Mutual Impact

Recent rapid developments in computing power, such as parallel processing and neural networks, have stimulated new trends in control. However a discrepancy exists between available computing power and exploitable algorithms obtained classically from control theory. The aim of this book is to address the discrepancy from both the com putational power and control theory viewpoints. Areas such as identification, adaptive control, signal processing and neural networks therefore hold a prominent position in the text presented. The form of the book is such that it should be useful for readers at various levels, particularly those at the research and/or application stage. The book has resulted from the IFAC Workshop on the Mutual Impact of Computing Power and Control Theory, which was held at the Institute of Information Theory and Automation (UTIA), Prague, in September 1992. Organisation of the event was provided jointly by the Department of Adaptive Systems, UTIA, Prague and the School of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Reading, UK. Selected papers from the Workshop have been chosen to give a good balance across the field, whilst at the same time highlighting important areas for future research. In this way the book represents edited Proceedings from the Workshop. One point, quickly apparent, is the international nature of the presentations themselves, which provide not only a technical appraisal of the field but also inject cultural aspects which are vitally important on the path ahead.

In the past 30 years or so, reform and opening-up are the two major themes for China's economic and social development. Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has made great explorations in the depth and breadth of opening-up. This book provides a comprehensive overview of some issues and policies of mutual benefit and win-win strategies, which include China's foreign trade and technical barriers to trade, China's technology progress, China's service outsourcing industry, China's direct investment and RMB internationalization. It is an important reference book for Chinese policy-makers, Chinese businessmen and foreigners.

Any effort to gather evidence may prove pointless without ensuring its admissibility. Nevertheless, the EU, while developing instruments for smooth gathering of evidence in criminal matters, is not taking much effort to enhance its admissibility. Due to the lack of common rules in this matter, gathering and use of evidence in the EU cross-border context is still governed by the domestic law of the member states concerned. This may lead to situations where, given the differences between legal systems across the EU, evidence collected in one member state will not be admissible in other member states. Due to the fact that the Lisbon Treaty opened the possibility to adopt minimum rules concerning, among other things, the mutual admissibility of evidence, this research investigates the concept of minimum standards designed to enhance mutual admissibility of evidence in the EU. Through a study of two investigative measures, telephone tapping and house search, the author examines whether coming to various common minimum standards is feasible and whether compliance with these standards would finally shape the as yet nonexistent concept of the free movement and mutual recognition of evidence in criminal matters in the EU. Essential reading for both national and EU policy makers, scholars and practitioners involved in cross-border gathering of evidence in the EU.

Classified materials have been deleted.

This book develops and presents a conceptual model for sustainable-groundwater irrigated agriculture. The model is based on the general principles of the economic theories of cost-benefit relations and behavioral models of resource use. The study has evaluated the advances in tubewell farming and the aquifer potential in arid Balochistan over a period of three decades. It has analyzed the booms and busts of the farming over time taking into consideration the local aquifer limitations and the socio-political considerations and policy framework. Three data sets – farmers, expert officials and satellite images - have been used to aid validation. By observing the most vital parameters, the study has concluded that the local aquifer has been falling at a rate directly proportional to the growth rate of irrigated farming, suggesting the current development process is unsustainable. For instance, the research finds that tubewell bores have reached down to depths where the term “aquifer mining” applies; as a result, irrigation costs have become too high to allow farming to be economically viable. In addition, desertification is steadily encroaching and the cropping pattern being changed from high-value horticulture to subsistence cropping. The study has also set parameters for assessing the willingness of farmers to accept modern, sustainable strategies and interventions.

Peter Lückoff investigates why fund flows and manager changes act as equilibrium mechanisms and drive the performance of both previously outperforming and previously underperforming funds back to average levels.