1,384 research outputs found
Liberalization and Regulation of the Swiss Letter Market
The paper analyzes the impact of different regulatory models on competition and welfare in the Swiss letter market. We conclude that the US system worksharing yields the best results.Regulation, Liberalization, Universal Service, Worksharing
A Model of the Ventral Visual System Based on Temporal Stability and Local Memory
The cerebral cortex is a remarkably homogeneous structure suggesting a rather generic computational machinery. Indeed, under a variety of conditions, functions attributed to specialized areas can be supported by other regions. However, a host of studies have laid out an ever more detailed map of functional cortical areas. This leaves us with the puzzle of whether different cortical areas are intrinsically specialized, or whether they differ mostly by their position in the processing hierarchy and their inputs but apply the same computational principles. Here we show that the computational principle of optimal stability of sensory representations combined with local memory gives rise to a hierarchy of processing stages resembling the ventral visual pathway when it is exposed to continuous natural stimuli. Early processing stages show receptive fields similar to those observed in the primary visual cortex. Subsequent stages are selective for increasingly complex configurations of local features, as observed in higher visual areas. The last stage of the model displays place fields as observed in entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. The results suggest that functionally heterogeneous cortical areas can be generated by only a few computational principles and highlight the importance of the variability of the input signals in forming functional specialization
«Agotamiento» en la era digital
La Sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea de 3 de julio de 2012 ha abierto intensos debates acerca de la aplicabilidad de la regla conocida como del «agotamiento del derecho de distribución» a todas aquellas obras de propiedad intelectual recogidas en formato digital en un soporte no físico. Hasta 2012 se entendía que la regla del agotamiento sólo era aplicable a aquellas obras de propiedad intelectual comercializadas en un soporte (o corpus mysticum) físico; sin embargo, el Tribunal hace una interpretación por la cual actualiza está regla a la economía digital, entendiendo que cuando (como en el caso juzgado) se celebra un contrato de licencia de uso de programa de ordenador sin limitación temporal y éste es descargado directamente online desde la web del titular de los derechos el contrato es análogo a una compraventa a los efectos de entender aplicable la regla del agotamiento. En este artículo se analizan las fases por las que ha pasado la economía digital en cuanto a la transmisión de contenidos digitales (divididas en tres periodos) así como otras figuras próximas a la regla del agotamiento como son la doctrina de la primera venta y la licencia implícita; así como las consecuencias desde un punto de vista económico que puede tener una interpretación más o menos expansiva de las posibilidades del titular de los derechos de introducir medidas tecnológicas de protección en las obras de propiedad intelectual que comercializa, conocidas como Digital Right Management.The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 3 July 2012 (UsedSoft v. Oracle) opened intense debates about the applicability of the rule known as «exhaustion of the right of distribution» to all those works of intellectual property collected in digital format on a non-physical medium. Until 2012 it was understood that the rule of exhaustion was only applicable to those works of intellectual property marketed in a physical support (or corpus mysticum). Nevertheless, the Court makes an interpretation in which it updates the rule to the digital economy understanding that when (as in the case in court) a license agreement without temporal limitation for the use of a computer program is concluded and the program is downloaded directly online from the rights holder's websíte, the contract is analogous to a sale with regards to the rule of exhaustion. This article analyses the phases through which the digital economy has gone through in terms of the transmission of digital content (divided into three periods) as well as other figures close to the rule of exhaustion as the doctrine of the first sale and the implied license; as well as the consequences that could have a more or less expansive interpretation of the possibilities of the right holder to introduce technological protection measures in the works of intellectual property that he commercializes known Digital Right Management, from an economic point of view
A De-biased Direct Question Approach to Measuring Consumers' Willingness to Pay
Knowledge of consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) is a prerequisite to
profitable price-setting. To gauge consumers' WTP, practitioners often rely on
a direct single question approach in which consumers are asked to explicitly
state their WTP for a product. Despite its popularity among practitioners, this
approach has been found to suffer from hypothetical bias. In this paper, we
propose a rigorous method that improves the accuracy of the direct single
question approach. Specifically, we systematically assess the hypothetical
biases associated with the direct single question approach and explore ways to
de-bias it. Our results show that by using the de-biasing procedures we
propose, we can generate a de-biased direct single question approach that is
accu-rate enough to be useful for managerial decision-making. We validate this
approach with two studies in this paper.Comment: Market Research, Pricing, Demand Estimation, Direct Estimation,
Single Question Approach, Choice Experiments, Willingness to Pay,
Hypothetical Bia
Strain controlled oxygen vacancy formation and ordering in CaMnO
We use first-principles calculations to investigate the stability of
bi-axially strained \textit{Pnma} perovskite CaMnO towards the formation of
oxygen vacancies. Our motivation is provided by promising indications that
novel material properties can be engineered by application of strain through
coherent heteroepitaxy in thin films. While it is usually assumed that such
epitaxial strain is accommodated primarily by changes in intrinsic lattice
constants, point defect formation is also a likely strain relaxation mechanism.
This is particularly true at the large strain magnitudes (4%) which
first-principles calculations often suggest are required to induce new
functionalities. We find a strong dependence of oxygen vacancy defect formation
energy on strain, with tensile strain lowering the formation energy consistent
with the increasing molar volume with increasing oxygen deficiency. In
addition, we find that strain differentiates the formation energy for different
lattice sites, suggesting its use as a route to engineering vacancy ordering in
epitaxial thin films.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Monotone Volume Formulas for Geometric Flows
We consider a closed manifold M with a Riemannian metric g(t) evolving in
direction -2S(t) where S(t) is a symmetric two-tensor on (M,g(t)). We prove
that if S satisfies a certain tensor inequality, then one can construct a
forwards and a backwards reduced volume quantity, the former being
non-increasing, the latter being non-decreasing along the flow. In the case
where S=Ric is the Ricci curvature of M, the result corresponds to Perelman's
well-known reduced volume monotonicity for the Ricci flow. Some other examples
are given in the second section of this article, the main examples and
motivation for this work being List's extended Ricci flow system, the Ricci
flow coupled with harmonic map heat flow and the mean curvature flow in
Lorentzian manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvatures. With our approach,
we find new monotonicity formulas for these flows.Comment: v2: final version (as published
Synthesis of Enantioenriched Tetra-ortho-3,3′-substituted Biaryls by Small-Molecule-Catalyzed Noncanonical Polyketide Cyclizations
The arene-forming aldol condensation is a fundamental reaction in the biosynthesis of aromatic polyketides. Precisely controlled by the polyketide synthases, the highly reactive poly-β-carbonyl substrates are diverged into numerous aromatic natural products by selective cyclization reactions; a fascinating biosynthetic strategy that sparked our interest to investigate atroposelective aldol condensations. In this Account, we contextualize and highlight the ability of small-molecule catalysts to selectively convert noncanonical hexacarbonyl substrates in a double arene-forming aldol condensation resulting in the atroposelective synthesis of tetra-ortho-3,3′-substituted biaryls. The hexacarbonyl substrates were obtained by a fourfold ozonolysis enabling a late-stage introduction of all carbonyl functions in one step. Secondary amine catalysts capable of forming an extended hydrogen-bonding network triggered the noncanonical polyketide cyclization in order to form valuable biaryls in high yields and with stereocontrol of up to 98:2 er
Female preferences for single and combined traits in computer animated stickleback males
In many animal species, males have more than one secondary sexual character. Apart from theoretical considerations about the evolution of multiple traits, there are almost no empirical studies on female mate choice decisions based on combinations of traits as opposed to decisions based on single traits. Because three-spined sticklebacks are exceptionally well suited to be tested with computer animation technique, which itself fills the gap of adequate test paradigms for multiple traits, we tested female sticklebacks for their preferences for both single and combined male traits. We used virtual stickleback males that differed either in red throat coloration, courtship intensity, body size, or in combinations of these traits. The virtual male with increased redness was found to be preferred by females, whereas the male courting more intensely was not. The tests for combinations of traits revealed the more pronounced female preferences, the more traits were available to the females to judge male qualit
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