Bank Privitization in Vietnam: Examining Changes to Management in Vietnam\u27s New Banking Law, Decree No. 59/2009/ND-CP

Due to its WTO obligations, by 2010 Vietnam must open its banking system to the world. As a result, the nation attempted to drastically modernize its state owned banks through partial privatization. This partial privatization, locally translated as equitization, proposed serious challenges to the existing legal infrastructure facilitating banks. To cope with these new challenges, in September 2009, Vietnam’s new banking law, Decree 59/2009/ND-CP, was passed. An important change in the new banking law is its stricter regulation on the qualifications of managers. It is suspected that such regulation signals the nation’s resistance to surrender control over its banks and commit to reforms. The new banking law also further relies on the problematic Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. Faulty Penal and Criminal Procedure Codes can lead to fraudulent lawsuits and managers losing their positions. In spite of its problems, the new banking law is workable and a step in the right direction. By relying on existing management laws, as opposed to those introduced by the new banking law, and upgrading the Penal and Criminal Procedure Codes, many of the potential problems created by the new banking law can be resolve

Strategic litigation in the “soft-authoritarian” state of Singapore: Attempts to decriminalize sodomy from 2010-2022

From 2010 to 2020, several efforts to decriminalize sodomy have taken place in Singaporean courts. Although these efforts have been largely unsuccessful, the cases have highlighted how courts can serve as a space to push for rights in a city-state that some have labelled “soft-authoritarian”—a state with democratic institutions in place, but with an under-developed set of democratic ideals and practices. This article argues that strategic litigation to decriminalize sodomy is forcing institutions in Singapore to evolve, become more democratic and responsive to a rising cultural backlash particularly with regards to sexuality. This article will examine some of the incremental changes that have come about due to the legal challenges, such as the strengthening of the court, the modification of laws to protect minorities, and the growth and diversification of civil society. Entre 2010 y 2020, los tribunales de Singapur han intentado despenalizar la sodomía en varias ocasiones. Aunque estos esfuerzos han sido en gran medida infructuosos, los casos han puesto de relieve cómo los tribunales pueden servir como un espacio para presionar por los derechos en una ciudad-estado que algunos han etiquetado como “autoritario blando” –un estado con instituciones democráticas, pero con un conjunto subdesarrollado de ideales y prácticas democráticas. Este artículo sostiene que el litigio estratégico para despenalizar la sodomía está obligando a las instituciones de Singapur a evolucionar, a ser más democráticas y a responder a una creciente reacción cultural, especialmente en lo que respecta a la sexualidad. Este artículo examinará algunos de los cambios graduales que se han producido debido a los desafíos legales, como el fortalecimiento de los tribunales, la modificación de las leyes para proteger a las minorías y el crecimiento y la diversificación de la sociedad civil

Politics from the Heart: Personal Choices, the War in Mindanao, and Social Structure

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

COMMUNITY NARRATIVES OF SOCIAL TRAUMA – A Case Study of a Sitio in Mindanao

The article addresses social trauma in a conflict-affected community in Pikit, North Cotabato, Mindanao, in the Philippines. Through an analysis of narratives and community practices the study intends to answer the following question: How did armed conflict (organized violence) and internal displacement impact on the community and how did the community respond? The analysis of the interviews from the study shows that three themes were frequently used to describe and explain the state of the social fabric, i.e. how well it was functioning or how disrupted it was; namely, significant events in the community’s history; responses to harassment; and actors and coping. It is shown that organized violence, war and recurrent forced displacement of communities produce responses that form a complex pattern of suffering (social trauma) and resilience (positive transformation). The interviews give a fuller understanding of how social trauma is constructed and sustained in communities impacted by organized violence. The study of peoples’ narratives provides us with knowledge on how trauma is experienced and understood by the impacted community. The study shows that responses to organised violence may foster locally based adaptive processes that help the community to recover and responses that may be detrimental to the community’s social support system. To understand these processes, not as dualistic but as interwoven as social tissue, it is necessary to study how local narratives present problems and hope of a better future

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Compressed representation of a partially defined integer function over multiple arguments

In OLAP (OnLine Analitical Processing) data are analysed in an n-dimensional cube. The cube may be represented as a partially defined function over n arguments. Considering that often the function is not defined everywhere, we ask: is there a known way of representing the function or the points in which it is defined, in a more compact manner than the trivial one