From Finnish Assortment Pricing to Market Economy Using Prices for Sawn Wood and Chips in Reference Bucking

Dominant Finnish assortment pricing gives prices for sawlog and pulp wood volumes. Buyers buck stems to sawlogs using secret price matrices. Agreed dimensions allow wide range of sawlog volumes. Forest owners cannot objectively compare biddings: timber trade is a lottery game. Bucking is analyzed in terms of sawlog, pulp wood, log cylinder, sawn wood, value-weighted sawn wood, and chips. Sawn wood and its value are computed from top diameter of the sawlog. Profit maximization requires buyers to buck logs producing smaller than maximal value, causing dead weight loss. Nominal assortment prices have unpredictable relation to effective stumpage price. Assortment pricing does not meet requirements of market economy. If sawmills linked to pulp mills buck smaller sawlog percentages than independent sawmills, as generally believed, they use higher price for chips in their own harvests than they pay for independent sawmills, indicating imperfect competition for chips. Sawn wood potential pricing is suggested which gives prices for sawn wood and chips coming both from sawlogs and pulp wood in reference bucking which maximizes sawn wood for given minimum and maximum log length and minimum top diameter. Simple algorithm generates feasible bucking schedules from which optimum can be selected using any objective. Pricing produces unit price for all commercial wood utilizing ratio of theoretical sawn wood and commercial volume in stand. Unit price can be compared to stem pricing and could be compared to assortment pricing if assortment pricing would produce predictable sawlog percentages. Sawn wood potential pricing is concrete, transparent, easy to compute, considers stem size and tapering, reduces trading cost and is less risky to buyers than stem pricing. It meets requirements of market economy. Readers can repeat computations using open-source software Jlp22.

三色膏联合PRICE疗法治疗急性踝关节Ⅰ和Ⅱ度扭伤的临床效果

目的探讨三色膏联合PRICE疗法治疗急性踝关节Ⅰ、Ⅱ度扭伤的临床效果。方法选取2022年2月至2023年5月上海市嘉定区中医医院骨伤科收治的52例Ⅰ、Ⅱ度急性踝关节扭伤患者作为研究对象,其中急诊患者35例,门诊患者17例,采用随机数字表法将其分为对照组和观察组,每组均失访1例,两组各25例纳入统计。对照组采用PRICE疗法治疗,观察组采用三色膏联合PRICE疗法,两组患者均治疗1周,治疗结束后,比较两组患者治疗前和治疗后第1、3周的视觉模拟评分法(VAS)评分及Mazur功能评分。结果52例患者中50例得到随访,随访时间不短于4周。治疗1、3周后,两组患者的VAS评分低于本组治疗前,Mazur功能评分高于本组治疗前,观察组的VAS评分低于对照组,Mazur功能评分高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论三色膏联合PRICE疗法治疗急性踝关节Ⅰ、Ⅱ度扭伤可以获得更好的疗效,具有重要的临床价值和推广意义。

Understanding the Relationship Between Shrinking Cities and Land Prices:Spatial Pattern,Effectiveness,and Policy Implications

Urban shrinkage has emerged as a widespread phenomenon globally and has a significant impact on land,particularly in terms of land use and price.This study focuses on 2851 county-level cities in China in 2005–2018(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,Taiwan,and‘no data’areas in Qinhai-Tibet Plateau)as the fundamental units of analysis.By employing nighttime light(NTL)data to identify shrinking cities,the propensity score matching(PSM)model was used to quantitatively examine the impact of shrinking cities on land prices,and evaluate the magnitude of this influence.The findings demonstrate the following:1)there were 613 shrinking cities in China,with moderate shrinkage being the most prevalent and severe shrinkage being the least.2)Regional disparities are evident in the spatial distribution of shrinking cities,especially in areas with diverse terrain.3)The spatial pattern of land price exhibits a significant correlated to the economic and administrative levels.4)Shrinking cities significantly negatively impact on the overall land price(ATT=–0.1241,P<0.05).However,the extent of the effect varies significantly among different spatial regions.This study contributes novel insights into the investigation of land prices and shrinking cities,ultimately serving as a foundation for government efforts to promote the sustainable development of urban areas.

基于TeamSTEPPS理论的案例情景教学法在急诊护理团队培训中的应用

急诊科具有危重患者多,突发状况多,医疗风险高等特点,目前国内大多数医院急诊科护士以团队形式开展工作,但临床工作中易出现职责分工不明确、配合不协调、组织抢救混乱等问题^([1])。团队培训是增强团队优质高效协作的重要途径^([2]),为进一步提升急诊护理团队协作,保障患者安全,本次研究将前期基于提高医疗质量和患者安全的团队策略与工具(team strategies and tools to enhance performance and patient safety,TeamSTEPPS)理论构建的急诊护理团队培训方案^([3])进行临床应用,取得了较好的效果。现报道如下。

"Five steps four quadrants" modularized en bloc dissection technique for accessing hepatic hilum lymph nodes in laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy

BACKGROUND Although en bloc dissection of hepatic hilum lymph nodes has many advantages in radical tumor treatment,the feasibility and safety of this approach for laparo-scopic pancreaticoduodenectomy(LPD)require further clinical evaluation and investigation.AIM To explore the application value of the"five steps four quadrants"modularized en bloc dissection technique for accessing hepatic hilum lymph nodes in LPD patients.METHODS A total of 52 patients who underwent LPD via the"five steps four quadrants"modularized en bloc dissection technique for hepatic hilum lymph nodes from April 2021 to July 2023 in our department were analyzed retrospectively.The patients'body mass index(BMI),preoperative laboratory indices,intraoperative variables and postoperative complications were recorded.The relationships between preoperative data and intraoperative lymph node dissection time and blood loss were also analyzed.RESULTS Among the 52 patients,36 were males and 16 were females,and the average age was 62.2±11.0 years.There were 26 patients with pancreatic head cancer,16 patients with periampullary cancer,and 10 patients with distal bile duct cancer.The BMI was 22.3±3.3 kg/m²,and the median total bilirubin(TBIL)concentration was 57.7(16.0-155.7)µmol/L.All patients successfully underwent the"five steps four quadrants"modularized en bloc dissection technique without lymph node clearance-related complications such as postoperative bleeding or lymphatic leakage.Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between preoperative BMI(r=0.3581,P=0.0091),TBIL level(r=0.2988,P=0.0341),prothrombin time(r=0.3018,P=0.0297)and lymph node dissection time.Moreover,dissection time was significantly correlated with intraoperative blood loss(r=0.7744,P<0.0001).Further stratified analysis demonstrated that patients with a preoperative BMI≥21.9 kg/m²and a TIBL concentration≥57.7μmol/L had significantly longer lymph node dissection times(both P<0.05).CONCLUSION The"five steps four quadrants"modularized en bloc dissection technique for accessing the hepatic hilum lymph node is safe and feasible for LPD.This technique is expected to improve the efficiency of hepatic hilum lymph node dissection and shorten the learning curve;thus,it is worthy of further clinical promotion and application.

Brent vs.West Texas Intermediate in the US petro derivatives price formation

In this paper,we apply the spatial panel model to explore the relationship between the dynamic of two types of crude oil prices(WTI and Brent crude oil)and their refined products over time.Considering the turbulent months of 2011,when Cushing Oklahoma had reached capacity and the crude oil export ban removal in 2015 as breakpoints,we apply this method both in the full sample and the three resultant regimes.First,results suggest our results show that both WTI and Brent display very similar behaviour with the refined products.Second,when attending to each regime,results derived from the first and third regimes are quite similar to the full sample results.Therefore,during the second regime,Brent crude oil became the benchmark in the petrol market,and it influenced the distillate products.Furthermore,our model can let us determine the price-setters and price-followers in the price formation mechanism through refined products.These results possess important considerations to policymakers and the market participants and the price formation.

A Study on Renewable Power Pricing Mechanism and Price Incentive Policies in China

The basic framework of price policies for promoting renewable power de- velopment in China is introduced. The background, concept and implementation of price policies, focused on wind power, biomass power and solar power, are summarized in the article. The experiences and lessons of implementation of these price policies are analyzed. It is concluded that reasonable price policy is quite effective for promoting re- newable power development. According to the requirement of China's renewable power development, the suggestions for improving renewable power pricing mechanism and price incentive policies are proposed.

The Caching and Pricing Strategy for Information-Centric Networking with Advertisers’Participation

As users’access to the network has evolved into the acquisition of mass contents instead of IP addresses,the IP network architecture based on end-to-end communication cannot meet users’needs.Therefore,the Information-Centric Networking(ICN)came into being.From a technical point of view,ICN is a promising future network architecture.Researching and customizing a reasonable pricing mechanism plays a positive role in promoting the deployment of ICN.The current research on ICN pricing mechanism is focused on paid content.Therefore,we study an ICN pricing model for free content,which uses game theory based on Nash equilibrium to analysis.In this work,advertisers are considered,and an advertiser model is established to describe the economic interaction between advertisers and ICN entities.This solution can formulate the best pricing strategy for all ICN entities and maximize the benefits of each entity.Our extensive analysis and numerical results show that the proposed pricing framework is significantly better than existing solutions when it comes to free content.

Pricing Catastrophe Options with Credit Risk in a Regime-Switching Model

In this paper,we consider the price of catastrophe options with credit risk in a regime-switching model.We assume that the macroeconomic states are described by a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite state space.By using the measure change technique,we derive the price expressions of catastrophe put options.Moreover,we conduct some numerical analysis to demonstrate how the parameters of the model affect the price of the catastrophe put option.

Performance improvement in stepped solar still modified by sponge layer

In this paper,the experimental investigation on the performance improvement of conventional stepped solar still is conducted.The steps are covered by the porous material to improve the performance of the conventional device and increase the evaporation rate.All the parameters,including the temperature on the glass surface,the water temperature inside the evaporation zone,and the amount of water produced in both conventional and modified stepped solar stills are measured and compared.The efficiency of two devices and their exergy efficiency have been calculated.Finally,the economic analysis of both devices has been done to check the economic feasibility of the modified device.The amount of freshwater generated during one day was 2244.4 and 3076.2 mL/m^(2),respectively for the conventional and modified stepped solar stills.As a result,the amount of water produced in one day by modified stepped solar still is 35.5% more than the conventional one.Also,the costs for the conventional and modified stepped solar stills have been calculated as 0.0359 and 0.029$/(L·m^(-2)),respectively.

Controllable step-flow growth of GaN on patterned freestanding substrate

A new kind of step-flow growth mode is proposed,which adopts sidewall as step source on patterned GaN substrate.The terrace width of steps originated from the sidewall was found to change with the growth temperature and ammonia flux.The growth mechanism is explained and simulated based on step motion model.This work helps better understand the behaviors of step advancement and puts forward a method of precisely modulating atomic steps.

Economic Resilience in Bangladesh: Analyzing Household Well-Being amidst Price Hikes through ANOVA and Paired Sample t-Test Insights

This study delves into the multifaceted impact of price hikes on the standard of living in Bangladesh, with a specific focus on distinct socioeconomic segments. Amidst Bangladesh’s economic growth, the challenges of rising inflation and increased living costs have become pressing concerns. Employing a mixed-methods approach combines quantitative data from a structured survey with qualitative insights from in-depth interviews and focused group discussions to analyze the repercussions of price hikes. Stratified random sampling ensures representation across affluent, middle-class, and economically disadvantaged groups. Utilizing data [1] from 2020 to November 2023 on the yearly change in retail prices of essential commodities, analysis reveals significant demographic shifts, occupational changes, and altered asset ownership patterns among households. The vulnerable population, including daily wage laborers and low-income individuals, is disproportionately affected by adjustments in consumption, income generation, and living arrangements. Statistical analyses, including One-Way ANOVA and Paired Sample t-tests, illuminate significant mean differences in strategies employed during price hikes. Despite challenges, the prioritization of education remains evident, emphasizing its resilience in the face of economic hardships. The result shows that price hikes, especially in essential items, lead to substantial adjustments in living costs, with items like onions, garlic, and ginger experiencing significant increases of 275%, 108%, and 483%, respectively.

Flexible Load Participation in Peaking Shaving and Valley Filling Based on Dynamic Price Incentives

Considering the widening of the peak-valley difference in the power grid and the difficulty of the existing fixed time-of-use electricity price mechanism in meeting the energy demand of heterogeneous users at various moments or motivating users,the design of a reasonable dynamic pricing mechanism to actively engage users in demand response becomes imperative for power grid companies.For this purpose,a power grid-flexible load bilevel model is constructed based on dynamic pricing,where the leader is the dispatching center and the lower-level flexible load acts as the follower.Initially,an upper-level day-ahead dispatching model for the power grid is established,considering the lowest power grid dispatching cost as the objective function and incorporating the power grid-side constraints.Then,the lower level comprehensively considers the load characteristics of industrial load,energy storage,and data centers,and then establishes a lower-level flexible load operation model with the lowest user power-consuming cost as the objective function.Finally,the proposed method is validated using the IEEE-118 system,and the findings indicate that the dynamic pricing mechanism for peaking shaving and valley filling can effectively guide users to respond actively,thereby reducing the peak-valley difference and decreasing users’purchasing costs.

Production Chain Length and PPI-CPI Divergence:Analysis Based on the Global Input-output Price Model

Productivity and international energy price shocks are reflected in PPI and CPI via industrial chains.China’s in-depth participation into the global value chains has increasingly lengthened its industrial production chains.The question is how the changing length of production chains will affect CPI and PPI,as well as CPI-PPI correlation?By constructing a global input-output price model,this paper offers a theoretical discussion on the impact of production chain length on the CPI-PPI divergence.Our findings suggest that the price shock of international bulk commodities has a greater impact on China’s PPI than that on CPI.The effects on both China’s PPI and CPI estimated by using the single-country input-output model are higher than the results estimated with the global input-output model.However,the difference between CPI and PPI variations estimated with the global input-output model is greater than the result estimated with the single-country input-output model,which supports the view that the lengthening of production chains,especially international production chains,leads to a divergence between CPI and PPI.Empirical results based on cross-national panel data also suggest that the lengthening of production chains has reduced the CPI-PPI correlation for countries,i.e.the lengthening of production chains has increased the PPI-CPI divergence.That is to say,policymakers should target not just CPI in maintaining price stability,but instead focus on the stability of both PPI and CPI.Efforts can be made to proactively adjust the price index system,and formulate the industrial chain price index.

Half-integer Shapiro steps in MgB_(2) focused He ion beam Josephson junctions

Half-integer microwave induced steps(Shapiro steps)have been observed in many different Josephson junction systems,which have attracted a lot of attention because they signify the deviation of current phase relation(CPR)and uncover many unconventional physical properties.In this article,we first report the discovery of half-integer Shapiro steps in MgB_(2)focused He ion beam(He-FIB)Josephson junctions.The half-integer steps'dependence on microwave frequency,temperature,microwave power,and magnetic field is also analyzed.We find that the existence of half-integer steps can be controlled by the magnetic field periodically,which is similar to that of high temperature superconductor(HTS)grain boundary junctions,and the similarity of the microstructures between gain boundary junctions and He-FIB junctions is discussed.As a consequence,we mainly attribute the physical origin of half-integer steps in MgB_(2)He-FIB junctions to the model that a He-FIB junction is analogous to a parallel junctions'array.Our results show that He-FIB technology is a promising platform for researching CPR in junctions made of different superconductors.

Artificial Intelligence-Based Automated Actuarial Pricing and Underwriting Model for the General Insurance Sector

The Automated Actuarial Pricing and Underwriting Model has been enhanced and expanded through the implementation of Artificial Intelligence to automate three distinct actuarial functions: loss reserving, pricing, and underwriting. This model utilizes data analytics based on Artificial Intelligence to merge microfinance and car insurance services. Introducing and applying a no-claims bonus rate system, comprising base rates, variable rates, and final rates, to three key policyholder categories significantly reduces the occurrence and impact of claims while encouraging increased premium payments. We have enhanced frequency-severity models with eight machine learning algorithms and adjusted the Automated Actuarial Pricing and Underwriting Model for inflation, resulting in outstanding performance. Among the machine learning models utilized, the Random Forest (RANGER) achieved the highest Total Aggregate Comprehensive Automated Actuarial Loss Reserve Risk Pricing Balance (ACAALRRPB), establishing itself as the preferred model for developing Automated Actuarial Underwriting models tailored to specific policyholder categories.

Stability analysis of intermittently jointed rock slopes based on the stepped failure mode

In practical engineering,due to the noncontinuity characteristics of joints in rock slopes,in addition to plane failure,stepped sliding failure may occur for intermittently jointed rock slopes.Especially for intermittently bedding jointed rock slopes,the correlation and difference in strength parameters between joints and rock bridges,along with the various failure modes and intermittency of rock bridges,contribute to the complexity of stepped failure modes and the unpredictability of failure regions.Based on the upper-bound limit analysis method and multi-sliders step-path failure mode,considering the shear and tensile failure of rock bridges and the weakened relationship between the strength parameters of rock bridges and jointed surfaces,by introducing the modified M-C failure criterion and the formula for calculating the energy consumption of tensile failure of rock bridges,two failure mechanisms are constructed to obtain the safety factor(F_(s))of intermittently jointed rock slopes.The sequential quadratic programming method is used to obtain the optimal upper-bound solution for F_(s).The influence of multiple key parameters(slope height H,horizontal distance L,Slope angleβ,shear strength parameters of the rock bridgeφr and cr,Dimensionless parameter u,weakening coefficients of the internal friction angle and cohesion between the rock bridges and joint surfaces Kφand Kc)on the stability analysis of intermittently jointed rock slopes under the shear failure mode of rock bridges as well as under the tensile failure mode is also explored.The reliability of the failure mechanisms is verified by comparative analysis with theoretical results,numerical results,and landslide cases,and the variation rules of F_(s)with each key parameter are obtained.The results show that F_(s) varies linearly withφr and cr of the rock bridge and with K_(φ)and K_(c),whereas F_(s)changes nonlinearly with H and L.In particular,with the increase in Kφand Kc,Fs increases by approximately 52.78%and 171.02%on average,respectively.For rock bridge tensile failure,F_(s) shows a nonlinearly positive correlation withφr,cr,Kφand Kc.In particular,with the increase in Kφand Kc,Fs increases by approximately 13%and 61.69%on average,respectively.Fs decreases rapidly with increasing slope gradientβand decreasing dimensionless parameterμ.When Kφand Kc are both less than 1.0,the stepped sliding surface occurs more easily than the plane failure surface,especially in the case of tensile failure of the rock bridge.In addition,rock slopes with higher strength parameters,taller heights,and greater weakening coefficients are prone to rock bridge tension failure with lower Fs,and more attention should be given to the occurrence of such accidents in actual engineering.

Price prediction of power transformer materials based on CEEMD and GRU

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has fueled the expansion of power grids.Power transformers are key equipment in power grid projects,and their price changes have a significant impact on cost control.However,the prices of power transformer materials manifest as nonsmooth and nonlinear sequences.Hence,estimating the acquisition costs of power grid projects is difficult,hindering the normal operation of power engineering construction.To more accurately predict the price of power transformer materials,this study proposes a method based on complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition(CEEMD)and gated recurrent unit(GRU)network.First,the CEEMD decomposed the price series into multiple intrinsic mode functions(IMFs).Multiple IMFs were clustered to obtain several aggregated sequences based on the sample entropy of each IMF.Then,an empirical wavelet transform(EWT)was applied to the aggregation sequence with a large sample entropy,and the multiple subsequences obtained from the decomposition were predicted by the GRU model.The GRU model was used to directly predict the aggregation sequences with a small sample entropy.In this study,we used authentic historical pricing data for power transformer materials to validate the proposed approach.The empirical findings demonstrated the efficacy of our method across both datasets,with mean absolute percentage errors(MAPEs)of less than 1%and 3%.This approach holds a significant reference value for future research in the field of power transformer material price prediction.

Transfer matrix method for free and forced vibrations of multi-level functionally graded material stepped beams with different boundary conditions

Functionally graded materials(FGMs)are a novel class of composite materials that have attracted significant attention in the field of engineering due to their unique mechanical properties.This study aims to explore the dynamic behaviors of an FGM stepped beam with different boundary conditions based on an efficient solving method.Under the assumptions of the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory,the governing differential equations of an individual FGM beam are derived with Hamilton’s principle and decoupled via the separation-of-variable approach.Then,the free and forced vibrations of the FGM stepped beam are solved with the transfer matrix method(TMM).Two models,i.e.,a three-level FGM stepped beam and a five-level FGM stepped beam,are considered,and their natural frequencies and mode shapes are presented.To demonstrate the validity of the method in this paper,the simulation results by ABAQUS are also given.On this basis,the detailed parametric analyses on the frequencies and dynamic responses of the three-level FGM stepped beam are carried out.The results show the accuracy and efficiency of the TMM.

Random Timestepping Algorithm with Exponential Distribution for Pricing Various Structures of One-Sided Barrier Options

The exponentially-distributed random timestepping algorithm with boundary test is implemented to evaluate the prices of some variety of single one-sided barrier option contracts within the framework of Black-Scholes model, giving efficient estimation of their hitting times. It is numerically shown that this algorithm, as for the Brownian bridge technique, can improve the rate of weak convergence from order one-half for the standard Monte Carlo to order 1. The exponential timestepping algorithm, however, displays better results, for a given amount of CPU time, than the Brownian bridge technique as the step size becomes larger or the volatility grows up. This is due to the features of the exponential distribution which is more strongly peaked near the origin and has a higher kurtosis compared to the normal distribution, giving more stability of the exponential timestepping algorithm at large time steps and high levels of volatility.