Organizing on the edge: Heading to Mount Everest

The paper analyzes complexity in organizations facing threatening environments. Such contexts are characterized by very high levels of risk and uncertainty that challenge organizational survival: fire-fighting, aerospace projects, high-tech research programs, etc. A paradox of these contexts is that although they remain stable, organizations operating within them are often transitory, single-project and with a high variety of skills and knowledge. These organizations show a peculiar way of organizing complexity, that deserves special attention. This paper is built upon a longitudinal case study based on successive attempts to climb Mount Everest by Chilean expeditions. After three failed attempts (1984, 1986, 1989) the summit was finally reached in 1992 through one of the hardest routes. Each expedition was an independent organization, and structural arrangements as well as participants were different, except for a small permanent coreComplexity in organizations; environment;

Earnings and Social Background: An evaluation of caste/ethnic wage differentials in the Nepalese labor market

This paper examines the sources of wage differentials among caste/ethnic groups, employing national survey data from Nepal. Our study shows that, in countries such as Nepal which have imperfect labour markets, the conventional Oaxaca decomposition methodology fails to estimate precisely the source of wage differential. Using an extended model, occupational choice, firm size distribution and the interaction between these two are employed along with the conventionally used measures of human capital endowments of different groups, to estimate these effects. Our results indicate that the lack of access to better paying occupations and larger firms, rather than differences in human capital, are the main factors underlying the caste/ethnic wage differentia in Nepal. Furthermore, empirical evidence is not found in favour of government policy of "affirmative action" to contribute yet in narrowing down the caste/ethnic wage differential in the labour market

Microentrepreneurship and the business cycle: is self-employment a desired outcome?

Should a central bank accommodate energy price shocks? Should the central bank use core inflation or headline inflation with the volatile energy component in its Taylor rule? To answer these questions, we build a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with energy use, durable goods, and nominal rigidities to study the effects of an energy price shock and its impact on the macroeconomy when the central bank follows a Taylor rule. We then study how the economy performs under alternative parameterizations of the rule with different weights on headline and core inflation after an increase in the energy price. Our simulation results indicate that a central bank using core inflation in its Taylor rule does better than one using headline inflation because the output drop is less severe. In general, we show that the lower the weight on energy price inflation in the Taylor rule, the impact of an energy price increase on gross domestic product and inflation is also lower.

Quantile autoregressive distributed lag model with an application to house price returns

This paper studies quantile regression in an autoregressive dynamic framework with exogenous stationary covariates. Hence, we develop a quantile autoregressive distributed lag model (QADL). We show that these estimators are consistent and asymptotically normal. Inference based on Wald and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests for general linear restrictions is proposed. An extensive Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to evaluate the properties of the estimators. We demonstrate the potential of the QADL model with an application to house price returns in the United Kingdom. The results show that house price returns present a heterogeneous autoregressive behavior across the quantiles. The real GDP growth and interest rates also have an asymmetric impact on house prices variations

Renormalization Group Equations for the CKM matrix

We derive the one loop renormalization group equations for the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix for the Standard Model, its two Higgs extension and the minimal supersymmetric extension in a novel way. The derived equations depend only on a subset of the model parameters of the renormalization group equations for the quark Yukawa couplings so the CKM matrix evolution cannot fully test the renormalization group evolution of the quark Yukawa couplings. From the derived equations we obtain the invariant of the renormalization group evolution for three models which is the angle $\alpha$ of the unitarity triangle. For the special case of the Standard Model and its extensions with $v_{1}\approx v_{2}$ we demonstrate that also the shape of the unitarity triangle and the Buras-Wolfenstein parameters $\bar{\rho}=(1-{1/2}\lambda^{2})\rho$ and $\bar{\eta}=(1-{1/2}\lambda^{2})\eta$ are conserved. The invariance of the angles of the unitarity triangle means that it is not possible to find a model in which the CKM matrix might have a simple, special form at asymptotic energies.Comment: 9 page

Direction of the Play: \u3cem\u3eA Raisin in the Sun\u3c/em\u3e

This project entailed the selection, background research, direction, dialect coaching, choreography, design, and post-production analysis of Salesian High School\u27s production of Lorraine Hansberry\u27s A Raisin in the Sun. Documentation includes research and analysis of the play as a production. The analysis also includes a discussion regarding the directorial vision of this production

Hodgkin's Lymphomas: A Tumor Recognized by Its Microenvironment

Thomas Hodgkin's and Samuel Wilks first recognized Hodgkin disease in the first half of the 19th century. Initially described as lymphogranulomatosis, it was later recognized to be a lymphoid neoplasm derived from B cells and was classified on the basis of its histopathological features. Hodgkin lymphomas are now regarded as encompassing two clearly defined entities according to the WHO classification: nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma (NLPHL) and classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (CHL). This paper focuses on the current knowledge about the biological features that characterize both NLPHL and CHL, highlighting those relevant to correct pathological diagnosis and those that might be associated with patient outcome

Which quantile is the most informative? Maximum likelihood, maximum entropy and quantile regression

This paper studies the connections among quantile regression, the asymmetric Laplace distribution, maximum likelihood and maximum entropy. We show that the maximum likelihood problem is equivalent to the solution of a maximum entropy problem where we impose moment constraints given by the joint consideration of the mean and median. Using the resulting score functions we propose an estimator based on the joint estimating equations. This approach delivers estimates for the slope parameters together with the associated “most probable” quantile. Similarly, this method can be seen as a penalized quantile regression estimator, where the penalty is given by deviations from the median regression. We derive the asymptotic properties of this estimator by showing consistency and asymptotic normality under certain regularity conditions. Finally, we illustrate the use of the estimator with a simple application to the U.S. wage data to evaluate the effect of training on wages

Rare top decay and CP violation in THDM

We discuss the formalism of two Higgs doublet model type III with CP violation from CP-even CP-odd mixing in the neutral Higgs bosons. The flavor changing interactions among neutral Higgs bosons and fermions are presented at tree level in this type of model. These assumptions allow the study rare top decays mediated by neutral Higgs bosons, particularly we are interested in $t\rightarrow c l^+l^-$. For this process we estimated upper bounds of the branching ratios $\textrm{Br}(t\rightarrow c \tau^+\tau^-)$ of the order of $10^{-9}\sim 10^{-7}$ for a neutral Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV and $\tan\beta=1$, 1.5, 2, 2.5. For the case of $t\rightarrow c \tau^+\tau^-$ the number of possible events is estimated from 1 to 10 events which could be observed in future experiments at LHC with a luminosity of 300 $\textrm{fb}^{-1}$ and 14 GeV for the energy of the center of mass. Also we estimate that the number of events for the process $t\rightarrow c l^+l^-$ in different scenarios is of order of $2500$.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Large eddy simulation and laboratory experiments on the decay of grid wakes in strongly stratified flows

A detailed analysis of the flow structure resulting from the combination of turbulence and internal waves is carried out and visualized by means of the Schlieren method on waves in a strongly stratified fluid at the Laboratory of the IPM in Moscow. The joint appearance of the more regular internal wave oscillations and the small-scale turbulence that is confined vertically to the Ozmidov length scale favours the use of a simple geometrical analysis to investigate their time-space span and evolution. This provides useful information on the collapse of internal wave breaking processes in the ocean and the atmosphere. The measurements were performed under a variety of linear stratifications and different grid forcing scales, combining the grid wake and velocity shear. A numerical simulation using LES on the passage of a single bar in a linearly stratified fluid medium has been compared with the experiments identifying the different influences of the environmental agents on the actual effective vertical diffusion of the wakes. The equation of state, which connects the density and salinity, is assumed to be linear, with the coefficient of the salt contraction being included into the definition of salinity or heat. The characteristic internal waves as well as the entire beam width are related to the diameter of the bar, the Richardson number and the peak-to-peak value of oscillations. The ultimate frequency of the infinitesimal periodic internal waves is limited by the maximum buoyancy frequency relating the decrease in the vertical scale with the anisotropy of the velocity turbulent r.m.s. velocity.Peer ReviewedPreprin