Greek Olive Oil: How Can Its International Market Potential Be Realized?

Trade issues affecting virgin olive oil originating in Greece are examined. A gravity model is estimated to determine the factors affecting trade in olive oil. The results provided by the gravity model yield information that is central to determining the strengths and weaknesses of the sector, as well as the opportunities and threats that exist. Finally, some proposals and suggestions are developed for increasing the international competitiveness of the Greek olive oil industry and endowing it with essential quality and safety assurances.competitiveness, gravity model, olive oil, quality, trade flows, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

Evolution of trade flows for sheep milk cheese: an empirical model for Greece

This research examines Feta cheese trade flows, having as raw material sheep milk. The findings of the implementation of the gravity model demonstrate the significance of trade flows for Greek Feta worldwide. It will be a very useful instrument for examining the trading potential of Feta cheese, on the condition that there will be a positive outcome on the judicial and political level for the product in the WTO negotiations. The findings of the gravity model will be very helpful for an analysis which follows, in order to show off the strengths and weaknesses of the sector, as well as the opportunities and threats the market creates. Finally, there is a list of proposals suggestions which focus on increasing the competitiveness of the sector and on armouring it with all the essential quality and safety reassurances. This is done in order to avoid, in the future, attempts from competitors to jeopardize once more all this effort that has been done up till now. These proposals form an action plan which provides viable solutions to the quality and safety issue, as well as an aggressive marketing plan for gaining market shares in both EU and non-EU countries, utilizing the competitive advantage the product gains, as PDO.Trade flows, quality, competitiveness, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

Is Eco-theologian Thomas Berry a Thomist?

I examine the views of the renowned Catholic environmentalist, Thomas Berry, C.P., by comparing them with those of Thomas Aquinas, an author Berry frequently references.  I intend to show that while the two share a number of views in common (e.g., both hold that non-rational creatures have their own inherent goodness), ultimately the two diverge on many foundational issues, resulting in differing conclusions as to how we should regard and treat the environment.  Aquinas upholds divine transcendence, whereas Berry regards the notion of divine transcendence to lead to the exploitation of creation and locates the divine in the universe itself.  Berry accordingly thinks that we should revere all natural things, whereas Aquinas thinks we should revere God and creatures in God’s image.  Aquinas maintains that the human soul is created by God and is in God’s image.  He sees our rational soul as placing us above other natural things, and from it follows our responsibility to care for nature.  Berry, to the contrary, sees this affirmation of discontinuity between humans and the rest of nature to be the root of our environmental woes, as providing a justification for human exploitation of nature.  For Berry, humans have no special status, but are one member alongside others in the earth community. Rather than being created by God, “humans have nothing but what they receive from the universe.”  By highlighting both the similarities and differences between these authors, I hope to contribute to the project of formulating a sound environmental ethics

Evolution in Court. A Federal Judge Defines Science

This article highlights certain recurring themes in Mariano Artigas’s works by examining a judicial decision made in the United States in 1982 concerning the teaching of “creation-science” alongside “evolution-science” in public schools. These themes include: the proper delimitation of the boundaries of science, the importance of philosophy as a bridge between science and religion, and the misunderstandings concerning the limits of science inherent in scientism

Bounds on the Voter Model in Dynamic Networks

In the voter model, each node of a graph has an opinion, and in every round each node chooses independently a random neighbour and adopts its opinion. We are interested in the consensus time, which is the first point in time where all nodes have the same opinion. We consider dynamic graphs in which the edges are rewired in every round (by an adversary) giving rise to the graph sequence $G_1, G_2, \dots$, where we assume that $G_i$ has conductance at least $\phi_i$. We assume that the degrees of nodes don't change over time as one can show that the consensus time can become super-exponential otherwise. In the case of a sequence of $d$-regular graphs, we obtain asymptotically tight results. Even for some static graphs, such as the cycle, our results improve the state of the art. Here we show that the expected number of rounds until all nodes have the same opinion is bounded by $O(m/(d_{min} \cdot \phi))$, for any graph with $m$ edges, conductance $\phi$, and degrees at least $d_{min}$. In addition, we consider a biased dynamic voter model, where each opinion $i$ is associated with a probability $P_i$, and when a node chooses a neighbour with that opinion, it adopts opinion $i$ with probability $P_i$ (otherwise the node keeps its current opinion). We show for any regular dynamic graph, that if there is an $\epsilon>0$ difference between the highest and second highest opinion probabilities, and at least $\Omega(\log n)$ nodes have initially the opinion with the highest probability, then all nodes adopt w.h.p. that opinion. We obtain a bound on the convergences time, which becomes $O(\log n/\phi)$ for static graphs

Advanced Coordinated Beamforming for the Downlink of Future LTE Cellular Networks

Modern cellular networks in traditional frequency bands are notoriously interference-limited especially in urban areas, where base stations are deployed in close proximity to one another. The latest releases of Long Term Evolution (LTE) incorporate features for coordinating downlink transmissions as an efficient means of managing interference. Recent field trial results and theoretical studies of the performance of joint transmission (JT) coordinated multi-point (CoMP) schemes revealed, however, that their gains are not as high as initially expected, despite the large coordination overhead. These schemes are known to be very sensitive to defects in synchronization or information exchange between coordinating bases stations as well as uncoordinated interference. In this article, we review recent advanced coordinated beamforming (CB) schemes as alternatives, requiring less overhead than JT CoMP while achieving good performance in realistic conditions. By stipulating that, in certain LTE scenarios of increasing interest, uncoordinated interference constitutes a major factor in the performance of CoMP techniques at large, we hereby assess the resilience of the state-of-the-art CB to uncoordinated interference. We also describe how these techniques can leverage the latest specifications of current cellular networks, and how they may perform when we consider standardized feedback and coordination. This allows us to identify some key roadblocks and research directions to address as LTE evolves towards the future of mobile communications.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted to IEEE Communications Magazin

Fiber optic integration in planar ion traps

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-70).Atomic ion traps are are excellent tools in atomic physics for studying single ions. Accurate measurement of the ion's electronic state in these ion traps is required by both atomic clocks and quantum computation. Quantum computation with trapped ions can only scale to larger numbers of qubits if the ion traps and their laser delivery and measurement infrastructure can be scaled to smaller sizes. Fiber optics are a promising method of measurement because they collect a large fraction of light scattered by the trapped ions, and many optical fibers can be placed in a small area, allowing more ions to be measured in a small region. The question I address in this thesis is, "How can optical fibers be integrated onto planar ion traps?" This thesis presents a process I designed and implemented for integrating optical fibers onto planar ion traps as well as a system for integrating optical fibers into a cryogenic system. While the fiber integration was successful, we were unable to trap any ions in our fiber-integrated ion trap. We were able to show that the integrated fiber could collect light scattered from the surface of ion trap, and hypothesize that the large amount of dielectric present on the surface of the trap may have distorted the trapping potential and prevented us from trapping any ions. We also determined that scatter spots on the surface of the trap are a much bigger problem for fiber optic light collection systems than for traditional bulk optics systems. Finally, we propose a method of integration that could reduce the amount of exposed dielectric in the vicinity of the trap, as well as solve the problem of sensitivity to scatter spots.by Elizabeth Marie George.S.B

Framing Trans Rights

In the wake of marriage equality, opponents of LGBT rights refocused their attention, making transgender rights their main target. To persuade voters to maintain gender identity antidiscrimination protections, LGBT rights campaigns presented trans identity in a specific, but limited, way. These campaigns emphasized gender-conforming transgender individuals—those who adhere to male and female stereotypes—and thereby implicitly reinforced the gender binary. Although LGBT advocates have largely succeeded in their efforts to preserve LGBT rights, their messaging may undermine the movement’s broader litigation strategy and subject nonbinary members of the transgender community to greater discrimination and persecution. The trans rights framing choices thus raise questions about how the LGBT movement’s advocacy decisions blur the lines between success and failure, advancement and retrenchment. To explain this tension, this Article details the history of marriage equality campaign strategies, drawing on primary source campaign materials to identify how and why LGBT rights groups applied those frames to trans rights, as well as the consequences of those framing choices. This Article then analyzes the motivations behind social movements’ framing decisions more broadly to argue for an alternative approach to trans rights advocacy. Framing trans rights is a significant issue that extends far beyond whether a specific city or state maintains or eliminates its gender identity protections. Although framing in an electoral campaign may seem far removed from the work of courts, legislatures, and administrative agencies, this Article demonstrates how porous the boundaries are, such that the frames of the former have a substantial impact on the latter. Drawing on the scholarly literature on acoustic separation, popular constitutionalism, and slippery slopes, this Article explains why LGBT state and local ballot measure contests cannot be separated from the movement’s broader strategies. It therefore demonstrates that electoral frames are integral to legal advocacy writ large