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Practicing Psychoanalysis Otherwise: Free Clinics past, present and futures
No full textIn this piece, we consider the practice of psychoanalysis ‘otherwise’ through the legacies and lessons of free clinics. Here, we challenge the ‘straight line’ of an institutionalised, exclusive historiography, arguing that prohibitive fees have enclosed psychoanalysis within bourgeois quarters – yet, this is not the whole story. Against a backdrop of biomedical dominance, we assert the renewed relevance of psychotherapeutic approaches that work with singularity and the dynamic unconscious as a guarantor of creativity and liveable futures.
Our research collective, FREEPSY, investigates free clinics as fundamental experiments of political implication. We identify an ‘infrastructural turn’ in psy-practice, where clinics operate as micro-economies that reinvent rules on value, setting, and the social bond. Through radical listening and a creative relationship to the institution, these collectives de-individualise care. We conceptualise this as a ‘mental health commons’, positioning mental health under a biopsychosocial matrix that is not individualising, but is a micropolitical matter of social (re)production. The ‘free’ in free clinic becomes an exclamation—a call to action and a collective interpellation for practising otherwise. We argue for a new relevance of psychoanalysis in catastrophic times by opening space for that which does-not-fit and honouring the unconscious
Transfer-matrix approach to the Blume-Capel model on the triangular lattice
Get PDFWe investigate the spin-1 Blume-Capel model on an infinite strip of the triangular lattice using the transfer-matrix method combined with a sparse-matrix factorization technique. Through finite-size scaling analysis of numerically exact spectra for strip widths up to L = 19, we accurately locate the tricritical point improving upon recent Monte Carlo estimates. In the first-order regime, we observe exponential scaling of the spectral gap, reflecting the linear growth of interfacial tension as the temperature decreases below the tricritical point. Finally, we validate our tricritical point estimate through precise agreement with conformal field theory predictions for the tricritical Ising universality class. Our results underscore the continued utility of the transfer-matrix approach for studying phase transitions in complex lattice models
Option pricing with a two-piece lognormal distribution
Get PDFWe derive a closed-form European option pricing model in a discrete-time utility-based setting where the underlying asset has a two-piece lognormal distribution. In our set-up, the market does not have to be dynamically complete, which makes our model applicable even in cases in which the underlying asset is illiquid. The two-piece lognormal distribution results from joining two opposite halves of two distinct lognormal distributions, where each half has a different scale parameter. Hence, it is possible to adjust the tails of the distributions to accommodate the implied volatility of in-the-money and out-of-the-money options. We show that our option pricing equation can generate several types of volatility patterns and therefore can be used to price a wide range of assets
An Unobserved Components Based Test for Asset Price Bubbles
Get PDFThe general solution of the standard stock pricing equation commonly employed in the finance literature decomposes the price of an asset into the sum of a fundamental price and a bubble component that is explosive in expectation. Despite this, the extant literature on bubble detection focuses almost exclusively on modelling asset prices using a single time-varying autoregressive process, a model which is not consistent with the general solution of the stock pricing equation. We consider a different approach, based on an unobserved components time series model whose components correspond to the fundamental and bubble parts of the general solution. Based on the locally best invariant testing principle, we derive a statistic for testing the null hypothesis that no bubble component is present, against the alternative that a bubble episode occurs in a given subsample of the data. In order to take an ambivalent stance on the possible number and timing of the bubble episodes, our proposed test is based on the maximum of a doubly recursive implementation of this statistic over all possible break dates. Simulation results show that our proposed tests can be significantly more powerful than the industry standard tests developed by Phillips, Shi and Yu (2015)
Breaking Through GNSS Outage: Advanced Stochastic Model for MEMS IMU in Navigation
Get PDFInertial navigation systems (INS) are widely recognised for providing precise location, velocity, and attitude data over short durations. However, their accuracy deteriorates over time. To maintain accurate navigation, it is crucial to characterise and model both deterministic and stochastic error components of inertial sensors. This paper employs three techniques for modelling stochastic errors: the autocorrelation function (ACF), the Allan variance (AV), and the generalised method of wavelet moments (GMWM). Two different-grade inertial measurement units (IMUs) evaluate the effectiveness of ACF, AV, and GMWM in modelling inertial sensor noise: the ADIS low-cost micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) grade IMU and the Spatial MEMS tactical-grade IMU. A laboratory calibration test is conducted to eliminate deterministic errors. A strategy for modelling stochastic errors of MEMS inertial sensors is presented, involving selecting the best model for each sensor using the three techniques rather than applying a single model. Based on a comparison of the three techniques, GMWM measurements are used for the navigation algorithms. GMWM’s performance modelling stochastic errors are analysed using real dynamic in-field datasets collected by both IMUs, with induced GPS signal outages. Three extended Kalman filter (EKF) INS/GNSS integrated navigation algorithms are implemented based on ACF analysis and GMWM-based model selection. A 15-state algorithm based on a order Gauss-Markov (GM) estimated by ACF, a 45-state algorithm based on ADIS IMU data, and a 57-state algorithm based on Spatial IMU data are compared. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed 45-state navigation algorithm reduces the 2D position RMSE by approximately 67\% compared to the conventional 15-state algorithm, while the 57-state algorithm achieves an improvement of around 64\%. \color{black
TL2AB : Trusted lightweight authentication using AI and blockchain for 6G networks
Get PDFThe upcoming era of Sixth-Generation technology brings about special opportunities and challenges with respect to cybersecurity, especially regarding secure authentication mechanisms. This paper introduces TL2AB, a trusted lightweight authentication framework using artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. The proposed solution addresses critical security and privacy issues related to 6G applications, particularly in sensitive sectors such as healthcare and IoT. TL2AB enhances security in communication by introducing a new three-factor authentication scheme while allowing users to access rapidly and efficiently. TL2AB not only meets the high demands of 6G networks but also creates a robust foundation for future research in secure authentication frameworks
Enriching Qualitative Inquiry: Exploring Immersive Technologies in Place-Based Research
Get PDFThree-sixty video-ethnography is a growing field of research, offering novel insights into the complex interactions between individuals and their environments. Despite its potential, the application of 360-degree video in qualitative research remains underexplored. The study presented here aims to bridge this gap, by discussing an approach to data collection and visual analysis, grounded in a multimodal epistemological framework for in-depth qualitative exploration of place-based interactions. Specifically, the paper investigates the integration of 360-degree videos and Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays (VR-HMD), for content production and visualization within qualitative research. This technological integration facilitates multimodal coding and enables a more nuanced attention to non-verbal cues in video-ethnography, allowing researchers to (re)experience and reflect on meaning-making practices and (dis)embodied narratives. Such an approach offers a fresh perspective into the interplay between people and their surroundings. Demonstration of the methodology’s effectiveness is substantiated through a case study from the project ‘REPLACE: Rebuilding a Sense of Place. The Socio-Cultural Role of 3D Technologies in Increasing Community Resilience after Natural Disasters’. This paper focuses on one project case-study: the seismic ‘events’ that affected the city of L’Aquila in the Apennine Mountain region of Italy in 2009. The 360° video-ethnography allowed us to capture experiences of the earthquake and its aftermath. The multimodal coding was essential for capturing how the post-earthquake period was experienced, as well as how the approaches to reconstruction influenced the social recovery and rebuilding of attachment within the affected community. Our findings indicate that non-verbal cues substantiated the narratives of the community members about the reconstruction of the city, including their perceptions of urban transformation and the Disneyfication and Disneyization processes affecting the historic center. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on immersive methodologies in qualitative research, highlighting the potential of immersive video methods for evidence-based research
Electrical stimulation of smiling muscles reduces visual processing load and enhances happiness perception in neutral faces
Get PDFTheories of embodied cognition suggest that after an initial visual processing stage, emotional faces elicit spontaneous facial mimicry and that the accompanying change in proprioceptive facial feedback contributes to facial emotion recognition. However, this temporal sequence has not yet been properly tested, given the lack of methods allowing to manipulate or interfere with facial muscle activity at specific time points. The current study (N = 52, 28 women) investigated this key question using EEG and facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES)—a technique offering superior control over which facial muscles are activated and when. Participants categorised neutral, happy and sad avatar faces as either happy or sad and received fNMES (except in the control condition) to bilateral zygomaticus major muscles during early visual processing (−250 to +250 ms of face onset), or later visual processing, when mimicry typically arises (500–1000 ms after face onset). Both early and late fNMES resulted in a happiness bias specific to neutral faces, which was mediated by a reduced N170 in the early window. In contrast, a modulation of the beta-band (13–22 Hz) coherence between somatomotor and occipital cortices was found in the late fNMES, although this did not predict categorisation choice. We propose that facial feedback biases emotion recognition at different visual processing stages by reducing visual processing load
Essays on the economics of education
Get PDFThis thesis consists of three standalone papers which explore the extent to which education policies can change children’s outcomes, whether they tend to do this for better or for worse, and what factors get in the way. Chapter 1 explores changes in the attainment gaps between pupils from different ethnic groups when grades are assigned by teacher predictions rather than through blindly marked examinations. When grades are assigned by teachers, ethnic minority pupils in England receive higher grades in maths and lower grades in English relative to White British pupils and compared to when grades are assigned through exams. Using Gelbach decompositions, we show that observed characteristics partly explain the maths gap changes but amplify those in English. We conclude that group-specific stereotyping is a convincing explanation of the results. Chapter 2 evaluates the medium-term effects of an extended play-based learning policy for early childhood in Wales – the Foundation Phase – on a range of school-related outcomes. I use a staggered difference-in-differences research design to compare pupils who received the Foundation Phase to pupils who instead received formal education between ages five and seven. I find no evidence of effects at ages 11 or 16. Finally, Chapter 3 studies sibling spillover effects in temporary exclusions and unauthorised absences in England. We estimate sibling spillover effects when siblings are in the same grade and use a novel instrumental variable strategy exploiting variation in the behaviour of older siblings' peer groups within and across school cohorts. We find evidence of modest spillover effects from the older to the younger sibling in both exclusions and absences. We also find that sibling pairs are more likely to be excluded for the same stated reason, suggesting that role modelling is a plausible mechanism for our results