On compatibility and improvement of different quantum state assignments

When Alice and Bob have different quantum knowledges or state assignments (density operators) for one and the same specific individual system, then the problems of compatibility and pooling arise. The so-called first Brun-Finkelstein-Mermin (BFM) condition for compatibility is reobtained in terms of possessed or sharp (i. e., probability one) properties. The second BFM condition is shown to be generally invalid in an infinite-dimensional state space. An argument leading to a procedure of improvement of one state assifnment on account of the other and vice versa is presented.Comment: 8 page

Pleasure and meaningful discourse: an overview of research issues

The concept of pleasure has emerged as a multi-faceted social and cultural phenomenon in studies of media audiences since the 1980s. In these studies different forms of pleasure have been identified as explaining audience activity and commitment. In the diverse studies pleasure has emerged as a multi-faceted social and cultural concept that needs to be contextualized carefully. Genre and genre variations, class, gender, (sub-)cultural identity and generation all seem to be instrumental in determining the kind and variety of pleasures experienced in the act of viewing. This body of research has undoubtedly contributed to a better understanding of the complexity of audience activities, but it is exactly the diversity of the concept that is puzzling and poses a challenge to its further use. If pleasure is maintained as a key concept in audience analysis that holds much explanatory power, it needs a stronger theoretical foundation. The article maps the ways in which the concept of pleasure has been used by cultural theorists, who have paved the way for its application in reception analysis, and it goes on to explore the ways in which the concept has been used in empirical studies. Central to our discussion is the division between the ‘public knowledge’ and the ‘popular culture’ projects in reception analysis which, we argue, have major implications for the way in which pleasure has come to be understood as divorced from politics, power and ideology. Finally, we suggest ways of bridging the gap between these two projects in an effort to link pleasure to the concepts of hegemony and ideology

Estimation of interregional freight flows with a gravity model by OLS estimation, Poisson and neural network specifications

In this paper we compare three different specifications of gravity models for inter regional freight flow prediction. The most used specification with OLS estimation is compared with a model where data are assumed to be Poisson distributed. We also compare these with a Feed Forward Back Propagation Neural Network. Data consists of freight flows between Norwegian counties. The attribute describing the nodes is population and distance in kilometers gives the friction on transport links. Since we here only are interested in inter regional flows all intra regional flows are excluded. Results are also compared with an earlier study by Bergkvist and Westin (1997) were all data were used. Estimations indicate that OLS compared to Poisson and Neural Network specifications will produce worse predictions. However, the question on how to compare performance is not undisputable and of great importance since different measures can produce quite different results, not just in scale but also in ranking. When non-linear models are used the lack of a simple interpretable R-square measure as in linear regression is evident. We therefore use different measures of performance and discuss their pros and cons. Bergkvist E. and Westin L. (1997) Estimation of gravity models by OLS estimation, NLS estimation, Poisson and Neural Network specifications. Submitted to "Analytical advances in Transportation Systems and Spatial Dynamics." Eds. Gastaldi M. and Reggiani A.

clicktatorship and democrazy: Social media and political campaigning

This chapter aims to direct attention to the political dimension of the social media age. Although current events like the Cambridge Analytica data breach managed to raise awareness for the issue, the systematically organized and orchestrated mechanisms at play still remain oblivious to most. Next to dangerous monopoly-tendencies among the powerful players on the market, reliance on automated algorithms in dealing with content seems to enable large-scale manipulation that is applied for economical and political purposes alike. The successful replacement of traditional parties by movements based on personality cults around marketable young faces like Emmanuel Macron or Austria’s Sebastian Kurz is strongly linked to products and services offered by an industry that simply provides likes and followers for cash. Inspired by Trump’s monopolization of the Twitter-channel, these new political acteurs use the potential of social media for effective message control, allowing them to avoid confrontations with professional journalists. In addition, an extremely active minority of organized agitators relies on the viral potential of the web to strongly influence and dictate public discourse – suggesting a shift from the Spiral of Silence to the dangerous illusion of a Nexus of Noise

US-amerikanisches Wertpapierrecht und Internet

Wie in vielen anderen Bereichen unserer Gesellschaft hat das Internet auch in die Wertpapierbranche Einzug erhalten. Diesbezüglich haben die USA sowohl in tatsächlicher als auch in rechtlicher Hinsicht wieder einmal eine Vorbildfunktion inne. Dies nimmt der Verfasser zum Anlaß, um sich kritisch mit den dortigen Erfahrungen zu beschäftigen. Ferner werden USamerikanische Wertpapiervorschriften besprochen, die sich nicht auf die USA beschränken. Der Gesetzgeber hat neben den Vorschriften über die elektronische Informationsverbreitung bereits Spezialregeln aufgestellt, die alle ausländischen Anbieter betreffen, die das Internet zu Handelszwecken nutzen. Dafür ist es sogar ohne Bedeutung, ob die Anbieter überhaupt einen internationalen Handel betreiben. Die Ausführungen und Regeln betreffen zum Teil die gesamte Wertpapierbranche. Das Hauptaugenmerk des Beitrags ist aber auf Investmentfonds gerichtet. Dabei stützt sich der Verfasser auf eine Untersuchung, die er 1998/99 als „Visiting Scholar“ an der New York University durchführen konnte