Commodities and cognition

A commentary on "An enquiry concerning the nature of conceptual categories: a case-study on the social dimension of human cognition", by John Stewart (2014)in 'Frontiers in Psychology', Vol.5

From Near to Far: Maria Short and the Places and Spaces of Science in Edinburgh from 1736 to 1850

A relatively unknown woman named Maria Theresa Short opened a popular observatory in 1835 in Ed inburgh - a time and place where men of science and property had long failed to make a viable space for astronomy. She exhibited scientific instruments to a general public, along with a great telescope and a walk-in camera obscura that projected live views of the city and continues to delight audiences to this day. To better understand Short's accomplishments, achieved as scientific and public life became increasingly closed to women, this study explores her largely untold story, and maps some of the places of science around it. Finding local contingencies, multiple sites and practices by diverse groups, it proposes that tensions within the connections between science and spectacle and the use of popularization to promote its professionalization produced gaps that even a marginal figure like Maria Short could inhabit and exploit

Smoothing: Local Regression Techniques

Smoothing methods attempt to find functional relationships between different measurements. As in the standard regression setting, the data is assumed to consist of measurements of a response variable, and one or more predictor variables. Standard regression techniques (Chapter ??) specify a functional form (such as a straight line) to describe the relation between the predictor and response variables. Smoothing methods take a more flexible approach, allowing the data points themselves to determine the form of the fitted curve. This article begins by describing several different approaches to smoothing, including kernel methods, local regression, spline methods and orthogonal series. A general theory of linear smoothing is presented, which allows us to develop methods for statistical inference, model diagnostics and choice of smoothing parameters. The theory is then extended to more general settings, including multivariate smoothing and likelihood models. --

On large-sample estimation and testing via quadratic inference functions for correlated data

Hansen (1982) proposed a class of "generalized method of moments" (GMMs) for estimating a vector of regression parameters from a set of score functions. Hansen established that, under certain regularity conditions, the estimator based on the GMMs is consistent, asymptotically normal and asymptotically efficient. In the generalized estimating equation framework, extending the principle of the GMMs to implicitly estimate the underlying correlation structure leads to a "quadratic inference function" (QIF) for the analysis of correlated data. The main objectives of this research are to (1) formulate an appropriate estimated covariance matrix for the set of extended score functions defining the inference functions; (2) develop a unified large-sample theoretical framework for the QIF; (3) derive a generalization of the QIF test statistic for a general linear hypothesis problem involving correlated data while establishing the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under the null and local alternative hypotheses; (4) propose an iteratively reweighted generalized least squares algorithm for inference in the QIF framework; and (5) investigate the effect of basis matrices, defining the set of extended score functions, on the size and power of the QIF test through Monte Carlo simulated experiments.Comment: 32 pages, 2 figure

Top-Quark Mass Measurement in the Dilepton Channel Using {\it in situ} Jet Energy Scale Calibration

We employ a top-quark mass measurement technique in the dilepton channel with {\it in situ} jet energy scale calibration. Three variables having different jet energy scale dependences are used simultaneously to extract not only the top-quark mass but also the energy scale of the jet from a single likelihood fit. Monte Carlo studies with events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 fb$^{-1}$ proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV are performed. Our analysis suggests that the overall jet energy scale uncertainty can be significantly reduced and the top-quark mass can be determined with a precision of less than 1 GeV/c$^2$, including jet energy scale uncertainty, at the Large Hadron Collider.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Police inc., une entreprise à responsabilité non limitée ? Sécurité, gouvernance civile et bien public

Cet article soulève les questions suivantes : peut-on parler d’une activité policière excessive dans nos sociétés contemporaines ou, plus précisément, d’une police qui aille à l’encontre de la jouissance/production de liberté et de sécurité ? C’est dans le contexte de deux tendances intimement liées, discernables dans les relations entre l’activité de police (le policing), la sécurité et la gouvernance civile, que ces questions sont explorées. Ces deux tendances sont les suivantes : en premier lieu, l’intrication croissante des institutions de police (et du discours sécuritaire) avec un plus grand nombre d’organismes gouvernementaux et leurs programmes d’intervention ; en second lieu, l’avènement de réseaux au maillage plus ou moins lâche constitués d’organisations institutionnelles, commerciales ou bénévoles engagées dans la gouvernance de la sécurité. Je m’efforce de montrer que l’État se doit de tenir encore et toujours un rôle de premier plan dans la gouvernance (provision/réglementation) du champ de la sécurité, surtout parce qu’il est le plus à même de véhiculer une activité de police équitable et démocratique, seule susceptible de cultiver et protéger les libertés tant positives que négatives de tous les citoyens.This paper addresses the following questions: can contemporary societies be over-policed, or, more specifically, policed in ways that are injurious to the production of liberty and security? These questions are raised against the backdrop of two related tendencies that are discernible in relations between policing, security and civic governance. First, the deepening entanglement of policing institutions (and securitizing discourses) with agencies and programmes of government. Second, the advent of loosely coupled networks of state, commercial, and voluntary agencies involved in the governance of security. The paper argues that the state should continue to hold a prominent role in the governance (provision/regulation) of security, not least because it offers the most plausible vehicle for delivering equitable and democratic policing in ways that nurture and protect the negative and positive freedoms of all citizens