On The Douglas-Kazakov Phase Transition

We give a rigorous proof of the fact that a phase transition discovered by Douglas and Kazakov in 1993 in the context of two-dimensional gauge theories occurs. This phase transition can be formulated in terms of the Brownian bridge on the unitary group U(N) when N tends to infinity. We explain how it can be understood by considering the asymptotic behaviour of the eigenvalues of the unitary Brownian bridge, and how it can be technically approached by means of Fourier analysis on the unitary group. Moreover, we advertise some more or less classical methods for solving certain minimisation problems which play a fundamental role in the study of the phase transition

The impact of conditional cash transfers on health outcomes and use of health services in low and middle income countries.

BACKGROUND: Conditional cash transfers (CCT) provide monetary transfers to households on the condition that they comply with some pre-defined requirements. CCT programmes have been justified on the grounds that demand-side subsidies are necessary to address inequities in access to health and social services for poor people. In the past decade they have become increasingly popular, particularly in middle income countries in Latin America. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of CCT in improving access to care and health outcomes, in particular for poorer populations in low and middle income countries. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched a wide range of international databases, including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE and EMBASE, in addition to development studies and economic databases. We also searched the websites and online resources of numerous international agencies, organisations and universities to find relevant grey literature. The original searches were conducted between November 2005 and April 2006. An updated search in MEDLINE was carried out in May 2009. SELECTION CRITERIA: CCT were defined as monetary transfers made to households on the condition that they comply with some pre-determined requirements in relation to health care. Studies had to include an objective measure of at least one of the following outcomes: health care utilisation, health expenditure, health outcomes or equity outcomes. Eligible study designs were: randomised controlled trial, interrupted time series analysis, or controlled before-after study of the impact of health financing policies following criteria used by the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We performed qualitative analysis of the evidence. MAIN RESULTS: We included ten papers reporting results from six intervention studies. Overall, design quality and analysis limited the risks of bias. Several CCT programmes provided strong evidence of a positive impact on the use of health services, nutritional status and health outcomes, respectively assessed by anthropometric measurements and self-reported episodes of illness. It is hard to attribute these positive effects to the cash incentives specifically because other components may also contribute. Several studies provide evidence of positive impacts on the uptake of preventive services by children and pregnant women. We found no evidence about effects on health care expenditure. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Conditional cash transfer programmes have been the subject of some well-designed evaluations, which strongly suggest that they could be an effective approach to improving access to preventive services. Their replicability under different conditions - particularly in more deprived settings - is still unclear because they depend on effective primary health care and mechanisms to disburse payments. Further rigorous evaluative research is needed, particularly where CCTs are being introduced in low income countries, for example in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia

Convergence to Equilibrium in the Free Fokker-Planck Equation With a Double-Well Potential

We consider the one-dimensional free Fokker-Planck equation $\frac{\partial \mu\_t}{\partial t} = \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \left[ \mu\_t \left( \frac12 V' - H\mu\_t \right) \right]$, where $H$ denotes the Hilbert transform and $V$ is a particular double-well quartic potential, namely $V(x) = \frac14 x^4 + \frac{c}{2} x^2$, with $-2 \le c < 0$. We prove that the solution $(\mu\_t)\_{t \ge 0}$ of this PDE converges to the equilibrium measure $\mu\_V$ as $t$ goes to infinity, which provides a first result of convergence in a non-convex setting. The proof involves free probability and complex analysis techniques

U.S. TRADE THREATS: RHETORIC OR WAR?

International Relations/Trade,

HUBUNGAN ANTARA REGULASI DIRI DENGAN MOTIVASI BERPRESTASI PADA MAHASISWA YANG KULIAH SAMBIL BEKERJA SEBAGAI ASISTEN LABORATORIUM (ASLAB) SOFTWARE LABORATORY CENTER (SLC) DI BINUS UNIVERSITY

HUBUNGAN ANTARA REGULASI DIRI DENGAN MOTIVASI BERPRESTASI PADA MAHASISWA YANG KULIAH SAMBIL BEKERJA SEBAGAI ASISTEN LABORATORIUM (ASLAB) SOFTWARE LABORATORY CENTER (SLC) DI BINUS UNIVERSITY - Universitas, Mahasiswa Binus University, Regulasi Diri, dan Motivasi Berprestas

L'introduction des concepts étrangers et leur effet sur les sciences de la communication en Chine : l'exemple du concept de chuanboxue et la naissance des sciences de la communication en Chine

1er working paper d'un article à paraître dans la revue Hermès.Ce document est un document de travail servant de base à une publication à paraître dans Hermès, 56. L'article se propose de montrer que le langage en traduction joue un rôle performatif parce que les termes qu'il emploie retraduisent des normes sociales et des positions institutionnelles construites dans une autre culture, avec d'autres conditions historiques. Dans le cas de la naissance des sciences de la communication en Chine, des concepts américains sur la communication sont venus par leur traduction à la rencontre des normes et positions chinoises sur le journalisme et la propagande, engendrant une reconfiguration mutuelle des actants, qu'ils soient sociaux ou langagiers. Nous étudions comment le système socio-culturel chinois a recréé un ordre local propre sous la forme d'une discipline spécifique au pays, xinwen chuanboxue, les « sciences de la communication journalistique »

History and trends of French research on organizational communication

Working Paper M. Hardy, History and trends of French research on organizational communication, communication, First Chinese Conference on Organizational Communication, Wenzhou, Dec. 19-20, 2009 A paraître en chinois après reprise et correctionThe article proposes an overview of French research on organizational communication. It examines the historical conditions of the birth of the field of organizational communication in France, its development and its main current trends. It explains the relationships existing between organizational communication and other fields that study organization and examines how organizational communication has progressively found a specific place in the studies concerning organization. It studies how French trends in philosophy and sociology have influenced not only French research in organizational communication, but also more broadly speaking French researchers in that field, and how this trend has spread among the international community of communication researchers today.pas de résumé en françai

Quelles approches possibles du terrain chinois en communication organisationnelle? Situation et retour d'expérience

Cet article examine les différentes méthodes de recherche envisageables en communication organisationnelle en Chine, à partir de la littérature et d'un retour d'expérience, en trois parties. Dans la première, nous proposons un court aperçu de l'organisation académique des chercheurs en communication en Chine, en mettant en avant l'aspect dispersé de la recherche et le manque de recherches sur la communication en entreprise. Nous examinons dans un deuxième temps les méthodes de recherche généralement utilisées pour étudier la communication organisationnelle en Chine et soulignons les besoins en méthodes qualitatives. Nous résumons dans une dernière partie notre expérience en Chine, en mettant en avant les difficultés que nous avons rencontrées sur le terrain