THE NEXT MILLENIUM ROUND OF WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: AGRICULTURAL ISSUES AT STAKE AND STRATEGIES

The next Round of multilateral negotiations is due to commence in 1999. Countries have already learned a lot from the shortcomings of the previous agricultural negotiations in the implementation of the agriculture negotiations and in the Analysis and Information Exchange meetings since 1997. The ministerial meeting of developed countries (OECD), has revealed that their future development of agricultural policy has changed little as a result of policy changes in the 1990s. In the next Round the EU is expected to be mainly on the defensive to try and maintain subsidy provisions. The main players that are expected to fuel the upcoming negotiations are the Cairns Group of agricultural export countries as well as the United States. The main task of reformers would be related to substantial further reduction of distortive trade measures, the covering of matters left unresolved in the Uruguay Round and to close the loopholes of the previous agreement. In general, reformers would like to push for a fairer system with more equal benefits to all.International Relations/Trade,

Toward an Interstellar Mission: Zeroing in on the Zero-Point-Field Inertia Resonance

While still an admittedly remote possibility, the concept of an interstellar mission has become a legitimate topic for scientific discussion as evidenced by several recent NASA activities and programs. One approach is to extrapolate present-day technologies by orders of magnitude; the other is to find new regimes in physics and to search for possible new laws of physics. Recent work on the zero-point field (ZPF), or electromagnetic quantum vacuum, is promising in regard to the latter, especially concerning the possibility that the inertia of matter may, at least in part, be attributed to interaction between the quarks and electrons in matter and the ZPF. A NASA-funded study (independent of the BPP program) of this concept has been underway since 1996 at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto and the California State University at Long Beach. We report on a new development resulting from this effort: that for the specific case of the electron, a resonance for the inertia-generating process at the Compton frequency would simultaneously explain both the inertial mass of the electron and the de Broglie wavelength of a moving electron as first measured by Davisson and Germer in 1927. This line of investigation is leading to very suggestive connections between electrodynamics, inertia, gravitation and the wave nature of matter.Comment: Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF-2000) Conference on Enabling Technology and Required Developments for Interstellar Missions, 7 pages, no fig

Japan and the East Asian financial crisis: patterns, motivations and instrumentalisation of Japanese regional economic diplomacy

At first sight, the East Asian financial crisis represents an instance of Japan failing the test of regional leadership - as evidenced by its abandonment of initial proposals for an Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) in the face of US and Chinese opposition in 1997. However, if a second look is taken, and one which is sensitised to the fundamental characteristics of its diplomacy, then Japan can be seen as far more effective in augmenting its regional leadership role than previously imagined. Indeed, this article demonstrates that Japanese policy-makers have resurrected, over the longer term and in different guises, AMF-like frameworks which provide a potential springboard for further regional cooperation. Hence, the aims of this article are twofold. The first is to demonstrate the overall efficacy of Japanese regional economic diplomacy, and its ability to control outcomes through steering East Asia towards enhanced monetary cooperation. The second is to explain the reasons behind Japan's distinctive policy approach towards the financial crisis and general lessons for understanding its foreign policy. The article seeks to do so by asking three fundamental questions about the 'what', 'why' and 'how' of Japan's regional role: 'what' in terms of the dominant behavioural patterns of Japan's economic diplomacy; 'why' in terms of the motivations for this behaviour; and 'how' in terms of Japan's instrumentalisation of its regional policy

Collaborative Nested Sampling: Big Data vs. complex physical models

The data torrent unleashed by current and upcoming astronomical surveys demands scalable analysis methods. Many machine learning approaches scale well, but separating the instrument measurement from the physical effects of interest, dealing with variable errors, and deriving parameter uncertainties is often an after-thought. Classic forward-folding analyses with Markov Chain Monte Carlo or Nested Sampling enable parameter estimation and model comparison, even for complex and slow-to-evaluate physical models. However, these approaches require independent runs for each data set, implying an unfeasible number of model evaluations in the Big Data regime. Here I present a new algorithm, collaborative nested sampling, for deriving parameter probability distributions for each observation. Importantly, the number of physical model evaluations scales sub-linearly with the number of data sets, and no assumptions about homogeneous errors, Gaussianity, the form of the model or heterogeneity/completeness of the observations need to be made. Collaborative nested sampling has immediate application in speeding up analyses of large surveys, integral-field-unit observations, and Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: Resubmitted to PASP Focus on Machine Intelligence in Astronomy and Astrophysics after first referee report. Figure 6 demonstrates the scaling for Collaborative MultiNest, PolyChord and RadFriends implementations. Figure 10 application to MUSE IFU data. Implementation at https://github.com/JohannesBuchner/massivedatan

Effective Philanthropy in Brazil

Brazil is a country with a large low-income population. It has one of the world largest income disparities, and increasing elite of business people and upper-middle class with significant wealth. However, even considering all the relevant improvements in the past decades, philanthropic levels are still low.Why are giving levels so low? What would have to be done to increase donation levels significantly?With the aid of McKinsey Social Sector Office, we launched a study on Brazil donation habits and barriers, as part of the McKinsey Global Philanthropy Initiative, aiming at a debate on the topic. This document summarizes the findings and recommendations of our study

Statecraft and Pursuing Women's Rights in Africa

This particular primer maps key areas of feminist analysis and intervention in governance. Based on existing research on the major factors that hinder women's political participation, emphasis is placed on electoral systems, political parties, quotas and national constitutional mechanisms. These are also areas where the impact of the women's rights movement has been felt. This primer therefore assesses the ways in which women's participation in governance has been assured, the challenges arising from these approaches, and lessons therein. This primer is intended to benefit women's rights activists and organisations at the frontline of local and national mobilisation initiatives that  seek to enhance women's leadership. We hope the primer is useful for building alliances and structuring support across various institutions working towards enhancing women's political participation

Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus, December 3, 2007

This is the concert program of the Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus performance on Monday, December 3, 2007 at 8:00 p.m., at Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue. Works performed were "Psalm 90" by Charles Ives, "Prayers of Kierkegaard," Op. 30 by Samuel Barber, and "Third Symphony" by Aaron Copland. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Center for the Humanities Library Endowed Fund