101 |
Problematic theoretical considerations of monetary unionsBaimbridge, Mark J. 01 November 2019 (has links)
Yes / Although the eurozone sovereign debt crisis took many by surprise following the Global Financial Crisis induced Great Recession, this chapter argues that this was an accident waiting to happen with unjustified emphasis placed upon unproven rules and institutions derived from contemporary neoliberal macroeconomic thinking. First, recent developments in macroeconomic are discussed and evaluated in terms of the so-called New Consensus Macroeconomics (NCM) that forms the current mainstream macroeconomic model comprising a blend of New Classical and New Keynesian theories is through adopting the rational behaviour hypothesis and supply-side-determined long-term equilibrium of output. A particular feature of these ideas is the inclusion of rules and institutions that are perceived to result in time consistent policymaking through essentially binding politicians from undertaking in non-optimal behaviour for either opportunistic, partisan or non-rational expectations reasons. Second, in addition to the general backdrop of macroeconomics the chapter considers the notion of a monetary union between countries under the rubric of both exogenous and endogenous Optimum Currency Area (OCA) theory. This combination of theoretical propositions form the bedrock of the eurozone where the TEU convergence criteria and SGP form the rules, while the European Central Bank is the key institution tasked with delivering low and stable price inflation. However, although these notions have become the staple diet of a generation of mainstream economists they comprehensively failed to insulate the eurozone from its sovereign debt crisis. / Full text of this chapter will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 1 Nov 2019.
|
102 |
Consensus Model of Families of Images using Tensor-based Fourier AnalysisShelton, Joel A 01 May 2016 (has links)
A consensus model is a statistical approach that uses a family of signals or in our case, a family of images to generate a predictive model. In this thesis, we consider a family of images that are represented as tensors. In particular, our images are (2,0)-tensors. The consensus model is produced by utilizing the quantum Fourier transform of a family of images as tensors to transform images to images. We write a quantum Fourier transform in the numerical computation library for Python, known as Theano to produce the consensus spectrum. From the consensus spectrum, we produce the consensus model via the inverse quantum Fourier transform. Our method seeks to improve upon the phase reconstruction problem when transforming images to images under a 2-dimensional consensus model by considering images as (2,0)-tensors.
|
103 |
Cultural Influences Of Environmental Appraisals Among First-time MothersJanuary 2015 (has links)
Gulf Coast communities face many environmental threats that disproportionately impact the health of pregnant women. While the perception of risk strategies often differ across cultural groups, little is known about the detail of these differences. The purpose of this study was to explore the cultural knowledge of environmental threats within an at-risk group (low-income, first-time mothers in Southeast Louisiana). This proposal was a part of a SAMHSA-supplemental-funded study, which was an extension of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded U19 consortium called the Transdisciplinary Research Consortium for Gulf Resilience on Women’s Health (GROWH). In the first of a two-phase ethnographic approach, interviews with mothers helped identify risk in the environment, important steps to manage these threats, and trustworthy sources to turn to for help. Next, a larger sample (n=112) of mothers indicated their level of agreement to these items. These ratings were analyzed through cultural consensus analysis which gave a quantitative estimate of cultural sharing and beliefs. Results revealed that mothers shared a common pattern of risk perception and behavior regarding the assessment of different environmental threats. Further analyses detailed these cultural models, and identified if cultural knowledge was associated with key socio-demographic factors. Additionally, subtle areas of intra-cultural variation within the general consensus showed that some mothers emphasized health behaviors that may increase household risk. The results of this study contribute to an understanding of how low-income households manage environmental health threats, how cultural knowledge is distributed, and what factors influence knowledge. Study results can help to identify greater awareness of cultural differences within an at-risk population, which can be used to create culturally-tailored risk messaging. Implications for environmental health research, and public health policy are also discussed. / 1 / Christopher Mundorf
|
104 |
The school consensus and the perceived school effectiveness a study of secondary schools in Hong Kong /Liu, Kam-keung, Dennis. January 2006 (has links)
Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.
|
105 |
Architectures intergicielles pour la tolérance aux fautes et le consensusBarbaria, Khaled 15 September 2008 (has links) (PDF)
Le succès des intergiciels dans le cadre du développement de systèmes d'information ``généralistes'' comme les applications Web, encourage leur utilisation pour le développement d'autres applications plus spécifiques et plus exigentes en qualité de service , comme les applications temps réel ou même certaines applications critiques. Nous partons d'une architecture intergicielle dite schizophrène ayant des propriétés de généricité et de configuration. Cette architecture est renforcée pour supporter deux catégories de services pour la tolérance aux fautes et le consensus. La conservation des propriétés de l'architecture de base ainsi que le respect des contraintes posées par les applications critiques et sûres de fonctionnement sont les principaux objectifs de nos propositions. Les principes et les propriétés de l'architecture schizophrène sont détaillés. Ensuite, nous menons des études approfondies de la théorie de la tolérance aux fautes et du consensus ainsi que de la norme FT CORBA. Ces études nous permettent de généraliser les différents concepts et d'isoler les différentes abstractions utiles afin de proposer deux architectures pour un service de tolérance aux fautes compatible avec la norme FT CORBA et pour un service générique de consensus. Nous montrons que la conception de ces services maximise leur configurabilité. Après les propositions d'architectures, nous décrivons la réalisation effective de ces deux services. Nous nous basons sur PolyORB, un integriciel développé à l'ENST. Des scénarios de test et des mesures de performances complètent notre étude et valident nos propositions.
|
106 |
Lower Bounds for Achieving Synchronous Early Stopping Consensus with Orderly Crash FailuresWang, Xianbing, Teo, Yong Meng, Cao, Jiannong 01 1900 (has links)
In this paper, we discuss the consensus problem for synchronous distributed systems with orderly crash failures. For a synchronous distributed system of n processes with up to t crash failures and f failures actually occur, first, we present a bivalency argument proof to solve the open problem of proving the lower bound, min (t + 1, f + 2) rounds, for early-stopping synchronous consensus with orderly crash failures, where t < n - 1. Then, we extend the system model with orderly crash failures to a new model in which a process is allowed to send multiple messages to the same destination process in a round and the failing processes still respect the order specified by the protocol in sending messages. For this new model, we present a uniform consensus protocol, in which all non-faulty processes always decide and stop immediately by the end of f + 1 rounds. We prove that the lower bound of early stopping protocols for both consensus and uniform consensus are f + 1 rounds under the new model, and our proposed protocol is optimal. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)
|
107 |
Civilianization of disciplined services of the HKSAR Government authentic consensus through communicative action /Law, Chun-nam. January 2006 (has links)
Thesis (M. P. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.
|
108 |
Network Robustness: Diffusing Information Despite AdversariesZhang, Haotian January 2012 (has links)
In this thesis, we consider the problem of diffusing information resiliently in networks that contain misbehaving nodes. Previous strategies to achieve resilient information diffusion typically require the normal nodes to hold some global information, such as the topology of the network and the identities of non-neighboring nodes. However, these assumptions are not suitable for large-scale networks and this necessitates our study of resilient algorithms based on only local information.
We propose a consensus algorithm where, at each time-step, each normal node removes the
extreme values in its neighborhood and updates its value as a weighted average of its own value and the remaining values. We show that traditional topological metrics (such as connectivity of the network) fail to capture such dynamics. Thus, we introduce a topological property termed as network robustness and show that this concept, together with its variants, is the key property to characterize the behavior of a class of resilient algorithms that use purely local information.
We then investigate the robustness properties of complex networks. Specifically, we consider common random graph models for complex networks, including the preferential attachment model, the Erdos-Renyi model, and the geometric random graph model, and compare the metrics of connectivity and robustness in these models. While connectivity and robustness are greatly different in general (i.e., there exist graphs which are highly connected but with poor robustness), we show that the notions of robustness and connectivity are equivalent in the preferential attachment model, cannot be very different in the geometric random graph model, and share the same threshold functions in the Erdos-Renyi model, which gives us more insight about the structure of complex networks. Finally, we provide a construction method for robust graphs.
|
109 |
Samverkan – Det svenska välfärdssamhällets nya arbetsform. : En kvalitativ undersökningsstudie om samverkan mellan socialtjänsten, polis och skola.Petersson, John A. January 2013 (has links)
Abstract Many researchers in social work believe that in today's society require the interaction between organisations takes place on social problems. This study examined the interaction between the police, social services and schools. The purpose of this study are as follows; the aim is to investigate the interaction between social services, the police and schools about young people aged 12-18 years who are at risk for abuse and crime. My questions are: How do the different professions interact regarding young people at risk for abuse and crime? How do they meet young people in their daily work? What obstacles can the different professions see in interaction? What effects do the different professions see in interaction? The study is a qualitative study conducted with semi-structured interviews. Respondents have been two from each organisation. The theory used in the analysis of empirical data is new-institutionalismen. New-institutionalism is a theory developed from organizational theories. Research emanating from organizations influence from the outside world has been designated a new - institutionalism. The new institutionalism is based on individuals, and environmental impact on the organization, as well as their interaction The results of the study mean that different privacy laws are an obstacle in the interaction and also lack of resources is a barrier. This study also shows a positive attitude towards interaction between the different organizations. Keywords: Interaction, Police, Social service, School, Obstacle, Domain consensus, Domain conflict
|
110 |
Strategic Planning in Japanese Companies : A qualitative study on strategic planning with a focus on cultural aspectsNordell, Emelie January 2012 (has links)
Japanese companies have been said to rarely have strategies that resemble the ones that can be seen in literature from the Western world. However, even though Japanese companies do not show the same kind of strategy as can be found in the west, it does not necessarily mean they have no strategy at all. Recent studies have shown that Japanese companies do show clarity in their approach to strategy. Still, not much research can be found on this subject. When the world is becoming more globalized and multinational, it is of interest for both the companies’ stakeholders and shareholders to know how they operate, and their strategic planning process is one part of this. The research question therefore becomes: How does the process of strategic planning in Japanese companies work and in what way is the Japanese culture an influence? The main purpose of this master thesis is to provide a deeper understanding concerning the concept of strategic planning in Japanese companies. It also has two sub purposes. Firstly, this research aims towards understanding the current strategic planning process, in what way it is used in Japanese companies. Secondly, it will try to understand if the Japanese culture influences the strategic planning process and if so, in what way.The thesis is based on a qualitative study with semi structured interviews where five respondents were divided into two categories (based in the respondents’ background), two respondents with a Japanese view and three with an international view. A constructionist ontological position, interpretivism epistemological position and an inductive scientific approach have been adopted.The theoretical framework is divided into two parts; the first concerns the strategic planning process and the second Japanese business culture.Analysis was done across the two different categories of respondents’ and from my research I have found that the strategic planning process in Japan is different from company to company but that they all tend to share one important step, consensus. I have also found that Japanese culture has had a great impact on the strategic planning process although there seem to be a shift towards becoming more streamlined and more international to be able to compete on the global market.The practical implications of my findings are that since Japanese companies seem to incorporate their culture into their strategic planning, it is important that the field of strategic planning research take into consideration the culture and its effect on the strategic planning process. Japanese companies also need to assess if strategic planning should be used as a way towards becoming more globalized, and if so, in what way.
|
Page generated in 0.0269 seconds