Inflation persistence in Central and Eastern European countries

This article studies inflation persistence with time-varying coefficient autoregressions for twelve central European countries, in comparison with the United States and the euro area. Inflation persistence tends to be higher in times of high inflation. Since the oil price shocks, inflation persistence has declined both in the US and the euro-area. In most central and eastern European countries, for which our study covers 1993-2012, inflation persistence has also declined, with the main exceptions of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, where persistence seems to be rather stable. These findings have implications for the conduct of monetary policy and for a possible membership in the euro area. We also conclude that the OLS estimate of an autoregression is likely upward biased relative to the time-average of time-varying parameters, when the parameters change

Multi-Agent Cooperation for Particle Accelerator Control

We present practical investigations in a real industrial controls environment for justifying theoretical DAI (Distributed Artificial Intelligence) results, and we discuss theoretical aspects of practical investigations for accelerator control and operation. A generalized hypothesis is introduced, based on a unified view of control, monitoring, diagnosis, maintenance and repair tasks leading to a general method of cooperation for expert systems by exchanging hypotheses. This has been tested for task and result sharing cooperation scenarios. Generalized hypotheses also allow us to treat the repetitive diagnosis-recovery cycle as task sharing cooperation. Problems with such a loop or even recursive calls between the different agents are discussed

Accuracy Assessment of Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images with Different Resolution Based Geodetic Reference Measurements

A különböző szakterületek eltérő tartalmú, méretarányú és felbontású térképeket igényelnek. A részükre történő adatszolgáltatást csak akkor tudjuk megbízhatóan megvalósítani, ha ismerjük a szolgáltatott adatok pontosságát. Ezek az értékek azonban különbözőek lehetnek, mivel a különböző adatbázisok felhasználásával készített térképekről eltérő pontosságú adatok nyerhetőek, elsősorban a méretarányukból, a felbontásukból adódóan. A kiértékelés révén nyert információk pontossága nemcsak a méretaránytól és a felbontástól függ, hanem attól is, hogy milyen tartalmat kívánunk interpretálni. Eltérő pontosság érhető el a tereptárgyak térképi és terepi meghatározása esetén, hiszen különböző pontossággal azonosíthatók centrumaik, tengelyeik vagy függőleges vetületeik. Elengedhetetlen tehát a kinyert adatok pontosságának és megbízhatóságának ismerete, hiszen ennek hiányában nem lehet meghatározni, hogy az adott feladatra vonatkozó pontossági követelményeknek, előírásoknak a felvételek eleget tesznek-e, vagy sem.Various specialist fields require maps of differing content, scale and resolution. Data can only be reliably provided for these clients if the accuracy of the data provided is known. These values however can be widely different as the data to be gained from maps created with the help of different data bases are also different largely due to the differences in scale and resolution. The accuracy of the information gained from the assessment does not, however, depend on scale and resolution only, but also on the content that we want to interpret. Cartographic and terrain definitions of landmarks may vary in accuracy since the identification of their centers, axes or vertical projections may also be of different accuracy. Knowledge of the accuracy and reliability of the data gleaned is therefore simply indispensable if we want to determine whether these photos comply with the accuracy requirements and specifications of the task at hand.d

A Rule-Based Consultant for Accelerator Beam Scheduling Used in the CERN PS Complex

The CERN PS accelerator complex consists of nine interacting accelerators which work together to produce particle beams for different end users, varying in particle type, energy, time structure, and geometry. The beam production schedule is time sliced and depends on the current operational requirements and dynamically on the accelerator status, so that production schedule changes occur in real time. Many potential schedules are not valid due to various system constraints and these constraints vary over time as new operational modes are introduced. In order to ensure that only valid schedules are given to the complex, an automated tool has been developed to indicate whether a potential schedule is valid or not. This presentation describes the method by which the validity of a beam schedule is determined and how this method was implemented using a rule-based approach based on SQL, avoiding the use of an expert system shell. Both the data to instantiate the rules and the rules themselves are kept in an Oracle data base. The SQL interpreter provides the inference engine for this knowledge-based system. A few examples are presented and the running experience with the tool is discussed

Beliefs and Conflicts in a Real World Multiagent System

In a real world multiagent system, where the agents are faced with partial, incomplete and intrinsically dynamic knowledge, conflicts are inevitable. Frequently, different agents have goals or beliefs that cannot hold simultaneously. Conflict resolution methodologies have to be adopted to overcome such undesirable occurrences. In this paper we investigate the application of distributed belief revision techniques as the support for conflict resolution in the analysis of the validity of the candidate beams to be produced in the CERN particle accelerators. This CERN multiagent system contains a higher hierarchy agent, the Specialist agent, which makes use of meta-knowledge (on how the conflicting beliefs have been produced by the other agents) in order to detect which beliefs should be abandoned. Upon solving a conflict, the Specialist instructs the involved agents to revise their beliefs accordingly. Conflicts in the problem domain are mapped into conflicting beliefs of the distributed belief revision system, where they can be handled by proven formal methods. This technique builds on well established concepts and combines them in a new way to solve important problems. We find this approach generally applicable in several domains

The Businesses and the Innovations of Adolf Engel in the Second Half of the 19th Century

The purpose of the study. The study is about the businesses of Adolf Engel, a local entrepreneur of Pécs in the 19th century. The study is focused on finding answers to three main questions. Firstly, in what ways did Adolf Engel’s career differ from other great entrepreneurs of Pécs, such as Zsolnay, Angster or Hamerli? Secondly, how big was Engel’s impact on the local economy and how did he tackle the charcoal crisis by establishing industrial coal mining in Komló? Finally, what kind of innovations did he use and what were their effects? Applied methods. The research is based upon a wide range of sources. A great volume of domestic and international literature and the memoirs of Adolf Engel provided the background of the study. I used statistics of the era and I read numerous articles found in the Arcanum Digitheca and Hungarian Cultural Heritage Portal databases. Furthermore, I revealed and analysed archival sources of the Regional Archives of Baranya County of the National Archives of Hungary. I composed the study in chronological order and have summed up Engel’s work. Outcomes. By the end of the study, I was able to reflect on the differences of Adolf Engel’s entrepreneurial career. He managed multiple businesses in different sectors at the same time. He successfully participated in the development of the local economy and took part in solving the energy crisis. He applied several unusual innovations, but their outcome was undoubtedly positive and successful. Engels’s efforts are clearly telling of the career of a self-made businessman

Through the kaleidoscope: media consumption patterns in the participatory cross-media era

The paper aims to identify actual media audiences of different mass- and non-mass media types through identifying those audience clusters consuming not different but differentiable media mixes. A major concern of the study is to highlight the transformation of mass media audiences when technology, digitalization and participation behaviors are able to reshape traditional audience forms and media diets, which may directly affect the traditional media value chain and in turn the thinking and decision making of media managers. Through such a kaleidoscope the authors examined media use and consumption patterns using an online self-reported questionnaire. They developed different media consumer clusters as well as media consumption mixes. Based on the results of the study the authors can state that internet use is today’s main base of media consumption, and as such it is becoming the real mass media, replacing television. However this “new” media has a completely different structure, being more fragmented with smaller audience reach. At the same time, television is keeping its audience. However, there are emerging segments self-reporting non- or light television viewing. This is how the question of the viewer-television relation among different television viewer clusters evolves. At the same time only gaming exhibited demographic differentiation of audiences based on gender

Integrating Web Services into Agentcities

This document describes how to make Web Services available to agents in an Agentcities environment and how to make agent-based services available to Web Service servers in a Web Services environment