Investment Discrimination and the Proliferation of Preferential Trade Agreements

The proliferation of bilateral and regional trade agreements has arguably been the main change to the international trading system since the end of the Uruguay Round in the mid- 1990s. We argue that investment discrimination plays a major role in this development. Preferential trade agreements can lead to investment discrimination because of tariff differentials on intermediary products and as result of provisions that relax investment rules for the parties to the agreement. Excluded countries are sensitive to the costs that this investment discrimination imposes on domestic firms and react by signing a trade agreement that aims at leveling the playing field. We test our argument using a spatial econometric model and a newly compiled dataset that includes 166 countries and covers a period of 18 years (1990-2007). Our findings strongly support the argument that investment discrimination is a major driver of the proliferation of trade agreements

The application of Artificial Neural Network for the assessment of thermal properties of multi-layer semiconductor structure

In this paper, the solution of the problem of identification of thermal properties of investigated multi-layer structure is presented. In order of that, artificial neural network was used to find the set of thermal properties for which the complex contrast characteric derived fits the best to the one evaluated basing upon experimenatal data.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

Prospects of the measurement of Bs0 oscillations with the ATLAS detector at LHC

An estimation of the sensitivity to measure Bs-Bsbar oscillations with the ATLAS detector is given for the detector geometry of initial layout. The delta ms reach is derived from unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits using Bs0 events generated with a simplified Monte Carlo method.Comment: Poster at the XXVI Physics in Collision Conference (PIC06), Buzios, Brasil, July 2006, 4 pages, LaTeX, 6 eps figures. PSN THUPO0

Expert Knowledge Base to Support Maintenance of a Radar System

This paper presents the method for the creation of an expert knowledge base of a military object, for example a radar system. Such a knowldge base can be widely used to support the process of the maintenance of a complex technical object. The first step is a maintenance evaluation of the object. During this kind of analysis, it is necessary to perform the grouping and classification of the functional elements of the object.It is realised using the functional scheme of the object presented. Further, diagnostic information is combined with specialised experts' knowledge and transformed it into a set of servicing information. The participation of experts in the process of expert knowledge base preparation is significant. The purpose is to capture information that will be a fundamental for the design of a maintenance system dedicated to the particulartechnical object. The methods proposed were verified with appropriate examples, in which the set of specialised diagnostic information of the object was determined.Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(5), pp.531-540, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.8

The Civic Education Crisis and Its Effect on Young Voters

The civic education crisis is the most underrated crisis in the American education system. The voter turnout rates in America are very low and education policies are heavily focused on STEM. In my report I analyze the link between the quality of state education and youth voter turnout as well as the link between civics exams scores and youth voter turnout. As the civic education crisis grows, and national support for civics ebbs and flows, citizens, especially young people, are going to be the victims. When civic knowledge decreases, it is impossible for our government to function properly. Without the government being held accountable, the freedoms that citizens experience will be given up voluntarily without much awareness. It is our responsibility as citizens to increase our own knowledge and help to promote better education for all. The data available for analyzing education quality and civics exam scores is abysmal and public policy has made proving statistical relevance challenging, but future research addressing diversity, socioeconomic status, and the quality of civics education can fill in the data gaps

Artificial Neural Network-based Technique for Operation Process Control of a Technical Object

This paper presents a method to control an operation process of a complex technical object, a radr system, using trivalent diagnostic information. Also, a general diagram of the complex technical object has been presented, and its internal structure has been described. A diagnostic analysis has been conducted, as a result of which, sets of the functional elements of the object and its diagnostic signals have been determined. Also, the methodology for the diagnostic examination of the technical system has been presented. The result is a functional and diagnostic model, which constituted the basis for initial diagnostic information, which is provided by the sets of information concerning the elements of the basic modules and their output signals. The theoretical results obtained in the present study have been verified in practice on a radar system. The radar system in question is a complex and reparable technical object. It belongs to the group of technical equipment for which a short time of shutdowns is required (an ineffective use of the object). A DIAG computer program was used in the diagnosis process of the radar system. The final results obtained through computations conducted by the DIAG software have been presented in the Table 1.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(3), pp.305-313, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.152

Unification, Agency, Systemization, Intuition: My Art Making Process and Ideas

This essay is an attempt to describe my ideas about my work, my process, and my philosophy of art by examining five of the major pieces I created during the pursuit of a Master of Fine Arts degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. I will discuss the pieces in chronological order, first providing a description of the works’ salient characteristics, then delving into both my specific thoughts about the work as well as the background ideas that were pertinent to me during my process of creation

A Modern Approach to Certain Algebraic Topics

The purpose on this paper is to incorporate in textbook form, notes and methods that the author has used for the past three years on an experimental basis. Set terminology is introduced and applied to the development of the number system through the set of real numbers. Rigorous proofs are used in developing the arithmetic of the various sets of numbers. Methods for solving equations and inequalities are discussed in set terminology. Graphs of solution sets of equations and inequalities are displayed, and the methods of plotting solution sets are discussed. Conclusions concerning the success of applying the material submitted in this thesis are presented in the form of observations that the writer has made during his experimentation with the material in the classroom