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Due to the depletion of supplies for high-quality aggregates, it has become necessary to incorporate marginally soft materials like moorum in pavement structural layers. This study aimed to investigate the mechanical characteristics of cementitiously stabilised moorum materials (CSMM), which would be relevant during the mechanistic design of pavements. The tests includes the unconfined compressive strength, california bearing ratio in a soaked state, flexural strength, indirect tensile strength, durability and shrinkage behaviour through a comprehensive laboratory investigation procedure. In this investigation, the collected moorum sample was from Bihar, the eastern state of India. Relationships between various mechanical characteristics have been developed for pavement analyses. The properties are achieved as per standards to study the behaviour of the pavement structures. Based on the research findings, the effectiveness of the strength and shrinkage characteristics in determining the acceptability of CSMM as a road base and subbase applications have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle breakage in soils is a well-recognised behaviour. Conventional methods for quantifying the breakage process rely on calculating the area between the particle size distribution (PSD) curves produced before and after crushing. A key aspect of breakage is understanding the process across the different size/sieve fractions. Grading entropy coordinates allow for the representation of any PSD to be shown as a single point on a Cartesian plane and are able to track grading evolution with relative ease. In this study, grading entropy coordinates are compared to three commonly used breakage indices (Br, Br* and IG). It is shown that grading entropy coordinates are advantageous over the traditional indices in quantifying subtle changes in the PSD evolution and directly provide further insight with regards to the individual fraction sizes. It is also discussed that conventional breakage indices rely on relative measures and are dependent on assumptions of an initial and/or final PSD. In contrast, grading entropy coordinates depend only on the characteristics of the (current) PSD curve. It was also observed that the breakage evolution captured by the entropy coordinates is able to determine the rate at which differently sized particles break as differently sized particles take on stress. Moreover, it is suggested that entropy coordinates may also stress path dependency, a feature not present in conventional indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After notification of the Electricity Act, 2003, the Indian power sector has undergone a major transformation in bringing competition, in the development of electricity industry as a whole, protecting interest of consumers, ensuring supply of electricity to all, reduction of losses and rationalization of electricity tariff, etc. Enough generation capacity has been added, „Power for All? has been implemented in true terms, and both transmission and distribution network has been strengthened considerably. There is still enough work to be done in terms of 100 % metering, and reduction of line losses and commercial losses. Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses are a percentage of energy lost in the power grid in the process of transporting electricity from generating stations to points of consumption. It is important to measure and understand the source of losses before tackling them. Energy audit of 11 kV lines and Distribution Transformers (DTs) comes into picture here. This paper discusses the challenges in performing the Energy audit in distribution sector and proposes few remedies for the same. Objectives: To understand the difference between the Technical loss, Commercial loss and AT&C loss in power distribution companies; To find out various ways of finding/calculating technical loss, commercial loss and AT&C loss in power distribution companies; To know the significance and method of calculating the Energy Audit of 11 kv feeders and Distribution Transformers; To list out the challenges faced in finding out the Energy Audit of 11 kv feeders and Distribution Transformers; To explore remedies to perform effective energy Audit. Methods: In this paper, various methods of finding out the 11 kv feeder energy audit are discussed. The challenges faced in performing such audit are also listed out. Few remedies to do the audit in a better way is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common challenges in multivariate statistical analysis is estimating the mean parameters. A well-known approach of estimating the mean parameters is the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). However, the MLE becomes inefficient in the case of having large-dimensional parameter space. A popular estimator that tackles this issue is the James-Stein estimator. Therefore, we aim to use the shrinkage method based on the balanced loss function to construct estimators for the mean parameters of the multivariate normal (MVN) distribution that dominates both the MLE and James-Stein estimators. Two classes of shrinkage estimators have been established that generalized the James-Stein estimator. We study their domination and minimaxity properties to the MLE and their performances to the James-Stein estimators. The efficiency of the proposed estimators is explored through simulation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shape memory effect, as the most important ability of shape memory polymers, is a working property and provides the design ability to shape memory polymer features. Shrinkage and warpage are important parameters to control the dimensional accuracy of permanent and temporary shapes of an injection moulded shape memory polyurethane (SMPU) part. In this study, the effects of injection moulding parameters on the shrinkage and warpage of the permanent shape of moulded SMPU parts were experimentally investigated. The parameters of injection pressure, melt temperature, mould temperature, packing pressure, packing time, and cooling time, were chosen as the injection moulding control factors. Taguchi's L27 orthogonal array design table was used with six injection moulding parameters and their three levels. The results showed that the part has different shrinkage ratios in three main directions, namely, the flow direction, perpendicular to the flow direction, and the direction through the thickness. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the cooling time is the most influential parameter on both the shrinkage (except in thickness) and warpage. The shrinkage in the flow direction as well as in perpendicular to the flow direction decreased with increasing the cooling time. Warpage also decreased with increasing the cooling time. Injection pressure and melt temperature were found to be effective on shrinkage in thickness. Effects of mould temperature, packing pressure, and packing time were found to be limited. A statistically significant relationship has been noticed among shrinkage, warpage, and residual stresses during the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaussian graphical models have been used to study intrinsic dependence among several variables, but the Gaussianity assumption may be restrictive in many applications. A nonparanormal graphical model is a semiparametric generalization for continuous variables where it is assumed that the variables follow a Gaussian graphical model only after some unknown smooth monotone transformations on each of them. We consider a Bayesian approach in the nonparanormal graphical model by putting priors on the unknown transformations through a random series based on B-splines where the coefficients are ordered to induce monotonicity. A truncated normal prior leads to partial conjugacy in the model and is useful for posterior simulation using Gibbs sampling. On the underlying precision matrix of the transformed variables, we consider a spike-and-slab prior and use an efficient posterior Gibbs sampling scheme. We use the Bayesian Information Criterion to choose the hyperparameters for the spike-and-slab prior. We present a posterior consistency result on the underlying transformation and the precision matrix. We study the numerical performance of the proposed method through an extensive simulation study and finally apply the proposed method on a real data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study evaluates determinants of price multiples and their prediction accuracy using ordinary least square (OLS) regression and machine learning-based shrinkage methods for the South East Asian markets. Price multiples examined in the research are price to earnings (P/Es), price to book (P/B), and price to sales (P/S). Data has been collected from Thomson Reuters Eikon. The study recommends that the P/B ratio is the best price multiple for developing a price-based valuation model. Beside fundamental determinants of the multiple, various firm-level control variables, namely, firm size, cash holding, strategic holding, stock price volatility, firms' engagement in Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) activities, dividend yield, and net profit margin impact firm's P/B multiple. Positive coefficients of consumer non-cyclical and healthcare dummies indicate a preference for defensive stocks by the investors. Application of machine learning-based shrinkage methods ensures the accuracy of prediction even with out-of-sample forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by empirical evidence, this article focuses on the behaviour of a store inventory exposed to inventory record inaccuracy. The inventory, controlled by an infinite horizon, single-stage, single-product periodic-review policy, is subject to shrinkage errors that cause a difference between the physical and information system inventory levels. We model a set of scenarios depending on the technology available to track shrinkage in the store. In scenarios where a technology such as Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is not used, inventory is controlled by estimating the expected shrinkage rate. We assume that an inspection process is performed at a regular frequency of N selling periods. We analyse two situations that permit management of the joint ordering and inspection policy based on the information the inventory manager has on shrinkage errors. A comparison between these two situations permits us to analyse the impact of shrinkage errors and the value of taking into account the inventory inaccuracy issue when optimising the inventory and inspection policies. The deployment of the RFID technology produces two benefits: total visibility of the shrinkage rate and the elimination of shrinkage errors. A comparison of the scenarios enables us to evaluate the economic impact of inventory record inaccuracies, which can be significant, particularly in systems with a poor estimation of the error parameter as well as with a high inspection cost. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We examine how the 2008-2009 global crisis affected wholesalers' spending on security and their losses due to theft, burglary, vandalism or arson in Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The results indicate that a similar percentage of wholesalers paid for security pre- and post-crisis. The results also indicate that the wholesalers that paid for security spent less on security post-crisis. A higher percentage of the partnerships and the larger wholesalers spent money on security post-crisis when compared to the pre-crisis period. On the other hand, fewer shareholding firms with shares traded privately and fewer firms with one or more female owners spent money on security post-crisis when compared to pre-crisis. Especially smaller firms, firms that are not part of a larger firm and sole proprietorships spent less on security post-crisis. Also, fewer wholesalers experienced losses due to crime post-crisis when compared to the pre-crisis period. Finally, our results indicate that, after the crisis, crime was seen as less of an obstacle by these firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Kelly portfolio is theoretically optimal in maximizing the long-term log-growth rate, in practice this is not always so. In this paper, we first show that the sample plug-in estimator of the Kelly portfolio weights is actually biased, and we then propose an unbiased estimator as an alternative. We further derive a shrinkage estimator under the objective of minimizing the expected growth loss of the actual growth relative to the true growth. An explicit formula for the shrinkage coeffi- cient is established. Statistical properties for the shrinkage coefficient are studied through extensive Monte Carlo simulations, and conditions for obtaining accurate estimates for the shrinkage coeffi- cient are also discussed. The effectiveness of the proposed unbiased and shrinkage Kelly portfolios in reducing the expected growth loss are validated by various simulation studies. It is found that our proposed shrinkage Kelly portfolio has superior performances in growth loss reduction, followed by the unbiased Kelly portfolio, and the sample plug-in Kelly portfolio. The advantages of our proposed unbiased and shrinkage Kelly portfolios for long-term investments are additionally confirmed by stock investment in the U.S. market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on information about the nature of consumer problems. The authors focus on data retrieved during a study of calls received by a hot line for consumers that functioned during a five-week span in 1971.The data is used identify problem areas in specific business enterprises. The data is also used for consumer profiling purposes. Many of the calls received by the hot line were pertaining to product performance, product maintenance, product warranty, product delivery, and product transaction issues. Consumers with lower incomes tended to complain about product damage. Government regulations associated with deceptive advertising practices are also discussed.

The determination of reject allowances for job shop set-ups usually considers defects to occur randomly through the production run. It is suggested that most defects arise during and just after the setting-up stage.
An analysis is conducted considering the setting-up stage as a learning process and incorporating the effects of additional set-ups. The analysis is extended to cover the effects of a single production station and a multi-station model, where rejects may occur at any station. The model was tested against a sample of actual jobs in a large manufacturing company. It was demonstrated that the station model using a skill and learning probability distribution was the more multi-adequate model, but experienced judgement achieved slightly better results than this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Several authors have studied the effect of parameter estimation on the performance of Phase II control charts and shown that large in‐control reference samples are necessary for the Phase II control charts to perform as desired. For higher dimensional data, even larger reference samples are required to achieve stable estimation of the in‐control parameters. Shrinkage estimation has been widely studied as a method to achieve stable estimation of the covariance matrix for high‐dimensional data. We investigate the average run length (ARL) distribution of the Hotelling T2 chart when using a shrunken covariance matrix. Specifically, we explore the following questions: (1) Does the use of a shrinkage estimator of the covariance matrix result in reduced variability in the ARL performance of the T2 chart? (2) Does the use of a shrinkage estimator of the covariance matrix result in a reduced occurrence of “strictly multivariate” false alarms on the T2chart? (3) How does shrinkage of the covariance matrix affect the out‐of‐control performance of the T2 chart? We use a simulation study to investigate the use of shrinkage estimation with the Hotelling T2 chart in Phase II. Our results indicate that, while shrinkage estimation affects the ARL performance of the T2 chart, the benefits are small and occur in fairly specific circumstances. The benefits of shrinking may not justify the use of more advanced techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a methodology to simulate product particle size distribution of an industrial scale VertiMill® engaged in regrinding duty. Using survey data, the time-based population balance model has been utilized to simulate mill product particle size distribution. A sub-model relating mill power to particle residence time is developed and applied to the population balance model to predict mill response in different operating conditions. The result showed that the new time-based population balance model applied to the VertiMill® is capable of predicting product particle size distribution with a change in mill power, feed size distribution, mill feed rate, and slurry solids concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard JK drop weight test breaks single particles at five size fractions each at different energy levels by dropping a given weight from a certain height. The progenies of all particles at a given energy level are sieved and the degree of breakage of all those particles at that energy level is presented as t 10 % (percent passing 1/10 th of original size). This method assumes that all of the particles in a single size fraction have the same mass and experience a similar degree of breakage and calculates the average breakage characteristics of an ore domain from impact loading. Hence, this standard approach does not capture the breakage variability that exists among ore particles. To investigate the breakage variability of ore, the drop weight testing method has been extended where the energy applied and the degree of breakage for each particle within the sample are measured separately. Therefore, the degree of breakage for the ore domain is expressed as an envelope of t 10 % vs energy curves. This approach provides some insight into the intrinsic variability of the response to impact loading within an ore domain. Several rock types were tested by the extended DWT testing approach and the implications of ore breakage variability for a SAG mill treating these materials are simulated for a standard SAB circuit using the JKMRC grinding models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental observation of the local breakage behavior of a single bubble injected in different locations in a stirred tank was carried out using high speed imaging method. The bubble was injected in six positions located at different radial and tangential distances from a Rushton turbine impeller. The effect of relative location from the impeller on the breakage probability and the number of daughter bubbles (fragments) was investigated and discussed. The effect of power input (or Reynolds number) and mother bubble size on the breakage events for each injection position was studied. Trajectories of the bubbles were analyzed and quantified. It was found that the breakage probability and the number of produced daughter bubbles were large close to the impeller but decreases sharply when injecting the bubble away from the impeller, i.e. at r/R = 0.64 (where r is the distance from the impeller center and R is the tank's radius) or more from the impeller blade. The presence of baffles affected the breakage probability and the number of daughter bubbles in the regions around them. The breakage events were observed to occur in different sub-regions between the impeller and the wall after the bubble had exhibited different degrees of local deformation. For low Re , most of the bubbles injected close to the impeller were found to approach the impeller and then get pushed toward the tank's wall by the flow current ejected from the blades tip. For high Re , a considerable percentage of bubbles were found to be driven into the impeller by highly rotating flow currents and turbulent eddies. This led to an increase in the breakage probability in the impeller vicinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shape of the specimen or structure has a direct impact on the behavior of drying concrete. This effect is not taken into account in most of shrinkage models and codes. Only the current B4 model and its previous version B3 model incorporate a shape factor. The determination of this coefficient is based on the nonlinear moisture diffusion analysis, which can explain the shape effect on the shrinkage rate. However, the model integrates this coefficient in the ultimate shrinkage values as well. An experimental study has been performed to confirm and understand this behavior. The mass loss and drying shrinkage of cylinders showed higher rate and ultimate values than the prisms, for the same effective cross section thickness. To explain this result, the drying, the differential shrinkage, the internal stress and the damaged depth were determined for both shapes through numerical modeling. The main input data of the model were the measured mass loss and shrinkage. The calculated desorption isotherm curve of the cylinder was below that of the prism, which is consistent with its higher ultimate mass-loss. The determination of stress profiles indicates slower stress mitigation for the cylinder. The cylinder develops a larger relative damaged area, defined as the part of the specimen where cracking is likely to occur due to tensile stresses. The results actually show that differential shrinkage between the edge and the core is more pronounced for the cylinder and decreases with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart urban development is an inevitable choice, and is essential to overall strength improvement. It is important to explore an urban smart development path which unites smart growth with driving shrinkage perfectly in forming scientific and sustainable development concept and responding to new normal strategic opportunities. Based on statistic data of 294 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2000 to 2015, we analyzed spatial and temporal evolution of urban smart development in China by constructing a dynamic fitting model of urban land expansion, population growth, and economic development as well as the coefficient of variation of urban smart development (CVSD). Further efforts were then made to consider differential distribution regularity of urban smart development so as to understand the driving mechanisms of heterogeneous classification of urban smart development in China from different scales and scale variation. Our results indicate that: 1) the disordered growth tendency of urban cities in China is overall well controlled in the middle, and late research and it mainly presented a doublet coexistence of shrinkage disordered cities and smart developing cities. It is particularly obvious that Northeast China and East China have regarded shrinkage disordered cities and smart developing cities as main development tendency separately. 2) Areas with basic stability and relative variation were relatively dispersed across the time period, but the proportion was far beyond areas with significant variation. It demonstrates a relative equilibrium spatial and temporal differential evolution pattern of prefecture-level cities and above in China, except for Tongling, Lanzhou and Chaoyang. 3) prefecture-level cities and above in China are mostly characterized by shrinkage disordered and smart development classification under the background of different scale and scale variation from 2000-2015; however, the spatial resonance relation is not obvious. 4) There are many interaction factors forming an important driving mechanism in developing the spatial and temporal pattern of urban smart development in China, including natural geographical factors, industrial structure adjustment, human capital radiation, regional traffic accessibility, and government decision-making intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose to fit a sparse logistic regression model by a weakly convex regularized nonconvex optimization problem. The idea is based on the finding that a weakly convex function as an approximation of the $\ell _0$ pseudo norm is able to better induce sparsity than the commonly used $\ell _1$ norm. For a class of weakly convex sparsity inducing functions, we prove the nonconvexity of the corresponding problem and study its local optimality conditions and the choice of the regularization parameter. Despite the nonconvexity, a method based on proximal gradient descent is used to solve the general weakly convex sparse logistic regression, and its convergence behavior is studied theoretically. Then, the general framework is applied to a specific weakly convex function, and a local optimality condition and a bound on the logistic loss at a local optimum are provided. The solution method is instantiated in this case as an iterative firm-shrinkage algorithm, and a Nesterov acceleration is used with a convergence guarantee. Its effectiveness is demonstrated in numerical experiments by both randomly generated and real datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We propose a new portfolio optimization method combining the merits of the shrinkage estimation, vine copula structure, and Black–Litterman model. It is useful for many investors to satisfy simultaneously the three investment objectives: estimation sensitivity, asymmetric risks appreciation, and portfolio stability. A typical investor with such objectives is a sovereign wealth fund (SWF). We use China's SWF as an example to empirically test the method based on a 15‐asset strategic asset allocation problem. Robustness tests using subsamples not only show the method's overall effectiveness but also manifest that the function of each component is as expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interior design methodology to compensate for the shrinkage in the holes of artifacts fabricated with desktop 3D printers employing fused deposition modeling process is presented in this study. In the conventional way of compensating, the initial geometry is scaled according to the predictive and statistical models so that the critical dimensions will be more accurate when the part is cooled down. The proposed method employs a completely different paradigm. It constructs various interior structures to compensate for the shrinkage in the holes according to the geometric attributes of the artifacts. In other words, the method utilizes shrinkage as a tool to compensate for the shrinkage. Printed interior line segments, which are directly connected to the perimeter of the hole, simply pull the hole towards the inside of the artifact. In result, the dimensional accuracy of the hole is improved considerably. The measurements with a coordinate measuring machine and the numerical analysis revealed that the proposed design approach can decrease the dimensional error substantially compared to the conventional 3D printed parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the term 'shrinkage' has been in use for over 100 years to describe retail losses, there continues to be little consensus on what it actually means and how it should be measured. As retailing becomes ever more complex and demanding, and a greater range of data sources become available, the traditional approaches to understanding and measuring loss in retailing seem increasingly anachronistic. Based upon extensive interviews and roundtable discussions with senior retail executives from Europe and the US, this article puts forward a framework for developing a more inclusive and broad-ranging definition and typology of retail losses, using the umbrella term Total Retail Loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the problems of making optimal decisions on pricing and shelf-space for a fuzzy supply chain with one perishable product, with the help of Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technology to reduce shrinkage. Based on the criterion of Value-at-Risk (VaR) and its minimization, we introduce one centralized decision model and three decentralized decision models to obtain the respective optimal decisions of both the manufacturer and the retailer, by analyzing the fuzzy uncertainties and the relationship among the demand, retail price and shelf-space. The corresponding optimal strategies of the two participants are obtained along with one example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a long history of cases interpreting whether a theft loss deduction for securities fraud is allowable for personal income taxes. The cases require that for a theft loss to be actionable as such, it would have to meet the requirements of the common law definition of theft in the U.S. state in which it occurred. This generally requires direct privity between the person claiming the loss and the person who committed the theft. Because most securities transactions are brokered, the direct privity is lost and a theft loss deduction is denied in favor a capital loss. Recently, in a case of first impression, the Tax Court was presented with a similar issue involving the worth of assets for estate taxes. Instead of using the reasoning presented in income tax cases, the Tax Court allowed a theft loss deduction on estate taxes where a Ponzi scheme was uncovered while the estate owned a limited liability company. The sole assets of the company were shares of the security that was involved in the Ponzi scheme. This Article examines the history of the privity requirement for deducting a theft loss for income taxes and how that reasoning now differs from the tax treatment for estate taxes. The Article concludes that there should not be a difference in treatment and that direct privity should not be required for either income or estate taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to reduce the cracking potential of posttensioning high-performance grout (HG) through use of shrinkage-reducing admixture (SRA). With this regard, an HG mixture was initially developed to possess appropriate fluidity with low bleeding and settling. Various amounts of SRA were subsequently incorporated into the developed HG mixture at 1% and 2% by weight to the cementitious components. A widely used ordinary grout (OG) mixture was also considered for comparison. Test results indicated that the HG mixture exhibited similar flowability to the OG mixture, while imparting much better performance with regard to strength, bleeding, and settling. The addition of SRA to the HG mixture led to higher compressive and tensile strength values after 28 days, lower shrinkage strain, lower maximum internal temperature due to hydration heat, and delayed shrinkage cracking. On the other hand, the degree of restraint due to an uneven surface of duct and the filling capacity of the HG were insignificantly affected by the inclusion of the SRA. Complete filling of ducts was observed for the HG samples. The OG mixture exhibited the smallest shrinkage strain and the best performance with regard to shrinkage cracking resistance; however, the OG mixture resulted in insufficiently filled ducts, leading to atmospheric exposure of prestressing strands. Consequently, the HG mixture with 2% SRA was proposed to be most appropriate for posttensioning grout with regard to the several properties denoted above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results of an investigation on the effect of two readily-available materials, namely granite and dolerite dusts on the properties of a tropical expansive soil from southeast Nigeria. The aim was to evaluate their use as potential stabilizing agents. Standard compaction, California bearing ratio (CBR), and Atterberg limit tests were performed on the natural expansive soil and on samples treated with varying percentages of granite or dolerite dust. Noticeable reduction in shrinkage and plasticity as well as an increase in CBR were observed in the treated soil samples. The improved clayey soil measured up to the Nigerian standards for materials used in general filling, embankment and sub-base materials, but they fall below the standards set for use as base materials. Based on the strength development, it seems that the cheap rock-dusts can be used as partial replacement for the other more expensive materials been used in treatment of expansive soils. Therefore their use may not only become an efficient method for the utilization of materials that are abundant in the terrain, but may also contribute to the development of the nation's solid minerals sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the experimental determination of relative length changes development during cement based composite ageing. Special moulds with the dimensions 100 × 60 × 1000 mm were used for the measurements. These moulds were filled and placed on an advanced weighing table that enables continuous recording of mass losses caused by free drying of the specimen surface. In this way, the mass losses and changes in the length of the cement composite in the moulds were measured simultaneously. The shrinkage moulds were modified in order to measure also the long-term relative deformation of fine-aggregate concrete specimens as a result of drying. The outputs of the measurement are given in the form of the diagrams displaying the relationship between the relative length changes or the mass losses and the time of cement composites ageing. Besides the measurement of length changes, three-point bending fracture tests at the age of 3 and 28 days were also performed. The modulus elasticity, effective fracture toughness and specific fracture energy values were determined from load versus deflection diagrams recorded during fracture experiments on the specimens with dimensions 40 × 40 × 160 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In high-dimensional data settings where p ≫ n, many penalized regularization approaches were studied for simultaneous variable selection and estimation. However, with the existence of covariates with weak effect, many existing variable selection methods, including Lasso and its generations, cannot distinguish covariates with weak and no contribution. Thus, prediction based on a subset model of selected covariates only can be inefficient. In this paper, we propose a post selection shrinkage estimation strategy to improve the prediction performance of a selected subset model. Such a post selection shrinkage estimator (PSE) is data adaptive and constructed by shrinking a post selection weighted ridge estimator in the direction of a selected candidate subset. Under an asymptotic distributional quadratic risk criterion, its prediction performance is explored analytically. We show that the proposed post selection PSE performs better than the post selection weighted ridge estimator. More importantly, it improves the prediction performance of any candidate subset model selected from most existing Lasso-type variable selection methods significantly. The relative performance of the post selection PSE is demonstrated by both simulation studies and real-data analysis. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RFID application can improve operation performance in a supply chain by reducing or eliminating inventory misplacement and shrinkage. In this paper, we present a periodic review inventory model to investigate and characterize the multiperiod inventory control policies in both non-RFID and RFID cases when the firm encounters misplacement and shrinkage. The optimal inventory control policy is proved to be a two-control limit policy. The control limits in both the non-RFID case and the RFID case are analyzed and examined, while considering the impact of shrinkage and misplacement on inventory policies. A critical inventory level is determined to identify the relationship of higher inventory level control limits between the RFID case and the non-RFID case. An intensive numerical study with sensitivity analysis of selling price, misplacement rate, shrinkage rate, inventory recovery rate, and tag price is conducted. We find that when RFID technology is adopted, the inventory control policy in the RFID case is much more stable than that of the non-RFID case, as the misplaced inventory can be recovered perfectly and instantly for sale and the inventory shrinkage can be reduced by RFID technology. In addition, one of our intriguing findings is that when the shrinkage rate is below a threshold value which is independent of parameters, RFID application has no effect on inventory control policy if the misplaced inventory can be recovered in a timely manner by physical audit, which has not been revealed in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional normalized subband adaptive filter (NSAF) using a constant step-size generally faces an inherent trade-off between the steady-state misalignment and the convergence rate. We propose herein a variable step-size NSAF algorithm by minimizing the mean-square deviation (MSD) between the optimal weight vector and the weight vector estimate with the utilization of the shrinkage denoising technique. With the estimation error involved in the step-size adaptation for each subband individually, the proposed algorithm is capable of tracking non-stationary environments. Without the explicit whitening assumption of the input signal in each subband, the proposed algorithm exhibits low steady-state MSD even when the input signal of each subband is colored. Simulation results validate the low misalignment and good tracking ability of the proposed algorithm in system identification application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with manufacturing locational analysis, relatively few scholarly researchers have demonstrated serious interest in examining the forces responsible for same store retail clustering in large cities. The centrifugal and centripetal forces influencing retail locations were once the subject of serious intellectual debate. Same product retail store (SPRS) clusters, which were once common in the retail landscape of Manhattan and other Western primary cities, are now in severe decline. However, there remain modern megacities where similar retail store cluster phenomenon is resurgent. This paper attempts to examine the formation and sustainability of the SPRS clustering phenomenon illustrated by Bangkok, Thailand. The authors find 14,468 SPRS permanent retail outlets located in 299 clusters. The data were mapped and then classified according to the North American Industrial Classification System. Locational Gini coefficients were computed to permit an analysis of the city's retail clustering within and between its fifty administrative districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breakage is a derivative of gift card programs; its recognition as income in financial results is always accretive. However, the amount and timing of the income recognition event is highly subject to management discretion, which naturally leads to questions of whether breakage is an earnings management tool. In response, this study investigates the use of gift card breakage as an artificial income smoothing tool within the retail industry. The results of this study suggest that retail organizations do not use breakage to artificially smooth earnings. This study adds to our understanding of the use of discretionary financial items to synthetically adjust financial results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumatic conveying is utilised in a variety of industries to convey food products exhibiting diverse handling characteristics. Attrition of particles caused by this conveying process can result in a number of undesirable outcomes such as loss in product quality or issues in subsequent handling processes. The ability to predict the breakage behaviour of particulate materials is desirable in both new system design and resolving issues in existing plants. This work considers two different particulate materials (Salt and Golden Breadcrumbs) across a range of particle sizes, and quantifies their breakage behaviour under varying impact conditions. Narrow size fractions of each material were degraded; material retained on 250 μm and 355 μm sieves for Salt, and 500 μm, 710 μm and 1,000 μm sieves for Golden Breadcrumbs. Velocity was found to be the most influential factor with respect to particle attrition. The results from the narrow size fraction tests were superimposed to form a simulated full size distribution breakage behaviour, which was then compared to the experimentally determined behaviour. A good agreement was found, however the proportion of material predicted for size fractions smaller than 355 μm for Golden Breadcrumbs and 180 μm for Salt was under-predicted. Recommendations for increasing accuracy of the prediction method are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been 10 years since the JK size-dependent breakage model was developed (Shi and Kojovic, 2007). This paper reviews 20 applications of the model for the mineral and coal industries in the past 10 years to encourage its use in future applications. The review is divided into three parts: Part 1 for ore and coal breakage characterisation, Part 2 for assessment of material strength and energy requirement for size reduction, and Part 3 for modelling comminution equipment. Part 1 of the review covers the model structure, its applications in high energy single impact data reduction, low energy incremental breakage modelling, reduced breakage testing method, a new impact breakage testing method using mixed particles in a wide size range, fine particle breakage characterisation (JKFBC), and a multi-component breakage model for coal grinding. It has been proved through these applications that the JK size-dependent breakage model is a useful tool for ore and coal breakage characterisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the many benefits such as excellent aesthetics, biocompatibility, and wear resistance, the use of light cured composite materials in dentistry has grown in the last few decades. However, the main disadvantage of present composite materials is significant volumetric shrinkage during curing, which leads to void and crack formation that is detrimental to the longevity of the restoration. This work presents a gas pycnometer which was re-designed to achieve high precision measurements of polymerization shrinkage while allowing in-situ curing of small size dental composites. Samples of dentin, enamel and body (DEB) shade of conventionally used restorative nanocomposite material with average mass of ∼141.35 mg were in-situ cured at irradiance of ∼370 mW/cm 2 using various exposure time cycles, which totaled the manufacturer recommended 60 s. The proposed system enhancements allowed measurement of time-dependent polymerization shrinkage of in-situ light cured dental composites. Volumetric measurements had reproducibility of ∼0.005% of nominal full-scale sample cell chamber volume; and the shrinkage measurements did not exceed the average relative standard deviation (RSD) of ∼2.8%, which is ∼4 times better when compared with conventional techniques. Overall, this newly developed high precision and C-factor independent technique provides better understanding of time-dependent volumetric polymerization shrinkage aiding in development of better clinical procedures and materials to improve health and longevity of composite restorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I use a large set of macroeconomic and financial predictors to forecast US recession periods. I adopt Bayesian methodology with shrinkage in the parameters of the probit model for the binary time series tracking the state of the economy. The in-sample and out-of-sample results show that utilizing a large cross-section of indicators yields superior US recession forecasts in comparison to a number of parsimonious benchmark models. Moreover, the datarich probit model gives similar accuracy to the factor-based model for the 1-month-ahead forecasts, while it provides superior performance for 1-year-ahead predictions. Finally, in a pseudo-real-time application for the Great Recession, I find that the large probit model with shrinkage is able to pick up the recession signals in a timely fashion and does well in comparison to the more parsimonious specification and to nonparametric alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Poisson regression is very popular in applied researches when analyzing the count data. However, multicollinearity problem arises for the Poisson regression model when the independent variables are highly intercorrelated. Shrinkage estimator is a commonly applied solution to the general problem caused by multicollinearity. Recently, the ridge regression (RR) estimators and some methods for estimating the ridge parameterkin the Poisson regression have been proposed. It has been found that some estimators are better than the commonly used maximum-likelihood (ML) estimator and some other RR estimators. In this study, the modified Jackknifed Poisson ridge regression (MJPR) estimator is proposed to remedy the multicollinearity. A simulation study and a real data example are provided to evaluate the performance of estimators. Both mean-squared error and the percentage relative error are considered as the performance criteria. The simulation study and the real data example results show that the proposed MJPR method outperforms the Poisson ridge regression, Jackknifed Poisson ridge regression and the ML in all of the different situations evaluated in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the estimation problem of the parameter vector in the linear regression model with heteroscedastic errors. First, under heteroscedastic errors, we study the performance of shrinkage-type estimators and their performance as compared to theunrestricted and restricted least squares estimators. In order to accommodate the heteroscedastic structure, we generalize an identity which is useful in deriving the risk function. Thanks to the established identity, we prove that shrinkage estimators dominate the unrestricted estimator. Finally, we explore the performance of high-dimensional heteroscedastic regression estimator as compared to classical LASSO and shrinkage estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to study how the early-age self-shrinkage behavior of cement paste is affected by the addition of the waste paper fibers under sealed conditions. Although the primary focus was to determine whether the waste paper fibers are suitable to mitigate self-shrinkage as an internal curing agent under different adding ways, evaluating their strength, pore structure, and hydration properties provided further insight into the self-cured behavior of cement paste. Under the wet mixing condition, the waste paper fibers could mitigate the self-shrinkage of cement paste and, at additions of 0.2% by mass of cement, the waste paper fibers were found to show significant self-shrinkage cracking control while providing some internal curing. In addition, the self-curing efficiency results were analyzed based on the strength and the self-shrinkage behaviors of cement paste. Results indicated that, under a low water cement ratio, an optimal dosage and adding ways of the waste paper fibers could enhance the self-curing efficiency of cement paste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking cities can be considered as one of the most critical challenges of contemporary urban societies. Recently, this phenomenon has been the subject of growing interest both in terms of research and from an urban policy point of view. In this paper we argue that urban shrinkage and policy responses depend on the combination of global processes and local configurations. Based on a study of shrinking cities in Australia, Japan, Germany, the UK, France and the USA, this paper first aims to explore the global process of urban shrinkage in different contexts. While the phenomenon is global it is anchored at the local level and subject to particular manifestations. After analyzing the general trends of urban shrinkage in the six countries considered, the second aim of this paper is to study the way in which policies implemented in shrinking cities differ in the various national contexts. This symposium argues that policy responses need to consider both the global forces behind shrinkage and the local context where particular characteristics are found. There are however three common areas where local actors in shrinking cities tend to focus their strategies and programs: community resilience; urban regeneration strategies; and tackling the social effects of urban shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]