A note on comonotonicity and positivity of the control components of decoupled quadratic FBSDE

In this small note we are concerned with the solution of Forward-Backward Stochastic Differential Equations (FBSDE) with drivers that grow quadratically in the control component (quadratic growth FBSDE or qgFBSDE). The main theorem is a comparison result that allows comparing componentwise the signs of the control processes of two different qgFBSDE. As a byproduct one obtains conditions that allow establishing the positivity of the control process.Comment: accepted for publicatio

Coastline shift analysis in data deficient regions: Exploiting the high spatio-temporal resolution Sentinel-2 products

In most developing countries, coastline shift monitoring using in-situ (ground-based) data faces challenges due, e.g., to data unreliability, inconsistency, deficiency, inaccessibility or incompleteness. Even where practically applicable, the traditional “boots on the ground” methods are labour intensive and expensive, thus imposing burden on poor countries struggling to meet other urgent pressing daily needs, i.e., food and medicine. Remote sensing (RS) techniques provide a more efficient and effective way of collecting data for coastline shift analysis. However, moderate spatio-temporal resolution RS products such as the widely used Landsat products (30 m and 16 days) may be insufficient where high accuracy is desired. In 2015, Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) remotely sensed products with higher spatio-temporal resolution (10 m and 5 days) and high spectral resolution (13 bands), which promises to improve coastline movement monitoring to high accuracy, was launched. Using two war-impacted countries (Liberia and Somalia) as case studies of regions with data deficiency or of poor quality, for the period 2015–2018, this contribution aims at (i) assessing the suitability of the new freely available high spatio-temporal Sentinel-2 products to monitor coastline shift, (ii) assessing the possibility of filling the missing Sentinel-2 gaps with Landsat 8 panchromatic band (15 m) products to provide alternative data source for mapping of coastline movements where Sentinel-2 data is unusable, e.g., due to cloud cover, and (iii), undertake a comparative analysis between Sentinel-2 (10 m), Landsat panchromatic (15 m), and Landsat multi-spectral (30 m). The results of the evaluation indicate 23% (on average) improvement gained by using Sentinel-2 compared to the traditional Landsat 30 m resolution data (i.e., 32% for Liberia and 14% for Somalia). A comparison of 100 check points from Google Earth Pro (i.e., surrogate in-situ reference data) show 91% agreement for Liberia and 85% for Somalia, indicating the potential of using Sentinel-2 data for future coastal shift studies, particularly for the data deficient regions. The results of comparative studies for Sentinel-2, Landsat panchromatic (PAN), and Landsat multi-spectral (MS) show that the percentages of Sentinel-2 and Landsat PAN that falls within 10 m threshold is much higher than Landsat MS by 35% and 26%, respectively, and for the 2016–2017 period, they provide more detailed mapping of the Liberian coastline compared to Landsat MS (30 m). Finally, panchromatic Landsat data with 15 m resolution are found to be capable of filling the missing Sentinel-2 gaps, i.e., where cloud cover hampers its usability

Transverse sphericity of primary charged particles in minimum bias proton–proton collisions at √s = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV

Measurements of the sphericity of primary charged particles in minimum bias proton–proton collisions at s√=0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC are presented. The observable is measured in the plane perpendicular to the beam direction using primary charged tracks with p T>0.5 GeV/c in |η|<0.8. The mean sphericity as a function of the charged particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity (N ch) is reported for events with different p T scales (“soft” and “hard”) defined by the transverse momentum of the leading particle. In addition, the mean charged particle transverse momentum versus multiplicity is presented for the different event classes, and the sphericity distributions in bins of multiplicity are presented. The data are compared with calculations of standard Monte Carlo event generators. The transverse sphericity is found to grow with multiplicity at all collision energies, with a steeper rise at low N ch, whereas the event generators show an opposite tendency. The combined study of the sphericity and the mean p T with multiplicity indicates that most of the tested event generators produce events with higher multiplicity by generating more back-to-back jets resulting in decreased sphericity (and isotropy). The PYTHIA6 generator with tune PERUGIA-2011 exhibits a noticeable improvement in describing the data, compared to the other tested generators

The Promise of Transnational Europe for the LGB Migrants: The Management of Stigmatized Identities and the Transformation of Family Norms

The Europe of porous borders is potentially a space of opportunity for those denied certain rights, such as gays and lesbians from Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) with the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. In countries that allow same-sex marriage and adoption, such as Belgium, these individuals can establish legally recognized same-sex families. The consequences of such an institutional space – unavailable to them in their home countries – manifest at individual, interpersonal and collective levels. By examining these consequences through in-depth interviews with the LGB migrants from CEE who are now in same-sex marriage or who are raising children with a same-sex partner in Belgium, the present study investigates how different institutional practices affect the lived experience of a stigmatized identity and shape the LGB migrants' strategies in exposing their families to the presumably less hospitable home-country environments. The analysis is guided by three research questions: (1) What are the LGB migrants’ stigma management strategies, including the presentation of their same-sex families, in Belgium and in their home countries?; (2) What are their perceptions of evaluations of their homosexual identity due to their family status, in Belgium and in their home countries?; (3) What are their perceptions of change (if any) in family values among their family members and neighbours back home? By answering these questions, the present study investigates how the promise of transnationalism for the LGB migrants – to widen the space of rights and shift family norms through transfer of institutional models across borders – is executed on the ground

Spotting emerging disorders and conflict management in urban public spaces

The attempts of this paper is to develop some observations over the issue of the disorders and conflicts occurring from social interactions in urban public spaces, on the basis of an ethnography conducted during a period of three months among a team of social mediation professionals whose a significant part of the job consists in the spotting of social disorders, current or in the making, and reacting in order to find solutions and end the problem. My paper will focus on the Belgian “gardiens de la paix” (peace keepers), who are not “law enforcement officers” but are parts of these new professions created during the last twenty years in Western Europe and Canada to ensure prevention and social mediation. They act at the local level by walking, providing a visible presence supposed to be reassuring and trying to discuss with the population, in order to prevent and solve conflicts, to “create social links,” to “reduce insecurity”, etc. I followed different teams on the field, wandering through territories and various temporalities, collecting their testimonies and analyzing a corpus of 800 reports (two full years) by which these peacekeepers reported to their superiors some events they considered as being problematic. By combining these methods, I was able to access both the ordinary dimension of experience (by participating in their walks) and the rather exceptional events which play an important role in the way these actors define their role. Acting on the basis of the identification of disturbing events, they are particularly concerned with the upkeep of the conditions necessary for the Goffmanian “interaction order”, both “moral” and “public” order, they seek to guarantee

MODERN APPROACHES, RECORDING METHODS, AND INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTING

The data expected from the governmental accounting, in which all the budget operations are recorded, and the reports based on these data couldn't be achieved until recently. To meet the necessities of society, the most important instrument of the modern state aiming to maximize the level of welfare is the taxes collected from the citizens, and the state has responsibilities in front of the society playing a funding source role. Moreover, in order to successfully manage the public administrations, which nowadays have more duties and authorities, it is a necessity to make use of the management information and methods. Thus, the development of public accounting, which refers to the determining, recording, and reporting all the financial operations performed by the state, has become inevitable. Many international regulations, modern accounting systems, and modern approaches have been developed for the public sector. In the present study, it was aimed to emphasize the development and importance of public accounting for the management and administration of the state