Blockchain Papers

S Muttukrishna, PG Knight, NP Groome, CWG Redman · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Jayanth N. Kudva, Kari Appa, Christopher A. Martin, A. P. Jardine · 16 authors

The concept of an adaptive aircraft wing, i.e., whose shape parameters such as camber, span-wise twist, and thickness can be varied to optimize the wing shape for various flight conditions, has been extensively studied by numerous researchers [1-8]. While the aerodynamic benefits (in terms of increased lift/drag ratios, improved maneuverability, and delayed flow separation) have been analytically and experimentally established, the complexity and weight penalty of the designs and actuation mechanisms have limited their practical implementation. Recent developments in sensors and actuators using materials could potentially alleviate the shortcomings of prior designs, leading the way to a more practical smart adaptive wing which responds to changes in flight and environmental conditions by optimally modifying its shape. This paper presents the results of recent work conducted under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract entitled Structures and Materials Development - Smart Wing. In particular, development and testing of the wing wind tunnel model are presented. Limitations and potential benefits of adaptive wing designs are also discussed, along with recommendations for future work required to develop an operational adaptive wing.

Thomas P. Weil

Since public officials in the United States may lack the courage and political will to significantly raise payroll taxes or the contain Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, Americans can anticipate that; (a) future generations increasingly will pay for these entitlements; (b) additional cutbacks to providers in Medicare, Medicaid and health maintenance organization reimbursement will hasten the current thrust of hospitals, physicians and insurers in forming huge health networks with their powerful managed care plans; and, (c) many of these new alliances will function as virtual monopolies--eventually resulting in the public proposing that state health services commissions be established. This article then suggests that future modifications in how the United States health delivery system be organized and financed preferably should be along the lines of the German multi-player, multi-tier, self-governing, decentralized, quasi-private, quasi-public model; and, also patterned after experiences of the State of Arizona's Medicaid program. It concludes that what America needs most is a hybrid of the European global budgetary targets to constrain total health expenditures, and the competitive managed care concept to curtail use patterns and to enhance quality.

E. Gauthier, J.-Y. Le Boudec, Philippe Oechslin

We present a protocol for controlling a shared ATM multicast tree supporting many-to-many communication. The protocol supports one or several ATM virtual channel connections (VCCs) of the many-to-many type. The number of VCCs is independent of the number of endpoints. The protocol guarantees that there is no interleaving on any VCC of the tree. The protocol also guarantees that the traffic contract associated with the VCCs is respected, thus making it possible to use ordinary VCCs of the constant bit rate (CBR), variable bit rate (VBR), or unspecified bit rate (UBR) class. No resequencing server or cell buffering inside the network is required, and all cell forwarding is performed at the ATM layer. We describe the protocol both informally and formally.

グレゴリー D. グレイ, Gregory D. Gray

In 1984, slightly more than a decade ago, neo-liberal economic theory under the guise of 'free market' reform was ushered into New Zealand for the first time in the country's history by the ruling Labor Government. The initiation of monetary reform policies sent shock waves throughout the nation. The ensuing fiscal reforms changed the operating patterns of both public and private organizations as well as the lives of individual citizens. This paper examines the political and economic environment which preceded the enactment of the broad sweeping educational reforms. The purpose of this paper is to review policy papers and government documents that affected educational reform and restructuring of the tertiary educational system. Although primarily focusing on tertiary educational change, this thesis will also summarize educational policy changes that premeated compulsory education. As a primary service organization of the state, education was caught up in the tide of market reforms ushered in by the Treasury Department. The initiation of monetary policy changes sent shock waves throughout the nation as it drastically altered the 'cradle to grave' welfare philosophy. Restructuring the educational bureaucracy and establishing greater accountability were the general aim of the decentralization process. The 1989 Education Act stream-lined the educational bureaucracy by dismantling the Department of Education and its ten regional offices. In its place, the Ministry of Education was established with the main function as a policy advisor to the government. This structural change coincided with the tertiary education functions being transferred to four new agencies: 1). The Ministry of Education, 2). The New Zealand Qualifications Authority, 3). The Educational and Training Support Agency, 4). The Careers Service. Tertiary Education in New Zealand was modified in greater detail following the passage of the Education Act of 1990. This act extended the changes initiated with the Education Act of 1989. It essentially established tertiary educational institutions as autonomous bodies and placed polytechnics on the same bureaucratic structure as universities. More importantly, this new educational law of 1990 transferred the technical and skilled training standards to the Ministry of Education. The free market economic reforms initiated in the mid-80's have influenced educational restructuring by expecting more accountability on the part of the educational institution and greater choice on the part of the student consumer. Recent tertiary education reforms highlight the delicate balance between professional and technical education and the needs of the state as well as the rights of the students.

Reinhard Busse, Friedrich Wilhelm Schwartz

Through the recent National Health Insurance Act (NHIA), the Philippines have committed themselves to introducing a social health insurance with universal coverage within 15 years. Germany was the first country to introduce a social health insurance system more than 100 years ago. Its system is based on the principles of corporatism, federalism and a mandate for equity. Based on a long-term German experience with equity, quality, cost and efficiency issues, the Philippines' NHIA is analysed concerning the entitlement to benefits and the benefit package, the organization of the health insurance programme, health insurance financing, and provider payment mechanisms. It is suggested that the Philippines could profit from including preventive and promotive services as well as pharmaceuticals in the benefits package. The organization of the health insurance system could be decentralized using the 13 regions as its principal units. To achieve financial equity between regions and health funds, a contribution compensation scheme is proposed. To prevent over-utilization in over-served areas and to promote utilization in under-served areas, a relative value scale for fee-for-service payments seem advisable.

James M. Boughton

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) exercise at the IMF evolved during the 1980s, partly in response to demands by policymakers in national finance ministries for objective and internationally comparable projections and policy scenarios. The exercise had begun as a staff initiative, encouraged by the Managing Director (Johannes Witteveen). Gradually, the Executive Board, the Interim Committee, the Group of Seven, and others came to view the discussion of the WEO documents as an important element in their efforts to keep abreast of world economic developments and prospects. Direct and indirect feedback from those discussions informed the staff as to how the exercise should be improved. Driven by this policy relevance, the WEO evolved from a decentralized project that was only haphazardly model-based into a more rigorous and coordinated exercise.

Gregory Schufreider

302 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 35:2 APRIL ~997 William A. Frank and Allan B. Wolter. DunsScotus,Metaphysician.West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1995. Pp. ix + 224. Cloth, $28.95. Paper, $14.95. Books such as this are not easy to write. I know, because I have written one, and for the same series. In fact, my book on Anselm is advertised on the back of the paperback edition of the work under review. I mention this neither as a plug nor to reveal from the start any possible conflict of interest, but to make it clear that I am not an expert in Duns Scotus, and that this makes me an ideal reviewer for a work in the Purdue University Press Series in the History of Philosophy. For that series aims to produce a specific kind of book, its own sort of Studienausgabe:one that is organized around the original text of a historical author (which is included with the translation) and that provides an extensive commentary , presumably relevant both to those who are experts in the field as well as to those who are not. The aim, then, is to produce a book that could be of use in a class or seminar in which one is expected to teach at a rather high level something in which one may not be a specialist. In this respect, Frank and Wolter do an admirable job of making the difficult look easy. For Scotus is notoriously dense, and yet the ease of their commentary renders such potentially off-putting thinking available even to the introductory reader. The selections from the Subtle Doctor are well-chosen, well-organized and well-translated. As is to be expected, they are at times difficult, but they are kept to a length that even an undergraduate could bear. Moreover, the commentary is always lucid and never fails to be helpful, in which case, when the original text gets thick, the reader can always look forward to an explanation just a few pages away. After a brief introduction to his life and works, the text proper begins with Scotus's doctrine of transcendentals. As Frank and Wolter have organized it (and not all books in the series are organized in the same way), each chapter begins with a reading upon which they then comment. The initial selections are short and to the point, as they reserve the more extensive readings for the heart of the book: its concentration in chapter three on the Parisian proof for the existence of God and in chapter four on Scotus's theory of knowledge. The work concludes with a short fifth chapter that discusses two metaphysical questions: of individuation and, finally, of the will. I cannot here retrace the road that is followed to weave these various texts and topics together. I can say, however, that its unity and clarity obviously derive from a lifetime--or, indeed, two--dedicated to the study of Scotus. I would only underscore the impressive treatment of its central questions: of the existence of God and of Scotus's theory of knowledge. Given my own interest in Anselm, it is not surprising that I would appreciate the depth and detail of both of these discussions. While Frank and Wolter do not consider the connection to Anselm's arguments for the existence of God in the Monologion, their development of Scotus's notion of infinity demonstrates his appreciation and appropriation of Anselm's famous Proslogionproof. Similarly, their treatment of Scotus's theory of knowledge goes out of its way to place the issue in its historical context. While Anselm is not mentioned, the discussion of Augustine and especially of the conflict between Scotus's Aristoteleanism and the Platonism of Henry BOOK REVIEWS 303 of Ghent could not be more illuminating (no pun intended). No reader will leave this chapter unappreciative of what is at stake in the epistemological disputations of late Medieval thought or of the historic role that Scotus played in them. I would conclude by noting that works such as this are particularly important in the field of medieval philosophy. Its at times arcane vocabulary and interests have led even some...

Mark D. Belcher

This report examines the creditworthiness and capacity to borrow of municipalities in Romania. It summarizes principal findings and recommendations of the study, examines the intergovernmental financing system and aggregate, local-government finances in Romania. Also addressed are the legal framework and principal legal issues affecting local government's financial condition and creditworthiness. The report also summarizes the local-level analyses that were carried out for four larger municipalities and their corresponding regii autonomes and judets.

Erik Berglöf, Gérard Roland

No abstract is available for this record.

John E. Owens

Following the Republican victory in the 1994 mid-term elections, the balance of power in the US House of Representatives between committees and central party leader shifted decisively in favour of the latter. The central thrust of the procedural and personnel changes instituted under Newt Gingrich in 1994 and 1995 was to consolidate party government. This article reviews these important changes and analyses their impact on the legislative process. The return to party government is explained as a product of Gingrich's partisan vision of legislative organization, the destabilization of existing institutional relations as a consequence of the shift in partisan control, the unusual conditions of the 1994 elections, and the strong team spirit and high levels of Republican party support. The article speculates that a return to more autonomous, less party-dominated committee system is unlikely given strong Democratic support for robust centralized party leadership, important changes in Congress's policy agenda, high membership turnover, and the probable continuation of split-party government, but the potency of these centralizing forces will probably be mitigated by familiar decentralizing pressures in contemporary American politics.

Mitchell Tracy

No abstract is available for this record.

Dubravko Mihaljek

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Douglas H. Clark

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Zia Qureshi

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

M. Govinda Rao

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

C. Richard Rye, Bob Searle

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Douglas H. Clark

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Ehtisham Ahmad, Ravi Thomas

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Paul Bernd Spahn

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Lou Jiwei

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

C. Richard Rye, Bob Searle

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Ehtisham Ahmad

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.

Giorgio Brosio

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government.