The eggs of marine crabs - an unexploited resource

Marine crabs belonging to the family Portunidae form bycatch of shrimp trawlers in India. They are sold at low prices and consumers discard eggs and consume the meat. The paper details the nutritional value of eggs of Portunus pelagicus

RAPID ANALYTICAL VERIFICATION OF HANDWRITTEN ALPHANUMERIC ADDRESS FIELDS

Microsoft, Motorola, Siemens, Hitachi, IAPR, NICI, IUF This paper presents a combination of fuzzy system and dynamic analytical model to deal with imprecise data derived from feature extraction in handwritten address images which are compared against postulated addresses for address verification. A dynamic building­number locator is able to locate and recognise the building­number, without knowing exactly where the building­number starts in the candidate address line. The overall system achieved a correct sorting rate of 72.9%, 27.1% rejection rate and 0.0% error rate on a blind test set of 450 cursive handwritten addresses.

Interaction between central bank behavior and fiscal policymaking: the case of the U.S

Monetary policy - United States ; Fiscal policy

Swiss monetary policy: central bank independence and stabilization goals

Banks and banking, Central - Switzerland ; Monetary policy - Switzerland ; Switzerland

Adaptive traffic signal control using approximate dynamic programming

This paper presents a study on an adaptive traffic signal controller for real-time operation. The controller aims for three operational objectives: dynamic allocation of green time, automatic adjustment to control parameters, and fast revision of signal plans. The control algorithm is built on approximate dynamic programming (ADP). This approach substantially reduces computational burden by using an approximation to the value function of the dynamic programming and reinforcement learning to update the approximation. We investigate temporal-difference learning and perturbation learning as specific learning techniques for the ADP approach. We find in computer simulation that the ADP controllers achieve substantial reduction in vehicle delays in comparison with optimised fixed-time plans. Our results show that substantial benefits can be gained by increasing the frequency at which the signal plans are revised, which can be achieved conveniently using the ADP approach

Student reaction to parallel hypertext and menu‐based interfaces

It is often necessary to consider the question of what sort of interface is most useful for retrieving information from a particular land of database. A small database of text‐based but multi‐faceted items is used here in order to compare ease and speed of retrieval from two commonly used combinations of interface — HyperCard on an Apple Macintosh and dBase III+ on a PC. For the restricted range of tasks employed here, the latter combination appears to be more acceptable to students with limited computer experience. However, in more general terms, the acceptability of an interface for information retrieval depends on what particular aspect of information retrieval is being emphasized, and what conceptual frameworks students bring to their tasks

Suppressing Asset Price Inflation: The Confederate Experience, 1861-1865

Confederate monetary reforms encouraged holders of Treasury notes to exchange these notes for bonds by imposing deadlines on their convertibility. We show that Confederate funding acts aimed at precipitating the conversion of currency into bonds did temporarily suppress currency depreciation. These acts also triggered upsurges in commodity prices, however, as note holders rushed to spend the currency before their exchange rights were reduced. Asset price stabilization policies seem to have increased the velocity of circulation and counterproductively channeled inflationary pressures into other areas of the economy.

Inflation is Always and Everywhere a Monetary Phenomenon: Richmond vs. Houston in 1864

On April 1, 1864 the Confederate Currency Reform Act reduced the money supply in the Eastern Confederacy by one third. The delayed implementation of the reform west of the Mississippi provides a counterfactual view of what may have happened in the east had the reform not been enacted. This episode is a natural experiment illustrating the relative importance for prices of war news vs. the quantity of money in circulation. Our analysis of the major eastern and western gold markets, Richmond and Houston, strongly suggests that money matters more than war news in the post-reform period.Confederacy, currency reform, quantity theory

Values of inland fisheries in the Mekong river basin

This report provides an overview of the biological, economical, social and cultural values of river fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin (Yunan, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam). The report also identifies the main impacts of environmental changes on these values.Inland fisheries, Socioeconomic aspects, Economic analysis, Asia, ISEW, Vietnam, Mekong River Delta, Mekong Delta,

German Debt Traded in London During World War II: A British Perspective on Hitler

Two series of German bonds, issued in 1924 and 1930, traded on the London Stock Exchange throughout Hitler’s 1933-1945 regime in Germany. We isolate both structural breaks and turning points in these bond series. Major turning points follow Hitler’s reintroduction of conscription in 1935, the outbreak of war in 1939 and the D-Day invasion of June 1944. The German bonds’ sustained downtrend after 1935 suggests that bondholders recognized the negative implications of Hitler’s program. Bond prices recover during the war, however, and appear to anticipate the overthrow of Hitler and the postwar settlement of foreign bondholders’ claims.bonds, Germany, Hitler