Academic literature on the topic 'Nominal Mix'

Michif is an endangered language spoken by approximately a few hundred Métis people, mostly located in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada. Michif is usually categorized as a mixed language (Bakker 1997; Thomason 2003), due to the inability to trace it back to a single language family, with the majority of verbal elements coming from Plains Cree (Algonquian) and the majority of nominal elements coming from French (Indo-European). This book investigates Bakker’s (1997) often cited claim that the morphology of each source language is not reduced, with the language combining full French noun phrase grammar and Plains Cree verbal grammar. The book focuses on the syntax and semantics of the French-source noun phrase. While Michif has features that are obviously due to heavy contact with French (two mass/count systems, two plural markers, two gender systems), the Michif noun phrase mainly behaves like an Algonquian noun phrase. Even some of the French morphosyntax that it borrowed is used to Algonquianize non-Algonquian borrowings: the French-derived articles are only required on non-Algonquian nouns, and are used to make non-Algonquian borrowings visible to the Algonquian syntax. Michif is thus shown to be best characterized as an Algonquian language, with heavy French borrowing. With such a quintessentially ‘mixed’ language shown to essentially not mix grammars, the usefulness of this category for analysing synchronic patterns is questioned, much in the same way that scholars such as DeGraff (2000, 2003, 2005) and Mufwene (1986, 2001, 2008, 2015) question the usefulness of the creole language classification.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the beginnings, development, and stabilization of differential object marking (DOM) in Romanian by combining two approaches: diachronic syntax and comparative syntax. The working hypothesis is that Romanian DOM reflects a typological mix of Balkan and Romance DOM patterns, and that the assessment of the mixed structures must separately quantify three DOM mechanisms in this language (through clitic doubling, DOM particle, and the combination of the above). Tests applied to these DOM mechanisms indicated the nominal domain as the repository for DOM triggers in Romanian, as opposed to the verbal domain in other Romance languages. The cross-linguistic perspective adopted in this book is instrumental for revisiting the DOM typologies in light of the variations shown to occur in the location of the DOM particle and the pronominal clitic (i.e., either on the nominal or on the verb spines).

In diesem Artikel geht es um die Strukturierung der nominalen Plurallandschaft des Deutschen und des Ungarischen, wobei unter Plurallandschaft die Gesamtheit der funktional und / oder formal unterschiedlichen Pluraltypen in beiden Sprachen verstanden wird. Zur Strukturierung von diesen führe ich fünf sprachtypologisch definierte Parameter ein, mit deren Hilfe die Pluraltypen in zentrale und periphere eingeteilt werden können. Es wird gezeigt, dass das Deutsche zwei zentrale Plurale hat, den Flexionsplural und den Rektionsplural, das Ungarische aber nur einen, den Flexionsplural.

ZusammenfassungDie Staaten Europas laufen Gefahr, ihre ambitionierten verkehrs- und klimapolitischen Ziele für den Güterverkehr zu verfehlen. Zugleich sind wesentliche Kernstrecken in Europa durch den massiven Lkw-Verkehr überlastet. Dem nur langsamen Ausbau der Fernstraßen steht eine signifikante Zunahme der Transportleistung durch schwere Lkw gegenüber. Europas Straßenverkehr drohen Fahrermangel, Dauerstau und Kostensteigerung. Bereits seit 2010 übersteigt die Transportleistung im Straßengüterverkehr mit über 400 Mrd. Tonnen- Kilometer die Kapazität der Autobahnen. Grafik 1 zeigt die tatsächliche Verkehrsleistung in Mrd. Tonnenkilometern (rote Kurve), welche die nominale Kapazität der Bundesautobahnen in Deutschland seit etwa 2010 übersteigt (schwarze Kurve) – und die Anzahl der Staus in Deutschland, die sich seit der Überlastung der Autobahnen in nur sechs Jahren vervierfacht hat.

The chapter studies the intertwined topics of Empire, migration and race in the Hansard Corpus (1803–2005). The British Empire emerges as a prominent topic from the mid-nineteenth century, but rapidly recedes into insignificance in the two decades following World War II. Emigration dominates in the nineteenth century, whereas immigration takes over in the twentieth century. References to race remain frequent throughout, though in the context of two contrasting discourses. Older uses show a broad range of adjective + noun combinations classifying the ‘human race’ on the basis of geographical or physical characteristics (e.g. English race, Indian race, white/black/brown/yellow race) or evaluating groups within a colonialist ideology of white supremacy (e.g. backward/advanced races). Recent and contemporary use of the term is dominated by high-frequency nominal compounds belonging to the vocabulary of identity politics (e.g. race relations). The study situates itself at the interface of historical linguistics, colonial history and cultural studies. Methodologically, it raises the question of the future relationship between corpus linguistics and the Digital Humanities.

ZusammenfassungDie Mindeststeuerinitiative verfolgt nach Auffassung des Autors drei primäre Ziele: die Begrenzung des internationalen Steuerwettbewerbs, die Bekämpfung weiterhin bestehender BEPS-Risiken sowie die Verhinderung nationaler Alleingänge und eines Besteuerungschaos. Das Ziel der Begrenzung des internationalen Steuerwettbewerbs kann dabei auf einen Negativtrend in der Entwicklung der Nominal- und Effektivsteuersätze gestützt werden. Ob dieser bereits schädliche Ausmaße erreicht hat oder zu erreichen droht, ist dagegen definitionsabhängig. Das Verständnis scheint sich insofern bei den IF-Mitgliedstaaten gewandelt zu haben; den Staaten ist hier nach Ansicht des Autors ein Beurteilungsspielraum zuzugestehen. Hinsichtlich des zweiten Ziels der Eliminierung verbleibender BEPS-Risiken fehlt es zwar derzeit noch an belastbaren empirischen Daten, welche die nach Umsetzung der BEPS-Empfehlungen weiterhin bestehenden Gewinnverlagerungsmöglichkeiten bestätigen. Die theoretische Betrachtung der bisherigen BEPS-Maßnahmen zeigt jedoch jetzt schon Lücken auf, die von Unternehmen genutzt werden könnten, sodass die Annahme weiteren Handlungsbedarfs tragfähig erscheint. Ein koordiniertes Vorgehen im Rahmen des IF stützt sich dabei richtigerweise auf die Prämisse, dass alternative unilaterale Alleingänge verschiedener Staaten die aktuelle Situation im internationalen Steuerrecht nicht verbessern, sondern ganz im Gegenteil zahlreiche negative Folgen mit sich bringen würden.

This chapter analyzes two constructional changes by deletion of linguistic elements in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) in the 20th century, namely, the null clitic se constructions (specifically, reflexive, reciprocal, middle, anticausative, passive, and impersonal constructions) and the chopping relative construction, as two relevant manifestations of the recent standardization of the BP variety diverging from European Portuguese (EP). Based on a usage-feature and profile-based analysis and adopting a sociocognitive view of language, especially Cognitive Grammar, this study shows that the deletion of the clitic se conveys a shift to a nonenergetic, absolute construal of the event, and that the deletion of the preposition correlates with the grammaticalization of the relative pronoun que and highlights the accessibility of the nominal antecedent. Three contributions to research on language change are stressed: changes by deletion generate new constructions with their own meanings; synchronic constructional alternation, such as the one existing in BP between overt and null se constructions and the one already nonexistent in BP but existing in EP between pied-piping and chopping constructions, allows simulation of the diachronic constructional change in real time; and successful media from the mid-20th century onward, such as TV Globo for the huge Brazilian population, play a central role in language change and standardization.

A comprehensive test program was conducted to investigate upon the use of crushed brick aggregate in structural concrete. In Tripura, a tiny state in the North-eastern India and some places of West Bengal, India and in Bangladesh where there is a scarcity of natural stone aggregates, burnt clay bricks are used as a potential source of coarse aggregate and performance of concrete made with broken brick as coarse aggregate has been found quite extensive and satisfactory (M.A. Rashid et al.). But the current designs for brick aggregate concrete are based on existing nominal mix concrete codes for natural stone aggregates and experience. The presented paper depicts an effort to establish a proper mix design procedure which would satisfy the requirements of using such aggregate whereas the Indian Standard code of recommended guidelines for concrete mix design suggests only the use of naturally occurring crushed or uncrushed aggregates. Based on physical standard and strength criteria, a comparative study was conducted among concrete properties made with brick aggregate in different saturation conditions as well as with natural stone aggregate. Test results were satisfactory for strength criteria and suggestions are proposed to promote the suitability of using crushed brick aggregate in concrete for structural use.

Designers desire to enable in early design stages more sophisticated but also computationally burdensome simulation tools to obtain better performing initial designs that are more valuable in subsequent design stages. The Hamming nominal distance has been used to build efficient Gaussian process metamodels, called mixed-integer-categorical (MIC) surrogates, that leverage trends which are similar across categorical alternatives in typical engineering objectives. This paper proposes and studies other nominal distances for constructing these MIC surrogates. These meta-models based on the proposed nominal distances are built and their performance indicators are compared when modeling a noise-free canonical function and the computationally noisy UH60A hover power consumption with a choice of several airfoil sections which represents the categorical variable. This paper shows that the use of the Hamming distance and the intrinsic distance, based on an underlying parametrization in the categorical variable, are the most efficient nominal distance for implementing MIC metamodels when approximating the noise-free canonical function and the UH60A hover power consumption.

Abstract The susceptibility of materials of construction to undergo corrosive attack in untreated, soft service water prompted Duke Power to initiate a service water system materials study. This study included both installed materials (carbon steel, Admiralty brass, and type 304 stainless steel) and candidate alternate materials (type 316 stainless steel, Seacure(1) and AL-6XN(2)). The effects of flow (stagnant, intermittent and constant) and seasonal variations in temperature and water quality on general and localized corrosion rates were evaluated in a nominal one year exposure. This study included metallurgical examinations by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy(EDX) and complete bacteriological and ATP analysis.

Abstract ABSTRACT Pitting produced by microbially induced corrosion (MIC) was discovered in stainless steel service water lines at TVA’s Sequoyah nuclear power plant. These pits were characterized by both nondestructive and destructive examinations of 6 in. (15.2 cm) nominal diameter pipe. The pitting was evaluated to assure the structural integrity of the piping, especially under seismic loading, and to protect adjacent engineered safety features from potential damage due to leakage. The evaluation concluded that the required ASME Code design margins remained intact for the flawed pipe, since applied stresses are significantly less than Code allowable stresses for the unflawed piping. The piping structural integrity was determined to be acceptable by performing Code stress calculations with reduced pipe cross—sections due to MIC. These calculations were further supported by net section collapse and elastic—plastic fracture mechanics methods. Furthermore, it was shown that the tearing of pipe ligaments between adjacent MIC pits and between MIC pits and the surface is unlikely during seismic events. The leakage resulting from through—wall MIC pits was found by field experience and by analysis to be on the order of "weeping" or "drops per minute" and would not impinge adjacent equipment. An inspection and water treatment program is planned to further mitigate MIC in these lines.

Abstract A new Ni-base alloy with nominal composition of Fe-47Ni-20.5Cr-3Mo-2Cu-3Nb-1.5Ti is developed to provide 125 ksi minimum yield strength and an excellent combination of ductility and impact strength. Testing in various NACE environments has shown that the alloy has excellent stress corrosion and sulfide stress corrosion resistance. Based on this set of testing, the alloy was incorporated into NACE MR0175 / ISO-15156 to level VI. In the recent corrosion testing, the alloy passed NACE level VII and NACE level VI at 450F and was subsequently incorporated into NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156 up to these limits. A number of mill heats have been melted and processed to establish commercial availability. In addition to general alloy characteristics, this paper will present development of a 140 ksi min yield strength derivative of alloy 945. Capability of the alloy to produce pump shaft products for 165 ksi min and 210 ksi min yield strength will also be presented

MIC (Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion) is a well-known source of corrosion which could lead to failure in oil and gas facilities. Common mitigation to control the corrosion due to bacteria shares many success stories, however, a 51 km of 14” condensate line was found severely suffering from MIC, despite the implementation of the mitigation in place. A thorough review of the operating condition, fluid sources, pipeline profile, flow regime and applied mitigation - including sand production trending - was done with the main findings indicating that a combination of the above situation triggered an unexpected thinning rate due to a “synergy” of bacteria and evidence of sand inside the line at the first 23 km of the line. A significant thinning rate up to 80% NWT (Nominal Wall Thickness) was identified from ILI (In-Line Inspection) result, which triggered the pipeline replacement and more effort to ensure the new pipe will not suffer similar failure. This paper will describe the lessons learned in dealing with the “synergy” of bacteria and sand and new approach for MIC mitigation under this specific condition, as well as tips to prevent similar cases in the future.

Abstract A newly developed alloy 945X has nominal composition of Fe-53.5Ni-20.5Cr-3Mo-2Cu-4Nb-1.5Ti. The alloy provides 140 ksi (965 MPa) minimum yield strength with an excellent combination of ductility and impact strength in the solution treated and aged condition. Alloy 945X is incorporated in NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156 -3 for level VII and level VI at 450°F (232C°). This paper covers alloy 945X capabilities for mechanical properties and microstructure. Results are presented on slow strain rate testing (SSRT) on a range of yield strengths and dimensions for rod product. Mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of mechanical tubes are also presented. This data on SSRT is compared with other high strength alloys. In addition, SSRT data and C-ring data of precipitation strengthened alloys is compared in the same environmental conditions.

Abstract Commercial leak seal products were evaluated for remote, short-term repair of leaks in water pipe in tanks containing radwaste. A liquid glass metallic product was identified for extensive testing after initial screening of four candidates. Testing was performed with manufactured holes and slits in sample pipe at ~50 psig nominal field pressure (.345 MPa), immersed in water or simulated waste. The maximum leaks sealed under field test conditions were a slit, 0.016 × 0.291 in. at leak rate 1.34 gpm (.406 × 7.39 mm, 5.07 L/min) and a 0.046 inch diameter hole at 0.63 gpm (1.17 mm hole, 2.38 L/min). Actual geometry and locations of facility leaks could not be determined. Degradation of seals and of constituent fibers was studied for radiation, water and simulated waste exposures. Seals withstood 1.66E7 R, equivalent to 2 years in a nuclear waste tank. A seal functioned for 50 days in simulated waste at 75-80 °C, internal water at 27-35 °C, and several salt/desalt (thermal) cycles. A small leak at 23 days self-healed. The limited results provided confidence that small coil leaks could be repaired. A simple deployment system was designed to introduce sealant to the coil pipe assemblies. The coils have operated for three years with only one reapplication necessary.

<p>A novel grain scale plasticity-based approach for multiaxial fatigue life assessment is introduced to evaluate the fatigue life of friction stir welded (FSW) joints of the aluminium orthotropic bridge girder of a long-span suspension bridge. The proposed method is validated using multiaxial fatigue tests on FSW specimens and random variable amplitude uniaxial loading tests on FSW and MIG welded joints. A framework for simulating the combined effect of stochastic traffic and wind loading on the considered suspension bridge is presented and the fatigue lives of eight selected details are calculated using the nominal stress, the critical plane method and the proposed grain scale plasticity-based model. The critical plane method provides the shortest fatigue life while the proposed model predicts the longest fatigue life, aligning with the findings from the experimental data used for validation of the proposed model.</p>

In the mid-1990’s, the Navy identified corrosion repair and preservation within tanks and voids as their primary maintenance cost of corrosion issue, consuming nominally $250 million per year. In response, the Navy instituted an aggressive program to study the root cause of these corrosion problems and implement solutions. The Navy program demonstrated that: Early 1990’s coating installation practices tended to limit the life of the coating systems.Legacy, solvent-based coating materials being utilized were not state of the art.Coatings tended to fail initially at “edges” (e.g., stiffeners, welds, etc.) within tanks.

Abstract Fire sprinkler systems are expected to perform reliably over the design life of the protected facilities. Several failures have led to two large recalls of sprinkler heads and revisions to industry standards. In this paper we are presenting case histories of four different fire protection systems where corrosion resulted in premature discharge/leakage causing significant property damage or facilities downtime. One case involves tuberculation of galvanized piping in a nominally dry system. Two cases involve dealloying (dezincification) corrosion of brass sprinkler heads. Another case involves microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) corrosion of flexible, corrugated, stainless steel feed tubes.

The tables in this document present an inventory of some of the available poverty lines for all IDB member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The listed poverty lines are expressed as per capita monthly amounts of nominal local currency and are estimated based on the reference (fieldwork) period of the survey to which they apply. For example, Mexico's INEGI poverty line for 1994 is given in pesos for the 4th quarter of 1994. The only exceptions are the IDB/Poverty Targeted Investments (PTI) poverty lines, which are estimated by using the yearly average of the general consumption price index so that their reference period is mid-year. The appendix presents a more detailed explanation of how the IDB/PTI poverty lines are estimated. In order to review the origin of the rest of the lines, the reader is referred to their original sources, which are listed after each table. All sources are included as footnotes to the tables.

Unquestionably (or: undoubtedly), every competent speaker has already come to doubt with respect to the question of which form is correct or appropriate and should be used (in the standard language) when faced with two or more almost identical competing variants of words, word forms or sentence and phrase structure (e.g. German "Pizzas/Pizzen/Pizze" 'pizzas', Dutch "de drie mooiste/mooiste drie stranden" 'the three most beautiful/most beautiful three beaches', Swedish "större än jag/mig" 'taller than I/me'). Such linguistic uncertainties or "cases of doubt" (cf. i.a. Klein 2003, 2009, 2018; Müller & Szczepaniak 2017; Schmitt, Szczepaniak & Vieregge 2019; Stark 2019 as well as the useful collections of data of Duden vol. 9, Taaladvies.net, Språkriktighetsboken etc.) systematically occur also in native speakers and they do not necessarily coincide with the difficulties of second language learners. In present-day German, most grammatical uncertainties occur in the domains of inflection (nominal plural formation, genitive singular allomorphy of strong masc./neut. nouns, inflectional variation of weak masc. nouns, strong/weak adjectival inflection and comparison forms, strong/weak verb forms, perfect auxiliary selection) and word-formation (linking elements in compounds, separability of complex verbs). As for syntax, there are often doubts in connection with case choice (pseudo-partitive constructions, prepositional case government) and agreement (especially due to coordination or appositional structures). This contribution aims to present a contrastive approach to morphological and syntactic uncertainties in contemporary Germanic languages (mostly German, Dutch, and Swedish) in order to obtain a broader and more fine-grained typology of grammatical instabilities and their causes. As will be discussed, most doubts of competent speakers - a problem also for general linguistic theory - can be attributed to processes of language change in progress, to language or variety contact, to gaps and rule conflicts in the grammar of every language or to psycholinguistic conditions of language processing. Our main concerns will be the issues of which (kinds of) common or different critical areas there are within Germanic (and, on the other hand, in which areas there are no doubts), which of the established (cross-linguistically valid) explanatory approaches apply to which phenomena and, ultimately, the question whether the new data reveals further lines of explanation for the empirically observable (standard) variation.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3

In petrochemical and oil and gas production plant the presence of sour H2S containing environments poses problems with regard to material behavior. The corrosion reaction between H2S and steel produces atomic hydrogen, which enters the steel and may, for example, lead to hydrogen pressure cracking (HPC) if steel quality is such that inclusion levels promote the entrapment of hydrogen gas. Fortunately this problem may be readily controlled by attention to steel cleanliness. A potentially more serious problem relating to sour environments is sulphide stress cracking (SSC), when the presence of hydrogen may lead to stress corrosion cracking in a susceptible material. In carbon-manganese steels, susceptibility to SSC is associated with a hardened microstructure and control of the problem therefore requires limitations on material hardness. This is especially important in welded structures where the rapid cooling associated with welding may lead to a hardened heat affected zone (HAZ), together with significant residual welding stress. To determine to what extent a relaxation in external hardness could be possible, The Welding Institute proposed a program of work to study the influence of hardness and stress levels on the cracking propensity of GMA welds in pipeline steel. The project was to be carried out in two phases: in the first, the hardness limit for internal GMA bead on pipe welds (simulating weld root regions) was to be determined in a sour (NACE) solution; in Phase 2, external bead on pipe welds (simulating weld cap regions) would be assessed, again with the sour environment on the inside of the pipe. This report presents the results of both phases of the study. In order to study the influence of wall thickness on cracking behavior, seamless pipe materials to API-5L-X52 specification were obtained in 408 mm (16 in) diameter with nominal wall thickness of 9.5, 12.7, 19.0 and 25.4 mm (0.37, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 in). Chemical analysis results are given. The materials were supplied in accordance with NACE MR-01-75 hardness specifications (22 HRC max), although no additional requirements were specified. Pipe B, which was obtained from a different supplier to the remaining pipes, had significantly higher sulfur content. Some variations existed between parent material microstructures, although all may be considered typical of the grade of steel. This program seeks to determine the threshold hardness level for sour service of as-deposited (un re-heated) weldment regions in the capping pass of girth welds in pipeline steel. Assessment has been made by comparing the cracking behavior in the NACE TM-01-77 test environment of internal and external single pass welds produced with a range of conditions by the GMAW process.