659 research outputs found
The Growth of Agricultural Protection in Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries
No full textAbstract (1247) Johan F. M. Swinnen Copyright 2009 The Author. Journal compilation 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Design and analysis of high performance low noise oscillators and phase lock loops
No full textThe design and implementation of high purity, high speed and power efficient clock generation Integrated Circuits continue to be one the greatest challenges facing IC designers today. In order to address this challenge, this thesis considers the modeling and design of two fundamental clock generation circuits – the VCO and PLL.An improved ring oscillator topology is proposed which has the advantage of an ultra wide tuning range. A novel noise aware ring oscillator model is also proposed which links the noise performance of the oscillator to its transistor dimensions giving insight to the design procedure. The use of this VCO model in a noise-aware PLL model allows the trade-off between noise performance and the loop bandwidth to be quantified accurately. From further analysis of the proposed PLL model, a novel PLL structure has been designed which is extremely successful at reference spur suppression.Simulation results based on the proposed model and foundry BSIM3v3 models are provided for all the VCO and PLL designs. To validate the proposed VCO topology and VCO model, two prototype chips have been fabricated and measured results show close agreement with theoretical analysis and simulatio
Governance of Environment-Enhancing Technical change - past experiences and suggestions for improvement
No full textThere is much talk about environmental policies being faulty. Past policies are being criticisedfor failing to achieve environmental goals (the environmentalist complaint), for being overlyexpensive (the industrialist complaint) and for failing to encourage innovation and dynamicefficiency (the complaint of economists dealing with innovation). This paper looks at theinnovation and technology adoption effects of past environmental policies. It finds indeed fewexamples of environmental policies that stimulated innovation. The common technologyresponse is the use of expensive end-of-pipe solutions and incremental process changesoffering limited environmental gains. This begs the question: why did the policies fail topromote more radical innovation and dynamic efficiency? One explanation—well-recognisedin the economic literature—is the capture of government policies by special interests. Thispaper offers a second explanation—based on innovation and technology adoption studies—which says that in order to have a decisive and socially beneficial influence policy instrumentsmust be fine-tuned to the circumstances in which sociotechnical change processes occur and tipthe balance. Within this alternative view, the starting point of government interventions is thecapabilities, interests, interdependencies and games of social actors around an environmentalproblem instead of the set of environmental policy instruments for achieving an environmentalgoal. The paper sees a need for government authorities to be explicitly concerned with technicalchange (rather than implicitly through a change in the economic frame conditions) and to beconcerned with institutional arrangements beyond the choice of policy instruments, and act as achange agent. This requires different roles for policy makers: that of a sponsor, planner,regulator, matchmaker, alignment actor and ‘creative game regulator’. The paper offers twoperspectives on environmental policy: an instrument one and a modulation one. The latter isespecially important for promoting innovation and bringing about radical change, somethingwhich is very difficult with traditional regulatory instruments. Instruments for promotingenvironment-enhancing technical change are appraised and suggestions are offered for thepurposes for which different policy instruments may be used in differing economic contexts.environmental economics ;
The Perfect Storm: The Political Economy of the Fischler Reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy. CEPS Paperbacks. September 2008
No full textFor decades, the Common Agricultural Policy came in for a significant amount of criticism for consuming a disproportionate share of the EU budget, introducing market distortions, wasting government funds and contributing to rural inequities. Nevertheless, it survived many attempts to abolish it, and acquired a reputation for being virtually impossible to reform in any meaningful way. However, during the tenure of Franz Fischler as European Commissioner for Agriculture from 1995 to 2004, the most radical reform in the history of the CAP was implemented.
This book is the first to review the reforms that were implemented, to analyse how they came about and to explain which forces made them possible. It brings together perspectives from inside and outside the policy community, including from those closely involved in the policy debates, and an interdisciplinary perspective from economists and political scientists. The authors are senior policy-makers and well-respected academics. The book gives some fascinating insights into what made the reforms possible, offers useful conclusions on what this implies for future attempts at reform and finally, addresses the question of whether the Fischler reforms ‘scrapped the CAP’ or saved it
How is a Genre Created? Five Combinatory Hypotheses
No full textIn his article, How is a Genre Created? Five Combinatory Hypotheses, Johan F. Hoorn discusses that in genre theory, the creation of a genre is usually envisioned as a complex selection procedure in which several factors play an equivocal role. First, he advances that genre usually is investigated at the level of the phenomenon. For instance, questions may drawn on the effects of social status, education, or intrinsic values on forming a genre, on an author\u27s decision with regard to in which genre to express his/her creativity. Second, Hoorn attempts to formulate a general mechanism that explains the forming of groups of genres. His hypotheses of genre formation includes the notion that if one hypothesis fails, the next would come into operation. Hoorn\u27s proposal includes the notion of how to construct and to employ set theoretical and combinatory principles for word-frequency distributions as a mathematical representation of human behavior in the selection process of genre formation. Because the five hypotheses are strictly quantitative and not dependent on particular factors, they are open to testing under any experimental condition
Do proton pump inhibitors reduce the incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistulae following total laryngectomy?
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Pharyngocutaneous fistula is a common complication of total laryngectomy. We hypothesised that perioperative proton pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment could reduce the incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistulae. This prospective placebo-controlled double-blind randomised controlled trial compared PPI treatment (14 days enteral omeprazole) with a placebo in patients undergoing primary total laryngectomy. The incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistula was recorded
Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization.
No full textThe QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain ∼8-10% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD
The coevolution of renewable resources and institutions - implications for policy design
No full text This PhD thesis studies how natural renewable resources and institutions governing those resources mutually influence each other. Theoretical models are developed in which members of a small community have joint access to a common pool resource. We analyze under which circumstances social norms of cooperation evolve that effectively regulate resource exploitation, but also when those social norms break down, identifying obstacles for community governance. Furthermore, in the light of biological and social complexity this thesis analyzes how governmental policy should be designed if self-governance is not sufficient to protect the resource stock. The insights obtained are applied to the case of Arcto-Norwegian cod. An optimal management plan is developed that can be adapted to several policy objectives concerning the utilization of the fleet. In addition, management advice is given for the case that harvesting may trigger an evolutionary response of the fish stock. </p
Analysis and Design of Power Supply Circuits for RF Oscillators
No full textThis article presents guidelines for designing the power supply blocks of RF oscillators. To preserve their spectral purity, the requirements on the noise and ripple of the supply voltage are firstly evaluated based on the oscillator supply pushing factor and the oscillator Figure-of-Merit (FOM). Those specifications are then employed to design and estimate the power efficiency of an analog low-dropout regulator (LDO) and a switched-capacitor DC-DC converter. As a proof of concept, a 2:1 or 3:2 switched-capacitor DC-DC converter is implemented and directly connected to our previously published 4.9-5.5 GHz LC oscillator. The converter provides a 1V supply voltage with a noise ≤0.9nV/√Hz at 1MHz and does not affect the inherent phase noise of the oscillator. The ripple amplitude of the converter is 30mV while its effect is suppressed by the spur reduction block embedded in the oscillator.Bio-ElectronicsElectronic InstrumentationElectronic
Use of a visceral protective layer prevents fistula development in open abdomen therapy: results from the European Hernia Society Open Abdomen Registry
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