Can Performance of Indigenous Factors Influence Growth and Globalisation?"

This paper employs a total of thirty four openness factors and indigenous factors to construct two indicators for 62 world economies for the period 1998-2002. While most globalization studies concentrated on openness factors, regression estimates and simulation studies show that sound performance in indigenous factors are crucial to an economy’s growth and globalization. Empirical evidence shows that an optimal performance in indigenous factors can be identified, and that successful globalized economies are equipped with strong performance in their indigenous factors.Globalization; indigenous factors; openess; world economies

Capital Budgeting Evaluation Practices of Building Contractors in Hong Kong

This paper reports the results of an investigation into capital budgeting evaluation practicesin the construction industry of Hong Kong. The aim of this study was to identify thepopularity and extent of usage of various techniques for capital budget evaluation, investmentappraisal, risk analysis, and management science. The current study was comparedwith a similar survey conducted in 1994 to establish the changes in the capital budgetingevaluation practices of contracting firms over time. The results indicate that there was ageneral increase in the popularity and extent of usage in certain capital budget evaluationtechniques such as “best/worst estimate” and “formal financial evaluation”. In addition,the evaluation techniques examined were fitted into a discriminant function analysis (DFA),and a model has been developed which allows contracting firms to be classified accordingto their predominant characteristics in capital budget evaluation

On the Precision of a Length Measurement

We show that quantum mechanics and general relativity imply the existence of a minimal length. To be more precise, we show that no operational device subject to quantum mechanics, general relativity and causality could exclude the discreteness of spacetime on lengths shorter than the Planck length. We then consider the fundamental limit coming from quantum mechanics, general relativity and causality on the precision of the measurement of a length.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the 2006 International School of Subnuclear Physics in Erice and in ''Young Scientists'' online-only supplement of the European Physical Journal C-Direct (Springer

Multiaxial fatigue assessment of welded joints: A review of Eurocode 3 and International Institute of Welding criteria with different stress analysis approaches

This paper reviews quantitively the multiaxial fatigue assessment of steel and aluminum welded joints, focusing on Eurocodes (ECs) and the recommendations of the International Institute of Welding (IIW). Extensive fatigue data under constant and variable amplitude loading are reanalyzed using stress analysis approaches such as nominal stress, hot spot stress, and effective notch stress. Evaluation of the ECs and IIW criteria reveals an effective assessment of multiaxial fatigue, with a satisfactory level of conservatism. Further research is needed especially for variable amplitude (VA) loading to enhance the precision and reliability of assessments, contributing to improved design practices and structural integrity in welded joint applications

Beam Dynamics of Qi Storage Rings

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Can patterns of everyday consumption indicate lifestyles? A secondary analysis of expenditures for fast moving goods and their social contexts

Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Studie bildet die Frage, ob sich Einkaufsformen beim täglichen Verbrauch als grundlegende Indikatoren von Lebensstilen erweisen. Datengrundlage bildet eine Sekundäranalyse von Panel-Daten zum Konsum schnelllebiger Waren, die vom weltweiten Marktforschungsunternehmen GfK im Jahr 1995 erhoben worden sind. Es wird zunächst eine Reihe von Hypothesen aufgestellt und die zugrunde gelegten Daten und die Stichprobe erläutert. Im Hauptteil der Studie werden 15 vollständige Cluster des Kaufverhaltens von Waren aus den Bereichen Nahrungsmittel, Getränke und Hygiene-Artikel untersucht und mit ausgewählten sozialen Indikatoren, wie z.B. sozialer Status, Mentalität und Umweltbewusstsein in Beziehung gesetzt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass selbst der Kauf von schnelllebigen Konsumgütern in breitere Lebensstile eingebettet ist und auch im Zeitverlauf relativ konstant bleibt. (ICI

Modeling Life as Cognitive Info-Computation

This article presents a naturalist approach to cognition understood as a network of info-computational, autopoietic processes in living systems. It provides a conceptual framework for the unified view of cognition as evolved from the simplest to the most complex organisms, based on new empirical and theoretical results. It addresses three fundamental questions: what cognition is, how cognition works and what cognition does at different levels of complexity of living organisms. By explicating the info-computational character of cognition, its evolution, agent-dependency and generative mechanisms we can better understand its life-sustaining and life-propagating role. The info-computational approach contributes to rethinking cognition as a process of natural computation in living beings that can be applied for cognitive computation in artificial systems.Comment: Manuscript submitted to Computability in Europe CiE 201

Sulphonylurea Usage in Melioidosis Is Associated with Severe Disease and Suppressed Immune Response

10.1371/journal.pntd.0002795PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases84

Oseltamivir- and Amantadine-Resistant Influenza Viruses A (H1N1)

Surveillance of amantadine and oseltamivir resistance among influenza viruses was begun in Hong Kong in 2006. In 2008, while both A/Brisbane/59/2007-like and A/Hong Kong/2652/2006-like viruses (H1N1) were cocirculating, we detected amantadine and oseltamivir resistance among A/Hong Kong/2652/2006-like viruses (H1N1), caused by genetic reassortment or spontaneous mutation