EU Competition Policy: Algorithmic Collusion in the Digital Single Market

E-commerce promises a digital environment with ‘more perfect’ market characteristics. Although consumers may benefit from digital efficiencies, firms’ exploitation of such benefits may require new policy to regulate in line with the European Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy. Price-setting algorithms are central to this dichotomy, as faster and more transparent pricing strategies could conceivably maintain algorithmic price-fixing cartels – which Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union may prove inadequate in tackling. This paper looks to remedy a perceived failure in the literature to appreciate the legal and economic analysis necessary to inform an alternative policy. It will assess the anti-competitive impact of pricing algorithms by contrasting the online and offline economic environments against which policy is set. It will evaluate the effectiveness of current policy in tackling explicit and tacit algorithmic collusion, accounting for its impact upon reasonable business practices, consumer welfare, liability and enforcement, and legal concepts which can be difficult to apply to the digital market. As long-term consumer welfare could be sacrificed by enforcing short-term remedies, it is advised that policy returns to its ordoliberal roots: prioritising the maintenance of healthy competition over current welfare-first economics which lack sufficient clarity to regulate algorithms

Spherically symmetric solution in a space-time with torsion

By using the method of group analysis, we obtain a new exact evolving and spherically symmetric solution of the Einstein-Cartan equations of motion, corresponding to a space-time threaded with a three-form Kalb-Ramond field strength. The solution describes in its more generic form, a space-time which scalar curvature vanishes for large distances and for large time. In static conditions, it reduces to a classical wormhole solution and to a exact solution with a localized scalar field and a torsion kink, already reported in literature. In the process we have found evidence towards the construction of more new solutions.Comment: (v1) 14 pages, 3 figures. (v2) Version accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Desarrollo de un prototipo de maqueta arquitectónica interactiva utilizando realidad aumentada

La realidad aumentada(RA) es una herramienta actualmente utilizada debido a que brinda al usuario mayor interacción e inmersión con diversos contenidos en áreas como medicina, geografía, arquitectura, física, literatura, entretenimiento entre otros, aprovechando escenarios reales realzados con imágenes generadas por computador. La masificación de este recurso ha generado un gran aumento en el desarrollo de aplicativos que permiten a diversas compañías ofertar sus productos antes de ser desarrollados y observar la aceptación del público, del mismo modo permite a este último ver y tomar decisiones con base a la interactividad e inmersión experimentadas a la hora de la utilización de estas aplicaciones. Este proyecto propone el prototipo de una aplicación para dispositivos móviles Android desde la versión 4.1, que sirva como una herramienta de apoyo para la presentación de proyectos arquitectónicos a través del uso de la RA no limitándolos a la visualización si no también incluyendo la inmersión e interacción por parte del usuario en un espacio 3D, brindando una libre exploración con el entorno a través de parámetros personalizables en el modelo con el fin de enriquecer la experiencia del mismo permitiéndole tomar decisiones con base a esta. A partir de las pruebas realizadas en comparación con los medios tradicionales, se encontró que los usuarios estarían interesados en utilizar una herramienta complementaria como la que se presenta en este trabajo para la toma de decisiones al evaluar un apartamento modelo.Augmented reality is a tool currently used because it allows the user to experience augmented interactions with multimedia content in areas such as medicine, geography, architecture, physics, literature, entertainment and more. The popularization of this resource has resulted in a large increase in the development of applications that allow offering products digital assessment based on real scenarios augmented through computer generated graphics. This project proposes the development of a prototype application for navigating and exploring and architectonic environment based on virtual mockup for previewing an apartment prior buying it. The goal of the tool is to allow decision-making regarding furniture, textures and placement of some objects. From the performed testes, the users manifested interest in using a complimentary application such as the one presented in this project, for assessing an architectural model.Pregrad

Efectos de diferentes tipos de vegetación sobre la capacidad de infiltración de agua en suelos de páramos en la Reserva Privada Paluguillo (Ecuador)

Mountain ecosystems are of global importance. In the Andean region the páramo ecosystems, are an important source of water for large cities, due to the higher capacity of these ecosystems to capture and regulate water flows; despite its importance the effects of different types of vegetation on the infiltration of water in soils of páramo, are unknown. This study was conducted in Reserva Privada Paluguillo, located in Papallacta, Pichincha, Ecuador. The study analyzed the variation of infiltration rate in relation to different types of vegetation along a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance. The results suggest that the type of vegetation influences the infiltration capacity. Patches of Chaparro and Polylepis, have a high infiltration rate, than patches dominated by grassland, these have an infiltration rates, similar to those presented in areas with anthropogenic disturbances.Los ecosistemas de montaña son ecosistemas de importancia global, en la región andina los ecosistemas de páramo, son una fuente importante de agua para grandes urbes, debido a la gran capacidad de estos ecosistemas para captar y regular flujos hídricos. Pese a su importancia se desconocen los efectos de diferentes tipos de vegetación sobre la capacidad de infiltración de agua en suelos de páramo. Esta investigación se llevo a cabo en la Reserva Privada Paluguillo, ubicada en Papallacta, Pichincha Ecuador. El estudio analizo la variación de la tasa de infiltración en relación con diferentes tipos de vegetación siguiendo un gradiente de alteraciones antropogénicas. Los resultados sugieren que el tipo de vegetación tiene influencia en la capacidad de infiltración, los parches de chaparros y Polylepis, presentan una alta tasa de infiltración; Y los parches dominados por pajonal, poseen una tasa de infiltración menor, similar a las tasas de infiltración presentadas en las áreas con alteraciones antropogénicas

Desarrollo de un prototipo de maqueta arquitectónica interactiva utilizando realidad aumentada

La realidad aumentada(RA) es una herramienta actualmente utilizada debido a que brinda al usuario mayor interacción e inmersión con diversos contenidos en áreas como medicina, geografía, arquitectura, física, literatura, entretenimiento entre otros, aprovechando escenarios reales realzados con imágenes generadas por computador. La masificación de este recurso ha generado un gran aumento en el desarrollo de aplicativos que permiten a diversas compañías ofertar sus productos antes de ser desarrollados y observar la aceptación del público, del mismo modo permite a este último ver y tomar decisiones con base a la interactividad e inmersión experimentadas a la hora de la utilización de estas aplicaciones. Este proyecto propone el prototipo de una aplicación para dispositivos móviles Android desde la versión 4.1, que sirva como una herramienta de apoyo para la presentación de proyectos arquitectónicos a través del uso de la RA no limitándolos a la visualización si no también incluyendo la inmersión e interacción por parte del usuario en un espacio 3D, brindando una libre exploración con el entorno a través de parámetros personalizables en el modelo con el fin de enriquecer la experiencia del mismo permitiéndole tomar decisiones con base a esta. A partir de las pruebas realizadas en comparación con los medios tradicionales, se encontró que los usuarios estarían interesados en utilizar una herramienta complementaria como la que se presenta en este trabajo para la toma de decisiones al evaluar un apartamento modelo.Augmented reality is a tool currently used because it allows the user to experience augmented interactions with multimedia content in areas such as medicine, geography, architecture, physics, literature, entertainment and more. The popularization of this resource has resulted in a large increase in the development of applications that allow offering products digital assessment based on real scenarios augmented through computer generated graphics. This project proposes the development of a prototype application for navigating and exploring and architectonic environment based on virtual mockup for previewing an apartment prior buying it. The goal of the tool is to allow decision-making regarding furniture, textures and placement of some objects. From the performed testes, the users manifested interest in using a complimentary application such as the one presented in this project, for assessing an architectural model.Pregrad

Study of electricity generation prediction and control systems in urban environments and energy communities

The scope of the project consists of the process of building, training and validating a model, developed in R language, capable of predicting the energy generation of a photovoltaic plant installation from the data available in the installation that is going to be used as inputs for the model. The model will be developed using statistical learning methods and can predict the forecasts for a specific number of hours introduced by the user, with a maximum of twenty-four hours previsions in advance. The model’s predictions will be used in a model predictive control system to couple the forecasted energy generation with the consumption of a nearby building. All the infrastructure for obtaining and processing data and for the execution of the code is installed and available and it doesn’t need any change to be applied to the development of the project, so it isn’t the scope of the project it’s modification. The process of building, training and validating the model will be performed with the available data collected during the period between 15/10/2019 and 31/01/2022. The process of validating the model will be done with statistical indicators capable to evaluate the performance of the model objectively. The process of using the model to produce real forecasts of energy generation will depend in the availability of the meteorological forecasts of the data of the installation that will be used as inputs of the model and it isn’t the scope of this project to obtain this forecast