Asymptotics of joint maxima for discontinuous random variables

This paper explores the joint extreme-value behavior of discontinuous random variables. It is shown that as in the continuous case, the latter is characterized by the weak limit of the normalized componentwise maxima and the convergence of any compatible copula. Illustrations are provided and an extension to the case of triangular arrays is considered which sheds new light on recent work of Coles and Pauli (Stat Probab Lett 54:373-379, 2001) and Mitov and Nadarajah (Extremes 8:357-370, 2005). This leads to considerations on the meaning of the bivariate upper tail dependence coefficient of Joe (Comput Stat Data Anal 16:279-297, 1993) in the discontinuous cas

Quantum chemical modeling of tri-Mn-substituted W-based Keggin polyoxoanions

Using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, we studied the electrochemistry of polyoxome- talates (POMs), specifically the redox properties of Mn in tri-Mn-substituted W-based Keggin ions. For direct comparison with recent cyclic voltammetry results [J. Friedl et al. Electrochim. Acta, 141 (2014) 357], we estimated the reversible half-wave potentials of proton- and cation-coupled electron transfer for Mn(IV/III) and Mn(III/II), respectively. The calculated reversible potentials agree well with experiment, reproducing the trend with pH for Mn(IV/III). For adequate DFT energies, it is crucial to apply a reliable description of the electrolyte environment of the POM, accounting also for their rather high charges, up to �7 e. To this end, we included the Li+ counterions, required for charge neutralization, directly in the quantum chemical models which were embedded in a polarizable continuum. We explored various arrangements of the Li+ ions around the POMs and their effect on both structural parameters and electrochemical properties of the POMs. Hybrid functionals (TPSSh, B3LYP, PBE0) overestimate the experimental reduction potentials: the larger the exact-exchange contribution, the larger the resulting reduction potential. The best agreement with experiment is achieved with the PBE approach, likely due to fortuitous error cancellation. The results of the present work indicate that a more sophisticated (atomistic) representation of the electrolyte environment will be beneficial for predicting redox potentials in better agreement with experiment

Cartes Cognitives Synthétisées

Une carte cognitive est un modèle graphique de représentation des connaissances exprimant des influences entre des concepts. Lorsque plusieurs concepteurs conçoivent ensemble une carte, les retours d\u27expérience montrent qu\u27ils ont du mal à y arriver. La contribution du papier est de proposer une approche nouvelle pour travailler à plusieurs par fusion de cartes. Chaque concepteur réalise une carte. Une carte de travail partagée est automatiquement construite par synthèse des cartes de chaque concepteur. Pour ce faire, d\u27une part nous utilisons une ontologie qui regroupe les concepts utilisés dans les cartes ; d\u27autre part, nous introduisons un ordre de préférences sur les concepteurs

Performance requirement prohibitions in international investment law

Performance requirements act as policy instruments for achieving broadly-defined economic and developmental objectives of States. A number of States have committed to prohibiting performance requirements in international investment agreements (“IIAs.”). Performance requirement prohibitions (“PRPs”) are meant to eliminate trade-distorting performance requirements and performance requirements which replace investor decision-making by State decision-making.This dissertation focuses on providing answers to two research questions: first, how do States prohibit performance requirements in IIAs? And second, how should PRPs in IIAs be interpreted and applied?For the first time, this dissertation: proposes a unitary understanding of PRPs in IIAs; develops a detailed typology and analysis of PRPs in IIAs through the identification of systematically reproduced drafting patterns; conducts the first critical and in-depth analysis of all arbitral awards which have decided claims based on PRPs in IIAs; analyses interpretation and application issues related to provisions that exempt government procurement from PRPs and to reservations that shield sensitive non-conforming measures or strategically important sectors from PRPs; and anticipates the application of most-favoured nation (“MFN”) treatment clauses to PRPs in the future.Finally, this dissertation formulates proposals that can help interpret and apply existing PRPs and draft future PRPs in a more deliberate and informed way.Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship ProgramThe progression of EU law: Accommodating change and upholding value

Modelling stochastic bivariate mortality

Stochastic mortality, i.e. modelling death arrival via a jump process with stochastic intensity, is gaining increasing reputation as a way to represent mortality risk. This paper represents a first attempt to model the mortality risk of couples of individuals, according to the stochastic intensity approach. On the theoretical side, we extend to couples the Cox processes set up, i.e. the idea that mortality is driven by a jump process whose intensity is itself a stochastic process, proper of a particular generation within each gender. Dependence between the survival times of the members of a couple is captured by an Archimedean copula. On the calibration side, we fit the joint survival function by calibrating separately the (analytical) copula and the (analytical) margins. First, we select the best fit copula according to the methodology of Wang and Wells (2000) for censored data. Then, we provide a sample-based calibration for the intensity, using a time-homogeneous, non mean-reverting, affine process: this gives the analytical marginal survival functions. Coupling the best fit copula with the calibrated margins we obtain, on a sample generation, a joint survival function which incorporates the stochastic nature of mortality improvements and is far from representing independency.On the contrary, since the best fit copula turns out to be a Nelsen one, dependency is increasing with age and long-term dependence exists

Asynchronous Games over Tree Architectures

We consider the task of controlling in a distributed way a Zielonka asynchronous automaton. Every process of a controller has access to its causal past to determine the next set of actions it proposes to play. An action can be played only if every process controlling this action proposes to play it. We consider reachability objectives: every process should reach its set of final states. We show that this control problem is decidable for tree architectures, where every process can communicate with its parent, its children, and with the environment. The complexity of our algorithm is l-fold exponential with l being the height of the tree representing the architecture. We show that this is unavoidable by showing that even for three processes the problem is EXPTIME-complete, and that it is non-elementary in general

The Exploration of Terrorist's Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems using the Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Islamic State (IS) caught the world’s attention because of their brutality and their individuality by using the globalized world in unprecedented ways. One of their introductions was the weaponization of Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) drones. This research is an exploration of COTS drone proliferation across terrorist organizations through Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory’s four characteristics of diffusion: innovation, communication, time, and social system. Using a mixed methods approach, this research examines how DOI explains the international community is experiencing the “early adopter” phase of diffusion innovation. Viewing terrorist organizations’ use of COTS drone through the lens of DOI theory explains current trends and offers insight into future capabilities

Signals from R-parity violating top quark decays at LHC

We evaluate the potential of the CERN LHC collider to observe rare decays of the top quark in channels involving R-parity violating (RPV) interactions. We stress the importance of calculating top quark production and decay simultaneously as a true 2->4 process. The process of tt-bar pair production followed by RPV decay of one of the top quarks is analyzed with fast detector simulation. We show that intermediate supersymmetric particles can be observed as resonances even if they are heavier than the top quark due to the significant off-shell top-quark mass effects. The approach where the top quark is produced on-mass-shell and then decays into 2- or 3-body final state would in general lead to incorrect kinematical distributions and rates. The rates of the 2 -> 4 process with top quark production and RPV 3-body decay depend on the total width of the heavy intermediate sfermion which could,therefore, be measured indirectly. We find that the LHC collider offers a unique potential to study rare top quark decays in the framework of supersymmetry with broken R-parity for branching fractions of RPV top decays as low as 10^{-6}Comment: 23 pages, 22 figure