Revitalizing Multilateral Governance at the World Trade Organization Report of the High-Level Board of Experts on the Future of Global Trade Governance. Bertelsmann Policy Brief 2018

If international trade is not governed by rules, mere might dictates what is right. The World Trade Organization (WTO) serves as a place where trade policy issues are addressed, disputes arbitrated, legal frameworks derived and enforced. Through these functions, the WTO ensures that the rules of trade policy are inspired by fairness and reciprocity rather than national interest. It is more important than ever to vitalize the global public good that it rep-resents against various threats that have been undermining it. Therefore, the Global Economic Dynamics project of the Bertelsmann Stiftung has called into life a High-Level Board of Experts on the Future of Global Trade Governance. Composed of eminent experts and seasoned trade diplomats, it elaborated a series of feasible policy recommendations that will increase the effectiveness and sali-ence of the WTO. We hope that this Report provides helpful suggestions in a time marked by increasing trade disputes and protectionism and instead contributes to stronger multilateral institutions and fora.1 The Bertelsmann Stiftung owes a debt of gratitude to Prof Bernard Hoekman, the Chairman of the Expert Board and author of this report. His invaluable expertise and experience, guidance and ability to bridge controversial opinions have been crucial in defining the work of the Board. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to all our Board Members, who generously contributed their expertise, time and networks. Without their dedication, this Report would not have been possible. Finally, we would like to thank Robert Koopman and Aik Hoe Lim of the WTO for their support throughout the whole process and Christian Bluth of Bertelsmann Stiftung for managing this common endeavour

Revitalizing Multilateral Governance at the World Trade Organization Policy Brief based on the Report of the High-Level Board of Experts on the Future of Global Trade Governance. Bertelsmann Policy Brief 2018

If international trade is not governed by rules, mere might dictates what is right. The World Trade Organization (WTO) serves as a place where trade policy issues are addressed, disputes arbitrated, legal frameworks derived and enforced. Through these functions, the WTO ensures that the rules of trade policy are inspired by fairness and reciprocity rather than national interest. It is more important than ever to vitalize the global public good that it represents against various threats that have been undermining it. Therefore, the Global Economic Dynamics project of the Bertelsmann Stiftung has called into life a High- Level Board of Experts on the Future of Global Trade ominant view among the members of the Expert Board. Members of the Board participated in meetings on a Governance. Composed of eminent experts and seasoned trade diplomats, it elaborated a series of feasible policy recommendations that will increase the effectiveness and salience of the WTO. We hope that this Report provides helpful suggestions in a time marked by increasing trade disputes and protectionism and instead contributes to stronger multilateral institutions and fora

Uncertainty Analysis for Data-Driven Chance-Constrained Optimization

In this contribution our developed framework for data-driven chance-constrained optimization is extended with an uncertainty analysis module. The module quantifies uncertainty in output variables of rigorous simulations. It chooses the most accurate parametric continuous probability distribution model, minimizing deviation between model and data. A constraint is added to favour less complex models with a minimal required quality regarding the fit. The bases of the module are over 100 probability distribution models provided in the Scipy package in Python, a rigorous case-study is conducted selecting the four most relevant models for the application at hand. The applicability and precision of the uncertainty analyser module is investigated for an impact factor calculation in life cycle impact assessment to quantify the uncertainty in the results. Furthermore, the extended framework is verified with data from a first principle process model of a chloralkali plant, demonstrating the increased precision of the uncertainty description of the output variables, resulting in 25% increase in accuracy in the chance-constraint calculation.BMWi, 0350013A, ChemEFlex - Umsetzbarkeitsanalyse zur Lastflexibilisierung elektrochemischer Verfahren in der Industrie; Teilvorhaben: Modellierung der Chlor-Alkali-Elektrolyse sowie anderer Prozesse und deren Bewertung hinsichtlich Wirtschaftlichkeit und möglicher HemmnisseDFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

The toxicity of cadmium and resulting hazards for human health

Cadmium (Cd) has been in industrial use for a long period of time. Its serious toxicity moved into scientific focus during the middle of the last century. In this review, we discuss historic and recent developments of toxicological and epidemiological questions, including exposition sources, resorption pathways and organ damage processes

Dynamic Modelling and Operation of the Chlor-Alkali Process

Chlorine it is commonly produced through the Chlor-alkali process, which is an electrochemical process – the process energy consumption dominates the production cost. Therefore, optimization of the process has become a major issue to achieve energy conservation and cost effective production. This study aims at investigating the transient and steady-state behavior of the chlorine production system through process modeling and simulation. Material balance and energy balance of the Chlor-alkali membrane process (electrolysis), brine pre-treatment, and chlorine handling are modelled and investigated using rigorous models. MOSAIC and MATLAB, are used to model and to simulate the process response when receiving dynamic input. For validation, the simulation result is compared to experimental data

Optimal Control of Surfactant containing Multiphase Systems – Challenges and Solution Strategies for a stable Mini-Plant Operation

In this contribution, a model-based approach for the control and stable operation of a mini-plant for homogeneously catalysed reactions in microemulsions is presented. Within these systems, the control of the crucial reaction and phase separation steps is hindered by sensitive shifting operation windows and immeasurable concentrations. Combining the optical observation of the separation state and an underlying phase separation model, a soft-sensor is created to identify these relevant concentrations. Together with plant measurements, a moving horizon state estimation is used to calculate a consistent and validated state of the full plant model, which is then used in a dynamic optimization to calculate optimal trajectories for the mini-plant operation. Hereby, a stable separation is achieved for up to 200 h mini-plant campaigns, alongside an efficient reaction performance with up to 38 % yield and a chemoselectivity of 95 %.DFG, 56091768, TRR 63: Integrierte chemische Prozesse in flüssigen Mehrphasensysteme

The Emotional Timeline of Unemployment: Anticipation, Reaction, and Adaptation

Unemployment continues to be one of the major challenges in industrialized societies. Aside from its economic dimensions and societal repercussions, questions concerning the individual experience of unemployment have recently attracted increasing attention. Although many studies have documented the detrimental effects of unemployment for subjective well-being, they overwhelmingly focus on life satisfaction as the cognitive dimension of well-being. Little is known about the emotional antecedents and consequences of unemployment. We thus investigate the impact of unemployment on emotional well-being by analyzing the frequency with which specific emotions are experienced in anticipation of and reaction to job loss. Using longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and fixed effects regressions, we find that becoming unemployed leads to more frequent experiences of unpleasant emotions only in the short run and that adaptation occurs more rapidly as compared to life satisfaction. Contrary to existing studies, we find decreases in emotional well-being but not in life satisfaction in anticipation of unemployment

Dynamic Model of Chloralkali Membrane Process

Chloralkali is one of the most important and energy intensive processes in the chemical industry. The process produces chlorine through electrochemical conversion. The process's energy consumption is a major production cost for the chloralkali industry. Since the demand for energy efficiency and environmentally friendly processes in industry increases, ion exchange membranes are used intensively in the process. One of the prospective energy sources for this process is renewable energy, which shows strong fluctuations and highly unpredictable behavior. Dynamic behavior of the process becomes important to measure and predict the feasibility of the process. Therefore, modelling of the process dynamics is required. Rigorous model of material balance and voltage balance of the process are developed and investigated in this paper. The material transport phenomena inside the electrolyser are modelled considering a number of driving forces. The developed model also predicts the voltage and current density of the cell. The process simulation result is compared to experimental data

The emotional timeline of unemployment: Anticipation, reaction, and adaption

Unemployment continues to be one of the major challenges in industrialized societies. Aside from its economic dimensions and societal repercussions, questions concerning the individual experience of unemployment have recently attracted increasing attention. Although many studies have documented the detrimental effects of unemployment for subjective well-being, they overwhelmingly focus on life satisfaction as the cognitive dimension of well-being. Little is known about the emotional antecedents and consequences of unemployment. We thus investigate the impact of unemployment on emotional well-being by analyzing the frequency with which specific emotions are experienced in anticipation of and reaction to job loss. Using longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and fixed effects regressions, we find that becoming unemployed leads to more frequent experiences of unpleasant emotions only in the short run and that adaptation occurs more rapidly as compared to life satisfaction. Contrary to existing studies, we find decreases on emotional well-being but not in life satisfaction in anticipation of unemployment