Count the Limbs: Designing Robust Aggregation Clauses in Sovereign Bonds

On August 29, 2014, the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) published new recommended terms for sovereign bond contracts governed by English law. One of the new terms would allow a super majority of creditors to approve a debtor’s restructuring proposal in one vote across multiple bond series. The vote could bind all bond holders, even if a series voted unanimously against restructuring, so long as enough holders in the other series voted for it. An apparently technical change, awkwardly named “single-limb aggregated collective action clauses (CACs)” promised to eliminate free-riders for the first time in the history of sovereign bond restructuring. It could also open up new possibilities for abuse. The markets might have rebelled. Instead, they yawned … and proceeded to adopt the new terms. We consider why such consequential contract change met with less resistance than its relatively modest predecessors, series-by-series and two-limb aggregated CACs. We focus on contract design, and the process by which it came about. Most of the essay is devoted to analyzing the key features of single-limb aggregated CACs and the considerations that shaped decisions about these features. We conclude with observations on contract reform in sovereign debt restructuring and the challenges ahead

Oom Bop Bop Good Vibrations: the use of sensory feedback to create motion inhibition

The use of suits that restrict or inhibit joint motion have been used to aid the design of various kinds of products from cars to wheelchairs and kitchen equipment. Their principal aim has been to allow designers and engineers to understand what it is like to use these products as an older person might use them, effectively prematurely ageing the user. Such suits have been highly successful but suffer several limitations in their use. In using mechanical stiffeners on the joints such as the stiffening effect of the suits depends on the strength of the user; weaker users will find their range of motion reduced more than stronger users. This also raises the question of the sensitivity of such suits; in reality motion restriction may be linked to pain and discomfort hence motion restriction is likely to be more psychological and musko-skeletal than current suits provide. Work has been ongoing at SHU to develop a suit that restricts motion by providing sensory feedback to the user. Specialist software was developed which set motion limits to goniometers which in turn would make motors vibrate if those limits were reached. This work outlines the development of this suit and initial applications for which it has been used

Digital Museum Consortia: A Prototype for Interconnected and Accessible Database Design

The evolution of the internet and devices allowing access to it indicate that users trend toward networking and interconnectivity in their daily lives. Museums have started to tread into this territory—that is, crafting, managing, and maintaining an effective internet presence and ancillary content tools—on their own. However, many museums still rely upon the earliest types of education and interpretation tools, such as audio tours and recordings that address content from one collection. Moving beyond a single institution’s holdings, a shared database of museum content including photos of artifacts and objects, historic documents, and videos would allow users to examine pieces they enjoy and to find similar works at other locations. A single application providing museum collection capabilities and visitor access would benefit both sides. To support this claim, this thesis first provides a literature review of application use in museums that is supplemented by statistics of visitor use of museum mobile offerings. This historical overview yields a list of needs, interests, and obstacles to such an interconnective model. The third section constitutes the building blocks of such a model: database design, application design, and a web-accessible mirror site which are visualized in the prototyped content. The fourth section hypothesizes the future and expected impact of a shared network topology

A smartphone based system for kite and board measurements in kitesurfing

This study introduces a smartphone based measurement system to obtain dynamic parameters of board and kite during kitesurfing. A built-in GPS receiver tracked the path and speed of the kitesurfer. Orientation values from inertial sensors in the smartphones attached to the kite were used to visualise kite movement patterns through projection onto the surface of a sphere. Ring transducers on kite lines measured forces acting between the kite and kitesurfer. The measurement system was tested with one participant. The total distance covered was 6654 m at an average speed of 8.17 m/s. Accelerations during a jump were evaluated to estimate jump height and duration. Board orientations and kite movements were found to be reasonable and in alignment with video recordings. Kite steering and lift force traces comprehensibly described the interaction between kitesurfer and kite. Jump parameters were in agreement with visual observations

In The Rose Room Bowl

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3918/thumbnail.jp

The reliability of a tapping test as an indicator of cricket bat performance

Within the sport of cricket it is common practice for players to tap the blade of a bat with a hard wood mallet or cricket ball to gauge its potential playing performance. This subjective assessment can produce contradictory opinions on the same bat. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the ‘tapping’ test in rating the potential performance of cricket bats. This was done by comparing a measurable performance indicator (apparent coefficient of restitution, ACoR) to player assessment. Twenty experienced amateur and semi-pro cricketers completed a scaled-response questionnaire to describe the sound and feel of impact during the ‘tapping’ test, and rate the predicted performance. Correlations between player responses and ACoR were explored. Predicted bat performance by three out of twenty participants showed correlation with ACoR. It was concluded that the tapping test is not a reliable measure of bat performance across the study population. There are indications that individuals can correctly differentiate bats, but there is clear evidence that they also make errors. A further study with a larger number of participants and an exploration of the relative influence of sensory response will yield further insights to this pilot study

Large scale, long-term, high granularity measurement of active travel using smartphones apps

Accurate, long-term data are needed in order to determine trends in active travel, to examine the effectiveness of any interventions and to quantify the health, social and economic consequences of active travel. However, most studies of individual travel behaviour have either used self-report (which is limited in detail and open to bias), or provided logging devices for short periods, so lack the ability to monitor long-term trends. We have developed apps using participants’ own smartphones (Android or iOS) that monitor and feed-back individual user’s physical activity whilst the phone is carried or worn. The nature, time and location of any physical activity are uploaded to a secure survey and allow researchers to identify large scale behaviour. Pilot data from almost 2000 users have been logged and are reported. This constitutes a natural experiment, collecting long-term physical activity, transport mode and route choice information across a large cross-section of users

Recognising human activity in free-living using multiple body-worn accelerometers

Objectives: Recognising human activity is very useful for an investigator about a patient's behaviour and can aid in prescribing activity in future recommendations. The use of body worn accelerometers has been demonstrated to be an accurate measure of human activity, however research looking at the use of multiple body worn accelerometers in a free living environment to recognise a wide range of activities is not evident. This study aimed to successfully recognise activity and sub-category activity types through the use of multiple body worn accelerometers in a free living environment. Method: Ten participants (Age = 23.1 ± 1.7 years, height =171.0 ± 4.7 cm, mass = 78.2 ± 12.5 Kg) wore nine body-worn accelerometers for a day of free living. Activity type was identified through the use of a wearable camera, and sub category activities were quantified through a combination of free-living and controlled testing. A variety of machine learning techniques consisting of pre-processing algorithms, feature and classifier selections were tested, accuracy and computing time were reported. Results: A fine k-nearest neighbour classifier with mean and standard deviation features of unfiltered data reported a recognition accuracy of 97.6%. Controlled and free-living testing provided highly accurate recognition for sub-category activities (>95.0%). Decision tree classifiers and maximum features demonstrated to have the lowest computing time. Conclusions: Results show recognition of activity and sub-category activity types is possible in a free living environment through the use of multiple body worn accelerometers. This method can aid in prescribing recommendations for activity and sedentary periods for healthy living