On the Limits of Exceptionalism: Principles and Practice in the Pursuit of Alternatives to Full EU Membership

Few states have been less uncomfortable with the relationship they have with the EU than the United Kingdom as a member and Turkey as an associate and would-be member. Both states currently find themselves questioning the substance and future of these relationships with domestic actors and, notably in the Turkish case, external EU voices actively advocating alternatives. While much discussion, particularly in the UK case, has focused on the advantages and disadvantages of particular existing arrangements (e.g. European Economic Area, Swiss bilateralism), this paper considers the broader principles and practices that the EU has to date either explicitly developed or implicitly established to govern the nature and substance of alternatives to [full] EU membership. It assesses the principled, practical and political limitations that exist in establishing alternatives to full membership for states seeking – or having sought for them – the accommodation of their exceptionalism. In doing so the paper considers the potential limits to a renegotiated EU membership for the UK and to an alternative short of full membership for Turkey. It also reflects on the precedent-setting consequences of any new arrangements that the EU might reach with either state for what forms membership and a relationship short of membership might take in the future.

Estimating fuzzy membership functions parameters by the levenberg-marquardt algorithm

In previous papers from the authors fuzzy model identification methods were discussed. The bacterial algorithm for extracting fuzzy rule base from a training set was presented. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was also proposed for determining membership functions in fuzzy systems. In this paper the Levenberg-Marquardt technique is improved to optimise the membership functions in the fuzzy rules without Ruspini-partition. The class of membership functions investigated is the trapezoidal one as it is general enough and widely used. The method can be easily extended to arbitrary piecewise linear functions as well.

Grade of membership (GoM) por algoritmos genéticos

Muitas vezes é necessário trabalhar com variáveis categóricas, porem há um número restrito de análisesque as abordam. Uma boa técnica de segmentação é a grade of membership (GoM), muito utilizada na área médica, em psicologia e em sociologia. Essa metodologia possui uma interpretação interessante baseada em perfis extremos (segmentos) e grau de pertencimento. Porém o modelo possui grande complexidade de estimação dos parâmetros pormáxima verossimilhança. Assim, neste trabalho propõe-se o uso de algoritmos genéticos para diminuir a complexidade e o tempo de cálculo, e aumentar a acurácia. A técnica é nomeada de Genetics Algorithms grade of membership (GA-GoM). Para averiguar a efetividade, o modelo foi primeiramente abordado por simulação – foi executado um experimento fatorial levando em conta o número de segmentos e variáveis trabalhadas. Em seguida, foi abordado um caso prático de segmentação de engajamento em redes sociais. Os resultados são superiores para modelos de maior complexidade. Conclui-se, assim, que é útil a abordagem para grandes bases de dados que contenham dados categóricos.

St. Catharines Garrison Club membership roll

The St. Catharines Garrison Club list of charter members. The organization was created in 1899 for members of the military, both active and inactive.

Market reactions to changes in the Nasdaq-100 Index membership

We examine stock market reactions around the Nasdaq-100 Index reconstitutions. We find a symmetric and transitory price response accompanied by a significant increase in trading volume on the effective date. Firms added to the Nasdaq-100 Index experience significant increases in institutional ownership, the number of market makers, and the number of shareholders. In contrast, firms removed from the index show significant decreases in the number of institutional shareholders. Additions to the Nasdaq-100 Index also show significant increases in four liquidity measures, whereas deletions demonstrate significant decreases in two liquidity measures. These changes in liquidity are related to the abnormal return on the announcement day. Taken together, the results suggest support for the price pressure, liquidity, and investor awareness hypotheses.

Exploring the impact of outgroup membership discoveries on individual outcomes and intergroup relations

Group memberships represent important components of identity, with people holding membership in various groups and categories. The groups that one belongs to are known as ingroups, and the groups that one does not belong to are known as outgroups. Movement between groups can occur, such that an individual becomes a member of a former outgroup. In some cases, this movement between groups can represent a sudden discovery for the self and/or others, especially when one becomes a member of an ambiguous, concealable, or otherwise not readily visible group. The effects of this type of movement, however, are poorly documented. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate these outgroup membership discoveries, examining the individual intrapsychic, interpersonal, and potential intergroup effects of both self- and other-outgroup membership discoveries. Specifically, discoveries of homosexuality were examined in three studies. In Study 1, hypothetical reactions to self- and other-homosexuality discovery were assessed; in Study 2, the effects of discovering self-homosexuality (vs. self-heterosexuality) were experimentally examined; and in Study 3, the effects of discovering another’s homosexuality earlier relative to later in a developing friendship were experimentally examined. Study 1 revealed that, upon a discovery of self-homosexuality, participants expected negative emotions and a more negative change in feelings toward the self. Upon a discovery of a friend’s homosexuality, participants expected a more negative change in feelings toward the friend, but more a positive change in feelings toward homosexuals. For both hypothetical self- and friend- homosexuality discoveries, more negative expected emotions predicted more negative expected change in feelings toward the target individual (the self or friend), which in turn predicted more negative expected change in feelings toward homosexuals as a group. Further, for self-homosexuality discovery, the association between negative expected emotions and negative expected change in feelings toward the self was stronger among those higher in authoritarianism. Study 2 revealed that, upon discovering one’s own homosexuality (vs. heterosexuality), heterosexual participants experienced more negative emotions, more fear of discrimination, and more negative self-evaluations. The effect of the homosexuality discovery manipulation on negative self-evaluations was mediated by fear of discrimination. Further, those higher in authoritarianism or pre-test prejudice toward homosexuals demonstrated more negative emotions following the manipulation. Study 3 revealed that upon discovering an interaction partner’s homosexuality earlier (vs. later) participants reported a more positive contact experience, a closer bond with the partner, and more positive attitudes toward the partner. Earlier (vs. later) discovery predicted more positive contact experience, which in turn predicted a closer bond with the partner. Closer bond with the partner subsequently predicted more positive evaluations of the partner. Interestingly, the association between bond with partner and more positive attitudes toward the partner was stronger among those higher in authoritarianism or pre-test prejudice toward homosexuals. Overall, results suggest that self-homosexuality discovery results in negative outcomes, whereas discovering another’s homosexuality can result in positive outcomes, especially when homosexuality is discovered earlier (vs. later). Implications of these findings for both actual outgroup membership discoveries and social psychological research are discussed.

Certificate of Membership United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada

A certificate that Francis Bond Head Wilson "being of United Empire Loyalist Descent has been regularly proposed, balloted for, and elected a member of this association." It is dated September 14th, 1934.

Letter to Welland D. Woodruff stating that his membership card will be sent

Letter to Welland D. Woodruff stating that his membership card will be sent, Feb. 15, 1904.

Nonlinear set-membership estimation: a support vector machine approach

In this paper a support vector machine (SVM) approach for characterizing the feasible parameter set (FPS) in non-linear set-membership estimation problems is presented. It iteratively solves a regression problem from which an approximation of the boundary of the FPS can be determined. To guarantee convergence to the boundary the procedure includes a no-derivative line search and for an appropriate coverage of points on the FPS boundary it is suggested to start with a sequential box pavement procedure. The SVM approach is illustrated on a simple sine and exponential model with two parameters and an agro-forestry simulation model.