Predictability of Extreme Intensity Pulses in Optically Injected Semiconductor Lasers

The predictability of extreme intensity pulses emitted by an optically injected semiconductor laser is studied numerically, by using a well-known rate equation model. We show that symbolic ordinal time-series analysis allows to identify the patterns of intensity oscillations that are likely to occur before an extreme pulse. The method also gives information about patterns which are unlikely to occur before an extreme pulse. The specific patterns identified capture the topology of the underlying chaotic attractor and depend on the model parameters. The methodology proposed here can be useful for analyzing data recorded from other complex systems that generate extreme fluctuations in their output signals

Phase transitions in multi-cut matrix models and matched solutions of Whitham hierarchies

We present a method to study phase transitions in the large N limit of matrix models using matched solutions of Whitham hierarchies. The endpoints of the eigenvalue spectrum as functions of the temperature are characterized both as solutions of hodograph equations and as solutions of a system of ordinary differential equations. In particular we show that the free energy of the matrix model is the quasiclassical tau-function of the associated hierarchy, and that critical processes in which the number of cuts changes in one unit are third-order phase transitions described by C1 matched solutions of Whitham hierarchies. The method is illustrated with the Bleher-Eynard model for the merging of two cuts. We show that this model involves also a birth of a cut

On the probabilistic logical modelling of quantum and geometrically-inspired IR

Information Retrieval approaches can mostly be classed into probabilistic, geometric or logic-based. Recently, a new unifying framework for IR has emerged that integrates a probabilistic description within a geometric framework, namely vectors in Hilbert spaces. The geometric model leads naturally to a predicate logic over linear subspaces, also known as quantum logic. In this paper we show the relation between this model and classic concepts such as the Generalised Vector Space Model, highlighting similarities and differences. We also show how some fundamental components of quantum-based IR can be modelled in a descriptive way using a well-established tool, i.e. Probabilistic Datalog

Walking Back

My work is organized around the search for my direction, as a person, and as an artist, my trips, my suffering, my dreams, and my family. Through my sculpture I try to describe my own experience with life, capturing the essence of those things that bring me peace or make me suffer. My three-dimensional work is influenced by Mexican expressionism and by individual artists who also searched for ideas and feelings related to cultural identity. Artists like Diego Rivera, Mardonio Magana, Octavio Medellin, and Patrocinio Varela, artists who communicated through the use of expressionism in advancing technique and style which influenced the world art

When brand meaning gets personal: understanding the prevalence and antecedents of brand idiosyncrasy

Despite a rich stream of qualitative research demonstrating that brands gain meaning as individual consumers engage in relationships with them, most branding research and practice proceeds on the assumption that brand meaning is predominantly consensual and shared across consumers. The assumption of consensus underpins the branding practices used by most companies today, which strive for consistency, simplicity, and clarity in a brand’s positioning. Still, this assumption has not been empirically validated by systematic research. Hence we do not know whether brand meaning is predominantly consensual, as generally assumed, or idiosyncratic to individual consumers. Based on a conceptual model inspired by the Social Relations Model for interpersonal perception, three empirical studies with more than 50 brands in nine consumption domains test the assumption of consensus and find that, contrary to prevailing wisdom, a brand’s meaning is predominantly idiosyncratic rather than consensual. Managers miss a lot of what brands mean to consumers when they focus only on meanings that are shared across individuals. Managing idiosyncratic meanings requires different tools than managing consensus, but managers are ill-equipped for this task because no prior research has investigated what makes brand meaning more or less idiosyncratic or how managerial actions can influence idiosyncrasy. This dissertation first explores which brand characteristics are associated with higher idiosyncrasy. Two studies suggest that brands are more idiosyncratic as they become more familiar to consumers and when consumed in private rather than in public. Secondly, four studies investigate how marketer-led interactions between consumers and brands, in the forms of marketing communications and direct experience, impact brand idiosyncrasy. Results suggest that narrative communications lead to more idiosyncratic meaning than argument-based communications. They also indicate that increased brand experience results in higher idiosyncrasy. Overall, this pattern of results suggests that brands become more or less idiosyncratic depending on how and how much they interact with consumers. Based on the findings that brands are predominantly idiosyncratic rather than consensual and that brand idiosyncrasy can be measured, predicted, and managed, this research argues for a reconsideration of current theories and practices related to brand positioning and meaning management.2017-06-30T00:00:00

The Latina Reproductive Rights Movement

I am very excited and extremely happy that we Latinas are finally breaking our silence about reproductive issues. I would like to begin to destroy the misconceptions and myths about us. Yes, it is true: despite our Catholic upbringing and our cultural teachings, Latinas do have abortions. We have always had them, and we will continue to have them. WE JUST HAVEN\u27T TALKED ABOUT THEM. Not only do we have abortions, but we have them at a higher rate than other ethnic groups. The abortion rate for Latinas is 42.6 per thousand, compared to 26.6 per thousand for non-Latinas

The Effects of European Structural Funds in the Spanish Regions Using CGE Models: a review

This paper reviews the few regional studies on the impact of European Structural funds in Spain using Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Models. While the models in these studies are widely used to evaluate the effects of very different public policies, they rarely have been used to quantify the impact of the Structural funds. In the pioneer papers elaborated for Madrid and Andalusia, the effects of the funds have been simulated through an exogenous change of final demand. I suggest avoiding any accounting of exogenous shocks in final demand of non-affected sectors by more-realistically splitting investment into various capital goods and evaluating the short-run effects of increasing investment in them.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt

Modelling Euro-Mediterranean Agricultural Trade

This paper examines the methodological problems to define a modelling approach to assess the impact of full or limited bilateral liberalisation of agricultural trade flows in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The bilateral trade liberalisation process in the region is framed by complexity, in policy instruments and in the characteristics of the products, in particular fruits and vegetables. Advantages and disadvantages of the general equilibrium and partial equilibrium approaches to simulate trade policy impacts are assessed. Caveats of existing models are related to the representation of specific policy instruments (tariffs, entry prices and other non-tariff measures) and on the seasonal nature of horticultural trade, which is of major importance in the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Are. The paper provides an illustration of how an imperfect substitute product model could be helpful to describe the trade effects of bilateral price changes, for given seasons.