Overstretching or overreaction? China's rise in Latin America and the US response

This article examines how the Chinese elites are interpreting China's growing presence in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region and the various ways in which the United States is responding to China's expanding activity in the region. Some of China's elites caution that China's international posturing could be overly assertive. Regarding China's growing role in the LAC, they have made a note of US sensitivities, in addition to China's challenges and limitations in various Latin American countries. Regarding the US response, some US concerns may be legitimate, and others are less valid. Looking ahead, even though US–China interactions in the LAC will remain competitive, the US and China could potentially avoid counterproductive policies while also pursuing pragmatic co-operation. While China does not yet face a serious problem of strategic overstretching in the LAC, China's domestic debate on the topic will provide feedback to China's policymakers and promote fruitful China-LAC relations

H-Diplo ISSF round table: Steven Ward. status and the challenge of rising powers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Published versio

Global Military Issues Symposium: Russia, China and the SCO

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.Students, faculty and the public are invited to attend the first annual Global Military Issues Symposium at The Ohio State University. This symposium will explore the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a permanent intergovernmental international organization created in 2001 in Shanghai by the Republic of Kazakhstan, People's Republic of China, Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. The SCO member states occupy a territory of around 30 million square kilometers, equal to three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, and have 1.5 billion people, a quarter of the planet's population. The discussion will be led by Peter Mansoor, Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History, and will include presentations on both the Russian and Chinese militaries.The Ohio State University Center for Slavic and East European StudiesThe Ohio State University East Asian Studies CenterOhio State University. Mershon Center for International Security StudiesEvent Web page, event photo

DrM: Mastering Visual Reinforcement Learning through Dormant Ratio Minimization

Visual reinforcement learning (RL) has shown promise in continuous control tasks. Despite its progress, current algorithms are still unsatisfactory in virtually every aspect of the performance such as sample efficiency, asymptotic performance, and their robustness to the choice of random seeds. In this paper, we identify a major shortcoming in existing visual RL methods that is the agents often exhibit sustained inactivity during early training, thereby limiting their ability to explore effectively. Expanding upon this crucial observation, we additionally unveil a significant correlation between the agents' inclination towards motorically inactive exploration and the absence of neuronal activity within their policy networks. To quantify this inactivity, we adopt dormant ratio as a metric to measure inactivity in the RL agent's network. Empirically, we also recognize that the dormant ratio can act as a standalone indicator of an agent's activity level, regardless of the received reward signals. Leveraging the aforementioned insights, we introduce DrM, a method that uses three core mechanisms to guide agents' exploration-exploitation trade-offs by actively minimizing the dormant ratio. Experiments demonstrate that DrM achieves significant improvements in sample efficiency and asymptotic performance with no broken seeds (76 seeds in total) across three continuous control benchmark environments, including DeepMind Control Suite, MetaWorld, and Adroit. Most importantly, DrM is the first model-free algorithm that consistently solves tasks in both the Dog and Manipulator domains from the DeepMind Control Suite as well as three dexterous hand manipulation tasks without demonstrations in Adroit, all based on pixel observations

Fully Inkjet-Printed, 2D Materials-Based Field-Effect Transistor for Water Sensing

Despite significant progress in solution-processing of 2D materials, it remains challenging to reliably print high-performance semiconducting channels that can be efficiently modulated in a field-effect transistor (FET). Herein, electrochemically exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets are inkjet-printed into ultrathin semiconducting channels, resulting in high on/off current ratios up to 103. The reported printing strategy is reliable and general for thin film channel fabrication even in the presence of the ubiquitous coffee-ring effect. Statistical modeling analysis on the printed pattern profiles suggests that a spaced parallel printing approach can overcome the coffee-ring effect during inkjet printing, resulting in uniform 2D flake percolation networks. The uniformity of the printed features allows the MoS2 channel to be hundreds of micrometers long, which easily accommodates the typical inkjet printing resolution of tens of micrometers, thereby enabling fully printed FETs. As a proof of concept, FET water sensors are demonstrated using printed MoS2 as the FET channel, and printed graphene as the electrodes and the sensing area. After functionalization of the sensing area, the printed water sensor shows a selective response to Pb2+ in water down to 2 ppb. This work paves the way for additive nanomanufacturing of FET-based sensors and related devices using 2D nanomaterials

Li2NiO2F a new oxyfluoride disordered rocksalt cathode material

Lithium-rich disordered rocksalts such as Li1.3Nb0.3Mn0.4O2 and Li2MnO2F are being investigated as high energy density cathodes for next generation Li-ion batteries. They can support the (de) lithiation of lithium ions over large compositional ranges while preserving the same overall structure. Here, we present a new Ni-rich oxyfluoride cathode, Li2NiO2F, with a disordered rocksalt structure. Li2NiO2F and can deliver a discharge capacity of 200 mAh g−1 at an average voltage of 3.2 V

MNC subunit knowledge sourcing and competence creating activities: a dynamic view of subunit evolution

The innovative activities of multinational corporation (MNC) operations overseas can be represented as two types: either competence exploiting (CE) – exploiting the core competence base of the parent group – or competence creating (CC) – creating new competencies that were not already among the strengths of the relevant parent company. To a large extent, the share of these two types of activities determines and reflects a given subunit’s strategic role within its MNC. This research examines (1) the patterns of MNC subunits’ knowledge sourcing in terms of the technological and geographical dispersion of knowledge sources; (2) the extent to which MNC subunits’ technological fields of expertise are distinct from those of their parent companies, and how this technological distinctiveness is related to their knowledge sourcing patterns; and (3) how MNC subunits’ profiles of CC and CE activities (in terms of their overall technological distance from their parent companies, and the degree to which they are engaged in CC versus CE activities) evolve over time, reflecting the evolution of their knowledge creating role and status within their international group. Attention is focused on the heterogeneity of firm-specific evolutionary paths in the patterns of knowledge accumulation that support CC activities, controlling for the industry-specific determinants, location-specific factors, and MNC group structural influences on such technological trajectories. This study proposes a dynamic model in which the extent to which a subunit is likely to take up CC activities is influenced by the technological and geographical dispersion of that subunit’s knowledge sourcing. The results show a consistently positive relationship between the technological and geographical dispersions of knowledge sourcing, an effect that is moderated by the extent of subunit specialization in general purpose technology (GPT) fields, and the geographical proximity between dispersed knowledge sources. We also find a positive relationship between the technological dispersion of knowledge sourcing and the technological distinctiveness of subunits. However, the geographical dispersion of knowledge sources has a negative relationship with subunit technological distinctiveness. A typology of subunit strategic roles is proposed, based upon the evolutionary trajectory of a subunit’s share of CC activities and its technological distance from its parent company.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Xiaoyu P

A Comprehensive Model of Technological Learning: Empirical Research on Chinese Manufacturing Sector.

As the globalization accelerates its pace, made-in-China products have been travelling around the world for the last few decades. But in Chinese firms, their core technologies are still to a large part enslaved to foreign companies. Chinese government suggested Indigenous Innovation Capability as the essential aspect in the process of economic structure adjustment and economic growth mode’s fundamental shifts. Technological learning is hereby a key pathway for these firms to develop indigenous innovation capability under the circumstance of the manufacturing industrial structure upgrade. This paper examines the relationship between technological learning, technology capability and innovation performance. Data collected from the sample of 92 Chinese firms are analyzed, and a new model indicating these relationships is testified. The results highlight the importance of technological learning sources, contents and levels, while corresponding policy implications for companies are made in the end