Regulation on Advertising, Sponsorship, Teleshopping and Self-Promotion

E-print/Working paper (2008)

Wie Städte entstanden vornehmlich im mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Nordwesteuropa

E-print/Working paper (2007)

Naturräumliche Gliederung der Großregion SaarLorLux

E-print/Working paper (2007)

The paper shows and explains the natural classification of the Greater Region SaarLorLux, following a consistent concept. The natural regions, their main groups as well as the natural space units, were ... [more ▼]

The paper shows and explains the natural classification of the Greater Region SaarLorLux, following a consistent concept. The natural regions, their main groups as well as the natural space units, were created according to the concept of Meynen & Schmithüsen (1953-1962). [less ▲]

Towards an Atlas of Folksong Idioms (online publication of a presentation at the conference of the International Musicological Society at Zurich)

E-print/Working paper (2007)

Luxemburg und Siebenbürgen 2007

E-print/Working paper (2007)

The financing of the European Union

E-print/Working paper (2007)

The European Union is a unique and exceptional organisation in many respects. Its financial system, whose rules and structure are very different from those of national budgetary law, has changed a great ... [more ▼]

The European Union is a unique and exceptional organisation in many respects. Its financial system, whose rules and structure are very different from those of national budgetary law, has changed a great deal and is still changing. The most significant changes include: — The unification of budgetary instruments. Initially, each Community had its own budget or budgets (administrative and operating). These have now been replaced by a single budget, the general budget of the European Union. — Progress towards financial autonomy. Following the example of the ECSC, which was financed by real ‘tax revenue’ from the time it was set up, the EEC and Euratom changed to a system of own resources on 1 January 1971. — Reform of the Community financial system. The financial perspective, a genuine multiannual financial framework and instrument of budgetary discipline, was introduced in 1988. It forms an integral part of an interinstitutional agreement between Parliament, the Council and the Commission. — The pursuit of an institutional balance between the Council, Parliament and the Commission in the exercise of budgetary power. Initially, budgetary power lay solely with the Council. Parliament and the Council subsequently became the two arms of budgetary authority. The Commission retains a right to propose legislation in that sphere. The development of the financial system of the European Union superstructure is testament to its extremely varied history encompassing five decades and six enlargements. [less ▲]

Gestes, pratiques, corporéité et polyfocalisation de l’action dans le travail de techniciennes de surface.

E-print/Working paper (2007)

Kultur als Mehrwert. Überlegungen zum methodologischen Potenzial kulturwissenschaftlicher Theoreme für die literaturwissenschaftliche Analyse. (Rezension über: Franziska Schößler: Literaturwissenschaft als Kulturwissenschaft. Eine Einführung. Tübingen, Basel 2006).

E-print/Working paper (2006)

Tax competition, location and horizontal foreign direct investment

E-print/Working paper (2005)

We develop a model of capital tax competition in which imperfectly competitive firms choose both the number of plants they operate and their location. When compared to models with single-plant firms, the ... [more ▼]

We develop a model of capital tax competition in which imperfectly competitive firms choose both the number of plants they operate and their location. When compared to models with single-plant firms, the presence of multinationals reverses some standard results. First, instead of being subsidized, capital may actually be taxed in equilibrium, which shows that the presence of taxable ‘multinational rents’ relaxes tax competition. Second, even when firms are subsidized, their subsidyinclusive profits may be decreasing in subsidies, due to fiercer price competition by more multinationals. Third, multinationals may give rise to multiple equilibria in the tax game, one of which can be a ‘subsidy trap’ characterized by many multinationals, high subsidy levels, and low welfare. [less ▲]

Critic of Amy Gutmann - The Constructive Potential of Communitarian Values for Liberalism

E-print/Working paper (2005)

The view of Amy Gutmann is that communitarians have been unsuccessful in undermining liberalism. However, she thinks that their work presents a welcome challenge to it. In her opinion, the communitarian ... [more ▼]

The view of Amy Gutmann is that communitarians have been unsuccessful in undermining liberalism. However, she thinks that their work presents a welcome challenge to it. In her opinion, the communitarian criticism, rather than giving good reason to abandon liberalism, is of use in an attempt to discover a liberalism that successfully combines communitarian with liberal values. This paper examines the extent to which Gutmann successfully shows that communitarian values, like kinship, affection, or a sense of common purpose, have the latent but unrealized capacity to serve to improve liberalism. [less ▲]

SOLUTIONS Micro-scale modelling: method and initial results

E-print/Working paper (2005)

Theories of Knowledge. Is a naturalised epistemology bound to leave unanswered some important epistemological questions?

E-print/Working paper (2005)

Competition over piratable goods

E-print/Working paper (2004)

The effects of (private, small-scale) copying on the pricing behavior of producers of information goods are studied within a unified model of vertical differentiation. Although information goods are ... [more ▼]

The effects of (private, small-scale) copying on the pricing behavior of producers of information goods are studied within a unified model of vertical differentiation. Although information goods are assumed to be perfectly horizon tally differentiated, demands are interdependent because the copying technology exhibits increasing returns to scale. We characterize the symmetric Nash equilibria of the pricing game played by n producers of information goods. We show thereby how the producers' attitudes towards piracy are interdependent and evolve with the relative attractiveness of copies. [less ▲]

Special Education and the Risk of Becoming Less Educated in Germany and the US

E-print/Working paper (2004)

The European Parliament and the Challenge of Internet Voting

E-print/Working paper (2003)

Hinweis auf das Projekt : Effizienz des Frühunterrichts: begleitende Forschung im Rahmen der Fremdsprachenreformen“, esquisse de l’orientation de la recherche conduite au sein du projet d’étude sur l’introduction de l’enseignement précoce du français dans les écoles primaires de la Sarre

E-print/Working paper (2001)

Daten und Fakten zu Migrantenjugendlichen an Sonderschulen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

E-print/Working paper (2001)

Zwischen 1965 und 1994 hat sich die Zahl der nichtdeutschen Schüler/innen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland verzwanzigfacht. Seit dem Jahr 1991 gehen mehr als eine Million Schüler/innen mit ... [more ▼]

Zwischen 1965 und 1994 hat sich die Zahl der nichtdeutschen Schüler/innen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland verzwanzigfacht. Seit dem Jahr 1991 gehen mehr als eine Million Schüler/innen mit ausländischem Pass in (west-)deutsche Schulen; d.h. circa jede/r zehnte Schüler/in hat eine nichtdeutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Über diese zahlenmäßige Präsens hinaus bieten die Vergleiche zwischen deutschen und nichtdeutschen Schülern/innen allgemein und zwischen deutschen und nichtdeutschen Sonderschülern/innen eine Perspektive, welche die Herausforderungen des Bildungssystems der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in ihrer Institutionalisierung und Expansion darstellt. Gleichzeitig stellen „in der BRD (...) die Ausländerkinder eine Gruppe dar, der im Bildungswesen besondere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet werden muß, wenn sie nicht schulisch erheblich benachteiligt werden soll“ (Arbeitsgruppe Bildungsbericht am MPIB, 1994: 364). Von 1970 bis 1979 stieg der Anteil nichtdeutscher Schüler/innen an den Sonderschulen im Vergleich zu den Schülern insgesamt kontinuierlich an (Trommer/Köhler 1981: 130). Dieser Trend setzte sich fort, so dass bis 1999 nahezu 15% aller Sonderschüler/innen nichtdeutscher Herkunft waren, obwohl Schüler/innen nichtdeutscher Herkunft nur 9,4% aller Schüler/innen in der Bundesrepublik ausmachten. Das bedeutet für 1999 eine Überrepräsentanz ausländischer Kinder und Jugendlicher an deutschen Sonderschulen von 1,56. Parallel dazu zeigen die folgenden Analysen eine hohe Varianz zwischen den Bundesländern in der Sonderschulzuweisung nichtdeutscher Schüler/innen sowie unter den europäischen Nationalitäten (im Schuljahr 1998/99: von 0,5% bis hin zu 13,6%). Zugleich gibt es historisch Verschiebungen in der Begründung des Förderbedarfs zwischen dem größten Förderschwerpunkt „Lernen“ (von 82% auf 54% zwischen 1970-98) und anderen Kategorien des Förderbedarfs, die an Bedeutung gewonnen haben. Regionale Unterschiede in der Verteilung von Migrantenjugendlichen unter den einzelnen Sonderschularten sind u.a. Ausdruck der Differenzen in der Bildungs- bzw. Schulpolitik der Länder. So existieren große Unterschiede in der Akzeptanz integrativer pädagogischer Ansätze und Konzepte, der Ausbildung der Lehrer/innen und in der historischen Entwicklung verschiedener Schulformen. Die Existenz von Hauptschulen und Sonderschulen als quasi „untere bzw. separate Bildungsgänge“ sowie die Veränderung ihrer Schülerschaft in Folge der Bildungsexpansion und eine allgemein höhere Bildungsbeteiligung resultieren unter anderem darin, dass zwei von zehn nichtdeutschen Schulentlassenen die Schule ohne Hauptschulabschluss verlassen und deren „Misserfolgsquote“ immer noch ca. 2,5-mal so hoch ist wie bei den deutschen Jugendlichen (Solga 2001). Um die ausgewiesenen Ergebnisse zu Jugendlichen mit Migrationshintergrund an deutschen Sonderschulen adäquat einordnen zu können, werden in diesem Arbeitspapier auch ausgewählte Daten und Fakten zur allgemeinen Bildungsbeteiligung von Jugendlichen ausländischer Herkunft dargestellt und es wird auf demographische Schlüsseldaten eingegangen. Insgesamt zeigen die im Folgenden dargestellten Zahlen deutlich, dass—wie es heute in der Politik und den Medien nun endlich reflektiert wird—Jugendliche nichtdeutscher Herkunft im deutschen Bildungssystem benachteiligt sind und man immer noch versucht, ihre „Lernbehinderung“—die zum Großteil auch auf eine gesellschaftliche „Lernblockierung“ zurückgeht—mittels Sonder- bzw. Förderschulen und damit mittels institutioneller Separierung statt Integration zu lösen. [less ▲]

Effets de complémentarité externes et incidence sur la productivité : le cas de l'industrie manufacturière luxembourgeoise

E-print/Working paper (2001)

This article seeks to measure knowledge spillovers between nearby industries. This represents one of types of externality identified in the studies of industry location. A spillover indicator is suggested ... [more ▼]

This article seeks to measure knowledge spillovers between nearby industries. This represents one of types of externality identified in the studies of industry location. A spillover indicator is suggested which can explain increasing returns at the aggregate level. It is shown that this indicator is positively related to industry diversity. As applied to data from Luxembourg’s manufacturing industry, this indicator suggests that labor productivity is increasing in industry diversity. [less ▲]

Review of a BBS target article Lexical Entries and Rules of Language: A Multidisciplinary Study of German Inflection by Harald Clahsen to appear in BBS (1999) 22 (6)

E-print/Working paper (1999)

Many authors (e.g., Chomsky 1995, Pinker 1984, and Marcus 1998) argue that the architecture of the language faculty contains two separate components: a (structured) lexicon and a computational component ... [more ▼]

Many authors (e.g., Chomsky 1995, Pinker 1984, and Marcus 1998) argue that the architecture of the language faculty contains two separate components: a (structured) lexicon and a computational component. Clahsen presents in a current BBS target article (in press) new empirical evidences in favour of such a dual-mechanism model of language processing based on a multidisciplinary study of German inflection. In the following review, I will summarise and discuss the major points of Clahsen's paper. My focus will be on theoretical, methodological and empirical issues presented and discussed in the paper. An important issue will be the bearing of his empirical findings on the current debate in psycholinguistic modelling. I will as well speculate that at least a part of Clahsen's reasoning seems not to hold in the case of a language closely related to German, namely Luxembourgian. [less ▲]

Analyse de l’évolution de la productivité totale des facteurs dans l’industrie luxembourgeoise

E-print/Working paper (1999)

Quel est l'intérêt d'une approche multi-dimensionnelle du jugement de préférence ?

E-print/Working paper (1995)

We present, in terms of logic programming, an algorithm for constructing decision rules from an extensional representation of the solutions to a multiple attributes decision problem. The algorithm is ... [more ▼]

We present, in terms of logic programming, an algorithm for constructing decision rules from an extensional representation of the solutions to a multiple attributes decision problem. The algorithm is based on the decision tree obtained from a hierarchical decomposition of the decision attributes along their discriminatory power of the decision acts. We illustrate our methodological approach with an application to the cognitive categorization of the human colour vision. [less ▲]

Quelques réflexions concernant la genèse du tayo en Nouvelle-Calédonie et discussion des éventuels apports venant de l’extérieur, notamment du créole réunionnais, Conférence donnée à l'Université de Münster, 1991

E-print/Working paper (1994)

Sharing calculations to understand arithmetical algorithms and parallel computing

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Divisibility conditions on the order of the reductions of algebraic numbers

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Let K be a number field, and let G be a finitely generated subgroup of K*. Without relying on (GRH) we prove an asymptotic formula for the number of primes \p of K such that the order of (G mod \p) is ... [more ▼]

Let K be a number field, and let G be a finitely generated subgroup of K*. Without relying on (GRH) we prove an asymptotic formula for the number of primes \p of K such that the order of (G mod \p) is divisible by a fixed integer. We also provide a rational expression for the natural density of this set. Furthermore, we study the primes \p for which the order is k-free, and those for which the order has a prescribed \ell-adic valuation for finitely many primes \ell. An additional condition on the Frobenius conjugacy class of \p may be considered. In order to establish these results, we prove an unconditional version of the Chebotarev density theorem for Kummer extensions of number fields. [less ▲]

Correspondences between WZNW models and CFTs with W-algebra symmetry

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

A conjecture on primes in arithmetic progressions and geometric intervals

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

We conjecture that any interval of the form [q^t ,q^(t+1) ], where q≥ 2 and t≥1 denote positive integers, contains at least one prime from each coprime congruence class. We prove this conjecture first ... [more ▼]

We conjecture that any interval of the form [q^t ,q^(t+1) ], where q≥ 2 and t≥1 denote positive integers, contains at least one prime from each coprime congruence class. We prove this conjecture first unconditionally for all 2≤q≤45000 and all t≥1 and second under ERH for almost all q≥2 and all t≥2. Furthermore, we outline heuristic arguments for the validity of the conjecture beyond the proven bounds and we compare it with related long-standing conjectures. Finally, we discuss some of its consequences. [less ▲]

Congruence theorems for convex polygons involving sides, angles, and diagonals

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

On basis vectors of lattices

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Integer lattices enjoy increasing interest among mathematicians and cryptographers. However, there are still many elementary open questions, like finding specific vectors or particular bases of a given ... [more ▼]

Integer lattices enjoy increasing interest among mathematicians and cryptographers. However, there are still many elementary open questions, like finding specific vectors or particular bases of a given lattice. Our study consists in exhibiting which integer vectors may be chosen as basis vectors of a chosen lattice. The compelling part of our development is that this condition is obtained through an unusual application of Dirichlet's Theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions and that it has a surprising consequence for vectors achieving the successive minima. [less ▲]

Kummer theory for products of one-dimensional tori

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

The first-digit law

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

ON THE (NON-)EQUIVALENCE OF INTEGRAL BINARY QUADRATIC FORMS AND THEIR NEGATIVE FORMS

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Integral binary quadratic forms have been extensively studied in order to compute the class number of real and complex quadratic fields. Many studies restricted the equivalence class of quadratic forms or ... [more ▼]

Integral binary quadratic forms have been extensively studied in order to compute the class number of real and complex quadratic fields. Many studies restricted the equivalence class of quadratic forms or identified specific forms in order to compute the class number through enumeration of equivalence classes. One often used assumption is that a given form and its negative are equivalent or are synthetically identified. This document presents a concise Lagrangian approach to integral binary quadratic forms, outlines the equivalence classes in its broadest sense and uses it to develop a general condition when a given integral binary quadratic form and its negative are equivalent. Then, the existence of integral binary quadratic forms which are non-equivalent to their negatives is proven and an elementary algorithm to determine the (non-)equivalence of a given form and its negative is outlined. [less ▲]

Controlling the Error on Target Motion through Real-time Mesh Adaptation: Applications to Deep Brain Stimulation

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

We present an error-controlled mesh refinement procedure for needle insertion simulation and apply it to the simulation of electrode implantation for deep brain stimulation, including brain shift. Our ... [more ▼]

We present an error-controlled mesh refinement procedure for needle insertion simulation and apply it to the simulation of electrode implantation for deep brain stimulation, including brain shift. Our approach enables to control the error in the computation of the displacement and stress fields around the needle tip and needle shaft by suitably refining the mesh, whilst maintaining a coarser mesh in other parts of the domain. We demonstrate through academic and practical examples that our approach increases the accuracy of the displacement and stress fields around the needle without increasing the computational expense. This enables real-time simulations. The proposed methodology has direct implications to increase the accuracy and control the computational expense of the simulation of percutaneous procedures such as biopsy, brachytherapy, regional anesthesia, or cryotherapy and can be essential to the development of robotic guidance. [less ▲]

Weakening the tight coupling between geometry and simulation in isogeometric analysis: from sub- and super- geometric analysis to Geometry Independent Field approximaTion (GIFT)

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

This paper presents an approach to generalize the concept of isogeometric analysis (IGA) by allowing different spaces for parameterization of the computational domain and for approximation of the solution ... [more ▼]

This paper presents an approach to generalize the concept of isogeometric analysis (IGA) by allowing different spaces for parameterization of the computational domain and for approximation of the solution field. The method inherits the main advantage of isogeometric analysis, i.e. preserves the original, exact CAD geometry (for example, given by NURBS), but allows pairing it with an approximation space which is more suitable/flexible for analysis, for example, T-splines, LR-splines, (truncated) hierarchical B-splines, and PHT-splines. This generalization offers the advantage of adaptive local refinement without the need to re-parameterize the domain, and therefore without weakening the link with the CAD model. We demonstrate the use of the method with different choices of the geometry and field splines, and show that, despite the failure of the standard patch test, the optimum convergence rate is achieved for non-nested spaces. [less ▲]

Arithmetic Billiards

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Four Riddles with Four Brothers

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

The least common multiple of several numbers in terms of greatest common divisors

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

Linear smoothed polygonal and polyhedral finite elements

E-print/Working paper (n.d.)

It was observed in [1, 2] that the strain smoothing technique over higher order elements and arbitrary polytopes yields less accurate solutions than other techniques such as the conventional polygonal ... [more ▼]

It was observed in [1, 2] that the strain smoothing technique over higher order elements and arbitrary polytopes yields less accurate solutions than other techniques such as the conventional polygonal finite element method. In this work, we propose a linear strain smoothing scheme that improves the accuracy of linear and quadratic approximations over convex polytopes. The main idea is to subdivide the polytope into simplicial subcells and use a linear smoothing function in each subcell to compute the strain. This new strain is then used in the computation of the stiffness matrix. The convergence properties and accuracy of the proposed scheme are discussed by solving few benchmark problems. Numerical results show that the proposed linear strain smoothing scheme makes the approximation based on polytopes to deliver improved accuracy and pass the patch test to machine precision. [less ▲]