Implementation of Ururguay Round commitments : the development challenge

At the Uruguay Round, developing countries took on unprecedented obligations not only to reduce trade barriers, but to implement significant reforms both of trade procedures, e.g., import licensing procedures, customs valuation and of many areas of regulation that establish the basic business environment in the domestic economy, e.g., technical, sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS), intellectual property law. Implementing such reforms are investment decisions in that implementation will require purchase of equipment, training of people, establishment of systems of checks and balances, etc. This will cost money and the amounts of money involved are substantial. Based on World Bank project experience in the areas covered by the agreements, an entire year's development budget is at stake in many of the least developed countries. Least developed country institutions in these areas are weak, and would benefit from strengthening and reform. However, the authors'analysis indicates that the World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations reflect little awareness of development problems and little appreciation of the capacities of the least developed countries to carry out the functions that SPS, customs valuation, intellectual property, etc. regulations address. The content of these obligations can be characterized as the advanced countries saying to the others,"Do it my way!"The authors touch at the beginning on another important point. Because of their limited capacity to participate in the Uruguay Round negotiations, the WTO process has generated no sense of"ownership"of the reforms to which WTO membership obligates them. From their perspective, the implementation exercise has been imposed in an imperial way, with little concern for what it will cost, how it will be done, or if it will support their development efforts.Economic Theory&Research,Judicial System Reform,Rules of Origin,Environmental Economics&Policies,Customs Administration,Economic Theory&Research,Rules of Origin,Trade and Regional Integration,Environmental Economics&Policies,Customs Administration

Electromagnetic finite elements based on a four-potential variational principle

Electromagnetic finite elements based on a variational principle that uses the electromagnetic four-potential as a primary variable are derived. This choice is used to construct elements suitable for downstream coupling with mechanical and thermal finite elements for the analysis of electromagnetic/mechanical systems that involve superconductors. The main advantages of the four-potential as a basis for finite element formulation are that the number of degrees of freedom per node remains modest as the problem dimensionally increases, that jump discontinuities on interfaces are naturally accommodated, and that statics as well as dynamics may be treated without any a priori approximations. The new elements are tested on an axisymmetric problem under steady state forcing conditions. The results are in excellent agreement with analytical solutions

Analysis of superconducting electromagnetic finite elements based on a magnetic vector potential variational principle

Electromagnetic finite elements are extended based on a variational principle that uses the electromagnetic four potential as primary variable. The variational principle is extended to include the ability to predict a nonlinear current distribution within a conductor. The extension of this theory is first done on a normal conductor and tested on two different problems. In both problems, the geometry remains the same, but the material properties are different. The geometry is that of a 1-D infinite wire. The first problem is merely a linear control case used to validate the new theory. The second problem is made up of linear conductors with varying conductivities. Both problems perform well and predict current densities that are accurate to within a few ten thousandths of a percent of the exact values. The fourth potential is then removed, leaving only the magnetic vector potential, and the variational principle is further extended to predict magnetic potentials, magnetic fields, the number of charge carriers, and the current densities within a superconductor. The new element produces good results for the mean magnetic field, the vector potential, and the number of superconducting charge carriers despite a relatively high system condition number. The element did not perform well in predicting the current density. Numerical problems inherent to this formulation are explored and possible remedies to produce better current predicting finite elements are presented

Study of theory and applicability of laser technique for measuring atmospheric parameters Interim scientific report

Theory and applicability of laser energy interactions for measuring atmospheric parameter

Image denoising with multi-layer perceptrons, part 1: comparison with existing algorithms and with bounds

Image denoising can be described as the problem of mapping from a noisy image to a noise-free image. The best currently available denoising methods approximate this mapping with cleverly engineered algorithms. In this work we attempt to learn this mapping directly with plain multi layer perceptrons (MLP) applied to image patches. We will show that by training on large image databases we are able to outperform the current state-of-the-art image denoising methods. In addition, our method achieves results that are superior to one type of theoretical bound and goes a large way toward closing the gap with a second type of theoretical bound. Our approach is easily adapted to less extensively studied types of noise, such as mixed Poisson-Gaussian noise, JPEG artifacts, salt-and-pepper noise and noise resembling stripes, for which we achieve excellent results as well. We will show that combining a block-matching procedure with MLPs can further improve the results on certain images. In a second paper, we detail the training trade-offs and the inner mechanisms of our MLPs

Atmospheric nitric oxide measurement techniques Final report

Optical radar technique for measuring vertical density distribution of neutral nitric oxide in earth atmospher

Evaluation of novel cross -linking agents for gelatin/collagen matrices

Useful for drug delivery systems, natural polymer matrix systems, such as gelatin, have been formulated for localized drug delivery. The main limitations of gelatin are its extensive swelling, rapid dissolution and drug release. To slow drug release, chemical cross-linking agents have been used to form relatively non-soluble networks. Sucrose and fructose were used as cross-linking agents in a gelatin-based matrix. Additional studies evaluated two process variables: casting and curing (ambient or refrigerated temperatures, vacuum drying and lyophilization) methods. The optimized gelatin/sugar matrices were then compared to varying concentrations of gelatin/formaldehyde matrices. Matrix erosion studies were completed to monitor percent swelling and maintenance of physical integrity. Thermal analysis studies were performed to thermally characterize the matrices. Optimized formulations were loaded with drug and the release profiles of these matrices were characterized and compared. Qualitative and quantitative studies were completed, under sink and non-sink conditions. Diffusion based models were applied for identification of the mechanisms controlling drug release from these matrices.;The use of native sugars as cross-linking agents enhances matrix performance and overall stability while decreasing the risks associated with aldehydes. It was determined that lyophilization provided optimum matrix curing. The use of ethanol as a dispersing agent offered little advantage over water. Comparison of gelatin/sugar and gelatin/formaldehyde matrices demonstrated that the sugars decrease the swelling of the matrix, but do not maintain the prolonged erosion time seen with the gelatin/formaldehyde matrices. Visual release studies revealed that an initial burst followed by a gradual release is seen until there is no dye in the matrix. Visual studies also demonstrated that two different solutes transport out of the matrices at different rates. In vitro release and modeling studies revealed that the dye release appears to be diffusion-controlled, with minimal affect of swelling on release kinetics.;These studies demonstrate the viability of the use of sucrose and fructose, in combination with lyophilization, as cross-linking agents for gelatin-based systems. While these sugars could not replace formaldehyde in formulations needed for extended sustained release delivery (\u3e2 day), the sugars offer a better alternative in formulations requiring an extended release of drug over 12--48 hours

Lithium in the Upper Centaurus Lupus and Lower Centaurus Crux Subgroups of Scorpius-Centaurus

We utilize spectroscopically derived model atmosphere parameters and the \ion{Li}{1} $\lambda6104$ subordinate line and the $\lambda6708$ doublet to derive lithium abundances for 12 members of the Upper-Centaurus Lupus (UCL) and Lower-Centaurus Crux (LCC) subgroups of the Scorpius Centaurus OB Association. The results indicate any intrinsic Li scatter in our 0.9-1.4 $M_{\odot}$ stars is limited to ${\sim}0.15$ dex, consistent with the lack of dispersion in ${\ge}1.0$ $M_{\odot}$ stars in the 100 Myr Pleiades and 30-50 Myr IC 2391 and 2602 clusters. Both ab initio uncertainty estimates and the derived abundances themselves indicate that the $\lambda$6104 line yields abundances with equivalent or less scatter than is found from the $\lambda$6708 doublet as a result of lower uncertainties for the subordinate feature, a result of low sensitivity to broadening in the subordinate feature. Because NLTE corrections are less susceptible to changes in surface gravity and/or metallicity for the 6104 {\AA} line, the subordinate Li feature is preferred for deriving lithium abundances in young Li-rich stellar association stars with $T_{\rm eff}{\ge}5200$ K.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomical Journal (abstract shortened for astro-ph submission