Migrant networks and foreign direct investment

While there exists sizeable literature documenting the importance of ethnic networks for international trade, little attention has been devoted to studying the effects of networks on foreign direct investment (FDI). The existence of ethnic networks may positively affect FDI by promoting information flows across international borders and by serving as a contract enforcement mechanism. This paper investigates the link between the presence of migrants in the United States and U.S. FDI in the migrants'countries of origin, taking into account the potential endogeneity concerns. The results suggest that U.S. FDI abroad is positively correlated with the presence of migrants from the host country. The data further indicate that the relationship between FDI and migration is driven by the presence of migrants with a college education.Population Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement,Anthropology,Human Migrations&Resettlements

WebASRS – a Web-based Tool for Modeling and Design of Abstract Unit-load Picking Systems

This paper describes a web-based tool that supports the modeling and design of abstract unit-load picking systems. The term “abstract” implies that the model is not specific to any equipment or vendors’ products, but, instead, focuses on the generic system components such as pallets, racks, slots, forklifts, cranes, etc. that comprise typical unitload picking systems. The objectives of the tool are to support the design of an AS/RSbased or a manual forklift-based picking system based on a set of design parameters and to be able to convert from an AS/RS design to a flat warehouse design and vice versa. The research objective is to design the formal model (the data structure and operational description) that supports the conversion from one type to the other and supports the generation of static and dynamic analysis models and the recording of the analysis results. The web implementation uses a mix of XML, HTML, JavaScript and PHP and implements two existing analysis methodologies from the literatur

Calculated and Observed Settlements of Multistory Building Founded on Loess

ln the Paper are presented the results of laboratory and field tests which were carried out on loess soil in Belgrade In order to determine the type of the foundation for the 13-storey building a preliminary investigation was made. In this phase of investigation exploratory borings and sampling were performed in a standard way. On the basis of the available laboratory and field test results it was concluded that the soil was made of macro porous land loess 14-20 m in thickness. lt was found that the loess on this location had the dry density varying between the limits γd = 15.5 - 15.8 kN/m3. Considering that the subsoil has high values of dry density, the designer adopted the shallow foundations. At the end of the period of three years one part of the building settled considerably and the differential settlements reached very high values. Due to the significant values of the angular distortion the building was seriously damaged. By additional investigation the undisturbed loess samples were cut from blocks and the laboratory results have shown much lower values of the deformation parameters than those obtained in the preliminary investigations. Using the deformation parameters and the coefficients of subsidence for the undisturbed samples cut from blocks, a very good agreement between the calculated and observed settlement was obtained

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot to Kill a Fly? Patent Enforcement and Market for Technology

The U.S. patent policy has been subjected to fundamental changes over the last several years and further patent reforms are about to enter the U.S. Congressional calendar. After the enactment of the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2011, the U.S. Congress is willing to resume the patent reform to pass an additional legislation to prevent abusive patent litigation. Supporters of the patent reform assert that it would retrench costly lawsuits, reduce patent abuses, and stimulate innovation. Opponents of the patent reform argue to the contrary that it would depress patent value and stifle innovation. How these ongoing legislative changes have influenced the patent enforcement strength and, in turn, firms’ incentives to patent and engage in technology trade is an open question and the main interest of this study. As Teece (1986) defines, the patent system refers to the environmental factors that govern an innovator's ability to capture the profits generated by an innovation such as the efficacy of legal mechanisms of protection. Gambardella, Guiri & Luzzi (2007) claim that ‘patents are stronger if they are well enforced by the judicial system’. Therefore, patent enforcement plays a key role in determining the strength of a patent system. In this study, I try to answer the following research questions: How does the patent enforcement strength affect firms’ patenting decisions? What is the impact of patent enforcement strength on the functioning of market for technology? In doing so, I exploit a recent shift in the U.S. patent policy reflected in an exemplary U.S. Supreme Court decision, i.e. eBay v. MercExchange (2006), to present how the weakening of patent enforcement affects the volume of patent applications and licensing agreements of U.S. firms, compared to European firms, in intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries. This research aims at contributing new insights to the market for technology literature by depicting the relationship between patent enforcement strength and firms’ incentives to patent and engage in technology trade. For this purpose, it provides systematic evidence on a large dataset to address an important and controversial debate in the literature

Interleukin (IL)–12 and IL-23 Are Key Cytokines for Immunity against Salmonella in Humans

Patients with inherited deficiency of the interleukin (IL)–12/IL-23–interferon (IFN)–g axis show increased susceptibility to invasive disease caused by the intramacrophage pathogens salmonellae and mycobacteria. We analyzed data on 154 patients with such deficiency. Significantly more patients with IL-12/IL-23–component deficiency had a history of salmonella disease than did those with IFN-g–component deficiency. Salmonella disease was typically severe, extraintestinal, and caused by nontyphoidal serovars. These findings strongly suggest that IL-12/IL-23 is a key cytokine for immunity against salmonella in humans and that IL-12/IL-23 mediates this protective effect partly through IFN-g–independent pathways. Investigation of the IL-12/IL-23–IFN-g axis should be considered in patients with invasive salmonella disease

Capacity Gaps in Post Disaster Waste Management: Case Study in Sri Lanka

Disaster waste is one of the major consequences aftermath of any disaster, impacts on public and environment, rescue and emergency services, provision of lifeline support and socio-economic recovery of affected areas. Thus, management of wastes created by disasters has become an increasingly important issue to be addressed in responding to a disaster. This chapter intends to present the prevailing gaps in disaster waste management and approaches to minimize the impacts on disaster management at developing countries with special emphasis to Sri Lankan context. Findings revealed that, unavailability of single point responsibility and provisions for disaster waste in existing policies and capacity constraints of the prevailing peace time solid waste management practices as major capacity gaps. Establishment of a regulatory body and enforceable rules and regulations with necessary levels of capacities were identified with seven areas for capacity building for post disaster waste management. The research enabled to attain sustainable post disaster waste management for future resilience

Soft Graphene-Based Antennas for Ultrawideband Wireless Communication

Ensuring user-friendliness and the seamless integration of technology into the fabric is a key challenge both for academics and industry participants. Thus, textiles that provide a seamless command-oriented user interface, and are capable of wireless communication have been an increasingly popular topic in recent years. In the field of textile antennas, patch antennas either with the use of embroidering techniques, conductive fabrics or inkjet-printing are leading the way over traditional bulky antennas. However, there are still significant problems in additive antenna fabrication such as the need to use metallic components as the conductive element which quickly becoming corroded and oxidised and also lead to high material costs. The main objective of this study is to develop graphene-based antennas for smart textiles that push the state-of-the-art in wireless body-centric systems, by utilising traditional textile manufacturing techniques. Hence, this research suggests a graphene-based antenna on a textile substrate, where the conformity of the antenna is highly desirable for wearable and body-centric applications. The designed antenna consists of a coplanar-waveguide-fed planar inverted cone-shaped patch geometry, aiming at ultrawideband antennas that work in a wide spectrum from 3.1 to 10.6GHz