popular and the cheapest remittance methods means a potential loss for Tonga of the equivalent of 4 per cent of GDP. Extrapolating from this remittance corridor to the rest of the Pacific, avoidable transaction costs may total US 40 million per year. Hypotheses about the continued reliance on high transaction cost methods are examined and implications for development policy are discussed

    VRpursuits: Interaction in Virtual Reality Using Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements

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    Gaze-based interaction using smooth pursuit eye movements (Pursuits) is attractive given that it is intuitive and overcomes the Midas touch problem. At the same time, eye tracking is becoming increasingly popular for VR applications. While Pursuits was shown to be effective in several interaction contexts, it was never explored in-depth for VR before. In a user study (N=26), we investigated how parameters that are specific to VR settings influence the performance of Pursuits. For example, we found that Pursuits is robust against different sizes of virtual 3D targets. However performance improves when the trajectory size (e.g., radius) is larger, particularly if the user is walking while interacting. While walking, selecting moving targets via Pursuits is generally feasible albeit less accurate than when stationary. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings and the potential of smooth pursuits for interaction in VR by demonstrating two sample use cases: 1) gaze-based authentication in VR, and 2) a space meteors shooting game

    Hybrid energy converter based on swirling combustion chambers: the hydrocarbon feeding analysis

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    This manuscript reports the latest investigations about a miniaturized hybrid energy power source, compatible with thermal/electrical conversion, by a thermo-photovoltaic cell, and potentially useful for civil and space applications. The converter is a thermally-conductive emitting parallelepiped element and the basic idea is to heat up its emitting surfaces by means of combustion, occurred in swirling chambers, integrated inside the device, and/or by the sun, which may work simultaneously or alternatively to the combustion. The current upgrades consist in examining whether the device might fulfill specific design constraints, adopting hydrocarbons-feeding. Previous papers, published by the author, demonstrate the hydrogen-feeding effectiveness. The project's constraints are: 1) emitting surface dimensions fixed to 30 × 30 mm, 2) surface peak temperature T > 1000 K and the relative ΔT < 100 K (during the combustion mode), 3) the highest possible delivered power to the ambient, and 4) thermal efficiency greater than 20% when works with solar energy. To this end, a 5 connected swirling chambers configuration (3 mm of diameter), with 500 W of injected chemical power, stoichiometric conditions and detailed chemistry, has been adopted. Reactive numerical simulations show that the stiff methane chemical structure obliges to increase the operating pressure, up to 10 atm, and to add hydrogen, to the methane fuel injection, in order to obtain stable combustion and efficient energy conversion

    Geographic and Demographic Bank Outreach: Evidence from Germany’s Three-Pillar Banking System

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    This paper investigates the performance of Germany’s three-pillar banking system in providing financial services nationwide, regarding different outreach indicators. At the federal state level, bank outreach shows South-North and West-East gaps. Combining regional and bank data at the district level for 2005, we examine the determinants of geographic and demographic branch penetration of the regional savings and cooperative banks. Both banking groups provide a larger branch penetration in more wealthy regions, but maintain a larger number of branches per inhabitant in less densely populated regions, easing access to retail banking services. With their comparatively large branch penetration in less wealthy regions, public savings banks help to reduce regional economic disparities. The branch penetration of both banking groups increases with the share of elder people and bank size in a region. Because of their public mission to serve all regions, public savings banks foster competition. Geographische und demographische Reichweite von Banken: Empirische Evidenz fĂŒr Deutschlands DreisĂ€ulen-Bankensystem. Der Beitrag untersucht die flĂ€chendeckende Bereitstellung von Finanzdienstleistungen durch das deutschen DreisĂ€ulen-Bankensystem, wobei unterschiedliche Indikatoren der Reichweite betrachtet werden. Auf der Ebene der BundeslĂ€nder zeigen sich SĂŒd-Nord und West-Ost-GefĂ€lle. Durch VerknĂŒpfung von Regional- und Bankdaten auf Kreisebene fĂŒr das Jahr 2005 werden die Determinanten der geographischen und demographischen Bank- stellenpenetration der regional tĂ€tigen Sparkassen und Genossenschaftsbanken untersucht. Beide Bankengruppen zeigen eine höhere Bankstellenversorgung in wirtschaftsstĂ€rkeren Regionen, unterhalten aber mehr Bankstellen pro Einwohner in dĂŒnner besiedelten Regio- nen, womit sie den Zugang zu Finanzdienstleistungen erleichtern. Mit ihrer relativ großen Bankstellenpenetration in wirtschaftsschwĂ€cheren Regionen tragen die Sparkassen zur Überwindung regionaler ökonomischer DisparitĂ€ten bei. Die Bankstellenversorgung bei- der Regionalbankgruppen steigt mit dem Anteil Ă€lterer Menschen und der BankgrĂ¶ĂŸe in einer Region. Durch ihren öffentlichen Auftrag, alle Regionen zu versorgen, tragen die Sparkassen zur Sicherung des Wettbewerbs bei.Banks; Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance; Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior

    Sensitivity of the IceCube Detector to Astrophysical Sources of High Energy Muon Neutrinos

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    We present the results of a Monte-Carlo study of the sensitivity of the planned IceCube detector to predicted fluxes of muon neutrinos at TeV to PeV energies. A complete simulation of the detector and data analysis is used to study the detector's capability to search for muon neutrinos from sources such as active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. We study the effective area and the angular resolution of the detector as a function of muon energy and angle of incidence. We present detailed calculations of the sensitivity of the detector to both diffuse and pointlike neutrino emissions, including an assessment of the sensitivity to neutrinos detected in coincidence with gamma-ray burst observations. After three years of datataking, IceCube will have been able to detect a point source flux of E^2*dN/dE = 7*10^-9 cm^-2s^-1GeV at a 5-sigma significance, or, in the absence of a signal, place a 90% c.l. limit at a level E^2*dN/dE = 2*10^-9 cm^-2s^-1GeV. A diffuse E-2 flux would be detectable at a minimum strength of E^2*dN/dE = 1*10^-8 cm^-2s^-1sr^-1GeV. A gamma-ray burst model following the formulation of Waxman and Bahcall would result in a 5-sigma effect after the observation of 200 bursts in coincidence with satellite observations of the gamma-rays.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, 6 table

    Spartan Daily, December 1, 1992

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    Volume 99, Issue 64https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8348/thumbnail.jp
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