Exotic Higgs Searches in CMS

We present some of the most recent results from the CMS Collaboration on searches for Higgs-like particles in models beyond the Standard Model. Several rare and exotic decay modes of the Higgs boson are explored. The results of the searches are relevant for establishing whether the 125 GeV particle observed in Higgs boson searches at the LHC has the properties expected for a Standard Model Higgs boson.Comment: Presentation at the DPF 2013 Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields, Santa Cruz, California, August 13-17, 201

Z-dark search with the ATLAS detector

The search of the "hidden sector" via new neutral light bosons Z-dark ($Z_{d}$) could be revealed by the study of the decay of the discovered Higgs-like boson or any other undiscovered Higgs boson. After the LHC concluded a successful first period of running, the ATLAS Collaboration published its latest results on the $H\rightarrow Z_{d}Z_{d}\rightarrow 4l$ analysis using up to 20 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. In this proceeding I present a summary of the recent results on the search of the $Z_{d}$ in the signature $H\rightarrow Z_{d}Z_{d}\rightarrow 4l$ with the ATLAS detector at the LHC.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. To be published in Journal of Physics Conference Series (IOP). Joint Proceedings of the XV Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields & the XXX Annual Meeting of the Division of Particles and Fields of the Mexican Physical Societ

Targeting social spending to the poor with proxy - means testing: Colombia's SISBEN system

While targeting can effectively channel resources to the poor, implementation details matter tremendously to distributive outcomes. Several key factors affect performance, including: data collection processes; information management; household assessment mechanisms; institutional arrangements; and monitoring and oversight mechanisms. This report conducts an in-depth assessment of key design and implementation factors and their potential impact on outcomes for the household targeting system SISBEN used in Colombia to target social programs to the poor and vulnerable.

Long Term Risk Assessment in a Defined Contribution Pension System

One of the most important consequences of the Chilean pension reform undertaken in the early 1980s was to transfer a significant portion of the risk associated to the financing of pensions, from the State, to the pension fund participants of the newly established compulsory pension system. This paper is concerned with the risk embedded in the portfolio strategies of pension fund portfolio managers. We develop an analytic framework that permits to incorporate the behavior of a pension fund manager in the long-term risk assessment of its investment strategy, where the latter is conducted from the point of view of the pension fund participant, who has preferences over his/her final pension. The pension fund manager’s problem is cast as a dynamic portfolio choice problem, and its solution is used afterwards to quantify the risk exposure of the pension fund participant. Our results from a simulation exercise show that the lower is the risk aversion of the participant, the higher is his/her Wealth-at-Risk —defined as the monetary compensation that leaves the participant indifferent with respect to his/her outside option— a result that is due to the fact that the outside option increases relatively more than the benefit derived from the pension provided by the fund manager. The same logic is behind the negative relationship between stock return volatility and pension risk.Dynamic convex risk measure; Pension system; Portfolio selection

DISCUSSION: CASTANEDA Y ASOCIADOS

Agribusiness,

Portfolio Choice and Benchmarking: The Case of the Unemployment Insurance Fund in Chile

A new Unemployment Insurance System based on individual accounts was launched in Chile on October 2002. One of the most interesting features of the system is given by the compensation scheme of the fund manager, which contains a performance based incentive benchmarked to one of the default portfolios of the pension system (pension funds Type E, with a 100% investment in fixed-income securities). This paper studies the portfolio choice problem of a fund manager which is subject to a similar performance-based compensation scheme. We model the portfolio choice problem of a risk averse portfolio manager that must finance an exogenous sequence of benefits, and whose terminal payoff depends upon the terminal value of the portfolio under management, relative to an exogenous benchmark portfolio. Our interest is on the consequences of the incentive scheme over the portfolio that is selected by the portfolio manager. For the Black and Scholes [1973] economy we are able to determine the investment policy in closed form. We show that the riskiness of the portfolio depends on the composition of the benchmark, and that the fund manager is motivated to imitate the investment policy of the benchmark in some random scenarios.Benchmark portfolio; Individual accounts; Portfolio choice; Unemployment Insurance

The effect of massive stars on the ionized medium of extragalactic HII regions

Giant extragalactic H2 regions (GEHR) are centers of active star formation, ionized by populous clusters of OB stars. These objects are characterized by their low electron density, linear dimensions of order of 10(exp 2) - 10(exp 3) pc, varied morphology, and inhomogeneous distribution of the gas. They are ideal laboratories to study the processes of interaction between the gas and the stars, that could then be extended to the study of H2 and starburst galaxies. An observational program on a selected group of giant H2 regions with the use of one- and two-dimensional spectroscopy is being conducted. Our aim is two-fold: to understand the internal structure of the regions and to study the kinematics and dynamics of the ionized gas. A short report of our ongoing research is presented

Infants and Toddlers in State and Federal Budgets: Summary Report From Urban Institute Roundtable

Summarizes March 2009 discussions on strategies to enhance public investment in early childhood such as improving health and nutrition programs, aligning programs and funding streams, addressing multiple needs, helping parents, and integrating advocacy