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The impact of U.S. monetary policy (USMP) on domestic interest rates and goods markets in Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) remains a subject of ongoing debate. We investigate the fluctuations in U.S. interest rates across 17 inflation-targeting EMEs with flexible exchange rates from 2000–2020. Our findings reveal asymmetric contagion effects, with U.S. interest rate decrease having a more significant short-term impact than rate hikes. Long-term U.S. rates minimally influence EMEs’ domestic rates. Resilience is observed in EMEs with robust GDP growth and favorable trade balances, while increased capital inflows and stock market surges heighten contagion risks. Focusing on the short-term contagion effect on goods markets through international trade drivers, we find that global capital flows and US dollar fluctuations, combined with a rise in the FED rate, contribute to the deterioration of EMEs’ trade balance. The study underscores the need for EMEs to monitor and respond to U.S. monetary policy changes for financial stability and advocates for enhanced international dialogue among policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will see how an eleven-year-old girl discusses and presents her solution to a problem involving fractions and rates. The readers will be able to watch a video of the girl's presentation of a middle school problem. An analysis of the solution and the presentation is discussed in the context of current mathematics education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we test whether foreign exchange (FX) rate and interest rate (IR) risks are priced at short to long return horizons. We also test whether the associated risk premia relate to certain stock characteristics. Our new evidence indicates that risk premia increase with the length of the return horizon and that the risk premium signs depend on the sign of the corresponding exposure beta. Thus, for our longest return horizon of 950 days, positive (negative) FX rate premia increase in absolute value to 2.642% (–2.050%), whereas positive (negative) IR premia increase to 1.039% (–1.151%). Zero exposure betas have zero risk premia. We find that, depending on the level of profitability, Size, book-to-market-ratio (B/M) and sales-to-stock price ratio (S/P) explain most of the variation in exposure betas and risk premia. Our results imply that investors view exposure betas and risk premia as important factors affecting portfolio returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the interaction mechanism of economic and trade shocks between ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and China by building a GVAR model. The results indicate that the effects of China's economic shocks on ASEAN are more distinct than ASEAN's shocks on China. Negative shocks on China's growth rate produce negative effects on ASEAN's economic growth rate. The positive inflation shocks to China's economy produce long-lasting and prominent impacts on ASEAN's inflation rate and raise ASEAN's import and export rate. When China's export growth rate suffers a negative shock, ASEAN countries' economic growth rate declines. When ASEAN countries suffer a negative shock, the effects on China's growth rate, foreign trade, and inflation are quite moderate, but the renminbi depreciates rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between terrorism and interpersonal violence by conducting cross-national analyses on the effects of terrorism mortality rates on homicide rates. Results show that terrorism appears to be robustly and positively associated with homicide. This finding is based on the calculation of a series of independently pooled and twoways fixed-effects models on a panel that incorporates more than 165 countries over 24 years (1991–2014). The results lend tentative support to the so-called "legitimation-habituation" hypothesis that was formulated in regard to the effects of security-related stress on homicide rates in Israel more than 30 years ago. The topic has been largely neglected ever since. While confirming a positive relationship between terrorism and homicide, this study concludes that a causal influence of terrorism on homicide rates is conceivable, but cannot conclusively be proven within the confines of the research design. Future research on potential mediators of the supposed effect is needed, and data limitations need to be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of key macroeconomic variables on mutual funds' financial performance in Ghana. We employ the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to analyze the macroeconomic determinants of mutual funds in Ghana for the period 2007–2016. The study documents homogenous long-run significant positive impacts of exchange rate, inflation, T-Bill, GDP growth on mutual funds' financial performance, and a homogeneous long-run negative significant impact of monetary policy rate on the financial performance of mutual funds. The study also establishes heterogeneous short-run respective significant negative and positive impacts of T-Bill and monetary policy on mutual fund's financial performance. Unlike many previous studies that used stock data to estimate mutual funds' performance, accounting data is used in this study. Second, we incorporate monetary policy rate in our study variables since most of the prior studies ignored that variable. Finally, the outcome of our study contributes to existing knowledge on the short-run and long-run effects of macroeconomic variables on the financial performance of mutual funds from the perspectives of a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The output gap measured as the percentage deviation of actual output from its potential level is an indicator of an economy's achievement. Output gap has been an important concept used for forming of policies. In this study, we estimated the potential output and output gap, established some of its macro-economic determinants for the Ethiopian economy. By using yearly data spanning from 1990 to 2018, the study estimated the potential output and output gap using HP filtering, and production function approaches. Accordingly, both approaches indicated that the output gap has been fluctuating over the study period—indicating the actual output inconsistently and frequently deviating from its potential level. Mainly, in 1996 and 2003, the actual output showed the highest positive and negative deviations from its potential, respectively. The study also examined the effect of some macro-economic indicators on the output gap using the ARDL framework. Accordingly, inflation, trade openness, lending rate, and FDI are found to be having a significant effect on the output gap. Lending rate and trade openness have positive and significant effect, whereas inflation and FDI have a negative significant effect on the output gap. This study suggests; augmenting domestic production and utilization capacity, avoiding unrestricted importation and, export diversification, lowering lending rate and increasing FDI inflow; helps to reduce output gap. Besides, understanding the trend of potential and output gap would be helpful in dealing with inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the convergence rates of the finite difference methods (FDMs) for solving the PDEs with spatial delays which arise in the option pricing under regime switching hard-to-borrow models. The PDEs are coupled for different regime states and involve delays in two spatial directions. One of the boundary conditions is implicitly given by an initial-boundary value problem of coupled PDEs which needs to be solved before solving the main equations. This paper proves convergence rates of the FDM based on mesh-dependent expansions for solving the problems. Numerical examples confirm the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for the numerical pricing of American options [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature argues that the mortality rate of a specific age is affected not only by its own lags but by the lags of neighbouring ages, known as cohort effects. Although these effects are assumed constant in most studies, they can be dynamic over a long timespan. Consequently, popular mortality models with time-invariant age-dependent coefficients, including the Lee-Carter (LC) and vector autoregression (VAR) models, are incapable of modelling these dynamic cohort effects. To capture such dynamic patterns, we propose a time-varying coefficient spatial-temporal autoregressive (TVSTAR) model that allows for flexible time-dependent parameters. The proposed TVSTAR model is compatible with multi-population modelling and enjoys sound statistical properties. Using empirical results of mortality data from the United Kingdom (UK) and France over the period 1950–2016, we show that the TVSTAR model consistently outperforms the LC (Li-Lee, or LL) and the original STAR model under the single-population (multi-population) modelling framework. Finally, our empirical results suggest that cohort effects strengthen over time for very old ages in both the UK and France. Using simulation evidence, we argue that this observed upward trend can be caused by the overall advancement in the mortality evolution of the same cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers skip a majority of ad messages in DVR playback. However, viewers may let more normal-speed ads play in popular 'same day' playback viewing versus viewing on later days. More ads may play in same day viewing due to higher relevance of sale or event ad messages, greater live-or-DVR viewing-mode confusion, added complexities in 'near live' viewing, and/or delayed functioning of automated ad zippers. Large-scale tuning data show lower ad-zipping rates in same day versus later playback viewing. Networks can encourage same day DVR viewing via promos and live-tweeting or other urgency-building social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The currently popular approach to a direct determination of the specific breakage rate of particles of a given size in the ball milling operation involves: (i) using material crushed in jaw/roll crushers as the starting feed charge, (ii) batch grinding in four–five steps for a total period of 4–8 min, and (iii) determining the slope of the best-fit straight line of a log-linear 'first-order disappearance kinetics' plot. In this paper, using published data on grinding of the mixtures of minerals, and effect of the mill operating variables on grinding kinetics, it has been shown that this approach is not quite suitable for carrying out a meaningful analysis of the grinding operation as the specific breakage rate of particles varies quite significantly during the period of grinding covered in the test work. It has been emphasized that the disappearance kinetics of the crushed particles as a top size should not be of any concern to us for the purpose of design and scale-up. It is the instantaneous specific breakage rate of particles produced in the test ball mill under the operating conditions of interest that needs to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of efficiently estimating the upper bound of time-dependent failure probability for the time-dependent reliability problem involving random and interval inputs (RI-TDFP), an extended crossing rate method is proposed. The proposed method first converts the time-dependent hybrid reliability analysis into a temporal and spatial multi-parameter problem. Then, it uses the extended crossing rate strategy to estimate the RI-TDFP. The proposed strategy is a single-loop strategy, which is more efficient than the nested double-loop strategies. The proposed method avoids using discretization or optimization strategies to estimate the global minimum of the time-dependent performance function with respect to the time parameter and interval inputs, and thus the computational cost is further reduced. Finally, the proposed method avoids using the first order reliability method (FORM) for reliability analysis with respect to the random inputs, and thus the proposed method is more accurate than the FORM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When using discontinuous assay of reactions, initial rates are often estimated from a limited number of time points. There has been no detailed study of how best to do this. In this work, time courses were simulated by different theoretical equations (including strong product inhibition, first order, Michaelis–Menten and truly linear), but with random error addition to each data point. Various methods were tested to fit an initial rate to the data, and the result compared with the known "true" value. Fitting a simple quadratic generally gives initial rates as accurate as any other curve, and is better than a linear fit if there are about 8 or more time points. For fewer points a linear fit gives less variable and often more accurate rates. The absolute contribution to data point error has a major impact on rate accuracy, and often dominates that due to curvature, so that sampling to at least 10% conversion is preferred. The accuracy of a linear fit can be improved by methods that reject some later points based on curvature tests. Awareness of these effects can help avoid rate inaccuracies of 10% or more due to poor methods of data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers for non-convex nonlinear programming problems. First, we prove, under the strict complementarity condition, that the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is linear and the ratio constant is proportional to 1/c when the ratio ‖ (μ 0 , λ 0) − (μ ¯ , λ ¯) ‖ / c is small enough, which implies that the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is superlinear when the parameter c increases to + ∞. Second, we prove that, without strict complementarity condition, the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is proportional to 1/c when c exceeds a threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given X ∈ R p and Y ∈ R two random variables, assume the model Y = ψ (X) + ε where ψ (·) is an unknown function and ε is a random error. We estimate the conditional covariance matrix Cov (E [ X | Y ]) applying a plug-in kernel-based algorithm to its entries. Next, we investigate the estimators rate of convergence under smoothness hypotheses on the density function of (X , Y). In a high-dimensional context, we improve the consistency the whole matrix estimator by providing a decreasing structure over the Cov (E [ X | Y ]) entries. We illustrate a sliced inverse regression setting with a simulation study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the convergence rate of the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) method under the Hölderian local error bound condition and the Hölderian continuity of the Jacobian, which are more general than the local error bound condition and the Lipschitz continuity of the Jacobian. Various choices of the LM parameter are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Binomial and Black–Scholes formulas are tools for valuating a call option at any specified time. We have already known that the Binomial formula converges to the Black–Scholes formula as the number of periods (n) converges to infinity. This research obtains the rate of this convergence, namely 1 n n . Our rate of convergence is better than those obtained by Cox, Ross, and Rubinstein (1979), Leisen and Reimer (1996), Heston and Zhon (2000), Diener and Diener (2004) and Chang and Palmer (2007). We also provide the explicit constant of the bound of this convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient constructed response (CR) scoring requires both accuracy and speed from human raters. This study was designed to determine if setting scoring rate expectations would encourage raters to score at a faster pace, and if so, if there would be differential effects on scoring accuracy for raters who score at different rates. Three rater groups (slow, medium, and fast) and two conditions (informed and uninformed) were used. In both conditions, raters were given identical scoring directions, but only the informed groups were given an expected scoring rate. Results indicated no significant differences across the two conditions. However, there were significant increases in scoring rates for medium and slow raters compared to their previous operational rates, regardless of whether they were in the informed or uninformed condition. Results also showed there were no significant effects on rater accuracy for either of the two conditions or for any of the rater groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geocoding consists in converting a textual description of a location into coordinates. Hence, geocoding a dataset of events has to be carried out before performing a spatial analysis of some data. Automated procedures are necessary to geocode large datasets of events, but they can produce errors. Therefore, it is natural to ask oneself what is the minimum percentage of events that should be geocoded. An 85% of success was established 15 years ago as the first estimate of a minimum acceptable rate, becoming a reference for many spatial analysts. In this paper, the goal is reestimating a minimum acceptable geocoding match rate through the same procedure that was employed for computing the first estimate while accounting for some spatial factors that could possibly influence this estimation: intensity, clustering and aggregation levels. Several statistical techniques and the presence of nonrandomly distributed errors are also explored in this context. The results indicate that variations in intensity, clustering and aggregation levels lead to different minimum acceptable geocoding match rates. Furthermore, specific techniques such as cluster detection seem to be especially sensitive to the existence of non-geocoded data. Therefore, the highly approved 85% geocoding rate may need to be raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of geographically referenced data, specifically point data, is predicated on the accurate geocoding of those data. Geocoding refers to the process in which geographically referenced data (addresses, for example) are placed on a map. This process may lead to issues with positional accuracy or the inability to geocode an address. In this paper, we conduct an international investigation into the impact of the (in)ability to geocode an address on the resulting spatial pattern. We use a variety of point data sets of crime events (varying numbers of events and types of crime), a variety of areal units of analysis (varying the number and size of areal units), from a variety of countries (varying underlying administrative systems), and a locally-based spatial point pattern test to find the levels of geocoding match rates to maintain the spatial patterns of the original data when addresses are missing at random. We find that the level of geocoding success depends on the number of points and the number of areal units under analysis, but generally show that the necessary levels of geocoding success are lower than found in previous research. This finding is consistent across different national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological trends for major causes of death and disability, such as stroke, may be monitored using administrative data to guide public health initiatives and service delivery. We calculated admissions rates for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage and subarachnoid haemorrhage between 1 January 2005 and December 31st, 2013 and rates of 30-day mortality and 365-day mortality in 30-day survivors to 31 December 2014 for patients aged 15 years or older from New South Wales, Australia. Annual Average Percentage Change in rates was estimated using negative binomial regression. Of 81,703 eligible admissions, 64,047 (78.4%) were ischaemic strokes and 13,302 (16.3%) and 4,778 (5.8%) were intracerebral and subarachnoid haemorrhages, respectively. Intracerebral haemorrhage admissions significantly declined by an average of 2.2% annually (95% Confidence Interval = −3.5% to −0.9%) (p < 0.001). Thirty-day mortality rates significantly declined for ischaemic stroke (Average Percentage Change −2.9%, 95% Confidence Interval = −5.2% to −1.0%) (p = 0.004) and subarachnoid haemorrhage (Average Percentage Change = −2.6%, 95% Confidence Interval = −4.8% to −0.2%) (p = 0.04). Mortality at 365-days amongst 30-day survivors of ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage was stable over time and increased in subarachnoid haemorrhage (Annual Percentage Change 6.2%, 95% Confidence Interval = −0.1% to 12.8%), although not significantly (p = 0.05). Improved prevention may have underpinned declining intracerebral haemorrhage rates while survival gains suggest that innovations in care are being successfully translated. Mortality in patients surviving the acute period is unchanged and may be increasing for subarachnoid haemorrhage warranting investment in post-discharge care and secondary prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a system of five components is studied; one of these components is a bridge network component. Each of these components has a non-constant failure rate. The system components have linear failure rate lifetime distribution. The given system is improved by using three methods: reduction, warm standby with perfect switch and warm standby with imperfect switch. The reliability equivalence factors of the bridge structure system are obtained. The γ-fractiles are obtained to compare the original system with these improved systems. Finally, we present numerical results to show the difference between these methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research has found that linking products to charitable causes enhances sellers' reputations. This paper tests with a field experiment whether the use of the option of giving to charity to signal genuine intentions in mail surveys can enhance the effectiveness of small financial incentives. We find that they do significantly increase individuals' responsiveness to the differences in the amount of the incentives. Cash incentives lead to an approximated constant response rate. Adding the option to donate the incentive to a specific charity significantly increases the effect of the financial incentive on the likelihood of responding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher stocking rates of lambing ewes have been associated with poorer ewe-lamb behaviour and lamb survival. This study tested the hypothesis that increasing the mob size and stocking rate of lambing ewes on commercial farms will reduce the survival of their lambs. Data were collected from 66 producers in Australia for Experiment one and 22 producers in New Zealand for Experiment two. Survival of single- and twin-born lambs decreased by 1.4% and 3.5% per extra 100 ewes in the mob, regardless of breed, in Experiment one. The survival of Merino lambs in Experiment two decreased by 0.9% per extra 100 ewes in the mob, regardless of birth type. Increasing stocking rate by 1 ewe/ha also decreased lamb survival by 0.7% in Experiment one. However, this was not evident in Experiment two. These findings highlight the scope to optimise ewe mob size and stocking rate at lambing to improve lamb survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the influence of the "Physician Unit Performance Coefficient" (PUPC) regulation, taken into force by the TR Ministry of Health in January 2013 in our country, based on the cesarean rates in our clinic.Methods: The pregnant women who gave birth at the Diyarbakır Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital within a period of three years before the PUPC has been taken into force and the pregnant women who have birth within a period of three years after January 2013, when the regulation has been taken into force, have been divided into two groups as Group 1 and Group 2, respectively. Comparisons have been made between the two groups with respect to primary cesarean, total cesarean, neonatal mortality, and maternal mortality rates.Results: From the 125,816 pregnant women who gave birth between February 2010 and January 2016, 58,856 (46.7%) are included in Group 1 and the remaining 66,960 (53.3%) are in Group 2. The total Cesarean Rate is 27% in Group 2 and 24.8% in Group 1. The primary Cesarean Rate is 11.3% in Group 2 and 13.5% in Group 1. The neonatal mortality rate is 7.81‰ in Group 2 and 10‰ in Group 1. The differences in the total cesarean rates, primary cesarean rates and neonatal mortality rates have been found statistically significant. Maternal mortality rates have been found to be 5.1 in 100,000 in Group one and 4.48 in 100,000 in Group 2 and the difference between the two groups has not been found as statistically significant.Conclusions: A meaningful reduction has been achieved in the primary cesarean rates without increasing maternal and neonatal mortality rates after the PUPC, implemented by the TR Ministry of Health, has been taken into force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a FEM-based tool wear approach with a focus on the geometry of the worn tool, especially the changes of flank wear land inclination angle, was developed. The relationship between the variables of the wear rate equation and the average nodal temperature on the flank wear land through integrating FE-simulations of the cutting process and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was determined in order to define the temperature as a function of wear rate model parameters. Then, that data was used to calibrate the wear rate equation which was obtained by establishing the relationship between the Usui wear rate equation and the geometry of the worn tool, using a MATLAB program. This approach was validated by comparing the predicted flank wear rates and experimental measurements. The estimated flank wear shows some improvement compare to the model with a constant inclination angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weak convergence and moment convergence issues are investigated for the New Better than Average Failure Rate (NBAFR) family (introduced by Loh (1984)). We explore the validity of these results in the context of a more general ageing class that we introduce. We prove some new properties of this class and derive its interrelationships with other non-monotonic ageing families. Reliability and moment bounds are obtained and an interesting characterization of exponentiality is proved. Special cases of our results lead to new theorems for the NBAFR class. Finally weak convergence and related issues are established for this class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proximal method of multipliers was proposed by Rockafellar [Augmented Lagrangians and applications of the proximal point algorithm in convex programming. Math Oper Res. 1976;1:97–116] for solving convex programming and it is a kind of proximal point method applied to convex programming. In this paper, we apply this method for solving nonlinear semidefinite programming problems, in which subproblems have better properties than those from the augmented Lagrange method. We prove that, under the linear independence constraint qualification and the strong second-order sufficiency optimality condition, the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers, for a nonlinear semidefinite programming problem, is linear and the ratio constant is proportional to 1/c, where c is the penalty parameter that exceeds a threshold c ∗ > 0. Moreover, the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is superlinear when the parameter c increases to + ∞. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes explicit estimates of convergence rates for the blocked Gibbs sampler with random scan under the Dobrushin conditions. The estimates of convergence in the Wasserstein metric are obtained by taking purely analytic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional linear regression is in the centre of research attention involving curves as units of observations. We focus on functional linear regression in the framework of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces studied in Cai and Yuan [Minimax and adaptive prediction for functional linear regression. J Am Stat Assoc. 2012;107(499):1201–1216]. We extend their theoretical result establishing faster convergence rate under stronger conditions which is reduced to existing results when the stronger condition is removed. In particular, our result corroborates the expectation that with smoother functions the convergence rate of the estimator is faster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of simultaneous interpreting may be influenced by so-called problem triggers, i.e. factors that increase the interpreter's processing capacity requirements. These items include numbers, which have been observed by many to affect interpreting. The difficulty of interpreting numerals can increase even more when the source text delivery rate is high. The eye-tracking study presented here investigates the effect of the speaker's delivery rate on number interpreting accuracy and eye behaviour. To this end, we tested professional interpreters (N = 30) and interpreting trainees (N = 24). Our results indicate that a high rate of the source text delivery compromises number interpreting accuracy. In addition, fixation count per minute increases when interpreters interpret at a fast pace. Professional interpreters provide more accurate interpretations, irrespective of the pace of speech, indicating the possible necessity of training interpreting students in dealing with problem triggers, such as numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to earlier studies, several recent ones have claimed that stability rates among same-sex couples are similar to those of different-sex couples. This article reexamines these latest accounts and provides new evidence regarding stability rates using three large, nationally representative datasets from the United States and Canada. Confirming the earliest work, we find that same-sex couples are more likely to break up than different-sex couples. We find that the gap in stability is larger for couples with children, the very group for which concerns about stability are the most important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These hypotheses were tested: (1) Freely chosen frequency in unilateral index finger tapping is correlated between the two index fingers, and (2) A 3-min bout of unilateral index finger tapping followed by 10 min rest results in an increase of the freely chosen tapping frequency performed by the contralateral index finger in a second bout. Thirty-two adults participated. Freely chosen tapping frequencies from first bouts were 167.2 ± 79.0 and 161.5 ± 69.4 taps/min for the dominant and non-dominant hand, respectively (p=.434). These variables correlated (R=.86, p<.001). When bout one and two were performed with the dominant and non-dominant hand, respectively, the frequency increased by 8.1%±17.2% in bout two (p=.011). In opposite order, the frequency increased by 14.1%±17.5% (p<.001), which was not different from the ∼8% (p=.157). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compound Poisson Omega model is considered in the presence of a three-step premium rate. Firstly, the integral equations and the integro-differential equations for the Gerber-Shiu expected discounted penalty function are derived. Secondly, the integro-differential equations for the Gerber-Shiu expected discounted penalty function are determined in three different initial conditions. The results are then used to find the bankruptcy probability. Finally, the special cases where the claim size distribution is exponential be discussed in some detail in order to illustrate the effect of the model with three-step premium rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we will prove the Korovkin type theorem for Baskakov-Schurer-Szász operators via the A-statistical convergence and the power summability method. Also we give the rate of the convergence related to the above summability methods and in the last chapter we give a kind of Voronovskaya type theorem for the A-statistical convergence and Grüss-Voronovskaya type theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss in details information and communication developments (1) that have arisen in support of a rapidly expanding internet (Internet of Things, IoT) coupled with a proliferation of data centers; (2) the ensuing data rates explosion capable of reaching 800 Gb/s with coherent technology over a single wavelength; as well as (3) an increased connectivity through 5G transport networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equivalent spring and damper are often used to simplify the dynamic analysis of a nonlinear full-vehicle model. Clearly, those rates are strongly influenced by the kinematics of a suspension mechanism. This paper presents a new approach to the identification of the equivalent suspension and damping rates. The suspension is considered as a 1-degree-of-freedom (DOF) spatial parallel mechanism. The instantaneous kinestatic relations of the 1-DOF spatial parallel mechanism can be described using the theory of screws. The process of identification of the rates involves three steps: first, the joint positions of the suspension are found from the displacement analysis of the suspension mechanism. Second, the motion of each wheel of four suspension mechanisms is represented by the corresponding instantaneous screw at any instant. Third, the equivalent suspension and damping rates are determined from the kinestatic relations of the instantaneous screw. These rates are used for the dynamic analysis of the nonlinear full-vehicle model consisting of two pairs of the front (double-wishbone) and rear (multi-link) suspensions. Two dynamic behaviours of a car are analysed and compared with the simulation utilising the Adams/View software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show new estimates for the total variation and Wasserstein distances in the framework of the Breuer-Major theorem. The results are based on the combination of Stein's method for normal approximations and Malliavin calculus together with Wiener chaos expansions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the game theoretic mechanisms of interaction between a load serving entity and several types of power consumers (with elastic and inelastic demand). The main focus is on the bounded rational and fully rational consumers, and respective utility functions are defined for them. The demand-side management (DSM) principles are used to analyze the load at different times of the day for different types of consumers. The proposed statement allows the formulation of coordinated prices in rates for different types of consumers, and optimization of demand: peak load decreases relative to a daily average one. The problem is reduced to a convex optimization problem that has a unique solution in the presented form. The obtained result is in the form of a separating equilibrium (when different consumers choose different rates), which brings the retail market equilibrium closer to the maximum public welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assume that the supplier offers the retailer a credit period (i.e., M) and the retailer purchases a single deteriorating item from the supplier to satisfy the market demand, and shortages are not allowed. With the consideration of trade credit, we develop an inventory model for a single deteriorating item with ramp-type demand rate. Unlike the previous research, on the one hand, we consider both cases of and thoroughly (where is the changing point from linear demand to the constant demand and T is the replenishment cycle time). On the other hand, our objective is to optimal the replenishment cycle time T to minimise the average total cost, while the previous study is to determine the optimal shortage time point. Then, we obtain some theoretical results and employ an alternative approach to find the optimal replenishment policy efficiently. In order to verify whether the credit period offered by the supplier is significant to affect retailer's ordering behaviour, we make a comparison between models without and with the strategy of delay in payments. Through numerical examples, we show that when the delay period is longer than the changing point , the advantage of the delay in payments is more obvious, and thus it can entice more potential retailers to order more quantities. Therefore, our study can offer a reference for suppliers to set trade credit period reasonably and retailers to order rationally when they deal with a deteriorating item facing ramp-type demand rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global and continental crash death rate trends, adjusted for under-reporting, death definition, and missing data, are analyzed, modelled, and compared with international findings considering data for 215 countries for 35 years. Although global reported mortality rates required 25% to 44% adjustments, that estimated by World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank showed far greater rates. The model developed for global mortality rates per population though indicates a peak threshold, the current rate is expected to continue for some years before descending. In contradiction with WHO, Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), and World Bank (WB), the model indicates a drop of 22% in mortality rate by 2025. The rate for Europe, Oceania, and Asia drop to one eighth, one half, and one sixth, respectively. The rates for Africa doesn't change, and that for South America increases by 15%. The current global mortality per 10,000 vehicles drops exponentially by 38% toward 2025. The mortality rate per 10,000 vehicles for the various continents are expected to drop by 34% to 68%. The earlier rates showed a much faster drop than that per population. The observant reason could be the faster vehicle growth compared with population. The findings call for extensive traffic safety plans and tense implementation efforts in Africa, South America, and Asia to have faster global descending trends in mortality rates. More research that considers under-reporting of fatalities is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crash rates are discrete-continuous mixed quantities and left-censored at zero. Past studies have contributed in many aspects to connecting crash rates with factors, but the distributional characteristics of crash rates, especially in the positive domain, and the capability of capturing heterogeneous influential patterns of factors are still deficient. This study proposes a hurdle finite mixture lognormal (HUFML) model that allows each observation to come from more than one distribution. The proposed model can take account of the potentially heterogeneous patterns of influence of factors on crash rates, as well as provide a more flexible distribution framework for fitting the positive crash rates. To estimate parameters for this model, an expectation-maximization (E-M) algorithm is also formulated. The HUFML model is applied to an observed crash data set with the number of component distributions ranging from one to ten. Under proper component numbers, the HUFML model is superior to the traditional hurdle lognormal (HUL) model. More importantly, the finite-mixture setting is found to be effective for capturing heterogeneous patterns of influence for certain variables that cannot be captured by the traditional HUL model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we find the maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of hazard rate and mean residual life functions (MRLF) of Pareto distribution, their asymptotic non degenerate distribution, exact distribution and moments. We also discuss the uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimate (UMVUE) of hazard rate function and MRLF. Finally, two numerical examples with simulated data and real data set, are presented to illustrate the proposed estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some properties of the discrete mixture failure rates are studied. Specifically, similar to the continuous case, it is shown that the population mixture failure rate is always smaller than the unconditional expectation in the family of subpopulations failure rates. The analog of the multiplicative and the additive frailty models is introduced via the corresponding survival function. Another approach via the alternative discrete failure rate is also discussed. Stochastic comparisons for two mixed distributions with equal and different mixing distributions are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this project was to update, delete, or create OCLC Local Holding Records (LHRs) for non-electronic periodicals and other serials to accurately reflect the UCF Libraries holdings with the goal of improving the Interlibrary Loan Department's lending fill rate and turnaround time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have generally found e-mail–based effects to be limited, despite suggestions from marketing consultants that techniques such as message personalization and emotion-based content make e-mail campaigns more successful. Key in e-mail personalization is the subject line. To my knowledge, however, no one has examined the direct effects of e-mail subject lines using a field experiment with unobtrusive behavioral measures (i.e., tracking e-mail open rates). To address this gap, I leverage a field experiment using 82,000 e-mail addresses from a state-based Planned Parenthood contact list to determine whether randomly assigned subject line content impacts e-mail open rates. My results show that subject line personalization has a limited effect on open rates, but that personalization—when combined with subject line reference to emotion—may affect downstream behavior among a small percentage of e-mail recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of aeration rate in terms of specific aeration demand per membrane area (SADm) on the anti-biofouling properties of cellulose acetate (CA) nanocomposite membranes (CA/ND-NH2) in a membrane bioreactor system was investigated. The amount of EPS and soluble EPS under high aeration rate conditions was observed to be higher than under low aeration rate conditions. The results obtained showed that either lower or higher aeration rates had a negative impact on membrane permeability. The high aeration rate resulted in a severe breakage of sludge flocs, and promoted the release of soluble EPS from the microbial flocs to the bioreactor tank. By increasing the aeration rate, the COD removal increased and decreased respectively for the membranes and the activated sludge. It was finally concluded that higher anti-biofouling properties of neat CA and nanocomposite membranes were obtained under optimal aeration rate conditions (SADm = 1 m3 m−2 h−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retraction of scientific publications can unmask scientific misconduct. We undertook a survey of publication rates, for authors with multiple retractions in the biomedical literature, to determine whether they changed after authors' first retractions. We collected publication and citation data from Scopus for 100 authors with multiple retractions (either >10 retractions or 2–5 retractions) in the Retraction Watch database. Publication rates increased until the year of the first retraction and decreased rapidly thereafter. By 4 years after the first retraction, the proportion of authors actively publishing at least one paper/year was <50%, annual publication rates were <50% of the pre-retraction rate, and only 22% of authors had a publication rate >50% of their pre-retraction rate. There was no difference in the decline in publication rates between authors associated with a retraction for misconduct and those not associated with such a retraction. After the first retraction, citation rates of retracted papers declined whereas those of unretracted papers by the same authors remained unchanged. In summary, publication rates of authors with multiple retractions, most of whom were associated with scientific misconduct, declined rapidly after their first retraction but a small minority continued to publish regularly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of our current understanding of song originates from studies of species living in seasonal environments, where breeding seasons are short and highly synchronised at the population level. By comparison, the form and function of song are less well understood in aseasonal environments, where breeding cycles are less predictable. We examined song rates of male and female Chirruping Wedgebills (Psophodes cristatus), a passerine endemic to the arid regions of inland, south-eastern Australia, across a 4 month period of breeding activity. Our results show that both males and females sing, and provide evidence of duetting. The song rate of male Wedgebills was highest in the early morning and during breeding and was substantially higher than the song rate of female Wedgebills. Over the course of the day, bouts of male singing were two orders of magnitude longer than females. By contrast, female song rate was independent of the time of day or reproductive phase. Females more often sang in tandem with their partners than expected by chance and duets occurred at a relatively low rate, independently of breeding phase. We discuss the possibility that male and female song and duets serve different functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]