The selection and scaling of ground motion records is considered a primary and essential task in performing structural analysis and design.Conventional methods involve using ground motion models and a conditional spec...The selection and scaling of ground motion records is considered a primary and essential task in performing structural analysis and design.Conventional methods involve using ground motion models and a conditional spectrum to select ground motion records based on the target spectrum.This research demonstrates the influence of adopting different weighted factors for various period ranges during matching selected ground motions with the target hazard spectrum.The event data from the Next Generation Attenuation West 2(NGA-West 2)database is used as the basis for ground motion selection,and hazard de-aggregation is conducted to estimate the event parameters of interest,which are then used to construct the target intensity measure(IM).The target IMs are then used to select ground motion records with different weighted vector-valued objective functions.The weights are altered to account for the relative importance of IM in accordance with the structural analysis application of steel moment resisting frame(SMRF)buildings.Instead of an ordinary objective function for the matching spectrum,a novel model is introduced and compared with the conventional cost function.The results indicate that when applying the new cost function for ground motion selection,it places higher demands on structures compared to the conventional cost function.Moreover,submitting more weights to the first-mode period of structures increases engineering demand parameters.Findings demonstrate that weight factors allocated to different period ranges can successfully account for period elongation and higher mode effects.展开更多
In this paper, we define the Weibull kernel and use it to nonparametric estimation of the probability density function (pdf) and the hazard rate function for independent and identically distributed (iid) data. The bia...In this paper, we define the Weibull kernel and use it to nonparametric estimation of the probability density function (pdf) and the hazard rate function for independent and identically distributed (iid) data. The bias, variance and the optimal bandwidth of the proposed estimator are investigated. Moreover, the asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator is investigated. The performance of the proposed estimator is tested using simulation study and real data.展开更多
A mature mathematical technique called copula joint function is introduced in this paper, which is commonly used in the financial risk analysis to estimate uncertainty. The joint function is generalized to the n-dimen...A mature mathematical technique called copula joint function is introduced in this paper, which is commonly used in the financial risk analysis to estimate uncertainty. The joint function is generalized to the n-dimensional Frank’s copula. In addition, we adopt two attenuation models proposed by YU and Boore et al, respectively, and construct a two-dimensional copula joint probabilistic function as an example to illustrate the uncertainty treatment at low probability. The results show that copula joint function gives us a better prediction of peak ground motion than that resultant from the simple linear weight technique which is commonly used in the traditional logic-tree treatment of model uncertainties. In light of widespread application in the risk analysis from financial investment to insurance assessment, we believe that the copula-based technique will have a potential application in the seismic hazard analysis.展开更多
Some equivalent conditions on the classes of lighted-tailed and heavily heavy-tailed and lightly heavy-tailed d.f.s are introduced.The limit behavior of xα(x) and e λx(x) are discussed.Some properties of the subcla...Some equivalent conditions on the classes of lighted-tailed and heavily heavy-tailed and lightly heavy-tailed d.f.s are introduced.The limit behavior of xα(x) and e λx(x) are discussed.Some properties of the subclass DKc and subclass DK 1 are obtained.展开更多
In this paper,we propose an iterative algorithm to find the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem under moral hazard where the number of agent action profiles is infinite,and where there are an i...In this paper,we propose an iterative algorithm to find the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem under moral hazard where the number of agent action profiles is infinite,and where there are an infinite number of results that can be observed by the principal.This principal-agent problem has an infinite number of incentive-compatibility constraints,and we transform it into an optimization problem with an infinite number of constraints called a semi-infinite programming problem.We then propose an exterior penalty function method to find the optimal solution to this semi-infinite programming and illustrate the convergence of this algorithm.By analyzing the optimal solution obtained by the proposed penalty function method,we can obtain the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem with an infinite number of incentive-compatibility constraints under moral hazard.展开更多
Background: Occupational health is an important consideration, especially for people that work in an environment with pollutants. Gasoline attendants are individuals that work in filling stations. They are constantly ...Background: Occupational health is an important consideration, especially for people that work in an environment with pollutants. Gasoline attendants are individuals that work in filling stations. They are constantly exposed to gasoline fumes and automobile engine products from vehicle exhaust. This increases the risk of acute and chronic respiratory diseases and carcinogenesis among them. The risk of health complications tends to increase with the duration of exposure. The study aimed to determine the proportion of gasoline attendants with lung function impairment. Methods and Materials: Two hundred and eight eligible participants were recruited for this study. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in Esan West local government area of Edo state, Nigeria. The study was carried out for a period of six months from December 2015 to May 2016. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics, work history, mode of exposure and duration of exposure to petrol fumes. Lung function was assessed using a DTspiro spirometer (Model POP 10. Serial no 110843-005);also the anthropometric parameters of the respondent were measured. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Frequency and percentages were used to present categorical data. The mean and standard deviation of continuous variables were calculated and compared using the student’s t-test. The criteria of significant association were assumed for a p-value less than 0.05. Results: A total of one hundred and forty petrol pump attendants and one hundred and forty controls participated in this study. The mean age for petrol pump attendants was 24 ± 3.1 years and 23 ± 2.8 years for the control group. There were no significant differences in the gender distribution and anthropometric parameters as observed in this study. The lung impairment pattern observed in this study was obstructive in twelve (8.6%) gasoline pump attendants and restrictive pattern in thirty-nine (27.9%) gasoline pump attendants, while only four (2.9%) had an obstructive pattern and twelve (8.6%) had a restrictive pattern of lung impairment among the control group. This implies that a restrictive pattern was predominant. This study also observed that there was an increase in the number of gasoline pump attendants with declined lung function compared to the control group. Conclusion: Restrictive pattern of lung impairment was more predominant than the obstructive pattern among gasoline pump attendants. As a result, public health interventions should be instituted among these individuals, especially in developing countries.展开更多
Background: Occupational health is an important consideration, especially for people that work in an environment with pollutants. Gasoline attendants are individuals that work in filling stations. They are constantly ...Background: Occupational health is an important consideration, especially for people that work in an environment with pollutants. Gasoline attendants are individuals that work in filling stations. They are constantly exposed to gasoline fumes and automobile engine products from vehicle exhaust. This increases the risk of acute and chronic respiratory diseases and carcinogenesis among them. The risk of health complications tends to increase with the duration of exposure. The study aimed to determine the proportion of gasoline attendants with lung function impairment. Methods and Materials: Two hundred and eight eligible participants were recruited for this study. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in Esan West local government area of Edo state, Nigeria. The study was carried out for a period of six months from December 2015 to May 2016. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics, work history, mode of exposure and duration of exposure to petrol fumes. Lung function was assessed using a DTspiro spirometer (Model POP 10. Serial no 110843-005);also the anthropometric parameters of the respondent were measured. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Frequency and percentages were used to present categorical data. The mean and standard deviation of continuous variables were calculated and compared using the student’s t-test. The criteria of significant association were assumed for a p-value less than 0.05. Results: A total of one hundred and forty petrol pump attendants and one hundred and forty controls participated in this study. The mean age for petrol pump attendants was 24 ± 3.1 years and 23 ± 2.8 years for the control group. There were no significant differences in the gender distribution and anthropometric parameters as observed in this study. The lung impairment pattern observed in this study was obstructive in twelve (8.6%) gasoline pump attendants and restrictive pattern in thirty-nine (27.9%) gasoline pump attendants, while only four (2.9%) had an obstructive pattern and twelve (8.6%) had a restrictive pattern of lung impairment among the control group. This implies that a restrictive pattern was predominant. This study also observed that there was an increase in the number of gasoline pump attendants with declined lung function compared to the control group. Conclusion: Restrictive pattern of lung impairment was more predominant than the obstructive pattern among gasoline pump attendants. As a result, public health interventions should be instituted among these individuals, especially in developing countries.展开更多
In order to evaluate the reliability of long-lifetime products with degradation data, a new proportional hazard degradation model is proposed. By the similarity between time-degradation data and stress-accelerated lif...In order to evaluate the reliability of long-lifetime products with degradation data, a new proportional hazard degradation model is proposed. By the similarity between time-degradation data and stress-accelerated lifetime, and the failure rate function of degradation data which is assumed to be proportional to the time covariate, the reliability assessment based on a proportional hazard degradation model is realized. The least squares method is used to estimate the model＇s parameters. Based on the failure rate of the degradation data and the proportion function of the known time, the failure rate and the reliability function under the given time and the predetermined failure threshold can be extrapolated. A long life GaAs laser is selected as a case study and its reliability is evaluated. The results show that the proposed method can accurately describe the degradation process and it is effective for the reliability assessment of long lifetime products.展开更多
This study proposes a new flexible family of distributions called the Lambert-G family.The Lambert family is very flexible and exhibits desirable properties.Its three-parameter special sub-models provide all significa...This study proposes a new flexible family of distributions called the Lambert-G family.The Lambert family is very flexible and exhibits desirable properties.Its three-parameter special sub-models provide all significantmonotonic and non-monotonic failure rates.A special sub-model of the Lambert family called the Lambert-Lomax(LL)distribution is investigated.General expressions for the LL statistical properties are established.Characterizations of the LL distribution are addressed mathematically based on its hazard function.The estimation of the LL parameters is discussed using six estimation methods.The performance of this estimation method is explored through simulation experiments.The usefulness and flexibility of the LL distribution are demonstrated empirically using two real-life data sets.The LL model better fits the exponentiated Lomax,inverse power Lomax,Lomax-Rayleigh,power Lomax,and Lomax distributions.展开更多
随着科学技术的不断发展,危险品实验室的安全问题日益引起人们的关注。为了提高实验室的安全性,基于射频识别(Radio Frequency Identification,RFID)技术和紫蜂协议(ZigBee)技术设计了一种危险品实验室安全监测系统,以提高实验室的安全...随着科学技术的不断发展,危险品实验室的安全问题日益引起人们的关注。为了提高实验室的安全性,基于射频识别(Radio Frequency Identification,RFID)技术和紫蜂协议(ZigBee)技术设计了一种危险品实验室安全监测系统,以提高实验室的安全性和管理效率。该系统通过RFID标签对实验室内的危险品进行追踪和管理,利用ZigBee技术实现实时的监测和报警功能。展开更多
基金financial support from Teesside University to support the Ph.D. program of the first author.
文摘The selection and scaling of ground motion records is considered a primary and essential task in performing structural analysis and design.Conventional methods involve using ground motion models and a conditional spectrum to select ground motion records based on the target spectrum.This research demonstrates the influence of adopting different weighted factors for various period ranges during matching selected ground motions with the target hazard spectrum.The event data from the Next Generation Attenuation West 2(NGA-West 2)database is used as the basis for ground motion selection,and hazard de-aggregation is conducted to estimate the event parameters of interest,which are then used to construct the target intensity measure(IM).The target IMs are then used to select ground motion records with different weighted vector-valued objective functions.The weights are altered to account for the relative importance of IM in accordance with the structural analysis application of steel moment resisting frame(SMRF)buildings.Instead of an ordinary objective function for the matching spectrum,a novel model is introduced and compared with the conventional cost function.The results indicate that when applying the new cost function for ground motion selection,it places higher demands on structures compared to the conventional cost function.Moreover,submitting more weights to the first-mode period of structures increases engineering demand parameters.Findings demonstrate that weight factors allocated to different period ranges can successfully account for period elongation and higher mode effects.
文摘In this paper, we define the Weibull kernel and use it to nonparametric estimation of the probability density function (pdf) and the hazard rate function for independent and identically distributed (iid) data. The bias, variance and the optimal bandwidth of the proposed estimator are investigated. Moreover, the asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator is investigated. The performance of the proposed estimator is tested using simulation study and real data.
基金Project of Institute of Crustal Dynamics, China Earthquake Administration (ZDJ2007-1)One Hundred Individual Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (99M2009M02) National Natural Science Foundation of China (40574022)
文摘A mature mathematical technique called copula joint function is introduced in this paper, which is commonly used in the financial risk analysis to estimate uncertainty. The joint function is generalized to the n-dimensional Frank’s copula. In addition, we adopt two attenuation models proposed by YU and Boore et al, respectively, and construct a two-dimensional copula joint probabilistic function as an example to illustrate the uncertainty treatment at low probability. The results show that copula joint function gives us a better prediction of peak ground motion than that resultant from the simple linear weight technique which is commonly used in the traditional logic-tree treatment of model uncertainties. In light of widespread application in the risk analysis from financial investment to insurance assessment, we believe that the copula-based technique will have a potential application in the seismic hazard analysis.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China( 1 0 2 71 0 87)
文摘Some equivalent conditions on the classes of lighted-tailed and heavily heavy-tailed and lightly heavy-tailed d.f.s are introduced.The limit behavior of xα(x) and e λx(x) are discussed.Some properties of the subclass DKc and subclass DK 1 are obtained.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(72031009 and 71871171)the National Social Science Foundation of China(20&ZD058).
文摘In this paper,we propose an iterative algorithm to find the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem under moral hazard where the number of agent action profiles is infinite,and where there are an infinite number of results that can be observed by the principal.This principal-agent problem has an infinite number of incentive-compatibility constraints,and we transform it into an optimization problem with an infinite number of constraints called a semi-infinite programming problem.We then propose an exterior penalty function method to find the optimal solution to this semi-infinite programming and illustrate the convergence of this algorithm.By analyzing the optimal solution obtained by the proposed penalty function method,we can obtain the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem with an infinite number of incentive-compatibility constraints under moral hazard.
文摘Background: Occupational health is an important consideration, especially for people that work in an environment with pollutants. Gasoline attendants are individuals that work in filling stations. They are constantly exposed to gasoline fumes and automobile engine products from vehicle exhaust. This increases the risk of acute and chronic respiratory diseases and carcinogenesis among them. The risk of health complications tends to increase with the duration of exposure. The study aimed to determine the proportion of gasoline attendants with lung function impairment. Methods and Materials: Two hundred and eight eligible participants were recruited for this study. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in Esan West local government area of Edo state, Nigeria. The study was carried out for a period of six months from December 2015 to May 2016. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics, work history, mode of exposure and duration of exposure to petrol fumes. Lung function was assessed using a DTspiro spirometer (Model POP 10. Serial no 110843-005);also the anthropometric parameters of the respondent were measured. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Frequency and percentages were used to present categorical data. The mean and standard deviation of continuous variables were calculated and compared using the student’s t-test. The criteria of significant association were assumed for a p-value less than 0.05. Results: A total of one hundred and forty petrol pump attendants and one hundred and forty controls participated in this study. The mean age for petrol pump attendants was 24 ± 3.1 years and 23 ± 2.8 years for the control group. There were no significant differences in the gender distribution and anthropometric parameters as observed in this study. The lung impairment pattern observed in this study was obstructive in twelve (8.6%) gasoline pump attendants and restrictive pattern in thirty-nine (27.9%) gasoline pump attendants, while only four (2.9%) had an obstructive pattern and twelve (8.6%) had a restrictive pattern of lung impairment among the control group. This implies that a restrictive pattern was predominant. This study also observed that there was an increase in the number of gasoline pump attendants with declined lung function compared to the control group. Conclusion: Restrictive pattern of lung impairment was more predominant than the obstructive pattern among gasoline pump attendants. As a result, public health interventions should be instituted among these individuals, especially in developing countries.
文摘Background: Occupational health is an important consideration, especially for people that work in an environment with pollutants. Gasoline attendants are individuals that work in filling stations. They are constantly exposed to gasoline fumes and automobile engine products from vehicle exhaust. This increases the risk of acute and chronic respiratory diseases and carcinogenesis among them. The risk of health complications tends to increase with the duration of exposure. The study aimed to determine the proportion of gasoline attendants with lung function impairment. Methods and Materials: Two hundred and eight eligible participants were recruited for this study. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in Esan West local government area of Edo state, Nigeria. The study was carried out for a period of six months from December 2015 to May 2016. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics, work history, mode of exposure and duration of exposure to petrol fumes. Lung function was assessed using a DTspiro spirometer (Model POP 10. Serial no 110843-005);also the anthropometric parameters of the respondent were measured. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Frequency and percentages were used to present categorical data. The mean and standard deviation of continuous variables were calculated and compared using the student’s t-test. The criteria of significant association were assumed for a p-value less than 0.05. Results: A total of one hundred and forty petrol pump attendants and one hundred and forty controls participated in this study. The mean age for petrol pump attendants was 24 ± 3.1 years and 23 ± 2.8 years for the control group. There were no significant differences in the gender distribution and anthropometric parameters as observed in this study. The lung impairment pattern observed in this study was obstructive in twelve (8.6%) gasoline pump attendants and restrictive pattern in thirty-nine (27.9%) gasoline pump attendants, while only four (2.9%) had an obstructive pattern and twelve (8.6%) had a restrictive pattern of lung impairment among the control group. This implies that a restrictive pattern was predominant. This study also observed that there was an increase in the number of gasoline pump attendants with declined lung function compared to the control group. Conclusion: Restrictive pattern of lung impairment was more predominant than the obstructive pattern among gasoline pump attendants. As a result, public health interventions should be instituted among these individuals, especially in developing countries.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.50405021)
文摘In order to evaluate the reliability of long-lifetime products with degradation data, a new proportional hazard degradation model is proposed. By the similarity between time-degradation data and stress-accelerated lifetime, and the failure rate function of degradation data which is assumed to be proportional to the time covariate, the reliability assessment based on a proportional hazard degradation model is realized. The least squares method is used to estimate the model＇s parameters. Based on the failure rate of the degradation data and the proportion function of the known time, the failure rate and the reliability function under the given time and the predetermined failure threshold can be extrapolated. A long life GaAs laser is selected as a case study and its reliability is evaluated. The results show that the proposed method can accurately describe the degradation process and it is effective for the reliability assessment of long lifetime products.
文摘This study proposes a new flexible family of distributions called the Lambert-G family.The Lambert family is very flexible and exhibits desirable properties.Its three-parameter special sub-models provide all significantmonotonic and non-monotonic failure rates.A special sub-model of the Lambert family called the Lambert-Lomax(LL)distribution is investigated.General expressions for the LL statistical properties are established.Characterizations of the LL distribution are addressed mathematically based on its hazard function.The estimation of the LL parameters is discussed using six estimation methods.The performance of this estimation method is explored through simulation experiments.The usefulness and flexibility of the LL distribution are demonstrated empirically using two real-life data sets.The LL model better fits the exponentiated Lomax,inverse power Lomax,Lomax-Rayleigh,power Lomax,and Lomax distributions.
文摘随着科学技术的不断发展,危险品实验室的安全问题日益引起人们的关注。为了提高实验室的安全性,基于射频识别(Radio Frequency Identification,RFID)技术和紫蜂协议(ZigBee)技术设计了一种危险品实验室安全监测系统,以提高实验室的安全性和管理效率。该系统通过RFID标签对实验室内的危险品进行追踪和管理,利用ZigBee技术实现实时的监测和报警功能。
