Anchor Self-Calibrating Schemes for UWB based Indoor Localization

Traditional indoor localization techniques that use Received Signal Strength or Inertial Measurement Units for dead-reckoning suffer from signal attenuation and sensor drift, resulting in inaccurate position estimates. Newly available Ultra-Wideband radio modules can measure distances at a centimeter-level accuracy while mitigating the effects of multipath propagation due to their very fine time resolution. Known locations of fixed anchor nodes are required to determine the position of tag nodes within an indoor environment. For a large system consisting of several anchor nodes spanning a wide area, physically mapping out the locations of each anchor node is a tedious task and thus makes the scalability of such systems difficult. Hence it is important to develop indoor localization systems wherein the anchors can self-calibrate by determining their relative positions in Euclidean 3D space with respect to each other. In this thesis, we propose two novel anchor self-calibrating algorithms - Triangle Reconstruction Algorithm (TRA) and Channel Impulse Response Positioning (CIRPos) that improve upon existing range-based implementations and solve existing problems such as flip ambiguity and node localization success rate. The localization accuracy and scalability of the self-calibrating anchor schemes are tested in a simulated environment based on the ranging accuracy of the Ultra-Wideband modules

The Altar of National Prosperity: Extractivism and Sacrifice Zones in Argentine Patagonia

The advances in extractive technologies in the 21st century has led to the creation of a new powerful global actor, the Multinational. These multinationals have no allegiance to a state, as earlier forms of capitalism did, rather they are ventures in the industries of agribusiness and mining that operate in countries throughout Latin America. These global actors are able to effectively dominate economies through the reprimarization of the countries that host them. Countries like Argentina have welcomed multinationals like Monsanto and Patagonia Gold into their territories, which has proven to be a detriment to the communities and environments in which they take place. These industries promise the creation of jobs, development of economies, and state revenue through taxes and royalties. Upon further inspection of these promises, it is revealed that these goals are misleading and these extractive operations are only able to succeed by preying on the preexisting social, political, and economic inequalities of communities in Argentina. I offer a vignette of socio-environmental conflicts that take place in rural, urban, and Indigenous communities. By analyzing these conflicts across space, identity reconfiguration and articulation such as that of the Mapuche in Río Negro is visibilized. As Mapuche and non-Mapuche community members come together to contest their positions within this extractive paradigm, the persisting logic and legacy of colonialism is revealed

Does Inward Foreign Direct Investment Boost the Productivity of Domestic Firms?

Are there productivity spillovers from FDI to domestic firms, and, if so, how much should host countries be willing to pay to attract FDI? To examine these questions we use a plant-level panel covering U.K. manufacturing from 1973 through 1992. Across a wide range of specifications, we estimate a significantly positive correlation between a domestic plant's TFP and the foreign-affiliate share of activity in that plant's industry. This is consistent with positive FDI spillovers. We do not generally find significant effects on plant TFP of the foreign-affiliate share of activity in that plant's region. Typical estimates suggest that a 10 percentage-point increase in foreign presence in a U.K. industry raises the TFP of that industry's domestic plants by about 0.5 percent. We also use these estimates to calculate the per-job value of these spillovers. These calculated values appear to be less than per-job incentives governments have granted in recent high-profile cases, in some cases several times less.Multinational firms, Foreign direct investment, Productivity spillovers

Does Inward Foreign Direct Investment Boost the Productivity of Domestic Firms?

Are there productivity spillovers from FDI to domestic firms, and, if so, how much should host countries be willing to pay to attract FDI? To examine these questions we use a plant-level panel covering U.K. manufacturing from 1973 through 1992. Across a wide range of specifications, we estimate a significantly positive correlation between a domestic plant's TFP and the foreign-affiliate share of activity in that plant's industry. This is consistent with positive FDI spillovers. We do not generally find significant effects on plant TFP of the foreign-affiliate share of activity in that plant's region. Typical estimates suggest that a 10 percentage-point increase in foreign presence in a U.K. industry raises the TFP of that industry's domestic plants by about 0.5 percent. We also use these estimates to calculate the per-job value of these spillovers. These calculated values appear to be less than per-job incentives governments have granted in recent high-profile cases, in some cases several times less.

Regularization and finiteness of the Lorentzian LQG vertices

We give an explicit form for the Lorentzian vertices recently introduced for possibly defining the dynamics of loop quantum gravity. As a result of so doing, a natural regularization of the vertices is suggested. The regularized vertices are then proven to be finite. An interpretation of the regularization in terms of a gauge-fixing is also given.Comment: 16 pages; Added an appendix presenting the gauge-fixing interpretation, added three references, and made some minor change

Fixed effects and post-treatment bias in legacy studies

Pepinsky, Goodman, and Ziller (PGZ 2023) reassess a recent study on the long-term consequences of concentration camps in Germany (Homola, Pereira, and Tavits 2020). The authors conclude that accounting for contemporary (i.e., post-treatment) state heterogeneity in the models provides unbiased estimates of the effects of camps on current-day outgroup intolerance. In this note we show that PGZ’s empirical strategy rests on (a) a mischaracterization of what regional fixed effects capture and (b) two unrealistic assumptions that can be avoided with pre-treatment state fixed effects. We further demonstrate that results from the original article remain substantively the same when we incorporate regional fixed effects correctly. Finally, simulations reveal that camp proximity consistently outperforms spatially correlated noise in this specific study. The note contributes to the growing literature on legacy studies by advancing the discussion about the correct modeling choices in this challenging field

Eficácia de Bacillus Thuringiensis no controle de Grapholita Molesta (Buck, 1916) e BOnagota Salubricola (Meyrick, 1937)(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) e identificação de biótipos por meio de bioensaios e infravermelho próximo

Resumo: Grapholita molesta e Bonagota salubricola são pragas principais pragas de macieira (Malus domestica, Borkh). Os danos são causados pelas larvas que inviabilizam a comercialização e o consumo in natura de frutos. O método de controle mais comum para estes tortricideos é químico, sendo uma alternativa de menor impacto ambiental o uso de microrganismos entomopatógenos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar a eficácia de controle em períodos diferentes de avaliação de mortalidade para Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk, Dipel®), B. thuringiesis aizawai (Bta, Xentari®) e transconjugado B. thuringiensis aizawai x kurstaki (Btak, Agree®) no controle G. molesta e B. salubricola, comparar a eficácia entre Bacillus e verificar a ocorrência de biótipos de G. molesta através de infravermelho próximo e bioensaios com Btk utilizando cinco populações. As populações de ambos os insetos foram coletadas no campo e mantidas em dieta artificial. Os bioensaios foram realizados utilizando microplacas. Em cada poço da placa foram aplicados cerca de 150?l de dieta artificial, esta foi compactada para manter a superfície plana. Em seguida foram adicionados 6?l de calda sobre a dieta contendo os três Bacillus. Foram utilizadas sete concentrações mais uma testemunha com aplicação de água. Após aproximadamente 20 minutos foi colocada uma larva neonata por poço da placa e em seguida a mesma foi fechada com parafilme. As placas com larvas de B. salubricola foram mantidas em estufa com fotoperíodo (Eletrolab) com UR 60 ± 10%, temperatura de 24 ± 2°C, fotoperíodo de 14 horas, para larvas de G. molesta, as placas foram mantidas com UR 60 ± 10%, temperatura de 21 ± 2°C e fotoperíodo de 16 horas. A mortalidade de B. salubricola foi registrada sete, dez e quinze dias após tratamento e para G. molesta a sete e dez dias. A eficácia de controle entre Bacillus foi comparada ao décimo dia para as duas espécies. Simultaneamente a verificação da morte das larvas foram registrados os instares em que as larvas se encontravam através da contagem das capsulas cefálicas. Para verificação de suscetibilidade de G. molesta, a mortalidade nas cinco populações foi registrada ao décimo dia após tratamento. A diferenciação dos cinco biótipos de G. molesta foi realizada através de leituras das pupas com infravermelho próximo (NIR). Os resultados encontrados indicam que nas condições experimentais a qual às larvas foram submetidas o décimo dia foi ideal para avaliação de mortalidade para B. salubricola e G. molesta. B. thuringiensis kurstaki foi mais eficaz no controle de B. salubricola, para G. molesta B. thuringiensis kurstaki e B. thuringiensis aizawai x kurstaki foram mais eficientes, não diferindo estatisticamente. O desenvolvimento larval das duas espécies foi afetado por doses subletais dos três Bacillus em relação a testemunha. Foi possível diferenciar as cinco populações de G. molesta através de infravermelho próximo, entretanto, com os bioensaios dois grupos foram formados