Regional Economic Policies: Four Country Cases

This paper presents four case studies of economies with well-developed regional policies.These include the European Union, Spain, Italy and Brazil. These cases have been chosen because of their relevance when studying regional problems in Colombia. In all of the cases regional policy has had a relatively poor perfomance, since regional disparities have not been significantly reduced. However, one could argue that disparities would have been larger without these policy iniciatives. Thus, the results highlight the difficulties in devoloping a successful regional policy.

On the asymptotic stability of feedback control systems containing a single time- varying element

Asymptotic stability of feedback control systems containing single time varying elemen

Quadratic solitary waves in a counterpropagating quasi-phase-matched configuration

We demonstrate the possibility of self-trapping of optical beams by use of quasi phase matching in a counterpropagating configuration in quadratic media. We also show the predominant stability of these spatial self-guided beams and estimate the power level required for their experimental observation.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Who Mediates Matters: The Impact of Individual Mediator Competency Skills on Individual and Civil Conflict Mediation

Until this point, research in the field of conflict mediation concerning how third-party entities impact mediation outcomes has largely focused on the macrolevel factors of those entities and the disputing parties – geographic proximity of the mediating states to the disputants, the presence of alliances, the existence of enduring rivalries, etc. However, even when macrolevel factors are relatively similar, differences still exist in mediation outcome. This research proposes that some differences in mediation outcome are due to the impact of individual mediator factors, more specifically individual mediator competency skills in the form of Knowledge, Know-how, and Behavioral competencies. Borrowing from research in Psychology and Human Relations organizational theories, I investigate these three competencies categories by quantitatively examining the impact of mediator training, experience, prior success, position/rank, personality factors, and number (of mediators in a team). Additionally, I conduct qualitative investigations through interviews of current and former mediators to determine how to select the best mediators for particular conflicts to increase the likelihood of conflict mediation success, defined as the achievement of ceasefires, partial settlements, or full settlements at the end of the mediation proceedings. This research will conclude by providing U.S. policy prescriptions for best practices for selecting individual mediators to engage in conflict mediation proceedings

Endocrine disrupting effects on the nesting behaviour of male three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus L

The analysis of patterns of temporal variability in the nesting behaviour of male threespined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) exposed to the synthetic oestrogen, 17β-ethinylestradiol, revealed immediate, but transient, treatment-related effects. Gluing frequency and time spent near nest were significantly reduced in exposed fish at the beginning of the experiment. The expression of these behaviours subsequently recovered and there was no effect of treatment on nest building success. The potential causes and implications of these findings are discussed

A systematic review of ICD complications in randomised controlled trials versus registries: is our 'real-world' data an underestimation?

Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation carries a significant risk of complications, however published estimates appear inconsistent. We aimed to present a contemporary systematic review using meta-analysis methods of ICD complications in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and compare it to recent data from the largest international ICD registry, the US National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR). PubMed was searched for any RCTs involving ICD implantation published 1999-2013; 18 were identified for analysis including 6433 patients, mean follow-up 3 months-5.6 years. Exclusion criteria were studies of children, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, resynchronisation therapy and generator changes. Total pooled complication rate from the RCTs (excluding inappropriate shocks) was 9.1%, including displacement 3.1%, pneumothorax 1.1% and haematoma 1.2%. Infection rate was 1.5%.There were no predictors of complications but longer follow-up showed a trend to higher complication rates (p=0.07). In contrast, data from the NCDR ICD, reporting on 356 515 implants (2006-2010) showed a statistically significant threefold lower total major complication rate of 3.08% with lead displacement 1.02%, haematoma 0.86% and pneumothorax 0.44%. The overall ICD complication rate in our meta-analysis is 9.1% over 16 months. The ICD complication reported in the NCDR ICD registry is significantly lower despite a similar population. This may reflect under-reporting of complications in registries. Reporting of ICD complications in RCTs and registries is very variable and there is a need to standardise classification of complications internationally

Increased energy in stable dry-band arcs due to length compression

The occurrence of dry-band arcs on outdoor composite insulators can degrade the polymeric materials' surface and ultimately may lead to insulator failure. The degradation processes are generally considered as aging effects occurring over long periods of time, from years to decades. In this paper, it is shown that if a stable dryband arc is physically compressed in length by external forces, such as electrolyte deformation due to wind or gravity, the arcing activities will become more severe. This in turn, may accelerate the degradation into a short time-frame hazard. A series of experiments are carried out to investigate the electrical characteristics of the arcs as they become compressed. In this case experiments are performed on silicone rod insulators at controlled angles to the horizontal. Rapid aging is observed after such events. Measurements of arcing period, peak current, and arc resistance during the arcing compression process are analyzed. Based on the experiments, a 'Double Sinusoidal Model' is developed to simulate the current-voltage characteristics of dryband arcing during its compression. Both experiment and simulation show that arc power, arc energy and corresponding energy density will dramatically increase if arc compression occurs, which may lead to more rapid and serious damage on composite insulator surfaces than is experienced otherwise. It is suggested that aggressive erosion events may occur in short periods of time within extended test regimes or entire service histories. © 2010 IEEE

Políticas económicas regionales: cuatro estudios de caso

Este documento presenta el estudio de cuatro casos con políticas regionales bien desarrolladas, que incluyen a la Unión Europea, España, Italia y Brasil. Estos fueron seleccionados debido a su relevancia para el análisis de problemas regionales en Colombia. En todos ellos, las políticas regionales han tenido resultados relativamente limitados, pues las disparidades regionales no han disminuido en forma significativa. No obstante, podría afirmarse que dichas disparidades hubieran sido mayores en ausencia de tales iniciativas de política. Por lo tanto, los resultados ponen en evidencia las dificultades de desarrollar políticas regionales exitosas.Economía regional,

Creating Interactive Facilities Management Capabilities through Building Information Modelling as a tool for Managing the Irish Public Sector Estates

The Irish Government manages estates that are faced with increased pressure on their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as, poorly managed assets that leave it increasingly difficult for an effective Facilities Management (FM) process to be operated. The FM processes represents the most costly stage in the life-cycle of a building and must now take priority in the design process, as the operating and maintenance costs can be up to five times the capital costs, with the business operating costs reaching up to two hundred times the capital costs over the life of the building. In order for Ireland to realise a smarter and better equipped public estate that can respond to increased staffing demands, it is critical that a new dimension of FM be explored through Building Information Modelling (BIM). BIM could benefit decision-making in FM task by task and can be used as an FM tool specifically in relation to public estates to integrate digital descriptions of a built asset. BIM can increase performance, utilisation and financial information in the maintenance phase, as all the design and built asset information is still present in a single BIM model. The data collation methodology adopted by the authors in this paper included the use of a questionnaire survey that was designed and distributed in collaboration with the Irish Facilities Property Management sector. In addition the UK Government’s BIM and Soft Landings Policy will be investigated together with its applicability in the Irish AEC / FM sector. The research findings will strongly advocate that BIM can ensure a unique FM approach which can reduce life cycle costs and provide the Irish Government with a more enhanced estate