Handle with Care: Umbrella Clauses and MFN Treatment in Investment Arbitration

A large number of BITs concluded by France contain quite a peculiar clause (for instance Article 10 BIT with Argentina), which has been recently the object of questionable interpretations and applications in EDF International S.A. et al. v. Argentina and Mr. Franck Charles Arif v. Moldova. Both tribunals allowed the claimants to benefit, through the MNF clause, from umbrella clauses contained in BITs with third States. It is argued that neither tribunal has rigorously interpreted the relevant provisions in the basic treaty, nor ensured compliance with the ejusdem generis principle. The legal uncertainty that surrounds these provisions is detrimental for foreign investors and States alike. Concerned States should consider taking the measures necessary to clarify, jointly or individually, the content of these provisions and of the obligations stemming from them

Identification of transverse crack position and depth in rotor systems

This paper introduces a method for the identification of the position and the depth of a transverse crack in a rotor system, by using vibration measurements. As it is reported in literature and from field experience, a transverse crack modifies the dynamic behaviour of the rotor, generating in a horizontal axis shaft periodical vibrations with 1x, 2x and 3x rev. components. A model based diagnostic approach and a least squares identification method in the frequency domain are used for the crack localisation along the rotor. The crack depth is calculated by comparing the static bending moment, due to the rotor weight and to the bearing alignment conditions, to the identified “equivalent” periodical bending moment, which simulates the crack. Finally, the validation of the proposed method is carried out statically and dynamically by means of experimental results obtained on a test rig

The Okun Misery Index in the European Union Countries from 2000 to 2009

The study is composed of four main parts and a summary. The first part, introduction, discusses various measures of the economic system's efficiency that are used in practice. Part two emphasises that the GDP per capita according to purchasing power parity still remains the most popular among those measures. Further, it presents the ranking of the European Union countries taking that measure into account, the research period being 1999-2009. Part three points out that it is also the level of poverty (misery) that determines the economic system's efficiency. That level can be measured by means of various indicators, among others, the so called HPI-2 index calculated by the UN. It will be the Okun misery index, however, computed as the sum of inflation and unemployment rates that will be presented as an alternative being of interest from the macroeconomic point of view. The ranking of the European Union member states according to that measure in the 2000-2004 and 2005-2009 periods will be provided in part four. The article will end in a summary containing synthetic conclusions drawn from earlier observations.Opracowanie składa się z czterech części zasadniczych i podsumowania. W punkcie pierwszym omówiono różnorodne mierniki sprawności systemu gospodarczego wykorzystywane w praktyce. W części drugiej podkreślono, iż nadal najpopularniejszym z nich jest PKB per capita według parytetu siły nabywczej. Zgodnie z tym miernikiem przedstawiono ranking państw Unii Europejskiej w latach 1999-2009. W punkcie trzecim podkreślono, że o sprawności systemu gospodarczego decyduje także poziom ubóstwa. Może być on mierzony różnymi wskaźnikami, m.in. tzw. indeksem HPI-2 obliczanym przez ONZ. Jako ciekawą z makroekonomicznego punktu widzenia alternatywę ukazano jednak miarę wskaźnika ubóstwa Okuna obliczanego poprzez zsumowanie stopy inflacji i stopy bezrobocia. Ranking państw Unii Europejskiej według tej miary w okresach 2000-2004 oraz 2005-2009 zaprezentowano w części czwartej. Całość zamknięto podsumowaniem, w którym zawarto syntetyczne wnioski z przeprowadzonych obserwacji

Relationships among classifications of ayurvedic medicine diagnostics for imbalances and western measures of psychological states: An exploratory study.

BackgroundAccording to Ayurveda, the traditional medical system of India, doshas are a combination of characteristics based on a five-element philosophy that drive our mental and physical tendencies. When the doshas, or functional principles, are out of balance in quality or quantity, wellbeing is adversely affected and symptoms manifest.ObjectiveThis study examined relationships among imbalances in the doshas (termed Vikruti) reported via questionnaire and Western measures of psychological states.Materials and methodsStudy participants were 101 women (n = 81) and men (n = 20), mean age 53.9 years (SD = 11.7; range 32-80). Participants completed questionnaires to categorize their Vikruti type and psychological states, which included depressed mood (CESD), anxiety (PROMIS), rumination & reflection (RRQ), mindfulness (MAAS), stress (PSS), and quality of life (Ryff).ResultsMultivariate general linear modeling, controlling for age, gender and body mass index (BMI), showed that Vata imbalance was associated with more anxiety (p ≤ 0.05), more rumination (p ≤ 0.01), less mindfulness (p ≤ 0.05), and lower overall quality of life (p ≤ 0.01). Pitta imbalance was associated with poorer mood (p ≤ 0.01) and less mindfulness (p ≤ 0.05), more anxiety (p ≤ 0.05) and stress (p ≤ 0.05). Kapha imbalance was associated with more stress (p ≤ 0.05), more rumination (p ≤ 0.05) and less reflection (p ≤ 0.05).ConclusionThese findings suggest that symptoms of mind-body imbalances in Ayurveda are differentially associated with western assessments of psychological states. Ayurvedic dosha assessment may be an effective way to assess physical as well as emotional wellbeing in research and clinical settings

Explaining Africa’s public consumption procyclicality : revisiting old evidence

This paper compiles a novel dataset of time-varying measures of government consumption cyclicality for a panel of 46 African economies between 1960 and 2014. Government consumption has, generally, been highly procyclical over time in this group of countries. However, sample averages hide serious heterogeneity across countries with the majority of them showing procyclical behavior despite some positive signs of graduation from the “procyclicality trap” in a few cases. By means of weighted least squares regressions, we find that more developed African economies tend to have a smaller degree of government consumption procyclicality. Countries with higher social fragmentation and those are more reliant on foreign aid inflows tend to have a more procyclical government consumption policy. Better governance promotes counter- cyclical fiscal policy whileincreased democracy dampens it. Finally, some fiscal rules are important in curbing the procyclical behavior of government consumption.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection and genotype frequency in the oral mucosa of newborns in Milan, Italy

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cutaneous and mucosal infections in both adults and children. In order to evaluate HPV prevalence and the spectrum of genotypes in the oral cavity of paediatric subjects, a retrospective study was carried out on oral-pharyngeal swabs collected from 177 newborns aged 0-6months. HPV-DNA was detected by a nested-PCR; the viral typing was made through DNA sequencing. HPV infection was identified in 25 subjects (14.1%) and the sequence analysis showed eight distinct genotypes. These data confirm HPV detection in newborn oral mucosa. Further investigations are needed to clarify the methods of HPV acquisition

Autonomous Raman Amplifiers using Standard Integrated Network Equipment

Practical needs related to infrastructure management are driving optical network operators to include Raman amplification in order to improve the performance of long fiber spans. Compared to standard erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) management, Raman amplifiers require a greater degree of control and monitoring due to their distributed nature. Inevitably, this update leads to a key consideration; the introduction of additional telemetry devices with respect to standard EDFA photodiodes, resulting in an increase in required investments. In this work, we present an embedded controller architecture in combination with an ad-hoc probing procedure to manage Raman amplification within disaggregated optical networks, using only standard integrated equipment, allowing an efficient implementation without the introduction of optical channel monitors (OCMs). This proposal is validated using a fully representative experimental campaign, testing both the probing procedure on a single fiber span and the operation of a Raman amplifier using the extracted information

Biochem Soc Trans

Abnormal protein aggregation and intracellular or extracellular accumulation of misfolded and aggregated proteins are key events in the pathogenesis of different neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, endoplasmic reticulum stress and impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasome system probably contribute to neurodegeneration in these diseases. A characteristic feature of AD (Alzheimer's disease) is the abnormal accumulation of Abeta (amyloid beta-peptide) in the brain. Evidence shows that the AD-associated PS (presenilin) also forms aggregates under certain conditions and that another AD-associated protein, ubiquilin-1, controls protein aggregation and deposition of aggregated proteins. Here, we review the current knowledge of ubiquilin-1 and PS in protein aggregation and related events that potentially influence neurodegeneration