Monomization of Power Ideals and Parking Functions

In this note, we find a monomization of a certain power ideal associated to a directed graph. This power ideal has been studied in several settings. The combinatorial method described here extends earlier work of other, and will work on several other types of power ideals, as will appear in later work

The digital-only media consumer: Key findings from a conversation with all-digital millenials

This study offers insight on the digital-onlys, a sub-population of Millennials who only consume media through digital platforms. Based on informal group conversations with 16 to 34 year-olds, the study provides a snapshot of their daily media consumption and preliminary answers to why they regard digital content as the norm. These findings reveal that some consumers today are not simply abandoning traditional platforms and turning towards digital content, they actually seem to know no other way to consume media but on digital platforms. For them, the biggest consumption change would actually be to watch cable television, listen to FM radio or read a printed newspaper or magazine. Digital-onlys may represent a new kind of consumers that view their media habits as completely normal and organic. Indeed, some are not even aware they belong to this digital group. The participants shared common characteristics: an ability to adapt devices to their needs, an intrinsically digital lifestyle and a habit of bypassing traditional media to access a larger selection of content despite the fact they’re struggling with an overabundance of choice. Our conversations also revealed that digital-onlys are fully aware of the negative impact their media consumption habits can have on content creators, yet they cherish freedom above all else

REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN CANADA: INTERPROVINCIAL OR URBAN/RURAL?

The nature of regional disparities in Canada is analysed in this paper, with a focus on their interprovincial or urban/rural nature. Starting by presenting a traditional approach to regional disparities in Canada, we show that statistics indeed lead us to believe that there are important interprovincial disparities in Canada. Using the “Modified” Beale Codes approach which divides census divisions into more or less urban/rural categories, we then produce econometric results which again confirm the presence of inter-provincial disparities, but also of urban/rural disparities in Canada. If we test for the presence of interprovincial disparities amongst only similar census divisions rather than all census divisions, we arrive at the conclusion that a certain amount – but by no means all – regional disparities in Canada are indeed urban/rural disparities rather than interprovincial disparities and that these interprovincial disparities are less important than initially thought. Our results are very important for policy development. Principally, the fact that some provinces are lagging other in socio-economic measures may have more to do with the relative level of urbanity or rurality present in these provinces, rather than of better or worst policies, labour forces, entrepreneurial spirit, etc.REGIONAL DISPARITIES, PROVINCES, URBAN, RURAL, CANADA, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES

“Migrations, remittances and local development in Southern countries: Dutch disease or residential economy?â€Â

In developing countries, the contribution of the growing amount of migrant remittances to development remains an unsettled issue. At the macroeconomic level remittances do represent an external flow way above official aid and often in line with FDI. Hence the widely shared optimistic view about this until now “hidden source of development financeâ€Â. At the microeconomic level remittances raise incomes and have an impact on consumption expenses and therefore on welfare. They can also finance investment in productive assets, such as physical capital and more conspicuously, human capital through education and health expenses. They can therefore improve the resilience of concerned household livelihoods, although it is not granted that remittances necessarily accrue to the poorest households. Remittances on the whole have an impact on poverty abatement but this impact can vary widely. At the meso-economic level relevant data show that migration and remittances concentrate in specific place, raising the issue of their contribution to local development of concerned areas. Concerning the impact of productive investments financed by remittances, picture is rather contrasted with contradictory results from various case-studies. Staying at the meso level, we will compare in this paper two models which have been used, albeit tentatively, to assess the contribution of remittances to local development. • Dutch disease approach, in its sub-national version which features the impact of remittances on real exchange rate. • Residential economy approach which rest on the use of a Keynesian export multiplier applied at an area level to an “economic base†which can be productive but also residential, remittances being considered as a component of this residential basis. These two approaches predict changes in the system of activities due to remittances. However their vision of the consequences of these changes diverge. Their comparative analysis can allow for the identification of key factors of remittance capability to shape a local development path. To achieve that, we shall draw from the huge literature on remittances relating to various countries as well as public statistical data bases.

Interactive experimenters' planning procedures and mission control

The computerized mission control and planning system routinely generates a 24-hour schedule in one hour of operator time by including time dimensions into experimental planning procedures. Planning is validated interactively as it is being generated segment by segment in the frame of specific event times. The planner simply points a light pen at the time mark of interest on the time line for entering specific event times into the schedule

Misalignment estimation software system

A system of computer software, spacecraft, and ground system activity is described that enables spacecraft startrackers and inertial assemblies to be aligned and calibrated from the ground after the spacecraft has achieved orbit. The system generates in the uplink flow an exercise designed to render misalignments visible, and sends the exercise to the spacecraft where the spacecraft inserts the misalignment into the information in the form of attitude sensor error. The information is downlinked for processing into misalignment estimates to be used for correcting spacecraft model at data base