The Impact of the Terrorist Attacks of 11 September 2001 on International Trading and Transport Activities

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., emergency measures were taken to tighten security at air and seaports as well as land border crossings. Some disruption of trade flows during the immediate aftermath of the attacks seemed almost inevitable, yet additional frictional trading costs due to tighter security have affected trade not only in North America but also world-wide and have potential to continue to do so in the medium to long term. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the short-term business environment of transport operators and trading companies has been affected by new security measures and the increased perception of the risk of terrorist attacks. Businesses faced longer delays at airports, seaports, and land-border crossings, higher expenditures on security equipment and personnel, and augmented insurance fees. There were major disruptions of trade flows in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks, but over time trade operations seemed to have returned towards normal again. Also, flexible responses of businesses and customs services to the new border situation have helped to remove some temporary bottlenecks. Yet, some modest increase in frictional costs due to increased security concerns is likely to persist, even though the exact amount is hard to predict, as general economic developments mask the effect of the terrorist attacks. Some have likened the higher frictional trading costs to additional taxes on business activity or increases in border tariffs. Yet, a comparison with business spending on mandatory pollution abatement equipment seems more appropriate, as the higher expenses for the private sector provide benefits to the general public (higher environmental quality and lower risk of terrorist attacks, respectively), but are generally not accompanied by additional tax or tariff revenues for governments. Not all commodities and countries will be affected to the same extent by the increases in frictional costs. Differences across products are due to varying ratios of transport and insurance costs to goods-value, divergences in prevailing transport modes, and differing roles in the production process. For example, just-in-time deliveries in the automotive industry were markedly affected by delays due to more elaborate customs inspections. Concerning cross-country effects, intra-NAFTA trade was naturally strongly impeded by the tightening of security at US borders, but the trade of other countries with substantial exposure to North American markets, notably imports and exports of Latin American countries, were also significantly disturbed by the longer delays at borders and other frictional cost increases.Terrorism, security, trade, transport, border delays

Coherent Scatter Computed Tomography for Core Composition Analysis of Intact Kidney Stones - Prospective Clinical Study

Urolithiasis is the presence of urinary calculi (urinary stones) at any level along the excretory system. Establishing accurate and complete mineral composition of the stones is one of the main factors in deciding the best steps for therapy and recurrence prevention. Currently, infrared spectroscopy (IRS) and x-ray diffractometry (XRD) provide bulk composition results of urinary calculi in powdered form. Clinicians use the results to prescribe medical and dietary measures to restore the physiologic chemical balance of urine or rather alter it for the purpose of decreasing the crystallization rate of single or multiple minerals. As current methods have been shown reliable from a clinical perspective, they may also be, due to sampling bias, prone to missing the core components from the analysis. This work shows that coherent scatter computed tomography (CSCT) is a composition-imaging, laboratory method able to provide both composition analysis of intact calculi and a distribution map of minerals within the stone, including its core and the surrounding layers. Aspects related to CSCT’s measurement uncertainties, CSCT’s analysis of kidney stones in both intact and pulverized forms and the summarized conclusions of a comparison study between CSCT and IRS are presented. With this new knowledge clinicians may choose to employ a core-targeted prevention plan in the management of urolithiasis to further decrease the recurrence rate in these patients

Reform and Regional Integration of Professional Services in East Africa

Professional services matter for development in East Africa. Business services, including professional services, are among the most dynamic services sectors; and are a key input for other sectors. Greater use of professional services by East African firms is associated with higher labor productivity. But there is a large gap between the potential contribution these services could make and the meager contribution they make today. National markets for professionals and professional services in East Africa remain underdeveloped, whereas regional markets are fragmented by restrictive policies and regulatory heterogeneity. An effective reform agenda will require policy action in four areas: education, regulation of professional services, trade policy, and labor mobility at both the national and international levels.reform, regional integration, professional services, Africa, East Africa, development, business services, labor, productivity, trade policy, labor mobility

Design of Jig For Production of Welded Component in Company PSBLAS s.r.o.

Import 02/11/2016Cílem diplomové práce je navrhnout přípravek vhodný pro výrobu svařované součásti a to ve společnosti PSBLAS s.r.o. V první části jsou uvedeny cíle diplomové práce spolu s charakteristikou svařence, definicí přípravku a jejich rozdělením. Poté je uvedena rešerše podobných typů přípravků. V další části se nachází technologický postup výroby jednotlivých částí svařence. Následuje hlavní část práce, jež obsahuje popis účelu jednotlivých částí přípravku i s detailním vyobrazením, posléze je uveden rozbor kupovaných částí, jež by nebylo ekonomické vyrábět samostatně. Práce se následně věnuje technologickému postupu výroby vyráběných částí přípravku společně s rozborem materiálu, který byl použit. Poslední část práce obsahuje technicko-ekonomické zhodnocení, v němž je vypočtena cena, rentabilita a zisk zavedením přípravku.The master thesis aims to design a product suitable for the manufacture of welded components in the company of PSBLAS s.r.o. The first part sets out the objectives of the master thesis together with the characteristics of weldments, the definition of the product and its distribution. After that the research of similar types of products is presented. The next part comprises the technological process of individual parts of the workpiece. The main part of the master thesis contains a description of the purpose of individual parts with a detailed depiction followed by the analysis of purchased parts which are not produced separately from the economical aspects. The diploma thesis focuses on the technological process of the production of manufactured part together with the analysis of the used material. The last part contains the technical-economical evaluation where the price, profitability and profits gained by introducing the product are calculated.346 - Katedra obrábění, montáže a strojírenské metrologievýborn

Proposal of theTechnological Manufacturing Process of Given Part from the Material INCONEL

Import 05/08/2014Cílem bakalářské práce je navrhnout technologický postup výroby čepu kulového uzávěru z materiálu Inconel 718 ve firmě MSA, a.s. V první části je popsána problematika obrábění těžkoobrobitelných materiálů, respektive soustružení, frézování a rozbor vhodných řezných materiálů jako jsou slinuté karbidy, řezná keramika a polykrystalický kubický nitrid boru. Ve druhé části jsou uvedeny vlastnosti a složení použitého materiálu, navržené stroje, nástroje a technologický postup výroby. V poslední části jsou jednotlivé operace technologického postupu a vyrobeného dílce technicko-ekonomicky zhodnoceny dle norem ve firmě MSA, a.s.Goal of the bachelor thesis is to design technological process production pivot of ball valve made of Inconel 718 in the MSA, a.s. company. First part describes the issue of machining difficult to machine materials, respectively turning, milling and analysis of suitable cutting materials such as cemented carbide, cutting ceramics, and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride. The second part describes the properties and composition of the material, designed machinery, tools and technological manufacturing process. In the last part the individual operations of technological manufacturing and produced part technical - economic are evaluated according to the standards in the company MSA, a.s.346 - Katedra obrábění a montáževýborn

Individual Professional Practice in the Company

Tato bakalářská práce popisuje průběh odborné praxe, kterou jsem absolvoval ve firmě Shopsys s.r.o. Zaměřuji se na popis úkolů, které mi byly přiřazeny konzultantem a zejména na postup při jejich řešení. Mým primárním úkolem, který je zároveň hlavním tématem této bakalářské práce, bylo zpracování interní aplikace nazvané Všeaplikace a její součásti, agregátoru služeb.This bachelor thesis describes the course of professional practice, which I completed at Shopsys s.r.o. I focus on describing the tasks assigned to me by the consultant and, in particular, on how to deal with them. My primary task, which is also the main topic of this bachelor thesis, was the processing of an internal application called Všeaplikace and its component, a service aggregator.460 - Katedra informatikyvýborn

Generating Night Image from Day Image

Tato práce se zabývá tématem generativních adversariálních sítí a jejich využití pro generování nočních snímků z denních. V teoretické části jsou nejprve představeny architektury, techniky a vlastnosti hlubokých neuronových sítí, které jsou později aplikovány. Následně je popsána příprava a charakteristika trénovacího a testovacího datasetu z dodaných materiálů. Poté práce popisuje implementaci vhodných metod a architektur, vybraných na základě teoretického rozboru, a detailně popisuje průběh experimentů. V závěrečné části je porovnání výsledků různých experimentů a jejich zhodnocení.This paper deals with the topic of generative adversarial networks and their use for the generation of the nigh-time images from the day-time ones. Initially, the theoretical part introduces the architectures, techniques and properties of deep neural networks, which are later applied. Next, the preparation and characterization of the training and test dataset from the provided materials is described. Then, the paper describes the implementation of the appropriate methods and architectures selected based on the theoretical analysis and details the experiments. The final section compares the results of the different experiments and evaluates them.460 - Katedra informatikyvýborn

The Impact of the Terrorist Attacks of 11 September 2001 on International Trading and Transport Activities

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., emergency measures were taken to tighten security at air and seaports as well as land border crossings. Some disruption of trade flows during the immediate aftermath of the attacks seemed almost inevitable, yet additional frictional trading costs due to tighter security have affected trade not only in North America but also world-wide and have potential to continue to do so in the medium to long term. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the short-term business environment of transport operators and trading companies has been affected by new security measures and the increased perception of the risk of terrorist attacks. Businesses faced longer delays at airports, seaports, and land-border crossings, higher expenditures on security equipment and personnel, and augmented insurance fees. There were major disruptions of trade flows in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks, but over time trade operations seemed to have returned towards normal again. Also, flexible responses of businesses and customs services to the new border situation have helped to remove some temporary bottlenecks. Yet, some modest increase in frictional costs due to increased security concerns is likely to persist, even though the exact amount is hard to predict, as general economic developments mask the effect of the terrorist attacks. Some have likened the higher frictional trading costs to additional taxes on business activity or increases in border tariffs. Yet, a comparison with business spending on mandatory pollution abatement equipment seems more appropriate, as the higher expenses for the private sector provide benefits to the general public (higher environmental quality and lower risk of terrorist attacks, respectively), but are generally not accompanied by additional tax or tariff revenues for governments. Not all commodities and countries will be affected to the same extent by the increases in frictional costs. Differences across products are due to varying ratios of transport and insurance costs to goods-value, divergences in prevailing transport modes, and differing roles in the production process. For example, just-in-time deliveries in the automotive industry were markedly affected by delays due to more elaborate customs inspections. Concerning cross-country effects, intra-NAFTA trade was naturally strongly impeded by the tightening of security at US borders, but the trade of other countries with substantial exposure to North American markets, notably imports and exports of Latin American countries, were also significantly disturbed by the longer delays at borders and other frictional cost increases

Aquisição de medicamentos em um hospital federal: a economicidade do pregão eletrônico

TRABALHO NÃO POSSUI ABSTRACTO Pregão eletrônico é a modalidade de licitação mais empregada pelos órgãos do governo federal para aquisição de bens comuns. O Decreto 5.450/2005 foi o grande responsável por essa realidade ao tornar obrigatória a sua utilização, salvo nos casos de comprovada inviabilidade. Outro motivo para sua utilização é a elevada economicidade que essa modalidade proporciona, segundo o Ministério do Planejamento. Diante disso, este estudo buscou avaliar se houve economicidade nas aquisições de medicamentos realizadas por um hospital federal sediado em João Pessoa. Para tanto, realizou-se pesquisa de caráter descritivo através do uso de documentos do referido hospital dos anos de 2008, 2009, 2010 e 2012, disponíveis no Portal de Compras do Governo Federal. A partir dos resultados obtidos, verificou-se que, de fato, há economicidade, baseado em valores de referência da própria organização. Inclusive, a utilização de outros valores referenciais, como o Preço Fábrica da Lista de Preço de Medicamentos da ANVISA, pode proporcionar ainda mais economia aos cofres públicos. Por fim, levando-se em consideração os resultados alcançados, sugeriu-se que os novos editais para aquisição de medicamentos contemplem outros valores de referência, além da tradicional pesquisa de preços

Shear testing of stack bonded masonry

Stack bonded masonry is scarcely used in practice, except for aesthetic reasons. Nevertheless, a regular array of units allows to place reinforcement in the joints, which can be of major importance for masonry shell roofs, as proposed by Eladio Dieste. In order to contribute to the knowledge of the behavior of stack bonded masonry under shear loading, which seems not to have been addressed before, an experimental research program using the triplet test was carried out. The specimens incorporate aligned joints along two orthogonal axes, filled with micro-concrete. The main results of the experimental program are herein presented and discussed