The quest for the best consumer confidence indicator

We search through all possible consumer confidence indicators in order to find the single indicator that has the highest correlation with private consumption growth. Moreover, we contrast this indicator to the Consumer Confidence Indicator used by the European Commission, and some alternative indicators; also in terms of their predictive power of private consumption. In this context, we test the hypothesis that an indicator based on questions related to the household, rather than the general economy, would prove informative. We find that this "micro" indicator, as well as an optimal indicator that takes into account the specifics of all EU member states, outperform the current Consumer Confidence Indicator. Both these indicators also perform better than an indicator based on the popular factor methodology.The quest for the best consumer confidence indicator, consumer confidence, private consumption, predictive power, Jonsson, Lindén

Atomic and electronic structures of a vacancy in amorphous silicon

Locally, the atomic structure in well annealed amorphous silicon appears similar to that of crystalline silicon. We address here the question whether a point defect, specifically a vacancy, in amorphous silicon also resembles that in the crystal. From density functional theory calculations of a large number of nearly defect free configurations, relaxed after an atom has been removed, we conclude that there is little similarity. The analysis is based on formation energy, relaxation energy, bond lengths, bond angles, Vorono\"i volume, coordination, atomic charge and electronic gap states. All these quantities span a large and continuous range in amorphous silicon and while the removal of an atom leads to the formation of one to two bond defects and to a lowering of the local atomic density, the relaxation of the bonding network is highly effective, and the signature of the vacancy generally unlike that of a vacancy in the crystal.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Agency by Analogy: A Comment on Odious Debt

Part of a special issue on odious debts and state corruption. A study was conducted to examine the phenomenon of odious debt from the perspective of common-law agency. Data were obtained from a review of the relevant literature and from the 19th century novel, The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope. Findings revealed that the application of the agency doctrine to the problem of sovereign debt poses a number of problems, including identifying the principal within the sovereign-debt context, and the consensual relationship assumed by common-law agency between the principal and the agent. Findings suggested, therefore, that agency doctrine\u27s direct applicability to the odious debt problem is limited. Findings indicated, however, that agency can be useful as a source of analogy. Findings are discussed in detail

Fundamental bounds on transmission through periodically perforated metal screens with experimental validation

This paper presents a study of transmission through arrays of periodic sub-wavelength apertures. Fundamental limitations for this phenomenon are formulated as a sum rule, relating the transmission coefficient over a bandwidth to the static polarizability. The sum rule is rigorously derived for arbitrary periodic apertures in thin screens. By this sum rule we establish a physical bound on the transmission bandwidth which is verified numerically for a number of aperture array designs. We utilize the sum rule to design and optimize sub-wavelength frequency selective surfaces with a bandwidth close to the physically attainable. Finally, we verify the sum rule and simulations by measurements of an array of horseshoe-shaped slots milled in aluminum foil.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures. Updated Introduction and Conclusion

Electrochromic Inorganic Nanostructures with High Chromaticity and Superior Brightness

The possibility of actively controlling structural colors has recently attracted a lot of attention, in particular for new types of reflective displays (electronic paper). However, it has proven challenging to achieve good image quality in such devices, mainly because many subpixels are necessary and the semitransparent counter electrodes lower the total reflectance. Here we present an inorganic electrochromic nanostructure based on tungsten trioxide, gold, and a thin platinum mirror. The platinum reflector provides a wide color range and makes it possible to "reverse"the device design so that electrolyte and counter electrode can be placed behind the nanostructures with respect to the viewer. Importantly, this makes it possible to maintain high reflectance regardless of how the electrochemical cell is constructed. We show that our nanostructures clearly outperform the latest commercial color e-reader in terms of both color range and brightness

Force Controlled Assembly of Flexible Aircraft Structure

The use of industrial robots in the aircraft industry has been hampered by a combination of poor accuracy of the robots and poor calibration of the workcell, and also manufacturing variability in composite parts. A way to handle these difficulties is using force control. An experimental case where a semi-compliant rib is aligned to multiple surfaces is used as an example to show this. The constraint-based task specification framework is used for the modelling and control, and the search and alignment sequence required for the assembly is modeled with a state machine. An implementation on an industrial robot system is presented and experimental data is evaluated. The described approach is easy to apply to other fields and more complicated assembly operations as well

Gauge-origin independent calculations of Jones birefringence

We present the first gauge-origin independent formulation of Jones birefringence at the Hartree–Fock level of theory. Gauge-origin independence is achieved through the use of London atomic orbitals. The implementation is based on a recently proposed atomic orbital-based response theory formulation that allows for the use of both time- and perturbation-dependent basis sets [Thorvaldsen, Ruud, Kristensen, Jørgensen, and Coriani, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 214108 (2008)]. We present the detailed expressions for the response functions entering the Jones birefringence when London atomic orbitals are used. The implementation is tested on a set of polar and dipolar molecules at the Hartree–Fock level of theory. It is demonstrated that London orbitals lead to much improved basis-set convergence, and that the use of small, conventional basis sets may lead to the wrong sign for the calculated birefringence. For large basis sets, London orbitals and conventional basis sets converge to the same results

Perspektiv på hälsa bland ridsportens yrkesverksamma

Yrkesverksamma inom ridsporten är till stor del egenföretagare eller anställda på ridskolor. Arbetet med hästar innebär mycket fysisk aktivitet, långa dagar och varierande tider. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur yrkesverksamma inom hästnäringen ser på sin egen fysiska och psykiska hälsa. Studien ämnar ge ökad förståelse för hur arbetsmiljön ser ut inom hästnäringen och därmed påverkar de verksamma. De frågeställningar som studien ämnar besvara är följande: Hur ser och upplever yrkesverksamma personer inom hästnäringen arbetsmiljö vad gäller fysisk och psykisk hälsa? Hur har yrkesvalet påverkat deras liv och psykiska hälsa? Till studien valdes kvalitativ metod och åtta intervjuer med yrkesverksamma personer inom de två grupperna genomfördes. Efter intervjuerna gjordes en grundtranskribering och intervjuerna analyserades med ett fenomenografiskt förhållningssätt. Resultatet visade att de yrkesverksamma i båda grupperna såg sin arbetsmiljö som överlag god. Deras liv påverkades dock till stor del av att de arbetade med hästar på så sätt att de alltid behövde vara tillgängliga eftersom djuren behöver skötsel och tillsyn oavsett tidpunkt eller dag. Flera av respondenterna hade upplevt psykisk ohälsa. Den upplevda psykiska ohälsan hade för ett par personer berott på stress kopplat till tidspress. Ett par respondenter hade upplevt stress och press över prestationer vid tävlingssammanhang. Samtliga respondenter var trots detta nöjda med sitt yrkesval och ville inte byta karriär. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att respondenterna såg positivt på sin arbetsmiljö och hästarna var den stora passionen och drivkraften. Den fysiska hälsan var god och respondenterna var inte oroliga över skaderisken trots att flera av dem hade skadat sig allvarligt. Den psykiska hälsan var varierande men sämre hos de yngre respondenterna. Yrkesvalet har påverkat deras liv på så sätt att de hade svårt att koppla av och vara lediga, på grund av deras position som ytterst ansvariga för den verksamhet de drev eller arbetade i. Erfarenhet och ålder ger en lägre risk för att drabbas av psykisk ohälsa. Den psykiska hälsan påverkades till stor del av stress, tidspress och press att prestera. Mental träning kan vara ett sätt att förebygga psykisk ohälsa.Professional equestrians are for the most part self-employed or employees at riding schools. Working with horses involves psychical work with long days and various hours. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional equestrians view their own physical and mental health. This study is intended to get an increased pre-understanding of the work environment in the horse industry and it´s affects on the professionals. The issues this study aims to answer is the following: How does the professional equestrians view their working environment regarding physical and mental health? How has choice of carrier affected their life and mental health? For this study a qualitative method was used and eight interviews, from two groups of professional equestrians were implemented. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed with a phenomenographic approach. The result of this study showed that professional equestrians in both groups saw their work environment as generally good. However, their lives were greatly affected by the fact that they worked with horses in such a way that they always needed to be available because the animals needed care and supervision regardless of time or day. Some of the respondents had experienced mental illness. For some of those who experienced mental illness it was because of stress related to time pressure. A couple of the respondents had also experienced stress and pressure to perform in competitions. In conclusion, this study shows that the respondents viewed positively on their work environment and the horses were the great passion and drive. The physical health was good and they were not worried by the safety risks even though several of them had been in sever accidents. The mental health status varied but was inferior among the younger respondents. The carrier choice has affected their life by making it hard to relax and take time off, because of their position as utterly responsible of the business they ran or managed. Experience and age lower the risk of being affected by mental illness. The mental health was greatly affected by stress, time pressure and the pressure to perform. Mental training can be one way to prevent mental illness

The quest for the best consumer confidence indicator

Out of 11 questions included in the EU harmonised consumer questionnaire, it is possible to construct 2 047 different consumer confidence indicators. We search through all these indicators in order to find the single indicator that has the highest correlation with private consumption growth. Moreover, we contrast this indicator to the current Consumer Confidence Indicator used by the European Commission, and some alternative indicators; also in terms of their predictive power of private consumption. The focus of the analysis is thereby on how to best exploit the information content of the current set of questions included in the harmonised consumer questionnaire, while other methodological aspects of the construction of the indicator is left aside. In this context, we test the hypothesis that an indicator based on questions related to the household, rather than the general economy, would prove informative. It seems reasonable to assume that respondents to the surveys have better knowledge of their own economic situation than they have of the general economic situation in their country. We find that this "micro" indicator, as well as an optimal indicator that takes into account the specifics of all EU member states, outperform the current Consumer Confidence Indicator. Both these indicators also perform better than an indicator based on the popular factor methodology

Synthesis of novel single-source precursors for CVD of mixed-metal tungsten oxide

There is a considerable interest in the use of tungsten oxide in the research and development of new materials and devices, such as gas sensors and as photocatalysts. In order to improve the photocatalytic properties of WO3, its combination with metals which allows the preparation of WMxOy materials are believed to be promising photocatalysts under visible light. The present work deals with the synthesis of homo- and hetero-metallic tungsten alkoxide and amide compounds using the single source precursor approach for potential chemical vapour deposition precursors of mixed-metal oxide films.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo