Liquid markets and market liquids . Collective and single-asset dynamics in financial markets

Science.gov (United States)

Cuniberti, G.; Matassini, L.

2001-04-01

We characterize the collective phenomena of a liquid market. By interpreting the behavior of a no-arbitrage N asset market in terms of a particle system scenario, (thermo)dynamical-like properties can be extracted from the asset kinetics. In this scheme the mechanisms of the particle interaction can be widely investigated. We test the verisimilitude of our construction on two-decade stock market daily data (DAX30) and show the result obtained for the interaction potential among asset pairs.

Determinants of investment in fixed assets and in intangible assets for high-tech firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Maçãs Nunes

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Based on a sample of 141 Portuguese high-tech firms for the period 2004-2012 and using GMM system (1998 and LSDVC (2005 dynamic estimators, this paper studies whether the determinants of high-tech firms’ investment in fixed assets are identical to the determinants of their investment in intangible assets. The multiple empirical evidence obtained allows us to conclude that the determinants of their investment in fixed assets are considerably different from those of their investment in intangible assets. Debt is a determinant stimulating investment in fixed assets, with age being a determinant restricting such investment. Size, age, internal finance and GDP are determinants stimulating investment in intangible assets, whereas debt and interest rates restrict such investment. These results let us make important suggestions for the owners/managers of high-tech firms, and also for policy-makers.

Nuclear weapons modernizations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kristensen, Hans M. [Federation of American Scientists, Washington, DC (United States)

2014-05-09

This article reviews the nuclear weapons modernization programs underway in the world's nine nuclear weapons states. It concludes that despite significant reductions in overall weapons inventories since the end of the Cold War, the pace of reductions is slowing - four of the nuclear weapons states are even increasing their arsenals, and all the nuclear weapons states are busy modernizing their remaining arsenals in what appears to be a dynamic and counterproductive nuclear competition. The author questions whether perpetual modernization combined with no specific plan for the elimination of nuclear weapons is consistent with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and concludes that new limits on nuclear modernizations are needed.

USING RF TECHNOLOGY FOR PROTECTED ASSET TRACKING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Younkin, James R.; Pickett, Chris A.; Richardson, Dave; Stinson, Brad J.

2008-01-01

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is working on systems that use a new radio frequency (RF) technology called Rubee to manage and inventory many types of protected assets, including weapons housed in Department of Energy (DOE) armories, tooling, and nuclear material containers. Rubee is being considered for an IEEE Standard, and is used on several projects at ORNL because of its high performance when used in, on, and around metal-an environment that is typical of that found in an armory vault and that of many other protected assets locations within nuclear facilities. The primary objective using Rubee is to supply sustainable technology that provides timely information on the status and location of protected assets. This paper focuses on the results from a deployment of this technology at a DOE armory and discusses the applicability of Rubee for use with other protected assets within nuclear facilities. Key Words: Rubee, low radio frequency, protected assets

DYNAMICS OF ASSETS AND INVESTMENTS IN ROMANIA VOLUNTARY PENSION FUNDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CONSTANTIN DURAC

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In most countries, private pensions have an increasingly more important place in the current pension systems. Their importance consist on the one hand, by their contribution that have to preserve a level of income in retirement, comparable to the active period, and on the other side, by the amounts collected from the participants and investments in various investment instruments. In this article I analyze the overall evolution of total assets and net assets on 30 September 2007 - September 30, 2016, and dynamics of the main investment instruments in which pension funds have made investments optional.

Limitations of Guns as a Defence against Manoeuvring Air Weapons

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Washsberger, Christian

2004-01-01

In the near future, strategic and other critical assets will be subject to attack from a new range of air threats, including highly accurate aircraft-launched weapons that offer long stand-off ranges...

Identifying asset-based trends in sustainable programmes which ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We indicate the similarities between the asset-based approach and current discourses focusing on the notion of schools as nodes of support and care.1 We conclude by suggesting that knowledge of asset-based good practices could be shared with families in school-based sessions, thereby developing schools', families' ...

Space weapon technology and policy

Science.gov (United States)

Hitchens, Theresa

2017-11-01

The military use of space, including in support of nuclear weapons infrastructure, has greatly increased over the past 30 years. In the current era, rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia and China have led to assumptions in all three major space powers that warfighting in space now is inevitable, and possible because of rapid technological advancements. New capabilities for disrupting and destroying satellites include radio-frequency jamming, the use of lasers, maneuverable space objects and more capable direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons. This situation, however, threatens international security and stability among nuclear powers. There is a continuing and necessary role for diplomacy, especially the establishment of normative rules of behavior, to reduce risks of misperceptions and crisis escalation, including up to the use of nuclear weapons. U.S. policy and strategy should seek a balance between traditional military approaches to protecting its space assets and diplomatic tools to create a more secure space environment.

Agent-based Modeling Methodology for Analyzing Weapons Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-26

technique involve model structure, system representation and the degree of validity, coupled with the simplicity, of the overall model. ABM is best suited... system representation of the air combat system . We feel that a simulation model that combines ABM with equation-based representation of weapons and...AGENT-BASED MODELING METHODOLOGY FOR ANALYZING WEAPONS SYSTEMS THESIS Casey D. Connors, Major, USA

Why do gamers buy 'virtual assets'? An insight in to the psychology behind purchase behaviour

OpenAIRE

Cleghorn, J; Griffiths, MD

2015-01-01

The present study investigated the phenomenon of buying 'virtual assets' for game avatars. Virtual Assets are items that are bought with real-world money for an avatar in-game. Weapons, items, pets, mounts and skin customisations are the most popular examples. Using a qualitative methodology - in this case Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) - six gamers that regularly bought in - game assets were interviewed. IPA was chosen because of its emphasis on lived experience, and each par...

Dynamic service contracting for on-demand asset delivery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, X.; Angelov, S.A.; Grefen, P.W.P.J.

2014-01-01

Traditional financial asset lease operates in an asset provider centred mode, in which financiers passively provide financial solutions to the customers of their allied asset vendors. To capture the highly customised asset lease demands from the mass market, this paper advocates adopting a

An Asset-Based Approach to Tribal Community Energy Planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gutierrez, Rachael A. [Pratt Inst., Brooklyn, NY (United States). City and Regional Planning; Martino, Anthony [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Materials, Devices, and Energy Technologies; Begay, Sandra K. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Materials, Devices, and Energy Technologies

2016-08-01

Community energy planning is a vital component of successful energy resource development and project implementation. Planning can help tribes develop a shared vision and strategies to accomplish their energy goals. This paper explores the benefits of an asset-based approach to tribal community energy planning. While a framework for community energy planning and federal funding already exists, some areas of difficulty in the planning cycle have been identified. This paper focuses on developing a planning framework that offsets those challenges. The asset-based framework described here takes inventory of a tribe’s capital assets, such as: land capital, human capital, financial capital, and political capital. Such an analysis evaluates how being rich in a specific type of capital can offer a tribe unique advantages in implementing their energy vision. Finally, a tribal case study demonstrates the practical application of an asset-based framework.

Asynchronous data-driven classification of weapon systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Xin; Mukherjee, Kushal; Gupta, Shalabh; Ray, Asok; Phoha, Shashi; Damarla, Thyagaraju

2009-01-01

This communication addresses real-time weapon classification by analysis of asynchronous acoustic data, collected from microphones on a sensor network. The weapon classification algorithm consists of two parts: (i) feature extraction from time-series data using symbolic dynamic filtering (SDF), and (ii) pattern classification based on the extracted features using the language measure (LM) and support vector machine (SVM). The proposed algorithm has been tested on field data, generated by firing of two types of rifles. The results of analysis demonstrate high accuracy and fast execution of the pattern classification algorithm with low memory requirements. Potential applications include simultaneous shooter localization and weapon classification with soldier-wearable networked sensors. (rapid communication)

War and Medicine in a Culture of Peace. 2. Synopsis of Biological Weapons

OpenAIRE

Pierard, Gérald

2001-01-01

Biological warfare has a long history. Despite the 1972 international convention and several attempts at biological weapon eradication, some countries and non governmental groups still retain some of these agents. According to their potential use, they belong to bioterrorism or to massive destruction weapons. Any biological warfare put the civilian medical and paramedical assets at the frontline and at high risk for being rapidly contaminated. The prompt recognition of a bioterrorist attack a...

Heterogeneous beliefs and routes to complex dynamics in asset pricing models with price contingent contracts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brock, W.A.; Hommes, C.H.

2001-01-01

This paper discusses dynamic evolutionary multi-agent systems, as introduced by Brock and Hommes (1997). In particular the heterogeneous agent dynamic asset pricing model of Brock and Hommes (1998) is extended by introducing derivative securities by means of price contingent contracts. Numerical

Higher Order Expectations in Asset Pricing

OpenAIRE

Philippe BACCHETTA; Eric VAN WINCOOP

2004-01-01

We examine formally Keynes' idea that higher order beliefs can drive a wedge between an asset price and its fundamental value based on expected future payoffs. Higher order expectations add an additional term to a standard asset pricing equation. We call this the higher order wedge, which depends on the difference between higher and first order expectations of future payoffs. We analyze the determinants of this wedge and its impact on the equilibrium price. In the context of a dynamic noisy r...

Rational Asset Pricing Bubbles Revisited

OpenAIRE

Jan Werner

2012-01-01

Price bubble arises when the price of an asset exceeds the asset's fundamental value, that is, the present value of future dividend payments. The important result of Santos and Woodford (1997) says that price bubbles cannot exist in equilibrium in the standard dynamic asset pricing model with rational agents as long as assets are in strictly positive supply and the present value of total future resources is finite. This paper explores the possibility of asset price bubbles when either one of ...

Initial cash/asset ratio and asset prices: an experimental study.

Science.gov (United States)

Caginalp, G; Porter, D; Smith, V

1998-01-20

A series of experiments, in which nine participants trade an asset over 15 periods, test the hypothesis that an initial imbalance of asset/cash will influence the trading price over an extended time. Participants know at the outset that the asset or "stock" pays a single dividend with fixed expectation value at the end of the 15th period. In experiments with a greater total value of cash at the start, the mean prices during the trading periods are higher, compared with those with greater amount of asset, with a high degree of statistical significance. The difference is most significant at the outset and gradually tapers near the end of the experiment. The results are very surprising from a rational expectations and classical game theory perspective, because the possession of a large amount of cash does not lead to a simple motivation for a trader to bid excessively on a financial instrument. The gradual erosion of the difference toward the end of trading, however, suggests that fundamental value is approached belatedly, offering some consolation to the rational expectations theory. It also suggests that there is a time scale on which an evolution toward fundamental value occurs. The experimental results are qualitatively compatible with the price dynamics predicted by a system of differential equations based on asset flow. The results have broad implications for the marketing of securities, particularly initial and secondary public offerings, government bonds, etc., where excess supply has been conjectured to suppress prices.

VALUE-BASED APPROACH TO MANAGING CURRENT ASSETS OF CORPORATE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galyna Shapoval

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In modern conditions of management, the value of an enterprise becomes the main indicator, which is learned not only by scientists, but also by owners of enterprise and potential investors. Current assets take a very important place among the factors that affect the value of an enterprise, so management of current assets becomes more acute from the point of their impact on enterprise value. The purpose of the paper is to develop a system of value-based management of corporate construction companies’ current assets. The main tasks are: the study of current assets impact on the value of corporate construction companies, the definition of value-based approach to managing current assets of corporate enterprises and development of value-based management system of corporate construction companies’ current assets by elements. General scientific and special research methods were used while writing the work. Value-based management of current assets involves value-based management of the elements of current assets. The value-based inventory management includes the following stages of management: the assessment of reliability and choice of supplier according to the criterion of cash flow maximization, the classification of stocks in management accounting according to the rhythm of supply and the establishment of periodicity of supplies in accordance with the needs of the construction process. The value-based management of accounts receivable includes the following stages of management: assessment of the efficiency of investment of working capital into accounts receivable, the assessment of customers' loyalty and the definition of credit conditions and monitoring of receivables by construction and debt instruments. Value-based cash management involves determining the required level of cash to ensure the continuity of the construction process, assessing the effectiveness of cash use according to the criterion of maximizing cash flow, as well as budget

Asset prices and priceless assets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Penasse, J.N.G.

2014-01-01

The doctoral thesis studies several aspects of asset returns dynamics. The first three chapters focus on returns in the fine art market. The first chapter provides evidence for the existence of a slow-moving fad component in art prices that induces short-term return predictability. The article has

Ambiguity and Volatility : Asset Pricing Implications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pataracchia, B.

2011-01-01

Using a simple dynamic consumption-based asset pricing model, this paper explores the implications of a representative investor with smooth ambiguity averse preferences [Klibano¤, Marinacci and Mukerji, Econometrica (2005)] and provides a comparative analysis of risk aversion and ambiguity aversion.

Research and design on system of asset management based on RFID

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Peng; Du, HuaiChang; Jing, Hua; Zhang, MengYue; Zhang, Meng; Xu, GuiXian

2011-10-01

By analyzing the problems in the current assets management, this thesis proposing RFID technology will be applied to asset management in order to improve the management level of automation and information. This paper designed the equipment identification based on 433MHz RFID tag and reader which was deeply studied on the basis of RFID tag and card reader circuits, and this paper also illustrates the system of asset management. The RS232 converts Ethernet is a innovative technology to transfer data to PC monitor software, and implement system of asset management based on WEB techniques (PHP and MySQL).

Weapon carrying and psychopathic-like features in a population-based sample of Finnish adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Saukkonen, Suvi; Laajasalo, Taina; Jokela, Markus; Kivivuori, Janne; Salmi, Venla; Aronen, Eeva T

2016-02-01

We investigated the prevalence of juvenile weapon carrying and psychosocial and personality-related risk factors for carrying different types of weapons in a nationally representative, population-based sample of Finnish adolescents. Specifically, we aimed to investigate psychopathic-like personality features as a risk factor for weapon carrying. The participants were 15-16-year-old adolescents from the Finnish self-report delinquency study (n = 4855). Four different groups were formed based on self-reported weapon carrying: no weapon carrying, carrying knife, gun or other weapon. The associations between psychosocial factors, psychopathic-like features and weapon carrying were examined with multinomial logistic regression analysis. 9% of the participants had carried a weapon in the past 12 months. Adolescents with a history of delinquency, victimization and antisocial friends were more likely to carry weapons in general; however, delinquency and victimization were most strongly related to gun carrying, while perceived peer delinquency (antisocial friends) was most strongly related to carrying a knife. Better academic performance was associated with a reduced likelihood of carrying a gun and knife, while feeling secure correlated with a reduced likelihood of gun carrying only. Psychopathic-like features were related to a higher likelihood of weapon carrying, even after adjusting for other risk factors. The findings of the study suggest that adolescents carrying a weapon have a large cluster of problems in their lives, which may vary based on the type of weapon carried. Furthermore, psychopathic-like features strongly relate to a higher risk of carrying a weapon.

Application of quantum master equation for long-term prognosis of asset-prices

Science.gov (United States)

Khrennikova, Polina

2016-05-01

This study combines the disciplines of behavioral finance and an extension of econophysics, namely the concepts and mathematical structure of quantum physics. We apply the formalism of quantum theory to model the dynamics of some correlated financial assets, where the proposed model can be potentially applied for developing a long-term prognosis of asset price formation. At the informational level, the asset price states interact with each other by the means of a ;financial bath;. The latter is composed of agents' expectations about the future developments of asset prices on the finance market, as well as financially important information from mass-media, society, and politicians. One of the essential behavioral factors leading to the quantum-like dynamics of asset prices is the irrationality of agents' expectations operating on the finance market. These expectations lead to a deeper type of uncertainty concerning the future price dynamics of the assets, than given by a classical probability theory, e.g., in the framework of the classical financial mathematics, which is based on the theory of stochastic processes. The quantum dimension of the uncertainty in price dynamics is expressed in the form of the price-states superposition and entanglement between the prices of the different financial assets. In our model, the resolution of this deep quantum uncertainty is mathematically captured with the aid of the quantum master equation (its quantum Markov approximation). We illustrate our model of preparation of a future asset price prognosis by a numerical simulation, involving two correlated assets. Their returns interact more intensively, than understood by a classical statistical correlation. The model predictions can be extended to more complex models to obtain price configuration for multiple assets and portfolios.

The Dynamics of Market Insurance, Insurable Assets, and Wealth Accumulation

OpenAIRE

Koeniger, Winfried

2002-01-01

We analyze dynamic interactions between market insurance, the stock of insurable assets and liquid wealth accumulation in a model with non-durable and durable consumption. The stock of the durable is exposed to risk against which households can insure. Since the model does not have a closed form solution we first provide an analytical approximation for the case in which households own abundant liquid wealth. It turns out that precautionary motives still matter because of fluctuations of the p...

Why Do Gamers Buy 'Virtual Assets'? An Insight in to the Psychology Behind Purchase Behaviour

OpenAIRE

Griffiths, Jack V, Mark

2015-01-01

The present study investigated the phenomenon of buying ‘virtual assets’ for game avatars. Virtual Assets are items that are bought with real-world money for an avatar in-game; weapons, items, pets, mounts and skin customisations the most popular examples. Using Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) six gamers that regularly bought in-game assets were interviewed. IPA was chosen because of its emphasis on lived experience, and each participant had subjective experiences of gaming...

Evaluating the effectiveness of the use of fixed assets defense enterprises (by the example of JSC “Concern ‘Sozvezdie’”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. I. Khorev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, the problem of sustainable development of enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex has not only military, but economic importance. The article provides an analysis of the availability, scope, composition and structure of the basic production assets of JSC "Concern "Sozvezdie" for 2013-2015, and analysis of efficiency of use of the basic production assets in JSC "Concern "Sozvezdie" for 2013-2015. JSC "Concern "Sozvezdie" JSC approved the program of innovative development and technological modernization, the development objective of which is the proved choice of the list and content of activities, the implementation of which should ensure the development of the Concern as a scientific and industrial socio-economic system – a holistic entity. Assessment of the dynamics of the basic production assets has shown that the security of JSC "Concern "Sozvezdie" OPF for 2013-2015 increased by 89,81%. The degree of updating of production assets during the period was 50.7%. The analysis of the efficiency of the basic production assets in JSC "Concern "Sozvezdie" has shown that for every 1% increase in revenue major funds have grown by 0.65%. The rate of fondamenti decreased by 18.2%. The assessment of efficiency of use of the basic production assets of JSC "Concern "Sozvezdie" shows that the total technical re-equipment of scientific and technological, testing and production and technological base of the enterprises of the Concern is directed on creation of production capacities to ensure serial production of advanced weapons, military and special equipment in the framework of the state defense order, as the main activity of the majority of the companies of the Group, and reconstruction, the expansion and creation of production to the production of innovative civilian products.

Detecting change points in VIX and S&P 500: A new approach to dynamic asset allocation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nystrup, Peter; Hansen, Bo William; Madsen, Henrik

2016-01-01

to DAA that is based on detection of change points without fitting a model with a fixed number of regimes to the data, without estimating any parameters and without assuming a specific distribution of the data. It is examined whether DAA is most profitable when based on changes in the Chicago Board...... Options Exchange Volatility Index or change points detected in daily returns of the S&P 500 index. In an asset universe consisting of the S&P 500 index and cash, it is shown that a dynamic strategy based on detected change points significantly improves the Sharpe ratio and reduces the drawdown risk when...

Dynamic Relationships between Price and Net Asset Value for Asian Real Estate Stocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Hiang LIOW

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines short- and long-term behavior of the price-to net asset value ratio in six Asian public real estate markets. We find mean-reverting behavior of the ratio and spillover effects, where each of the examined public real estate markets correlates with other markets. Additionally, the unexpected shock correlating with the price-to-net asset value ratio in one market has a positive or negative correlation with the ratios of other markets. Our results offer fresh insights to portfolio managers, policymakers, and academic researchers into the regional and country market dynamics of public real estate valuation and cross-country interaction from the long-term and short-term perspectives.

Application of a Dynamic Programming Algorithm for Weapon Target Assignment

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-01

evaluation and weapon assignment in maritime combat scenarios. Lloyd also acts as a liaison for the Weapons and Combat Systems Division with the ANZAC...positively identified a number of targets as threats, whether they are an enemy ship (i.e., specifically, its weapon launcher systems) or a directed

Flexible weapons architecture design

Science.gov (United States)

Pyant, William C., III

Present day air-delivered weapons are of a closed architecture, with little to no ability to tailor the weapon for the individual engagement. The closed architectures require weaponeers to make the target fit the weapon instead of fitting the individual weapons to a target. The concept of a flexible weapons aims to modularize weapons design using an open architecture shell into which different modules are inserted to achieve the desired target fractional damage while reducing cost and civilian casualties. This thesis shows that the architecture design factors of damage mechanism, fusing, weapons weight, guidance, and propulsion are significant in enhancing weapon performance objectives, and would benefit from modularization. Additionally, this thesis constructs an algorithm that can be used to design a weapon set for a particular target class based on these modular components.

Development of advanced risk informed asset management tool based on system dynamics approach for nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Gyoung Cheol

2007-02-01

In the competitive circumstance of electricity industry, the economic efficiency of electricity generation facility is the most important factor to increase their competitiveness. For nuclear power plant (NPP), safety is also an essential factor. Over fast several years, efforts for development of safety concerned and financial asset maximizing method, process and tools have been continued internationally and Risk-Informed Asset Management (RIAM) methodology is suggested by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This RIAM methodology is expected to provide plant operators with a project prioritization and life cycle management planning tool for making long-term maintenance plans, guiding plant budgeting, and determining the sensitivity of a plant's economic risk to the reliability and availability of system, structure, and components (SSC), as well as other technical and economic parameters. The focus of this study is to develop model that help us to resource allocation, to find what effect such allocations on the plant economic and safety performance. Detailed research process for this goal is as follow; First step for development of advanced RIAM model is to review for current RIAM model of EPRI. This part describes the overall RIAM methodology including its conceptual model, implementation process, modular approach etc. Second step is to perform feasibility study for current EPRI's RIAM model with case study. This part shows the result of feasibility study for current RIAM method by case study and discussion for result. Finally, concept of Advanced RIAM model is developed based on system dynamics approach and parameter relationship is formulated. In advanced RIAM Model, Identification of scheduled maintenance effect on other parameters and the relationship between PM Activity and failure rate is most important factor. In this study, these relationships are formulated based on system dynamics approach. Creations of these modeling tool using Vensim

Regime-Based Versus Static Asset Allocation: Letting the Data Speak

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nystrup, Peter; Hansen, Bo William; Madsen, Henrik

2015-01-01

Regime shifts present a big challenge to traditional strategic asset allocation. This article investigates whether regimebased asset allocation can effectively respond to changes in financial regimes at the portfolio level, in an effort to provide better long-term results than more static...... approaches can offer. The authors center their regime-based approach around a regime-switching model with time-varying parameters that can match financial markets’ tendency to change behavior abruptly and the fact that the new behavior often persists for several periods after a change. In an asset universe...

Habit-based Asset Pricing with Limited Participation Consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bach, Christian; Møller, Stig Vinther

We calibrate and estimate a consumption-based asset pricing model with habit formation using limited participation consumption data. Based on survey data of a representative sample of American households, we distinguish between assetholder and non-assetholder consumption, as well as the standard...

Habit-based asset pricing with limited participation consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Stig Vinther; Bach, Christian

2011-01-01

We calibrate and estimate a consumption-based asset pricing model with habit formation using limited participation consumption data. Based on survey data of a representative sample of American households, we distinguish between assetholder and non-assetholder consumption, as well as the standard...

Youths Carrying a Weapon or Using a Weapon in a Fight: What Makes the Difference?

Science.gov (United States)

Thurnherr, Judit; Michaud, Pierre-Andre; Berchtold, Andre; Akre, Christina; Suris, Joan-Carles

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to characterize weapon-carrying adolescents and to assess whether weapon carriers differ from weapon users. Data were drawn from a cross-sectional school-based survey of 7548 adolescents aged 16-20 years in Switzerland. Youths carrying a weapon were compared with those who do not. Subsequently, weapon carriers were…

Steam generator asset management: integrating technology and asset management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoemaker, P.; Cislo, D.

2006-01-01

Asset Management is an established but often misunderstood discipline that is gaining momentum within the nuclear generation industry. The global impetus behind the movement toward asset management is sustainability. The discipline of asset management is based upon three fundamental aspects; key performance indicators (KPI), activity-based cost accounting, and cost benefits/risk analysis. The technology associated with these three aspects is fairly well-developed, in all but the most critical area; cost benefits/risk analysis. There are software programs that calculate, trend, and display key-performance indicators to ensure high-level visibility. Activity-based costing is a little more difficult; requiring a consensus on the definition of what comprises an activity and then adjusting cost accounting systems to track. In the United States, the Nuclear Energy Institute's Standard Nuclear Process Model (SNPM) serves as the basis for activity-based costing. As a result, the software industry has quickly adapted to develop tracking systems that include the SNPM structure. Both the KPI's and the activity-based cost accounting feed the cost benefits/risk analysis to allow for continuous improvement and task optimization; the goal of asset management. In the case where the benefits and risks are clearly understood and defined, there has been much progress in applying technology for continuous improvement. Within the nuclear generation industry, more specialized and unique software systems have been developed for active components, such as pumps and motors. Active components lend themselves well to the application of asset management techniques because failure rates can be established, which serves as the basis to quantify risk in the cost-benefits/risk analysis. A key issue with respect to asset management technologies is only now being understood and addressed, that is how to manage passive components. Passive components, such as nuclear steam generators, reactor vessels

Automated Navigation System based on Weapon-Target Assignment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Khairudin

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Operating of weapon on the tank is mostly by manually. It is not desired performance for a critical operation. An automatic control system is required to operate the weapon with the target while maintaining the accuracy. In this paper has designed an automatic weapon control system using object image proccessing. Various an image processing methods used to improve the weapon accuracy to obtain the intended target. The method used in digital image processing is the Camshift motion tracking method. This method is compared with the Lucas Canade motion tracking method. This comparison is conducted to found more precise results between the two methods. Results of object image processing are used to control the direction of the weapon that towards the desired goal. The results show that the implementation of the Lucas Canade motion tracking method using fire simulation tools have been successful. The performance of the Lucas Canade motion tracking methods is better than the CamShift method. Using Lucas Canade method for weapon controller is accordance with the purposes.

Study on combat effectiveness of air defense missile weapon system based on queuing theory

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Z. Q.; Hao, J. X.; Li, L. J.

2017-01-01

Queuing Theory is a method to analyze the combat effectiveness of air defense missile weapon system. The model of service probability based on the queuing theory was constructed, and applied to analyzing the combat effectiveness of "Sidewinder" and "Tor-M1" air defense missile weapon system. Finally aimed at different targets densities, the combat effectiveness of different combat units of two types' defense missile weapon system is calculated. This method can be used to analyze the usefulness of air defense missile weapon system.

Basel III and Asset Securitization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Mpundu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Asset securitization via special purpose entities involves the process of transforming assets into securities that are issued to investors. These investors hold the rights to payments supported by the cash flows from an asset pool held by the said entity. In this paper, we discuss the mechanism by which low- and high-quality entities securitize low- and high-quality assets, respectively, into collateralized debt obligations. During the 2007–2009 financial crisis, asset securitization was seriously inhibited. In response to this, for instance, new Basel III capital and liquidity regulations were introduced. Here, we find that we can explicitly determine the transaction costs related to low-quality asset securitization. Also, in the case of dynamic and static multipliers, the effects of unexpected negative shocks such as rating downgrades on asset price and input, debt obligation price and output, and profit will be quantified. In this case, we note that Basel III has been designed to provide countercyclical capital buffers to negate procyclicality. Moreover, we will develop an illustrative example of low-quality asset securitization for subprime mortgages. Furthermore, numerical examples to illustrate the key results will be provided. In addition, connections between Basel III and asset securitization will be highlighted.

50 kW laser weapon demonstrator of Rheinmetall Waffe munition

Science.gov (United States)

Ludewigt, K.; Riesbeck, Th.; Graf, A.; Jung, M.

2013-10-01

We will present the setup of a 50 kW Laser Weapon Demonstrator (LWD) and results achieved with this system. The LWD is a ground based Air Defence system consisting of a Skyguard sensor unit for target acquisition and two laser equipped weapon turrets. The weapon turrets used are standard air defence turrets of Rheinmetall Air Defence which were equipped with several 10 kW Laser Weapon Modules (LWM). Each LWM consists of one 10 kW fiber laser and a beam forming unit (BFU). Commercial of the shelf fiber laser were modified for our defence applications. The BFU providing diffraction limited beam focusing, target imaging and fine tracking of the target was developed. The LWD was tested in a firing campaign at Rheinmetall test ground in Switzerland. All laser beams of both weapon turrets were superimposed on stationary and dynamic targets. Test results of the LWD for the scenarios Air Defence and C-RAMM (counter rockets, artillery, mortar and missiles) will be presented. An outlook for the next development stage towards a 100 kW class laser weapon on RWM will be given.

Entropy-based financial asset pricing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihály Ormos

Full Text Available We investigate entropy as a financial risk measure. Entropy explains the equity premium of securities and portfolios in a simpler way and, at the same time, with higher explanatory power than the beta parameter of the capital asset pricing model. For asset pricing we define the continuous entropy as an alternative measure of risk. Our results show that entropy decreases in the function of the number of securities involved in a portfolio in a similar way to the standard deviation, and that efficient portfolios are situated on a hyperbola in the expected return-entropy system. For empirical investigation we use daily returns of 150 randomly selected securities for a period of 27 years. Our regression results show that entropy has a higher explanatory power for the expected return than the capital asset pricing model beta. Furthermore we show the time varying behavior of the beta along with entropy.

Entropy-based financial asset pricing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ormos, Mihály; Zibriczky, Dávid

2014-01-01

We investigate entropy as a financial risk measure. Entropy explains the equity premium of securities and portfolios in a simpler way and, at the same time, with higher explanatory power than the beta parameter of the capital asset pricing model. For asset pricing we define the continuous entropy as an alternative measure of risk. Our results show that entropy decreases in the function of the number of securities involved in a portfolio in a similar way to the standard deviation, and that efficient portfolios are situated on a hyperbola in the expected return-entropy system. For empirical investigation we use daily returns of 150 randomly selected securities for a period of 27 years. Our regression results show that entropy has a higher explanatory power for the expected return than the capital asset pricing model beta. Furthermore we show the time varying behavior of the beta along with entropy.

Land of Addicts? An Empirical Investigation of Habit-Based Asset Pricing Behavior

OpenAIRE

Xiaohong Chen; Sydney C. Ludvigson

2004-01-01

This paper studies the ability of a general class of habit-based asset pricing models to match the conditional moment restrictions implied by asset pricing theory. We treat the functional form of the habit as unknown, and to estimate it along with the rest of the model's finite dimensional parameters. Using quarterly data on consumption growth, assets returns and instruments, our empirical results indicate that the estimated habit function is nonlinear, the habit formation is better described...

Research on Methodology to Prioritize Critical Digital Assets based on Nuclear Risk Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Wonjik; Kwon, Kookheui; Kim, Hyundoo [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Digital systems are used in nuclear facilities to monitor and control various types of field devices, as well as to obtain and store vital information. Therefore, it is getting important for nuclear facilities to protect digital systems from cyber-attack in terms of safety operation and public health since cyber compromise of these systems could lead to unacceptable radiological consequences. Based on KINAC/RS-015 which is a cyber security regulatory standard, regulatory activities for cyber security at nuclear facilities generally focus on critical digital assets (CDAs) which are safety, security, and emergency preparedness related digital assets. Critical digital assets are estimated over 60% among all digital assets in a nuclear power plant. Therefore, it was required to prioritize critical digital assets to improve efficiency of regulation and implementation. In this paper, the research status on methodology development to prioritize critical digital assets based on nuclear risk assessment will be introduced. In this paper, to derive digital asset directly affect accident, PRA results (ET, FT, and minimal cut set) are analyzed. According to result of analysis, digital systems related to CD are derived ESF-CCS (safety-related component control system) and Process-CCS (non-safety-related component control system) as well as Engineered Safety Features Actuation System (ESFAS). These digital assets can be identified Vital Digital Asset (VDA). Hereafter, to develop general methodology which was identified VDA related to accident among CDAs, (1) method using result of minimal cut set in PRA model will be studied and (2) method quantifying result of Digital I and C PRA which is performed to reflect all digital cabinet related to system in FT will be studied.

Research on Methodology to Prioritize Critical Digital Assets based on Nuclear Risk Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Wonjik; Kwon, Kookheui; Kim, Hyundoo

2016-01-01

Digital systems are used in nuclear facilities to monitor and control various types of field devices, as well as to obtain and store vital information. Therefore, it is getting important for nuclear facilities to protect digital systems from cyber-attack in terms of safety operation and public health since cyber compromise of these systems could lead to unacceptable radiological consequences. Based on KINAC/RS-015 which is a cyber security regulatory standard, regulatory activities for cyber security at nuclear facilities generally focus on critical digital assets (CDAs) which are safety, security, and emergency preparedness related digital assets. Critical digital assets are estimated over 60% among all digital assets in a nuclear power plant. Therefore, it was required to prioritize critical digital assets to improve efficiency of regulation and implementation. In this paper, the research status on methodology development to prioritize critical digital assets based on nuclear risk assessment will be introduced. In this paper, to derive digital asset directly affect accident, PRA results (ET, FT, and minimal cut set) are analyzed. According to result of analysis, digital systems related to CD are derived ESF-CCS (safety-related component control system) and Process-CCS (non-safety-related component control system) as well as Engineered Safety Features Actuation System (ESFAS). These digital assets can be identified Vital Digital Asset (VDA). Hereafter, to develop general methodology which was identified VDA related to accident among CDAs, (1) method using result of minimal cut set in PRA model will be studied and (2) method quantifying result of Digital I and C PRA which is performed to reflect all digital cabinet related to system in FT will be studied

Nuclear Weapons in Russia's approach to conflict

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, Dave

2016-11-01

President Putin has moved nuclear weapons to the foreground of the European security landscape. New risks and dangers arise from the apparent coupling of nuclear weapons capabilities with Moscow's revanchist and irredentist foreign and defence policies toward its neighbours. Nuclear weapons are the central feature and capstone capability in Russia's evolving concept of strategic deterrence and are important tools for achieving Russia's geopolitical aims. Russian thinking on the role and place of nuclear weapons in upholding national security and in achieving strategic aims is reflected in military policy, force structure and posture, and exercises and operations. Russia's political and military leaders are not only re-conceptualising the role of nuclear weapons. They are also building the military capabilities that can credibly threaten the calibrated employment of nuclear weapons for deterrence, de-escalation and war-fighting from the regional to large-scale and global levels of conflict. New and still developing concepts for the employment of conventional long-range precision weapons in tandem with nuclear weapons for regional deterrence and containment of local and regional conflicts add volatility to the regional tensions and uncertainties created by recent Russian aggression. Russia's reliance upon integrated conventional and nuclear capabilities in reasserting its influence in its perceived sphere of special interest, intended to contain conflicts at a manageable level, could actually increase the risk of the potential employment of nuclear weapons. NATO nations collectively, and the three NATO nuclear powers (Great Britain, France, and the United States) individually, have recognized this new reality and have begun to adapt to it. In that context, the aim of this paper is to elaborate a clearer understanding of the place and role of nuclear weapons in Russia's approach to conflict, based on nuclear-related policy statements and military-theoretical writing

Antisatellite weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garwin, R.L.; Gottfried, K.; Hafner, D.L.

1984-01-01

The authors take issue with the assessment that the advent of antisatellite weapons implies that the beneficial role of satellites in arms control, confidence building, and conflict resolution has been judged less important than their ability to support actual military operations. They argue that there is still an opportunity to negotiate a militarily significant and verifiable constraint on the growth of antisatellite technology that would be in the security interest of the US and the world as a whole. They base their opinion on an assessment of the roles of the existing military satellites and their vulnerability to antisatellite weapons and the probable impact of antisatellite weapons on various kinds of crisis and conflict. 10 figures, 1 table

IoT-based Asset Management System for Healthcare-related Industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Carman Ka Man

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The healthcare industry has been focusing efforts on optimizing inventory management procedures through the incorporation of Information and Communication Technology, in the form of tracking devices and data mining, to establish ideal inventory models. In this paper, a roadmap is developed towards a technological assessment of the Internet of Things (IoT in the healthcare industry, 2010–2020. According to the roadmap, an IoT-based healthcare asset management system (IoT-HAMS is proposed and developed based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN and Fuzzy Logic (FL, incorporating IoT technologies for asset management to optimize the supply of resources.

Incomplete Financial Markets and Jumps in Asset Prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crès, Hervé; Markeprand, Tobias Ejnar; Tvede, Mich

A dynamic pure-exchange general equilibrium model with uncertainty is studied. Fundamentals are supposed to depend continuously on states of nature. It is shown that: 1. if financial markets are complete, then asset prices vary continuously with states of nature, and; 2. if financial markets...... are incomplete, jumps in asset prices may be unavoidable. Consequently incomplete financial markets may increase volatility in asset prices significantly....

Scaling symmetry, renormalization, and time series modeling: the case of financial assets dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamparo, Marco; Baldovin, Fulvio; Caraglio, Michele; Stella, Attilio L

2013-12-01

We present and discuss a stochastic model of financial assets dynamics based on the idea of an inverse renormalization group strategy. With this strategy we construct the multivariate distributions of elementary returns based on the scaling with time of the probability density of their aggregates. In its simplest version the model is the product of an endogenous autoregressive component and a random rescaling factor designed to embody also exogenous influences. Mathematical properties like increments' stationarity and ergodicity can be proven. Thanks to the relatively low number of parameters, model calibration can be conveniently based on a method of moments, as exemplified in the case of historical data of the S&P500 index. The calibrated model accounts very well for many stylized facts, like volatility clustering, power-law decay of the volatility autocorrelation function, and multiscaling with time of the aggregated return distribution. In agreement with empirical evidence in finance, the dynamics is not invariant under time reversal, and, with suitable generalizations, skewness of the return distribution and leverage effects can be included. The analytical tractability of the model opens interesting perspectives for applications, for instance, in terms of obtaining closed formulas for derivative pricing. Further important features are the possibility of making contact, in certain limits, with autoregressive models widely used in finance and the possibility of partially resolving the long- and short-memory components of the volatility, with consistent results when applied to historical series.

Scaling symmetry, renormalization, and time series modeling: The case of financial assets dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Zamparo, Marco; Baldovin, Fulvio; Caraglio, Michele; Stella, Attilio L.

2013-12-01

We present and discuss a stochastic model of financial assets dynamics based on the idea of an inverse renormalization group strategy. With this strategy we construct the multivariate distributions of elementary returns based on the scaling with time of the probability density of their aggregates. In its simplest version the model is the product of an endogenous autoregressive component and a random rescaling factor designed to embody also exogenous influences. Mathematical properties like increments’ stationarity and ergodicity can be proven. Thanks to the relatively low number of parameters, model calibration can be conveniently based on a method of moments, as exemplified in the case of historical data of the S&P500 index. The calibrated model accounts very well for many stylized facts, like volatility clustering, power-law decay of the volatility autocorrelation function, and multiscaling with time of the aggregated return distribution. In agreement with empirical evidence in finance, the dynamics is not invariant under time reversal, and, with suitable generalizations, skewness of the return distribution and leverage effects can be included. The analytical tractability of the model opens interesting perspectives for applications, for instance, in terms of obtaining closed formulas for derivative pricing. Further important features are the possibility of making contact, in certain limits, with autoregressive models widely used in finance and the possibility of partially resolving the long- and short-memory components of the volatility, with consistent results when applied to historical series.

Asset Return Dynamics and Learning

OpenAIRE

William A. Branch; George W. Evans

2010-01-01

This article advocates a theory of expectation formation that incorporates many of the central motivations of behavioral finance theory while retaining much of the discipline of the rational expectations approach. We provide a framework in which agents, in an asset pricing model, underparameterize their forecasting model in a spirit similar to Hong, Stein, and Yu (2007) and Barberis, Shleifer, and Vishny (1998), except that the parameters of the forecasting model and the choice of predictor a...

Ising model of financial markets with many assets

Science.gov (United States)

Eckrot, A.; Jurczyk, J.; Morgenstern, I.

2016-11-01

Many models of financial markets exist, but most of them simulate single asset markets. We study a multi asset Ising model of a financial market. Each agent has two possible actions (buy/sell) for every asset. The agents dynamically adjust their coupling coefficients according to past market returns and external news. This leads to fat tails and volatility clustering independent of the number of assets. We find that a separation of news into different channels leads to sector structures in the cross correlations, similar to those found in real markets.

A pathway to a more sustainable water sector: sustainability-based asset management.

Science.gov (United States)

Marlow, D R; Beale, D J; Burn, S

2010-01-01

The water sectors of many countries are faced with the need to address simultaneously two overarching challenges; the need to undertake effective asset management coupled with the broader need to evolve business processes so as to embrace sustainability principles. Research has thus been undertaken into the role sustainability principles play in asset management. As part of this research, a series of 25 in-depth interviews were undertaken with water sector professionals from around Australia. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper outlines the conceptual relationship between asset management and sustainability along with a synthesis of the relevant opinions voiced in the interviews. The interviews indicated that the participating water authorities have made a strong commitment to sustainability, but there is a need to facilitate change processes to embed sustainability principles into business as usual practices. Interviewees also noted that asset management and sustainability are interlinked from a number of perspectives, especially in the way decision making is undertaken with respect to assets and service provision. The interviews also provided insights into the research needed to develop a holistic sustainability-based asset management framework.

Performance-based contracting for maintaining transportation assets with emphasis on bridges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alsharqawi Mohammed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With a large number of aging transportation infrastructure assets in North America and the growing problem of deterioration across the globe, managing these assets have been the subject of ongoing research. There is an overwhelming amount of maintenance and rehabilitation works to be done and selecting a suitable maintenance, repair or replacement (MRR strategy is one of the most challenging tasks for decision makers. Limited budget and resources are even making the decision making process more challenging. Maintaining infrastructure to the highest possible condition while investing the minimal amount of money has promoted innovative contracting approaches. Transportation agencies have increased private sector involvement through long term performance-based maintenance contracts or what is called Performance-Based Contracting. PBC is a type of contract that pays a contractor based on the results achieved, not on the methods for performing the maintenance work. By looking into the literature, it is observed that agencies are expanding the amount of contracting they do in order to maintain and achieve a better standard of infrastructure facilities. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to study and review performance-based contracting for transportation infrastructure with emphasis on bridge assets.

Applying Agile MethodstoWeapon/Weapon-Related Software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, D; Armendariz, M; Blackledge, M; Campbell, F; Cloninger, M; Cox, L; Davis, J; Elliott, M; Granger, K; Hans, S; Kuhn, C; Lackner, M; Loo, P; Matthews, S; Morrell, K; Owens, C; Peercy, D; Pope, G; Quirk, R; Schilling, D; Stewart, A; Tran, A; Ward, R; Williamson, M

2007-05-02

This white paper provides information and guidance to the Department of Energy (DOE) sites on Agile software development methods and the impact of their application on weapon/weapon-related software development. The purpose of this white paper is to provide an overview of Agile methods, examine the accepted interpretations/uses/practices of these methodologies, and discuss the applicability of Agile methods with respect to Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) Technical Business Practices (TBPs). It also provides recommendations on the application of Agile methods to the development of weapon/weapon-related software.

End-of-life conversations and care: an asset-based model for community engagement.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthiesen, Mary; Froggatt, Katherine; Owen, Elaine; Ashton, John R

2014-09-01

Public awareness work regarding palliative and end-of-life care is increasingly promoted within national strategies for palliative care. Different approaches to undertaking this work are being used, often based upon broader educational principles, but little is known about how to undertake such initiatives in a way that equally engages both the health and social care sector and the local communities. An asset-based community engagement approach has been developed that facilitates community-led awareness initiatives concerning end-of-life conversations and care by identifying and connecting existing skills and expertise. (1) To describe the processes and features of an asset-based community engagement approach that facilitates community-led awareness initiatives with a focus on end-of-life conversations and care; and (2) to identify key community-identified priorities for sustainable community engagement processes. An asset-based model of community engagement specific to end-of-life issues using a four-step process is described (getting started, coming together, action planning and implementation). The use of this approach, in two regional community engagement programmes, based across rural and urban communities in the northwest of England, is described. The assets identified in the facilitated community engagement process encompassed people's talents and skills, community groups and networks, government and non-government agencies, physical and economic assets and community values and stories. Five priority areas were addressed to ensure active community engagement work: information, outreach, education, leadership and sustainability. A facilitated, asset-based approach of community engagement for end-of-life conversations and care can catalyse community-led awareness initiatives. This occurs through the involvement of community and local health and social care organisations as co-creators of this change across multiple sectors in a sustainable way. This approach

Framework, process and tool for managing technology-based assets

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kfir, R

2000-10-01

Full Text Available ) and the intellectual property (IP) of the organisation, The study describes a framework linking the core processes supporting the management of technology-based assets and offerings with other organisational elements such as leadership, strategy, and culture. Specific...

Nuclear weapons free zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stahl, K.

1990-01-01

The article analyses the concept and problems of the two nuclear weapons free zones in Latin America and in the South Pacific established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco and the Treaty of Rarotonga. So far the nuclear weapons states except China have refused to sign the additional protocols of the Treaties or have signed them only with considerable provisos. Therefore they don't fully recognize the nuclear weapons free status of those zones, or they don't recognize it at all. Both Treaties contain no provisions to regulate the transit of nuclear weapons through the zones. This allows de facto the stationing of nuclear weapons in the military bases of the US which are located within the nuclear weapons free zone of Latin America. The Treaty of Tlatelolco contains also the right of the states, party to the Treaty, to explode nuclear devices for peaceful purposes. Since peaceful and military nuclear explosions cannot be distinguished technically, this right could also undermine the nuclear weapons free status of the region. Important nuclear threshold countries like Argentina and Brazil have furthermore refrained from putting the Treaty into force. (orig.) [de

Estimating Phenomenological Parameters in Multi-Assets Markets

Science.gov (United States)

Raffaelli, Giacomo; Marsili, Matteo

Financial correlations exhibit a non-trivial dynamic behavior. This is reproduced by a simple phenomenological model of a multi-asset financial market, which takes into account the impact of portfolio investment on price dynamics. This captures the fact that correlations determine the optimal portfolio but are affected by investment based on it. Such a feedback on correlations gives rise to an instability when the volume of investment exceeds a critical value. Close to the critical point the model exhibits dynamical correlations very similar to those observed in real markets. We discuss how the model's parameter can be estimated in real market data with a maximum likelihood principle. This confirms the main conclusion that real markets operate close to a dynamically unstable point.

Saving-Based Asset Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dreyer, Johannes Kabderian; Schneider, Johannes; T. Smith, William

2013-01-01

This paper explores the implications of a novel class of preferences for the behavior of asset prices. Following a suggestion by Marshall (1920), we entertain the possibility that people derive utility not only from consumption, but also from the very act of saving. These ‘‘saving-based’’ prefere...

[Health promotion based on assets: how to work with this perspective in local interventions?

Science.gov (United States)

Cofiño, Rafael; Aviñó, Dory; Benedé, Carmen Belén; Botello, Blanca; Cubillo, Jara; Morgan, Antony; Paredes-Carbonell, Joan Josep; Hernán, Mariano

2016-11-01

An asset-based approach could be useful to revitalise health promotion or community health interventions combining work with multiple partnerships, positive health, community engagement, equity and orientation of health determinants. We set some recommendations about how to incorporate the assets model in programmes, projects and interventions in health promotion. Some techniques are described for assets mapping and some experiences with this methodology being developed in different regions are systematised. We propose the term "Asset-based Health Promotion/Community Health" as an operational definition to work at the local level with a community engagement and participatory approach, building alliances between different institutions at the state-regional level and trying to create a framework for action with the generation of evaluations and evidence to work on population interventions from the perspective of positive health. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. All rights reserved.

Improving the asset pricing ability of the Consumption-Capital Asset Pricing Model?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Anne-Sofie Reng

This paper compares the asset pricing ability of the traditional consumption-based capital asset pricing model to models from two strands of literature attempting to improve on the poor empirical results of the C-CAPM. One strand is based on the intertemporal asset pricing model of Campbell (1993...... able to price assets conditionally as suggested by Cochrane (1996) and Lettau and Ludvigson (2001b). The unconditional C-CAPM is rewritten as a scaled factor model using the approximate log consumptionwealth ratio cay, developed by Lettau and Ludvigson (2001a), as scaling variable. The models...... and composite. Thus, there is no unambiguous solution to the pricing ability problems of the C-CAPM. Models from both the alternative literature strands are found to outperform the traditional C-CAPM on average pricing errors. However, when weighting pricing errors by the full variance-covariance matrix...

Investments in fixed assets and depreciation of fixed assets: theoretical and practical aspects of study and analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina D. Demina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is indicated that domestic economy is experiencing a shortage of investment.The acceleration of the processes of import substitution is one of the most important challenges facing the domestic economy at present.Investments, especially capital investments and related investment relations constitute the basis for the development of the national economy and improving the efficiency of social production as a whole. A problem of formation of the amortization fundremains actual at the moment. In the modern scientific and educational literature amortization fund means the fund, including the use of funds to complete the restoration and repair of the fixed assets. This paper makesthe analysis of the situation in the area of investment in the fixed capital, which has developed in Russia for the past severalyears. The aim of this paper is to study the investment climate in the country based on the analysis of investments in the fixed capital by the sources of financing and types of the economic activity. The work is based on dynamic and structural analysis of analytical and statistical information on the processes occurring in this field.As a result, it can be noted that in spite of a number of efforts being made, in general, there are low growth rates in industry, there is a deficit of investments in the fixed assets. Most of the investments in fixed assets are carried out at the expense of the organizations’ own funds. A significant number of economic entities do not have the means, necessary for the technological renewal. Unfortunately, the regulatory framework in the field of accounting for the fixed assets and accrual of depreciation does not imply the use of a special account for the accumulation, and, most importantly, for the purposeful control of the use of the depreciation fund.First of all, it is necessary for companies with state participation and monopoly organizations. The lack of control over the targeted use of the depreciation fund

Improvement of the methods for company’s fixed assets analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Zhurkina

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Fixed assets are an integral component of the productive capacity of any enterprise. The financial results of the enterprise largely depend on their intensity and efficiency of use. The analysis of fixed assets is usually carried out using an integrated and systematic approach, based on their availability, their movement, efficiency of use (including their active part. In the opinion of some authors, the traditional methods of analyzing fixed assets have a number of shortcomings, since they do not take into account the life cycle of an enterprise, the ecological aspects of the operation of fixed assets, the operation specifics of the individual divisions of a company and its branches. In order to improve the methodology for analyzing fixed assets, the authors proposed to use formalized and nonformalized criteria for analyzing the risks associated with the fixed asset use. A survey questionnaire was designed to determine the likelihood of the risk of economic losses associated with the use of fixed assets. The authors propose using the integral indicator for the purpose of analyzing the risk of using fixed assets in dynamics. In order to improve the procedure for auditing, the authors proposed segregation of economic transactions with fixed assets according to their cycles in accordance with the stage of their reproduction. Operational analysis is important for managing the efficiency of the fixed asset use, especially during a critical period. Using the analysis of the regularity in grain combines performance would reduce losses during harvesting, implement the work within strictly defined time frame and remunerate the employees for high-quality and intensive performance of their tasks.

Terror weapons. Ridding the world of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons - Commission on mass destruction weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blix, H.; Journe, V.

2010-01-01

This book approaches in 8 chapters the ambitious challenge of ridding the world of all mass destruction weapons: 1 - re-launching disarmament; 2 - terror weapons: nature of threats and answers (weakness of traditional answers, counter-proliferation); 3 - nuclear weapons: preventing proliferation and terrorism, reducing threat and nuclear weapons number, from regulation to banning); 4 - biological or toxin weapons; 5 - chemical weapons; 6 - vectors, anti-missile defenses and space weapons; 7 - exports control, international assistance and non-governmental actors; 8 - respect, verification, enforcement and role of the United Nations. The recommendations and works of the Commission are presented in appendix together with the declaration adopted on April 30, 2009. (J.S.)

Learning Agents for Autonomous Space Asset Management (LAASAM)

Science.gov (United States)

Scally, L.; Bonato, M.; Crowder, J.

2011-09-01

Current and future space systems will continue to grow in complexity and capabilities, creating a formidable challenge to monitor, maintain, and utilize these systems and manage their growing network of space and related ground-based assets. Integrated System Health Management (ISHM), and in particular, Condition-Based System Health Management (CBHM), is the ability to manage and maintain a system using dynamic real-time data to prioritize, optimize, maintain, and allocate resources. CBHM entails the maintenance of systems and equipment based on an assessment of current and projected conditions (situational and health related conditions). A complete, modern CBHM system comprises a number of functional capabilities: sensing and data acquisition; signal processing; conditioning and health assessment; diagnostics and prognostics; and decision reasoning. In addition, an intelligent Human System Interface (HSI) is required to provide the user/analyst with relevant context-sensitive information, the system condition, and its effect on overall situational awareness of space (and related) assets. Colorado Engineering, Inc. (CEI) and Raytheon are investigating and designing an Intelligent Information Agent Architecture that will provide a complete range of CBHM and HSI functionality from data collection through recommendations for specific actions. The research leverages CEI’s expertise with provisioning management network architectures and Raytheon’s extensive experience with learning agents to define a system to autonomously manage a complex network of current and future space-based assets to optimize their utilization.

INNOVATION IN ACCOUNTING BIOLOGIC ASSETS

OpenAIRE

Stolуarova M. A.; Shcherbina I. D.

2016-01-01

The article describes the innovations in the classification and measurement of biological assets according to IFRS (IAS) 41 "Agriculture". The difficulties faced by agricultural producers using standard, set out in article. The classification based on the adopted amendments, according to which the fruit-bearing plants, previously accounted for as biological assets are measured at fair value are included in the category of fixed assets. The structure of biological assets and main means has bee...

The Sociological Imagination and Community-Based Learning: Using an Asset-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Garoutte, Lisa

2018-01-01

Fostering a sociological imagination in students is a central goal for most introductory sociology courses and sociology departments generally, yet success is difficult to achieve. This project suggests that using elements of asset-based community development can be used in sociology classrooms to develop a sociological perspective. After…

Knowledge-based utility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chwalowski, M.

1997-01-01

This presentation provides industry examples of successful marketing practices by companies facing deregulation and competition. The common thread through the examples is that long term survival of today's utility structure is dependent on the strategic role of knowledge. As opposed to regulated monopolies which usually own huge physical assets and have very little intelligence about their customers, unregulated enterprises tend to be knowledge-based, characterized by higher market value than book value. A knowledge-based enterprise gathers data, creates information and develops knowledge by leveraging it as a competitive weapon. It institutionalizes human knowledge as a corporate asset for use over and over again by the use of databases, computer networks, patents, billing, collection and customer services (BCCS), branded interfaces and management capabilities. Activities to become knowledge-based such as replacing inventory/fixed assets with information about material usage to reduce expenditure and achieve more efficient operations, and by focusing on integration and value-adding delivery capabilities, were reviewed

Local natural and cultural heritage assets and community based ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Community based tourism (CBT) is seen as an opportunity which mass tourism does not offer for, especially, rural communities to develop their natural and cultural assets into tourism activities for the benefit of the community. The point of CBT is that the community, collectively and individually, gains a livelihood from ...

Asset Pricing in Markets with Illiquid Assets

OpenAIRE

Longstaff, Francis A

2005-01-01

Many important classes of assets are illiquid in the sense that they cannot always be traded immediately. Thus, a portfolio position in these types of illiquid investments becomes at least temporarily irreversible. We study the asset-pricing implications of illiquidity in a two-asset exchange economy with heterogeneous agents. In this market, one asset is always liquid. The other asset can be traded initially, but then not again until after a “blackout†period. Illiquidity has a dramatic e...

Nonlinear Effects in Transformation Optics-Based Metamaterial Shields for Counter Directed Energy Weapon Defense

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

employs the in- variance of the Maxwell equations under coordinate transformations to convert the free- space wave solutions in a coordinate... ENERGY WEAPON DEFENSE by Jacob D. Thompson June 2016 Thesis Co-Advisors: James Luscombe Brett Borden Approved for public release; distribution is...2014 to 06-17-2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE NONLINEAR EFFECTS IN TRANSFORMATION OPTICS-BASED METAMATE- RIAL SHIELDS FOR COUNTER DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON

Digital asset ecosystems rethinking crowds and cloud

CERN Document Server

Blanke, Tobias

2014-01-01

Digital asset management is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Near universal availability of high-quality web-based assets makes it important to pay attention to the new world of digital ecosystems and what it means for managing, using and publishing digital assets. The Ecosystem of Digital Assets reflects on these developments and what the emerging 'web of things' could mean for digital assets. The book is structured into three parts, each covering an important aspect of digital assets. Part one introduces the emerging ecosystems of digital assets. Part two examines digital asset manag

Historical development of derivatives’ underlying assets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylvie Riederová

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The derivative transactions are able to eliminate the unexpected risk arising from the price volatility of the asset. The need for risk elimination relates to the application of derivatives.This paper is focused on derivatives’ underlying assets themselves. With the plain description, supported by progressive summarization, the authors analysed the relevant theoretical sources, dealt with derivatives, their underlying assets and their development in centuries. Starting in the ancient history, 2000 BC, the first non-standard transaction, very close to today’s understanding of derivatives, becomes to be closed between counterparties. During the time, in different kingdoms and emporiums, derivatives started to play a significant role in daily life, helping to reduce the uncertainty of the future. But the real golden era for derivatives started with the so called ‘New derivative markets’ and computer supported trading. They have extended their form from simple tools to most complex structures, without changing their main purpose hedging and risk – reduction.For the main purpose of this paper it is impossible to split the development of derivatives from the very wide extension of underlying assets. The change of these assets was one of the main drivers in derivatives development. Understanding of the dynamic character of these assets helps to understand the world of derivatives.

Physical security technologies for weapons complex reconfiguration facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.

1994-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories was a member of the Weapons Complex Reconfiguration (WCR) Safeguards and Security (S ampersand S) team providing assistance to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Weapons Complex Reconfiguration. The physical security systems in the new and upgraded facilities being considered for the WCR had to meet DOE orders and other requirements set forth in the WCR Programmatic Design Criteria (PDC), incorporate the latest physical security technologies using proven state-of-the-art systems and meet fundamental security principles. The outcome was to avoid costly retrofits and provide effective and comprehensive protection against current and projected threats with minimal impact on operations, costs and schedule. Physical security requirements for WCR facilities include: (1) reducing S ampersand S life-cycle costs, (2) where feasible automating S ampersand S functions to minimize operational costs, access to critical assets and exposure of people to hazardous environments, (3) increasing the amount of delay to outsider adversary attack, (4) compartmentalizing the facility to minimize the number of personnel requiring access to critical areas and (5) having reliable and maintainable systems. To be most effective against threats physical security must be integrated with facility operations, safety and other S ampersand S activities, such as material control and accountability, nuclear measurements and computer and information security. This paper will discuss the S ampersand S issues, requirements, technology opportunities and needs. Physical security technologies and systems considered in the design effort of the Weapons Complex Reconfiguration facilities will be reviewed

Overall view of chemical and biochemical weapons.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitschmann, Vladimír

2014-06-04

This article describes a brief history of chemical warfare, which culminated in the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It describes the current level of chemical weapons and the risk of using them. Furthermore, some traditional technology for the development of chemical weapons, such as increasing toxicity, methods of overcoming chemical protection, research on natural toxins or the introduction of binary technology, has been described. In accordance with many parameters, chemical weapons based on traditional technologies have achieved the limit of their development. There is, however, a big potential of their further development based on the most recent knowledge of modern scientific and technical disciplines, particularly at the boundary of chemistry and biology. The risk is even higher due to the fact that already, today, there is a general acceptance of the development of non-lethal chemical weapons at a technologically higher level. In the future, the chemical arsenal will be based on the accumulation of important information from the fields of chemical, biological and toxin weapons. Data banks obtained in this way will be hardly accessible and the risk of their materialization will persist.

Overall View of Chemical and Biochemical Weapons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimír Pitschmann

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This article describes a brief history of chemical warfare, which culminated in the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It describes the current level of chemical weapons and the risk of using them. Furthermore, some traditional technology for the development of chemical weapons, such as increasing toxicity, methods of overcoming chemical protection, research on natural toxins or the introduction of binary technology, has been described. In accordance with many parameters, chemical weapons based on traditional technologies have achieved the limit of their development. There is, however, a big potential of their further development based on the most recent knowledge of modern scientific and technical disciplines, particularly at the boundary of chemistry and biology. The risk is even higher due to the fact that already, today, there is a general acceptance of the development of non-lethal chemical weapons at a technologically higher level. In the future, the chemical arsenal will be based on the accumulation of important information from the fields of chemical, biological and toxin weapons. Data banks obtained in this way will be hardly accessible and the risk of their materialization will persist.

Finding the Demons in Our Midst: Utilizing DOD ISR Assets to Combat Terrorist Use of CBRNE Weapons

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Liedman, Sean

2002-01-01

... (NCA). A key tenet of the new strategic setting is the grave threat to national security posed by terrorism, potentially using Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or Enhanced High Explosive (CBRNE) weapons...

Using satellite imagery to evaluate land-based camouflage assets

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Baumbach, J

2006-02-01

Full Text Available to Evaluate Land-based Camouflage Assets J BAUMBACH, M LUBBE CSIR Defence, Peace, Safety and security, PO Box 395, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa Email: jbaumbac@csir.co.za ABSTRACT A camouflage field trial experiment was conducted. For the experiment... analysis, change detection, un-supervised classification, supervised classification and object based classification. RESULTS The following table shows a summary of the different targets, and whether it was detected ( ) or not detected (x), using...

The weapons effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin, Arlin James; Bushman, Brad J

2018-02-01

In some societies, weapons are plentiful and highly visible. This review examines recent trends in research on the weapons effect, which is the finding that the mere presence of weapons can prime people to behave aggressively. The General Aggression Model provides a theoretical framework to explain why the weapons effect occurs. This model postulates that exposure to weapons increases aggressive thoughts and hostile appraisals, thus explaining why weapons facilitate aggressive behavior. Data from meta-analytic reviews are consistent with the General Aggression Model. These findings have important practical as well as theoretical implications. They suggest that the link between weapons and aggression is very strong in semantic memory, and that merely seeing a weapon can make people more aggressive. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of inertial confinement fusion to weapon technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toepfer, A.J.; Posey, L.D.

1978-12-01

This report reviews aspects of the military applications of the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) program at Sandia Laboratories. These applications exist in the areas of: (1) weapon physics research, and (2) weapon effects simulation. In the area of weapon physics research, ICF source technology can be used to study: (1) equations-of-state at high energy densities, (2) implosion dynamics, and (3) laboratory simulation of exoatmospheric burst phenomena. In the area of weapon effects simulation, ICF technology and facilities have direct near, intermediate, and far term applications. In the near term, short pulse x-ray simulation capabilities exist for electronic component effects testing. In the intermediate term, capabilities can be developed for high energy neutron exposures and bremsstrahlung x-ray exposures of components. In the far term, system level exposures of full reentry vehicles will be possible if sufficiently high pellet gains are achieved

Arbitrage Pricing, Capital Asset Pricing, and Agricultural Assets

OpenAIRE

Louise M. Arthur; Colin A. Carter; Fay Abizadeh

1988-01-01

A new asset pricing model, the arbitrage pricing theory, has been developed as an alternative to the capital asset pricing model. The arbitrage pricing theory model is used to analyze the relationship between risk and return for agricultural assets. The major conclusion is that the arbitrage pricing theory results support previous capital asset pricing model findings that the estimated risk associated with agricultural assets is low. This conclusion is more robust for the arbitrage pricing th...

For a convention for nuclear weapon elimination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-03-01

This document contains two texts linked with the project of an international convention for the elimination of nuclear weapons (the text of this project has been sent to the UN General Secretary and is part of an international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, ICAN). These two texts are contributions presented in London at the Global Summit for a Nuclear Weapon-free World. The first one calls into question the deterrence principle and the idea of a nuclear weapon-based security. It calls for different forms of action to promote a nuclear weapon-free world. The second text stresses the role and the responsibility of states with nuclear weapons in nuclear disarmament and in the reinforcement of the nuclear non proliferation treaty (NPT)

Asset Prices and Trading Volume under Fixed Transactions Costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Andrew W.; Mamaysky, Harry; Wang, Jiang

2004-01-01

We propose a dynamic equilibrium model of asset prices and trading volume when agents face fixed transactions costs. We show that even small fixed costs can give rise to large "no-trade" regions for each agent's optimal trading policy. The inability to trade more frequently reduces the agents' asset demand and in equilibrium gives rise to a…

Asset sales, asset exchanges, and shareholder wealth in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiting Huang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study a sample of 1376 corporate asset sales and 250 asset exchanges in China between 1998 and 2006. We find that corporate asset sales in China enhance firm value with a cumulative abnormal return (CAR of 0.46% for the pre-announcement five-day period, which is consistent with the evidence discovered in both U.K. and U.S. For companies that exchanged assets during the sample period, the pre-announcement five-day CAR of 1.32% is statistically significant. We also discover that gains from divesting assets are positively related to managerial performance measured by Tobin's q ratio and the relative size of the asset sold or exchanged. Well-managed (high-q companies are more likely to sell or exchange assets in a value-maximizing fashion than poorly managed (low-q companies. Furthermore, asset-seller gains are not related to enhancing corporate focus, but improving corporate focus by exchanging for core assets enhances firm value.

Efficiently Inefficient Markets for Assets and Assets Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garleanu, Nicolae; Heje Pedersen, Lasse

We consider a model where investors can invest directly or search for an asset manager, information about assets is costly, and managers charge an endogenous fee. The efficiency of asset prices is linked to the efficiency of the asset management market: if investors can find managers more easily......, more money is allocated to active management, fees are lower, and asset prices are more efficient. Informed managers outperform after fees, uninformed managers underperform after fees, and the net performance of the average manager depends on the number of "noise allocators." Finally, we show why large...

ASSETS STRUCTURE AT CREDIT UNIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiplea Augustin

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Balance is a static tool for assessing the entity's position, profit and loss on one hand and cash flow statement on the other hand. These are dynamic situations on one hand showing the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the total consumption of resources ( profit and loss and on the other hand entity's business viability (by cash flows. As reflection of financial position, the balance, established at the end of the reporting period (called a financial year, describes separately items of assets, liabilities and equity of the company. Assets are resources controlled by the enterprise as a result of past events and from which is expected to generate future economic benefits for the enterprise. The economic benefits correspond to a production potential, a possibility for conversion into cash or a reduction in output capacity of funds (cost reduction that an asset contributes, directly or indirectly to a company-specific cash flow.

The US nuclear weapon infrastructure and a stable global nuclear weapon regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Immele, John D [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Wagner, Richard L [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

US nuclear weapons capabilities -- extant force structure and nuclear weapons infrastructure as well as declared policy -- influence other nations' nuclear weapons postures, at least to some extent. This influence can be desirable or undesirable, and is, of course, a mixture of both. How strong the influence is, and its nature, are complicated, controversial, and -- in our view -- not well understood but often overstated. Divergent views about this influence and how it might shape the future global nuclear weapons regime seem to us to be the most serious impediment to reaching a national consensus on US weapons policy, force structure and supporting infrastructure. We believe that a paradigm shift to capability-based deterrence and dissuasion is not only consistent with the realities of the world and how it has changed, but also a desirable way for nuclear weapon postures and infrastructures to evolve. The US and other nuclear states could not get to zero nor even reduce nuclear arms and the nuclear profile much further without learning to manage latent capability. This paper has defined three principles for designing NW infrastructure both at the 'next plateau' and 'near zero.' The US can be a leader in reducing weapons and infrastructure and in creating an international regime in which capability gradually substitutes for weapons in being and is transparent. The current 'strategy' of not having policy or a Congressionally-approved plan for transforming the weapons complex is not leadership. If we can conform the US infrastructure to the next plateau and architect it in such a way that it is aligned with further arms reductions, it will have these benefits: The extant stockpile can be reduced in size, while the smaller stockpile still deters attack on the US and Allies. The capabilities of the infrastructure will dissuade emergence of new challenges/threats; if they emerge, nevertheless, the US will be able to deal with them in

Time Consistent Strategies for Mean-Variance Asset-Liability Management Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui-qiang Ma

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the optimal time consistent investment strategies in multiperiod asset-liability management problems under mean-variance criterion. By applying time consistent model of Chen et al. (2013 and employing dynamic programming technique, we derive two-time consistent policies for asset-liability management problems in a market with and without a riskless asset, respectively. We show that the presence of liability does affect the optimal strategy. More specifically, liability leads a parallel shift of optimal time-consistent investment policy. Moreover, for an arbitrarily risk averse investor (under the variance criterion with liability, the time-diversification effects could be ignored in a market with a riskless asset; however, it should be considered in a market without any riskless asset.

Small Arms - Hand and Shoulder Weapons and Machine Guns

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-24

weapon barrels between firing trials is permitted. A locally fabricated rack can be used for barrels that are detached from the weapon; the air should...Lubricating oil, weapons MIL-L-14107 (LAW) 19. Hydraulic fluid, petroleum base MIL-H-5606 20. Hydraulic fluid, fire - resistant MIL-H-46170...weapon from the test environment to perform maintenance. 4.20.8 Smoke . a. Background. The smoke cloud accumulated during weapon firing can

Rule-Based Analytic Asset Management for Space Exploration Systems (RAMSES), Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Payload Systems Inc. (PSI) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were selected to jointly develop the Rule-based Analytic Asset Management for Space...

A Dealer Model of Foreign Exchange Market with Finite Assets

Science.gov (United States)

Hamano, Tomoya; Kanazawa, Kiyoshi; Takayasu, Hideki; Takayasu, Misako

An agent-based model is introduced to study the finite-asset effect in foreign exchange markets. We find that the transacted price asymptotically approaches an equilibrium price, which is determined by the monetary balance between the pair of currencies. We phenomenologically derive a formula to estimate the equilibrium price, and we model its relaxation dynamics around the equilibrium price on the basis of a Langevin-like equation.

Flexible weapons architecture design

OpenAIRE

Pyant, William C.

2015-01-01

Present day air-delivered weapons are of a closed architecture, with little to no ability to tailor the weapon for the individual engagement. The closed architectures require weaponeers to make the target fit the weapon instead of fitting the individual weapons to a target. The concept of a flexible weapons aims to modularize weapons design using an open architecture shell into which different modules are inserted to achieve the desired target fractional damage while reducing cost and civilia...

A Robust Rational Route to in a Simple Asset Pricing Model

OpenAIRE

Hommes, C.H.; Huang, H.; Wang, D.

2002-01-01

We investigate asset pricing dynamics in an adaptive evolutionary asset pricing model with fundamentalists, trend followers and a market maker. Agents can choose between a fundamentalist strategy at positive information cost or choose a trend following strategy for free. Price adjustment is proportional to the excess demand in the asset market. Agents asynchronously update their strategy according to realized net profits in the recent past. As agents become more sensitive to differences in st...

Cargo/Weapons Elevator Land Based Engineering Site

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Cargo and Weapons Facility consists of a suite of full scale and component test facilities contiguously located in building 77H. The site was constructed in 1987...

ASSESSMENT OF BANKING ASSETS ON FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT - ALBANIAN CASE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ADRIATIK KOTORRI

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Recognizing the asset value dynamics volatility of the financial institutions and the importance of its recognition both for financial reporting purposes and risk management effect, this paper aims to provide a practical model for the assets and financial institutions evaluation especially banks. It also aims to present a model to measure the value of banking assets for the purposes of risk management as an opportunity to identify in an early moment the banking risks. The paper develops the bank assets assessment forms and the basis of mathematical modeling of this assessment in general. He identifies also the evaluation factors as for example time to maturity, interest rate market for the assets (YTM, the interest rate agreed, the early repayment of the loan, interest ceilings and floors, off-balance sheet treatment, etc..

Implementation of ASSET concept in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koley, J.

1997-01-01

The paper presents a retrospective assessment of the use of ASSET methodology in India since the first ASSET seminary organized by IAEA in collaboration with the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, India (AERB) in May, 1994. The first ASSET seminar was organized to initiate the spread of idea among operating and research organizations and regulatory body personnel. The participants were carefully chosen from various fields and with different levels of experiences to generate teams with sufficiently wide spectrum of knowledge base. AERB took initiative in leading by example and formed ASSET teams to carry out the first ASSET reviews in India. These teams at the instance of AERB carried out ASSET review of three Safety Related Events, two at Nuclear Power Plants and one at Research Reactor. This paper describes the outcome of these ASSET studies and subsequent implementation of the recommendations. The initiative taken by the regulatory body has led to formation of ASSET teams by the utilities to carry out ASSET study on their own. The results of these studies are yet to be assessed by the regulatory body. The result of the ASSET experience reveals the fact that it has further potential in improving the safety performance and safety culture and brining in fresh enthusiasm among safety professionals of Indian Nuclear Utilities

Implementation of ASSET concept in India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koley, J [Operating Plants Safety Div., AERB, Mumbai (India)

1997-10-01

The paper presents a retrospective assessment of the use of ASSET methodology in India since the first ASSET seminary organized by IAEA in collaboration with the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, India (AERB) in May, 1994. The first ASSET seminar was organized to initiate the spread of idea among operating and research organizations and regulatory body personnel. The participants were carefully chosen from various fields and with different levels of experiences to generate teams with sufficiently wide spectrum of knowledge base. AERB took initiative in leading by example and formed ASSET teams to carry out the first ASSET reviews in India. These teams at the instance of AERB carried out ASSET review of three Safety Related Events, two at Nuclear Power Plants and one at Research Reactor. This paper describes the outcome of these ASSET studies and subsequent implementation of the recommendations. The initiative taken by the regulatory body has led to formation of ASSET teams by the utilities to carry out ASSET study on their own. The results of these studies are yet to be assessed by the regulatory body. The result of the ASSET experience reveals the fact that it has further potential in improving the safety performance and safety culture and brining in fresh enthusiasm among safety professionals of Indian Nuclear Utilities.

Return models and dynamic asset allocation strategies

OpenAIRE

Shi, Wyanet Wen

2017-01-01

This thesis studies the design of optimal investment strategies. A strategy is considered optimal when it minimizes the variance of terminal portfolio wealth for a given level of expected terminal portfolio wealth, or equivalently, maximizes an investor's utility. We study this issue in two particular situations: when asset returns follow a continuous-time path-independent process, and when they follow a discrete-time path-dependent process. Continuous-time path-independent return mode...

Case Based Asset Maintenance for the Electric Equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ji-Hyeon; Jung, Jae-Cheon; Chang, Young-Woo; Chang, Hoon-Seon; Kim, Jae-Cheol; Kim, Hang-Bae; Kim, Kyu-Ho; Hur, Yong; Lee, Dong-Chul

2006-01-01

The electric equipment maintenance strategies are changing from PM(Preventive Maintenance) or CM(Corrective Maintenance) to CBM(Condition Based Maintenance). The main benefits of CBM are reduced possibility of service failures of critical equipment and reduced costs or maintenance work. In CBM, the equipment status need to be monitored continuously and a decision should be made whether an equipment need to be repaired or replaced. For the maintenance decision making, the CBR(Case Base Reasoning) system is introduced. The CBR system receives the current equipment status and retrieves the case based historic database to determine any possible equipment failure under current conditions. In retrieving the case based historic data, the suggested DSS(Decision Support System) uses a reasoning engine with an equipment/asset ontology that describes the equipment subsumption relationships

Efficiently Inefficient Markets for Assets and Asset Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garleanu, Nicolae; Pedersen, Lasse Heje

We consider a model where investors can invest directly or search for an asset manager, information about assets is costly, and managers charge an endogenous fee. The efficiency of asset prices is linked to the efficiency of the asset management market: if investors can find managers more easily......, more money is allocated to active management, fees are lower, and asset prices are more efficient. Informed managers outperform after fees, uninformed managers underperform after fees, and the net performance of the average manager depends on the number of "noise allocators." Small investors should...... be passive, but large and sophisticated investors benefit from searching for informed active managers since their search cost is low relative to capital. Hence, managers with larger and more sophisticated investors are expected to outperform....

15 CFR 742.18 - Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC or Convention).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC or... REGULATIONS CONTROL POLICY-CCL BASED CONTROLS § 742.18 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC or Convention). States... Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, also known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC...

Nuclear experts and nuclear weapons proliferation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, H.

1979-01-01

In Germany the issue of nuclear weapons proliferation has attracted scant attention. Most potential nuclear weapon states are important trade partners of the FRG and, since further proliferation of nuclear weapons could worsen conflicts involving these, it should be in the FRG's interest to limit proliferation. The security of the FRG is also dependent on the common interest of the great powers to avoid nuclear war. The contradictory positions of Usa and the USSR on nuclear weapons policy regarding themselves and non-nuclear weapon states encourages less developed countries to see nuclear weaponry as useful. The NPT and IAEA safeguards have only limited inhibiting effect. The nuclear export policy of the FRG has been dominated by short term economic advantage, neglecting the negative long term effects of decreased political stability. The FRG should formulate a policy based on self-restraint, positive stimuli and extension of controls, using its economic strength to deter proliferation. (JIW)

Combining household income and asset data to identify livelihood strategies and their dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Walelign, Solomon Zena; Pouliot, Mariéve; Larsen, Helle Overgaard

2017-01-01

Current approaches to identifying and describing rural livelihood strategies, and household movements between strategies over time, in developing countries are imprecise. Here we: (i) present a new statistical quantitative approach combining income and asset data to identify household activity...... of livelihood strategies and household movements between strategies over time than using only income or asset data. Most households changed livelihood strategy at least once over the two three-year periods. A common pathway out of poverty included an intermediate step during which households accumulate assets...

Community Asset Mapping. Trends and Issues Alert.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerka, Sandra

Asset mapping involves documenting tangible and intangible resources of a community viewed as a place with assets to be preserved and enhanced, not deficits to be remedied. Kretzmann and McKnight (1993) are credited with developing the concept of asset-based community development (ABCD) that draws on appreciative inquiry; recognition of social…

ON THE OFFENSE: USING CYBER WEAPONS TO INFLUENCE COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Fendley

2012-12-01

Full Text Available There is an increasing recognition that cyber warfare is an important area of development for targeting and weaponeering, with far-reaching effects in national defense and economic security. The ability to conduct effective operations in cyberspace relies on a robust situational awareness of events occurring in both the physical and information domains, with an understanding of how they affect the cognitive domain of friendly, neutral, and adversary population sets. The dynamic nature of the battlefield complicates efforts to understand shifting adversary motivations and intentions. There are very few approaches, to date, that systematically evaluate the effects of the repertoire of cyber weapons on the cognitive, perceptual, and behavioral characteristics of the adversary. In this paper, we describe a software environment called Cognitive Cyber Weapon Selection Tool (CCWST that simulates a scenario involving cyber weaponry.This tool provides the capabilities to test weapons which may induce behavioral state changes in the adversaries. CCWST provides the required situational awareness to the Cyber Information Operations (IO planner to conduct intelligent weapon selection during weapon activation in order to induce the desired behavioral change in the perception of the adversary. Weapons designed to induce the cognitive state changes of deception, distraction, distrust and confusion were then tested empirically to evaluate the capabilities and expected cognitive state changes induced by these weapons. The results demonstrated that CCWST is a powerful environment within which to test and evaluate the impact of cyber weapons on influencing cognitive behavioral states during information processing.

Asset management: the big picture.

Science.gov (United States)

Deinstadt, Deborah C

2005-10-01

To develop an comprehensive asset management plan, you need, first of all, to understand the asset management continuum. A key preliminary step is to thoroughly assess the existing equipment base. A critical objective is to ensure that there are open lines of communication among the teams charged with managing the plan's various phases.

System and Method for Monitoring Distributed Asset Data

Science.gov (United States)

Gorinevsky, Dimitry (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A computer-based monitoring system and monitoring method implemented in computer software for detecting, estimating, and reporting the condition states, their changes, and anomalies for many assets. The assets are of same type, are operated over a period of time, and outfitted with data collection systems. The proposed monitoring method accounts for variability of working conditions for each asset by using regression model that characterizes asset performance. The assets are of the same type but not identical. The proposed monitoring method accounts for asset-to-asset variability; it also accounts for drifts and trends in the asset condition and data. The proposed monitoring system can perform distributed processing of massive amounts of historical data without discarding any useful information where moving all the asset data into one central computing system might be infeasible. The overall processing is includes distributed preprocessing data records from each asset to produce compressed data.

Neutron weapons. War prevention by credible deterrence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-11-01

The neutron bomb has prompted fierce and controversial public discussions which are more emotional than based on facts. Unaware of the factual repercussions this weapon has, it has been described as the most inhumane weapon ever. By saying so, the public is wrongly informed and is made feel insecure. The following contributions made by competent authorities may be used for getting to the point, pointing out that the neutron bomb is primarily a defensive weapon. (orig.) [de

The estimation of time-varying risks in asset pricing modelling using B-Spline method

Science.gov (United States)

Nurjannah; Solimun; Rinaldo, Adji

2017-12-01

Asset pricing modelling has been extensively studied in the past few decades to explore the risk-return relationship. The asset pricing literature typically assumed a static risk-return relationship. However, several studies found few anomalies in the asset pricing modelling which captured the presence of the risk instability. The dynamic model is proposed to offer a better model. The main problem highlighted in the dynamic model literature is that the set of conditioning information is unobservable and therefore some assumptions have to be made. Hence, the estimation requires additional assumptions about the dynamics of risk. To overcome this problem, the nonparametric estimators can also be used as an alternative for estimating risk. The flexibility of the nonparametric setting avoids the problem of misspecification derived from selecting a functional form. This paper investigates the estimation of time-varying asset pricing model using B-Spline, as one of nonparametric approach. The advantages of spline method is its computational speed and simplicity, as well as the clarity of controlling curvature directly. The three popular asset pricing models will be investigated namely CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model), Fama-French 3-factors model and Carhart 4-factors model. The results suggest that the estimated risks are time-varying and not stable overtime which confirms the risk instability anomaly. The results is more pronounced in Carhart’s 4-factors model.

THE PROBLEMS OF FIXED ASSETS CLASSIFICATION FOR ACCOUNTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophiia Kafka

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article provides a critical analysis of research in accounting of fixed assets; the basic issues of fixed assets accounting that have been developed by the Ukrainian scientists during 1999-2016 have been determined. It is established that the problems of non-current assets taxation and their classification are the most noteworthy. In the dissertations the issues of fixed assets classification are of exclusively particular branch nature, so its improvement is important. The purpose of the article is developing science-based classification of fixed assets for accounting purposes since their composition is quite diverse. The classification of fixed assets for accounting purposes have been summarized and developed in Figure 1 according to the results of the research. The accomplished analysis of existing approaches to classification of fixed assets has made it possible to specify its basic types and justify the classification criteria of fixed assets for the main objects of fixed assets. Key words: non-current assets, fixed assets, accounting, valuation, classification of the fixed assets. JEL:G M41  

A stochastic-programming approach to integrated asset and liability ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This increase in complexity has provided an impetus for the investigation into integrated asset- and liability-management frameworks that could realistically address dynamic portfolio allocation in a risk-controlled way. In this paper the authors propose a multi-stage dynamic stochastic-programming model for the integrated ...

High-Energy Laser Weapon Integration with Ground Vehicles

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hafften, Michael; Stratton, Robert

2004-01-01

.... The architecture of an electric, solid-state HEL weapon system would likely be based upon a hybrid electric vehicle that provides a common electrical power source for the propulsion and weapon subsystems...

THEORETICAL ASPECTS REGARDING THE VALUATION OF INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HOLT GHEORGHE

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Valuation of intangible assets represents one of the most delicate problems of assessing a company. Usually, valuation of intangible assets is in the process of evaluating enterprise as a whole. Therefore, Intangible Asset Valuers must have detailed knowledge on business valuation, in particular, the income-based valuation methods (capitalization / updating net cash flow. Valuation of Intangible Assets is the objective of the International Valuation Standards (GN 4 Valuation of Intangible Assets (revised 2010. Next to it was recently proposed GN 16 Valuation of Intangible Assets for IFRS reporting. International Accounting Standard (IAS 38 Intangible Assets prescribe the accounting treatment for intangible assets, analyze the criteria that an intangible asset must meet to be recognized, specific carrying amount of intangible assets and sets out requirements for disclosure of intangible assets. From an accounting perspective, relevant professional accounting standards and the following: IFRS 3 Business Combinations, IAS 36 Impairment of Assets and SFAS 157 fair value measurement, developed by the FASB. There is a more pronounced near the provisions of IAS 38 contained in GN 4. Therefore, a good professional intangible asset valuation must know thoroughly the conditions, principles, criteria and assessment methods recognized by those standards

Reliability Evaluation for the Surface to Air Missile Weapon Based on Cloud Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deng Jianjun

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The fuzziness and randomness is integrated by using digital characteristics, such as Expected value, Entropy and Hyper entropy. The cloud model adapted to reliability evaluation is put forward based on the concept of the surface to air missile weapon. The cloud scale of the qualitative evaluation is constructed, and the quantitative variable and the qualitative variable in the system reliability evaluation are corresponded. The practical calculation result shows that it is more effective to analyze the reliability of the surface to air missile weapon by this way. The practical calculation result also reflects the model expressed by cloud theory is more consistent with the human thinking style of uncertainty.

The weapons effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benjamin, Arlin James; Bushman, Brad J.

In some societies, weapons are plentiful and highly visible. This review examines recent trends in research on the weapons effect, which is the finding that the mere presence of weapons can prime people to behave aggressively. The General Aggression Model provides a theoretical framework to explain

Could weapon-grade plutonium be an asset for managing Pu inventories?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bairiot, H.; Bemden, E. van den

1997-01-01

Due to the temporary shortage of MOX fuel fabrication facilities, the stockpile of separated civilian grade Pu (CPu) is predicted to increase up to the turn of the century. An additional quantity of weapon grade Pu (WPu) will be progressively isolated at the same period. Both CPu and WPu surpluses require disposition as soon as feasible. Although non-proliferation concerns, established national policies, public acceptance problems and other considerations largely complicate the aspect of the use of WPu, it is worth examining the advantages which could result from a synergetic management of: LWR grade Pu to which AGR grade Pu might be associated; WPu; GCR grade Pu which should be considered as a Pu variety situated between the two first ones as far as their physical and neutronic characteristics are concerned. Two scenarios of integrated managements of the CPu varieties and WPu are being considered. They indicate several technical and economical advantages but also important problems to be resolved, mainly from the non-proliferation point of view. In that respect, it is concluded that, although no reasonable perspective exists to resolve these problems easily (or at all), the advantages justify an effort of the international community to consider how it could be implemented. (author). 24 refs, 2 figs, 5 tabs

Combating the terrorist use of mass destruction weapons, particularly nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barakat, M.

2008-01-01

The risks of mass destruction weapons vary and also forms of damages resulting therefrom. While the effects of nuclear weapons are focused, sudden and comprehensive, the chemical weapons have limited impacts relatively unless used intensively severe prejudice to the element of surprise, and thus impaired the efficacy of their influences,especially that they affect exceptionally the individuals in the area of injury and biological weapons do not announce themselves except through their effect that appears later than the time of use as they affect exceptionally the organisms in the area of injury.The mass destruction weapons have turned from being a purely military means in the early twentieth century and have now become the means of violence against governments and countries that they should prepare themselves for and respond in ways of successful and effective countermeasures. Despite the fact that the acquisition of mass destruction weapons can be considered as a priority objective, which terrorist groups and organizations steadily seek but their accessibility is flanked by a lot of difficulties. Addressing the risk of further spread of nuclear weapons, and especially after doubling the power of those high-risk weapons, the international community has an approach to take a number of arrangements that complement each other to control and resist nuclear proliferation, either for the states or for terrorist groups.

Fully distributed monitoring architecture supporting multiple trackees and trackers in indoor mobile asset management application.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Seol Young; Jo, Hyeong Gon; Kang, Soon Ju

2014-03-21

A tracking service like asset management is essential in a dynamic hospital environment consisting of numerous mobile assets (e.g., wheelchairs or infusion pumps) that are continuously relocated throughout a hospital. The tracking service is accomplished based on the key technologies of an indoor location-based service (LBS), such as locating and monitoring multiple mobile targets inside a building in real time. An indoor LBS such as a tracking service entails numerous resource lookups being requested concurrently and frequently from several locations, as well as a network infrastructure requiring support for high scalability in indoor environments. A traditional centralized architecture needs to maintain a geographic map of the entire building or complex in its central server, which can cause low scalability and traffic congestion. This paper presents a self-organizing and fully distributed indoor mobile asset management (MAM) platform, and proposes an architecture for multiple trackees (such as mobile assets) and trackers based on the proposed distributed platform in real time. In order to verify the suggested platform, scalability performance according to increases in the number of concurrent lookups was evaluated in a real test bed. Tracking latency and traffic load ratio in the proposed tracking architecture was also evaluated.

Precursor of other nuclear-weapon-free zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roman-Morey, E.

1997-01-01

Based on the analysis of the long process of negotiations for implementing the Treaty of Tlatelolco and its history during the last three decades, especially its influence on other regions of the world for stimulating the creation of new nuclear-weapon-free zones, the following conclusions were drawn: nuclear danger still persists; the end of Cold War implies the end of a nuclear threat; the nuclear fear should not become nuclear complacency and be accepted by international community; common security as the goal of international community should be recognised and definitive abolition of nuclear weapons should be sought; the Treaty of Tlatelolco represents the cornerstone for creating new nuclear-weapon-free zones; Treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok and Pelindaba should be examples to be followed by other regions and groups of countries for creating new nuclear-weapon-free zones which should be recognised as very important phase in achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world and means for attaining an international regime of non-proliferation of weapons for mass destruction

Implementation of Asset Management System Based on Wireless Sensor Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nan WANG

2014-02-01

Full Text Available RFID technology is regarded as one of the top ten key technologies in the 21st century, which has extensive application prospect in various fields, including asset management, public safety and so on. Through analyzing the current problems existing in asset management, this paper proposes to apply RFID technology in device management to effectively improve the level of automation and informatization of device management, and designs the scheme of equipment monitoring system based on 433 MHz RFID electronic tag and reader. The hardware part of monitoring system consists of the RFID sensor terminals attached in the device and the readers distributed in each monitoring site. The reader uploads the information collected by tag to the backend server and the management system, so as to allow managers and decision makers to understand the usage rate and location of the experimental instruments and to provide managers with a scientific basis for decision making, which effectively solves the relatively backward status quo of current device management level.

THEORETICAL ASPECTS REGARDING THE VALUATION OF INTANGIBLE ASSETS

OpenAIRE

HOLT GHEORGHE

2015-01-01

Valuation of intangible assets represents one of the most delicate problems of assessing a company. Usually, valuation of intangible assets is in the process of evaluating enterprise as a whole. Therefore, Intangible Asset Valuers must have detailed knowledge on business valuation, in particular, the income-based valuation methods (capitalization / updating net cash flow). Valuation of Intangible Assets is the objective of the International Valuation Standards (GN) 4 Valuation of Intangible A...

Casting a Resource-Based View on Intangible Assets and Export Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyyed Mohammad Tabatabaei Nasab

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Prosperous companies in the 21st century have come to know the necessity of intangible assets as an important factor to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and constant presence in the international markets. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine intangible assets and evaluate its relationship with export behaviour in terms of export intensity (Export-Sales Ratio and export type (Permanent, Occasional & Periodical. The population under study includes all export firms during 2002 until 2010 in Yazd province, Iran. Research data were collected by questionnaire and in order to answer the research questions and testing hypotheses, MCDM techniques (i.e. AHP & TOPSIS and statistical analysis (i.e. ANOVA were utilized. According to the research results, human capital, relational capital, technological capital, corporate reputation, and structural capital placed as the first to the fifth significant factors respectively. Findings revealed that there is a significant difference between the permanent and occasional presence in the international markets regarding intangible assets; as the mean of intangible assets in the firms with permanent export is higher than the mean of intangible assets in the firms with occasional export. However, there is no significant difference between intangible assets and the export intensity.

12 CFR 615.5210 - Risk-adjusted assets.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... appropriate credit conversion factor in § 615.5212, is assigned to one of the risk categories specified in... risk-based capital requirement for the credit-enhanced assets, the risk-based capital required under..., determine the appropriate risk weight for any asset or credit equivalent amount that does not fit wholly...

Accounting valuation development of specific assets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.V. Zhigley

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The current issues of accounting estimate development are considered. The necessity of the development of accounting estimate in the context of the non-institutional theory principles based on the selection of a number of reasons is grounded. The reasons for deterioration of accounting reputation as a separate socio-economic institute in the context of developing the methodology for specific assets accounting are discovered. The system of normative regulation of accounting estimate of enterprise non-current assets in the case of diminishing their usefulness is analyzed. The procedure for determining and accounting for the depreciation of assets in accordance with IFRS 36 «Depreciation of Assets» is developed. The features of the joint use of the concept of «value in use» and «fair value» in the accounting system are disclosed. The procedure for determining the value of compensation depending on the degree of specificity of assets is developed. The necessity to clarify the features that indicate the possibility of diminishing the usefulness of specific assets (termination or pre-term termination of the contract for the use of a specific asset is grounded.

The tale of the shrinking weapon: seasonal changes in nutrition affect weapon size and sexual dimorphism, but not contemporary evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, C W; McDonald, G C; Moore, A J

2016-11-01

Sexually selected traits are often highly variable in size within populations due to their close link with the physical condition of individuals. Nutrition has a large impact on physical condition, and thus, any seasonal changes in nutritional quality are predicted to alter the average size of sexually selected traits as well as the degree of sexual dimorphism in populations. However, although traits affected by mate choice are well studied, we have a surprising lack of knowledge of how natural variation in nutrition affects the expression of sexually selected weapons and sexual dimorphism. Further, few studies explicitly test for differences in the heritability and mean-scaled evolvability of sexually selected traits across conditions. We studied Narnia femorata (Hemiptera: Coreidae), an insect where males use their hind legs as weapons and the femurs are enlarged, to understand the extent to which weapon expression, sexual dimorphism and evolvability change across the actual range of nutrition available in the wild. We found that insects raised on a poor diet (cactus without fruit) are nearly monomorphic, whereas those raised on a high-quality diet (cactus with ripe fruit) are distinctly sexually dimorphic via the expression of large hind leg weapons in males. Contrary to our expectations, we found little evidence of a potential for evolutionary change for any trait measured. Thus, although we show weapons are highly condition dependent, and changes in weapon expression and dimorphism could alter evolutionary dynamics, our populations are unlikely to experience further evolutionary changes under current conditions. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Asset Substitution, Money Demand, and the Inflation Process in Brazil.

OpenAIRE

Calomiris, Charles W; Domowitz, Ian

1989-01-01

Various domestic financial assets in Brazil have provided relatively liquid nonmonetary alternatives. Monthly money demand estimates, which include domestic asset opportunity costs and take account of T-bill repurchase agreements in a dynamic error-correction model, demonstrate the importance of domestic substitutes in explaining money holdings. Money demand appears responsive and stable. Moreover, T-bills and indexed bonds have acted as an alternative to central bank liabilities as a source ...

Monitoring highway assets using remote sensing technology : research spotlight.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-01

Collecting inventory data about roadway assets is a critical part of : MDOTs asset management efforts, which help the department operate, : maintain and upgrade these assets cost-effectively. Federal law requires : that states develop a risk-based...

Looking for Synergy with Momentum in Main Asset Classes

OpenAIRE

Lukas Macijauskas; Dimitrios I. Maditinos

2014-01-01

As during turbulent market conditions correlations between main asset-classes falter, classical asset management concepts seem unreliable. This problem stimulates search for non-discretionary asset allocation methods. The aim of the paper is to test weather the concept of Momentum phenomena could be used as a stand alone investment strategy using all main asset classes. The study is based on exploring historical prices of various asset classes; statistical data analysis method is used. Result...

Characterising the online weapons trafficking on cryptomarkets.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhumorbarbe, Damien; Werner, Denis; Gilliéron, Quentin; Staehli, Ludovic; Broséus, Julian; Rossy, Quentin

2018-02-01

Weapons related webpages from nine cryptomarkets were manually duplicated in February 2016. Information about the listings (i.e. sales proposals) and vendors' profiles were extracted to draw an overview of the actual online trafficking of weapons. Relationships between vendors were also inferred through the analysis of online digital traces and content similarities. Weapons trafficking is mainly concentrated on two major cryptomarkets. Besides, it accounts for a very small proportion of the illicit trafficking on cryptomarkets compared to the illicit drugs trafficking. Among all weapon related listings (n=386), firearms only account for approximately 25% of sales proposal since the proportion of non-lethal and melee weapons is important (around 46%). Based on the recorded pseudonyms, a total of 96 vendor profiles were highlighted. Some pseudonyms were encountered on several cryptomarkets, suggesting that some vendors may manage accounts on different markets. This hypothesis was strengthened by comparing pseudonyms to online traces such as PGP keys, images and profiles descriptions. Such a method allowed to estimate more accurately the number of vendors offering weapons across cryptomarkets. Finally, according to the gathered data, the extent of the weapons trafficking on the cryptomarkets appear to be limited compared to other illicit goods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional GIS approach for management of assets

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S. Y.; Yee, S. X.; Majid, Z.; Setan, H.

2014-02-01

Assets play an important role in human life, especially to an organization. Organizations strive and put more effort to improve its operation and assets management. The development of GIS technology has become a powerful tool in management as it is able to provide a complete inventory for managing assets with location-based information. Spatial information is one of the requirements in decision making in various areas, including asset management in the buildings. This paper describes a 3D GIS approach for management of assets. An asset management system was developed by integrating GIS concept and 3D model assets. The purposes of 3D visualization to manage assets are to facilitate the analysis and understanding in the complex environment. Behind the 3D model of assets is a database to store the asset information. A user-friendly interface was also designed for more easier to operate the application. In the application developed, location of each individual asset can be easily tracked according to the referring spatial information and 3D viewing. The 3D GIS approach described in this paper is certainly would be useful in asset management. Systematic management of assets can be carried out and this will lead to less-time consuming and cost-effective. The results in this paper will show a new approach to improve asset management.

Three-dimensional GIS approach for management of assets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S Y; Yee, S X; Majid, Z; Setan, H

2014-01-01

Assets play an important role in human life, especially to an organization. Organizations strive and put more effort to improve its operation and assets management. The development of GIS technology has become a powerful tool in management as it is able to provide a complete inventory for managing assets with location-based information. Spatial information is one of the requirements in decision making in various areas, including asset management in the buildings. This paper describes a 3D GIS approach for management of assets. An asset management system was developed by integrating GIS concept and 3D model assets. The purposes of 3D visualization to manage assets are to facilitate the analysis and understanding in the complex environment. Behind the 3D model of assets is a database to store the asset information. A user-friendly interface was also designed for more easier to operate the application. In the application developed, location of each individual asset can be easily tracked according to the referring spatial information and 3D viewing. The 3D GIS approach described in this paper is certainly would be useful in asset management. Systematic management of assets can be carried out and this will lead to less-time consuming and cost-effective. The results in this paper will show a new approach to improve asset management

Prudent management of utility assets -- Problem or promise?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatch, D.; Serwinowski, M.

1998-01-01

As utilities move into a deregulated market, the extent and nature of their asset base, as well as, the manner in which they have managed it, may play a key factor in the form of regulatory recovery. Utilities must face the issue of stranded assets. One form of addressing this issue is using ''EVA'', Economic Value Added as a mechanism to form financial models for prudent asset management. The authors present an approach to this challenging aspect of deregulation. They focus on the following utility assets: buildings/facilities, and excess real physical assets. Primarily focusing on Niagara Mohawk, two or three case studies are used to demonstrate how proactive management and EVA analysis transforms underperforming utility assets. These will be presented in a way that can show benefits for all utility stakeholders such as cost avoidance, load growth, real estate tax savings, stranded asset reductions, environmental gains, corporate image enhancement, and regulatory/governmental gains; over and above possible economic gains. Examples will be given that include the transformation of utility assets into award winning commercial, residential, and industrial developments as well as recreational/park lands and greenways. Similarly, other examples will show the many tangible and intangible benefits of an effective investment recovery and waste stream management program. Various strategies will also be presented that detail how utilities can begin to develop a total comprehensive plan for their asset portfolio. The first step in realizing and maximizing EVA towards a portfolio of assets is a change in corporate policy--one from passive ownership to active prudent management. Service and cost will drive competition resulting from full deregulation. To drive down costs, utilities will need to become more efficient in dealing with their asset base. By embracing an EVA model on an entire asset portfolio, utilities can prepare and excel in the newly shaped marketplace

Anti-3D Weapon Model Detection for Safe 3D Printing Based on Convolutional Neural Networks and D2 Shape Distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giao N. Pham

2018-03-01

Full Text Available With the development of 3D printing, weapons are easily printed without any restriction from the production managers. Therefore, anti-3D weapon model detection is necessary issue in safe 3D printing to prevent the printing of 3D weapon models. In this paper, we would like to propose an anti-3D weapon model detection algorithm to prevent the printing of anti-3D weapon models for safe 3D printing based on the D2 shape distribution and an improved convolutional neural networks (CNNs. The purpose of the proposed algorithm is to detect anti-3D weapon models when they are used in 3D printing. The D2 shape distribution is computed from random points on the surface of a 3D weapon model and their geometric features in order to construct a D2 vector. The D2 vector is then trained by improved CNNs. The CNNs are used to detect anti-3D weapon models for safe 3D printing by training D2 vectors which have been constructed from the D2 shape distribution of 3D weapon models. Experiments with 3D weapon models proved that the D2 shape distribution of 3D weapon models in the same class is the same. Training and testing results also verified that the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is higher than the conventional works. The proposed algorithm is applied in a small application, and it could detect anti-3D weapon models for safe 3D printing.

Tactical Asset Allocation mit Genetischen Algorithmen

OpenAIRE

Manuel Ammann; Christian Zenkner

2003-01-01

In this study of tactical asset allocation, we use a genetic algorithm to implement a market timing strategy. The algorithm makes a daily decision whether to invest in the market index or in a riskless asset. The market index is represented by the S&P500 Composite Index, the riskless asset by a 3-month T-Bill. The decision of the genetic algorithm is based on fundamental macroeconomic variables. The association of fundamental variables with a set of operators creates a space of possible strat...

Solar Asset Management Software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iverson, Aaron [Ra Power Management, Inc., Oakland, CA (United States); Zviagin, George [Ra Power Management, Inc., Oakland, CA (United States)

2016-09-30

Ra Power Management (RPM) has developed a cloud based software platform that manages the financial and operational functions of third party financed solar projects throughout their lifecycle. RPM’s software streamlines and automates the sales, financing, and management of a portfolio of solar assets. The software helps solar developers automate the most difficult aspects of asset management, leading to increased transparency, efficiency, and reduction in human error. More importantly, our platform will help developers save money by improving their operating margins.

An Empirical Study of the Relationship between the Fixed Assets Investment and Urban-rural Income Gap during the Transition Period

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yingliang; ZHANG; Xingxi; LIU; Fang; YANG; Yongbin; GUAN

2014-01-01

As the gap in income between urban and rural residents bigger and bigger,based on the data from 1978 to 2007,this paper makes an empirical study of the dynamic relation between the fixed assets investment and the difference in income between urban and rural residents. The outcome from the study indicates a long-term balance exists between the investment rate of the fixed assets and the difference in income between urban and rural residents. A short-term deviation from the balance can be adjusted through long time. To a certain extent,city-oriented fixed assets investment policy is the main cause of the big gap in income between urban and rural residents. The big gap in income between urban and rural residents in turn reinforces their social status,thus further strengthening the city-oriented instead of countryside-oriented fixed assets investment policy. Based on that,this paper puts forward some suggestions on adjusting the fixed assets investment policy so as to shorten the difference in income between urban and rural residents and realize the goal of harmonious development between city and countryside.

ASSET guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-11-01

The IAEA Assessment of Safety Significant Events Team (ASSET) Service provides advice and assistance to Member States to enhance the overall level of plant safety while dealing with the policy of prevention of incidents at nuclear power plants. The ASSET programme, initiated in 1986, is not restricted to any particular group of Member States, whether developing or industrialized, but is available to all countries with nuclear power plants in operation or approaching commercial operation. The IAEA Safety Series publications form common basis for the ASSET reviews, including the Nuclear Safety Standards (NUSS) and the Basic Safety Principles (Recommendations of Safety Series No. 75-INSAG-3). The ASSET Guidelines provide overall guidance for the experts to ensure the consistency and comprehensiveness of their review of incident investigations. Additional guidance and reference material is provided by the IAEA to complement the expertise of the ASSET members. ASSET reviews accept different approaches that contribute to ensuring an effective prevention of incidents at plants. Suggestions are offered to enhance plant safety performance. Commendable good practices are identified and generic lessons are communicated to other plants, where relevant, for long term improvement

Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of reactor and weapons plutonium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, R.J.; Trapp, T.J.; Arthur, E.D.; Bowman, C.D.; Davidson, J.W.; Linford, R.K.

1993-06-01

An accelerator-based conversion (ABC) system is presented that is capable of rapidly burning plutonium in a low-inventory sub-critical system. The system also returns fission power to the grid and transmutes troublesome long-lived fission products to short lived or stable products. Higher actinides are totally fissioned. The system is suited not only to controlled, rapid burning of excess weapons plutonium, but to the long range application of eliminating or drastically reducing the world total inventory of plutonium. Deployment of the system will require the successful resolution of a broad range of technical issues introduced in the paper.

Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of reactor and weapons plutonium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, R.J.; Trapp, T.J.; Arthur, E.D.; Bowman, C.D.; Davidson, J.W.; Linford, R.K.

1993-01-01

An accelerator-based conversion (ABC) system is presented that is capable of rapidly burning plutonium in a low-inventory sub-critical system. The system also returns fission power to the grid and transmutes troublesome long-lived fission products to short lived or stable products. Higher actinides are totally fissioned. The system is suited not only to controlled, rapid burning of excess weapons plutonium, but to the long range application of eliminating or drastically reducing the world total inventory of plutonium. Deployment of the system will require the successful resolution of a broad range of technical issues introduced in the paper

[Chemical weapons and chemical terrorism].

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Katsumi

2005-10-01

Chemical Weapons are kind of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). They were used large quantities in WWI. Historically, large quantities usage like WWI was not recorded, but small usage has appeared now and then. Chemical weapons are so called "Nuclear weapon for poor countrys" because it's very easy to produce/possession being possible. They are categorized (1) Nerve Agents, (2) Blister Agents, (3) Cyanide (blood) Agents, (4) Pulmonary Agents, (5) Incapacitating Agents (6) Tear Agents from the viewpoint of human body interaction. In 1997 the Chemical Weapons Convention has taken effect. It prohibits chemical weapons development/production, and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) verification regime contributes to the chemical weapons disposal. But possibility of possession/use of weapons of mass destruction by terrorist group represented in one by Matsumoto and Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack, So new chemical terrorism countermeasures are necessary.

Nuclear weapons in Europe: Why zero is better

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daalder, I.H.

1993-01-01

Given the fundamental changes in the political context and NATO's perception of nuclear weapons, what role remains for US nuclear weapons in preserving security in Europe? Are US nuclear deployments on the continent still necessary? Is there a requirement for extended deterrence and, if so, does its credibility depend on the continued basing of US nuclear weapons in Europe? And what is the role of arms control in effecting any desirable restructuring in nuclear force postures? In addressing these questions, it becomes clear that US nuclear weapons can now be removed from Europe - they no longer serve the political and military functions they once did

Examination of Economic Feasibility of Nuclear Weapons in the Republic of Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suh, Young A; Yim, Man Sung [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

This observation implies that the popular view on nuclear weapons amongst Korean public is in part due to lack of knowledge about overall implications of possessing nuclear weapons. In this regard, pros and cons of nuclear weapons development need to be better characterized and understood by the public to support nuclear nonproliferation culture development. Noting lack of literature on characterizing the economics of nuclear weapons development, this study aims at performing economic feasibility analysis of nuclear weapons development in the ROK. For this purpose, an approach called Index technique based on the US experiences was applied to Korean historical data along with cost-benefit analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Making Analysis. In this study, the scenario of nuclear weapons development against North Korean nuclear threat was compared with conventional weapons-based defense strategy. The comparison was based on cost benefit analysis and qualitative multi-criteria decision analysis. Results indicate that nuclear weapons development is not a desirable option. However, as this work was a rather simplistic academic exercise, further work is needed to support the outcome of the study. Outcome of these investigations would be useful for communication with the public regarding the need for nuclear weapons for national defense and to develop nuclear nonproliferation culture in the ROK.

Examination of Economic Feasibility of Nuclear Weapons in the Republic of Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, Young A; Yim, Man Sung

2015-01-01

This observation implies that the popular view on nuclear weapons amongst Korean public is in part due to lack of knowledge about overall implications of possessing nuclear weapons. In this regard, pros and cons of nuclear weapons development need to be better characterized and understood by the public to support nuclear nonproliferation culture development. Noting lack of literature on characterizing the economics of nuclear weapons development, this study aims at performing economic feasibility analysis of nuclear weapons development in the ROK. For this purpose, an approach called Index technique based on the US experiences was applied to Korean historical data along with cost-benefit analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Making Analysis. In this study, the scenario of nuclear weapons development against North Korean nuclear threat was compared with conventional weapons-based defense strategy. The comparison was based on cost benefit analysis and qualitative multi-criteria decision analysis. Results indicate that nuclear weapons development is not a desirable option. However, as this work was a rather simplistic academic exercise, further work is needed to support the outcome of the study. Outcome of these investigations would be useful for communication with the public regarding the need for nuclear weapons for national defense and to develop nuclear nonproliferation culture in the ROK

Comprehensive transportation asset management : risk-based inventory expansion and data needs.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

Several agencies are applying asset management principles as a business tool and paradigm to help them define goals and prioritize agency resources in decision making. Previously, transportation asset management (TAM) has focused more on big ticke...

Development of an international scale of socio-economic position based on household assets.

Science.gov (United States)

Townend, John; Minelli, Cosetta; Harrabi, Imed; Obaseki, Daniel O; El-Rhazi, Karima; Patel, Jaymini; Burney, Peter

2015-01-01

The importance of studying associations between socio-economic position and health has often been highlighted. Previous studies have linked the prevalence and severity of lung disease with national wealth and with socio-economic position within some countries but there has been no systematic evaluation of the association between lung function and poverty at the individual level on a global scale. The BOLD study has collected data on lung function for individuals in a wide range of countries, however a barrier to relating this to personal socio-economic position is the need for a suitable measure to compare individuals within and between countries. In this paper we test a method for assessing socio-economic position based on the scalability of a set of durable assets (Mokken scaling), and compare its usefulness across countries of varying gross national income per capita. Ten out of 15 candidate asset questions included in the questionnaire were found to form a Mokken type scale closely associated with GNI per capita (Spearman's rank rs = 0.91, p = 0.002). The same set of assets conformed to a scale in 7 out of the 8 countries, the remaining country being Saudi Arabia where most respondents owned most of the assets. There was good consistency in the rank ordering of ownership of the assets in the different countries (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96). Scores on the Mokken scale were highly correlated with scores developed using principal component analysis (rs = 0.977). Mokken scaling is a potentially valuable tool for uncovering links between disease and socio-economic position within and between countries. It provides an alternative to currently used methods such as principal component analysis for combining personal asset data to give an indication of individuals' relative wealth. Relative strengths of the Mokken scale method were considered to be ease of interpretation, adaptability for comparison with other datasets, and reliability of imputation for even quite

A risk-based approach to sanitary sewer pipe asset management.

Science.gov (United States)

Baah, Kelly; Dubey, Brajesh; Harvey, Richard; McBean, Edward

2015-02-01

Wastewater collection systems are an important component of proper management of wastewater to prevent environmental and human health implications from mismanagement of anthropogenic waste. Due to aging and inadequate asset management practices, the wastewater collection assets of many cities around the globe are in a state of rapid decline and in need of urgent attention. Risk management is a tool which can help prioritize resources to better manage and rehabilitate wastewater collection systems. In this study, a risk matrix and a weighted sum multi-criteria decision-matrix are used to assess the consequence and risk of sewer pipe failure for a mid-sized city, using ArcGIS. The methodology shows that six percent of the uninspected sewer pipe assets of the case study have a high consequence of failure while four percent of the assets have a high risk of failure and hence provide priorities for inspection. A map incorporating risk of sewer pipe failure and consequence is developed to facilitate future planning, rehabilitation and maintenance programs. The consequence of failure assessment also includes a novel failure impact factor which captures the effect of structurally defective stormwater pipes on the failure assessment. The methodology recommended in this study can serve as a basis for future planning and decision making and has the potential to be universally applied by municipal sewer pipe asset managers globally to effectively manage the sanitary sewer pipe infrastructure within their jurisdiction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global Tactical Cross-Asset Allocation: Applying Value and Momentum Across Asset Classes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D.C. Blitz (David); P. van Vliet (Pim)

2008-01-01

textabstractIn this paper we examine global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) strategies across a broad range of asset classes. Contrary to market timing for single asset classes and tactical allocation across similar assets, this topic has received little attention in the existing literature. Our

Development of transportation asset management decision support tools : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-09

This study developed a web-based prototype decision support platform to demonstrate the benefits of transportation asset management in monitoring asset performance, supporting asset funding decisions, planning budget tradeoffs, and optimizing resourc...

Using Photovoice and Asset Mapping to Inform a Community-Based Diabetes Intervention, Boston, Massachusetts, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Florian, Jana; Roy, Nicole M St Omer; Quintiliani, Lisa M; Truong, Ve; Feng, Yi; Bloch, Philippe P; Russinova, Zlatka L; Lasser, Karen E

2016-08-11

Diabetes self-management takes place within a complex social and environmental context.  This study's objective was to examine the perceived and actual presence of community assets that may aid in diabetes control. We conducted one 6-hour photovoice session with 11 adults with poorly controlled diabetes in Boston, Massachusetts.  Participants were recruited from census tracts with high numbers of people with poorly controlled diabetes (diabetes "hot spots").  We coded the discussions and identified relevant themes.  We further explored themes related to the built environment through community asset mapping.  Through walking surveys, we evaluated 5 diabetes hot spots related to physical activity resources, walking environment, and availability of food choices in restaurants and food stores. Community themes from the photovoice session were access to healthy food, restaurants, and prepared foods; food assistance programs; exercise facilities; and church.  Asset mapping identified 114 community assets including 22 food stores, 22 restaurants, and 5 exercise facilities.  Each diabetes hot spot contained at least 1 food store with 5 to 9 varieties of fruits and vegetables.  Only 1 of the exercise facilities had signage regarding hours or services.  Memberships ranged from free to $9.95 per month.  Overall, these findings were inconsistent with participants' reports in the photovoice group. We identified a mismatch between perceptions of community assets and built environment and the objective reality of that environment. Incorporating photovoice and community asset mapping into a community-based diabetes intervention may bring awareness to underused neighborhood resources that can help people control their diabetes.

Perceived popularity of adolescents who use weapons in violence and adolescents who only carry weapons.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Lacey N

2017-01-01

Prior research has found that persistently delinquent youth or more violent youth were less popular than their less delinquent peers (Young, 2013). However, recent research has also found that weapon carrying is associated with being more popular in adolescence (Dijkstra et al., 2010). The present paper examines the perceived popularity of adolescents who carry weapons in comparison to those who both carry and use weapons in acts of violence or threatened violence. Data consist of two waves from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Analyses use OLS regression with lagged predictors. This paper found no differences in number of friends between weapon carriers and weapon users. However, among both male and female gang members, those who did not use or carry weapons (abstainers) named significantly fewer friends than weapon users. Among females, weapon abstainers both named and were named by significantly more people than weapon users. These differences were not observed for males. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.

Global Tactical Cross-Asset Allocation: Applying Value and Momentum Across Asset Classes

OpenAIRE

Blitz, D.C.; van Vliet, P.

2008-01-01

textabstractIn this paper we examine global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) strategies across a broad range of asset classes. Contrary to market timing for single asset classes and tactical allocation across similar assets, this topic has received little attention in the existing literature. Our main finding is that momentum and value strategies applied to GTAA across twelve asset classes deliver statistically and economically significant abnormal returns. For a long top-quartile and short b...

Defining Weapons of Mass Destruction

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Cyprus, Liberia, Malta, Marshall Islands , Mongolia, Panama, and St. Vin- cent and the Grenadines, according to a State Department summary available...1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. As such, NBC weapons represent a group of weapons that the...Development, Produc- tion and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction contains two references to WMD

Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons

Science.gov (United States)

2017-02-21

of their nonstrategic nuclear weapons and eliminate many of them. These 1991 announcements, coming after the abortive coup in Moscow in July 1991...of these weapons. The abortive coup in Moscow in August 1991 had also caused alarms about the strength of central control over nuclear weapons...assure other allies of the U.S. commitment to their security, but these assurances do not necessarily include legally binding commitments to retaliate

Virtual nuclear weapons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pilat, J.F.

1997-08-01

The term virtual nuclear weapons proliferation and arsenals, as opposed to actual weapons and arsenals, has entered in recent years the American lexicon of nuclear strategy, arms control, and nonproliferation. While the term seems to have an intuitive appeal, largely due to its cyberspace imagery, its current use is still vague and loose. The author believes, however, that if the term is clearly delineated, it might offer a promising approach to conceptualizing certain current problems of proliferation. The first use is in a reference to an old problem that has resurfaced recently: the problem of growing availability of weapon-usable nuclear materials in civilian nuclear programs along with materials made `excess` to defense needs by current arms reduction and dismantlement. It is argued that the availability of these vast materials, either by declared nuclear-weapon states or by technologically advanced nonweapon states, makes it possible for those states to rapidly assemble and deploy nuclear weapons. The second use has quite a different set of connotations. It is derived conceptually from the imagery of computer-generated reality. In this use, one thinks of virtual proliferation and arsenals not in terms of the physical hardware required to make the bomb but rather in terms of the knowledge/experience required to design, assemble, and deploy the arsenal. Virtual weapons are a physics reality and cannot be ignored in a world where knowledge, experience, materials, and other requirements to make nuclear weapons are widespread, and where dramatic army reductions and, in some cases, disarmament are realities. These concepts are useful in defining a continuum of virtual capabilities, ranging from those at the low end that derive from general technology diffusion and the existence of nuclear energy programs to those at the high end that involve conscious decisions to develop or maintain militarily significant nuclear-weapon capabilities.

The model of asset management of commercial banks

OpenAIRE

Shaymardanov, Shakhzod; Nuriddinov, Sadriddin; Mamadaliev, Donierbek; Murodkhonov, Mukhammad

2018-01-01

The main objective of the commercial bank's policy in the sphere of asset and liability management is to maintain the optimal structure of assets and liabilities, ensure the compliance of amounts, terms and currency of attracting and allocating resources. The objectives and principles of asset and liability management are based on the bank's strategy and the fundamental principles of the risk management policy.

The Diversification Benefits of Including Carbon Assets in Financial Portfolios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yinpeng Zhang

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Carbon allowances traded in the EU-Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS were initially designed as an economic motivation for efficiently curbing greenhouse as emissions, but now it mimics quite a few characteristics of financial assets, and have now been used as a candidate product in building financial portfolios. In this study, we examine the time-varying correlations between carbon allowance prices with other financial indices, during the third phase of EU-ETS. The results show that, at the beginning of this period, carbon price was still strongly corrected with other financial indices. However, this connection was weakened over time. Given the relative independence of carbon assets from other financial assets, we argue for the diversification benefits of including carbon assets in financial portfolios, and building such portfolios, respectively, with the traditional global minimum variance (GMV strategy, the mean-variance-OGARCH (MV-OGARCH strategy, and the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC strategy. It is shown that the portfolio built with the MV-OGARCH strategy far out-performs the others and that including carbon assets in financial portfolios does help reduce investment risks.

Warhead politics: Livermore and the competitive system of nuclear weapon design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Francis, Sybil [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

1995-06-01

From the 1950s onward, US evolved a two-laboratory system to design, develop, and test nuclear weapons. LANL (New Mexico) dates from World War II. The founding in 1952 of LLNL in California effectively established the two-laboratory system. Despite essentially identical missions, LANL and LLNL adopted different strategies and approaches to the development of nuclear weapons. This thesis looks to their joint history for an explanation of this and consequent questions (how did the two-laboratory system originate and evolve? how did it function? what impact did it have on nuclear weapons development?) The incentives and constraints that shaped laboratory strategies and outputs was determined by military demand for nuclear weapons, an informal mandate against laboratory duplication, congressional support for competition, and Livermore`s role as the ``second lab.`` This thesis discusses the laboratories` role in the arms race, organizational strategies for coping with changing political environments, dynamics of technological innovation, and the leverage of policymakers over large organizations.

Identification of nuclear weapons

Science.gov (United States)

Mihalczo, J.T.; King, W.T.

1987-04-10

A method and apparatus for non-invasively indentifying different types of nuclear weapons is disclosed. A neutron generator is placed against the weapon to generate a stream of neutrons causing fissioning within the weapon. A first detects the generation of the neutrons and produces a signal indicative thereof. A second particle detector located on the opposite side of the weapon detects the fission particles and produces signals indicative thereof. The signals are converted into a detected pattern and a computer compares the detected pattern with known patterns of weapons and indicates which known weapon has a substantially similar pattern. Either a time distribution pattern or noise analysis pattern, or both, is used. Gamma-neutron discrimination and a third particle detector for fission particles adjacent the second particle detector are preferably used. The neutrons are generated by either a decay neutron source or a pulled neutron particle accelerator.

The strategic importance of identifying knowledge-based and intangible assets for generating value, competitiveness and innovation in sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoline Ondari-Okemwa

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the strategic importance of identifying intangible assets for creating value and enhancing competitiveness and innovation in science and technology in a knowledge economy with particular reference to the sub- Saharan Africa region. It has always been difficult to gather the prerequisite information to manage such assets and create value from them. The paper discusses the nature of intangible assets, the characteristics of a knowledge economy and the role of knowledge workers in a knowledge economy. The paper also discusses the importance of identifying intangible assets in relation to capturing the value of such assets, the transfer of intangible assets to other owners and the challenges of managing organizational intangible assets. Objectives of the article include: underscoring the strategic importance of identifying intangible assets in sub-Saharan Africa; examining the performance of intangible assets in a knowledge economy; how intangible assets may generate competitiveness, economic growth and innovation; and assess how knowledge workers are becoming a dominant factor in the knowledge economy. An extensive literature review was employed to collect data for this article. It is concluded in the article that organizations and governments in sub-Saharan Africa should look at knowledge-based assets as strategic resources, even though the traditional accounting systems may still be having problems in determining the exact book value of such assets. It is recommended that organizations and government departments in sub-Saharan Africa should implement a system of the reporting of the value of intangible organizational assets just like the reporting of the value of tangible assets; and that organizations in sub-Saharan Africa should use knowledge to produce “smart products and services” which command premium prices.

Security with nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karp, R.C.

1991-01-01

Recent improvements in East-West relations and the process of dramatic political change in Europe may result in unprecedented opportunities to reduce the global arsenal of nuclear weapons. Despite these welcome developments, the prospects for effectively controlling the spread of nuclear capability in the Third World have remained much less encouraging. The possibility of large reductions in nuclear weapons poses fundamental questions about their purpose. Why have some states chosen to acquire nuclear weapons? How and why have these decisions been maintained over time? Why have some states elected to approach, but not cross, the nuclear threshold? This book examines the commonalities and differences in political approaches to nuclear weapons both within and between three groups of states: nuclear, non-nuclear and threshold. The chapters explore the evolution of thinking about nuclear weapons and the role these weapons play in national security planning, and question the official security rationales offered by the nuclear weapon states for the maintenance of nuclear capabilities. For the non-nuclear weapon states, the book presents an analysis of alternative ways of assuring security and foreign policy effectiveness. For the threshold states, it examines the regional contexts within which these states maintain their threshold status. This book transcends traditional East-West approaches to analysis of nuclear issues by giving equal prominence to the issues of nuclear proliferation and non-nuclearism. The book also provides a comprehensive analysis of how current approaches to nuclear weapons have evolved both within and among the groups of countries under study

A model for the dynamic behavior of financial assets affected by news: The case of Tohoku-Kanto earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Ochiai, T.; Nacher, J. C.

2011-09-01

The prices of financial products in markets are determined by the behavior of investors, who are influenced by positive and negative news. Here, we present a mathematical model to reproduce the price movements in real financial markets affected by news. The model has both positive and negative feed-back mechanisms. Furthermore, the behavior of the model is examined by considering two types of noise. Our results show that the dynamic balance of positive and negative feed-back mechanisms with the noise effect determines the asset price movement.

Chemical Weapons Convention

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1997-01-01

On April 29, 1997, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC...

Momentum and mean-reversion in strategic asset allocation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koijen, R.S.J.; Rodriguez, J.C.; Sbuelz, A.

2009-01-01

We study a dynamic asset allocation problem in which stock returns exhibit short-run momentum and long-run mean reversion. We develop a tractable continuous-time model that captures these two predictability features and derive the optimal investment strategy in closed form. The model predicts

Risk Management of Assets Dependency Based on Copulas Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Lei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As the two important form of financial market, the risk of financial securities, such as stocks and bonds, has been a hot topic in the financial field; at the same time, under the influence of many factors of financial assets, the correlation between portfolio returns causes more research. This paper presents Copula-SV-t model that it uses SV-t model to measure the edge distribution, and uses the Copula-t method to obtain the high-dimensional joint distribution. It not only solves the actual deviation with using the ARCH family model to calculate the portfolio risk, but also solves the problem to overestimate the risk with using extreme value theory to study financial risk. Through the empirical research, the conclusion shows that the model describes better assets and tail characteristics of assets, and is more in line with the reality of the market. Furthermore, Empirical evidence also shows that if the portfolio is relatively large degree of correlation, the ability to disperse portfolio risk is relatively weakness.

Is the nuclear weapon taboo? The nuclear weapon is useless and expensive. Let us not leave the nuclear weapon as an inheritance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauchet, Nathalie; Norlain, Bernard; Beach, Hugh; Beckett, Margaret; Quiles, Paul; Rocard, Michel; Ramsbotham, David

2012-03-01

Starting with the definition of the word taboo as stated in a dictionary (a topic it would be unbecoming to evoke, under social and moral proprieties), the author of the first article discusses the status of the nuclear weapon, outlining that it is expensive, useless and monstrous. She notices that conventions on chemical weapons seem to be more efficient than the NPT, that, even if the reasons for abolition are known as well as ways to reach it, it seems difficult to actually address this issue. She evokes different voices coming from different countries or international bodies calling for this abolition. She also states that the nuclear weapon is not a deterrent weapon but a weapon of domination, and calls for the mobilisation of the civil society throughout the world. A second article states that the nuclear weapon is useless and expensive, and that we have to get rid of this hazard for the sake of the planet. Former ministers, Prime ministers, and generals consider that we can and must give up nuclear weapons, notably because the strategic context has completely changed since the fall of the Berlin wall, and support the action of Global Zero

Reframing the debate against nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyson, Rhianna

2005-01-01

recent years has been all but negated; consensus-based agreements are rejected just a few years after being reached. Despite the threats posed by State or non-State proliferation, an increasing likelihood of a return to nuclear testing and the development of new nuclear weapons, a handful of powerful people continue to view these weapons as a legitimate source of security. All States Parties and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should approach the seventh NPT Review Conference in May 2005 as a major opportunity to reinvigorate the nuclear disarmament regime and transform it into an effective tool by which a true collective security can be ensured. First, however, we must reclaim the ground that has been eroded in recent years by the vertical and horizontal proliferation threats stemming from various corners of the globe

Weapons of mass destruction - current security threat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durdiak, J.; Gafrik, A.; Pulis, P.; Susko, M.

2005-01-01

This publication brings a complex and comprehensive view of the weapons of mass destruction phenomenon in the context of present military and political situation. It emphasizes the threat posed by proliferation of these destructive devices and their carriers as well as the threat present in their possession by unpredictable totalitarian regimes or terrorist groups. The publication is structured into four basic parts: Introduction Into The Topic, Nuclear Weapons, Chemical Weapons and Biological Weapons. The Introduction reflects the latest developments on the field of military technologies, which lead to the development of new destructive devices with characteristics comparable to basic types of WMDs - nuclear, chemical and biological. Based on the definition of WMD as 'weapon systems with enormous impact causing mass destruction, population, equipment and material losses', the modern mass destruction devices are assorted here, such as ecological, radiological and beam weapons, aerosol and container intelligent ammunition, the outburst of dangerous chemical substances from infrastructure, non-conventional weapons and military devices. The Nuclear Weapons part depicts the most destructive device of mass destruction mankind ever invented in close detail. It maps the history of most significant discoveries in nuclear physics, development and construction of the first nuclear weapons, accumulation of nuclear warheads and their carriers in the Cold war era, attempts of nuclear disarmament and reducing the number of nuclear weapons in possession of superpowers and their proliferation in the world's crisis regions including North Korea and Iran. The chapters devoted to theoretical grounds and physical principles of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons' functioning, the main categories and types, as well as destructive effects and consequences of use contain an adequate mathematical apparatus. This chapter's conclusion brings the overview of nuclear armament of states that

Analytical Provision of Management of Intangible Assets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelest Viktoriya S.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The goal of the article lies in the study of the process of conduct of economic analysis of such a complex product of the innovation and information society as objects of intellectual property, which are accepted in business accounting as intangible assets. All-absorbing integration processes in the economy and large-scale propagation of information technologies influence the capital structure. Thus, accepting intangible assets as a driving factor of competitiveness, enterprises prefer namely these assets, reducing the share of tangible assets. Taking this into account the scientists thoroughly studied the issues of economic analysis of intangible assets, since the obtained data are the main source of accounting and analytical information required for making weighted managerial decisions. At the same time, the issues of authenticity, accuracy, efficiency and transparency of the obtained results become topical. In the process of the study the article shows information content of the accounting and analytical data due to introduction of accounting and conduct of economic analysis of intangible assets. The article considers the modern state of the methods of analysis of intangible assets based on opinions of scientists. It characterises economic and legal state of development of licence agreements in Ukraine. It justifies economic expediency of use of such agreements. It forms the ways of making efficient managerial decisions on use of intangible assets in economic activity of subjects of entrepreneurship.

Evaluation of the Effect of Non-Current Fixed Assets on Profitability and Asset Management Efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Lubyanaya, Alexandra V.; Izmailov, Airat M.; Nikulina, Ekaterina Y.; Shaposhnikov, Vladislav A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to investigate the problem, which stems from non-current fixed assets affecting profitability and asset management efficiency. Tangible assets, intangible assets and financial assets are all included in non-current fixed assets. The aim of the research is to identify the impact of estimates and valuation in…

Regularity of the exercise boundary for American put options on assets with discrete dividends

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jourdain, B.; Vellekoop, M.

2009-01-01

We analyze the regularity of the optimal exercise boundary for the American Put option when the underlying asset pays a discrete dividend at a known time td during the lifetime of the option. The ex-dividend asset price process is assumed to follow Black-Scholes dynamics and the dividend amount is a

Reconversion of nuclear weapons

CERN Document Server

Kapitza, Sergei P

1992-01-01

The nuclear predicament or nuclear option. Synopsis of three lectures : 1- The physical basis of nuclear technology. Physics of fission. Chain reaction in reactors and weapons. Fission fragments. Separration of isotopes. Radiochemistry.2- Nuclear reactors with slow and fast neutrons. Power, size, fuel and waste. Plutonium production. Dose rate, shielding and health hazard. The lessons of Chernobyl3- Nuclear weapons. Types, energy, blast and fallout. Fusion and hydrogen bombs. What to do with nuclear weapons when you cannot use them? Testing. Nonmilittary use. Can we get rid of the nuclear weapon? Nuclear proliferation. Is there a nuclear future?

Japanese views on ASSET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirano, M [Department of Reactor Safety Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst. (Japan)

1997-10-01

The presentation briefly reviews the following aspects directed to ensuring NPP safety: Japanese participation in ASSET activities; views to ASSET activities; recent operating experience in Japan; future ASSET activities.

Japanese views on ASSET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirano, M.

1997-01-01

The presentation briefly reviews the following aspects directed to ensuring NPP safety: Japanese participation in ASSET activities; views to ASSET activities; recent operating experience in Japan; future ASSET activities

Estimating the value of a Country's built assets: investment-based exposure modelling for global risk assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Daniell, James; Pomonis, Antonios; Gunasekera, Rashmin; Ishizawa, Oscar; Gaspari, Maria; Lu, Xijie; Aubrecht, Christoph; Ungar, Joachim

2017-04-01

In order to quantify disaster risk, there is a demand and need for determining consistent and reliable economic value of built assets at national or sub national level exposed to natural hazards. The value of the built stock in the context of a city or a country is critical for risk modelling applications as it allows for the upper bound in potential losses to be established. Under the World Bank probabilistic disaster risk assessment - Country Disaster Risk Profiles (CDRP) Program and rapid post-disaster loss analyses in CATDAT, key methodologies have been developed that quantify the asset exposure of a country. In this study, we assess the complementary methods determining value of building stock through capital investment data vs aggregated ground up values based on built area and unit cost of construction analyses. Different approaches to modelling exposure around the world, have resulted in estimated values of built assets of some countries differing by order(s) of magnitude. Using the aforementioned methodology of comparing investment data based capital stock and bottom-up unit cost of construction values per square meter of assets; a suitable range of capital stock estimates for built assets have been created. A blind test format was undertaken to compare the two types of approaches from top-down (investment) and bottom-up (construction cost per unit), In many cases, census data, demographic, engineering and construction cost data are key for bottom-up calculations from previous years. Similarly for the top-down investment approach, distributed GFCF (Gross Fixed Capital Formation) data is also required. Over the past few years, numerous studies have been undertaken through the World Bank Caribbean and Central America disaster risk assessment program adopting this methodology initially developed by Gunasekera et al. (2015). The range of values of the building stock is tested for around 15 countries. In addition, three types of costs - Reconstruction cost

AN ECOSYSTEM PERSPECTIVE ON ASSET MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lasse METSO

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Big Data and Internet of Things will increase the amount of data on asset management exceedingly. Data sharing with an increased number of partners in the area of asset management is important when developing business opportunities and new ecosystems. An asset management ecosystem is a complex set of relationships between parties taking part in asset management actions. In this paper, the current barriers and benefits of data sharing are identified based on the results of an interview study. The main benefits are transparency, access to data and reuse of data. New services can be created by taking advantage of data sharing. The main barriers to sharing data are an unclear view of the data sharing process and difficulties to recognize the benefits of data sharing. For overcoming the barriers in data sharing, this paper applies the ecosystem perspective on asset management information. The approach is explained by using the Swedish railway industry as an example.

An Ecosystem Perspective On Asset Management Information

Science.gov (United States)

Metso, Lasse; Kans, Mirka

2017-09-01

Big Data and Internet of Things will increase the amount of data on asset management exceedingly. Data sharing with an increased number of partners in the area of asset management is important when developing business opportunities and new ecosystems. An asset management ecosystem is a complex set of relationships between parties taking part in asset management actions. In this paper, the current barriers and benefits of data sharing are identified based on the results of an interview study. The main benefits are transparency, access to data and reuse of data. New services can be created by taking advantage of data sharing. The main barriers to sharing data are an unclear view of the data sharing process and difficulties to recognize the benefits of data sharing. For overcoming the barriers in data sharing, this paper applies the ecosystem perspective on asset management information. The approach is explained by using the Swedish railway industry as an example.

A study on intangible assets disclosure: An evidence from Indian companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Subash Chander

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: India has emerged at the top of the pedestal in the present knowledge-driven global marketplace, where intangible assets hold much more value than physical assets. The objective of this study is to determine the extent of intangible asset disclosure by companies in IndiaDesign/methodology/approach: This study relates to the years 2003-04 and 2007-08 and is based on 243 companies selected from BT-500 companies. The annual reports of these companies were analyzed using content analysis so as to examine the level of disclosure of intangible asset information. Intangible assets disclosure index based on the intangible assets framework as given by Sveiby (1997 and as used and tested by Guthrie and Petty (2000 and many other subsequent studies was modified and used for this study. Findings: The results showed that external capital is the most disclosed intangible asset category with a disclosure score of 37.90% and 35.83% in the years 2003-04 and 2007-08 respectively. Infosys technologies Ltd. is the company with the highest intangible assets reporting for both the years (2003-04: 68.52%, 2007-08: 81.48%. Further the reporting of intangible assets is unorganized and unsystematic. There is lack of appropriate framework for disclosing intangible assets information in the annual reports.Originality/value: This is perhaps the first comprehensive study on intangible assets disclosure based on a large sample of the companies from India. Literature reveals that now the intangible assets play relatively an increasingly significant role in the decision making process of various users of corporate reports. This study shows that the overall disclosure of intangible assets is low in India. Thus this study may be of value to the corporate sector in India to explore the areas of intangible assets disclosure so that they can provide useful and relevant information to the users of annual reports.

Does Britain need nuclear weapons?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, C.R.; Pease, R.S.; Peierls, R.E.; Rotblat, J.

1995-01-01

This report from the British Pugwash Group follows up a detailed international study of the desirability and feasibility of a world free from nuclear weapons with an analysis of issues particular to British nuclear weapons and the associated defense policies. United Kingdom nuclear weapons are reviewed historically, as are the nuclear weapons policies of other countries. A critique of present government policy is presented, with alternative uses for nuclear weapons in the post-Cold war world. The document concludes with a summary of the text and suggests how a British government could move towards global nuclear disarmament. (UK)

Theoretical and Empirical Review of Asset Pricing Models: A Structural Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saban Celik

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to give a comprehensive theoretical review devoted to asset pricing models by emphasizing static and dynamic versions in the line with their empirical investigations. A considerable amount of financial economics literature devoted to the concept of asset pricing and their implications. The main task of asset pricing model can be seen as the way to evaluate the present value of the pay offs or cash flows discounted for risk and time lags. The difficulty coming from discounting process is that the relevant factors that affect the pay offs vary through the time whereas the theoretical framework is still useful to incorporate the changing factors into an asset pricing models. This paper fills the gap in literature by giving a comprehensive review of the models and evaluating the historical stream of empirical investigations in the form of structural empirical review.

Engineering Asset Management and Infrastructure Sustainability : Proceedings of the 5th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management

CERN Document Server

Ma, Lin; Tan, Andy; Weijnen, Margot; Lee, Jay

2012-01-01

Engineering Asset Management 2010 represents state-of-the art trends and developments in the emerging field of engineering asset management as presented at the Fifth World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM). The proceedings of the WCEAM 2010 is an excellent reference for practitioners, researchers and students in the multidisciplinary field of asset management, covering topics such as: Asset condition monitoring and intelligent maintenance Asset data warehousing, data mining and fusion Asset performance and level-of-service models Design and life-cycle integrity of physical assets Education and training in asset management Engineering standards in asset management Fault diagnosis and prognostics Financial analysis methods for physical assets Human dimensions in integrated asset management Information quality management Information systems and knowledge management Intelligent sensors and devices Maintenance strategies in asset management Optimisation decisions in asset management Risk management ...

Self-consistent asset pricing models

Science.gov (United States)

Malevergne, Y.; Sornette, D.

2007-08-01

We discuss the foundations of factor or regression models in the light of the self-consistency condition that the market portfolio (and more generally the risk factors) is (are) constituted of the assets whose returns it is (they are) supposed to explain. As already reported in several articles, self-consistency implies correlations between the return disturbances. As a consequence, the alphas and betas of the factor model are unobservable. Self-consistency leads to renormalized betas with zero effective alphas, which are observable with standard OLS regressions. When the conditions derived from internal consistency are not met, the model is necessarily incomplete, which means that some sources of risk cannot be replicated (or hedged) by a portfolio of stocks traded on the market, even for infinite economies. Analytical derivations and numerical simulations show that, for arbitrary choices of the proxy which are different from the true market portfolio, a modified linear regression holds with a non-zero value αi at the origin between an asset i's return and the proxy's return. Self-consistency also introduces “orthogonality” and “normality” conditions linking the betas, alphas (as well as the residuals) and the weights of the proxy portfolio. Two diagnostics based on these orthogonality and normality conditions are implemented on a basket of 323 assets which have been components of the S&P500 in the period from January 1990 to February 2005. These two diagnostics show interesting departures from dynamical self-consistency starting about 2 years before the end of the Internet bubble. Assuming that the CAPM holds with the self-consistency condition, the OLS method automatically obeys the resulting orthogonality and normality conditions and therefore provides a simple way to self-consistently assess the parameters of the model by using proxy portfolios made only of the assets which are used in the CAPM regressions. Finally, the factor decomposition with the

Proposals for chemical weapons during the American Civil War.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Guy R

2008-05-01

Proposals for chemical weapons that arose during the American Civil War are described. Most incendiary and all biological agents are excluded. The described proposals appeared primarily in periodicals or letters to government officials on both sides. The weapons were usually meant to temporarily disable enemy combatants, but some might have been lethal, and Civil War caregivers were ill-prepared to deal with the weapons' effects. Evidently, none of the proposed weapons were used. In only one instance was use against civilians mentioned. Among the agents most commonly proposed were cayenne pepper or other plant-based irritants such as black pepper, snuff, mustard, and veratria. Other suggested agents included chloroform, chlorine, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic compounds, sulfur, and acids. Proponents usually suggested that the chemicals be included in explosive artillery projectiles. Less commonly proposed vehicles of delivery included fire engines, kites, and manned balloons. Some of the proposed weapons have modern counterparts.

Chemical and biological weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, E.D.

1991-01-01

This paper discusses the prospects of the multilateral negotiations aimed at achieving a complete and total ban on chemical weapons the Chemical Weapons convention (CWC). The control of the proliferation of chemical weapons is no longer just on East-West issue; it is also an issue of concern in Third World Countries, and in some of the wealthier middle eastern nations, such as Kuwait

Psychological markers underlying murder weapon profile: a quantitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamaluddin, M R; Othman, A; Ismail, K H; Mat Saat, G A

2017-12-01

The horrific nature of murder using different types of weapons has been an important focal point of many criminological studies. Weapons that are used in murders seem to play dominant roles in murder investigations as they may provide information leading to arrest. The established factors for weapon usage include environmental context, demography and availability of weapons. However, there is insufficient research attention on the psychological functioning of murderers for particular weapon usage. In light of this, the current study seeks to narrow this gap of information by identifying the influences of psychological traits on weapon usage among a sample of male murderers. The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 71 male murderers incarcerated in 11 prisons within Peninsular Malaysia. The selection of the sample was based on predetermined selection criteria using a purposive sampling method. A guided self-administered questionnaire comprising sociodemography variables and four Malay validated psychometric instruments: Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-40-Cross-Culture, Self-control Scale, "How I Think" Questionnaire and Aggression Questionnaire; was used. Independent sample t-test was performed to establish the mean score differences of psychological traits between the murderers who used single and multiple weapons while Kruskal-Wallis tests were carried out to ascertain the differences between the specific types of weapons used among the murderers. Following this, one-way ANOVA was carried out to ascertain the psychological trait differences among the murderers according to the different sources of weapon. Results indicated specific psychological traits influenced the number(s), source(s) and type(s) of weapon used in committing murder. The findings have implications for the psychological profiling of unknown murderers within the Malaysian context.

Nuclear weapons complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rezendes, V.S.

1992-04-01

In addition to long-standing safety and environmental problems plaguing the nuclear weapons complex, this paper reports that the Department of Energy (DOE) faces a major new challenge-how to reconfigure the weapons complex to meet the nation's defense needs in the 21st century. Key decisions still need to be made about the size of the complex; where, if necessary, to relocate various operations; what technologies to use for new tritium production; and what to do with excess weapons-grade material. The choices confronting DOE and Congress are difficult given the conflicting demands for limited resources

Army requirements for micro and nanotechnology-based sensors in weapons health and battlefield environmental monitoring applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffin, Paul; Brantley, Christina; Edwards, Eugene; Hutcheson, Guilford

2006-03-01

The Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) and the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) have initiated a joint advanced technology demonstration program entitled "Prognostics/Diagnostics for the Future Force (PDFF)" with a key objective of developing low or no power embedded sensor suites for harsh environmental monitoring. The most critical challenge of the program is to specify requirements for the embedded sensor suites which will perform on-board diagnostics, maintain a history of sensor data, and forecast weapon health. The authors are currently collaborating with the PDFF program managers and potential customers to quantify the requirements for remotely operated, micro/nano-technology-based sensors for a host of candidate weapon systems. After requirements are finalized, current micro/nanotechnology-based temperature, humidity, g-shock, vibration and chemical sensors for monitoring the out-gassing of weapons propellant, as well as hazardous gaseous species on the battlefield and in urban environments will be improved to meet the full requirements of the PDFF program. In this paper, performance requirements such as power consumption, reliability, maintainability, survivability, size, and cost, along with the associated technical challenges for micro/nanotechnology-based sensor systems operating in military environments, are discussed. In addition, laboratory results from the design and testing of a wireless sensor array, which was developed using a thin film of functionalized carbon nanotube materials, are presented. Conclusions from the research indicate that the detection of bio-hazardous materials is possible using passive and active wireless sensors based on monitoring the reflected phase from the sensor.

Accounting treatment of intangible assets

OpenAIRE

Gorgieva-Trajkovska, Olivera; Koleva, Blagica; Georgieva Svrtinov, Vesna

2015-01-01

The accounting for fixed assets is, in many cases, a straightforward exercise, but it isn’t always so when it comes to the issue of intangible fixed assets and recognizing such assets on the balance sheet. IAS 38, In¬tan¬gi¬ble Assets, outlines the accounting re¬quire¬ments for in¬tan¬gi¬ble assets, which are non-mon¬e¬tary assets which are without physical substance and iden¬ti¬fi¬able (either being separable or arising from con¬trac¬tual or other legal rights). In¬tan¬gi¬ble assets meeting ...

PID feedback controller used as a tactical asset allocation technique: The G.A.M. model

Science.gov (United States)

Gandolfi, G.; Sabatini, A.; Rossolini, M.

2007-09-01

The objective of this paper is to illustrate a tactical asset allocation technique utilizing the PID controller. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is widely applied in most industrial processes; it has been successfully used for over 50 years and it is used by more than 95% of the plants processes. It is a robust and easily understood algorithm that can provide excellent control performance in spite of the diverse dynamic characteristics of the process plant. In finance, the process plant, controlled by the PID controller, can be represented by financial market assets forming a portfolio. More specifically, in the present work, the plant is represented by a risk-adjusted return variable. Money and portfolio managers’ main target is to achieve a relevant risk-adjusted return in their managing activities. In literature and in the financial industry business, numerous kinds of return/risk ratios are commonly studied and used. The aim of this work is to perform a tactical asset allocation technique consisting in the optimization of risk adjusted return by means of asset allocation methodologies based on the PID model-free feedback control modeling procedure. The process plant does not need to be mathematically modeled: the PID control action lies in altering the portfolio asset weights, according to the PID algorithm and its parameters, Ziegler-and-Nichols-tuned, in order to approach the desired portfolio risk-adjusted return efficiently.

Regret Theory and Equilibrium Asset Prices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiliang Sheng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Regret theory is a behavioral approach to decision making under uncertainty. In this paper we assume that there are two representative investors in a frictionless market, a representative active investor who selects his optimal portfolio based on regret theory and a representative passive investor who invests only in the benchmark portfolio. In a partial equilibrium setting, the objective of the representative active investor is modeled as minimization of the regret about final wealth relative to the benchmark portfolio. In equilibrium this optimal strategy gives rise to a behavioral asset priciting model. We show that the market beta and the benchmark beta that is related to the investor’s regret are the determinants of equilibrium asset prices. We also extend our model to a market with multibenchmark portfolios. Empirical tests using stock price data from Shanghai Stock Exchange show strong support to the asset pricing model based on regret theory.

Accounting of Long-Term Biological Assets

OpenAIRE

Valeriy Mossakovskyy; Vasyl Korytnyy

2015-01-01

The article is devoted to generalization of experience in valuation of long-term biological assets of plant-growing and animal-breeding, and preparation of suggestions concerning improvement of accounting in this field. Recommendations concerning accounting of such assets are given based on the study of accounting practice at specific agricultural company during long period of time. Authors believe that fair value is applicable only if price level for agricultural products is fixed by the gov...

Defense Special Weapons Agency Advisory Panel on the Nuclear Weapon Effects Program

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1998-01-01

We performed the audit in response to allegations made to the Defense Hotline concerning conflicts of interest among members of the Defense Special Weapons Agency Advisory Panel on the Nuclear Weapon Effects Program...

Verifying a nuclear weapon`s response to radiation environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dean, F.F.; Barrett, W.H.

1998-05-01

The process described in the paper is being applied as part of the design verification of a replacement component designed for a nuclear weapon currently in the active stockpile. This process is an adaptation of the process successfully used in nuclear weapon development programs. The verification process concentrates on evaluating system response to radiation environments, verifying system performance during and after exposure to radiation environments, and assessing system survivability.

Substantiation of Biological Assets Classification Indexes for Enhancing Their Accounting Efficiency

OpenAIRE

Rayisa Tsyhan; Olha Chubka

2013-01-01

Present day national agricultural companies sell their products in both domestic and foreign markets which has a significant impact on specifics of biological assets accounting. The article offers biological assets classification provided in the Practical Guide to Accounting for Biological Assets and, besides, specifications proposed by various scientists. Based on the analysis, biological assets classification has been supplemented with new classification factors and their appropriateness ha...

Financier-led asset lease model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, X.; Angelov, S.A.; Grefen, P.W.P.J.; Meersman, R.A.; Dillon, T.S.

2010-01-01

Nowadays, the business globalisation trend drives organisations to spread their business worldwide, which in turn generates vast asset demands. In this context, broader asset channels and higher financial capacities are required to boost the asset lease sector to meet the increasing asset demands

The morality of weapons research.

Science.gov (United States)

Forge, John

2004-07-01

I ask whether weapons research is ever justified. Weapons research is identified as the business of the engineer. It is argued that the engineer has responsibility for the uses to which the tools that he designs can be put, and that responsibility extends to the use of weapons. It is maintained that there are no inherently defensive weapons, and hence there is no such thing as 'defensive' weapons research. The issue then is what responsibilities as a professional the engineer has in regard to such research. An account is given to ground the injunction not to provide the means to harm as a duty for the engineers. This account is not, however, absolutist, and as such it allows justifiable exceptions. The answer to my question is thus not that weapons research is never justified but there must be a strong assurance that the results will only be used as a just means in a just cause.

Asset Pricing - A Brief Review

OpenAIRE

Li, Minqiang

2010-01-01

I first introduce the early-stage and modern classical asset pricing and portfolio theories. These include: the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), the arbitrage pricing theory (APT), the consumption capital asset pricing model (CCAPM), the intertemporal capital asset pricing model (ICAPM), and some other important modern concepts and techniques. Finally, I discuss the most recent development during the last decade and the outlook in the field of asset pricing.

Assessing Asset Pricing Anomalies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

W.A. de Groot (Wilma)

2017-01-01

markdownabstractOne of the most important challenges in the field of asset pricing is to understand anomalies: empirical patterns in asset returns that cannot be explained by standard asset pricing models. Currently, there is no consensus in the academic literature on the underlying causes of

Capital Structure and Assets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flor, Christian Riis

2008-01-01

This paper analyzes a firm's capital structure choice when assets have outside value. Valuable assets implicitly provide a collateral and increase tax shield exploitation. The key feature in this paper is asset value uncertainty, implying that it is unknown ex ante whether the equity holders ex p...

Making weapons, talking peace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

York, H.F.

1987-01-01

The memoirs of the author traces his life from his first-year graduate studies in physics at the University of Rochester in 1942 to his present position as Director of the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. The part of his life involved in making weapons extends from 1942 to 1961. During this period, he worked with E.O. Lawrence on the Manhattan Project and served as director of Livermore after it became the Atomic Energy Commission's second nuclear weapons laboratory. He also served on many government advisory boards and commissions dealing with nuclear and other weapons. In 1961, the combination of a heart attack and changes in administration in Washington led York too return to the University of California for the talking peace portion of his life. He has since become a public exponent of arms control and disarmament and the futility of seeking increased security through more and better nuclear weapons. York's explanation of his move from making weapons to talking peace leaves the reader with a puzzle

Do Weapons Facilitate Adolescent Delinquency? An Examination of Weapon Carrying and Delinquency Among Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmert, Amanda D; Hall, Gina Penly; Lizotte, Alan J

2018-03-01

This article examines whether weapon carrying influences the frequency and variety of violent, property, and drug delinquency adolescents commit through fixed-effects analyses of data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS). We conclude that weapon carrying contributes to violent, substance, and property delinquency, and delinquent behaviors learned during weapon carrying continue to affect substance and property delinquency long after carrying has ceased.

Comprehensive transportation asset management : making a business case and prioritizing assets for inclusion in formal asset management programs.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

Several agencies are applying asset management principles as a business tool and paradigm to help them define goals and prioritize agency resources in decision making. Previously, transportation asset management (TAM) has focused more on big ticke...

CLUSTER ANALYSIS OF TOTAL ASSETS PROVIDED BY BANKS FROM FOUR CONTINENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIRELA CĂTĂLINA TÜRKEȘ

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The paper analysed the total assets in 2016 achieved by the strongest 96 banks from 4 continents: Europe, America, Asia and Africa. It aims to evaluate the level of total assets provided by banks in 2016 and continental banking markets degree of differentiation to determine the overall conditions of the banks. Methodologies used in this study are based on cluster and descriptives analysis. Data set was built based on informations reported by banks on total assets. The results indicate that most of total banking assets are found in Asia and the fewest in Africa. At the end of 2016, the top 16 global banks owned total assets of $ 30.19 trillion according to the data set contains cluster 1 and the centroid was (2.25, 2.11, 3.06, 0.01.

Prerequisites for a nuclear weapons convention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liebert, W.

1999-01-01

A Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) would prohibit the research, development, production, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons and would serve their total elimination.' In this fashion it follows the model laid out by the biological and chemical weapons conventions. The NWC would encompass a few other treaties and while replacing them should learn from their experiences. The Nuclear Weapons Convention should at some given point in the future replace the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and so resolve its contradictions and shortcomings. The main objectives of an NWC Would be: reduction of the nuclear arsenals of the 'five' nuclear weapons powers down to zero within a set of fixed periods of time; elimination of stockpiles of weapons-usable materials and, where existent, nuclear warheads in de-facto nuclear weapon and threshold states; providing assurance that all states will retain their non-nuclear status forever

Proactive pavement asset management with climate change aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Zofka, Adam

2018-05-01

Pavement Asset Management System is a systematic and objective tool to manage pavement network based on the rational, engineering and economic principles. Once implemented and mature Pavement Asset Management System serves the entire range of users starting with the maintenance engineers and ending with the decision-makers. Such a system is necessary to coordinate agency management strategy including proactive maintenance. Basic inputs in the majority of existing Pavement Asset Management System approaches comprise the actual pavement inventory with associated construction history and condition, traffic information as well as various economical parameters. Some Pavement Management System approaches include also weather aspects which is of particular importance considering ongoing climate changes. This paper presents challenges in implementing the Pavement Asset Management System for those National Road Administrations that manage their pavement assets using more traditional strategies, e.g. worse-first approach. Special considerations are given to weather-related inputs and associated analysis to demonstrate the effects of climate change in a short- and long-term range. Based on the presented examples this paper concludes that National Road Administrations should account for the weather-related factors in their Pavement Management Systems as this has a significant impact on the system outcomes from the safety and economical perspective.

Weapons and hope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyson, F.

1984-01-01

The British-born physicist presents a full-blown critique of US weapons policy. His careful evaluation of opposing views leads him to endorse a live-and-let-live concept of arms control, which would reject both assured destruction and first use of nuclear weapons in favor of abolishing them. Dyson's faith in the humane progress of military technology and his tolerance of dangerous conventional weapons will not please dovish readers, while his denunciation of military idolatry and his support of a nuclear freeze will disappoint some hawks. Along with moving personal memories of war and pacifism, the most original sections of the book are the author's insightful comments about the Soviet Union and the issue of verification

Maintaining non-nuclear weapon status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muller, H.

1991-01-01

Among the some 170 sovereign states in the world, five are legally recognized as nuclear weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Six countries (Argentina, Brazil, India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Africa) are counted as threshold states: they possess sizeable unsafeguarded nuclear facilities or have passed the brink of a nuclear test or of clandestine weapon production. Six other countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Taiwan, and North and South Korea) have been suspected periodically of either considering the nuclear weapon option or of working secretly on the development of weapons. Thus, about 150 non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS) remain which neither possess nuclear weapons nor strive to acquire them. These states are distributed throughout the globe and encompass highly industrialized as well as underdeveloped countries, liberal democracies, socialist states, sheikdoms and dictatorships. Some NNWS face acute military threats; other are far removed from the quarrels of the world, as in the case of some remote fortunate islands. Furthermore, NNWS may be members of nuclear-umbrella alliances or may have opted for a policy of neutrality or non-alignment

The return of nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calvez, Jean-Yves

2005-01-01

Written after the 2005 NPT review conference, this article first recalls the early stages of nuclear proliferation: acquisition of nuclear weapons by Great-Britain, USSR, France and China, and creation of the NPT in 1970. The author briefly evokes some weaknesses and violations of this treaty: emergence of new nuclear powers (India, Pakistan, Israel) and of nuclear weapon programmes (Iran, North Korea). He outlines the lack of true rules to impede countries to develop nuclear weapons, and then states that the only solution seems to be a simple abolition of these weapons. This option is notably supported by the Catholic Church as outlined and recalled here. The author discusses the situation of this abolition option, and notices that, even though NPT members committed themselves on this way, some also decided to develop new and smaller weapons. Then, it becomes always more difficult to persuade countries not to possess these weapons. The author finally discusses the issues of terrorism threat in relationship to the miniaturisation process, and regrets the lack of commitment in an abolition process

Prediction of future asset prices

Science.gov (United States)

Seong, Ng Yew; Hin, Pooi Ah; Ching, Soo Huei

2014-12-01

This paper attempts to incorporate trading volumes as an additional predictor for predicting asset prices. Denoting r(t) as the vector consisting of the time-t values of the trading volume and price of a given asset, we model the time-(t+1) asset price to be dependent on the present and l-1 past values r(t), r(t-1), ....., r(t-1+1) via a conditional distribution which is derived from a (2l+1)-dimensional power-normal distribution. A prediction interval based on the 100(α/2)% and 100(1-α/2)% points of the conditional distribution is then obtained. By examining the average lengths of the prediction intervals found by using the composite indices of the Malaysia stock market for the period 2008 to 2013, we found that the value 2 appears to be a good choice for l. With the omission of the trading volume in the vector r(t), the corresponding prediction interval exhibits a slightly longer average length, showing that it might be desirable to keep trading volume as a predictor. From the above conditional distribution, the probability that the time-(t+1) asset price will be larger than the time-t asset price is next computed. When the probability differs from 0 (or 1) by less than 0.03, the observed time-(t+1) increase in price tends to be negative (or positive). Thus the above probability has a good potential of being used as a market indicator in technical analysis.

Wounds and weapons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogel, H. [Asklepios Klinik St. Georg, Roentgenabteilung, Lohmuehlenstrasse 5, 20099 Hamburg (Germany)], E-mail: Hermann.vogel@ak-stgeorg.lbk-hh.de; Dootz, B. [Asklepios Klinik St. Georg, Roentgenabteilung, Lohmuehlenstrasse 5, 20099 Hamburg (Germany)

2007-08-15

Purpose: X-ray findings are described, which are typical for injuries due to conventional weapons. It is intended to demonstrate that radiographs can show findings characteristic for weapons. Material and method: The radiograms have been collected in Vietnam, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Chad, Iran, Afghanistan, USA, Great Britain, France, Israel, Palestine, and Germany. Results: Radiograms of injuries due to hand grenades show their content (globes) and cover fragments. The globes are localized regionally in the victim's body. Survivors of cluster bombs show singular or few globes; having been hit by many globes would have been lethal. Shotguns produce characteristic distributions of the pallets and depth of penetration different from those of hand grenades and cluster bombs; cover fragments are lacking. Gunshot wounds (GSW) can be differentiated in those to low velocity bullets, high velocity projectiles, and projectiles, which disintegrate on impact. The radiogram furnishes the information about a dangerous shock and helps to recognize the weapon. Radiograms of victims of explosion show fragments and injuries due to the blast, information valid for therapy planning and prognosis. The radiogram shows details which can be used in therapy, forensic medicine and in war propaganda - examples could be findings typical for cluster bombs and for dumdum bullets; it shows the cruelty of the employment of weapons against humans and the conflict between the goal of medical care and those of military actions. Conclusion: Radiographs may show, which weapon has been employed; they can be read as war reports.

Wounds and weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogel, H.; Dootz, B.

2007-01-01

Purpose: X-ray findings are described, which are typical for injuries due to conventional weapons. It is intended to demonstrate that radiographs can show findings characteristic for weapons. Material and method: The radiograms have been collected in Vietnam, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Chad, Iran, Afghanistan, USA, Great Britain, France, Israel, Palestine, and Germany. Results: Radiograms of injuries due to hand grenades show their content (globes) and cover fragments. The globes are localized regionally in the victim's body. Survivors of cluster bombs show singular or few globes; having been hit by many globes would have been lethal. Shotguns produce characteristic distributions of the pallets and depth of penetration different from those of hand grenades and cluster bombs; cover fragments are lacking. Gunshot wounds (GSW) can be differentiated in those to low velocity bullets, high velocity projectiles, and projectiles, which disintegrate on impact. The radiogram furnishes the information about a dangerous shock and helps to recognize the weapon. Radiograms of victims of explosion show fragments and injuries due to the blast, information valid for therapy planning and prognosis. The radiogram shows details which can be used in therapy, forensic medicine and in war propaganda - examples could be findings typical for cluster bombs and for dumdum bullets; it shows the cruelty of the employment of weapons against humans and the conflict between the goal of medical care and those of military actions. Conclusion: Radiographs may show, which weapon has been employed; they can be read as war reports

The assets-based approach: furthering a neoliberal agenda or rediscovering the old public health? A critical examination of practitioner discourses.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Michael J

2017-08-08

The 'assets-based approach' to health and well-being has, on the one hand, been presented as a potentially empowering means to address the social determinants of health while, on the other, been criticised for obscuring structural drivers of inequality and encouraging individualisation and marketisation; in essence, for being a tool of neoliberalism. This study looks at how this apparent contestation plays out in practice through a critical realist-inspired examination of practitioner discourses, specifically of those working within communities to address social vulnerabilities that we know impact upon health. The study finds that practitioners interact with the assets-based policy discourse in interesting ways. Rather than unwitting tools of neoliberalism, they considered their work to be about mitigating the worst effects of poverty and social vulnerability in ways that enhance collectivism and solidarity, concepts that neoliberalism arguably seeks to disrupt. Furthermore, rather than a different, innovative, way of working, they consider the assets-based approach to simply be a re-labelling of what they have been doing anyway, for as long as they can remember. So, for practitioners, rather than a 'new' approach to public health, the assets-based public health movement seems to be a return to recognising and appreciating the role of community within public health policy and practice; ideals that predate neoliberalism by quite some considerable time.

Tapping the Value Potential of Extended Asset Services - Experiences from Finnish Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Kortelainen, Helena; Hanski, Jyri; Valkokari, Pasi; Ahonen, Toni

2017-09-01

Recent developments in information technology and business models enable a wide variety of new services for companies looking for growth in services. Currently, manufacturing companies have been actively developing and providing novel asset based services such as condition monitoring and remote control. However, there is still untapped potential in extending the service delivery to the long-term co-operative development of physical assets over the whole lifecycle. Close collaboration with the end-customer and other stakeholders is needed in order to understand the value generation options. In this paper, we assess some of the asset services manufacturing companies are currently developing. The descriptions of the asset services are based on the results of an industrial workshop in which the companies presented their service development plans. The service propositions are compared with the Total Cost of Ownership and the closed loop life cycle frameworks. Based on the comparison, gaps that indicate potential for extended asset service concepts are recognised. In conclusion, we argue that the manufacturing companies do not recognise the whole potential for asset based services and for optimizing the performance of the end customers' processes.

Managing Assets in The Infrastructure Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.P. van Houten

2010-09-01

Full Text Available In view of the importance of managing assets and the lack of research in managing assets in the infrastructure sector, we develop an asset management model in this study. This model is developed in line with the unique characteristics of the infrastructure assets and asset management principles and criteria. In the proposed model, we consider activities at three levels, namely the strategical, tactical and operational levels. The interviews with experts in asset management and officials in several Dutch organizations have proven the potential of our asset management model.

Methodological aspects of network assets accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhimenko-Nazaruk I.A.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The necessity of using innovative tools of processing and representation of information about network assets is substantiated. The suggestions for displaying network assets in accounts are presented. The main reasons for the need to display the network assets in the financial statements of all members of the network structure (the economic essence of network assets as the object of accounting; the non-additional model for the formation of the value of network assets; the internetworking mechanism for the formation of the value of network assets are identified. The stages of accounting valuation of network assets are allocated and substantiated. The analytical table for estimating the value of network assets and additional network capital in accounting is developed. The order of additional network capital reflection in accounting is developed. The method of revaluation of network assets in accounting in the broad sense is revealed. The order of accounting of network assets with increasing or decreasing the number of participants in the network structure is determined.

Managing assets in the infrastructure sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Houten, T.P.; Zhang, L.

2010-01-01

In view of the importance of managing assets and the lack of research in managing assets in the infrastructure sector, we develop an asset management model in this study. This model is developed in line with the unique characteristics of the infrastructure assets and asset management principles and

Effectiveness of infrastructure asset management: challenges for public agencies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schraven, Daan; Hartmann, Andreas; Dewulf, Geert P.M.R.

2011-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this research is to better understand the decisions in infrastructure asset management at public agencies and the challenges of these agencies to improve the effectiveness of their decision making. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a literature review on asset management at

Empowering file-based radio production through media asset management systems

Science.gov (United States)

Muylaert, Bjorn; Beckers, Tom

2006-10-01

In recent years, IT-based production and archiving of media has matured to a level which enables broadcasters to switch over from tape- or CD-based to file-based workflows for the production of their radio and television programs. This technology is essential for the future of broadcasters as it provides the flexibility and speed of execution the customer demands by enabling, among others, concurrent access and production, faster than real-time ingest, edit during ingest, centrally managed annotation and quality preservation of media. In terms of automation of program production, the radio department is the most advanced within the VRT, the Flemish broadcaster. Since a couple of years ago, the radio department has been working with digital equipment and producing its programs mainly on standard IT equipment. Historically, the shift from analogue to digital based production has been a step by step process initiated and coordinated by each radio station separately, resulting in a multitude of tools and metadata collections, some of them developed in-house, lacking integration. To make matters worse, each of those stations adopted a slightly different production methodology. The planned introduction of a company-wide Media Asset Management System allows a coordinated overhaul to a unified production architecture. Benefits include the centralized ingest and annotation of audio material and the uniform, integrated (in terms of IT infrastructure) workflow model. Needless to say, the ingest strategy, metadata management and integration with radio production systems play a major role in the level of success of any improvement effort. This paper presents a data model for audio-specific concepts relevant to radio production. It includes an investigation of ingest techniques and strategies. Cooperation with external, professional production tools is demonstrated through a use-case scenario: the integration of an existing, multi-track editing tool with a commercially available

Dynamic Mean-Variance Asset Allocation

OpenAIRE

Basak, Suleyman; Chabakauri, Georgy

2009-01-01

Mean-variance criteria remain prevalent in multi-period problems, and yet not much is known about their dynamically optimal policies. We provide a fully analytical characterization of the optimal dynamic mean-variance portfolios within a general incomplete-market economy, and recover a simple structure that also inherits several conventional properties of static models. We also identify a probability measure that incorporates intertemporal hedging demands and facilitates much tractability in ...

Identification of the vital digital assets based on PSA results analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Moon Kyoung; Seong, Poong Hyun [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Son, Han Seong [Joongbu Univiersity, Geumsan (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyundoo [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

As the main systems for managing totally about the operation, control, monitoring, measurement, and safety function in an emergency, instrumentation and control systems (I and C) in nuclear power plants have been digitalized gradually for the precise operation and its convenience. The digitalization of infrastructure makes systems vulnerable to cyber threats and hybrid attacks. According to ICS-CERT report, as time goes by, the number of vulnerabilities in ICS industries increases rapidly. Recently, due to the digitalization of I and C, it has begun to rise the need of cyber security in the digitalized I and C in NPPs. However, there are too many critical digital assets (CDAs) in NPPs. More than 60% of the total critical systems are digital system. Addressing more than 100 security controls for each CDA needs too much effort for both licensee and inspector. It is necessary to focus on more significant CDAs for effective regulation. Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) results are analyzed in order to identify more significant CDAs which could evoke an accident of NPPs by digital malfunction or cyber-attacks. By eliciting minimal cut sets using fault tree analyses, accident-related CDAs are drawn. Also the CDAs that must be secured from outsiders are elicited in case of some accident scenario. It is expected that effective cyber security regulation based on the graded approach can be implemented. Furthermore, defense-in-depth of digital assets for NPPs safety can be built up. Digital technologies such as computers, control systems, and data networks currently play essential roles in modern NPPs. Further, the introduction of new digitalized technologies is also being considered. These digital technologies make the operation of NPPs more convenient and economical; however, they are inherently susceptible to problems such as digital malfunction of components or cyber-attacks. Recently, needs for cyber security on digitalized nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I and C

Identification of the vital digital assets based on PSA results analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Moon Kyoung; Seong, Poong Hyun; Son, Han Seong; Kim, Hyundoo

2016-01-01

As the main systems for managing totally about the operation, control, monitoring, measurement, and safety function in an emergency, instrumentation and control systems (I and C) in nuclear power plants have been digitalized gradually for the precise operation and its convenience. The digitalization of infrastructure makes systems vulnerable to cyber threats and hybrid attacks. According to ICS-CERT report, as time goes by, the number of vulnerabilities in ICS industries increases rapidly. Recently, due to the digitalization of I and C, it has begun to rise the need of cyber security in the digitalized I and C in NPPs. However, there are too many critical digital assets (CDAs) in NPPs. More than 60% of the total critical systems are digital system. Addressing more than 100 security controls for each CDA needs too much effort for both licensee and inspector. It is necessary to focus on more significant CDAs for effective regulation. Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) results are analyzed in order to identify more significant CDAs which could evoke an accident of NPPs by digital malfunction or cyber-attacks. By eliciting minimal cut sets using fault tree analyses, accident-related CDAs are drawn. Also the CDAs that must be secured from outsiders are elicited in case of some accident scenario. It is expected that effective cyber security regulation based on the graded approach can be implemented. Furthermore, defense-in-depth of digital assets for NPPs safety can be built up. Digital technologies such as computers, control systems, and data networks currently play essential roles in modern NPPs. Further, the introduction of new digitalized technologies is also being considered. These digital technologies make the operation of NPPs more convenient and economical; however, they are inherently susceptible to problems such as digital malfunction of components or cyber-attacks. Recently, needs for cyber security on digitalized nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I and C

Identifying Assets Associated with Quality Extension Programming at the Local Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Harder

2017-10-01

Full Text Available County Extension offices are responsible for the majority of programming delivered in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify and explore assets influencing the quality of county Extension programs. A basic qualitative research design was followed to conduct constant comparative analysis of five Extension county program review reports. Using the appreciative inquiry process as the lens through which to view the county program review reports revealed multiple assets leading to quality programming. Assets of the reviewed county Extension programs were found to cluster within the following themes: competent and enthusiastic Extension faculty, community partnerships, engaged and supportive stakeholders, effective resource management, sufficient and stable workforce, meeting stakeholder needs, positive reputation, access to facilities, positive relationships between county and state faculty, and innovative practices. The use of both needs-based and assets-based paradigms will provide Extension organizations with a more holistic understanding of its assets and a research-based foundation from which to make decisions about strengthening the organization at all levels.

Political accountability and autonomous weapons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Igoe Walsh

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Autonomous weapons would have the capacity to select and attack targets without direct human input. One important objection to the introduction of such weapons is that they will make it more difficult to identify and hold accountable those responsible for undesirable outcomes such as mission failures and civilian casualties. I hypothesize that individuals can modify their attribution of responsibility in predicable ways to accommodate this new technology. The results of a survey experiment are consistent with this; subjects continue to find responsible and hold accountable political and military leaders when autonomous weapons are used, but also attribute responsibility to the designers and programmers of such weapons.

Bill related to the struggle against proliferation of mass destruction weapons and their vectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

This bill indicates the modifications brought to different French laws and codes (penal code, defence code, custom code) and defines provisions and penalties within the frame of struggle against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear weapons, biological weapons and toxin-based weapons, chemical weapons), and against the proliferation of their vectors. These modifications, provisions and penalties also concern double-use products. The bill also defines the modifications brought to the French penal procedure code. It finally addresses offenses related to these proliferations which can be considered as an act of terrorism

Disposition of excess weapons plutonium from dismantled weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jardine, L.J.

1997-01-01

With the end of the Cold War and the implementation of various nuclear arms reduction agreements, US and Russia have been actively dismantling tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. As a result,large quantities of fissile materials, including more than 100 (tonnes?) of weapons-grade Pu, have become excess to both countries' military needs. To meet nonproliferation goals and to ensure the irreversibility of nuclear arms reductions, this excess weapons Pu must be placed in secure storage and then, in timely manner, either used in nuclear reactors as fuel or discarded in geologic repositories as solid waste. This disposition in US and Russia must be accomplished in a safe, secure manner and as quickly as practical. Storage of this Pu is a prerequisite to any disposition process, but the length of storage time is unknown. Whether by use as fuel or discard as solid waste, disposition of that amount of Pu will require decades--and perhaps longer, if disposition operations encounter delays. Neither US nor Russia believes that long-term secure storage is a substitute for timely disposition of excess Pu, but long-term, safe, secure storage is a critical element of all excess Pu disposition activities

Asset management techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Joachim; Gaul, Armin J.; Neumann, Claus; Hograefer, Juergen; Wellssow, Wolfram; Schwan, Michael; Schnettler, Armin

2006-01-01

Deregulation and an increasing competition in electricity markets urge energy suppliers to optimize the utilization of their equipment, focusing on technical and cost-effective aspects. As a respond to these requirements utilities introduce methods formerly used by investment managers or insurance companies. The article describes the usage of these methods, particularly with regard to asset management and risk management within electrical grids. The essential information needed to set up an appropriate asset management system and differences between asset management systems in transmission and distribution systems are discussed. The bulk of costs in electrical grids can be found in costs for maintenance and capital depreciation. A comprehensive approach for an asset management in transmission systems thus focuses on the 'life-cycle costs' of the individual equipment. The objective of the life management process is the optimal utilisation of the remaining life time regarding a given reliability of service and a constant distribution of costs for reinvestment and maintenance ensuring a suitable return. In distribution systems the high number of components would require an enormous effort for the consideration of single individuals. Therefore statistical approaches have been used successfully in practical applications. Newest insights gained by a German research project on asset management systems in distribution grids give an outlook to future developments. (author)

Asset management techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, Joachim; Gaul, Armin J. [RWE Energy AG, Assetmanagement, Dortmund (Germany); Neumann, Claus [RWE Transportnetz Strom GmbH, Dortmund (Germany); Hograefer, Juergen [SAG Energieversorgungsloesungen GmbH, Langen (Germany); Wellssow, Wolfram; Schwan, Michael [Siemens AG, Power Transmission and Distribution, Erlangen (Germany); Schnettler, Armin [RWTH-Aachen, Institut fuer Hochspannungstechnik, Aachen (Germany)

2006-11-15

Deregulation and an increasing competition in electricity markets urge energy suppliers to optimize the utilization of their equipment, focusing on technical and cost-effective aspects. As a respond to these requirements utilities introduce methods formerly used by investment managers or insurance companies. The article describes the usage of these methods, particularly with regard to asset management and risk management within electrical grids. The essential information needed to set up an appropriate asset management system and differences between asset management systems in transmission and distribution systems are discussed. The bulk of costs in electrical grids can be found in costs for maintenance and capital depreciation. A comprehensive approach for an asset management in transmission systems thus focuses on the 'life-cycle costs' of the individual equipment. The objective of the life management process is the optimal utilisation of the remaining life time regarding a given reliability of service and a constant distribution of costs for reinvestment and maintenance ensuring a suitable return. In distribution systems the high number of components would require an enormous effort for the consideration of single individuals. Therefore statistical approaches have been used successfully in practical applications. Newest insights gained by a German research project on asset management systems in distribution grids give an outlook to future developments. (author)

Valuation of intangible assets

OpenAIRE

Karlíková, Jitka

2010-01-01

The thesis is focused on the valuation of intangible assets, particularly trademarks and copyrights. In the beginning it deals with the problems of valuation of intangible assets. The main part of the thesis provides an overview of methods for valuation of intangible assets. This part is followed by a practical section that illustrates the procedure of valuation of trademarks and copyrights on a concrete example.

Asset Management as a Precondition for Knowledge Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bajramovic, E.; Waedt, K.; Gupta, D.; Gao, Y.; Parekh, M.

2016-01-01

Full text: Smart sensors and extensively configurable devices are gradually imposed by the automation market. Except for safety systems, they find their way into the next instrumentation and control (I&C) generation. The understanding and handling of these devices require an extensive knowledge management (KM). This will be outlined for security, testing and training. For legacy systems, security often relates to vetting and access control. For digital devices, a refined asset management is needed, e.g., down to board-level support chipsets. Firmware and system/application software have their own configurations, versions and patch levels. So, here, as a first step of the KM, a user needs to know the firmware configurability. Then, trainings can address when to apply patches, perform regression tests and on what to focus, based on accumulated experience. While assets are often addressed implicitly, this document justifies an explicit and semiformal representation of primary and supporting assets (the asset portfolio) and the establishment of an asset management system as a basis for a robust knowledge management. (author

Problems of intangible assets commercialization accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.F. Legenchyk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The growing role of intangible assets in conditions of global economy postindustrialization is grounded. The problems of intangible assets accounting are singled out. The basic tasks of the intangible assets accounting commercialization process are determined. The difference between the commercialization of intellectual property and intangible assets is considered. The basic approaches to understanding the essence of the intangible assets commercialization are singled out and grounded. The basic forms and methods of intangible assets commercialization researched by the author are analyzed. The order of accounting reflection of licensee royalties is considered. The factors of influence on the accounting process of intangible assets commercialization are determined. The necessity of solving the problem of accounting of lease payments for computer program by providing access to SaaS environment is grounded. The prospects of further studies of intangible assets accounting commercialization are determined.

Risk-based asset management methodology for highway infrastructure systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2004-01-01

Maintaining the infrastructure of roads, highways, and bridges is paramount to ensuring that these assets will remain safe and reliable in the future. If maintenance costs remain the same or continue to escalate, and additional funding is not made av...

Financial Integration and Asset Returns

OpenAIRE

P Martin; H Rey

2000-01-01

The paper investigates the impact of financial integration on asset return, risk diversification and breadth of financial markets. We analyse a three-country macroeconomic model in which (i) the number of financial assets is endogenous; (ii) assets are imperfect substitutes; (iii) cross-border asset trade entails some transaction costs; (iv) the investment technology is indivisible. In such an environment, lower transaction costs between two financial markets translate to higher demand for as...

Just war and nuclear weapons : just war theory and its application to the Korean nuclear weapons issue in Korean Christianity

OpenAIRE

Son, Changwan

2009-01-01

This thesis is primarily an application of the Christian tradition of Just War to the problems arising from the basing of US nuclear weapons in South Korea and the development of nuclear weapons by the regime in the North. The Christian theology of Just War has developed over the last two thousand years, adapting as first Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, through the break down of any enforceable norms in Europe‘s 'Dark Ages‘, to the emergence of the concept of th...

Pension plan asset valuation

OpenAIRE

Owadally, M. I; Haberman, S.

2001-01-01

Various asset valuation methods are used in the context of funding valuations. The motivation for such methods and their properties are briefly described. Some smoothed value or market-related methods based on arithmetic averaging and exponential smoothing are considered and their effect on funding is discussed. Suggestions for further research are also made.

Inflation, Index-Linked Bonds, and Asset Allocation

OpenAIRE

Zvi Bodie

1988-01-01

The recent introduction of CPI-linked bonds by several financial institutions is a milestone in the history of the U.S. financial system. It has potentially far-reaching effects on individual and institutional asset allocation decisions because these securities represent the only true long-run hedge against inflation risk. CPI-linked bonds make possible the creation of additional financial innovations that would use them as the asset base. One such innovation that seems likely is inflation-pr...

The feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging of the dynamic swallowing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Jingquan; Gao Mingyong; Luo Suling; Lu Ruiliang; He Xiaohong

2012-01-01

Objective: To offer some visual and valuable clinical bases for the pharynx disease diagnosis and treatment by comparing the influence of different scanning sequences on the image quality and scanning time, and studying the application to the dynamic swallowing MRI scanning. Methods: The dynamic swallowing scanning of pharyngeal was performed on 20 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients without deglutition disorders through GE 3.0 MRI system with fast imaging employing steady state acquisition (FIESTA) and fast gradient recalled echo (Fast GRE) sequences, and combined with the array spatial sensitivity encoding technique (ASSET), which accelerating factors was 2.0 ph, and sixty dynamic images were acquired sequentially. The image quality was graded into three classes:excellent, favorable and poor,which were visually assessed by three senior MRI physician using double-blinded method. The quantitative data were analyzed statistically with the SPSS13.0 software. Results: Under the same parameters,the scanning time with FIESTA, FIESTA+ASSET, Fast GRE and Fast GREA+ASSET sequences were 54 s, 28 s, 49 s and 25 s respectively. The number of excellent images with the four sequences were 44, 52, 52 and 56 respectively. The scanning time was the shortest and the image quality was the best with Fast GRE+ASSET sequence. Conclusions: The dynamic imaging of swallowing in sagittal view was achieved with Fast GRE+ASSET sequence on GE 3.0T MRI system. It could present status of the pharynx well, and the soft tissue of swallowing was showed clearly in the dynamic images. These will provide visual and effective evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment. (authors)

An Ising spin state explanation for financial asset allocation

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, Philip A.; Roos, Kelly R.; Sinha, Amit

2016-03-01

We build on the developments in the application of statistical mechanics, notably the identity of the spin degree of freedom in the Ising model, to explain asset price dynamics in financial markets with a representative agent. Specifically, we consider the value of an individual spin to represent the proportional holdings in various assets. We use partial moment arguments to identify asymmetric reactions to information and develop an extension of a plunging and dumping model. This unique identification of the spin is a relaxation of the conventional discrete state limitation on an Ising spin to accommodate a new archetype in Ising model-finance applications wherein spin states may take on continuous values, and may evolve in time continuously, or discretely, depending on the values of the partial moments.

Asset planning performance measurement framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arthur, D.; Hodkiewicz, M.; Schoenmaker, R.; Muruvan, S.

2014-01-01

The international asset management standard ISO 55001, introduced in early 2014, outlines the requirement for an effective Asset Management System. Asset Management practitioners are seeking guidance on implementing one of the key requirements of the standard: the “line of sight” between the

Verification of Chemical Weapons Destruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lodding, J.

2010-01-01

The Chemical Weapons Convention is the only multilateral treaty that bans completely an entire category of weapons of mass destruction under international verification arrangements. Possessor States, i.e. those that have chemical weapons stockpiles at the time of becoming party to the CWC, commit to destroying these. All States undertake never to acquire chemical weapons and not to help other States acquire such weapons. The CWC foresees time-bound chemical disarmament. The deadlines for destruction for early entrants to the CWC are provided in the treaty. For late entrants, the Conference of States Parties intervenes to set destruction deadlines. One of the unique features of the CWC is thus the regime for verifying destruction of chemical weapons. But how can you design a system for verification at military sites, while protecting military restricted information? What degree of assurance is considered sufficient in such circumstances? How do you divide the verification costs? How do you deal with production capability and initial declarations of existing stockpiles? The founders of the CWC had to address these and other challenges in designing the treaty. Further refinement of the verification system has followed since the treaty opened for signature in 1993 and since inspection work was initiated following entry-into-force of the treaty in 1997. Most of this work concerns destruction at the two large possessor States, Russia and the United States. Perhaps some of the lessons learned from the OPCW experience may be instructive in a future verification regime for nuclear weapons. (author)

Detection and identification of concealed weapons using matrix pencil

Science.gov (United States)

Adve, Raviraj S.; Thayaparan, Thayananthan

2011-06-01

The detection and identification of concealed weapons is an extremely hard problem due to the weak signature of the target buried within the much stronger signal from the human body. This paper furthers the automatic detection and identification of concealed weapons by proposing the use of an effective approach to obtain the resonant frequencies in a measurement. The technique, based on Matrix Pencil, a scheme for model based parameter estimation also provides amplitude information, hence providing a level of confidence in the results. Of specific interest is the fact that Matrix Pencil is based on a singular value decomposition, making the scheme robust against noise.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited, 2010 asset condition assessment audit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lotho, K.; Wang, F. [Kinectrics Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)

2010-07-15

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (THESL) has long been devoted to the enhancement of its asset management program. In 2006, Kinectrics Incorporated (Kinectrics) performed a full asset condition assessment (ACA) for important distribution assets. Subsequently, THESL made efforts to follow the recommendations given by the 2006 ACA and to enhance the quality of its asset condition data. THESL also created an application that measures the health indices of assets based on current and best available inspection data. In 2009, THESL performed a new ACA with this health index calculator. Kinectrics was requested to evaluate the improvement achieved by THESL between 2006 and 2009, and to compare the results obtained from the two ACA performed. An examination of the changes and ACA results between 2009 and 2010 has been conducted by Kinectrics. The Kinectrics findings were reported into the 2010 asset condition assessment audit report. The Health Index (HI) formulation and the results obtained between 2009 and 2010 were examined for twenty-one asset categories. The health index formulation including condition parameters, condition parameter weights and condition criteria, the granularity within the asset category, the percentage of the population presenting sufficient condition data and the health index classification distribution were compared for each one of the asset categories between 2009 and 2010. This report provides recommendations to facilitate future improvements.

24 CFR 990.270 - Asset management.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Asset management. 990.270 Section... THE PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING FUND PROGRAM Asset Management § 990.270 Asset management. As owners, PHAs have asset management responsibilities that are above and beyond property management activities. These...

[ASSET experience in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Shanming

1996-01-01

The ASSET philosophy for prevention of nuclear safety incident is being implemented in our nuclear power plant as the other international nuclear power plants, and the in-depth analysis of operational events in order to find out and eliminate the root causes is considered as the prioritized work in the plant safety management. Some observations are discussed which were made during the implementation of ASSET philosophy and the ASSET approach in our nuclear power plant

[ASSET experience in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shanming, Zhang [Dayabay NPP (China)

1997-12-31

The ASSET philosophy for prevention of nuclear safety incident is being implemented in our nuclear power plant as the other international nuclear power plants, and the in-depth analysis of operational events in order to find out and eliminate the root causes is considered as the prioritized work in the plant safety management. Some observations are discussed which were made during the implementation of ASSET philosophy and the ASSET approach in our nuclear power plant.

Asset Opacity and Liquidity

OpenAIRE

Stenzel, A.; Wagner, W.B.

2013-01-01

Abstract: We consider a model of private information acquisition in which the cost of information depends on an asset's opacity. The model generates a hump-shaped relationship between opacity and the equilibrium amount of private information. In particular, the incentives to acquire information are largest for assets of intermediate opacity; such assets hence display low liquidity in the secondary market due to adverse selection. We also show that costly information acquisition generates ince...

Competitive Procurement and Asset Specificity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sorana, V.

2003-01-01

This paper studies the effects of asset specificity on the performance of procurement auctions with subcontracting and asset sales.The analysis highlights the role of several asset features like transfer costs, type of alternative uses and maintenance requirements.It is argued that, if bargaining

Global strike hypersonic weapons

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Mark J.

2017-11-01

Beginning in the 1940's, the United States has pursued the development of hypersonic technologies, enabling atmospheric flight in excess of five times the speed of sound. Hypersonic flight has application to a range of military and civilian applications, including commercial transport, space access, and various weapons and sensing platforms. A number of flight tests of hypersonic vehicles have been conducted by countries around the world, including the United States, Russia, and China, that could lead the way to future hypersonic global strike weapon systems. These weapons would be especially effective at penetrating conventional defenses, and could pose a significant risk to national security.

A multidisciplinary, expert-based approach for the identification of lifetime impacts in asset life cycle management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruitenburg, Richard Jacob; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan; van Dongen, Leonardus Adriana Maria

2014-01-01

Everyday our lives are dependent on countless physical structures. These assets represent an enormous value for their owners and for society at large. To grasp the full potential of these assets, a deep and thorough understanding of an asset's complete lifetime is needed. Problems with data

Financing Asset Sales and Business Cycles

OpenAIRE

Arnold, Marc; Hackbarth, Dirk; Puhan, Tatjana-Xenia

2013-01-01

This paper analyzes the decision of firms to sell assets to fund investments (financing asset sales). For a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms during the 1971-2010 period, we document new stylized facts about financing asset sales that cannot be explained by traditional motives for selling assets, such as financial distress or financing constraints. Using a structural model of financing, investment, and macroeconomic risk, we show that financing asset sales attenuate the debt overhang problem...

Japanese views on ASSET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirano, Masashi [Department of Reactor Safety Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan)

1997-12-31

In general, the ASSET has had a positive effect on enhancement of operating experience feedback. The ASSET has played an important role to supply information to the IAEA Extra Budgetary Program. However, this role has come to an end; since the needs for safety upgrading have become identified and prioritized. ASSET missions in future: Linkage among various safety missions should be sought in order to avoid duplication and to enhance effective usage of a limited budget and human resources.

Modifying Older Adults’ Daily Sedentary Behaviour Using an Asset-based Solution: Views from Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawn A Skelton

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: There is a growing public health focus on the promotion of successful and active ageing. Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour (SB in older adults are feasible and are improved by tailoring to individuals’ context and circumstances. SB is ubiquitous; therefore part of the tailoring process is to ensure individuals’ daily sedentary routine can be modified. The aim of this study was to understand the views of older adults and identify important considerations when creating a solution to modify daily sedentary patterns. Method: This was a qualitative research study. Fifteen older adult volunteers (mean age = 78 years participated in 1 of 4 focus groups to identify solutions to modify daily sedentary routine. Two researchers conducted the focus groups whilst a third took detailed fieldnotes on a flipchart to member check the findings. Data were recorded and analysed thematically. Results: Participants wanted a solution with a range of options which could be tailored to individual needs and circumstances. The strategy suggested was to use the activities of daily routine and reasons why individuals already naturally interrupting their SB, collectively framed as assets. These assets were categorised into 5 sub-themes: physical assets (eg. standing up to reduce stiffness; psychological assets (eg. standing up to reduce feelings of guilt; interpersonal assets (eg. standing up to answer the phone; knowledge assets (eg. standing up due to knowing the benefits of breaking SB and activities of daily living assets (eg. standing up to get a drink. Conclusion: This study provides important considerations from older adults’ perspectives to modify their daily sedentary patterns. The assets identified by participants could be used to co-create a tailored intervention with older adults to reduce SB, which may increase effectiveness and adherence.

Modifying Older Adults' Daily Sedentary Behaviour Using an Asset-based Solution: Views from Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Leask, Calum F; Sandlund, Marlene; Skelton, Dawn A; Tulle, Emmanuelle; Chastin, Sebastien Fm

2016-01-01

There is a growing public health focus on the promotion of successful and active ageing. Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour (SB) in older adults are feasible and are improved by tailoring to individuals' context and circumstances. SB is ubiquitous; therefore part of the tailoring process is to ensure individuals' daily sedentary routine can be modified. The aim of this study was to understand the views of older adults and identify important considerations when creating a solution to modify daily sedentary patterns. This was a qualitative research study. Fifteen older adult volunteers (mean age = 78 years) participated in 1 of 4 focus groups to identify solutions to modify daily sedentary routine. Two researchers conducted the focus groups whilst a third took detailed fieldnotes on a flipchart to member check the findings. Data were recorded and analysed thematically. Participants wanted a solution with a range of options which could be tailored to individual needs and circumstances. The strategy suggested was to use the activities of daily routine and reasons why individuals already naturally interrupting their SB, collectively framed as assets. These assets were categorised into 5 sub-themes: physical assets (eg. standing up to reduce stiffness); psychological assets (eg. standing up to reduce feelings of guilt); interpersonal assets (eg. standing up to answer the phone); knowledge assets (eg. standing up due to knowing the benefits of breaking SB) and activities of daily living assets (eg. standing up to get a drink). This study provides important considerations from older adults' perspectives to modify their daily sedentary patterns. The assets identified by participants could be used to co-create a tailored intervention with older adults to reduce SB, which may increase effectiveness and adherence.

Nuclear power and weapons proliferation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenwood, T.; Rathjens, C.W.; Ruina, J.

1977-01-01

The relationship between nuclear weapons development and nuclear electric power is examined. A brief description of nuclear weapons design is first given. This is then followed by a discussion of various aspects of nuclear power technology and of how they affect a nuclear weapon programme. These include fuel cycles, chemical reprocessing of spent fuel, uranium enrichment, and the control of dissemination of nuclear technology. In conclusion there is a discussion of possible political and institutional controls for limiting nuclear proliferation. (U.K.)

Making sense in asset markets: Strategies for Implicit Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes M. Lehner

2015-12-01

Full Text Available While asset markets are traditionally left to economic inquiry, the paper shows that there is both a legal possibility and an incentive for organizing within such markets and for exercising market share-based strategic maneuvering. It proposes, based on sensemaking theory, Implicit Organizations in asset markets to exploit equivocality for momentum trading strategies. An Implicit Organization fulfills the criteria of an organization, while maintaining the image of a perfect market. Its members coordinate via market signals and fixed investment time windows to ensure positive returns to strategic maneuvering in asset markets. In support of hypotheses derived from sensemaking theory, results of empirical studies from two different investment contexts (Xetra and NYSE provide evidence that equivocal analysts’ recommendations predict investment returns after a fixed time period.

Consumption-based macroeconomic models of asset pricing theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đorđević Marija

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The family of consumptionbased asset pricing models yields a stochastic discount factor proportional to the marginal rate of intertemporal substitution of consumption. In examining the empirical performance of this class of models, several puzzles are discovered. In this literature review we present the canonical model, the corresponding empirical tests, and different extensions to this model that propose a resolution of these puzzles.

RFID Application of Smart Grid for Asset Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiwei Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available RFID technology research has resolved practical application issues of the power industry such as assets management, working environment control, and vehicle networking. Also it provides technical reserves for the convergence of ERP and CPS. With the development of RFID and location-based services technology, RFID is converging with a variety of sensing, communication, and information technologies. Indoor positioning applications are under rapid development. Micromanagement environment of the assets is a useful practice for the RFID and positioning. In this paper, the model for RFID applications has been analyzed in the microenvironment management of the data center and electric vehicle batteries, and the optimization scheme of enterprise asset management is also proposed.

EFFICIENCY OF CURRENCY ASSET CLASSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad R. Safarzadeh

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Analyzing the risk and return for the S&P Currency Index Arbitrage and the Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund, this study intends to find whether currency asset classes are worthwhile investments. To determine where the efficient currency portfolios lie in the risk and return spectrum, this paper compares the two portfolios to fixed income and equity asset portfolios. The results lead to a baffling conclusion that, in general, the returns to low-risk currency asset portfolios are higher than the equity asset portfolios of same risk level.

Effects of the use of ABC weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karl-Rueckert, E.

1980-01-01

The effects of ABC-weapons are presented. The various classes of chemical weapons and their effects are discussed. It is pointed out that there is hardly a means of protection against these weapons. (MG) [de

Special Weapons

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Supporting Navy special weapons, the division provides an array of engineering services, technical publication support services, logistics support services, safety...

A rural transit asset management system

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

This reports the research undertaken to create an interactive, geographic information system based asset management system for the Alabama Department of Transportation to manage vehicles purchased and operated through Section 5310 and 5311 federal gr...

A consensus-based dynamics for market volumes

Science.gov (United States)

Sabatelli, Lorenzo; Richmond, Peter

2004-12-01

We develop a model of trading orders based on opinion dynamics. The agents may be thought as the share holders of a major mutual fund rather than as direct traders. The balance between their buy and sell orders determines the size of the fund order (volume) and has an impact on prices and indexes. We assume agents interact simultaneously to each other through a Sznajd-like interaction. Their degree of connection is determined by the probability of changing opinion independently of what their neighbours are doing. We assume that such a probability may change randomly, after each transaction, of an amount proportional to the relative difference between the volatility then measured and a benchmark that we assume to be an exponential moving average of the past volume values. We show how this simple model is compatible with some of the main statistical features observed for the asset volumes in financial markets.

Fair value versus historical cost-based valuation for biological assets: predictability of financial information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josep M. Argilés

2011-08-01

This paper performs an empirical study with a sample of Spanish farms valuing biological assets at HC and a sample applying FV, finding no significant differences between both valuation methods to assess future cash flows. However, most tests reveal more predictive power of future earnings under fair valuation of biological assets, which is not explained by differences in volatility of earnings and profitability. The study also evidences the existence of flawed HC accounting practices for biological assets in agriculture, which suggests scarce information content of this valuation method in the predominant small business units existing in the agricultural sector in advanced Western countries.

A Tutorial on Nonlinear Time-Series Data Mining in Engineering Asset Health and Reliability Prediction: Concepts, Models, and Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Dong

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The primary objective of engineering asset management is to optimize assets service delivery potential and to minimize the related risks and costs over their entire life through the development and application of asset health and usage management in which the health and reliability prediction plays an important role. In real-life situations where an engineering asset operates under dynamic operational and environmental conditions, the lifetime of an engineering asset is generally described as monitored nonlinear time-series data and subject to high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability. It has been proved that application of data mining techniques is very useful for extracting relevant features which can be used as parameters for assets diagnosis and prognosis. In this paper, a tutorial on nonlinear time-series data mining in engineering asset health and reliability prediction is given. Besides that an overview on health and reliability prediction techniques for engineering assets is covered, this tutorial will focus on concepts, models, algorithms, and applications of hidden Markov models (HMMs and hidden semi-Markov models (HSMMs in engineering asset health prognosis, which are representatives of recent engineering asset health prediction techniques.

Nuclear power and nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaughen, V.C.A.

1983-01-01

The proliferation of nuclear weapons and the expanded use of nuclear energy for the production of electricity and other peaceful uses are compared. The difference in technologies associated with nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants are described

Responding to chemical weapons violations in Syria: legal, health, and humanitarian recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Julia; Erickson, Timothy B; Kayden, Stephanie; Ruiz, Raul; Wilkinson, Stephen; Burkle, Frederick M

2018-01-01

The repeated use of prohibited chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict poses serious health, humanitarian, and security threats to civilians, healthcare personnel, and first responders. Moreover, the use of chemical weapons constitutes a clear and egregious violation of international law-likely amounting to a war crime-for which continued impunity is setting a dangerous precedent in relation to current and future conflicts. This debate article calls upon concerned states, organizations, and individuals to respond urgently and unequivocally to this serious breach of international legal and humanitarian norms. Based on health, humanitarian, and legal findings, this article calls for concrete action to: 1) reduce the risk of chemical weapons being used in current and future conflicts; 2) review and support the preparedness equipment and antidote supplies of first responders, humanitarian organizations, and military forces operating in Syria; 3) support international mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the prohibition on chemical weapons, including through criminal accountability; 4) support civilian victims of chemical weapons attacks, including refugees; and 5) re-commit to the complete elimination of chemical weapons in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (1993), a comprehensive treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their complete destruction. All involved states and organizations should take urgent steps to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable victims of conflict, including victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, and to reinforce international law in the face of such serious violations.

AUTOMATING ASSET KNOWLEDGE WITH MTCONNECT.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkatesh, Sid; Ly, Sidney; Manning, Martin; Michaloski, John; Proctor, Fred

2016-01-01

In order to maximize assets, manufacturers should use real-time knowledge garnered from ongoing and continuous collection and evaluation of factory-floor machine status data. In discrete parts manufacturing, factory machine monitoring has been difficult, due primarily to closed, proprietary automation equipment that make integration difficult. Recently, there has been a push in applying the data acquisition concepts of MTConnect to the real-time acquisition of machine status data. MTConnect is an open, free specification aimed at overcoming the "Islands of Automation" dilemma on the shop floor. With automated asset analysis, manufacturers can improve production to become lean, efficient, and effective. The focus of this paper will be on the deployment of MTConnect to collect real-time machine status to automate asset management. In addition, we will leverage the ISO 22400 standard, which defines an asset and quantifies asset performance metrics. In conjunction with these goals, the deployment of MTConnect in a large aerospace manufacturing facility will be studied with emphasis on asset management and understanding the impact of machine Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) on manufacturing.

2014 World Congress on Engineering Asset Management

CERN Document Server

Hoohlo, Changela; Mathew, Joe

2015-01-01

Engineering asset management encompasses all types of engineered assets including built environment, infrastructure, plant, equipment, hardware systems and components. Following the release of ISO 5500x set of standards, the 9th WCEAM addresses the hugely important issue of what constitutes the body of knowledge in Engineering Asset Management. Topics discussed by Congress delegates are grouped into a number of tracks including strategies for investment and divestment of assets, operations and maintenance of assets, assessments of assets condition, risk and vulnerability, technologies and systems for management of asset, standards, education, training and certification. These proceedings include a sample of the wide range of topics presented during the 9th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management in Pretoria South Africa 28 – 31 October, 2014 and complements other emerging publications and standards that embrace the wide ranging issues concerning the management of engineered physical assets.

Dukovany ASSET mission preparation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouklik, I.

1996-01-01

We are in the final stages of the Dukovany ASSET mission 1996 preparation. I would like to present some of our recent experiences. Maybe they would be helpful to other plants, that host ASSET missions in future

Dukovany ASSET mission preparation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kouklik, I [NPP Dukovany (Czech Republic)

1997-12-31

We are in the final stages of the Dukovany ASSET mission 1996 preparation. I would like to present some of our recent experiences. Maybe they would be helpful to other plants, that host ASSET missions in future.

Implementace Asset managementu

OpenAIRE

Fuxa, Lukáš

2016-01-01

Tato diplomová práce obsahuje návrh implementace Asset managementu do ServiceNow v nejmenované nadnárodní společnosti. Cílem diplomové práce je analýza požadavku společnosti a nalezení vhodného řešení implementace Asset managementu v rámci stávajících nástrojů. Závěrem zhodnotím, zda je možné vybraný nástroj využít. This master’s thesis contains proposal to implementation Asset management to ServiceNow in unnamed multinational company. The aim of this master’s thesis is analysis of company...

Terror weapons. Ridding the world of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons - Commission on mass destruction weapons; Armes de terreur. Debarrasser le monde des armes nucleaires, biologiques et chimiques - Commission sur les armes de destruction massive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blix, H.; Journe, V.

2010-07-01

This book approaches in 8 chapters the ambitious challenge of ridding the world of all mass destruction weapons: 1 - re-launching disarmament; 2 - terror weapons: nature of threats and answers (weakness of traditional answers, counter-proliferation); 3 - nuclear weapons: preventing proliferation and terrorism, reducing threat and nuclear weapons number, from regulation to banning); 4 - biological or toxin weapons; 5 - chemical weapons; 6 - vectors, anti-missile defenses and space weapons; 7 - exports control, international assistance and non-governmental actors; 8 - respect, verification, enforcement and role of the United Nations. The recommendations and works of the Commission are presented in appendix together with the declaration adopted on April 30, 2009. (J.S.)

Study Regarding the Financial Reporting of Intangible Assets. Case of Romanian Pharmaceutical Industry

OpenAIRE

Alina Gheorghe Ancuţa; Florentina Moisescu; Florina Varlanuta

2017-01-01

The accounting treatment of intangible assets is a particularly complex and important issue for today's economy, a knowledge based economy. For now days companies, these assets are inductors for success and an important factor for achieving competitive advantage. Also, these assets are an important part of the financial statements. With the increasing weight and importance of the intangible assets the need for financial information of financial statements’users has changed and the current acc...

Confidence sets for asset correlations in portfolio credit risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Castro

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Asset correlations are of critical importance in quantifying portfolio credit risk and economic capitalin financial institutions. Estimation of asset correlation with rating transition data has focusedon the point estimation of the correlation without giving any consideration to the uncertaintyaround these point estimates. In this article we use Bayesian methods to estimate a dynamicfactor model for default risk using rating data (McNeil et al., 2005; McNeil and Wendin, 2007.Bayesian methods allow us to formally incorporate human judgement in the estimation of assetcorrelation, through the prior distribution and fully characterize a confidence set for the correlations.Results indicate: i a two factor model rather than the one factor model, as proposed bythe Basel II framework, better represents the historical default data. ii importance of unobservedfactors in this type of models is reinforced and point out that the levels of the implied asset correlationscritically depend on the latent state variable used to capture the dynamics of default,as well as other assumptions on the statistical model. iii the posterior distributions of the assetcorrelations show that the Basel recommended bounds, for this parameter, undermine the levelof systemic risk.

6th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management

CERN Document Server

Ni, Jun; Sarangapani, Jagnathan; Mathew, Joseph

2014-01-01

This text represents state-of-the-art trends and developments in the emerging field of engineering asset management as presented at the Sixth World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM) held in Cincinnati, OH, USA from October 3-5, 2011 The Proceedings of the WCEAM 2011 is an excellent reference for practitioners, researchers and students in the multidisciplinary field of asset management, covering topics such as: • Asset condition monitoring and intelligent maintenance • Asset data warehousing, data mining and fusion • Asset performance and level-of-service models • Design and lifecycle integrity of physical assets • Deterioration and preservation models for assets • Education and training in asset management • Engineering standards in asset management • Fault diagnosis and prognostics • Financial analysis methods for physical assets • Human dimensions in integrated asset management • Information quality management • Information systems and knowledge management • Intellig...

Extended Nuclear Deterrence for Europe Without Forward-based Weapons

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-15

financial costs of nuclear burden sharing, bolsters safety and security and further reduces proliferation risks. 22 Bibliography Bildt, Carl and... Sagan , Scott D. and Waltz, Kenneth N. The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed. W. W. Norton and Company New York, NY and London...Point. Center for International Relations, Reports and Analyses. Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, Warsaw, 2011, 2. 30 Bildt, Carl and Sikorski, Radek

Nuclear weapons in the India-Pakistan context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanjay Badri-Maharaj

2002-01-01

This thesis deals with the possible employment of nuclear weapons in the ongoing confrontation between India and Pakistan. After reviewing the nuclear capabilities of both Indian and Pakistan and assessing their possible delivery systems, this dissertation explores the emerging picture regarding the Indian and Pakistani nuclear doctrines. It is argued that, after exploring the current structure of the armed forces in both countries and after analyzing the theatres of operations, it is highly unlikely that either country seeks to employ nuclear weapons in a tactical, battlefield role. It is also argued that neither India or Pakistan is making an effort to evolve a nuclear war-fighting doctrine. Moreover, it is shown that nuclear weapons have simply led to a re-thinking of military tactics on the part of India so as to minimize the chance of a nuclear strike by limiting the aims and objectives of any Indian military action. In stark contrast, it is shown that South Asian cities present far more lucrative targets for nuclear strikes. As a result of this and the geographic and tactical limitations of South Asian battlefields, it is argued that both India and Pakistan have based their fledgling nuclear strategies around a 'city-busting' concept. The existing command and control systems in both countries are examined and found to be adequate if both countries adopt a strict 'second-strike' approach to the employment of nuclear weapons. It is further argued that nuclear weapons, while limiting the scale of any future India-Pakistan war, will not play a major role in preventing a conflict between the two countries. Rather, the basic operational parity that exists between the two countries in terms of their conventional forces is responsible for preventing the outbreak of war. The thesis also briefly explores the rationale behind the acquisition of nuclear weapons in both countries and on their basic security perceptions. The issue of confidence building measures and the

The Long-Run Effects of the Fed’s Monetary Policy on the Dynamics among Major Asset Classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miao Jia

2016-09-01

Full Text Available It is well known that government monetary policies significantly impact financial markets. There have been numerous studies examining the relationship between monetary policy and the prices of financial assets, including equities and bonds. Little, however, has been done to explore the impact of major financial assets on changes in monetary policies.

Dynamic data filtering system and method

Science.gov (United States)

Bickford, Randall L; Palnitkar, Rahul M

2014-04-29

A computer-implemented dynamic data filtering system and method for selectively choosing operating data of a monitored asset that modifies or expands a learned scope of an empirical model of normal operation of the monitored asset while simultaneously rejecting operating data of the monitored asset that is indicative of excessive degradation or impending failure of the monitored asset, and utilizing the selectively chosen data for adaptively recalibrating the empirical model to more accurately monitor asset aging changes or operating condition changes of the monitored asset.

Measurement techniques for the verification of excess weapons materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tape, J.W.; Eccleston, G.W.; Yates, M.A.

1998-01-01

The end of the superpower arms race has resulted in an unprecedented reduction in stockpiles of deployed nuclear weapons. Numerous proposals have been put forward and actions have been taken to ensure the irreversibility of nuclear arms reductions, including unilateral initiatives such as those made by President Clinton in September 1993 to place fissile materials no longer needed for a deterrent under international inspection, and bilateral and multilateral measures currently being negotiated. For the technologist, there is a unique opportunity to develop the technical means to monitor nuclear materials that have been declared excess to nuclear weapons programs, to provide confidence that reductions are taking place and that the released materials are not being used again for nuclear explosive programs. However, because of the sensitive nature of these materials, a fundamental conflict exists between the desire to know that the bulk materials or weapon components in fact represent evidence of warhead reductions, and treaty commitments and national laws that require the protection of weapons design information. This conflict presents a unique challenge to technologists. The flow of excess weapons materials, from deployed warheads through storage, disassembly, component storage, conversion to bulk forms, and disposition, will be described in general terms. Measurement approaches based on the detection of passive or induced radiation will be discussed along with the requirement to protect sensitive information from release to unauthorized parties. Possible uses of measurement methods to assist in the verification of arms reductions will be described. The concept of measuring attributes of items rather than quantitative mass-based inventory verification will be discussed along with associated information-barrier concepts required to protect sensitive information

Modelling the Costs of Preserving Digital Assets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kejser, Ulla Bøgvad; Nielsen, Anders Bo; Thirifays, Alex

2012-01-01

Information is increasingly being produced in digital form, and some of it must be preserved for the longterm. Digital preservation includes a series of actively managed activities that require on-going funding. To obtain sufficient resources, there is a need for assessing the costs...... and the benefits accrued by preserving the assets. Cost data is also needed for optimizing activities and comparing the costs of different preservation alternatives. The purpose of this study is to analyse generic requirements for modelling the cost of preserving digital assets. The analysis was based...

Weapons barrel life cycle determination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nebojša Pene Hristov

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This article describes the dynamic processes within the gun barrel during the firing process in exploitation. It generally defines the basic principles of constructing tube elements, and shows the distortion of the basic geometry of the tube interior due to wear as well as the impact it causes during exploitation. The article also defines basic empirical models as well as a model based on fracture mechanics for the calculation of a use-life of the barrel, and other elements essential for the safe use of the barrel as the basic weapon element. Erosion causes are analysed in order to control and reduce wear and prolong the lifetime of the gun barrel. It gives directions for the reparation of barrels with wasted resources. In conclusion, the most influential elements of tube wear are given as well as possible modifications of existing systems, primarily propellant charges, with a purpose of prolonging lifetime of gun barrels. The guidelines for a proper determination of the lifetime based on the barrel condition assessment are given as well. INTRODUCTION The barrel as the basic element of each weapon is described as well as the processes occurring during the firing that have impulsive character and are accompanied by large amounts of energy. The basic elements of barrel and itheir constructive characteristics are descibed. The relation between Internal ballistics, ie calculation of the propellant gas pressure in the firing process, and structural elements defined by the barrel material resistance is shown. In general, this part of the study explains the methodology of the gun barrel structural elements calculation, ie. barrel geometry, taking into account the degrees of safety in accordance with Military Standards.   TUBE WEAR AND DEFORMATIONS The weapon barrel gradually wears out during exploitation due to which it no longer satisfies the set requirements. It is considered that the barrel has experienced a lifetime when it fails to fulfill the

The Evaluation of Company's Intangible Assets' influence for Business Value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Živilė Savickaitė

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Mismeasurement of intangible assets in a company may result in high costs and loss of its competitiveness and position in the market. Conventional evaluation methods are not able to identify reliably intangible intensive business value because of such assets specificity. Therefore, the business assessment process adjustment, making it comprehensive and including the intangible asset valuation methods is a critical process that allows to evaluate companies better and increases business management efficiency and quality. The article states the importance of further scientific research in the areas of the intangible value resources, creation of business valuation, intangible assets valuation methods and models - the creation of intangible assets on the firm level and how they meet changing needs of the company's owners, capital markets investors, politicians and other interest-groups needs in the intangible intensive economy should be analysed as well as how economic systems based on intangible assets operates. Also special attention is be given to the strenghtening of the cooperation of scientific research and business. It's important to avoid a repeat of guidelines, methods, models and systems of intangible assets' measurement and business valuation methods and to eliminate its disadvantages in order to create and establish universal system for effective intangible intensive business valuation.

Retrading, production, and asset market performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Gjerstad, Steven D; Porter, David; Smith, Vernon L; Winn, Abel

2015-11-24

Prior studies have shown that traders quickly converge to the price-quantity equilibrium in markets for goods that are immediately consumed, but they produce speculative price bubbles in resalable asset markets. We present a stock-flow model of durable assets in which the existing stock of assets is subject to depreciation and producers may produce additional units of the asset. In our laboratory experiments inexperienced consumers who can resell their units disregard the consumption value of the assets and compete vigorously with producers, depressing prices and production. Consumers who have first participated in experiments without resale learn to heed their consumption values and, when they are given the option to resell, trade at equilibrium prices. Reproducibility is therefore the most natural and most effective treatment for suppression of bubbles in asset market experiments.

The 5C model: A new approach to asset integrity management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahim, Yousif; Refsdal, Ingbjorn; Kenett, Ron S.

2010-01-01

As organizations grow more complex in operation and more global in scope, assets and technical integrity become key success factors. A company's asset integrity business process needs to be mapped in order to 1) provide a proper overview of operation and business processes, 2) identify all critical interfaces and 3) ensure that all gaps and overlaps in processes are eliminated. Achieving asset integrity requires companies to sustain their activities and identify the hazards, weaknesses and objectives of their strategic assets. Technical integrity emphasizes a complete overview of technical conditions and related information, and the ability of the companies to document the technical state of its assets. It is based on an integrated view of the current state of operations, and the identification of all critical interfaces, in order to ensure that all gaps and unnecessary overlaps in processes are eliminated. Companies look increasingly at their asset integrity management system as a means to extend the life of their assets, beyond the original design conditions and production capacity. Establishing an asset integrity management system requires the documentation of the company's technical integrity management, a strategy and the processes for carrying it out, identifying gaps; selecting corrective interventions and conducting follow up actions. The paper discusses various aspects of asset integrity management, including its planning and implementation. We begin with an introduction to asset technical integrity, provide some theoretical backgrounds, present a model we call 5C and conclude with a summary and discussion.

The pricing of illiquidity and illiquid assets : Essays on empirical asset pricing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tuijp, Patrick

2016-01-01

This dissertation studies the pricing of liquidity and illiquid assets. For this thesis, liquidity will generally refer to the ease with which an asset can be traded. The first chapter investigates the role of the investment horizon in the impact of illiquidity on stock prices. We obtain a clientele

Best practices in geographic information systems-based transportation asset management

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-31

This report provides background on GIS and asset management, describes how public agencies have been integrating the two, and identifies benefits and challenges to doing so. The information presented is gleaned from a literature review and interviews...

INTANGIBLE ASSETS THROUGH THE COHESION POLICY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Popescu (Stingaciu Ana-Maria

2012-07-01

Full Text Available INTANGIBLE ASSETS THROUGH THE COHESION POLICY Roth Anne-Marie-Monika West University of Timisoara Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Popescu (Stingaciu Ana-Maria West University of Timisoara Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Intangible assets in general and intellectual capital in particular are important to both society and organizations. It can be a source of competitive advantage for business and stimulate innovation that leads to wealth generation. Technological revolutions, the rise of the knowledge-based economy and the networked society have all led to the same conclusion that intangibles and how they contribute to value creation have to be appreciated so that the appropriate decisions can be made to protect and enhance them. The Cohesion Policy represents the main EU measure to ensure a balanced and sustainable growth in Europe by promoting harmonious development and reducing the regional disparities. The general objective of the paper is to highlight the important role of the Cohesion Policy in the development of intangible assets. The objectives and the instruments of the Cohesion Policy are designed to support programs on regional development, economic change, enhanced competitiveness and territorial cooperation through the European Union, to develop human resources and employability. Keywords: intangible assets, intellectual capital, Cohesion policy, development; JEL Classification: O43, G32, D24, O34

Bugs and gas: Agreements banning chemical and biological weapons

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulak, Robert P.

2017-11-01

The use of chemical or biological weapons, whether by a State or terrorists, continues to be a serious security concern. Both types of weapons are prohibited by multilateral treaties that have very broad membership, but both the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention are facing major challenges. In particular, the continued use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war by government forces risks eroding the norm against the use of such weapons. This paper briefly explore the recent history of efforts to constrain chemical and biological weapons and outlines challenges for the future.

Time-Varying Combinations of Bayesian Dynamic Models and Equity Momentum Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. Basturk (Nalan); S. Grassi (Stefano); L.F. Hoogerheide (Lennart); H.K. van Dijk (Herman)

2016-01-01

markdownabstractA novel dynamic asset-allocation approach is proposed where portfolios as well as portfolio strategies are updated at every decision period based on their past performance. For modeling, a general class of models is specified that combines a dynamic factor and a vector autoregressive

Review of UK participation in ASSET activities 1995/96 for the annual workshop on ASSET experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phipps, C.R.

1996-01-01

With the restructuring of the Nuclear Generation Industry in the UK over the last 12 months it has been difficult to provide support to international activities including ASSET. This is likely to continue for a further 12 months whilst consolidation of the privatised part of the industry takes place and Magnox Electric plc is merged with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. Having made that statement I would confirm that the UK is fully supportive of the ASSET methodology and will continue to be a participant in as many ASSET activities as possible. It was noted that during 1995 ASSET completed its 100th mission and the UK would like to congratulate the staff in the IAEA on this achievement. Discussions are at present ongoing within Magnox Electric plc, regarding the possibility of hosting an ASSET Peer Review mission, at one of the UK's Magnox plants, in 1997/98. During the 1995/96 period the UK participated in a number of ASSET activities as detailed below

Review of UK participation in ASSET activities 1995/96 for the annual workshop on ASSET experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phipps, C R

1997-12-31

With the restructuring of the Nuclear Generation Industry in the UK over the last 12 months it has been difficult to provide support to international activities including ASSET. This is likely to continue for a further 12 months whilst consolidation of the privatised part of the industry takes place and Magnox Electric plc is merged with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. Having made that statement I would confirm that the UK is fully supportive of the ASSET methodology and will continue to be a participant in as many ASSET activities as possible. It was noted that during 1995 ASSET completed its 100th mission and the UK would like to congratulate the staff in the IAEA on this achievement. Discussions are at present ongoing within Magnox Electric plc, regarding the possibility of hosting an ASSET Peer Review mission, at one of the UK`s Magnox plants, in 1997/98. During the 1995/96 period the UK participated in a number of ASSET activities as detailed below.

The German Debate on Tactical Nuclear Weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, Olivier

2008-01-01

This report analyses the debate in Germany about tactical nuclear weapons deployments in Europe. It is mainly based on interviews conducted with senior officials from the German Federal Foreign Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Defence, senior members of Parliament as well as experts from research institutes and think-tanks. The interviews focused on the more recent past in the German debate as well as the future of tactical nuclear weapon deployments in Germany and Europe. The report concludes that while a change of Germany's position on tactical nuclear weapons is unlikely to change in the short-term, several developments will make it unlikely that the continued involvement of Germany in NATO nuclear sharing will have to be debated in the medium term. Should the next Parliamentary elections, which will take place in 2009 at the latest, result in a Social Democrat-led government, a push for a reduction of Germany's involvement in NATO nuclear sharing appears possible. A conservative-led government is likely to maintain the nuclear status quo within NATO

Trends in asset structure between not-for-profit and investor-owned hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Paula H; Reiter, Kristin L

2010-12-01

The delivery of health care is a capital-intensive industry, and thus, hospital investment strategy continues to be an important area of interest for both health policy and research. Much attention has been given to hospitals' capital investment policies with relatively little attention to investments in financial assets, which serve an important role in not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals. This study describes and analyzes trends in aggregate asset structure between NFP and investor-owned (IO) hospitals during the post-capital-based prospective payment system implementation period, providing the first documentation of long-term trends in hospital investment. The authors find hospitals' aggregate asset structure differs significantly based on ownership, size, and profitability. For both NFP and IO hospitals, financial securities have remained consistent over time, while fixed asset representation has declined in IO hospitals.

Trends in Asset Structure between Not-for-Profit and Investor Owned Hospitals

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Paula H.; Reiter, Kristin L.

2010-01-01

The delivery of health care is a capital intensive industry and thus hospital investment strategy continues to be an important area of interest for both health policy and research. Much attention has been given to hospitals’ capital investment policies with relatively little attention to investments in financial assets, which serve an important role in NFP hospitals. This study describes and analyzes trends in aggregate asset structure between NFP and IO hospitals during the post-capital based PPS implementation period, providing the first documentation of long-term trends in hospital investment. We find hospitals’ aggregate asset structure differs significantly based on ownership, size, and profitability. For both NFP and IO hospitals, financial securities have remained consistent over time, while fixed asset representation has declined in IO hospitals. PMID:20519429

18 CFR 346.3 - Asset retirement obligations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... related to asset retirement obligations that would impact the calculation of rate base, such as carrier property and related accumulated depreciation and accumulated deferred income taxes, may not be reflected...

18 CFR 35.18 - Asset retirement obligations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... related to asset retirement obligations that would impact the calculation of rate base, such as electric plant and related accumulated depreciation and accumulated deferred income taxes, may not be reflected...

Asset life cycle plans: twelve steps to assist strategic decision-making in asset life cycle management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruitenburg, Richard Jacob; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan; van Dongen, Leonardus Adriana Maria; Carnero, Maria Carmen; Gonzalez-Prida, Vicente

2017-01-01

Effective management of physical assets should deliver maximum business value. Therefore, Asset Management standards such as PAS 55 and ISO 55000 ask for a life cycle approach. However, most existing methods focus only on the short term of the asset's life or the estimation of its remaining life.

The immediate need for US universities to promote research related to a nuclear-weapon-free world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionno, S.

1999-01-01

If disarmament is a goal, then the requisite skills must be fostered in academic research. Too many students today view nuclear weapons as a non-issue. It is crucial that those people in positions of influence encourage more young people to explore in-depth the political, scientific, and social changes that a nuclear-weapon-free world will require. The data presented are based on a search of nuclear-weapons-related keywords in the UMI Dissertation Abstracts Database which includes work from over 1000 North American graduate schools and European Universities. The search was focused on US Phd dissertations between 1987 and 1996. There was no PhDs focused on issues such as: zero-level nuclear-weapons-free world; nuclear-weapons-free zones; decreasing nuclear alert status; a nuclear weapons convention; no-first-use or-no use against non-nuclear-weapons-states; START; French nuclear weapons; a possible 'Eurobomb'; peace groups outside the USA, UK, and Germany; nuclear-weapons secrecy; funding disarmament; the role od UN in a nuclear-weapons-free world; an so on

Essays on asset pricing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nazliben, Kamil

2015-01-01

The dissertation consists of three chapters that represent separate papers in the area of asset pricing. The first chapter studies investors optimal asset allocation problem in which mean reversion in stock prices is captured by explicitly modeling transitory and permanent shocks. The second chapter

Bioterrorism: toxins as weapons.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Peter D

2012-04-01

The potential for biological weapons to be used in terrorism is a real possibility. Biological weapons include infectious agents and toxins. Toxins are poisons produced by living organisms. Toxins relevant to bioterrorism include ricin, botulinum, Clostridium perfrigens epsilson toxin, conotoxins, shigatoxins, saxitoxins, tetrodotoxins, mycotoxins, and nicotine. Toxins have properties of biological and chemical weapons. Unlike pathogens, toxins do not produce an infection. Ricin causes multiorgan toxicity by blocking protein synthesis. Botulinum blocks acetylcholine in the peripheral nervous system leading to muscle paralysis. Epsilon toxin damages cell membranes. Conotoxins block potassium and sodium channels in neurons. Shigatoxins inhibit protein synthesis and induce apoptosis. Saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin inhibit sodium channels in neurons. Mycotoxins include aflatoxins and trichothecenes. Aflatoxins are carcinogens. Trichothecenes inhibit protein and nucleic acid synthesis. Nicotine produces numerous nicotinic effects in the nervous system.

Evaluation on Optimal Scale of Rural Fixed-asset Investment-Based on Microcosmic Perspective of Farmers’ Income Increase

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jinqian; DENG; Kangkang; SHAN; Yan; ZHANG

2014-01-01

The rural fundamental and productive fixed-asset investment not only makes active influence on the changes of farmers’ operational,wages and property income,but it also has an optimal scale range for farmers’ income increase. From the perspective of farmers’ income increase,this article evaluates the optimal scale of rural fixed-asset investment by setting up model with statistic data,and the results show that the optimal scale of per capita rural fixed-asset investment is 76. 35% of per capita net income of rural residents,which has been reached in China in 2009. Therefore,compared with the adding of rural fixed-asset investment,a better income increase effect can be achieved through the adjustment of rural fixed-asset investment structure.

Mutually catalyzed birth of population and assets in exchange-driven growth

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zhenquan; Ke, Jianhong; Ye, Gaoxiang

2006-10-01

We propose an exchange-driven aggregation growth model of population and assets with mutually catalyzed birth to study the interaction between the population and assets in their exchange-driven processes. In this model, monomer (or equivalently, individual) exchange occurs between any pair of aggregates of the same species (population or assets). The rate kernels of the exchanges of population and assets are K(k,l)=Kkl and L(k,l)=Lkl , respectively, at which one monomer migrates from an aggregate of size k to another of size l . Meanwhile, an aggregate of one species can yield a new monomer by the catalysis of an arbitrary aggregate of the other species. The rate kernel of asset-catalyzed population birth is I(k,l)=Iklμ [and that of population-catalyzed asset birth is J(k,l)=Jklν ], at which an aggregate of size k gains a monomer birth when it meets a catalyst aggregate of size l . The kinetic behaviors of the population and asset aggregates are solved based on the rate equations. The evolution of the aggregate size distributions of population and assets is found to fall into one of three categories for different parameters μ and ν : (i) population (asset) aggregates evolve according to the conventional scaling form in the case of μ⩽0 (ν⩽0) , (ii) population (asset) aggregates evolve according to a modified scaling form in the case of ν=0 and μ>0 ( μ=0 and ν>0 ), and (iii) both population and asset aggregates undergo gelation transitions at a finite time in the case of μ=ν>0 .

Incarceration and Household Asset Ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Kristin; Schneider, Daniel

2016-12-01

A considerable literature documents the deleterious economic consequences of incarceration. However, little is known about the consequences of incarceration for household assets-a distinct indicator of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to the survival of low-income families-or about the spillover economic consequences of incarceration for families. In this article, we use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how incarceration is associated with asset ownership among formerly incarcerated men and their romantic partners. Results, which pay careful attention to the social forces that select individuals into incarceration, show that incarceration is negatively associated with ownership of a bank account, vehicle, and home among men and that these consequences for asset ownership extend to the romantic partners of these men. These associations are concentrated among men who previously held assets. Results also show that post-incarceration changes in romantic relationships are an important pathway by which even short-term incarceration depletes assets.

Intelligent tactical asset allocation support system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hiemstra, Y.

1995-01-01

This paper presents an advanced support system for Tactical Asset Allocation. Asset allocation explains over 90% of portfolio performance (Brinson, Hood and Beebower, 1988). Tactical asset allocation adjusts a strategic portfolio on the basis of short term market outlooks. The system includes

Work at Forsmark since ASSET 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loewenhielm, G; Andersson, O [Forsmark Kraftgrupp AB, Oesthammar (Sweden)

1997-10-01

The following directions of work at Forsmark since ASSET 1996 are briefly described: peer review follow-up; work related to peer review, Forsmark 2 mini-ASSET; MTO(man-technology-organization)-analysis method, concept development, combination of MTO and ASSET methods; Forsmark INES manual.

Influence of Technological Assets on Organizational Performance through Absorptive Capacity, Organizational Innovation and Internal Labour Flexibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Encarnación García-Sánchez

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Organizational innovation is increasingly mandatory for firms to overcome their competitors. Organizational innovation is especially relevant in today’s dynamic and turbulent environments, where other internal variables—such as technological assets, employee training, coordination of new management capabilities, and new flexible human resources and more adaptable organizational designs—must be encouraged to create value and competitive advantage. The purpose of our research is to analyse whether technological assets influence absorptive capacity (potential and realized absorptive capacity and how absorptive capacity influences internal labour flexibility, organizational innovation and performance. We achieve these goals by analysing the interrelations among internal labour flexibility, organizational innovation and performance, using the theory of resources and capabilities. A quantitative study was carried out with data gathered by personal interview using a structured questionnaire. Relationships proposed in the theoretical model were estimated through a structural equation model, using a sample of 160 European technology companies. The results show that support for technology and improvement of technological skills and technological distinctive competencies promote improvement in organizational performance through their positive influence on the processes of potential and realized absorption capacity. Potential absorptive capacity influences realized absorptive capacity, which impacts not only internal labour flexibility but also organizational innovation and organizational performance. Further, internal labour flexibility influences organizational performance through organizational innovation. This issue is of particular interest when considering the dynamic nature of turbulent technological environments in which the organization operates. Technological assets thus identify new sources of flexibility and organizational innovation based

Weapons material and the commercial fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steyn, J.J.

1993-01-01

In 1991, the United States and the former USSR had arsenals of ∼18,000 and 27,200 nuclear weapons, respectively. Approximately 10,000 of the US and 13,000 of the former USSR weapons were in the strategic category, and the remainder were tactical weapons. The dramatic changes in the political climate between the United States and the republics of the former USSR have resulted in the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I and II), agreements to substantially reduce nuclear weapons arsenals. Tactical weapons have already been collected in Russia, and strategic weapons are to be collected by the end of 1994. The major issues in accomplishing the treaty reductions appear to be funding, transport safety, storage capacity, and political issues between Russia and Ukraine because the latter seems to be using its weapons for political leverage on other matters. Collectively, the US and former USSR warhead stockpiles contain tremendous inventories of high-enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium which if converted to light water reactor fuel would equate to an enormous economic supply of natural uranium, conversion services, and enrichment separative work. The potential for this material entering the light water reactor fuel marketplace was enhanced in July 1992, when the two US industrial companies, Nuclear Fuel Services and Allied-Signal, announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement with the Russian ministry, Minatom, and the Russian Academay of Sciences to convert Russian high-enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium

Bayesian Analysis of Bubbles in Asset Prices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andras Fulop

2017-10-01

Full Text Available We develop a new model where the dynamic structure of the asset price, after the fundamental value is removed, is subject to two different regimes. One regime reflects the normal period where the asset price divided by the dividend is assumed to follow a mean-reverting process around a stochastic long run mean. The second regime reflects the bubble period with explosive behavior. Stochastic switches between two regimes and non-constant probabilities of exit from the bubble regime are both allowed. A Bayesian learning approach is employed to jointly estimate the latent states and the model parameters in real time. An important feature of our Bayesian method is that we are able to deal with parameter uncertainty and at the same time, to learn about the states and the parameters sequentially, allowing for real time model analysis. This feature is particularly useful for market surveillance. Analysis using simulated data reveals that our method has good power properties for detecting bubbles. Empirical analysis using price-dividend ratios of S&P500 highlights the advantages of our method.

Application of Securitization of Leasing Assets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Viktorovich Linev

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Securitization of leasing assets was widely adopted abroad within the last decades. Securitization of leasing assets usually is meant as process of formation of a portfolio based on future leasing payments of one and (or more leasing company and sale of securities to investors for the subsequent refinancing of leasing operations. These securities can be bonds, actions or bills. Thus the asset leased, acts as providing these papers. Nomenclature of property includes office, medical (first of all, stomatology, training, video the equipment, and also a car, motor-equipment, towers of cellular communication production of heavy mechanical engineering and computers. The essence of securitization of leasing assets consists in isolation of streams of leasing payments from risk of bankruptcy of the leasing company. As the considered mechanism has the greatest development in the USA, so far as consideration of experience of its application in this country is represented especially actual. The special attention is deserved by a question of decrease in credit risk of the investor. External and internal providing is applied to its decision in different types. Interest of participants in securitization of leasing assets consists in distribution of risks between them, emergence of a new source of financing, depreciation of attracted resources, increase of liquidity of a leasing portfolio and optimization by management by balance of the enterprise. Appeal of this tool to the leasing company in a case when it has no available own funds for business development, represents separate interest. Securitization allows the leasing company to expand sources of attraction of the capital and to receive a reserve for the future, and also to broaden the sphere of options of activity and to give it new opportunities for financing of projects. Widespread introduction of schemes of securitization in practice of the Russian leasing business, requires development, and on some

Valuing carbon assets for high-tech with application to the wind energy industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Liyan; Liu, Yang; Lin, Qiang; Huang, Gubo

2015-01-01

In contrast to the traditional methods for high-tech evaluation, we introduce a new, more active idea for considering the carbon asset effect, in addition to the economic and technological considerations for strategic significance. The method proposed in this paper considers a reduced amount of carbon emissions, less than that of the current industry baseline, to be an asset that is beneficial to a firm that adopts a new technology. The measured carbon asset values vary across different technologies, in different industries and over time. The new method is applied to the valuing of wind energy technology and uses the Weibull distribution to estimate the wind energy capacity and a concrete sensitivity analysis. These applications support the validity of the new method and show that the impact of the fluctuations of carbon sinks on the values of carbon assets is significantly greater than that of volatility in the production output. The paper also presents some policy recommendations based on the results. - Highlights: • Carbon asset dimension for high-tech evaluation. • Valuing wind energy technology by Weibull distribution. • Greater impact of the carbon sink price on the carbon asset value than that of production output. • The environmental risk could be measured based on the carbon asset assessment.

Effects of Weapons on Aggressive Thoughts, Angry Feelings, Hostile Appraisals, and Aggressive Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Weapons Effect Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin, Arlin J; Kepes, Sven; Bushman, Brad J

2017-09-01

Guns are associated with aggression. A landmark 1967 study showed that simply seeing a gun can increase aggression-called the "weapons effect." This meta-analysis integrates the findings of weapons effect studies conducted from 1967 to 2017. It includes 162 effect-size estimates from 78 independent studies involving 7,668 participants. The theoretical framework used to explain the weapons effect was the General Aggression Model (GAM), which proposes three routes to aggression-cognitive, affective, and arousal. The GAM also proposes that hostile appraisals can facilitate aggression. As predicted by the GAM, the mere presence of weapons increased aggressive thoughts, hostile appraisals, and aggression, suggesting a cognitive route from weapons to aggression. Weapons did not significantly increase angry feelings. Only one study tested the effects of weapons on arousal. These findings also contribute to the debate about social priming by showing that incidental exposure to a stimulus (weapon) can affect subsequent related behavior (aggression).

ISO 55000: Creating an asset management system.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Chris; Main, Kevin

2015-02-01

In the October 2014 issue of HEJ, Keith Hamer, group vice-president, Asset Management & Engineering at Sodexo, and marketing director at Asset Wisdom, Kevin Main, argued that the new ISO 55000 standards present facilities managers with an opportunity to create 'a joined-up, whole lifecycle approach' to managing and delivering value from assets. In this article, Kevin Main and Chris Bradley, who runs various asset management projects, examine the process of creating an asset management system.

Risk analysis tools for force protection and infrastructure/asset protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Duggan, R.A.; Paulus, W.K.

1998-01-01

The Security Systems and Technology Center at Sandia National Laboratories has for many years been involved in the development and use of vulnerability assessment and risk analysis tools. In particular, two of these tools, ASSESS and JTS, have been used extensively for Department of Energy facilities. Increasingly, Sandia has been called upon to evaluate critical assets and infrastructures, support DoD force protection activities and assist in the protection of facilities from terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction. Sandia is involved in many different activities related to security and force protection and is expanding its capabilities by developing new risk analysis tools to support a variety of users. One tool, in the very early stages of development, is EnSURE, Engineered Surety Using the Risk Equation. EnSURE addresses all of the risk equation and integrates the many components into a single, tool-supported process to help determine the most cost-effective ways to reduce risk. This paper will briefly discuss some of these risk analysis tools within the EnSURE framework

CONTRADICTORY ASPECTS ASSESSMENT ON INTANGIBLE ASSETS

OpenAIRE

Ecaterina Necşulescu

2011-01-01

In Romania, the evaluation of intangible assets is rarely used due to extremely poor casuistry. From a sample of 100 companies we analyzed, only 4.5% revealed the existence of intangible assets worth less than 3% of total assets and none of the companies has not reviewed the assets. In crisis conditions, the study concludes that companies value decreases (bad will), and while economic growth increases the value of companies (good will). An effective leadership in the crisis assessment may be ...

Contingency Factors Influencing Implementation of Physical Asset Management Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maletič Damjan

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this empirical study is to examine the role of two contingency factors, i.e. uncertainty and competitiveness in relation to physical asset management (PAM practices as well as to maintenance key performance indicators. The research is based on a premise that PAM, which was defined by risk management practices, performance assessment practices, life cycle management practices, and policy & strategy practices, has become an indispensable element of strategic thinking of asset owners as well as maintenance and asset managers. The purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of how organizations that face high or low level of uncertainty and competitiveness respond in terms of PAM deployment.

Igniting the Light Elements: The Los Alamos Thermonuclear Weapon Project, 1942-1952

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fitzpatrick, Anne C. [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

1999-07-01

The American system of nuclear weapons research and development was conceived and developed not as a result of technological determinism, but by a number of individual architects who promoted the growth of this large technologically-based complex. While some of the technological artifacts of this system, such as the fission weapons used in World War II, have been the subject of many historical studies, their technical successors--fusion (or hydrogen) devices--are representative of the largely unstudied highly secret realms of nuclear weapons science and engineering. In the postwar period a small number of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory's staff and affiliates were responsible for theoretical work on fusion weapons, yet the program was subject to both the provisions and constraints of the US Atomic Energy Commission, of which Los Alamos was a part. The Commission leadership's struggle to establish a mission for its network of laboratories, least of all to keep them operating, affected Los Alamos's leaders' decisions as to the course of weapons design and development projects. Adapting Thomas P. Hughes's ''large technological systems'' thesis, I focus on the technical, social, political, and human problems that nuclear weapons scientists faced while pursuing the thermonuclear project, demonstrating why the early American thermonuclear bomb project was an immensely complicated scientific and technological undertaking. I concentrate mainly on Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory's Theoretical, or T, Division, and its members' attempts to complete an accurate mathematical treatment of the ''Super''--the most difficult problem in physics in the postwar period--and other fusion weapon theories. Although tackling a theoretical problem, theoreticians had to address technical and engineering issues as well. I demonstrate the relative value and importance of H-bomb research over time in the postwar era to

The asset pricing model of musharakah factors

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Shahril; Omar, Mohd; Lazam, Norazliani Md

2015-02-01

The existing three-factor model developed by Fama and French for conventional investment was formulated based on risk-free rates element in which contradict with Shariah principles. We note that the underlying principles that govern Shariah investment were mutual risk and profit sharing between parties, the assurance of fairness for all and that transactions were based on an underlying asset. In addition, the three-factor model did not exclude stock that was not permissible by Shariah such as financial services based on riba (interest), gambling operator, manufacture or sale of non-halal products or related products and other activities deemed non-permissible according to Shariah. Our approach to construct the factor model for Shariah investment was based on the basic tenets of musharakah in tabulating the factors. We start by noting that Islamic stocks with similar characteristics should have similar returns and risks. This similarity between Islamic stocks was defined by the similarity of musharakah attributes such as business, management, profitability and capital. These attributes define factor exposures (or betas) to factors. The main takeaways were that musharakah attributes we chose had explain stock returns well in cross section and were significant in different market environments. The management factor seemed to be responsible for the general dynamics of the explanatory power.

A simulation framework for asset management in climate-change adaptation of transportation infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bhamidipati, S.K.

2014-01-01

An asset management framework, in an agent-based model with multiple assets, is presented as a tool that can assist in developing long-term climate change adaptation strategies for transportation infrastructure.

China's mixed signals on nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fieldhouse, R.

1991-01-01

Ultimately, it is nuclear whether the Chinese leadership has made up its collective mind on practical nuclear weapons. It is known from Chinese official sources, including articles in Communist Party and military publications and histories of the Chinese nuclear program, that an internal debate has proceeded for more than two decades, punctuated by occasional nuclear exercises or low-yield warhead tests. But China presumably has less reason now to pursue development of tactical nuclear weapons than in previous decades: relations with the Soviet Union have improved and military confrontation has eased; China's relations with India and Vietnam are also improving. The decision may already have been made, however, and the weapons built. The mystery surrounding Chinese tactical nuclear weapons is itself interesting, but it is also symbolic of the difficulty of understanding China's nuclear weapons program and policies. The West has accumulated a considerable body of knowledge about China's nuclear forces, especially historical material. But important aspects of China's nuclear behavior and its future as a nuclear power are hard to discern. A key question is China's future role in the spread of nuclear-capable weapons to other countries. China might add to international efforts to stem the proliferation of nuclear related technology, or it might become the world's missile merchant. It could make a constructive contribution to arms control efforts in general, or it could act as a spoiler

Asset transformation and the challenges to servitize a utility business model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helms, Thorsten

2016-01-01

The traditional energy utility business model is under pressure, and energy services are expected to play an important role for the energy transition. Experts and scholars argue that utilities need to innovate their business models, and transform from commodity suppliers to service providers. The transition from a product-oriented, capital-intensive business model based on tangible assets, towards a service-oriented, expense-intensive business model based on intangible assets may present great managerial and organizational challenges. Little research exists about such transitions for capital-intensive commodity providers, and particularly energy utilities, where the challenges to servitize are expected to be greatest. This qualitative paper explores the barriers to servitization within selected Swiss and German utility companies through a series of interviews with utility managers. One of them is ‘asset transformation’, the shift from tangible to intangible assets as major input factor for the value proposition, which is proposed as a driver for the complexity of business model transitions. Managers need to carefully manage those challenges, and find ways to operate both new service and established utility business models aside. Policy makers can support the transition of utilities through more favorable regulatory frameworks for energy services, and by supporting the exchange of knowledge in the industry. - Highlights: •The paper analyses the expected transformation of utilities into service-providers. •Service and utility business models possess very different attributes. •The former is based on intangible, the latter on tangible assets. •The transformation into a service-provider is related with great challenges. •Asset transformation is proposed as a barrier for business model innovation.

12 CFR 560.160 - Asset classification.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Asset classification. 560.160 Section 560.160... Lending and Investment Provisions Applicable to all Savings Associations § 560.160 Asset classification... consistent with, or reconcilable to, the asset classification system used by OTS in its Thrift Activities...

The Regulation of the Possession of Weapons at Gatherings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pieter du Toit

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The Dangerous Weapons Act 15 of 2013 provides for certain prohibitions and restrictions in respect of the possession of a dangerous weapon and it repeals the Dangerous Weapons Act 71 of 1968 as well as the different Dangerous Weapons Acts in operation in the erstwhile TBVC States. The Act also amends the Regulation of Gatherings Act 205 of 1993 to prohibit the possession of any dangerous weapon at a gathering or demonstration. The Dangerous Weapons Act provides for a uniform system of law governing the use of dangerous weapons for the whole of South Africa and it furthermore no longer places the onus on the individual charged with the offence of the possession of a dangerous weapon to show that he or she did not have any intention of using the firearm for an unlawful purpose. The Act also defines the meaning of a dangerous weapon. According to our court’s interpretation of the Dangerous Weapons Act 71 of 1968 a dangerous weapon was regarded as an object used or intended to be used as a weapon even if it had not been designed for use as a weapon. The Act, however, requires the object to be capable of causing death or inflicting serious bodily harm if it were used for an unlawful purpose. The possession of a dangerous weapon, in circumstances which may raise a reasonable suspicion that the person intends to use it for an unlawful purpose, attracts criminal liability. The Act also provides a useful set of guidelines to assist courts to determine if a person charged with the offence of the possession of a dangerous weapon had indeed intended to use the weapon for an unlawful purpose. It seems, however, that the Act prohibits the possession of a dangerous weapon at gatherings, even if the person carrying the weapon does not intend to use it for an unlawful purpose. The state will, however, have to prove that the accused had the necessary control over the object and the intention to exercise such control, as well as that the object is capable of

New Weapons and the Arms Race

Science.gov (United States)

Tsipis, Kosta

1983-10-01

In speaking about technologies that could further animate the weapons competition between the United States and the U.S.S.R., it would be useful to distinguish between technologies that have already been incorporated into specific weapons systems, and new technologies that are of a generic nature, can be used in a variety of applications, adn can best be described by the tasks that they can perform rather than any specific weapons application. Let me begin with the latter class.

Portfolio Choice with Illiquid Assets

OpenAIRE

Andrew Ang; Dimitris Papanikolaou; Mark Westerfield

2013-01-01

We present a model of optimal allocation over liquid and illiquid assets, where illiquidity is the restriction that an asset cannot be traded for intervals of uncertain duration. Illiquidity leads to increased and state-dependent risk aversion, and reduces the allocation to both liquid and illiquid risky assets. Uncertainty about the length of the illiquidity interval, as opposed to a deterministic non-trading interval, is a primary determinant of the cost of illiquidity. We allow market liqu...

For a convention for nuclear weapon elimination; Pour une convention d'elimination des armes nucleaires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-03-15

This document contains two texts linked with the project of an international convention for the elimination of nuclear weapons (the text of this project has been sent to the UN General Secretary and is part of an international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, ICAN). These two texts are contributions presented in London at the Global Summit for a Nuclear Weapon-free World. The first one calls into question the deterrence principle and the idea of a nuclear weapon-based security. It calls for different forms of action to promote a nuclear weapon-free world. The second text stresses the role and the responsibility of states with nuclear weapons in nuclear disarmament and in the reinforcement of the nuclear non proliferation treaty (NPT)

Nuclear industry strategic asset management: Managing nuclear assets in a competitive environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, H.; Hunt, E.W. Jr.; Oatman, E.N.

1999-01-01

The former Electric Power Research Institute took the lead in developing an approach now widely known as strategic asset management (SAM). The SAM methodology applies the tools of decision/risk analysis used in the financial community to clarify effective use of physical assets and resources to create value: to build a clear line of sight to value creation. SAM processes have been used in both the power and other industries. The rapid change taking place in the nuclear business creates the need for competitive decision making regarding the management of nuclear assets. The nuclear industry is moving into an era in which shareholder value is determined by the net revenues earned on power marketed in a highly competitive and frequently low-priced power market environment

13 CFR 120.546 - Loan asset sales.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Loan asset sales. 120.546 Section....546 Loan asset sales. (a) General. Loan asset sales are governed by § 120.545(b)(4) and by this... consented to SBA's sale of the loan (guaranteed and unguaranteed portions) in an asset sale conducted or...

Preparing for asset retirement.

Science.gov (United States)

Luecke, Randall W; Reinstein, Alan

2003-04-01

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 143 requires organizations to recognize a liability for an asset retirement obligation when it is incurred--even if that occurs far in advance of the asset's planned retirement. For example, organizations must recognize future costs associated with medical equipment disposal that carries hazardous material legal obligations.

Development of dynamic Bayesian models for web application test management

Science.gov (United States)

Azarnova, T. V.; Polukhin, P. V.; Bondarenko, Yu V.; Kashirina, I. L.

2018-03-01

The mathematical apparatus of dynamic Bayesian networks is an effective and technically proven tool that can be used to model complex stochastic dynamic processes. According to the results of the research, mathematical models and methods of dynamic Bayesian networks provide a high coverage of stochastic tasks associated with error testing in multiuser software products operated in a dynamically changing environment. Formalized representation of the discrete test process as a dynamic Bayesian model allows us to organize the logical connection between individual test assets for multiple time slices. This approach gives an opportunity to present testing as a discrete process with set structural components responsible for the generation of test assets. Dynamic Bayesian network-based models allow us to combine in one management area individual units and testing components with different functionalities and a direct influence on each other in the process of comprehensive testing of various groups of computer bugs. The application of the proposed models provides an opportunity to use a consistent approach to formalize test principles and procedures, methods used to treat situational error signs, and methods used to produce analytical conclusions based on test results.

Accounting providing of statistical analysis of intangible assets renewal under marketing strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.R. Polishchuk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the content of the Regulations on accounting policies of the surveyed enterprises in terms of the operations concerning the amortization of intangible assets on the following criteria: assessment on admission, determination of useful life, the period of depreciation, residual value, depreciation method, reflection in the financial statements, a unit of account, revaluation, formation of fair value. The characteristic of factors affecting the accounting policies and determining the mechanism for evaluating the completeness and timeliness of intangible assets renewal is showed. The algorithm for selecting the method of intangible assets amortization is proposed. The knowledge base of statistical analysis of timeliness and completeness of intangible assets renewal in terms of the developed internal reporting is expanded. The statistical indicators to assess the effectiveness of the amortization policy for intangible assets are proposed. The marketing strategies depending on the condition and amount of intangible assets in relation to increasing marketing potential for continuity of economic activity are described.

Fractional-moment Capital Asset Pricing model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hui; Wu Min; Wang Xiaotian

2009-01-01

In this paper, we introduce the definition of the 'α-covariance' and present the fractional-moment versions of Capital Asset Pricing Model,which can be used to price assets when asset return distributions are likely to be stable Levy (or Student-t) distribution during panics and stampedes in worldwide security markets in 2008. Furthermore, if asset returns are truly governed by the infinite-variance stable Levy distributions, life is fundamentally riskier than in a purely Gaussian world. Sudden price movements like the worldwide security market crash in 2008 turn into real-world possibilities.

The Earnings/Price Risk Factor in Capital Asset Pricing Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Falcão Noda

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article integrates the ideas from two major lines of research on cost of equity and asset pricing: multi-factor models and ex ante accounting models. The earnings/price ratio is used as a proxy for the ex ante cost of equity, in order to explain realized returns of Brazilian companies within the period from 1995 to 2013. The initial finding was that stocks with high (low earnings/price ratios have higher (lower risk-adjusted realized returns, already controlled by the capital asset pricing model's beta. The results show that selecting stocks based on high earnings/price ratios has led to significantly higher risk-adjusted returns in the Brazilian market, with average abnormal returns close to 1.3% per month. We design asset pricing models including an earnings/price risk factor, i.e. high earnings minus low earnings, based on the Fama and French three-factor model. We conclude that such a risk factor is significant to explain returns on portfolios, even when controlled by size and market/book ratios. Models including the high earnings minus low earnings risk factor were better to explain stock returns in Brazil when compared to the capital asset pricing model and to the Fama and French three-factor model, having the lowest number of significant intercepts. These findings may be due to the impact of historically high inflation rates, which reduce the information content of book values, thus making the models based on earnings/price ratios better than those based on market/book ratios. Such results are different from those obtained in more developed markets and the superiority of the earnings/price ratio for asset pricing may also exist in other emerging markets.

The real value of nuclear-weapon-free zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carasales, J.

1998-01-01

The international community has greeted the establishment of two new nuclear weapon-free zones with praise. Africa and South Asia are the regions which will join, once the respective treaties are ratified and in force, Latin America and the South Pacific to ensure that extensive areas of the earth remain free of nuclear weapons. The usual reaction to these accomplishments is to hail them as important contributions to international peace and security, and as meaningful steps towards a world free of nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapon-free zones have their value but this value relates mainly to the countries within the zone. The interest of nuclear-weapon states are not really affected, or, if they are, the influence is not significant. One should bear in mind that the really important and meaningful nuclear weapon-free zones have yet to be achieved

Performance-based service acquisition (PBSA) of TRIDENT strategic weapons systems (SWS) technical engineering support (TES) services

OpenAIRE

Arcidiacono, William J.

2003-01-01

CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) Thesis document Approved for public release ; distribution is unlimited The objective of this thesis is to determine whether the Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) should apply the concepts of Performance-Based Service Acquisition (PBSA) to Strategic Weapons Systems (SWS) Technical Engineering Support (TES) Services. This thesis provides a Department of Defense (DoD), Department of the Navy (DON), and SSP SWS program acquisition and PBSA history background, ...

From Russian weapons grade plutonium to MOX fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braehler, G.; Kudriavtsev, E.G.; Seyve, C.

1997-01-01

The April 1996, G7 Moscow Summit on nuclear matters provided a political framework for one of the most current significant challenges: ensuring a consistent answer to the weapons grade fissile material disposition issue resulting from the disarmament effort engaged by both the USA and Russia. International technical assessments have showed that the transformation of Weapons grade Plutonium in MOX fuel is a very efficient, safe, non proliferant and economically effective solution. In this regard, COGEMA and SIEMENS, have set up a consistent technical program properly addressing incineration of weapons grade plutonium in MOX fuels. The leading point of this program would be the construction of a Weapons grade Plutonium dedicated MOX fabrication plant in Russia. Such a plant would be based on the COGEMA-SIEMENS industrial capabilities and experience. This facility would be operated by MINATOM which is the partner for COGEMA-SIEMENS. MINATOM is in charge of coordination of the activity of the Russian research and construction institutes. The project take in account international standards for non-proliferation, safety and waste management. France and Germany officials reasserted this position during their last bilateral summits held in Fribourg in February and in Dijon in June 1996. MINATOM and the whole Russian nuclear community have already expressed their interest to cooperate with COGEMA-SIEMENS in the MOX field. This follows governmental-level agreements signed in 1992 by French, German and Russian officials. For years, Russia has been dealing with research and development on MOX fabrication and utilization. So, the COGEMA-SIEMENS MOX proposal gives a realistic answer to the management of weapons grade plutonium with regard to the technical, industrial, cost and schedule factors. (author)

The capital-asset-pricing model and arbitrage pricing theory: a unification.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali Khan, M; Sun, Y

1997-04-15

We present a model of a financial market in which naive diversification, based simply on portfolio size and obtained as a consequence of the law of large numbers, is distinguished from efficient diversification, based on mean-variance analysis. This distinction yields a valuation formula involving only the essential risk embodied in an asset's return, where the overall risk can be decomposed into a systematic and an unsystematic part, as in the arbitrage pricing theory; and the systematic component further decomposed into an essential and an inessential part, as in the capital-asset-pricing model. The two theories are thus unified, and their individual asset-pricing formulas shown to be equivalent to the pervasive economic principle of no arbitrage. The factors in the model are endogenously chosen by a procedure analogous to the Karhunen-Loéve expansion of continuous time stochastic processes; it has an optimality property justifying the use of a relatively small number of them to describe the underlying correlational structures. Our idealized limit model is based on a continuum of assets indexed by a hyperfinite Loeb measure space, and it is asymptotically implementable in a setting with a large but finite number of assets. Because the difficulties in the formulation of the law of large numbers with a standard continuum of random variables are well known, the model uncovers some basic phenomena not amenable to classical methods, and whose approximate counterparts are not already, or even readily, apparent in the asymptotic setting.

Nuclear weapons and the World Court ruling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, J.

1998-01-01

based on the initiatives by non-governmental organizations, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Assembly asked the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion in 1993 whether, considering the environmental and health consequences, the use of nuclear weapons by a state in war or other armed conflict would be a breach of its obligations under international law. The World Court decided that it was not able to give an advisory opinion as requested, because of the fact that questions of use of force and such like were beyond the scope of specialized agencies like the WHO. The Court has ruled that the international community, especially the five nuclear weapon states have not only an obligation to negotiate a treaty for total nuclear disarmament, but also have an obligation to conclude such treaty. We may expect that the nuclear weapon states will cynically disregard the ruling of the World Court as they have been doing to the basic obligation itself in pursuit of nuclear hegemony. But the remaining 150 countries or so also bear a responsibility to keep nudging the recalcitrant states into implementing their commitments to disarm

European Interoperability Assets Register and Quality Framework Implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno-Conde, Alberto; Thienpont, Geert; Lamote, Inge; Coorevits, Pascal; Parra, Carlos; Kalra, Dipak

2016-01-01

Interoperability assets is the term applied to refer to any resource that can support the design, implementation and successful adoption of eHealth services that can exchange data meaningfully. Some examples may include functional requirements, specifications, standards, clinical models and term lists, guidance on how standards may be used concurrently, implementation guides, educational resources, and other resources. Unfortunately, these are largely accessible in ad hoc ways and result in scattered fragments of a solution space that urgently need to be brought together. At present, it is well known that new initiatives and projects will reinvent assets of which they were unaware, while those assets which were potentially of great value are forgotten, not maintained and eventually fall into disuse. This research has defined a quality in use model and assessed the suitability of this quality framework based on the feedback and opinion of a representative sample of potential end users. This quality framework covers the following domains of asset development and adoption: (i) Development process, (ii) Maturity level, (iii) Trustworthiness, (iv) Support & skills, (v) Sustainability, (vi) Semantic interoperability, (vii) Cost & effort of adoption (viii) Maintenance. When participants were requested to evaluate how the overall quality in use framework, 70% would recommend using the register to their colleagues, 70% felt that it could provide relevant benefits for discovering new assets, and 50% responded that it would support their decision making about the recommended asset to adopt or implement in their organisation. Several European projects have expressed interest in using the register, which will now be sustained and promoted by the the European Institute for Innovation through Health Data.

A proposed change to the NASA strategy for servicing space assets

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, George C.

1989-01-01

Given the limitations of the present Shuttle manifest, it is necessary for NASA to consider revision of its previous strategy for servicing satellites. This is particularly important in a period of tight budgets, when space assets will be difficult to replace. Therefore on-orbit assets take on additional value and keeping these assets operational will take on added importance. The key to maintaining these assets will be the long term strategy of developing a remote servicing capability which is space based and has a minimum reliance on the Shuttle. Such a strategy will require that the users of this servicing system design serviceable spacecraft at a high level and that these assets be located in or be capable of reaching orbits that are accessible to or compatible with the proposed servicing infrastructure. The infrastructure required to support this type of remote servicing architecture and the development of the necessary systems, tools, and procedures required to support a remote servicing architecture of this type are addressed.

Issues of weapons of mass destruction non-proliferation in Tajikistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirsaidov, U.M.

2010-01-01

This article is devoted to issues of weapons of mass destruction non-proliferation in Tajikistan. Over a period of 20 century, starting from First World War, the weapons of mass destruction arouse serious concern of world community. Geneva protocol of 1925 prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons. Once nuclear weapon was created, the weapons of mass destruction distributions become the subject of high concern. Besides, during the end of 'cold war', regional conflicts, collapse of Soviet Union, as well as access to sensitive technologies considerably increase the danger of weapons of mass destruction distribution. More than 10 countries have active programs, relating to weapons of mass destruction and, possibly, more than ten countries have potential to start implementing such kinds of programs. Nowadays, trans national organized criminal groups and international terrorist networks are appeared in the world scene, which show interest in obtaining an access to sensitive materials, technologies, weapons and their distribution. After 11 September events, the risk of such weapons of mass destruction components use by such forces for Governments blackmail become real scene, which, despite of low possibility of this threat implementation, could have very serious and disastrous consequences. International community responded to these problems and challenges, basically through the following actions, which is detailed regime development of multilateral international treaties, directed to weapons of mass destruction distribution prevention. Non-proliferation treaty of nuclear weapons, Convention on prohibition of chemical weapons and Convention on prohibition of biological and toxin weapons are some of them. As it is known, Tajikistan signed all these treaties. For different reasons these treaties were subject of serious tests. Nuclear weapons tests in India and Pakistan in 1998 year, actual Israel status as state having nuclear weapon and North Korean program on

Nuclear weapons policy at the crossroads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howlett, D.; Ogilvie-White, T.; Simpson, J.; Taylor, E.

2000-01-01

This study on nuclear futures is a product of work undertaken by the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies (MCIS) of the University of Southampton. The study has pursued three goals: to attempt to understand the dynamics of the nuclear present; to elucidate a range of possible nuclear futures that may emerge; and to assess different strategies that could be pursued in response to these futures, including proposals for promoting nuclear disarmament. The aim was to draw on research, meetings and outreach to achieve these goals, and to use the knowledge gained to help inform the international policy-making community. The work underlying this study was divided into two stages. During the first stage, the apparent threat perceptions of the five acknowledged NWS (China, France, Russia, the UK and the United States) and the three de facto NWS (India, Israel and Pakistan) were explored . The purpose of this research was to identify the main factors (or shapers) that seem to have influenced nuclear weapons policy in all these states, and to assess their relative importance. The second stage of the work drew on the conclusions reached on the eight countries. The shapers were divided into categories on the basis of their apparent impact on nuclear weapons policy. This study summarizes the main conclusions reached in the course of this work

A Comparison Between a Dynamic and Static Approach to Asset Management Using CAPM Models on the Australian Securities Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dionigi Gerace

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Despite the capital asset pricing model being one of the most influential mod¬els in modern portfolio theory, it has also been a victim of criticism in numerous academic papers. Its assumptions which seem to be rather unre¬alistic, have caused many academics to improve the model by relaxing some of its restrictive statements. In this journal article, we compare the performance of an optimal portfolio of securities in the Australian securities market by constructing two theoretical portfolios; one using the capital asset pricing model which uses a single beta throughout a static investment horizon; and another, which allows the op¬timal portfolio to be rebalanced each week with an adjusted beta. The performance of the two theoretical portfolios is compared to determine the superior model. Overall, findings showed that due to rebalancing of the portfolio, the multiple period model was the superior model based on before and after transaction cost returns.

Verifying the transition from low levels of nuclear weapons to a nuclear weapon-free world. VERTIC research report no. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milne, T.; Wilson, H.

1999-01-01

The process of verifying the complete elimination of nuclear warheads in national stockpiles can be divided, conceptually, into four stages: first, comprehensive declarations of warhead and material inventories, as a base-line from which verified disarmament can proceed; second, the transfer of all nuclear weapons and weapons-grade fissile material into bonded store; third, demilitarisation measures, such as to render warheads unusable without disassembly and refabrication; fourth, dismantlement of warheads and disposition of fissile material. Many of the technologies and technologies and techniques needed for verifying the elimination of nuclear warheads have been worked out at a general level, largely in US studies. While it is essential that these techniques are refined and improved, what is most important now, if disarmament is to proceed expeditiously, is for each of the nuclear weapon states (NWS) themselves to study the central verification problems and requirements in order to identify particular techniques and approaches that meet their needs. As yet there is no system of integrated data exchange and verification that any of the NWS is willing to endorse. Each of the NWS should give detailed consideration to the logistics of dismantling the warheads in their respective stockpiles, including, for example, the practicalities of accommodating international verification at their potential dismantlement facilities. Each of the NWS might usefully review exactly which details of warhead design and construction have to remain secret in the course of the disarmament process, in the first place from one another, and second from the IAEA or any other international body that might be involved in international disarmament arrangements. Introducing transparency and verification into national nuclear weapons programmes might have a significant financial cost. Research and ingenuity might reduce this cost, however, and early investments in these fields, with sharing of

Asset management trends and challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rijks, E. [Continuon, Arnhem (Netherlands); Ford, G.L. [PowerNex Associates Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada); Sanchis, G. [Reseau de Transport d' Electricite, Paris (France)

2007-07-01

Recent business and regulatory changes in the electric power industry have affected the operation of electric utilities. Most have accepted competition and commercialization. Various strategies have emerged as companies strive to improve performance and retain profitability in an environment where competition or regulatory pressure is reducing revenues at a time when customer expectation is increasing. As focus shifts away from engineering excellence towards commercial performance, the new business ideology for electric utilities is to optimize asset management. This paper identified asset management technology trends, opportunities and challenges. Although many utilities are currently comfortable with their existing asset management processes, regulators are increasingly scrutinizing utilities as they seek approval for rates and investments in aging infrastructure. Much more rigorous financial analysis methods are needed to justify the large investments that are needed. In addition, the credibility of the processes and methods used by utilities will be increasingly questioned. In recognition of the growing importance of asset management, several initiatives have been launched to provide forums for sharing information and to provide a unifying force to asset management methods. The International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE) was one of the first to recognize the importance of asset management. This paper summarized recent CIGRE activities as well as the developments of publicly available specification (PAS) 55 in the United Kingdom. It was concluded that utilities that adopt standardized approaches will be more credible in the eyes of regulatory authorities. 3 refs., 4 figs.

Selection of asset investment models by hospitals: examination of influencing factors, using Switzerland as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

Eicher, Bernhard

2016-10-01

Hospitals are responsible for a remarkable part of the annual increase in healthcare expenditure. This article examines one of the major cost drivers, the expenditure for investment in hospital assets. The study, conducted in Switzerland, identifies factors that influence hospitals' investment decisions. A suggestion on how to categorize asset investment models is presented based on the life cycle of an asset, and its influencing factors defined based on transaction cost economics. The influence of five factors (human asset specificity, physical asset specificity, uncertainty, bargaining power, and privacy of ownership) on the selection of an asset investment model is examined using a two-step fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The research shows that outsourcing-oriented asset investment models are particularly favored in the presence of two combinations of influencing factors: First, if technological uncertainty is high and both human asset specificity and bargaining power of a hospital are low. Second, if assets are very specific, technological uncertainty is high and there is a private hospital with low bargaining power, outsourcing-oriented asset investment models are favored too. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, it can be demonstrated that investment decisions of hospitals do not depend on isolated influencing factors but on a combination of factors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Processing Risk In Asset Management : Exploring The Boundaries Of Risk Based Optimization Under Uncertainty For An Energy Infrastructure Asset Manager

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijnia, Y.C.

2016-01-01

In the liberalized energy market Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are confronted with income reductions by the regulator. The common response to this challenge is the implementation of asset management, which can be regarded as systematically applying Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) to the risks in

Agility in asset management, or: how to be flexible with assets designed for stability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruitenburg, Richard Jacob; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan; van Dongen, Leonardus Adriana Maria

2016-01-01

Agility is increasingly important in manufacturing. However, thus far little attention has been paid to the agility of the physical assets used in production, which are typically designed for decades of operation in a stable context. This paper investigates the topic of agile Asset Management using

Consequences of the Use of Neutron Weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilijas, B.

1998-01-01

In modern conceptions of the use of nuclear weapons there is a significant role of so called enhanced radiation weapons, also known as neutron weapons. Its most important feature is that all other effects (blast, thermal) are minimized in favour of neutron radiation. Because of the great penetrative capability and biological efficiency, neutron beam is ideal weapon against people in shelters and armoured vehicles. Material goods stay saved and also there is no significant long- term radioactive contamination. After the use of this weapons, which is possible even for tactical tasks on limited area, one must count with great number of people irradiated with doses in wide range - from those enough for instantaneous incapacitation to those which cause only long-term effects. For the purpose of maximal efficiency in this situation, it is necessary to work out plans for dosimetric control, first aid, transport and medical treatment of irradiated people (soldiers and civilians) in war conditions. (author)

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glasstone, Samuel

1964-02-01

This book is a revision of "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons" which was issued in 1957. It was prepared by the Defense Atomic Support Agency of the Department of Defense in coordination with other cognizant governmental agencies and was published by the U.S. Atomc Energy Commission. Although the complex nature of nuclear weapons effects does not always allow exact evaluation, the conclusions reached herein represent the combined judgment of a number of the most competent scientists working the problem. There is a need for widespread public understanding of the best information available on the effects of nuclear weapons. The purpose of this book is to present as accurately as possible, within the limits of national security, a comprehensive summary of this information.

Why are sexually selected weapons almost absent in females?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders BERGLUND

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In sex role reversed species, predominantly females evolve sexually selected traits, such as ornaments and/or weapons. Female ornaments are common and their function well documented in many species, whether sex role reversed or not. However, sexually selected female weapons seem totally absent except for small wing spurs in three jacana species, present in both males and females. This poor female weaponry is in sharp contrast to the situation in species with conventional sex roles: males commonly have evolved sexually selected weapons as well as ornaments. At the same time, females in many taxa have naturally selected weapons, used in competition over resources or in predator defence. Why are sexually selected weapons then so rare, almost absent, in females? Here I briefly review weaponry in females and the function of these weapons, conclude that the near absence of sexually selected weapons begs an explanation, and suggest that costs of sexually selected weapons may exceed costs of ornaments. Females are more constrained when evolving sexually selected traits compared to males, at least compared to those males that do not provide direct benefits, as trait costs reduce a female’s fecundity. I suggest that this constraining trade-off between trait and fecundity restricts females to evolve ornaments but rarely weapons. The same may apply to paternally investing males. Whether sexually selected weapons actually are more costly than sexually selected ornaments remains to be investigated [Current Zoology 59 (4: 564–568, 2013].

Dynamic asset trees in the US stock market: Structure variation and market phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Wei-Qiang; Yao, Shuang; Zhuang, Xin-Tian; Yuan, Ying

2017-01-01

In this work, employing a moving window to scan through every stock price time series over a period from 2 January 1986 to 20 October 2015, we use cross-correlations to measure the interdependence between stock prices, and we construct a corresponding minimal spanning tree for 170 U.S. stocks in every given window. We show how the asset tree evolves over time and describe the dynamics of its normalized length, centrality measures, vertex degree and vertex strength distributions, and single- and multiple-step edge survival ratios. We find that the normalized tree length shows a tendency to decrease over the 30 years. The power-law of vertex degree or vertex strength distribution does not hold for all trees. The survival ratio analysis reveals an increased stability of the dependence structure of the stock market as time elapses. We then examine the relationship between tree structure variation and market phenomena, such as average, volatility and tail risk of stock (market) return. Our main observation is that the normalized tree length has a positive relationship with the level of stock market average return, and it responds negatively to the market return volatility and tail risk. Furthermore, the majority of stocks have their vertex degrees significantly positively correlated to their average return, and significantly negatively correlated to their return volatility and tail risk.

The Role of Agribusiness Assets in Investment Portfolios

OpenAIRE

Johnson, Michael; Malcolm, Bill; O'Connor, Ian

2006-01-01

Investment in agribusiness assets has grown significantly in recent years. The question of interest is whether including agribusiness assets in investment portfolios provide benefits. The effects of diversification by including agribusiness assets in two investment portfolios, a mixed asset portfolio and a diversified share portfolio was investigated using Markowitz’s (1952) Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) of mean-variance optimization. To measure the performance of agribusiness assets, an in...

Peaceful uses of nuclear weapon plutonium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burtak, F.

1996-01-01

In 1993, the U.S.A. and the CIS signed Start 2 (the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) in which they committed themselves the reduce their nuclear weapon arsenals to a fraction of that of 1991. For forty-five years the antagonism between the superpowers had been a dominating factor in world history, determining large areas of social life. When Start 2 will have been completed in 2003, some 200 t of weapon grade plutonium and some 2000 t of highly enriched uranium (Heu) will arise from dismantling nuclear weapons. In the absence of the ideological ballast of the debate about Communism versus Capitalism of the past few decades there is a chance of the grave worldwide problem of safe disposal and utilization of this former nuclear weapon material being solved. Under the heading of 'swords turned into plowshares', plutonium and uranium could be used for peaceful electricity generation. (orig.) [de

Weapons dismantlement issues in independent Ukraine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zack, N.R.

1995-01-01

The American Association for the Advancement of Science sponsored a seminar during September 1993 in Kiev, Ukraine, titled, ''Toward a Nuclear-Free Future--Barriers and Problems.'' It brought together Ukrainians, Belarusians and Americans to discuss the legal, political, economic, technical, and safeguards and security dimensions of nuclear weapons dismantlement and destruction. US representatives initiated discussions on legal and treaty requirements and constraints, safeguards and security issues surrounding dismantlement, storage and disposition of nuclear materials, warhead transportation, and economic considerations. Ukrainians gave presentations on arguments for and against the Ukraine keeping nuclear weapons, the Ukrainian Parliament's nonapproval of START 1, alternative strategies for dismantling silos and launchers, and economic and security implications of nuclear weapons removal from the Ukraine. Participants from Belarus discussed proliferation and control regime issues. This paper will highlight and detail the issues, concerns and possible impacts of the Ukraine's dismantlement of its nuclear weapons

Emerging nuclear energy systems and nuclear weapon proliferation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gsponer, A.; Sahin, S.; Jasani, B.

1983-01-01

Generally when considering problems of proliferation of nuclear weapons, discussions are focused on horizontal proliferation. However, the emerging nuclear energy systems currently have an impact mainly on vertical proliferation. The paper indicates that technologies connected with emerging nuclear energy systems, such as fusion reactors and accelerators, enhance the knowledge of thermonuclear weapon physics and will enable production of military useful nuclear materials (including some rare elements). At present such technologies are enhancing the arsenal of the nuclear weapon states. But one should not forget the future implications for horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons as some of the techniques will in the near future be within the technological and economic capabilities of non-nuclear weapon states. Some of these systems are not under any international control. (orig.) [de

Beyond the nuclear weapon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quinlan, M.

2001-01-01

Since the end of the cold war, many people called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. That this decision seems difficult to realize because of the world political environment. Meanwhile the reduction of the nuclear weapons costs and risks believes more than ever a challenge of the international relations and more particularly in the proliferation domain. In this perspective the proliferation fight strategies need to be studied with a special interest in the domain of the alternatives and the possibilities of synergy. (A.L.B.)

The Educational Asset Market: A Finance Perspective on Human Capital Investment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Charlotte; Nielsen, Helena Skyt

2002-01-01

on type and level of education enables us to focus on the shared features between human capital and stock investments. An innovative finance-labor approach is applied to study the educational asset market. A risk-return trade-off is revealed which is not directly related to the length of education.......Like the stock market, the human capital market consists of a wide range of assets, i.e. educations. Each young individual chooses the educational asset that matches his preferred combination of risk and return in terms of future income. A unique register-based data set with exact information...

Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kerr, Paul; Nikitin, Mary B

2007-01-01

Pakistan's nuclear arsenal consists of approximately 60 nuclear warheads. Pakistan continues fissile material production for weapons, and is adding to its weapons production facilities and delivery vehicles...

Laplace transform analysis of a multiplicative asset transfer model

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolov, Andrey; Melatos, Andrew; Kieu, Tien

2010-07-01

We analyze a simple asset transfer model in which the transfer amount is a fixed fraction f of the giver’s wealth. The model is analyzed in a new way by Laplace transforming the master equation, solving it analytically and numerically for the steady-state distribution, and exploring the solutions for various values of f∈(0,1). The Laplace transform analysis is superior to agent-based simulations as it does not depend on the number of agents, enabling us to study entropy and inequality in regimes that are costly to address with simulations. We demonstrate that Boltzmann entropy is not a suitable (e.g. non-monotonic) measure of disorder in a multiplicative asset transfer system and suggest an asymmetric stochastic process that is equivalent to the asset transfer model.

76 FR 78594 - Reporting of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-19

... Reporting of Specified Foreign Financial Assets AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION... foreign financial assets and the value of those assets is more than the applicable reporting threshold... hold specified foreign financial assets generally will be excepted from reporting such assets under...

Incentive-based demand response programs designed by asset-light retail electricity providers for the day-ahead market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fotouhi Ghazvini, Mohammad Ali; Faria, Pedro; Ramos, Sergio; Morais, Hugo; Vale, Zita

2015-01-01

Following the deregulation experience of retail electricity markets in most countries, the majority of the new entrants of the liberalized retail market were pure REP (retail electricity providers). These entities were subject to financial risks because of the unexpected price variations, price spikes, volatile loads and the potential for market power exertion by GENCO (generation companies). A REP can manage the market risks by employing the DR (demand response) programs and using its' generation and storage assets at the distribution network to serve the customers. The proposed model suggests how a REP with light physical assets, such as DG (distributed generation) units and ESS (energy storage systems), can survive in a competitive retail market. The paper discusses the effective risk management strategies for the REPs to deal with the uncertainties of the DAM (day-ahead market) and how to hedge the financial losses in the market. A two-stage stochastic programming problem is formulated. It aims to establish the financial incentive-based DR programs and the optimal dispatch of the DG units and ESSs. The uncertainty of the forecasted day-ahead load demand and electricity price is also taken into account with a scenario-based approach. The principal advantage of this model for REPs is reducing the risk of financial losses in DAMs, and the main benefit for the whole system is market power mitigation by virtually increasing the price elasticity of demand and reducing the peak demand. - Highlights: • Asset-light electricity retail providers subject to financial risks. • Incentive-based demand response program to manage the financial risks. • Maximizing the payoff of electricity retail providers in day-ahead market. • Mixed integer nonlinear programming to manage the risks

Asset management techniques for transformers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abu-Elanien, Ahmed E.B.; Salama, M.M.A.

2010-01-01

In a deregulated/reformed environment, the electric utilities are under constant pressure for reducing operating costs, enhancing the reliability of transmission and distribution equipments, and improving quality of power and services to the customer. Moreover, the risk involved in running the system without proper attention to assets integrity in service is quite high. Additionally, the probability of losing any equipment vital to the transmission and distribution system, such as power and distribution transformers, is increasing especially with the aging of power system's assets. Today the focus of operating the power system is changed and efforts are being directed to explore new approaches/techniques of monitoring, diagnosis, condition evaluation, maintenance, life assessment, and possibility of extending the life of existing assets. In this paper, a comprehensive illustration of the transformer asset management activities is presented. The importance of each activity together with the latest researches done in the area is highlighted. (author)

The Q theory of investment, the capital asset pricing model, and asset valuation: a synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, John F

2004-05-01

The paper combines Tobin's Q theory of real investment with the capital asset pricing model to produce a new and relatively simple procedure for the valuation of real assets using the income approach. Applications of the new method are provided.

Asset pricing restrictions on predictability : Frictions matter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Roon, F.A.; Szymanowska, M.

2012-01-01

U.S. stock portfolios sorted on size; momentum; transaction costs; market-to-book, investment-to-assets, and return-on-assets (ROA) ratios; and industry classification show considerable levels and variation of return predictability, inconsistent with asset pricing models. This means that a

Spectral decomposition of optimal asset-liability management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Decamps, M.; de Schepper, A.; Goovaerts, M.

2009-01-01

This paper concerns optimal asset-liability management when the assets and the liabilities are modeled by means of correlated geometric Brownian motions as suggested in Gerber and Shiu [2003. Geometric Brownian motion models for assets and liabilities: from pension funding to optimal dividends.

Asset Condition, Information Systems and Decision Models

CERN Document Server

Willett, Roger; Brown, Kerry; Mathew, Joseph

2012-01-01

Asset Condition, Information Systems and Decision Models, is the second volume of the Engineering Asset Management Review Series. The manuscripts provide examples of implementations of asset information systems as well as some practical applications of condition data for diagnostics and prognostics. The increasing trend is towards prognostics rather than diagnostics, hence the need for assessment and decision models that promote the conversion of condition data into prognostic information to improve life-cycle planning for engineered assets. The research papers included here serve to support the on-going development of Condition Monitoring standards. This volume comprises selected papers from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd World Congresses on Engineering Asset Management, which were convened under the auspices of ISEAM in collaboration with a number of organisations, including CIEAM Australia, Asset Management Council Australia, BINDT UK, and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Chin...

Analysis System for Self-Efficacy Training (ASSET). Assessing treatment fidelity of self-management interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zinken, Katarzyna M; Cradock, Sue; Skinner, T Chas

2008-08-01

The paper presents the development of a coding tool for self-efficacy orientated interventions in diabetes self-management programmes (Analysis System for Self-Efficacy Training, ASSET) and explores its construct validity and clinical utility. Based on four sources of self-efficacy (i.e., mastery experience, role modelling, verbal persuasion and physiological and affective states), published self-efficacy based interventions for diabetes care were analysed in order to identify specific verbal behavioural techniques. Video-recorded facilitating behaviours were evaluated using ASSET. The reliability between four coders was high (K=0.71). ASSET enabled assessment of both self-efficacy based techniques and participants' response to those techniques. Individual patterns of delivery and shifts over time across facilitators were found. In the presented intervention we observed that self-efficacy utterances were followed by longer patient verbal responses than non-self-efficacy utterances. These detailed analyses with ASSET provide rich data and give the researcher an insight into the underlying mechanism of the intervention process. By providing a detailed description of self-efficacy strategies ASSET can be used by health care professionals to guide reflective practice and support training programmes.

Democracy, public opinion, and nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russett, B.

1989-01-01

To the degree that people's fears of nuclear war are deep and pervasive, they become subject to manipulation by cynical or politically utopian promises, whether those promises be to abolish nuclear weapons from the earth or to create a leakproof peace shield (SDI). But the basic yearning for protection could also be mobilized to support serious arms reduction and arms control agreements. Nuclear weapons provide the basis for a vivid form of symbolic politics, perhaps equivalent in foreign policy considerations to the Korean and Vietnam wars during their durations, and in similar ways (although not necessarily as severe) as unemployment does among domestic policy issues. This paper presents survey research directed specifically at the role of public opinion on nuclear imagery (difference between expectation of nuclear war versus any kind of weapon war; willingness to spend on nuclear weapons versus conventional ones or general defense spending) can help in understanding these phenomena

A nuclear-weapon-free world and true disarmament

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salvini, G.

1999-01-01

This preliminary note about is important to consider when discussing hopes of achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world. Without a serious effort to establish intelligent, powerful bodies to control and judge the behavior of the nations on Earth, whatever they future weapons may be, the objective to reach a nuclear-weapon-free world may even succeed, but it is not enough to stop wars and death. Even more than that: if taken alone, as the 'Great Way', it could prove negative, for it could slow down the general effort to achieve peace on out planet. A nuclear-weapon-free world is of course a very good idea but two points must be discussed: how to achieve the nuclear-weapon-free world; and what will happen afterwards. Some considerations on the second point are made

Defining ecosystem assets for natural capital accounting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hein, Lars; Bagstad, Ken; Edens, Bram; Obst, Carl; Jong, de Rixt; Lesschen, Jan Peter

2016-01-01

In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present

QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS OF THE SECURITIZATION OF ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis VOSTRICOV

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Securitization is instrumental in return on capital increment through the withdrawal from the balance oflending activities being accompanied by off-balance incomes flow from fees, which are less capital-intensive. Thepurpose of this paper is to analyze the quantitative indicators characterizing the securitization of assets. For draftingthis article, the method of analysis, synthesis method, logic and dialectic method, normative method, the study ofstatistical sampling and time series of expert evaluations (Standard and Poor’s, personal observations, andmonographic studies have been used. The main difference between the securitization of assets from traditional waysof financing is related to the achievement of a plenty of secondary goals in attracting financial resources, whichcan play a significant role in choosing to favour the securitization of assets or other types of financing. Inparticular, it gives a possibility to write off the assets from the balance sheet along with the relevant obligationsunder the securities, to expand the range of potential investors accompanied by the reducing of credit risk, interestrate and liquidity risk, as well as to improve the management quality of assets, liabilities and risks. All of thesesecondary effects are achieved by the isolation of selected assets from the total credit risk of the enterprise, raisingits funds, which forms the pivotal actuality and significance of asset securitization. The article containsdemonstrations of quantitative and qualitative indicators characterizing the securitization of assets.

Making the Invisible Visible: the Intangible Assets Recognition, the Valuation and Reporting in Romania

OpenAIRE

Nicoleta Radneantu

2009-01-01

The emergence of knowledge-based companies increased the importance of intangible assets, assets that were considered the most competitive advantages of companies. So, in this paper I tried to answer the following question: Which is the Romanian accounting reality about the intangible assets recognition, evaluation and reporting? What can we do that traditional financial statements do not become mostly useless for their end users?

Real-time threat evaluation in a ground based air defence environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JN Roux

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In a military environment a ground based air defence operator is required to evaluate the tactical situation in real-time and protect Defended Assets (DAs on the ground against aerial threats by assigning available Weapon Systems (WSs to engage enemy aircraft. Since this aerial environment requires rapid operational planning and decision making in stress situations, the associated responsibilities are typically divided between a number of operators and computerized systems that aid these operators during the decision making processes. One such a Decision Support System (DSS, a threat evaluation and weapon assignment system, assigns threat values to aircraft (with respect to DAs in real-time and uses these values to propose possible engagements of observed enemy aircraft by anti-aircraft WSs. In this paper a design of the threat evaluation part of such a DSS is put forward. The design follows the structured approach suggested in [Roux JN & van Vuuren JH, 2007, Threat evaluation and weapon assignment decision support: A review of the state of the art, ORiON, 23(2, pp. 151-187], phasing in a suite of increasingly complex qualitative and quantitative model components as more (reliable data become available.

Developing Asset Life Cycle Management capabilities through the implementation of Asset Life Cycle Plans – an Action Research project

OpenAIRE

Ruitenburg, Richard; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan

2017-01-01

Asset Life Cycle Management is a strategic approach to managing physical assets over their complete life cycle. However, the literature and the recent ISO 55,000 standard do not offer guidance as to how to develop such an approach. This paper investigates the main capabilities for Asset Life Cycle Management by means of a four year Action Research project implementing Asset Life Cycle Plans. Five main capabilities emerged: 1. strategic information use; 2. alignment of operations and strategy;...

Nuclear weapon-free zone, non-proliferation treaty and South Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayaramu, P.S.

1980-01-01

Emergence of and the motivations behind the concept of nuclear weapon free zone, the conceptual linkage between the nuclear weapon free zone and the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the problems involved in the implementation of nuclear weapon free zone proposals put forward from time to time are discussed. Pakistan's proposal for a nuclear weapon free zone in South Asia, motivations behind the proposal, and India's response to it are examined. It is pointed out that both the NPT and nuclear weapon free zone indirectly grant a certain amount of legitimacy to the use of nuclear weapons. (M.G.B.)

Western Option - Disarmament of Russian Weapon Plutonium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tveiten, B.; Petroll, M.R.

2002-01-01

The Western Option concept describes an approach to the conversion of weapon-grade plutonium from Russian nuclear warheads under the special aspects of meeting the criteria of irreversible utilization. Putting this concept of plutonium conversion into non-weapon-grade material into effect would make a major contribution to improving security worldwide. This study is based on an agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States of America concluded in September 2000. It provides for the conversion of 34 t of weapon-grade plutonium in each of the two states. This goal is also supported by other G8 countries. While the United States performs its part of the agreement under its sole national responsibility, the Russian program needs financial support by Western states. Expert groups have pointed out several options as a so-called basic scenario. The funds of approx. US Dollar 2 billion required to put them into effect have not so far been raised. The Western Option approach described in this contribution combines results of the basic scenario with other existing experience and with technical solutions available for plutonium conversion. One of the attractions of the Western Option lies in its financial advantages, which are estimated to amount to approx. US Dollar 1 billion. (orig.) [de

Overview of surplus weapons plutonium disposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rudy, G.

1996-05-01

The safe disposition of surplus weapons useable plutonium is a very important and urgent task. While the functions of long term storage and disposition directly relate to the Department`s weapons program and the environmental management program, the focus of this effort is particularly national security and nonproliferation.

Experience with the ASSET service in Slovakia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misak, J.

1996-01-01

The experience with the ASSET service in Slovakia is described, including the following: ASSET follow-up mission to Bohunice Unit 1-2 NPP; IAEA peer review of the national Incident Reporting System in the Slovak Republic; ASSET seminar on prevention of incidents, Bratislava, January 8-12, 1996

Experience with the ASSET service in Slovakia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Misak, J [Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Bratislava (Slovakia)

1997-12-31

The experience with the ASSET service in Slovakia is described, including the following: ASSET follow-up mission to Bohunice Unit 1-2 NPP; IAEA peer review of the national Incident Reporting System in the Slovak Republic; ASSET seminar on prevention of incidents, Bratislava, January 8-12, 1996.

Command and Control of Space Assets Through Internet-Based Technologies Demonstrated

Science.gov (United States)

Foltz, David A.

2002-01-01

The NASA Glenn Research Center successfully demonstrated a transmission-control-protocol/ Internet-protocol- (TCP/IP) based approach to the command and control of onorbit assets over a secure network. This is a significant accomplishment because future NASA missions will benefit by using Internet-standards-based protocols. Benefits of this Internet-based space command and control system architecture include reduced mission costs and increased mission efficiency. The demonstration proved that this communications architecture is viable for future NASA missions. This demonstration was a significant feat involving multiple NASA organizations and industry. Phillip Paulsen, from Glenn's Project Development and Integration Office, served as the overall project lead, and David Foltz, from Glenn's Satellite Networks and Architectures Branch, provided the hybrid networking support for the required Internet connections. The goal was to build a network that would emulate a connection between a space experiment on the International Space Station and a researcher accessing the experiment from anywhere on the Internet, as shown. The experiment was interfaced to a wireless 802.11 network inside the demonstration area. The wireless link provided connectivity to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Internet Link Terminal (TILT) satellite uplink terminal located 300 ft away in a parking lot on top of a panel van. TILT provided a crucial link in this demonstration. Leslie Ambrose, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, provided the TILT/TDRSS support. The TILT unit transmitted the signal to TDRS 6 and was received at the White Sands Second TDRSS Ground Station. This station provided the gateway to the Internet. Coordination also took place at the White Sands station to install a Veridian Firewall and automated security incident measurement (ASIM) system to the Second TDRSS Ground Station Internet gateway. The firewall provides a trusted network for the simulated space

The future of nuclear weapons in Europe workshop summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, J.A.; Garrity, P.J.

1991-12-01

A summary is presented of a workshop that addressed the future of nuclear weapons in Europe. The workshop topics included the evolving European security environment; the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and nuclear weapons; the United States, NATO, and nuclear weapons; and Western Europe and nuclear weapons. The workshop, held at Los Alamos July 26, 1991, was sponsored by the Center for National Security Studies of the Los Alamos National Laboratory

The missing link between maintenance contracts and flexible asset management

OpenAIRE

Marttonen-Arola, Salla; Viskari, Sari; Kärri, Timo

2013-01-01

The paper shows how additional value can be created in maintenance collaboration through integrating the features of flexible asset management into maintenance contracts. We expand the traditional typology of maintenance contracts and introduce a new contract type, flexible asset management contracts. Also value sharing in the new contract type is discussed. Our logic for sharing the value is based on reaching for win-win situations in industrial maintenance collaboration. Finally, we present...

Public perspectives of nuclear weapons in the post-cold war environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jenkins-Smith, H.C.; Herron, K.G. [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Institute for Public Policy; Barke, R.P. [Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Public Policy

1994-04-01

This report summarizes the findings of a nationwide survey of public perceptions of nuclear weapons in the post-cold war environment. Participants included 1,301 members of the general public, 1,155 randomly selected members of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and 1,226 employees randomly selected from the technical staffs of four DOE national laboratories. A majority of respondents from all three samples perceived the post-cold war security environment to pose increased likelihood of nuclear war, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear terrorism. Public perceptions of nuclear weapons threats, risks, utilities, and benefits were found to systematically affect nuclear weapons policy preferences in predictable ways. Highly significant relationships were also found between public trust and nuclear weapons policy preferences. As public trust and official government information about nuclear weapons increased, perceptions of nuclear weapons management risks decreased and perceptions of nuclear weapons utilities and benefits increased. A majority of respondents favored decreasing funding for: (1) developing and testing new nuclear weapons; (2) maintaining existing nuclear weapons, and (3) maintaining the ability to develop and improve nuclear weapons. Substantial support was found among all three groups for increasing funding for: (1) enhancing nuclear weapons safety; (2) training nuclear weapons personnel; (3) preventing nuclear proliferation; and (4) preventing nuclear terrorism. Most respondents considered nuclear weapons to be a persistent feature of the post-cold war security environment.

Instruments of war weapons and technologies that have changed history

CERN Document Server

Tucker, Spencer C

2015-01-01

In war, the weapons and technologies employed have direct effects on how battles are waged. When new weapons are introduced, they can dramatically alter the outcomes of warfare-and consequently change the course of history itself. This reference work provides a fascinating overview of the major weapon systems and military technologies that have had a major impact on world history. Addressing weapons as crude as the club used by primitive man to the high-tech weapons of today such as unmanned drones, Instruments of War: Weapons and Technologies That Have Changed History offers nearly 270 profusely illustrated entries that examine the key roles played by specific weapons and identify their success and failures. The book begins with an introductory essay that frames the subject matter of the work and discusses the history of weapons as a whole. The text is concise and accessible to general readers without extensive backgrounds in military history yet provides the detailed information necessary to convey the comp...

Macroeconomic influences on optimal asset allocation

OpenAIRE

Flavin, Thomas; Wickens, M.R.

2003-01-01

We develop a tactical asset allocation strategy that incorporates the effects of macroeconomic variables. The joint distribution of financial asset returns and the macroeconomic variables is modelled using a VAR with a multivariate GARCH (M-GARCH) error structure. As a result, the portfolio frontier is time varying and subject to contagion from the macroeconomic variable. Optimal asset allocation requires that this be taken into account. We illustrate how to do this using three ri...

Managing corporate assets to maximize value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubin, L.

1992-01-01

As the utility industry environment becomes more complex, pressures grow for managers to make more effective use of all their assets - including fuel, equipment, and personnel. Improving the management of assets leads to the delivery of greater value to ratepayers, stockholders, and society. EPRI is sponsoring a broad research program to help utilities effectively apply the tools needed in these changing business conditions, especially the latest in cost and quality management and asset management techniques

Intelligent tactical asset allocation support system

OpenAIRE

Hiemstra, Y.

1995-01-01

This paper presents an advanced support system for Tactical Asset Allocation. Asset allocation explains over 90% of portfolio performance (Brinson, Hood and Beebower, 1988). Tactical asset allocation adjusts a strategic portfolio on the basis of short term market outlooks. The system includes aprediction model that forecasts quarterly excess returns on the S and PSOO, an optimization model that adjusts a user-specified strategic portfolio on thebasis of the excess return forecast, and a compo...

Weapon container catalog. Volumes 1 & 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, L.A.; Higuera, M.C.

1998-02-01

The Weapon Container Catalog describes H-gear (shipping and storage containers, bomb hand trucks and the ancillary equipment required for loading) used for weapon programs and for special use containers. When completed, the catalog will contain five volumes. Volume 1 for enduring stockpile programs (B53, B61, B83, W62, W76, W78, W80, W84, W87, and W88) and Volume 2, Special Use Containers, are being released. The catalog is intended as a source of information for weapon program engineers and also provides historical information. The catalog also will be published on the SNL Internal Web and will undergo periodic updates.

Approaches of Improving University Assets Management Efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jingliang

2015-01-01

University assets management, as an important content of modern university management, is generally confronted with the issue of low efficiency. Currently, to address the problems exposed in university assets management and take appropriate modification measures is an urgent issue in front of Chinese university assets management sectors. In this…

Rule-Based Analytic Asset Management for Space Exploration Systems (RAMSES), Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Currently, the state-of-the-art in space asset tracking and information management is bar-coding with relational database support. To support NASA's need for...

Current approaches to assessing intangible assets

OpenAIRE

Урусова, Зінаїда Петрівна

2013-01-01

The article analyzes methods of assessing intangible assets in Ukraine as well as in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. Contemporary approaches to assessing intangible assets have been researched.

Power-electronic asset characteristics for HVDC-connected offshore grids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heising, C.; Meyer, D.; Bartelt, R. [Avasition GmbH, Dortmund (Germany); Koochack Zadeh, M.; Lebioda, T.J.; Jung, J. [TenneT Offshore GmbH, Bayreuth (Germany)

2012-07-01

Analysing offshore wind-farm applications as well as other converter-dominated grids, two key differences can be identified compared to conventional configurations: No relevant short-circuit power is available and no inertia is directly coupled to the AC grid. Within this paper, power-electronic asset characteristics for HVDC-connected offshore grids are presented which apply new principles allowing for better dynamic operation in the weak grids introduced. The capability is demonstrated using simulation results of an AC-multi-terminal system. (orig.)

Dynamic Asset Allocation with Stochastic Income and Interest Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk, Claus; Sørensen, Carsten

2010-01-01

We solve for optimal portfolios when interest rates and labor income are stochastic with the expected income growth being affine in the short-term interest rate in order to encompass business cycle variations in wages. Our calibration based on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data supports...

ACCOUNTING POLICIES APPLIED BY ENTITIES AND THE VALUE OF FIXED ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Partenie Dumbravă

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to present the accounting policies applied by medium taxpayers in Covasna county and analyse the factors of influence over choice of accounting policies related to tangible assets. The study contains an analysis of answers given by respondents to the questionnaire sent, with regard to: evaluation bases, revaluation of the tangible assets of the entities, used amortization methods and the depreciable value. The results obtained among other, show that the greatest effect on accounting policy choices have influence factor no. 7 - The tangible assets value in the financial statements present the true and fair view of them.

The Accounting Practices of Heritage Assets

OpenAIRE

Hassan, Nor Laili; Saad, Natrah; Ahmad, Halimah Nasibah; Salleh, Md. Suhaimi Md.; Ismail, Mohamad Sharofi

2016-01-01

Accrual-based accounting is introduced to the government agencies with the intention to hold prudent fiscal management and improve the efficiency of financial management and accounting of the Malaysian Government. For that purpose, Malaysian Public Sector Accounting Standards (MPSAS) was introduced as a main reference in applying the accrual-based accounting. MPSAS 17 which deals with heritage assets, will take effect in 2017. The study intended to discover how do overseas’ museums report the...

On the management and operation of enterprises intangible asset

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yu; Wang, Hong

2011-10-01

Since entering the knowledge economy, the management of intangible assets becomes an important part of manage, this article discusses the problem of management on intangible assets, the properties of intangible assets, and the channels of management and operation on intangible assets, and stressed the important role of intangible assets in the development and innovation of the enterprise.

Possible steps on the road to a nuclear-weapon-free Europe: The plan for the denuclearization of Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorbulin, V.; Shevtsov, A.

1998-01-01

In connection with the plans for NATO expansion in Eastern Europe, the issue of defining the role of nuclear weapons in Europe has become exceptionally acute. A 'hidden' nuclear proliferation in Europe arising from NATO expansion would unambiguously conflict with the spirit of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). At the same time the volume of possible military tasks of battlefield nuclear weapons has drastically shrunk in the pos-Cold War period. As a solution to the problems that have arisen, three steps to a nuclear-weapon-free Europe are proposed: obtain commitments from the USA, Great Britain and France not to expand the base areas of battlefield nuclear weapons; create a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central and East Europe; eliminate battlefield nuclear weapons in Europe

Canadians, nuclear weapons, and the Cold War security dilemma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eaton, M.A.

2007-01-01

This dissertation provides a history of Canadian ideas about nuclear weapons from the late 1950s until the end of the Trudeau era in 1984. Throughout this period, Canadians reacted to the insecurity they felt in the world around them by expressing many conflicting, often irreconcilable views about a range of nuclear weapon issues, including Canada's acquisition of nuclear warheads in 1963, the U.S. ABM program in the 1960s and early 1970s, the role of Canadian nuclear technology in the development of India's first nuclear explosion, and the Trudeau government's decision to allow the U.S. military to test cruise missiles in northern Canada The dissertation concludes with an examination of the emergence of a broadly-based, increasingly mainstream and influential anti-nuclear movement in the early 1980s, the clearest manifestation of the insecurity Canadians experienced at the time. .The nuclear debates examined in this dissertation reveal that Canadians were divided over nuclear weapons, nuclear strategy, the arms race, proliferation, and arms control and disarmament. In particular, they came to fundamentally different conclusions about how Canada's nuclear weapon policies, and its support for the nuclear policies of its alliances, would contribute to international stability and order. Some believed that their security rested on the maintenance of a strong Western nuclear deterrent and supported Canada contributing to its credibility; others believed that the constant modernisation of nuclear arsenals fuelled by the superpower arms race posed a serious threat to their security. This conceptual dilemma-the security through nuclear strength argument versus the fear that the quest for security through quantitative and qualitative improvements of nuclear stockpiles increased the likelihood of nuclear war-left Canadians divided over the value and utility of nuclear weapons and the strategies developed around them. At the same time, Canadians' ideas about nuclear weapons

Canadians, nuclear weapons, and the Cold War security dilemma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eaton, M.A

2007-07-01

This dissertation provides a history of Canadian ideas about nuclear weapons from the late 1950s until the end of the Trudeau era in 1984. Throughout this period, Canadians reacted to the insecurity they felt in the world around them by expressing many conflicting, often irreconcilable views about a range of nuclear weapon issues, including Canada's acquisition of nuclear warheads in 1963, the U.S. ABM program in the 1960s and early 1970s, the role of Canadian nuclear technology in the development of India's first nuclear explosion, and the Trudeau government's decision to allow the U.S. military to test cruise missiles in northern Canada The dissertation concludes with an examination of the emergence of a broadly-based, increasingly mainstream and influential anti-nuclear movement in the early 1980s, the clearest manifestation of the insecurity Canadians experienced at the time. .The nuclear debates examined in this dissertation reveal that Canadians were divided over nuclear weapons, nuclear strategy, the arms race, proliferation, and arms control and disarmament. In particular, they came to fundamentally different conclusions about how Canada's nuclear weapon policies, and its support for the nuclear policies of its alliances, would contribute to international stability and order. Some believed that their security rested on the maintenance of a strong Western nuclear deterrent and supported Canada contributing to its credibility; others believed that the constant modernisation of nuclear arsenals fuelled by the superpower arms race posed a serious threat to their security. This conceptual dilemma-the security through nuclear strength argument versus the fear that the quest for security through quantitative and qualitative improvements of nuclear stockpiles increased the likelihood of nuclear war-left Canadians divided over the value and utility of nuclear weapons and the strategies developed around them. At the same time, Canadians

Cost approach of health care entity intangible asset valuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Robert F

2012-01-01

In the valuation synthesis and conclusion process, the analyst should consider the following question: Does the selected valuation approach(es) and method(s) accomplish the analyst's assignment? Also, does the selected valuation approach and method actually quantify the desired objective of the intangible asset analysis? The analyst should also consider if the selected valuation approach and method analyzes the appropriate bundle of legal rights. The analyst should consider if there were sufficient empirical data available to perform the selected valuation approach and method. The valuation synthesis should consider if there were sufficient data available to make the analyst comfortable with the value conclusion. The valuation analyst should consider if the selected approach and method will be understandable to the intended audience. In the valuation synthesis and conclusion, the analyst should also consider which approaches and methods deserve the greatest consideration with respect to the intangible asset's RUL. The intangible asset RUL is a consideration of each valuation approach. In the income approach, the RUL may affect the projection period for the intangible asset income subject to either yield capitalization or direct capitalization. In the cost approach, the RUL may affect the total amount of obsolescence, if any, from the estimate cost measure (that is, the intangible reproduction cost new or replacement cost new). In the market approach, the RUL may effect the selection, rejection, and/or adjustment of the comparable or guideline intangible asset sale and license transactional data. The experienced valuation analyst will use professional judgment to weight the various value indications to conclude a final intangible asset value, based on: The analyst's confidence in the quantity and quality of available data; The analyst's level of due diligence performed on that data; The relevance of the valuation method to the intangible asset life cycle stage and

Developing Asset Life Cycle Management capabilities through the implementation of Asset Life Cycle Plans – an Action Research project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruitenburg, Richard; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan

2017-01-01

Asset Life Cycle Management is a strategic approach to managing physical assets over their complete life cycle. However, the literature and the recent ISO 55,000 standard do not offer guidance as to how to develop such an approach. This paper investigates the main capabilities for Asset Life Cycle

The sacred weapon: bow and arrow combat in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The following article presents the development of the bow and arrow, and its important role in the history of Iran. The bow always played an important role not only on the battlefield, but also in hunting. It was also considered as a sacred weapon and additionally a royal symbol. Bow and arrow were considered as a superior weapon in comparison with other types of weapons because one could fight with them at a safer distance as one offered by swords, maces and axes. The first part of the article presents a short history of the bow in Iran. Based on historical Persian manuscripts, the next part explains the structure of the composite bow and the materials used for making it. The third part describes some types of bows based on the material, place of production, the usage, and bow type based on the length of the bow and the arrows. The following part talks about different types of arrows based on morphology of arrowheads, the type of plume/feather, the material of the shaft, the material of the arrowhead, the length of arrows, the target of arrows, the place of production of arrowheads and terms for describing its different features of an arrowhead. Then, the article talks about different types of thumb rings, bowstrings, quivers and bow cases and arrow guides for shooting short arrows. The next part discusses different principles of archery as explained in Persian manuscripts. Finally the article describes different archery targets.

Assets and Educational Achievement: Theory and Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, William; Sherraden, Michael

2013-01-01

This special issue of Economics of Education Review explores the role of savings and asset holding in post-secondary educational achievement. Most college success research has focused on income rather than assets as a predictor, and most college financing policy has focused on tuition support and educational debt, rather than asset accumulation.…

DEPRECIATION AS THE SOURCE OF REPLENISHMENT OF ENTERPRISE CURRENT ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KAFKA Sofiіa

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Along with the classical approach to understanding the meaning of such economic category as depreciation, we have considered the issues if the amortization is the source of the fixed assets renewal. For the purposes of the study we used methods of analysis and synthesis, systematic approach - to study the processes of working capital enterprises, logical method and simulation - to systematize information security of these processes. Results of investigations to determine the characteristics of the economic substance of depreciation established: depreciation is a compensation of working capital, which at one time was removed from circulation for the purchase of fixed assets, so you cannot treat depreciation as a source of investment in fixed assets. The source of the formation of the working capital of own funds is certainly profits and depreciation - only if profitable economic activity. So when it comes to sources of funding something, including the acquisition (creation of fixed assets, only the working capital can be the source that’s why it is important to use them efficiently and the conditions of the limited resources. The practical significance is to develop scientifically based recommendations on formation and sources of working capital enterprises and reproduction of fixed assets, which provide methodological support to forming the depreciation policy of enterprises

Vulnerability of populations and the urban health care systems to nuclear weapon attack – examples from four American cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dallas Cham E

2007-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The threat posed by the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD within the United States has grown significantly in recent years, focusing attention on the medical and public health disaster capabilities of the nation in a large scale crisis. While the hundreds of thousands or millions of casualties resulting from a nuclear weapon would, in and of itself, overwhelm our current medical response capabilities, the response dilemma is further exacerbated in that these resources themselves would be significantly at risk. There are many limitations on the resources needed for mass casualty management, such as access to sufficient hospital beds including specialized beds for burn victims, respiration and supportive therapy, pharmaceutical intervention, and mass decontamination. Results The effects of 20 kiloton and 550 kiloton nuclear detonations on high priority target cities are presented for New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Atlanta. Thermal, blast and radiation effects are described, and affected populations are calculated using 2000 block level census data. Weapons of 100 Kts and up are primarily incendiary or radiation weapons, able to cause burns and start fires at distances greater than they can significantly damage buildings, and to poison populations through radiation injuries well downwind in the case of surface detonations. With weapons below 100 Kts, blast effects tend to be stronger than primary thermal effects from surface bursts. From the point of view of medical casualty treatment and administrative response, there is an ominous pattern where these fatalities and casualties geographically fall in relation to the location of hospital and administrative facilities. It is demonstrated that a staggering number of the main hospitals, trauma centers, and other medical assets are likely to be in the fatality plume, rendering them essentially inoperable in a crisis. Conclusion Among the consequences of this

Weapons of mass destruction, WMD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogel, H.

2007-01-01

Purpose: Since the invasion into Iraq in 2003, weapons of mass destruction (WMD), have come to general notice; they include today chemical, biological, and atomic/nuclear weapons, (CW, BW, and AW). Radiological findings shall be described. Material and methods: X-ray findings of victims of WMD are described. From CW, own observations are reported. Examples of (possible) X-ray findings of victims of BW are described. AW may induce radiation disease. Results: Exposure to sulfur-lost induces severe bronchitis; if the radiograph shows pulmonary infiltrations, the prognosis is bad; a late consequence maybe bronchiectasis. BW can be based on bacteria, virus or toxins. An approach of the X-ray findings for BW victims is based on the assumption that the disease induced by BW has the same (or a similar) clinic and radiology as that induced by the original microorganism or by the unchanged toxism. This approximation may have its limits, if the germ or toxin has been modified. In survivors of AW, the radiology is probably that of victims of thermal radiation and blast. Conclusion: WMD seem to be a real or a possible threat. They can be used in war, in terrorist attacks, in crime, and in action of secret services. In case that WMD are employed, X-ray diagnostic will be used to evaluate the prognosis (triage) and the risk of infection

Weapons of mass destruction, WMD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogel, H. [Asklepios Klinik St. Georg, Roentgenabteilung, Lohmuehlenstrasse 5, D-20099 Hamburg (Germany)], E-mail: Hermann.vogel@ak-stgeorg.lbk-hh.de

2007-08-15

Purpose: Since the invasion into Iraq in 2003, weapons of mass destruction (WMD), have come to general notice; they include today chemical, biological, and atomic/nuclear weapons, (CW, BW, and AW). Radiological findings shall be described. Material and methods: X-ray findings of victims of WMD are described. From CW, own observations are reported. Examples of (possible) X-ray findings of victims of BW are described. AW may induce radiation disease. Results: Exposure to sulfur-lost induces severe bronchitis; if the radiograph shows pulmonary infiltrations, the prognosis is bad; a late consequence maybe bronchiectasis. BW can be based on bacteria, virus or toxins. An approach of the X-ray findings for BW victims is based on the assumption that the disease induced by BW has the same (or a similar) clinic and radiology as that induced by the original microorganism or by the unchanged toxism. This approximation may have its limits, if the germ or toxin has been modified. In survivors of AW, the radiology is probably that of victims of thermal radiation and blast. Conclusion: WMD seem to be a real or a possible threat. They can be used in war, in terrorist attacks, in crime, and in action of secret services. In case that WMD are employed, X-ray diagnostic will be used to evaluate the prognosis (triage) and the risk of infection.

Operational management of offshore energy assets

Science.gov (United States)

Kolios, A. J.; Martinez Luengo, M.

2016-02-01

Energy assets and especially those deployed offshore are subject to a variety of harsh operational and environmental conditions which lead to deterioration of their performance and structural capacity over time. The aim of reduction of CAPEX in new installations shifts focus to operational management to monitor and assess performance of critical assets ensuring their fitness for service throughout their service life and also to provide appropriate and effective information towards requalification or other end of life scenarios, optimizing the OPEX. Over the last decades, the offshore oil & gas industry has developed and applied various approaches in operational management of assets through Structural Health and Condition Monitoring (SHM/CM) systems which can be, at a certain level, transferable to offshore renewable installations. This paper aims to highlight the key differences between offshore oil & gas and renewable energy assets from a structural integrity and reliability perspective, provide a comprehensive overview of different approaches that are available and applicable, and distinguish the benefits of such systems in the efficient operation of offshore energy assets.

Sinopec Goes After Oil Assets Worldwide

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2010-01-01

@@ US$2.45b deal to gain reserves of 393m barrels of crude equivalent China's enterprises eye global expansion via mergers and acquisitions in 2010 as the country's economic power increases.China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec),Asia's largest oil refiner, plans to purchase the entire oil and gas assets in the Argentinean arm of US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Collaborative design of Open Educational Practices: An Assets based approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Helen Miller

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines a collaborative approach to the design of open educational resources (OER with community stakeholders so they can be shared with other community practitioners openly, online and repurposed for other contexts. We view curriculum not as something that educationalists provide but rather something that emerges as learners engage with an educational context. We draw on a Project consisting of a partnership between five European Institutions of Higher Education and a range of community stakeholder groups. The partnership will develop a suite of OER for community workers who are implementing assets based approaches in different contexts. We argue that these approaches are negotiated in that one cannot decide how they might operate in a given context without engaging in deliberative discussion. The challenge for us as open education practitioners is how to turn those deliberations into OER and to highlight the important pedagogical aspect of the design process.

Intangible assets linked to consumers: Acknowledgement and evaluation in the business combination detached from Goodwill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spasić Dejan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The development of International Financial Reporting Standards causes new challenges for accounting as a profession. One of those challenges reefers to business combinations treatment in accounting and the related possibility of recognizing intangible assets detached from goodwill. As it usually represents internally generated intangible assets to which the recognition principle cannot be applied according to IAS 38, the author focuses on conditions under which it can be recognized in financial reports of the acquisitor in business combination, according to IFRS 3. Apart from that, the significant attention is dedicated to the methods for determining the fair value of recognizable intangible assets. As the application of market-based methods, the focus in this paper is on income-based methods and their applicability for consumer-related intangible assets valuation. Limitations in using methods for intangible assets valuation both in stable and crisis conditions are presented at the end of this paper.

Dismantlement and destruction of chemical, nuclear and conventional weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulte, N.T.

1997-01-01

The safe destruction and dismantling of chemical, nuclear and conventional weapons is of fundamental importance to the security of all countries represented in this volume. Expertise in the field is not confined to one country or organisation: all can benefit from each other. There is an ever present danger of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: approximately two dozen countries have ongoing programmes to develop or acquire such weapons, and many are also gaining the capability to build air-surface delivery systems. But much can be done to prevent proliferation by reducing leakage of materials and know-how and by solving the problems of the destruction of surplus weapons systems, which has now come to be a key issue. In 13 sessions of the workshop attention was paid to (1) Dismantlement and Destruction of Chemical, Nuclear and Conventional Weapons; (2) Status of Implementation of Arms Control Treaties and Voluntary Commitments; (3) National Perspectives on Cooperation in Disarmament; (4) Stocktaking of National and Bilateral Disposal/Destruction Programmes: Chemical Weapons; (5) Stocktaking of National and Bilateral Disposal/Destruction Programmes: Nuclear Weapons; (6) Stocktaking of National and Bilateral Disposal/Destruction Programmes: Conventional Weapons. Session; (7) Experience with Currently Employed Chemical Destruction Technologies; (8) Alternative Chemical Destruction Technologies; (9) Deactivation, Dismantlement and Destruction of Delivery Systems and Infrastructure for Nuclear Weapons; (10) Storage, Safeguarding and Disposition of Fissile Materials; (11) Technologies for Conversion and Civil Use of Demilitarized Materials; (12) International Organizations; and (13) Environmental Challenges Posed by Chemical and Nuclear Disarmament

Strategies for denaturing the weapons-grade plutonium stockpile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buckner, M.R.; Parks, P.B.

1992-10-01

In the next few years, approximately 50 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium and 150 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) may be removed from nuclear weapons in the US and declared excess. These materials represent a significant energy resource that could substantially contribute to our national energy requirements. HEU can be used as fuel in naval reactors, or diluted with depleted uranium for use as fuel in commercial reactors. This paper proposes to use the weapons-grade plutonium as fuel in light water reactors. The first such reactor would demonstrate the dual objectives of producing electrical power and denaturing the plutonium to prevent use in nuclear weapons

Was Bernanke right? Targeting asset prices may not be a good idea after all

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Assenza, T.; Berardi, M.; Delli Gatti, D.

2011-01-01

Should the central bank prevent "excessive" asset price dynamics or should it wait until the boom spontaneously turns into a crash and intervene only afterwards? The debate over this issue goes back at least to the exchange between Bernanke-Gertler (BG) and Cecchetti but has not settled yet. In

APPROACHES CONCERNING ACCOUNTING OF INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe MOROSAN

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Given the importance of intangible assets in the company the paper aims to establish criteria for recognizing and measuring these assets through which the company can not only reflect the true value and its carrying amount. The main objective is to formulate a logical definition of intangible assets in accounting terms that allows their recognition in financial reporting to help build an accurate image of the company. It will demonstrate how important intangible assets for a successful company are and how they can help develop the economy and especially the Romanian economy. The secondary objectives are: - Setting limits in the valuation of intellectual capital from the point of view of internal control and external - Create a new post in the balance sheet to include this related value

Low-cost asset tracking using location-aware camera phones

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, David; Tsai, Sam; Kim, Kyu-Han; Hsu, Cheng-Hsin; Singh, Jatinder Pal; Girod, Bernd

2010-08-01

Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date inventory of one's assets is a labor-intensive, tedious, and costly operation. To ease this difficult but important task, we design and implement a mobile asset tracking system for automatically generating an inventory by snapping photos of the assets with a smartphone. Since smartphones are becoming ubiquitous, construction and deployment of our inventory management solution is simple and costeffective. Automatic asset recognition is achieved by first segmenting individual assets out of the query photo and then performing bag-of-visual-features (BoVF) image matching on the segmented regions. The smartphone's sensor readings, such as digital compass and accelerometer measurements, can be used to determine the location of each asset, and this location information is stored in the inventory for each recognized asset. As a special case study, we demonstrate a mobile book tracking system, where users snap photos of books stacked on bookshelves to generate a location-aware book inventory. It is shown that segmenting the book spines is very important for accurate feature-based image matching into a database of book spines. Segmentation also provides the exact orientation of each book spine, so more discriminative upright local features can be employed for improved recognition. This system's mobile client has been implemented for smartphones running the Symbian or Android operating systems. The client enables a user to snap a picture of a bookshelf and to subsequently view the recognized spines in the smartphone's viewfinder. Two different pose estimates, one from BoVF geometric matching and the other from segmentation boundaries, are both utilized to accurately draw the boundary of each spine in the viewfinder for easy visualization. The BoVF representation also allows matching each photo of a bookshelf rack against a photo of the entire bookshelf, and the resulting feature matches are used in conjunction with the smartphone

Is a nuclear weapon-free world desirable?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tertrais, Bruno

2009-01-01

In this article, the author shows that a nuclear weapon-free world would probably be more dangerous than today's world because benefits of the existence of nuclear weapons are probably more important that the risks related to their existence. He outlines that nuclear deterrence has been very efficient for these last 65 years. He states that the disappearance of nuclear weapons could be envisaged only after a large transformation of safety conditions, but that such transformations are actually not at all under way. It would indeed require peaceful and democratic world governance

Investment in Transportation Assets : Briefing Paper

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-21

Highways, streets, railroad lines, transit systems, ports, and other transportation fixed assets enable the movement of people and goods. Investment in transportation fixed assets helps build and maintain these critical resources. The pattern of tran...

Risk and return in oilfield asset holdings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kretzschmar, Gavin L.; Kirchner, Axel; Reusch, Hans

2008-01-01

Convention suggests that emerging market investment should provide commensurately lower risk or higher returns than comparable assets in developed countries. This study demonstrates that emerging markets contain regulatory specificities that challenge asset valuation model convergence and potentially invert risk return convention. 292 oilfield assets are used to provide evidence that, under upward oil prices, emerging markets are characterized by progressive state participation in oilfield cash flows. Specifically, this work advances the low oil price paradigm of prior oil and gas asset valuation studies and provides evidence that emerging market state participation terms limit the corporate value of globalization for the sector. (author)

Risk and return in oilfield asset holdings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kretzschmar, Gavin L.; Kirchner, Axel; Reusch, Hans [University of Edinburgh, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Management School (United Kingdom)

2008-11-15

Convention suggests that emerging market investment should provide commensurately lower risk or higher returns than comparable assets in developed countries. This study demonstrates that emerging markets contain regulatory specificities that challenge asset valuation model convergence and potentially invert risk return convention. 292 oilfield assets are used to provide evidence that, under upward oil prices, emerging markets are characterized by progressive state participation in oilfield cash flows. Specifically, this work advances the low oil price paradigm of prior oil and gas asset valuation studies and provides evidence that emerging market state participation terms limit the corporate value of globalization for the sector. (author)

Visual Decision Support Tool for Supporting Asset ...

Science.gov (United States)

Abstract:Managing urban water infrastructures faces the challenge of jointly dealing with assets of diverse types, useful life, cost, ages and condition. Service quality and sustainability require sound long-term planning, well aligned with tactical and operational planning and management. In summary, the objective of an integrated approach to infrastructure asset management is to assist utilities answer the following questions:•Who are we at present?•What service do we deliver?•What do we own?•Where do we want to be in the long-term?•How do we get there?The AWARE-P approach (www.aware-p.org) offers a coherent methodological framework and a valuable portfolio of software tools. It is designed to assist water supply and wastewater utility decision-makers in their analyses and planning processes. It is based on a Plan-Do-Check-Act process and is in accordance with the key principles of the International Standards Organization (ISO) 55000 standards on asset management. It is compatible with, and complementary to WERF’s SIMPLE framework. The software assists in strategic, tactical, and operational planning, through a non-intrusive, web-based, collaborative environment where objectives and metrics drive IAM planning. It is aimed at industry professionals and managers, as well as at the consultants and technical experts that support them. It is easy to use and maximizes the value of information from multiple existing data sources, both in da

Implementing SFAS No 121: Accounting for Impaired Assets.

Science.gov (United States)

Luecke, R W; Meeting, D T; Stotzer, W G

1996-10-01

In March 1995, FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 121: "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to be Disposed Of." It establishes accounting standards for assets whose carrying costs have been overstated due to a variety of circumstances that have reduced the value of the assets. Healthcare financial managers should fully understand the statement's implications for their organizations.

The Future of Asset Management for Human Space Exploration: Supply Classification and an Integrated Database

Science.gov (United States)

Shull, Sarah A.; Gralla, Erica L.; deWeck, Olivier L.; Shishko, Robert

2006-01-01

One of the major logistical challenges in human space exploration is asset management. This paper presents observations on the practice of asset management in support of human space flight to date and discusses a functional-based supply classification and a framework for an integrated database that could be used to improve asset management and logistics for human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Electrical actuators in asset management systems; Elektrische Stellantriebe in Asset-Management-Systemen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herbstritt, Michael [AUMA Riester GmbH und Co. KG, Muellheim (Germany)

2010-06-15

The terms ''asset management'' and ''life-cycle management'' are nowadays popularly used to designate modern plant management. In the case of complex systems such as process-engineering plants, time and effort are necessary before an idea can be translated into data clear to all the persons involved, however. A key role is played in this context by NAMUR. This article discusses the potential benefits of asset management for electrical actuators and similar field devices and the part played by the NAMUR recommendations. (orig.)

Teaching corner: child family health international : the ethics of asset-based global health education programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Evert, Jessica

2015-03-01

Child Family Health International (CFHI) is a U.S.-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (NGO) that has more than 25 global health education programs in seven countries annually serving more than 600 interprofessional undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate participants in programs geared toward individual students and university partners. Recognized by Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), CFHI utilizes an asset-based community engagement model to ensure that CFHI's programs challenge, rather than reinforce, historical power imbalances between the "Global North" and "Global South." CFHI's programs are predicated on ethical principles including reciprocity, sustainability, humility, transparency, nonmaleficence, respect for persons, and social justice.

Asset liquidity, corporate investment, and endogenous financing costs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flor, Christian Riis; Hirth, Stefan

2013-01-01

We analyze how the liquidity of real and financial assets affects corporate investment. The trade-off between liquidation costs and underinvestment costs implies that low-liquidity firms exhibit negative investment sensitivities to liquid funds, whereas high-liquidity firms have positive sensitiv......We analyze how the liquidity of real and financial assets affects corporate investment. The trade-off between liquidation costs and underinvestment costs implies that low-liquidity firms exhibit negative investment sensitivities to liquid funds, whereas high-liquidity firms have positive...... sensitivities. If real assets are not divisible in liquidation, firms with high financial liquidity optimally avoid external financing and instead cut new investment. If real assets are divisible, firms use external financing, which implies a lower sensitivity. In addition, asset redeployability decreases...... the investment sensitivity. Our findings demonstrate that asset liquidity is an important determinant of corporate investment....

The risk of stranded assets for utilities in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schroeder, W.

1998-01-01

The problems of dealing with stranded assets in Canada and the United States were discussed. Compared to the United States, the risk associated with stranded assets for utilities in Canada was considered to be relatively low because of the following factors: (1) low variable cost, (2) isolation, (3) lack of transmission interconnection capacity, (4) lack of tight synchronization in North America, (5) the likelihood of an increase in natural gas prices, (6) the absence of jurisdictional disputes such as FERC versus the states, (7) social considerations, (8) the learning curve, (9) politics, (10) weak balance sheets, (11) relatively low electricity prices, (12) the weak Canadian dollar, and (13) the possibility of refinancing at lower interest rates. Ontario Hydro, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Power are the three Canadian utilities that may have stranded costs. For Ontario Hydro and New Brunswick Power the stranded costs would be related to nuclear generator problems, whereas for Nova Scotia Power, the stranded costs would be related to the thermal generating base, the threat from Sable Island Gas and the changing tax structure of the utility. Some other reasons why stranded assets could be created in Canada would include low variable costs and high fixed costs, over capacity of at least 30 per cent in generation, limited domestic energy growth, competitive threat from gas, reliability and safety of nuclear plants, and technology change. Five factors in terms of which stranded assets can be expressed are: (1) variable cost definition, (2) total cost definition, (3) operating profit definition, (4) wide geographic definition, and (5) free market definition. In calculating stranded assets, the number of years over which the assets are recovered and the discount rate are considered to be key factors. 26 tabs

CONSIDERATION REGARDING CURRENT ASSETS IN THE CONSTRUCTION ENTITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Adriana COJOCARU (ALIONESCU

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Accounting for current assets mainly aims to obtain useful information on the management of their best in order to make management decisions. Counting efficiency of these assets, their importance, provides improved performance of the entity. In this paper we want to study the degree of implementation of policies and accounting treatments on the current assets in the specific construction economic entities, the problems of implementation and thus better addressing their theoretical and procedural to improve the information provided by financial statements. Due to the importance of proper conduct of business owned entities, accounting current assets should result in optimal and efficient control of current assets.

24 CFR 990.290 - Compliance with asset management requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Compliance with asset management... URBAN DEVELOPMENT THE PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING FUND PROGRAM Asset Management § 990.290 Compliance with asset management requirements. (a) A PHA is considered in compliance with asset management requirements...

Financial Super-Markets: Size Matters for Asset Trade.

OpenAIRE

Philippe Martin and Hélène Rey.

2000-01-01

This paper presents a new theoretical framework to analyze financial markets in an international context. We build a two-country macroeconomic model in which agents are risk averse, assets are imperfect substitutes, the number of financial assets is endogenous, and cross-border asset trade entails transaction costs. We show that demand effects have important implications for the link between market size, asset prices and financial market development. These effects are consistent with the exis...

Islamic State and Chemical Weapons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lukáš Rafay

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article deals with topic of Islamic State and chemical weapons. The issue is analysed in three dimensions: origin of used chemical weapons and possibility of independent production; known chemical attacks and tactical regularities in their execution; and traits of future chemical terrorist attacks. By providing a thorough examination of the problem, the article aims at predicting the future development of the group’s chemical program as well as describing any prospective chemical terrorist attacks in Europe

EVALUATING THE LIFE CYCLE COSTS OF PLANT ASSETS – A MULTIDIMENSIONAL VIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Gram

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This paper shows the results of the task group "Asset life cycle management" of the AustrianScientific Maintenance and Asset Management Association (ÖVIA. One purpose of the researchactivities is to create a generic life cycle model for physical assets which includes all costs in everyphase of the asset life cycle. The first step is a literature review determining the most established lifecycle cost models. This is the input for discussing the completeness of such frameworks with theparticipating industrial companies. A general model is deducted from existing approaches and thedetermined costs are evaluated with respect to priority and practical relevance. The result of theevaluation shows which costs are taken into account for investment decisions. Another outcome ofthe study is the verification of importance of the proposed costs for industrial companies, especiallyfor the process industry. The derived life cycle cost framework is the basis for developing a calculationtool and subsequently, for further research in the flied of uncertainty-based methodologies forlife cycle cost analyzing of physical plant assets.

The complexity classification of intangible assets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula-Angela Vidrascu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to solve the complex problems of arising in the definition and delimitation of the intangible assets. Over time the technology develops and resizes continuously and along with it redefine in a very short time the theoretical and practical concepts of the economy. From the economic point of view an asset can be defined as a resource controlled by the enterprise as a result of past transactions or investments, and which is expected to generate future economic benefits. Intangible assets are the most important economic resources of an entity because in terms of their analysis of the technical, material and financial ñ of her evolution over time and the ability of continuous development. The main purpose of this article is to analyse the research carried out for the purposes of the definition and delimitation of intangible assets.