Fly ash has congregated considerable attention as a potential reinforcement for aluminum matrix composites(AMCs)to enhance selective properties and reduce the cost of fabrication.However,poor machinability of such AMC...Fly ash has congregated considerable attention as a potential reinforcement for aluminum matrix composites(AMCs)to enhance selective properties and reduce the cost of fabrication.However,poor machinability of such AMCs limits their application.The present study focuses on the preparation of cenosphere fly ash reinforced Al6061alloys by compo casting method.X-ray diffraction analysis of the prepared AMCs exposes the presence of cenosphere particles without any formation of other intermetallic compounds.In this study,electrical discharge machining(EDM)was engaged to examine the machinability of the prepared metal matrix composite(MMCs).The measured performance characteristics for the various combinations of input process parameters were considered to be MRR,EWR and SR.Face centered central composite design(CCD)of response surface method(RSM)was employed to design the number of experimental trials required and a hybrid approach of grey-based response surface methodology(GRSM)was imposed for predicting the optimal combination of processing parameter in EDM process.Generous improvement was observed in the performance characteristics obtained by employing both the optimal setting of machining parameters.The optical3D surface profile graphs of the ED machined surface also revealed the improvement in surface quality and texture employing the optimal processing conditions proposed by hybrid GRSM approach.展开更多
In standard interval mapping (IM) of quantitative trait loci (QTL), the QTL effect is described by a normal mixture model. When this assumption of normality is violated, the most commonly adopted strategy is to use th...In standard interval mapping (IM) of quantitative trait loci (QTL), the QTL effect is described by a normal mixture model. When this assumption of normality is violated, the most commonly adopted strategy is to use the previous model after data transformation. However, an appropriate transformation may not exist or may be difficult to find. Also this approach can raise interpretation issues. An interesting alternative is to consider a skew-normal mixture model in standard IM, and the resulting method is here denoted as skew-normal IM. This flexible model that includes the usual symmetric normal distribution as a special case is important, allowing continuous variation from normality to non-normality. In this paper we briefly introduce the main peculiarities of the skew-normal distribution. The maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of the skew-normal distribution are obtained by the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. The proposed model is illustrated with real data from an intercross experiment that shows a significant departure from the normality assumption. The performance of the skew-normal IM is assessed via stochastic simulation. The results indicate that the skew-normal IM has higher power for QTL detection and better precision of QTL location as compared to standard IM and nonparametric IM.展开更多
Ecosystem services valuation seeks to increase the social relevance of ecosystem characteristics, the underlying biological mechanisms that support services, by making the contribution of ecosystems to human well-bein...Ecosystem services valuation seeks to increase the social relevance of ecosystem characteristics, the underlying biological mechanisms that support services, by making the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being explicit. Economic valuation can help management by clarifying the full range of benefits and costs of proposed management actions. In the past two decades, economic valuation of wetland ecosystem services has become one of the most significant scientific priorities for wetland protection. In this paper, we provide an overview of ecosystem services, and summarize the main interdisciplinary approaches to measure and value wetland ecosystem services. We identified four main methodological gaps preventing progress on wetland valuation of ecosystem services in China, which are: 1) confusion on terminology like intermediate and final ecosystem services, 2) lack of ecological production functions to link ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services, 3) static valuation making it difficult to evaluate the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services, and 4) lack of clear guidance on relating ecological compensation programs to conservation targets. Overcoming these gaps is important to inform wetland compensation mechanisms and conservation policies. We propose future research on wetland ecosystem services in China should be focused on: 1) defining final ecosystem services based on beneficiary preferences and underlying biophysical mechanisms, 2) establishing wetland monitoring programs at specific sites to collect data on final ecosystem service indicators and ecosystem characteristic metrics to create ecological production functions for economic valuation and rescaling techniques, and 3) incorporating wetland ecosystem service values into decision-making processes to inform wetland management.展开更多
A new mathematical expectation formula with some hypotheses, notions and propositions was given to get rid of the challenge of St. Petersburg paradox and Pascal's wager. Relevant results show that it is very effec...A new mathematical expectation formula with some hypotheses, notions and propositions was given to get rid of the challenge of St. Petersburg paradox and Pascal's wager. Relevant results show that it is very effective to apply the model to solve the expected revenue problems containing random events with low proba-bility but high revenue. This work also provides the probability theory with a more widely applied perspective in group decision-making.展开更多
The numerical characteristics of fuzzy numbers include the optimistic value, pessimistic value, expected value, and the variance. We mainly provide the calculation formulae of several numerical characteristics of fuzz...The numerical characteristics of fuzzy numbers include the optimistic value, pessimistic value, expected value, and the variance. We mainly provide the calculation formulae of several numerical characteristics of fuzzy numbers based on credibility measure. Especially, the variance of symmetric fuzzy numbers is formulated, and a super bound for the variance of fuzzy numbers is presented. Meanwhile, some conclusions relative to credibility measure, optimistic and pessimistic values are also given.展开更多
This research provides a survey of literature that contextualizes the research's aim of examining factors impacting students' aspirations and wealth expectations in Lebanon. To highlight Lebanese higher education st...This research provides a survey of literature that contextualizes the research's aim of examining factors impacting students' aspirations and wealth expectations in Lebanon. To highlight Lebanese higher education students' youth's expectations of their future wealth, one should understand the four main factors that affect youth's hopes and aspirations: social, financial, cultural, and educational. Questionnaires are used to identify and assess how young individuals perceive their future wealth expectations. The developed surveys provide useful and reliable data to analyze the effects of many factors on wealth expectations and outcomes for youth. The collected information is of particular importance for identifying and assessing how factors shape wealth expectations and outcomes for youth. The samples used in this research analysis are restricted to college students only. The research findings shed light on the most crucial variables/factors that should be studied and analyzed. Once these factors are pinpointed and explained, a clear idea about higher education students' wealth expectations is formed. Short- and long-term expectations are taken into consideration and evaluated to formulate a basic idea about Lebanese youth.展开更多
Purpose:The present study examined the patterns of children's expectancy beliefs and subjective task values through the Physical Activity as Civil Skill Program and associated links to physical education enjoyment a...Purpose:The present study examined the patterns of children's expectancy beliefs and subjective task values through the Physical Activity as Civil Skill Program and associated links to physical education enjoyment and total physical activity.Methods:The sample comprised 401 children aged 9–13 years from 3 small towns located in North-East Finland.All children received school-based activities across 2-year program from Grades 5 to 7.The present data were collected using questionnaires across 3 measurement phases during 2012–2014.Results:The levels of expectancy beliefs and subjective task values indicated to be relatively high and the development was stable through the program,especially in terms of expectancy beliefs,attainment value,and cost.In contrast,interest value and utility value decreased over the particular period of time.Boys believed they are physically more competent when compared to other students and valued physical education classes more important than girls.In addition,the higher the physical activity level the children reported,the higher the physical education enjoyment they perceived.Conclusion:The current program including actions to increase physical activity through manipulation of psychological and physical school environment modification indicated to be an effective strategy to prohibit declining levels of children's expectancy beliefs and task values.展开更多
As a part of the product development process, the after-sales services are not only a source of innovation, but also they benefit from value creation through new managerial methodologies for the achievement of competi...As a part of the product development process, the after-sales services are not only a source of innovation, but also they benefit from value creation through new managerial methodologies for the achievement of competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. The objective of the paper is to further understand value creation for the after-sales services. We present the case of the creation of a new business for the after-sales services for the entrance into a new market. The new business is created by two gurus in the aerospace industry. A typology of guidelines is derived, based on organizational and strategic perspectives, for the after-sales services value creation and the guidelines for the creation of a new business as well as for the entrance of into a new market are presented.展开更多
This paper discusses optimal reinsurance strategy by minimizing insurer's risk under one general risk measure:Distortion risk measure.The authors assume that the reinsurance premium is determined by the expected v...This paper discusses optimal reinsurance strategy by minimizing insurer's risk under one general risk measure:Distortion risk measure.The authors assume that the reinsurance premium is determined by the expected value premium principle and the retained loss of the insurer is an increasing function of the initial loss.An explicit solution of the insurer's optimal reinsurance problem is obtained.The optimal strategies for some special distortion risk measures,such as value-at-risk(VaR) and tail value-at-risk(TVaR),are also investigated.展开更多
This paper studies the transient departure process of M^x/G/1 queueing system with single server vacation. We present a simple probability decomposition method to derive the expected number of departures occurring in ...This paper studies the transient departure process of M^x/G/1 queueing system with single server vacation. We present a simple probability decomposition method to derive the expected number of departures occurring in finite time interval from any initial state and the asymptotic expansion of the expected number. Especially, we derive some more practical results for some special cases.展开更多
This paper studies the impact of the reference point on a hedger's decision based upon prospect theory and experimental evidence on how prior outcomes affect risky choice. The authors show that in the futures market,...This paper studies the impact of the reference point on a hedger's decision based upon prospect theory and experimental evidence on how prior outcomes affect risky choice. The authors show that in the futures market, a hedger who does not adjust his reference point timely would increase his positions continually as his accumulated losses increase, and finally become a speculator. Numerical simulation results under the normal distribution also lend support to the results. The model can help explain why the hedging behavior of firms turns into speculative activities and can offer some new insights into hedging behavior.展开更多
We first present, by using exclusivity principle, a brief proof of the complementarity principle: the sum of squared expectation values of dichotomic (5:1) mutually complementary observables can not be greater tha...We first present, by using exclusivity principle, a brief proof of the complementarity principle: the sum of squared expectation values of dichotomic (5:1) mutually complementary observables can not be greater than 1. Then we prove that the complementarity principle yields tight quantum bounds of violations of N-qubit Svetlichny's inequalities. This result not only demonstrates that exclusivity principle can give tight quantum bound for certain type of genuine multipartite correlations, but also illustrates the subtle relationship between quantum complementarity and quantum genuine multipartite correlations.展开更多
In the present work, we develop a method to derive the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron. From Dirac equation, the relationships among the expectation values of the Pryce's mass-center operator, the positi...In the present work, we develop a method to derive the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron. From Dirac equation, the relationships among the expectation values of the Pryce's mass-center operator, the position operator, the spin operator and the canonical momentum operator are investigated. By requiring that the center of mass for a classical spinning electron is related to the expectation value of Pryce's mass-center operator, one can obtain a classical expression for the position of the electron.With the classical equations of motion, the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron can be easily obtained. It is shown that two factors contribute to the anomalous velocity: one is dependent on the selection of Pryce's mass-center operators and the other is a type-independent velocity expressed by the rotational velocity and the Lorentz force.展开更多
We show that Bogoliubov's quasiparticle in superfluid 3He-B undergoes the Zitterbewegung, as a free relativistic Dirac's electron does. The expectation value of position, as well as spin, of the quasiparticle is obt...We show that Bogoliubov's quasiparticle in superfluid 3He-B undergoes the Zitterbewegung, as a free relativistic Dirac's electron does. The expectation value of position, as well as spin, of the quasiparticle is obtained and compared with that of the Dirac's electron, In particular, the Zitterbewegung of Bogoliubov's quasiparticle has a frequency approximately 105 lower than that of an electron, rendering a more promising experimented observation.展开更多
文摘Fly ash has congregated considerable attention as a potential reinforcement for aluminum matrix composites(AMCs)to enhance selective properties and reduce the cost of fabrication.However,poor machinability of such AMCs limits their application.The present study focuses on the preparation of cenosphere fly ash reinforced Al6061alloys by compo casting method.X-ray diffraction analysis of the prepared AMCs exposes the presence of cenosphere particles without any formation of other intermetallic compounds.In this study,electrical discharge machining(EDM)was engaged to examine the machinability of the prepared metal matrix composite(MMCs).The measured performance characteristics for the various combinations of input process parameters were considered to be MRR,EWR and SR.Face centered central composite design(CCD)of response surface method(RSM)was employed to design the number of experimental trials required and a hybrid approach of grey-based response surface methodology(GRSM)was imposed for predicting the optimal combination of processing parameter in EDM process.Generous improvement was observed in the performance characteristics obtained by employing both the optimal setting of machining parameters.The optical3D surface profile graphs of the ED machined surface also revealed the improvement in surface quality and texture employing the optimal processing conditions proposed by hybrid GRSM approach.
基金Project supported in part by Foundation for Science and Technology(FCT) (No.SFRD/BD/5987/2001)the Operational ProgramScience,Technology,and Innovation of the FCT,co-financed by theEuropean Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
文摘In standard interval mapping (IM) of quantitative trait loci (QTL), the QTL effect is described by a normal mixture model. When this assumption of normality is violated, the most commonly adopted strategy is to use the previous model after data transformation. However, an appropriate transformation may not exist or may be difficult to find. Also this approach can raise interpretation issues. An interesting alternative is to consider a skew-normal mixture model in standard IM, and the resulting method is here denoted as skew-normal IM. This flexible model that includes the usual symmetric normal distribution as a special case is important, allowing continuous variation from normality to non-normality. In this paper we briefly introduce the main peculiarities of the skew-normal distribution. The maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of the skew-normal distribution are obtained by the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. The proposed model is illustrated with real data from an intercross experiment that shows a significant departure from the normality assumption. The performance of the skew-normal IM is assessed via stochastic simulation. The results indicate that the skew-normal IM has higher power for QTL detection and better precision of QTL location as compared to standard IM and nonparametric IM.
基金Under the auspices of Forestry Nonprofit Industry Scientific Research Special Project(No.201204201)National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China(No.2011BAJ07B05)
文摘Ecosystem services valuation seeks to increase the social relevance of ecosystem characteristics, the underlying biological mechanisms that support services, by making the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being explicit. Economic valuation can help management by clarifying the full range of benefits and costs of proposed management actions. In the past two decades, economic valuation of wetland ecosystem services has become one of the most significant scientific priorities for wetland protection. In this paper, we provide an overview of ecosystem services, and summarize the main interdisciplinary approaches to measure and value wetland ecosystem services. We identified four main methodological gaps preventing progress on wetland valuation of ecosystem services in China, which are: 1) confusion on terminology like intermediate and final ecosystem services, 2) lack of ecological production functions to link ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services, 3) static valuation making it difficult to evaluate the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services, and 4) lack of clear guidance on relating ecological compensation programs to conservation targets. Overcoming these gaps is important to inform wetland compensation mechanisms and conservation policies. We propose future research on wetland ecosystem services in China should be focused on: 1) defining final ecosystem services based on beneficiary preferences and underlying biophysical mechanisms, 2) establishing wetland monitoring programs at specific sites to collect data on final ecosystem service indicators and ecosystem characteristic metrics to create ecological production functions for economic valuation and rescaling techniques, and 3) incorporating wetland ecosystem service values into decision-making processes to inform wetland management.
基金the Scientific Research Foundation of Hunan Education Department (No. 05C185)
文摘A new mathematical expectation formula with some hypotheses, notions and propositions was given to get rid of the challenge of St. Petersburg paradox and Pascal's wager. Relevant results show that it is very effective to apply the model to solve the expected revenue problems containing random events with low proba-bility but high revenue. This work also provides the probability theory with a more widely applied perspective in group decision-making.
文摘The numerical characteristics of fuzzy numbers include the optimistic value, pessimistic value, expected value, and the variance. We mainly provide the calculation formulae of several numerical characteristics of fuzzy numbers based on credibility measure. Especially, the variance of symmetric fuzzy numbers is formulated, and a super bound for the variance of fuzzy numbers is presented. Meanwhile, some conclusions relative to credibility measure, optimistic and pessimistic values are also given.
文摘This research provides a survey of literature that contextualizes the research's aim of examining factors impacting students' aspirations and wealth expectations in Lebanon. To highlight Lebanese higher education students' youth's expectations of their future wealth, one should understand the four main factors that affect youth's hopes and aspirations: social, financial, cultural, and educational. Questionnaires are used to identify and assess how young individuals perceive their future wealth expectations. The developed surveys provide useful and reliable data to analyze the effects of many factors on wealth expectations and outcomes for youth. The collected information is of particular importance for identifying and assessing how factors shape wealth expectations and outcomes for youth. The samples used in this research analysis are restricted to college students only. The research findings shed light on the most crucial variables/factors that should be studied and analyzed. Once these factors are pinpointed and explained, a clear idea about higher education students' wealth expectations is formed. Short- and long-term expectations are taken into consideration and evaluated to formulate a basic idea about Lebanese youth.
基金funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture,Finland(OKM/14/626/2013)
文摘Purpose:The present study examined the patterns of children's expectancy beliefs and subjective task values through the Physical Activity as Civil Skill Program and associated links to physical education enjoyment and total physical activity.Methods:The sample comprised 401 children aged 9–13 years from 3 small towns located in North-East Finland.All children received school-based activities across 2-year program from Grades 5 to 7.The present data were collected using questionnaires across 3 measurement phases during 2012–2014.Results:The levels of expectancy beliefs and subjective task values indicated to be relatively high and the development was stable through the program,especially in terms of expectancy beliefs,attainment value,and cost.In contrast,interest value and utility value decreased over the particular period of time.Boys believed they are physically more competent when compared to other students and valued physical education classes more important than girls.In addition,the higher the physical activity level the children reported,the higher the physical education enjoyment they perceived.Conclusion:The current program including actions to increase physical activity through manipulation of psychological and physical school environment modification indicated to be an effective strategy to prohibit declining levels of children's expectancy beliefs and task values.
文摘As a part of the product development process, the after-sales services are not only a source of innovation, but also they benefit from value creation through new managerial methodologies for the achievement of competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. The objective of the paper is to further understand value creation for the after-sales services. We present the case of the creation of a new business for the after-sales services for the entrance into a new market. The new business is created by two gurus in the aerospace industry. A typology of guidelines is derived, based on organizational and strategic perspectives, for the after-sales services value creation and the guidelines for the creation of a new business as well as for the entrance of into a new market are presented.
基金Zheng's research was supported by the Program of National Natural Science Foundation of Youth of China under Grant No.11201012 and PHR201007125Yang's research was supported by the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.11131002the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.11271033
文摘This paper discusses optimal reinsurance strategy by minimizing insurer's risk under one general risk measure:Distortion risk measure.The authors assume that the reinsurance premium is determined by the expected value premium principle and the retained loss of the insurer is an increasing function of the initial loss.An explicit solution of the insurer's optimal reinsurance problem is obtained.The optimal strategies for some special distortion risk measures,such as value-at-risk(VaR) and tail value-at-risk(TVaR),are also investigated.
基金This research is supported by Natural Science Foundation of the Education Department of Sichuan Province ([2006]A067) and the Talent Introduction Foundation of Sichuan Normal University. Acknowledgments The author thanks referees for their many helpful comments and suggestions for the improvement of this paper.
文摘This paper studies the transient departure process of M^x/G/1 queueing system with single server vacation. We present a simple probability decomposition method to derive the expected number of departures occurring in finite time interval from any initial state and the asymptotic expansion of the expected number. Especially, we derive some more practical results for some special cases.
基金This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation under Grant No.70221001
文摘This paper studies the impact of the reference point on a hedger's decision based upon prospect theory and experimental evidence on how prior outcomes affect risky choice. The authors show that in the futures market, a hedger who does not adjust his reference point timely would increase his positions continually as his accumulated losses increase, and finally become a speculator. Numerical simulation results under the normal distribution also lend support to the results. The model can help explain why the hedging behavior of firms turns into speculative activities and can offer some new insights into hedging behavior.
文摘We first present, by using exclusivity principle, a brief proof of the complementarity principle: the sum of squared expectation values of dichotomic (5:1) mutually complementary observables can not be greater than 1. Then we prove that the complementarity principle yields tight quantum bounds of violations of N-qubit Svetlichny's inequalities. This result not only demonstrates that exclusivity principle can give tight quantum bound for certain type of genuine multipartite correlations, but also illustrates the subtle relationship between quantum complementarity and quantum genuine multipartite correlations.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11405136, and 11747311)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2682016CX059)
文摘In the present work, we develop a method to derive the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron. From Dirac equation, the relationships among the expectation values of the Pryce's mass-center operator, the position operator, the spin operator and the canonical momentum operator are investigated. By requiring that the center of mass for a classical spinning electron is related to the expectation value of Pryce's mass-center operator, one can obtain a classical expression for the position of the electron.With the classical equations of motion, the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron can be easily obtained. It is shown that two factors contribute to the anomalous velocity: one is dependent on the selection of Pryce's mass-center operators and the other is a type-independent velocity expressed by the rotational velocity and the Lorentz force.
基金supported by NSF of China under Grant No.11105097supported by National Basic Research Program(973 Program) of China under Grant No.2012CB921900+1 种基金NSF of China under Grant Nos.11175089 and 11475089partly supported by National Research Foundation and Ministry of Education,Singapore
文摘We show that Bogoliubov's quasiparticle in superfluid 3He-B undergoes the Zitterbewegung, as a free relativistic Dirac's electron does. The expectation value of position, as well as spin, of the quasiparticle is obtained and compared with that of the Dirac's electron, In particular, the Zitterbewegung of Bogoliubov's quasiparticle has a frequency approximately 105 lower than that of an electron, rendering a more promising experimented observation.