Abstracting Builtins for Groundness Analysis

This note clarifies how to handle solution gathering meta-calls, asserts and retracts in the groundness analysis of Prolog

Responses to Questions Asked by BIS Ahead of Challenger Business Programme – UAV Workshop, 23/11/15

This document is the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) Civic Drone Centre’s responses to the questions asked by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) prior to Challenger Business Programme – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Workshop event to be held on 23 November 2015, 10am-2pm at the BIS Conference Centre1. As a university based research centre we are providing our responses based upon the university’s research, engagement with industry, and through the industrial experience of our staff members

Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth: A Bayesian Model Averaging Approach

This article re-examines the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth by employing Bayesian model averaging (BMA). BMA enables the consideration of a range of measures of fiscal decentralisation and allows the incorporation of model uncertainty into the empirical methodology. Posterior coefficient estimates suggest that not straightforward relationship exists between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth based on time-series data for Australia.

Chemical and isotopic characteristics of weathering and nitrogen release in non-glacial drainage waters on Arctic tundra

Soil–water interactions in coastal tundra soils are a potential source of nutrients for surrounding fjordal and coastal ecosystems. Changes in water chemistry and stable isotope composition from three streams in west Spitsbergen were examined to assess the sources and losses of nitrogen, sulfur and carbon in thin organic tundra soils overlying sediments. Studies were undertaken from snowmelt (mid June) through to the end of the summer (September) in both 2001 and 2002. Drainage water chemistry was dominated by the solution of Ca–Mg carbonates with δ13C values in the waters being uncharacteristically high (approx. −2‰ at the end of the season), reflecting a largely open system in which the CO2 is derived equally from the atmosphere and plant/soil sources. Early melt waters had δ34S values dominated by sea salt reflecting the close proximity to the ocean. However, as the season progressed the marine influence lessened. Extrapolation of the data suggests that the origin of non-sea salt δ34S was the oxidation of reduced sulfur from coal particles in the subsoil. Concentrations of inorganic N in stream waters were generally very low. However, values were found to increase as the season progressed, possibly through increased microbial activity in the soil and the early senescence of tundra plants reducing demand. Dual isotope analysis of δ15N and δ18O suggested that the vast majority of snow-pack was assimilated by the soil microbial biomass before being released, recycled and lost to drainage waters. Organic N concentrations in drainage waters were generally equal to or greater than losses of inorganic N from tundra soils. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of stable isotope data for understanding biogeochemical cycling and soil–water interactions in tundra ecosystems. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to climate warming

Solar Sail Roadmap Mission GN and C Challenges

The NASA In-Space Propulsion program is funding development work for solar sails to enhance future scientific opportunities. Key to this effort are scientific solar sail roadmap missions identified by peer review. The two near-term missions of interest are L1 Diamond and Solar Polar Imager. Additionally, the New Millennium Program is sponsoring the Space Technology 9 (ST9) demonstration mission. Solar sails are one of five technologies competing for the ST9 flight demonstration. Two candidate solar sail missions have been identified for a potential ST9 flight. All the roadmap missions and candidate flight demonstration missions face various GN&C challenges. A variety of efforts are underway to address these challenges. These include control actuator design and testing, low thrust optimization studies, attitude control system design and modeling, control-structure interaction studies, trajectory control design, and solar radiation pressure model development. Here we survey the various efforts underway and identify a few of specific recent interest and focus

Fiscal Decentralisation, Macroeconomic Conditions and Economic Growth in Australia

This paper analyses the impact of fiscal decentralisation on the Australian economy at both the aggregate and state levels. Attention is given not only to economic growth but also to a number of important macroeconomic variables which may influence growth. The results suggest that there is no straightforward impact of fiscal decentralisation on the Australian economy. At the aggregate level, when measured through expenditure shares, decentralisation is found to decrease medium-term economic growth, worsen the budget balance and increase the size of the public sector. No statistically significant effects of decentralisation are found on price stability, physical capital investment or short-term economic growth. Alternatively, revenue decentralisation is found to increase medium-term economic growth, improve the budget balance and have a stabilising effect on prices, but no relationship is found with the size of the public sector. At the state level, decentralisation is generally found to have no significant impact on the distribution of income but a weak negative effect on economic growth. In obtaining these results, special consideration is given to variable measurement, model specification, estimation technique and sample coverage. The findings highlight the importance of understanding more than just the effect of decentralisation on any one facet of an economy.

Lessons for Interstellar Travel from the G&C Design of the NEA Scout Solar Sail Mission

NASA is developing the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission that will use a solar sail to travel to an asteroid where it will perform a slow flyby to acquire science imagery. A guidance and control system was developed to meet the science and trajectory requirements. The NEA Scout design process can be applied to an interstellar or precursor mission that uses a beam-propelled sail. The scientific objectives are met by accurately targeting the destination trajectory position and velocity. The destination is targeted by understanding the force on the sail from the beam (or sunlight in the case of NEA Scout) over the duration of the thrust maneuver. The propulsive maneuver is maintained by accurate understanding of the torque on the sail, which is a function of sail shape, optical properties, and mass properties, all of which apply to NEA Scout and beam propelled sails. NEA Scout uses active control of the sail attitude while trimming the solar torque, which could be used on a beamed propulsion sail if necessary. The biggest difference is that NEA Scout can correct for uncertainties in sail thrust modeling, spacecraft orbit, and target orbit throughout the flight to the target, while beamed propulsion needs accurate operation for the short duration of the beamed propulsion maneuver, making accurate understanding of the sail thrust and orbits much more critical

The Inherent Jurisdiction of WTO Tribunals: The Select Application of Public International Law Required by the Judicial Function

This Article explores whether World Trade Organization (WTO) panels and the Appellate Body (WTO Tribunals) have the power to apply certain rules of public international law by reason of their judicial character, and because the application of these rules is necessary for the proper exercise of their judicial function. In other words, it seeks to answer the following questions: Do WTO Tribunals have inherent jurisdiction? And, if so, what are some of the rules applicable under and limitations on this jurisdiction