In the first half of the 13th century, Europe feared the conquering invasion of the Mongol Empire. The key to an empire's strength undoubtedly lies in its organized state and legal structure. The first remarkable stage of the development of the legal system of the Mongolian nation took place during the formation of the Great Mongol Empire with the establishment of Genghis Khan's so-called Yassa Law, as the first, integrated, written code. The legal source compiled the customary law of the time by Šigi Qutuqu, chief judge of the great khan. The original text of the code has not survived, but we can indirectly deduce its content through the study of historical sources and traditions. Despite the fact that many literary works have been published on the Great Mongol Empire, representing various disciplines, no one has yet undertaken a legal history- and legal theory-based examination of The Secret History of the Mongols - which, unlike Yassa, is the oldest surviving contemporary document in Mongolian history. The present paper collects the customary law elements found in the source work by branch of law and attempts to capture the moment in legal history when codification and the separation of powers, as the first steps of legal modernization, appeared on the Mongolian steppe as early as the 13th century. The research method used is source analysis.
History (General) and history of Europe, History of Law
The Hermite-Taylor method evolves all the variables and their derivatives through order $m$ in time to achieve a $2m+1$ order rate of convergence. The data required at each node of the staggered Cartesian meshes used by this method makes the enforcement of boundary and interface conditions challenging. In this work, we propose a novel correction function method, referred to as the discrete correction function method, which provides all the data required by the Hermite method near the surface where a condition is enforced. The flexibility of the resulting Hermite-Taylor discrete correction function method is demonstrated by considering a wide range of problems, including those with variable coefficients, discontinuous solutions at the interface, and generalized sheet transition conditions. Although the focus of this work is on Maxwell's equations, this high-order method can be adapted to other linear wave systems. Several numerical examples in two space dimensions are performed to verify the properties of the proposed method, including long-time simulations.
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2024 9(3), 1487-1496 | European Forum Insight of 30 December 2024 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduzione. – II. Cambiamento climatico e funzioni della Corte europea dei diritti umani – III. Status di vittima e locus standi nei casi relativi al cambiamento climatico. – III.1. Status di vittima dei ricorrenti (persone fisiche) – III.2. Locus standi dell’associazione ricorrente. | (Abstract) This Insight deals with the recent judgment delivered by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case KlimaSeniorinnen v Switzerland. The first part of the Insight focuses on the ECtHR’s competence in the context of climate-change litigation. The second part analyses the issues of victim status in complaints alleging harm or risk of harm resulting from State’s failure to combat climate change, focusing on the criteria and threshold for being qualified as a victim under art. 34 ECHR in this context. Finally, considering the prohibition on actio popularis under the ECHR’s system, the third part examines the issue of locus standi of associations to lodge or pursue applications before the ECtHR on behalf of their members or other individuals affected by climate change.
This article applies the lessons from the prior theory of responsive regulation in criminology to EU competition law and extends these lessons to argue in favour of an enhanced form of responsive competition law. First, it finds that EU competition law enforcement is already responsive in the traditional sense as it takes the reactions of undertakings into account when deciding which instrument to apply, in accordance with the enforcement pyramid developed by Braithwaite. An enforcement pyramid for EU competition law is presented. The objectives of competition law are found to be broad, and its key norms are open, facilitating responsiveness. This also allows competition law to develop to meet new societal demands, such as the need to control market power in the digital realm and to combat climate change. Next, the article examines the role of responsive and accountable behaviour by undertakings in competition law. First, it is found that in line with new forms of regulation concerning non-financial reporting, greenwashing, data protection, digital markets and services, and artificial intelligence, the special responsibility of dominant undertakings in competition law increasingly demands a pro-active approach to compliance. This also involves considering the interests of third parties and framing private governance in accordance with fundamental rights and legal principles. An enhanced degree of responsiveness of dominant undertakings results. Second, additional space is being created within competition law to accommodate undertakings that behave in a socially responsible manner, notably regarding sustainability. This is examined in relation to the issue of a fair share for consumers, and private enforcement by means of compliance agreements. After discussing potential objections to responsiveness in terms of democratic legitimacy, legal certainty, and redistribution of wealth, the article concludes that the developments sketched above indeed point towards the reinforcement of the responsive nature of competition law.
Asha Vincent, Jürgen Müller, Christian Lisdat
et al.
Chronometric levelling is a novel technique for the realisation of the International Height Reference System (IHRS). A detailed study of this technique is carried out through closed-loop simulations, aiming to unify regional/local height systems (LHS) in Europe and Brazil. Focusing on a unification accuracy of 1 cm, realistic scenarios with various error parameters/vertical datum parameters in LHS and clock observation uncertainties were analysed. The errors associated with local heights raised from datum offsets, local vertical datum alignment discrepancies in latitude and longitude, accumulated tilts depending on the distance from the reference tide gauge and levelling point elevation-dependent offsets were introduced. Clocks achieving a fractional uncertainty of 10^-18 and 10^-17 were assumed in the simulations, considering temporal correlations of clock intrinsic uncertainties, external effects on clock observations such as tidal effects, propagation delay in terms of link uncertainties and presence of outliers. We determine the preferred distributions of clocks in a network for the best estimation of error parameters. The estimation of the error parameters is related to the spatial distribution of the clocks, hence, an optimal setup of placing clocks at the most distant levelling points, reference tide gauges and elevated points is implemented. Further, a configuration of clock distribution is proposed with master clocks and local clocks with reduced links. Taking into consideration all these realistic constraints, a unification accuracy of 1 cm can be obtained. The unified European and Brazilian height systems are further related to the global geoid such that all geoid-related heights achieve an accuracy of 3 cm.
Teresa Scantamburlo, Atia Cortés, Francesca Foffano
et al.
This paper presents the results of an extensive study investigating the opinions on Artificial Intelligence (AI) of a sample of 4,006 European citizens from eight distinct countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden). The aim of the study is to gain a better understanding of people's views and perceptions within the European context, which is already marked by important policy actions and regulatory processes. To survey the perceptions of the citizens of Europe we design and validate a new questionnaire (PAICE) structured around three dimensions: people's awareness, attitude, and trust. We observe that while awareness is characterized by a low level of self-assessed competency, the attitude toward AI is very positive for more than half of the population. Reflecting upon the collected results, we highlight implicit contradictions and identify trends that may interfere with the creation of an ecosystem of trust and the development of inclusive AI policies. The introduction of rules that ensure legal and ethical standards, along with the activity of high-level educational entities, and the promotion of AI literacy are identified as key factors in supporting a trustworthy AI ecosystem. We make some recommendations for AI governance focused on the European context and conclude with suggestions for future work.
We introduce REmap-eu.app, a web-based data-mining visualization tool of the spatial and temporal variability of wind resources. It uses the latest open-access dataset of the daily wind capacity factor in 28 European countries between 1979 and 2019 and proposes several user-configurable visualizations of the temporal and spatial variations of the wind power capacity factor. The platform allows for a deep analysis of the distribution, the crosscountry correlation, and the drivers of low wind power events. It offers an easy-to-use interface that makes it suitable for the needs of researchers and stakeholders. The tool is expected to be useful in identifying areas of high wind potential and possible challenges that may impact the large-scale deployment of wind turbines in Europe. Particular importance is given to the visualization of low wind power events and to the potential of cross-border cooperations in mitigating the variability of wind in the context of increasing reliance on weather-sensitive renewable energy sources.
The world’s leading countries use international cooperation in the education and science field to influence and confirm their authority. The countries of North and South America and the USSR used scientific and educational relations as a means of communication. For Kyiv State University named after T. G. Shevchenko, this provided an opportunity to expand the geography of international relations.
Therefore, the aim of the article is a comprehensive study of the connections of KSU named after T. G. Shevchenko with scientific and educational institutions of the countries of North and South America in 1944–1975’s. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that the scientific and educational ties of KSU named T. G. Shevchenko with scientific and educational institutions of the USA and Canada, as well as Latin American countries in 1944–1975’s, have been highlighted for the first time. The methodological basis of the research was the methods of historical retrospection and problem-chronological and analytical methods.
The conclusions. It is noted that at the end of the Second World War (1944–1945), the establishment of ties by Kyiv University with educational and scientific institutions of the countries of North and South America was not possible due to the reconstruction of the city and the university itself. And during the period of post-war reconstruction (1946–1950), the Soviet-American confrontation was added to the mentioned problems, which then turned into the Cold War.
It is indicated that some scientists from the countries of North America began to visit Kyiv State University named after Taras Shevchenko since the mid-1950s. The prerequisite for this was the liberal socio-political changes in the USSR associated with de-Stalinization (1953–1956) and the Khrushchev Thaw that began in 1956. It is noted that ties between American, Canadian and Soviet universities began to be established after Soviet leader M. Khrushchev visited the USA in 1959. Delegations from American universities visited Kyiv University to familiarize themselves with the organization of educational and scientific work. At the same time, guests from South American countries began to visit Kyiv University.
It is indicated that with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Republic of Cuba in 1960, frequent guests at Kyiv State University named after Taras Shevchenko joined Cuban scientists and delegations. Furthermore, Kyiv University has established close cooperation with the Central University of Las Villas Province. From the same year, young people from Latin American countries began to enroll in the Preparatory Faculty for Foreign Citizens.
It was clarified that in the mid-1960s Kyiv State University named after Taras Shevchenko’s most active international book exchange was with the Library of Congress in Washington. It was determined that despite the «international détente» in relations between the USA and the USSR in 1969, the ties of American universities with Kyiv State University named Taras Shevchenko in the first half of the 1970s did not go beyond isolated contacts.
LA-CoNGA physics (for Latin-American alliance for Capacity buildiNG in Advance physics) is an ERASMUS+ project aiming to support the modernization of university infrastructure and its pedagogical offer in advanced physics in four Latin-American countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela. This project is co-funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission. This virtual teaching and research network comprises three partner universities in Europe and eight in Latin America; high-level scientific partners (CEA, CERN, CNRS, DESY, ICTP), and several and two industrial partners. During 2019 we prepared the syllabuses and selected the lecturers. In 2020 the strict lockdowns modified our pedagogical strategies. The planned model -- an eight-node network of universities made-up by local groups for discussions -- was transformed into low-quality home participation. We simplified the connectivity requirements to the minimum bandwidth to operate remote labs. We also changed the lecture interaction and evaluation model, balancing the teamwork on course projects and continuous evaluation based on class exercises. Despite the lockdown scenario, we managed to support the needs of our instrumentation and computing courses thanks to the contribution and enthusiasm of our partners. With the support of 30 instructors, we gave 100 lectures to 67 students in four countries. We are now promoting the second cohort due to start in January 2022
In this article we investigate the positivity of Sylow branching coefficients for symmetric groups when $p = 3$. In particular, we complete the discussion begun by Giannelli and the author in arXiv:1712.02642 (J. Algebra) and developed in arXiv:1909.09446 (J. London Math. Soc.) concerning the case of odd primes.
We propose a new approach, Synthetic Optimized Layout with Instance Detection (SOLID), to pretrain object detectors with synthetic images. Our "SOLID" approach consists of two main components: (1) generating synthetic images using a collection of unlabelled 3D models with optimized scene arrangement; (2) pretraining an object detector on "instance detection" task - given a query image depicting an object, detecting all instances of the exact same object in a target image. Our approach does not need any semantic labels for pretraining and allows the use of arbitrary, diverse 3D models. Experiments on COCO show that with optimized data generation and a proper pretraining task, synthetic data can be highly effective data for pretraining object detectors. In particular, pretraining on rendered images achieves performance competitive with pretraining on real images while using significantly less computing resources. Code is available at https://github.com/princeton-vl/SOLID.
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2021 6(1), 81-99 | European Forum Insight of 22 April 2021 | (Table of Contents) I. La Carta, le sue origini. - II. Un "catalogo" di diritti fondamentali: le ragioni di una sua necessità. - III. La tutela di tali diritti, la giurisprudenza della Corte di giustizia e l'ambito di applicabilità. - IV. La distinzione fra diritti (da rispettare) e principi (da osservare): profili critici. - V. L'applicabilità della Carta nei rapporti orizzontali: la diretta applicabilità. - VI. I rapporti fra le Corti e il ruolo del giudice comune. - VII. La Carta, il rinvio alla Corte costituzionale e la questione pregiudiziale: la non applicazione della norma nazionale contrastante con la Carta. - VIII. Le recenti questioni pregiudiziali poste dalla Corte Costituzionale e dalle Sezioni Unite della Corte di Cassazione: la necessità di una costruttiva e leale cooperazione. | (Abstract) The year 2020 marked the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It was drawn up at the end of a long process, to which the Court of Justice has contributed substantially, affirming since the seventies the obligation to protect fundamental rights in the Community. The drafting of a catalogue of fundamental rights was then driven by the European Council, which under-lined the need for fundamental rights to be collected in a Charter and thus made more explicit. Over time, the Court of Justice has provided elements for a better understanding of certain essential aspects, such as the scope, the distinction between rights and principles, direct applicability, and the relationship with the Euro-pean Convention on Human Rights. The dialectic established more recently with the Constitutional Court has re-proposed the theme of the relationship between national law and EU law, between national Courts (Constitutional Court and "common" Court) and European Union Court.
A simple method is proposed to estimate the instantaneous correlations between state variables in a hybrid system from the empirical correlations between observable market quantities such as spot rate, stock price and implied volatility. The new algorithm is extremely fast since only low-dimension linear systems are involved. If the resulting matrix from the linear systems is not positive semidefinite, the shrinking method, which requires only bisection-style iterations, is recommended to convert the matrix to positive semidefinite. The square of short-term at-the-money implied volatility is suggested as the proxy for the unobservable stochastic variance. When the implied volatility is not available, a simple trick is provided to fill in the missing correlations. Numerical study shows that the estimates are reasonably accurate, when using more than 1,000 data points. In addition, the algorithm is robust to misspecified interest rate model parameters and the short-sampling-period assumption. G2++ and Heston are used for illustration but the method can be extended to other affine term structure, local volatility and jump diffusion models, with or without stochastic interest rate.
Jan Zapletal, Raphael Watschinger, Günther Of
et al.
The presented paper concentrates on the boundary element method (BEM) for the heat equation in three spatial dimensions. In particular, we deal with tensor product space-time meshes allowing for quadrature schemes analytic in time and numerical in space. The spatial integrals can be treated by standard BEM techniques known from three dimensional stationary problems. The contribution of the paper is twofold. First, we provide temporal antiderivatives of the heat kernel necessary for the assembly of BEM matrices and the evaluation of the representation formula. Secondly, the presented approach has been implemented in a publicly available library besthea allowing researchers to reuse the formulae and BEM routines straightaway. The results are validated by numerical experiments in an HPC environment.
Layered van der Waals (vdW) materials grown by physical vapor deposition techniques are generally assumed to have a weak interaction with the substrate during growth. This leads to films with relatively small domains that are usually triangular and a terraced morphology. In this paper, we demonstrate that Bi2Se3, a prototypical vdW material, will form a nano-column morphology when grown on GaAs(001) substrates. This morphology is explained by a relatively strong film/substrate interaction, long adatom diffusion lengths, and a high reactive selenium flux. This discovery paves the way toward growth of self-assembled vdW structures even in the absence of strain.
The naturally existing chalcogenide Bi2Se3 is topologically nontrivial due to the band inversion caused by strong spin-orbit coupling inside the bulk of the material. The surface states are spin polarized, protected by the time-inversion symmetry, and thus robust to the scattering caused by non-magnetic defects. A high purity topological insulator thin film can be easily grown via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on various substrates to enable novel electronics, optics, and spintronics applications. However, the unique surface state properties have historically been limited by the film quality, which is evaluated by crystallinity, surface morphology, and transport data. Here we propose and investigate different MBE growth strategies to improve the quality of Bi2Se3 thin films grown by MBE. In addition, growths of topological trivial insulator (Bi0.5In0.5)2Se3 (BIS) are also investigated. BIS is often used as a buffer layer or separation layer for topological insulator heterostructures. Based on the surface passivation status, we have classified the substrates into two categories, self-passivated or unpassivated, and determine the optimal growth mechanisms on the representative sapphire and GaAs, respectively. Growth temperature is a crucial control parameter for the van der Waals epitaxy for both types of substrates. For Bi2Se3 on GaAs, the surface passivation status determines the dominant growth mechanism.
Abstract The lawful sale of Cannabis sativa L. and its extracts including Cannabidiol is not harmonized under European Union law. Such products have in the most part been classified as novel foods and thus illegal for sale in Europe without prior authorization. The regulation of such substances not only spans EU and Member State food laws but also international conventions on illicit drug and psychoactive substances. An understanding of the laws governing the sale of these compounds can help business and academia better understand the challenges consumers may face in selecting products lawfully placed on the market, whilst identifying the unique challenges imposed from the marketing of Cannabis-based foods.