Industrial adjustment in Western Europe: Retrospect and prospect

The purpose of this paper is to discuss major factors behind failures and successes in structural adjustment. The analysis includes the experience of four major European countries: France, Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. These countries are known for diverging performances. Germany has the highest real per capita income, the lowest inflation, and the strongest currency, while its unemployment rate, though depressing by her own historical standards (8 per cent in 1986 as compared to 1 per cent on average during the sixties), is distinctly below those of the other three countries. On the other side of the spectrum is Italy, but this nation is in fact composed of three economies - a highly developed and rapidly growing one in the north, a very backward one in the south and a dynamic economia somersa almost everywhere. The United Kingdom has become the only oil-rich country in the sample, but probably the one which has been struggling most with micro-economic inefficiencies and the power of interest groups (labour unions in particular) in the economic-political decision process for decades. France has become an industrial and technological leader in a shorter space of time (starting its economic transformation in the late fifties) than any of the other sample countries, but it also was struck by an unparalleled experimentation with socialism during the early eighties.

What is behind the recent evolution of Portuguese terms of trade?

This paper analyses the evolution of Portuguese terms of trade over the last decades. Firstly, their evolution is described: (i) terms of trade registered an upward trend since the second half of the 80s, after the apparent stability observed since 1950; (ii) this was a generalized phenomenon across OECD countries; (iii) and it was specially linked to a very contained evolution of import prices. Secondly, terms of trade are broken down by groups of products, and their evolution is decomposed into two components. The first component results from differences in the composition of import and export baskets of goods (inter-sector specialization), while the second emerges from deviations from the law of one price in each sector (intra-sector segmentation). The results show that terms of trade developments were dominated by the specialization effects related to the evolution of oil prices. Excluding energy and focusing in the manufactured goods, the increase in terms of trade is strongly connected with the positive evolution of relative prices inside each sector, in particular in the usually designated traditional sectors: textiles, clothing and footwear. The effects of globalization on import prices and the structural changes in those manufacturing sectors in Portugal are pointed out as explanations for this phenomenon.

Statistical Analysis in Art Conservation Research

Evaluates all components of data analysis and shows that statistical methods in conservation are vastly underutilized. Also offers specific examples of possible improvements

A personal, distributed exposimeter: procedure for design, calibration, validation, and application

This paper describes, for the first time, the procedure for the full design, calibration, uncertainty analysis, and practical application of a personal, distributed exposimeter (PDE) for the detection of personal exposure in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) downlink (DL) band around 900 MHz (GSM 900 DL). The PDE is a sensor that consists of several body-worn antennas. The on-body location of these antennas is investigated using numerical simulations and calibration measurements in an anechoic chamber. The calibration measurements and the simulations result in a design (or on-body setup) of the PDE. This is used for validation measurements and indoor radio frequency (RF) exposure measurements in Ghent, Belgium. The main achievements of this paper are: first, the demonstration, using both measurements and simulations, that a PDE consisting of multiple on-body textile antennas will have a lower measurement uncertainty for personal RF exposure than existing on-body sensors; second, a validation of the PDE, which proves that the device correctly estimates the incident power densities; and third, a demonstration of the usability of the PDE for real exposure assessment measurements. To this aim, the validated PDE is used for indoor measurements in a residential building in Ghent, Belgium, which yield an average incident power density of 0.018 mW/m(2)

Degree of Competition and Export-Production Relative Prices when the Exchange Rate Changes: Evidence from a Panel of Czech Exporting Companies

In this paper we show the relevance of the degree of competition for inferences about changes in export-production relative prices when the nominal exchange rate changes. We devise a model for tradable goods that combines the market competition and the pricing-tomarket literature and we empirically document the contrast between perfectly and imperfectly competitive markets for the export-production relative price responses to exchange rate changes. When the macroeconomic view is taken, a change in the degree of competition in exports (a change in the average mark-up on exported products) alternates the reaction in relative prices and quantity exported and thus requires careful policy-related consideration.Degree of competition, exchange rate, pricing-to-market.

Thermal and mechanical characterization of high-performance polymer fabrics for applications in wearable devices

With advances in fexible and wearable device technology, thermal regulation will become increasingly important. Fabrics and substrates used for such applications will be required to efectively spread any heat generated in the devices to ensure user comfort and safety, while also preventing overheating of the electronic components. Commercial fabrics consisting of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) fbers are currently used in personal body armor and sports gear owing to their high strength, durability, and abrasion resistance. In addition to superior mechanical properties, UHMW-PE fbers exhibit very high axial thermal conductivity due to a high degree of polymer chain orientation. However, these materials have not been widely explored for thermal management applications in fexible and wearable devices. Assessment of their suitability for such applications requires characterization of the thermal and mechanical properties of UHMW-PE in the fabric form that will ultimately be used to construct heat spreading materials. Here, we use advanced techniques to characterize the thermal and mechanical properties of UHMW-PE fabrics, as well as other conventional fexible materials and fabrics. An infrared microscopy-based approach measures the efective in-plane thermal conductivity, while an ASTM-based bend testing method quantifes the bending stifness. We also characterize the efective thermal behavior of fabrics when subjected to creasing and thermal annealing to assess their reliability for relevant practical engineering applications. Fabrics consisting of UHMW-PE fbers have signifcantly higher thermal conductivities than the benchmark conventional materials while possessing good mechanical fexibility, thereby showcasing great potential as substrates for fexible and wearable heat spreading application

International Trade Patterns over the Last Four Decades: How does Portugal Compare with other Cohesion Countries?

This paper compares the international trade pattern of Portugal with the other three EU15 Cohesion countries - Spain, Greece and Ireland - over the last forty years. The paper adopts a fact-finding approach, investigating the degree of openness of these economies and making extensive use of the standard Balassa (1965) index to assess the technological content of these countries' manufacturing trade. In order to infer on international trade specialization and on the persistence of trade patterns, the paper provides empirical evidence on the shape of the cross-sector distribution of 120 manufacturing exports and examines the intra-distribution dynamics. The Balassa index is also computed using import data, which allows for an assessment on the similitude of relative import structures and a crude identification of major vertical specialization activities. The paper concludes that there was a significant increase in the degree of openness of all economies, particularly in Ireland. Over the last four decades, Portugal shows a tendency to reduce its overall extent of export specialization, but significant differences with the world average still remain. The same behaviour is found in Greece and, more strongly, in Spain, which is the least specialized country. Conversely, Ireland shows the strongest export specialization and there is evidence of an increase in the last twenty years. The overall degree of specialization is higher on the export than on the import side, as the four countries analyzed show an import structure very close to the world average in the 2000-04 period. In the Portuguese case, we also find evidence that the degree of persistence of export patterns is higher than that of imports, in particular over longer horizons.

Development of a Robot-Based Multi-Directional Dynamic Fiber Winding Process for Additive Manufacturing Using Shotcrete 3D Printing

The research described in this paper is dedicated to the use of continuous fibers as reinforcement for additive manufacturing, particularly using Shotcrete. Composites and in particular fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are increasingly present in concrete reinforcement. Their corrosion resistance, high tensile strength, low weight, and high flexibility offer an interesting alternative to conventional steel reinforcement, especially with respect to their use in Concrete 3D Printing. This paper presents an initial development of a dynamic robot-based manufacturing process for FRP concrete reinforcement as an innovative way to increase shape freedom and efficiency in concrete construction. The focus here is on prefabricated fiber reinforcement, which is concreted in a subsequent additive process to produce load-bearing components. After the presentation of the fabrication concept for the integration of FRP reinforcement and the state of the art, a requirements analysis regarding the mechanical bonding behavior in concrete is carried out. This is followed by a description of the development of a dynamic fiber winding process and its integration into an automated production system for individualized fiber reinforcement. Next, initial tests for the automated application of concrete by means of Shotcrete 3D Printing are carried out. In addition, an outlook describes further technical development steps and provides an outline of advanced manufacturing concepts for additive concrete manufacturing with integrated fiber reinforcement