The ground based study of clouds

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Inflation differentials in the euro area : size, causes, economic policy implications and relative position of Belgium

Both the size and the persistence of inflation differentials in the euro area have been the subject of a large number of studies in recent years. These studies have tried to determine the causes of these differentials as well as their implications not only for the implementation of the common monetary policy but also in terms of the macroeconomic policies needed at the country level. Indeed, since the start of Stage Three of the EMU, countries can no longer correct country-specific imbalances or idiosyncratic shocks through changing their national monetary policy stance. As a consequence, it may be deemed fit, in some cases, to take appropriate policy measures aimed at reducing inflation differentials. The article tackles the case of Belgium, in which country the inflation differentials vis-à-vis the euro area appear to be relatively small and do not seem to show any persistence or any systematic upward or downward bias. However, empirical studies based on the “Balassa-Samuelson” theory have concluded that Belgium should be prone to a relatively high inflation rate. This theory holds that, on restrictive assumptions, a real appreciation (or positive inflation differential) is generated in countries showing the most rapid growth of the productivity differential between the traded and non-traded goods sectors. The article goes into those rather surprising results. The authors observed a pronounced increase of relative productivity in Belgium and a strong positive correlation between relative productivity and relative prices, measured by the value added deflator, which proves to be consistent with the theory and the results of previous studies. These studies have typically assumed that the tradable sector showed purchasing power parity. In that case, the pronounced increase in relative prices has strong implications for the real exchange rate (or inflation differentials). However, the authors found empirical evidence against this hypothesis in the Belgian case. Indeed, the real exchange rate in the tradable sector depreciated strongly in the seventies and the early eighties. This depreciation in the tradable sector offset the impact of the positive relative price differential, causing the real exchange rate for the economy as a whole to be relatively stable. Belgium should therefore not be an economy prone to high inflation. As the HICP is the main indicator monitored by the European monetary authorities, it was important to examine whether such conclusions could also be drawn for the consumer price index. The authors found similar results, namely a stable real exchange rate for the Belgian economy as a whole during the period under review and, therefore, the absence of any structural reason for inflation to be systematically higher in Belgium. It may thus be concluded that significant and persistent inflation differentials between Belgium and the euro area or a systematic bias in any particular direction are unlikely and, therefore, that the European monetary policy is appropriate for the Belgian economy in the current environment.Real exchange rates, Inflation differentials, Balassa-Samuelson effect, European Monetary Union

Low sidelobe level low-cost earth station antennas for the 12 GHz broadcasting satellite service

An experimental investigation of the performance of 1.22 m and 1.83 m diameter paraboloid antennas with an f/D ratio of 0.38 and using a feed developed by Kumar is reported. It is found that sidelobes below 30 dB can be obtained only if the paraboloids are relatively free of surface errors. A theoretical analysis of clam shell distortion shows that this is a limiting factor in achieving low sidelobe levels with many commercially available low cost paraboloids. The use of absorbing pads and small reflecting plates for sidelobe reduction is also considered

Coaxial prime focus feeds for paraboloidal reflectors

A TE11 - TM11 dual mode coaxial feed for use in prime focus paraboloidal antenna systems is investigated. The scattering matrix parameters of the internal bifurcation junction was determined by the residue calculus technique. The scattering parameters and radiation fields of the aperture were found from the Weinstein solution. The optimum modeing ratio for minimum cross-polarization was determined along with the corresponding optimum feed dimensions. A peak cross-polarization level of -58 dB is predicted. The frequency characteristics were also investigated and a bandwidth of 5% is predicted over which the cross-polarization remains below -30 dB, the input VSWR is below 1.15, and the phase error is less than 10 deg. Theoretical radiation patterns and efficiency curves for a paraboloidal reflector illuminated by this feed were computed. The predicted sidelobe level is below -30 dB and aperture efficiencies greater than 70% are possible. Experimental results are also presented that substantiates the theoretical results. In addition, experimental results for a 'short-cup' coaxial feed are given. The report includes extensive design data for the dual-mode feed along with performance curves showing cross-polarization as a function of feed parameters. The feed is useful for low-cost ground based receiving antennas for use in direct television satellite broadcasting service

MalStone: Towards A Benchmark for Analytics on Large Data Clouds

Developing data mining algorithms that are suitable for cloud computing platforms is currently an active area of research, as is developing cloud computing platforms appropriate for data mining. Currently, the most common benchmark for cloud computing is the Terasort (and related) benchmarks. Although the Terasort Benchmark is quite useful, it was not designed for data mining per se. In this paper, we introduce a benchmark called MalStone that is specifically designed to measure the performance of cloud computing middleware that supports the type of data intensive computing common when building data mining models. We also introduce MalGen, which is a utility for generating data on clouds that can be used with MalStone

The People\u27s Republic of China and the Global Class War

This thesis attempts to provide a more sufficient understanding of post-reform China’s position in global political economic space than the understandings and conceptions that currently exist in geography and the broader critical social sciences and humanities. This thesis argues that post-reform China is best understood through the global class war framework. The global class war does not conceive post-reform China as “imperialist,” “neoliberal,” or even “capitalist.” Instead the framework understands post-reform China as a social formation that is simply attempting to arise within a global political economic system that is dominated by the global imperialist class camp. Additionally, the global class war sees China’s state apparatus and the Chinese Communist Party as agents that actually resist neoliberalism in general, rather than being “neoliberal.” This thesis also argues that the Chinese Communist Party should be at the center of any analysis of China’s political economy because of the role the Party plays in the Chinese social formation historically and presently

Observations of the variation of precipitation electricity with height

Previous workers have found evidence of negative space charge in continuous rain and that the precipitation current was greater at a height of 30 m than at ground level. An investigation into these effects was carried out by making measurements of the precipitation current and potential gradient at the top of a mast and simultaneously at ground level. Unfortunately the investigation was brought to a premature end and the potential gradient measurements were rendered ambiguous through difficulties encoutered when calibrating the instrument to be on the mast. It was possible however to detect the presence of some space charge. The current at the top of the mast was found to be several times greater than that at the ground and their variations did not correspond exactly, suggesting that some charging process was operating in the lower 30 m of the atmosphere