15,886 research outputs found
Sub-committee Approval Voting and Generalised Justified Representation Axioms
Social choice is replete with various settings including single-winner
voting, multi-winner voting, probabilistic voting, multiple referenda, and
public decision making. We study a general model of social choice called
Sub-Committee Voting (SCV) that simultaneously generalizes these settings. We
then focus on sub-committee voting with approvals and propose extensions of the
justified representation axioms that have been considered for proportional
representation in approval-based committee voting. We study the properties and
relations of these axioms. For each of the axioms, we analyse whether a
representative committee exists and also examine the complexity of computing
and verifying such a committee
HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE EXPORT SUBSIDIES TO AGRICULTURAL TRADE? TRADE AND WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL REFORMS
We analyze the impacts of removing export subsidies with or without reforms to domestic support and tariffs using a multi-country trade model. Model simulations are designed to assess both the magnitude and the direction of trade in the absence of export subsidies in connection with other domestic distortions and import barriers. Results show that the impacts of export subsidy removal, while significant for some countries and products, are comparatively smaller and are dominated by the much larger trade and welfare distortions imposed by import barriers. Hence, the removal of domestic subsidies, including export subsidies, by themselves may not be sufficient to improve global welfare and expand trade since the welfare gains by the net exporters are far outweighed by the losses of net importers. One implication from these simulations is that export subsidy reform must be combined with market access liberalization in order to benefit exporters and importers and to attract the widest support among WTO members.International Relations/Trade,
The Amorphous-Crystal Interface in Silicon: a Tight-Binding Simulation
The structural features of the interface between the cystalline and amorphous
phases of Si solid are studied in simulations based on a combination of
empirical interatomic potentials and a nonorthogonal tight-binding model. The
tight-binding Hamiltonian was created and tested for the types of structures
and distortions anticipated to occur at this interface. The simulations
indicate the presence of a number of interesting features near the interface.
The features that may lead to crystallization upon heating include chains
with some defects, most prominently dimers similar to those on the Si(001) 2x1
reconstructed free surface. Within the amorphous region order is lost over very
short distances. By examining six different samples with two interfaces each,
we find the energy of the amorphous-crystal interface to be 0.49 +/- 0.05 J/m^2Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Proton beam radiotherapy in the management of uveal melanoma: clinical experience in Scotland
<p>Aim: To evaluate proton-beam radiotherapy (PBRT) in the management of uveal melanoma in Scotland.</p>
<p>Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken on all patients receiving PBRT for uveal melanoma (1994–2005). Data obtained included: gender, past ocular/medical history, age, presenting complaint(s), diagnosis, laterality, tumor location/ultrasound characteristics, visual acuity (VA) and intraocular pressure. At post-treatment reviews (3, 6, 12, and 24 months), the following data was obtained: VA, intraocular pressure, tumor appearance and ultrasound characteristics. Mean follow up was 38.8 months.</p>
<p>Results: Seventy-six patients were included. Mean age was 64 years; male to female ratio was 1.1:1. Ninety-seven percent demonstrated initial treatment response; 87% had successful control of tumor growth. Mean pre-treatment tumor height was 6.2 mm v.s. 4.8 mm post-irradiation (p < 0.001). Pre-irradiation VA was <3/60 in 18.5% compared with 74% post-irradiation (p < 0.0001). There was a statistically significant association between adverse events (enucleation, metastasis) and greater maximal basal tumor diameter. Eighteen eyes were enucleated. The median survival time was estimated to be 54 months.</p>
<p>Conclusion: In our experience, PBRT is a precise, reliable and effective treatment in the management of large, and previously treated uveal melanomas. It prevents enucleation in the majority at short term follow-up.</p>
Blind image separation based on exponentiated transmuted Weibull distribution
In recent years the processing of blind image separation has been
investigated. As a result, a number of feature extraction algorithms for direct
application of such image structures have been developed. For example,
separation of mixed fingerprints found in any crime scene, in which a mixture
of two or more fingerprints may be obtained, for identification, we have to
separate them. In this paper, we have proposed a new technique for separating a
multiple mixed images based on exponentiated transmuted Weibull distribution.
To adaptively estimate the parameters of such score functions, an efficient
method based on maximum likelihood and genetic algorithm will be used. We also
calculate the accuracy of this proposed distribution and compare the
algorithmic performance using the efficient approach with other previous
generalized distributions. We find from the numerical results that the proposed
distribution has flexibility and an efficient resultComment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables. International Journal of Computer
Science and Information Security (IJCSIS),Vol. 14, No. 3, March 2016 (pp.
423-433
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