Meaning in the Process of Signification by the Advertisement of Honda

This study mainly deals with the process of signification in order to reveal how meaning is created by the advertisement of Honda HR-V 2014 through the use of expressions. In this study, “Meaning” is an integrated form consisting the three elements which are denotative form, connotative form, and myth form. Using qualitative content analysis (Schreier, 2012), the writer did this study based on Barthes's process of signification (1987) and Peirce's indexicality (1931-58). From the analysis, the writer found out that meaning is created by indexicality. The index connects the product and the traits that the product possesses. Then, the use of expressions in the advertisement visualises the index of the product. The index which was visualised by the use of expressions which produces denotative meaning and connotative meaning. Those denotative meaning and connotative meaning are perceived by the audiences and creates myth which naturalises the index itself. It can be concluded from this study that meaning is created by the index and has undergone several steps in order for audiences to perceive the myth and become unaware of the index

Scaling Identities for Solitons beyond Derrick's Theorem

New integral identities satisfied by topological solitons in a range of classical field theories are presented. They are derived by considering independent length rescalings in orthogonal directions, or equivalently, from the conservation of the stress tensor. These identities are refinements of Derrick's theorem.Comment: 10 page

Forward-Looking Information in VAR Models and the Price Puzzle

In this paper we suggest a VAR specification that proves to be successful in resolving the price puzzle featuring in VARs used for monetary policy analysis. We show that augmenting a standard VAR with a small number of variables that have forward-looking informational content is capable of producing theory-consistent responses to monetary policy shocks. The VAR is estimated for the US with data covering the period 1989-2001, which is characterized by a relatively homogeneous monetary policy regime and a pronounced price puzzle in standard VAR specifications. Most important among these forward-looking variables are the federal funds rate future reflecting expectations of future monetary policy and a leading composite indicator providing information about near-term developments in economic activity. In view of the increasing ability of financial markets to better predict monetary policy movements, financial asset prices, such as the federal funds rate futures, are ideal candidates for incorporating parsimoniously a large amount of information into a lowdimension VAR.Monetary transmission mechanism; VAR models; Fed funds futures; price puzzle

Monetary Policy Rules under Heterogeneous Inflation Expectations

This paper evaluates the role of inflation-forecast heterogeneity in US monetary policy making. The deviation between private and central bank inflation forecasts is identified as a factor increasing inflation persistence and thus calling for a policy reaction. An optimal policy rule is derived by the minimization under discretion of a standard central bank loss function subject to a Phillips curve, modified to include the forecast deviation, and a forward-looking aggregate demand equation. This rule, which itself includes the forecast deviation as an additional argument, is estimated for the period 1974-1998, covering the Chairmanships of Arthur Burns, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan, by using real-time forecasts of inflation and the output gap obtained from the FOMC’s Greenbook and the Survey of Professional Forecasters. The estimated rule remains remarkably stable over the whole sample period, challenging the conventional view of a structural break following Volcker’s appointment as Chairman of the Fed. Finally, the substantial decline in the significance of the interest-rate smoothing term in the rule indicates that monetary policy inertia may, to a large extent, be an artifact of serially correlated inflation-forecast errors that feed into policy decisions in real time.Forward-looking model; Monetary policy reaction function; Expectations formation; Inflation expectations

Changes in Financial Structure and Asset Price Substitutability: A Test of the Bank Lending Channel

In this paper we develop a method for testing the implications of the Bernanke-Blinder model for monetary policy transmission. Multivariate cointegration techniques are used in a sample that includes six major industrial countries with data covering the last 25 years. Moreover, we examine whether changes in financial markets affected the degree of asset substitutability and thus the potency of the lending channel. We find that in the US and the UK, representing the “Anglo-Saxon type” of financial market structure, the lending channel is inoperative, while in Japan it is still important for monetary transmission. The other three European countries examined – Germany, France, Italy – are in between, with the lending channel losing its potency in the last decade.Monetary transmission mechanism; bank lending channel; financial structure;multivariate cointegration

Inflation Forecasts and the New Keynesian Phillips Curve

The ability of the New Keynesian Phillips curve to explain US inflation dynamics when official central bank forecasts (Greenbook forecasts) are used as a proxy for inflation expectations is examined. The New Keynesian Phillips curve is estimated on quarterly data spanning the period 1970Q1-1998Q2 against the alternative of the Hybrid Phillips curve, which allows for a backward-looking component in the price-setting behavior in the economy. The results are compared to those obtained using actual data on future inflation as conventionally employed in empirical work under the assumption of rational expectations. The empirical evidence provides, in contrast to most of the relevant literature, considerable support for the standard forward-looking New Keynesian Phillips curve when inflation expectations are measured using official inflation forecasts. In this case, lagged inflation terms become insignificant in the hybrid specification. The usefulness of real unit labor cost as the preferred proxy for real marginal cost in recent empirical work on the Phillips curve is confirmed by our results.Money demand; Inflation; Phillips curve; Real marginal cost; Real-time data; GMM estimation

Exact bidirectional X-wave solutions in fiber Bragg gratings

We find exact solutions describing bidirectional pulses propagating in fiber Bragg gratings. They are derived by solving the coupled-mode theory equations and are expressed in terms of products of modified Bessel functions with algebraic functions. Depending on the values of the two free parameters the general bidirectional X-wave solution can also take the form of a unidirectional pulse. We analyze the symmetries and the asymptotic properties of the solutions and also discuss about additional waveforms that are obtained by interference of more than one solutions. Depending on their parameters such pulses can create a sharp focus with high contrast

Modelling Organic Dairy Production Systems

In this study, a large number of organic dairy production strategies were compared in terms of physical and financial performance through the integrated use of computer simulation models and organic case study farm data. Production and financial data from three organic case study farms were used as a basis for the modelling process to ensure that the modelled systems were based on real sets of resources that might be available to a farmer. The case study farms were selected to represent a range of farming systems in terms of farm size, concentrate use and location. This paper describes the process used to model the farm systems: the integration of the three models used and the use of indicators to assess the modelled farm systems in terms of physical sustainability and financial performance

Steered Transition Path Sampling

We introduce a path sampling method for obtaining statistical properties of an arbitrary stochastic dynamics. The method works by decomposing a trajectory in time, estimating the probability of satisfying a progress constraint, modifying the dynamics based on that probability, and then reweighting to calculate averages. Because the progress constraint can be formulated in terms of occurrences of events within time intervals, the method is particularly well suited for controlling the sampling of currents of dynamic events. We demonstrate the method for calculating transition probabilities in barrier crossing problems and survival probabilities in strongly diffusive systems with absorbing states, which are difficult to treat by shooting. We discuss the relation of the algorithm to other methods.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure