A new geometric approach to problems in birational geometry

A classical set of birational invariants of a variety are its spaces of pluricanonical forms and some of their canonically defined subspaces. Each of these vector spaces admits a typical metric structure which is also birationally invariant. These vector spaces so metrized will be referred to as the pseudonormed spaces of the original varieties. A fundamental question is the following: given two mildly singular projective varieties with some of the first variety's pseudonormed spaces being isometric to the corresponding ones of the second variety's, can one construct a birational map between them which induces these isometries? In this work a positive answer to this question is given for varieties of general type. This can be thought of as a theorem of Torelli type for birational equivalence.Comment: 13 pages, to appear in PNA

Structural change in the forward discount: a Bayesian analysis of forward rate unbiasedness hypothesis

Using Bayesian methods, we reexamine the empirical evidence from Sakoulis et al. (2010) regarding structural breaks in the forward discount for G-7 countries. Our Bayesian framework allows the number and pattern of structural changes in level and variance to be endogenously determined. We find different locations of breakpoints for each currency; mostly, fewer breaks are present. We find little evidence of moving toward stationarity in the forward discount after accounting for structural change. Our findings suggest that the existence of structural change is not a viable justification for the forward discount anomaly.Bayesian method, structural change, forward discount anomaly, Gibbs-sampling

A Multicultural Education Program for Primary-Level Students in Taiwan, Using Visual and Performing Arts

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a multicultural education program for primary-level students in Taiwan. To accomplish the purpose, a review of current literature regarding utilization of the performing and visual arts in the advancement of multicultural education will be conducted. Additionally, related information from selected authorities was obtained and analyzed

Estimating the Impacts of Climate Change on Mortality in OECD Countries

The major contribution of this study is to combines both climatic and macroeconomic factors simultaneously in the estimation of mortality using the capital city of 22 OECD countries from the period 1990 to 2008. The empirical results provide strong evidences that higher income and a lower unemployment rate could reduce mortality rates, while the increases in precipitation and temperature variation have significantly positive impacts on the mortality rates. The effects of changing average temperature on mortality rates in summer and winter are asymmetrical and also depend on the location. Combining the future climate change scenarios with the estimation outcomes show that mortality rates in OECD countries in 2100 will be increased by 3.77% to 5.89%.Climate change; mortality; panel data model

Design, fabrication and characterization of monolithic embedded parylene microchannels in silicon substrate

This paper presents a novel channel fabrication technology of bulk-micromachined monolithic embedded polymer channels in silicon substrate. The fabrication process favorably obviates the need for sacrifical materials in surface-micromachined channels and wafer-bonding in conventional bulk-micromachined channels. Single-layer-deposited parylene C (poly-para-xylylene C) is selected as a structural material in the microfabricated channels/columns to conduct life science research. High pressure capacity can be obtained in these channels by the assistance of silicon substrate support to meet the needs of high-pressure loading conditions in microfluidic applications. The fabrication technology is completely compatible with further lithographic CMOS/MEMS processes, which enables the fabricated embedded structures to be totally integrated with on-chip micro/nano-sensors/actuators/structures for miniaturized lab-on-a-chip systems. An exemplary process was described to show the feasibility of combining bulk micromachining and surface micromachining techniques in process integration. Embedded channels in versatile cross-section profile designs have been fabricated and characterized to demonstrate their capabilities for various applications. A quasi-hemi-circular-shaped embedded parylene channel has been fabricated and verified to withstand inner pressure loadings higher than 1000 psi without failure for micro-high performance liquid chromatography (µHPLC) analysis. Fabrication of a high-aspect-ratio (internal channel height/internal channel width, greater than 20) quasi-rectangular-shaped embedded parylene channel has also been presented and characterized. Its implementation in a single-mask spiral parylene column longer than 1.1 m in a 3.3 mm × 3.3 mm square size on a chip has been demonstrated for prospective micro-gas chromatography (µGC) and high-density, high-efficiency separations. This proposed monolithic embedded channel technology can be extensively implemented to fabricate microchannels/columns in high-pressure microfludics and high-performance/high-throughput chip-based micro total analysis systems (µTAS)