Foreign-Market Entry Strategies in the European Union

This study utilized intra-firm, socio-cultural, geographical-proximity, and political-stability variables to explain bimodal foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns by agri-food and beverage multinational companies into and within the European Union. A logit framework incorporated a unique-count database of firm-level investment patterns from 1987–1998. The results showed the 1992 structural changes under the Maastricht Treaty increased the probability of wholly owned FDI modes such as greenfields and buyouts. The model also found that past modal strategies of firms, language barriers, and exchange-rate volatility all correctly explained modal investment patterns. The results provide important contributions toward understanding modal investment strategies including the role of macroeconomic changes within a custom union.International Relations/Trade,

The horse industry in Kansas

Citation: Conner, W. Archie. The horse industry in Kansas. Senior thesis, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1906.Morse Department of Special CollectionsIntroduction: The horse stands at the head of a noble tribe of quadrupeds, which naturalists term solepedes, or single hoofed, from having but one apparent toe, covered by a single integument of horn, although beneath the skin on each side are protuberances which may be regarded as rudimental toes. According to the view of modern geologists there is but one genus of the tribe, namely, equus, which comprehends six species according to Proffessor Low, of Edinburgh. EQUUS ASINUS - The ass. EQUUS ZEBRA - The zebra. EQUUS QUAGGA - The quagga. EQUUS BURCHELLII - The striped quagga. EQUUS HEMIONUS - The dziggithai. EQUUS CABALLUS - The common horse. Nature has not formed this powerful creature to shun the control of man, but has linked him by his natural wants and instincts to our society. It is only when under human guidance that his most useful faculties are exercised and his full maturity of strength and form attained. The horse is distinguished from all other equine genus by the superior expansion of the chest, the large development of his muscles, the greater strength and lateral distance of his limbs, the elevation of his withers, the long flowing hairs of his mane and tail and his loud and sonorous voice. At the age of two years he is able to propogate his race and at the age of five to seven has attained full maturity. The male, as is the same of other animals, is stronger and more courageous than the female. He is more difficult of subjugation but not less attached and generous. When deprived of his virile powers he approaches more to the character of the female

Space-time variation of malaria incidence in Yunnan province, China

BACKGROUND Understanding spatio-temporal variation in malaria incidence provides a basis for effective disease control planning and monitoring. METHODS Monthly surveillance data between 1991 and 2006 for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria across 128 counties were assembled for Yunnan, a province of China with one of the highest burdens of malaria. County-level Bayesian Poisson regression models of incidence were constructed, with effects for rainfall, maximum temperature and temporal trend. The model also allowed for spatial variation in county-level incidence and temporal trend, and dependence between incidence in June-September and the preceding January-February. RESULTS Models revealed strong associations between malaria incidence and both rainfall and maximum temperature. There was a significant association between incidence in June-September and the preceding January-February. Raw standardised morbidity ratios showed a high incidence in some counties bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and counties in the Red River valley. Clusters of counties in south-western and northern Yunnan were identified that had high incidence not explained by climate. The overall trend in incidence decreased, but there was significant variation between counties. CONCLUSION Dependence between incidence in summer and the preceding January-February suggests a role of intrinsic host-pathogen dynamics. Incidence during the summer peak might be predictable based on incidence in January-February, facilitating malaria control planning, scaled months in advance to the magnitude of the summer malaria burden. Heterogeneities in county-level temporal trends suggest that reductions in the burden of malaria have been unevenly distributed throughout the province.This project was supported by a University of Queensland New Research Scientist Start-Up Fund grant. RWS is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow (#079080) and receives additional support from the Wellcome Trust for the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP, http://www.map.ox.ac.uk)

Spin polarized liquid 3He

We have employed the constrained variational method to study the influence of spin polarization on the ground state properties of liquid $^3{\rm He}$. The spin polarized phase, we have found, has stronger correlation with respect to the unpolarized phase. It is shown that the internal energy of liquid $^3{\rm He}$ increases by increasing polarization with no crossing point between polarized and unpolarized energy curves over the liquid density range. The obtained internal energy curves show a bound state, even in the case of fully spin polarized matter. We have also investigated the validity of using a parabolic formula for calculating the energy of spin polarized liquid $^3{\rm He}$. Finally, we have compared our results with other calculations.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Extracting spectral density function of a binary composite without a-priori assumption

The spectral representation separates the contributions of geometrical arrangement (topology) and intrinsic constituent properties in a composite. The aim of paper is to present a numerical algorithm based on the Monte Carlo integration and contrainted-least-squares methods to resolve the spectral density function for a given system. The numerical method is verified by comparing the results with those of Maxwell-Garnett effective permittivity expression. Later, it is applied to a well-studied rock-and-brine system to instruct its utility. The presented method yields significant microstructural information in improving our understanding how microstructure influences the macroscopic behaviour of composites without any intricate mathematics.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures and 1 tabl

Spatial prediction of Plasmodium falciparum prevalence in Somalia

BACKGROUND Maps of malaria distribution are vital for optimal allocation of resources for anti-malarial activities. There is a lack of reliable contemporary malaria maps in endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This problem is particularly acute in low malaria transmission countries such as those located in the horn of Africa. METHODS Data from a national malaria cluster sample survey in 2005 and routine cluster surveys in 2007 were assembled for Somalia. Rapid diagnostic tests were used to examine the presence of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in finger-prick blood samples obtained from individuals across all age-groups. Bayesian geostatistical models, with environmental and survey covariates, were used to predict continuous maps of malaria prevalence across Somalia and to define the uncertainty associated with the predictions. RESULTS For analyses the country was divided into north and south. In the north, the month of survey, distance to water, precipitation and temperature had no significant association with P. falciparum prevalence when spatial correlation was taken into account. In contrast, all the covariates, except distance to water, were significantly associated with parasite prevalence in the south. The inclusion of covariates improved model fit for the south but not for the north. Model precision was highest in the south. The majority of the country had a predicted prevalence of or = 5% prevalence were predominantly in the south. CONCLUSION The maps showed that malaria transmission in Somalia varied from hypo- to meso-endemic. However, even after including the selected covariates in the model, there still remained a considerable amount of unexplained spatial variation in parasite prevalence, indicating effects of other factors not captured in the study. Nonetheless the maps presented here provide the best contemporary information on malaria prevalence in Somalia.AMN is supported by the Wellcome Trust as a Research Training Fellow (#081829). SIH is supported by the Wellcome Trust as Senior Research Fellow (#079091). RWS is supported by the Wellcome Trust as Principal Research Fellow (#079081). AMN, SIH and RWS acknowledge the support of the Kenyan Medical Research Institute

Radial Velocity Studies of Close Binary Stars.XIII

Radial-velocity measurements and sine-curve fits to the orbital radial velocity variations are presented for ten close binary systems: EG Cep,V1191 Cyg, V1003 Her, BD+7_3142, V357 Peg, V407 Peg, V1123 Tau, V1128 Tau, HH UMa, and PY Vir. While most of the studied eclipsing systems are contact binaries, EG Cep is a detached or a semi-detached double-lined binary and V1003 Her is a close binary of an uncertain type seen at a very low inclination angle. We discovered two previously unknown triple systems, BD+7_3142 and PY Vir, both with late spectral-type (K2V) binaries. Of interest is the low-mass ratio (q = 0.106) close binary V1191 Cyg showing an extremely fast period increase; the system has a very short period for its spectral type and shows a W-type light curve, a feature rather unexpected for such a low mass-ratio system.Comment: Accepted by AJ. 19 pages including 5 figure

Software for Testing Electroactive Structural Components

A computer program generates a graphical user interface that, in combination with its other features, facilitates the acquisition and preprocessing of experimental data on the strain response, hysteresis, and power consumption of a multilayer composite-material structural component containing one or more built-in sensor(s) and/or actuator(s) based on piezoelectric materials. This program runs in conjunction with Lab-VIEW software in a computer-controlled instrumentation system. For a test, a specimen is instrumented with appliedvoltage and current sensors and with strain gauges. Once the computational connection to the test setup has been made via the LabVIEW software, this program causes the test instrumentation to step through specified configurations. If the user is satisfied with the test results as displayed by the software, the user activates an icon on a front-panel display, causing the raw current, voltage, and strain data to be digitized and saved. The data are also put into a spreadsheet and can be plotted on a graph. Graphical displays are saved in an image file for future reference. The program also computes and displays the power and the phase angle between voltage and current

The solvation and dissociation of 4-benzylaniline hydrochloride in chlorobenzene

A reaction scheme is proposed to account for the liberation of 4-benzylaniline from 4-benzylaniline hydrochloride, using chlorobenzene as a solvent at a temperature of 373 K. Two operational regimes are explored: “closed” reaction conditions correspond to the retention of evolved hydrogen chloride gas within the reaction medium, whereas an “open” system permits gaseous hydrogen chloride to be released from the reaction medium. The solution phase chemistry is analyzed by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Complete liberation of solvated 4-benzylaniline from solid 4-benzylaniline hydrochloride is possible under “open” conditions, with the entropically favored conversion of solvated hydrogen chloride to the gaseous phase thought to be the thermodynamic driver that effectively controls a series of interconnecting equilibria. A kinetic model is proposed to account for the observations of the open system