Statistical challenges in the analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation

An enormous amount of observations on Cosmic Microwave Background radiation has been collected in the last decade, and much more data are expected in the near future from planned or operating satellite missions. These datasets are a goldmine of information for Cosmology and Theoretical Physics; their efficient exploitation posits several intriguing challenges from the statistical point of view. In this paper we review a number of open problems in CMB data analysis and we present applications to observations from the WMAP mission.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AOAS190 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Brief Announcement: Phase Transitions of the k-Majority Dynamics in a Biased Communication Model

We analyze the binary-state (either ? or ?) k-majority dynamics in a biased communication model where nodes have some fixed probability p, independent of the dynamics, of being seen in state ? by their neighbors. In this setting we study how p, as well as the initial unbalance between the two states, impact on the speed of convergence of the process, identifying sharp phase transitions

Education and Economic Mobility

Surveys the literature on how education affects intergenerational mobility. Discusses the impacts of parents' education, financial resources, GED and job training programs, K-12 quality improvements, and early childhood education and intervention

The electoral effectiveness of constituency campaigning in the 2010 British General Election: The ‘triumph’ of Labour?

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Electoral Studies. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier B.V.This article establishes a model of likely campaign effectiveness, before examining the intensity of constituency campaigning at the 2010 general election in Britain and its subsequent impact on electoral outcomes, using both aggregate and individual level data. It shows that constituency campaigning yielded benefits in varying degrees for all three main parties and that Labour’s constituency campaign efforts were effective despite the electoral context, and ultimately affected the overall outcome of the election. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of the circumstances under which campaigns are likely to be more or less effective, and provide further evidence that a carefully managed campaign stands the most chance of delivering tangible electoral payoffs