Has IMF Advice Changed After the Crisis?

When the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created, its purpose was to support the new system of fixed exchange rate regimes. With the breakdown of the par-value system, its article on exchange-rate arrangements?Article IV?had to be revised. Per the revised version, the IMF would annually write reports on countries? economic situation and provide policy recommendations. (?)Has IMF Advice Changed After the Crisis?

Intra-molecular properties of DMeOPPV studied by quantum molecular dynamics

Introducing methoxy electron donor groups into a poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) chain will lead to the appearance of unique electronic properties at the molecular scale which should affect the overall properties of light-emitting diodes based on these polymers. Self-consistent quantum molecular dynamics calculations have been used to provide information on intra-molecular properties of poly(2,5-dimethoxy-para-phenylene vinylene) (DMeOPPV), which are relevant for the modelling and characterization of polymer light-emitting diodes at nanometric length scale. We focus our attention on those properties that have been somewhat neglected in previous literature: the charge distribution associated with positive and negative charge carriers and their intra-molecular mobility when an electric field is applied.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – Programa Operacional “Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação” - POCTI/CTM/41574/2001, SFRH/BD/11231/2002.Comunidade Europeia (CE). Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER

The soft X-ray and narrow-line emission of Mrk573 on kiloparcec scales

We present a study of the circumnuclear region of the nearby Seyfert galaxy Mrk573 using Chandra, XMM-Newton and HST data. The X-ray morphology shows a biconical region extending up to 12 arcsecs (4 kpc) in projection from the nucleus. A strong correlation between the X-rays and the highly ionized gas seen in the [O III] image is reported. Moreover, we have studied the line intensities detected with the RGS/XMM-Newton and used them to fit the low resolution EPIC/XMM-Newton and ACIS/Chandra spectra. The RGS spectrum is dominated by emission lines of C VI, O VII, O VIII, Fe XVII, and Ne IX, among others. A good fit is obtained using these emission lines found in the RGS spectrum as a template for Chandra spectra of the nucleus and extended emission. The photoionization model Cloudy provides a reasonable fit for both the nuclear region and the cone-like structures. For the nucleus the emission is modelled using two phases: a high ionization [log(U)=1.23] and a low ionization [log(U)=0.13]. For the high ionization phase the transmitted and reflected component are in a ratio 1:2, whereas for the low ionization the reflected component dominates. For the extended emission, we successfully reproduced the emission with two phases. The first phase shows a higher ionization parameter for the NW (log(U)=0.9) than for the SE cone (log(U)=0.3). The second phase shows a low ionization parameter (log(U)=-3) and is rather uniform for NW and SE cones. In addition, the nuclear optical/infrared SED has been modeled by a clumpy torus model. The torus bolometric luminosity agrees with the AGN luminosity inferred from the observed hard X-ray spectrum. The optical depth along the line of sight derived from the SED fit indicates a high neutral column density in agreement with the classification of the nucleus as a Compton-thick AGN.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, final version of the paper submitted to Ap

On the Unification of Active Galactic Nuclei

The inevitable spread in properties of the toroidal obscuration of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) invalidates the widespread notion that type 1 and 2 AGNs are intrinsically the same objects, drawn randomly from the distribution of torus covering factors. Instead, AGNs are drawn \emph{preferentially} from this distribution; type 2 are more likely drawn from the distribution higher end, type 1 from its lower end. Type 2 AGNs have a higher IR luminosity, lower narrow-line luminosity and a higher fraction of Compton thick X-ray obscuration than type 1. Meaningful studies of unification statistics cannot be conducted without first determining the intrinsic distribution function of torus covering factors.Comment: ApJ Letters, to be published. This is the final, journal version; minor editing revisions from original on

Financial flows and exchange rates: Challenges faced by developing countries

[Introduction ...] This paper examines the problems of the excessive volatility of capital inflows in emerging market countries and its consequences on their exchange rates. The second section looks at the pattern of capital flows received by these countries, and the third section focuses on exchange rates. It first analyses the theoretical debate on setting exchange rates: the growing importance of financial flows on determining them, and whether it could be seen as a market-clearing price. Then it presents the links through which the exchange rate affects an economy, focusing on the specificities of developing countries which amplify these impacts. Later it discusses the changes seen in developing countries’ choices of exchange rate regimes in light of the new pattern of capital flows. The fourth section analyses these issues during the global financial crisis

Effect of molecular properties on the performance of polymer light-emitting diodes

The performance of a single layer polymer light-emitting diode depends on several interdependent factors, although recombination between electrons and holes within the polymer layer is believed to play an important role. Our aim is to carry out computer experiments in which bipolar charge carriers are injected in polymer networks made of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) chains randomly oriented. In these simulations, we follow the charge evolution in time from some initial state to the steady state. The intra-molecular properties of the polymer molecules obtained from self-consistent quantum molecular dynamics calculations are used in the mesoscopic model. The purpose of the present work is to clarify the effects of intra-molecular charge mobility and energy disorder on recombination efficiency. In particular, we find that charge mobility along the polymer chains has a serious influence on recombination within the polymer layer. Our results also show that energy disorder due to differences in ionization potential and electron affinity of neighbouring molecules affects mainly recombinations that occur near the electrodes at polymer chains parallel to them.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – Programa Operacional “Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação” - POCTI/CTM/41574/2001Comunidade Europeia (CE). Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER

Attribute-value inference using deep neural networks

The population’s consumption patterns have changed over the last few years and e-commerce has been one of the main drivers. The consumer became very demanding and very knowledgeable about the product and the websites were adapting, providing more information and improving the filtering system by adding detailed descriptions of the products and their characteristics. Extracting different characteristics from thousands of products is a task with a very high cost. In this work, we created three datasets that were later used by our model with three layers, CNN-BiLSTM-CRF, to infer values of attributes of previously unknown products through the description of products. It inferred with 64% of macro average of f1-score, not being related to the state of the art due to the different context of the tests.Os padrões de consumo da população alteraram-se nos últimos anos e o e-commerce foi um dos grandes responsáveis. O consumidor tornou-se muito exigente e bastante conhecedor do produto e os websites foram-se adaptando, disponibilizando mais informação e melhorando o sistema de filtragem, adicionando descrições detalhadas dos produtos e as suas características. Extrair diferentes características de milhares de produtos é uma tarefa com um custo bastante elevado. Neste trabalho, criamos três conjuntos de dados que posteriormente foram usados pelo nosso modelo com três camadas, CNN-BiLSTM-CRF, para inferir valores de atributos de produtos anteriormente desconhecidos através da descrição dos produtos. Inferiu com 64% de macro média de f1-score, não sendo relacionável com o estado de arte devido ao contexto dos testes serem distinto

How to improve the corporate framework of the Portuguese cork industry

With the rising concern towards ecological problems, society is changing and starting to give more value on environmentally friendly initiatives. Consequently, the Linear Economy model is beginning to diminish, providing to Circular Economy (CE) an opportunity to emerge. Although by nature a "green" industry, the Portuguese cork does not fully utilize the CE model. Thus, the purpose of this investigation is to understand if the Portuguese cork industry has the capacity implement a CE paradigm and how it could benefit the industry, by studying the possibility of incorporating a closed loop supply chain, the capability to use technologies from the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), the sustainability policies of this industry and its ability to innovate and develop new products. To achieve a conclusion, it was analysed various findings and conducted seven interviews to people related to the Portuguese cork industry, that helped answer the Research Questions due to their feedback on several matters related to the implementation of a CE paradigm in this industry. The results determine that, in theory, the Portuguese cork industry would benefit from a CE paradigm. The industry’s policies are sustainable and it is capable to innovate and develop new products. However, the implementation would not be easy because the majority of business keep focusing on cork stoppers, there is a lack of fundings to obtain 4IR technologies and it is difficult for the industry to close the loop of the supply chain, especially to its main product, the cork stoppers.Com o aumento do interesse em relação aos problemas ecológicos, o mundo está a mudar e a começar a dar mais valor a iniciativas amigas do ambiente. Consequentemente, o modelo da Economia Linear está a perder força, oferecendo um oportunidade à Economia Circular (CE) para emergir. Apesar de ser uma indústria "verde" por natureza, a indústria portuguesa da cortiça não se enquadra por completo no modelo CE. Posto isto, esta investigação tem como objetivo a compreender se a indústria portuguesa da cortiça consegue implementar um paradigma CE e como isso iria beneficiar a indústria, estudando a possibilidade de incorporar uma cadeia de suprimento em circuito fechado, se tem a capacidade de usar tecnologias da quarta revolução industrial (4IR), as suas politicas sustentáveis e a aptidão de inovar e de desenvolver novos produtos. Para chegar a uma conclusão, foi realizado uma análise a vários estudos e sete entrevistas a pessoas relacionadas com a indústria portuguesa da cortiça, ajudando a responder às Research Questions, comentando várias questões relacionadas com a implementação de um paradigma CE nesta indústria. Os resultados determinaram que, em teoria, a indústria portuguesa da cortiça beneficiaria de um paradigma CE. As políticas são sustentáveis e têm capacidade de inovar e desenvolver novos produtos. No entanto, a maioria dos negócios continuam demasiado focados em rolhas, há pouco capital para investir em tecnologias 4IR e é difícil para a indústria de criar um circuito fechado na sua cadeia de suprimento, especialmente para o seu produto principal, as rolhas