A microprocessor based, multi-channel low-temperature monitoring system

A multi-channel low-temperature monitoring system and its design considerations are presented. The system is microprocessor based and specially designed to interface thermoresistive sensors in cryogenic experiments. The system can be easily expanded to accept any type of physical transducer and to perform other output functions, ie control functions

ENDOGENOUS TRANSACTION COSTS AND TRADABILITY IN A MICRO ECONOMYWIDE MODEL - A STYLIZED APPLICATION WITH NONSEPARABLE HOUSEHOLDS

This paper analyzes effects of transaction costs on household responses, adding to direct effects via price-bands, indirect effects through reduced availability of productive resources and through changes in price formation. A micro economywide model with nonseparable household models is developed, in which transaction costs determine effective prices through an endogenous, household-specific price-band. Moreover, transaction costs influence household decisions by claiming productive resources, and by affecting endogenous prices at household or micro-economy level. Comparison of two stylized village model specifications indicates that indirect effects of transaction costs reduce household supply response, despite reducing the range of prices for which households operate within their price-band. Results show that transaction costs need to be identified in terms of commodities used for transactions, and in terms of tradability of these commodities, to account for indirect effects of transaction costs.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Search for High-Energy Gamma-ray Emission from an Anomalous X-ray Pulsar, 4U 0142+61

Until 2004, Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) were known as strong emitters of soft X-rays only (< 10 keV). The discovery of hard X-ray component from AXPs provided important insight about their emission properties while it posed a serious challenge to explain its origin. The physical mechanism of the hard emission component has still not been fully resolved. We investigate the high-energy gamma-ray properties of the brightest AXP, 4U 0142+61 using data collected with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to establish the spectral behavior of the source on a very broad energy span and search for pulsed emission. Here, we present our results of detailed search for the persistent and pulsed high-energy gamma-ray emission from 4U 0142+61 which result in no significant detection. However, we obtain upper limits to the persistent high-energy gamma-ray emission flux which helps us to constrain existing physical models.Comment: Published in Ap

WP 32 - Tax evasive behaviour and gender in a transition country

In this paper, we provide a structural explanation of gender difference with respect to tax evasion. A unique data set, collected from a field survey of households in Albania, allows us to test and explore the established fact, in a transition country. The results show that women tend to evade taxes less than men, even after controlling for socio-economic and demographic characteristics (e.g., age, family status, education, income). Starting from neo-institutional theory, the paper analyzes the explanatory power of this theory where it concerns the differences in men’s and women’s tax behavior. Acknowledging the fact that gender differences in economic behavior are generally explained either as biological or by social/psychological role theory, this paper also discusses possible explanations as suggested in feminist economic research. Using the data available, some main hypothesis are articulated, tested and evaluated.

EU-India free trade agreement : a quantitative assessment

This report analyses the effects of a regional trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and India, for which negotiations are underway. The study starts with abrief overview of the key insights from the existing literature on FTAs and their relationship with multilateral negotiations. The remainder of the study is devoted to analysing the impact of tariff slashes under an FTA on merchandise trade between the EU and India. Of particular interest are the implications for agricultural markets, given the tension between agricultural liberalisation and India's policy goals relating to self-sufficiency in food grains and poverty reduction. The analysis employs GTAP, a global general equilibrium model using a recent database which has 2004 as its reference year. The results suggest that India's interests in a regional trade agreement with the EU are downplayed by the fact that India's economy is not well integrated in global markets. Impacts on the EU are minor and further reduced if a Doha agreement is in place when the FTA is implemented. Results indicate the rationale for a strongly asymmetric arrangement: it would be in the interest of both partners if the EU provides large concessions to India for market access, while India maintains the bulk of current border protection. An EU - India FTA delivers little scope for achieving efficiency gains via adjustments to the pattern of international specialisation. An EU - India agreement on merchandise trade is unlikely to embody substantial preferential treatment with regard to market access. Probably, India can find more suitable FTA partners. Agriculture is a key sector for India in the consideration of equity and growth purposes of a FTA with EU

Different Roads to Liberalisation: Scenarios for a Moroccan Case Study of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements. CEPS ENARPRI Working Papers No. 9, 1 October 2004

Although the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) in spirit aims at fostering economic growth and stability at the southern periphery of the EU, the contents of the trade agreements reflect the more narrow economic interests of specific, southern EU member states (dell’Aquila & Kuiper, 2003). Key characteristics of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements (EMAAs) are an asymmetric focus on liberalising trade in the manufactured goods of the MPCs, while maintaining trade barriers on agricultural products. Several studies have quantified the expected impact of the proposed Mediterranean free trade area. A review of recent studies indicated that several characteristic features of the MPCs and the EMAAs are missing in existing analyses (Kuiper, 2004). This paper therefore focuses on identifying scenarios for further research that reflect key policy and research issues identified in an earlier study (dell’Aquila and Kuiper, 2003), while accounting for the gaps in existing analyses as identified in Kuiper (2004). Although limited to analysing the specific case of Morocco, the scenarios defined in this paper refer to issues that are relevant for all Mediterranean partner countries

On the star-forming ability of Molecular Clouds

The star-forming ability of a molecular cloud depends on the fraction of gas it can cycle into the dense-phase. Consequently, one of the crucial questions in reconciling star-formation in clouds is to understand the factors that control this process. While it is widely accepted that the variation in ambient conditions can alter significantly the ability of a cloud to spawn stars, the observed variation in the star-formation rate in nearby clouds that experience similar ambient conditions, presents an interesting question. In this work we attempted to reconcile this variation within the paradigm of colliding flows. To this end we develop self-gravitating, hydrodynamic realisations of identical flows, but allowed to collide off-centre. Typical observational diagnostics such as the gas-velocity dispersion, the fraction of dense-gas, the column density distribution ({\small N-PDF}), the distribution of gas mass as a function of $K$-band extinction and the strength of compressional/solenoidal modes in the post-collision cloud were deduced for different choices of the impact parameter of collision. We find that a strongly sheared cloud is terribly inefficient in cycling gas into the dense phase and that such a cloud can possibly reconcile the sluggish nature of star-formation reported for some clouds. Within the paradigm of cloud-formation via colliding flows this is possible in case of flows colliding with a relatively large impact parameter. We conclude that compressional modes - though probably essential - are insufficient to ensure a relatively higher star-formation efficiency in a cloud.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures; To appear in MNRA