The causal nexus between military spending and unemployment in the G7: a bootstrap panel causality test

We revisit the causal relationship between military spending and unemployment in the G7 countries applying a bootstrap panel causality analysis that accounts for both cross-sectional dependence and for heterogeneity across countries. Using per capita real GDP as a controlled variable, we found a unidirectional causality running from military spending to unemployment for Canada, Japan, and the US, one-way causality running from unemployment to military spending for France and Germany, and bidirectional causality for Italy and the UK. The empirical evidence does not seem to provide consistent results regarding the causal relationship between military spending and unemployment in G7 countries.     

On the nature and scope of defence economics

Defence economics uses the tools of economics to study the defence sector and its domestic and international implications. Simple models require careful application in defence economics, since indirect effects may have counterintuitive impacts. For example, while certain arms races can lead to the outbreak of war, others may have the counterintuitive effect of discouraging the outbreak of war owing to mutual deterrence.

The world is now multipolar rather than bipolar, analogous to an oligopoly situation. This multipolar world can be analyzed by a qualitative characteristic function, where the formation of a potential coalition allows study of the shift from conflict to cooperation in international relations. Some new issues to be considered in this framework include accidental nuclear war, potential arms races and conflicts in the third world, and the proliferation of chemical weapons and missiles.     

Nuclear‐ and missile‐related trade and developments for selected countries,March‐June 1998

The material in this overview is drawn from selected abstracts that appear in the Center for Nonproliferation Studies' nuclear and missile databases. Transactions of nuclear and missile technologies, parts, and materials are listed according to the recipient country. Other developments are listed according to the country where the event or development took place.     

An MX/G/1 queueing system with disasters and repairs under a multiple adapted vacation policy

We consider a queueing system with batch Poisson arrivals subject to disasters which occur independently according to a Poisson process but affect the system only when the server is busy, in which case the system is cleared of all customers. Following a disaster that affects the system, the server initiates a repair period during which arriving customers accumulate without receiving service. The server operates under a Multiple Adapted Vacation policy. The stationary regime of this process is analyzed using the supplementary variables method. We obtain the probability generating function of the number of customers in the system, the fraction of customers who complete service, and the Laplace transform of the system time of a typical customer in stationarity. The stability condition for the system and the Laplace transform of the time between two consecutive disasters affecting the system is obtained by analyzing an embedded Markov renewal process. The statistical characteristics of the batches that complete service without being affected by disasters and those of the partially served batches are also derived. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 62: 171–189, 2015     

Evaluating state willingness to pursue space weapons

Many studies exist which evaluate the domain of space from a political perspective in order to advocate for a certain position regarding what states ought to do or not do in space. Few studies exist which address how states actually behave with regard to outer space. In an attempt to fill this gap in the literature, the present study evaluates the determinants of state space behavior. The results identify a blend of the realist pursuit of power and liberal normative restrains acting on state space behavior.     

单层反射模式蓝宝石腔体的9.7GHz频率基准

分析了多层圆柱形蓝宝石腔体谐振器为实现Bragg谐振模式需满足的尺寸条件。仿真并设计了单层腔体,利用teflon支撑件将蓝宝石固定在内部镀银的金属腔体内。其在9.7GHz频点实现了Bragg包含模式,Q值高于200 000。利用该谐振器作为带通滤波器构建了室温下的X波段振荡器。该振荡器还包括低噪放、滤波器和手动移相器。通过合理选择谐振器的插入损耗和调节移相器,该振荡器成功实现了稳定输出。测试结果表明,该振荡器具有低的相位噪声但易受环境温度影响。由于采用了极高Q值的蓝宝石谐振器,该振荡器可能成为目前最低相噪的X波段室温频率基准。     

Optimal patrol to uncover threats in time when detection is imperfect

Consider a patrol problem, where a patroller traverses a graph through edges to detect potential attacks at nodes. An attack takes a random amount of time to complete. The patroller takes one time unit to move to and inspect an adjacent node, and will detect an ongoing attack with some probability. If an attack completes before it is detected, a cost is incurred. The attack time distribution, the cost due to a successful attack, and the detection probability all depend on the attack node. The patroller seeks a patrol policy that minimizes the expected cost incurred when, and if, an attack eventually happens. We consider two cases. A random attacker chooses where to attack according to predetermined probabilities, while a strategic attacker chooses where to attack to incur the maximal expected cost. In each case, computing the optimal solution, although possible, quickly becomes intractable for problems of practical sizes. Our main contribution is to develop efficient index policies—based on Lagrangian relaxation methodology, and also on approximate dynamic programming—which typically achieve within 1% of optimality with computation time orders of magnitude less than what is required to compute the optimal policy for problems of practical sizes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 61: 557–576, 2014