Gravity-induced liquid crystal phase transitions of colloidal platelets

in Journal of Chemical Physics (2004), 121(11), 5423-5426

he influence of gravity on a suspension of sterically stabilized colloidal gibbsite platelets is studied. An initially isotropic-nematic biphasic sample of such a suspension develops a columnar phase on ... [more ▼]

he influence of gravity on a suspension of sterically stabilized colloidal gibbsite platelets is studied. An initially isotropic-nematic biphasic sample of such a suspension develops a columnar phase on the bottom on prolonged standing. This phenomenon is described using a simple osmotic compression model. We performed Monte Carlo simulations of cut spheres with aspect ratio L/D = 1/15 and took data from the literature to supply the equations of state required for the model. We find that the model describes the observed three-phase equilibrium quite well. [less ▲]

Great Expectations - The Persistent Effect of Institutions on Culture

Presentation (2015)

This research exploits the event of immigration to establish that institutions have a persistent effect on culture. It is argued that immigrants coming from corrupt countries, tend to overtrust the ... [more ▼]

This research exploits the event of immigration to establish that institutions have a persistent effect on culture. It is argued that immigrants coming from corrupt countries, tend to overtrust the institutions at the host country. This inflated trust of immigrants is documented as the Great Expectations effect. This result is interesting and intriguing for several reasons. First, it highlights the persistent effect of institutions (at the origin country) on the cultural attitudes of immigrants. Interestingly, this effect is rather persistent and can be detected even to the second generation immigrants. Second, the analysis explores whether mean attitudes at the origin country have an effect on immigrants' attitude. The findings suggest that mean attitudes do not confer a statistically significant effect, whereas a horserace between origin institutions and origin culture suggests that it is the effect of institutions that prevails. Last, the analysis establishes that the inflated trust of immigrants affects their political attitudes. Immigrants coming from corrupt countries tend to be less interested in politics, to overtrust the host governments and to be less active in the political arena. In a globalized world where international immigration is rather extensive, pinning down the cultural differences across immigrants and thus the differences in their political attitudes is of an essence. [less ▲]

Great Expectations: Remedy Through OECD “Specific Instance” Procedure

Speeches/Talks (2020)

Great Expectations: The Persistent Effect of Institutions on Culture

Presentation (2014, September)

This research establishes the persistent effect of institutions on culture exploiting the natural experiment of migration. It advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that lower institutional ... [more ▼]

This research establishes the persistent effect of institutions on culture exploiting the natural experiment of migration. It advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that lower institutional quality at the origin country of a migrant is associated with higher trust towards host country institutions. The inflated trust of migrants is documented as the Great Expectations effect and is intriguing in three respects. First it contradicts with the empirically observed attitude of migrants with respect to interpersonal trust, where low quality of institutions is associated with lower interpersonal trust in both the host and the home country. Second, the inflated trust persists for both first and second generation migrants. Third, the effect of home institutions is stronger than the effect of mean trust at home confirming that institutions prevail over culture. The formation of Great Expectations has profound policy implications as it generates lower demand for regulation and reduced political participation. These findings further highlight the interplay between culture and institutions and the spillover effects of institutions operating via migration. [less ▲]

Great Expectations: The Persistent Effect of Institutions on Culture

Presentation (2014, December 04)

This research exploits the event of immigration to establish that institutions have a persistent effect on culture. It is argued that immigrants coming from corrupt countries, tend to overtrust the ... [more ▼]

This research exploits the event of immigration to establish that institutions have a persistent effect on culture. It is argued that immigrants coming from corrupt countries, tend to overtrust the institutions at the host country. This inflated trust of immigrants is documented as the Great Expectations effect. This result is interesting and intriguing for several reasons. First, it highlights the persistent effect of institutions (at the origin country) on the cultural attitudes of immigrants. Interestingly, this effect is rather persistent and can be detected even to the second generation immigrants. Second, the analysis explores whether mean attitudes at the origin country have an effect on immigrants' attitude. The findings suggest that mean attitudes do not confer a statistically significant effect, whereas a horserace between origin institutions and origin culture suggests that it is the effect of institutions that prevails. Last, the analysis establishes that the inflated trust of immigrants affects their political attitudes. Immigrants coming from corrupt countries tend to be less interested in politics, to overtrust the host governments and to be less active in the political arena. In a globalized world where international immigration is rather extensive, pinning down the cultural differences across immigrants and thus the differences in their political attitudes is of an essence. [less ▲]

Great feelings in small boxes - Empathy as a mitigating factor in video games

Scientific Conference (2011, July)

A greedy EM algorithm for Gaussian mixture learning

in Neural Processing Letters (2002), 15(1), 77-87

Learning a Gaussian mixture with a local algorithm like EM can be difficult because (i) the true number of mixing components is usually unknown, (ii) there is no generally accepted method for parameter ... [more ▼]

Learning a Gaussian mixture with a local algorithm like EM can be difficult because (i) the true number of mixing components is usually unknown, (ii) there is no generally accepted method for parameter initialization, and (iii) the algorithm can get trapped in one of the many local maxima of the likelihood function. In this paper we propose a greedy algorithm for learning a Gaussian mixture which tries to overcome these limitations. In particular, starting with a single component and adding components sequentially until a maximum number k, the algorithm is capable of achieving solutions superior to EM with k components in terms of the likelihood of a test set. The algorithm is based on recent theoretical results on incremental mixture density estimation, and uses a combination of global and local search each time a new component is added to the mixture. [less ▲]

Green Building Transitions - Regional Trajectories of Innovation in Europe, Canada and Australia

Book published by Springer (2018)

This volume analyzes sustainability-related innovations in the building sector and discusses how regional contexts articulate transition trajectories toward green building. It presents ‘biographies’ of ... [more ▼]

This volume analyzes sustainability-related innovations in the building sector and discusses how regional contexts articulate transition trajectories toward green building. It presents ‘biographies’ of drivers and processes of green building innovation in four case studies: Brisbane (AUS), Freiburg (GER), Luxembourg (LU), and Vancouver (CA). Two of them are relatively well known for their initiatives to mitigate climate change – particularly in the building sector, whereas the other two have only recently become more active in promoting green building. The volume places emphasis on development paths, learning processes, and innovations. The focus of the case studies is not restricted to purely technological aspects but also integrates regulatory, procedural, institutional, and other processes and routines and their influence on the variations of the building sector. The diversity of the selected case studies offer the reader the opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of how sustainability developments have unfolded in different city regions. Case study-specific catalogues of transition paths provide insights to inform policy debates and planning processes. The catalogues identify crucial innovations (technological, regulatory, etc.) and explain the factors and circumstances that have led to their success and broader acceptance in Freiburg, Vancouver, Luxembourg, and Brisbane. With the help of a number of micro case studies within each of the four city regions, the case studies also offer ground for comparison and identification of differences. The book represents the outcome of the GreenRegio project, which stands for ‘Green building in regional strategies for sustainability: multi-actor governance and innovative building technologies in Europe, Australia, and Canada.’ GreenRegio was a 3-year CORE-INTER research project funded by the National Research Fund Luxembourg (FNR) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). [less ▲]

Green consumption and relative preferences in a vertically differentiated international oligopoly

in Ecological Economics (2018)

We consider an open to trade two-country model with two vertically differentiated goods and relative preferences in consumption. These preferences are such that consumers obtain satisfaction from their ... [more ▼]

We consider an open to trade two-country model with two vertically differentiated goods and relative preferences in consumption. These preferences are such that consumers obtain satisfaction from their own consumption in relation to the consumption of the others. Product differentiation is along an environmental quality dimension and countries are asymmetric in average income. Analyzing the equilibrium configuration, we find that, when relative preferences are relegated to the poorer country producing the brown good, the process of trade liberalization can favor the polluting firm, while penalizing the green rival. In these circumstances, trade liberalization can be environmentally detrimental. At the opposite, trade liberalization always favors the green producer when relative preferences are observed in both countries, with possibly positive effects on global emissions. [less ▲]

The green economy and post-growth regimes: opportunities and challenges for economic geography

in Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography (2014), 96(3), 277-291

While mainstream economic geography is doing increasing research on green manufacturing and services, with a few notable exceptions, its predominant conceptual approaches to emerging modes of economic ... [more ▼]

While mainstream economic geography is doing increasing research on green manufacturing and services, with a few notable exceptions, its predominant conceptual approaches to emerging modes of economic orientation continue to examine economic transitions somewhat unreflexively within the context of traditional growth paradigms. The aim of this article is to explore and critically examine neoliberal discourses on the green economy and smart growth by exploring contributions to debates on green economics proposed by ideas linked to post-growth economies. Based on studies by scholars such as Tim Jackson and Serge Latouche, the article examines the contours of debates on post-growth, décroissance (de-growth) and prosperity without growth. We begin by examining growth debates and existing contributions by economic and other geographers to the exploration of alternatives to conventional growth-centred economics. We then identify some emergent spatial facets of post-growth transitions and utilize these to explore potential research topics and opportunities for empirical and conceptual contributions by economic geographers to academic and societal debates on economic transitions and post-growth paradigms. Particular attention is paid to approaches currently discussed in economic geography, such as socio-technical transition studies. [less ▲]