Influence of lead tetraethyl on the growth of Funaria hygrometrica L. and Marchantia polymorpha L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Krupińska

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The influence of various lead tetraethyl concentrations (mixture added to petrol as antiknock agent on the growth and development of Funaria hygrometrica L. spores and of Marchantia polymorpha L. gemmulae was investigated. An inhibitory effect of the concentration applied was noted on germination and growth of spores and gemmulae development. Lead tetraethyl produces disturbances In the development of these plants, gradual degeneration of chloroplasts occurs and inhibition of growth leading to profusely branched "dwarf" forms. The disturbances are largely reversible.

Knock-Limited Power Outputs from a CFR Engine Using Internal Coolants. 3; Four Alkyl Amines, Three Alkanolamines, Six Amides, and Eight Heterocyclic Compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Imming, Harry S.; Bellman, Donald R.

1947-01-01

An investigation of the antiknock effectiveness of various additive-water solutions when used as internal coolants has been conducted at the NACA Cleveland laboratory. Nine compounds have been previously run in a CFR engine and the results are presented. In an effort to find a good anti-knock-coolant additive with more desirable physical properties than those of the nine compounds previously investigated, water solutions of four alkyl amines, three alkanolamines, six amides, and eight heterocyclic compounds were investigated and the results are presented.

Ultratrace analysis for organolead compounds in Greenland snow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lobinski, R.; Szpunar-Lobinska, J.; Adams, F.C.

1994-01-01

The degradation products of tetraalkyllead compounds used as antiknock additives are unique indicators of automotive environmental pollution by lead. Recent dramatic improvements in species-specific ultrasensitive analytical procedures enabled the identification and quantification of organolead compounds in ancient Greenland snow which is considered as the archives of northern hemispheric pollution records. Organolead species determined in fresh and ancient polar snow demonstrate unambiguously the global range of petrol-related pollution not only with ionic Pb 2+ but also with more toxic metalloorganic compounds. (authors). 9 refs., 5 figs

Degradation of tetraethyllead in leaded gasoline contaminated and uncontaminated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ou, L.; Jing, W.; Thomas, J.; Mulroy, P.

1995-01-01

For over 50 years, since its introduction in 1923 by General Motors, tetraethyllead (TEL) was the major antiknock agent used in leaded gasoline. Since the middle of 1970, use of leaded gasoline in automobiles was gradually phased out. The main objective of this study is to determine the degradation rates and metabolites of TEL in gasoline contaminated and uncontaminated soils. TEL in uncontaminated soils disappeared rapidly. Ionic triethyllead (TREL) was the major organolead metabolite in these soils, with ionic diethyllead (DEL) being the minor product. Nonsterile soils, but not autoclaved soils, had limited capacity to mineralize 14 C-TEL to 14 CO 2 , H 2 0, and Pb 2+ . Unlike TEL in uncontaminated soils, petroleum hydrocarbons protected TEL in leaded gasoline contaminated soils from being degraded. Both disappearance and mineralization rates of TEL in leaded gasoline contaminated soils decreased with the increase in gasoline concentration. It appears that TEL in leaded gasoline contaminated soils is relatively stable until the level of petroleum hydrocarbons falls below a critical value. TEL is then rapidly degraded. Hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms may be involved, to some extent, in the degradation of TEL

Autoignition characteristics of oxygenated gasolines

KAUST Repository

Lee, Changyoul

2017-08-14

Gasoline anti-knock quality, defined by the research and motor octane numbers (RON and MON), is important for increasing spark ignition (SI) engine efficiency. Gasoline knock resistance can be increased using a number of blending components. For over two decades, ethanol has become a popular anti-knock blending agent with gasoline fuels due to its production from bio-derived resources. This work explores the oxidation behavior of two oxygenated certification gasoline fuels and the variation of fuel reactivity with molecular composition. Ignition delay times of Haltermann (RON = 91) and Coryton (RON = 97.5) gasolines have been measured in a high-pressure shock tube and in a rapid compression machine at three pressures of 10, 20 and 40 bar, at equivalence ratios of φ = 0.45, 0.9 and 1.8, and in the temperature range of 650–1250 K. The results indicate that the effects of fuel octane number and fuel composition on ignition characteristics are strongest in the intermediate temperature (negative temperature coefficient) region. To simulate the reactivity of these gasolines, three kinds of surrogates, consisting of three, four and eight components, are proposed and compared with the gasoline ignition delay times. It is shown that more complex surrogate mixtures are needed to emulate the reactivity of gasoline with higher octane sensitivity (S = RON–MON). Detailed kinetic analyses are performed to illustrate the dependence of gasoline ignition delay times on fuel composition and, in particular, on ethanol content.

Catalytic agents; motor fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1935-09-16

The anti-knock qualities of benzines are improved by passing them in the vapor phase and at temperatures below which cracking takes place over catalysts comprising phosphates. A Mexican straight run gasoline (octane no. 55) is passed at 450/sup 0/C over granular boron phosphate. A product having an octane number of 62.5 is obtained without loss due to formation of gases. The boron phosphate was prepared by heating on a steam bath orthophosphoric acid and boric acid in the ratio corresponding to the compound BPO/sub 4/.

Impact of fuel molecular structure on auto-ignition behavior – Design rules for future high performance gasolines

KAUST Repository

Boot, Michael D.

2016-12-29

At a first glance, ethanol, toluene and methyl tert-butyl ether look nothing alike with respect to their molecular structures. Nevertheless, all share a similarly high octane number. A comprehensive review of the inner workings of such octane boosters has been long overdue, particularly at a time when feedstocks for transport fuels other than crude oil, such as natural gas and biomass, are enjoying a rapidly growing market share. As high octane fuels sell at a considerable premium over gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, new entrants into the refining business should take note and gear their processes towards knock resistant compounds if they are to maximize their respective bottom lines. Starting from crude oil, the route towards this goal is well established. Starting from biomass or natural gas, however, it is less clear what dots on the horizon to aim for. The goal of this paper is to offer insight into the chemistry behind octane boosters and to subsequently distill from this knowledge, taking into account recent advances in engine technology, multiple generic design rules that guarantee good anti-knock performance. Careful analysis of the literature suggests that highly unsaturated (cyclic) compounds are the preferred octane boosters for modern spark-ignition engines. Additional side chains of any variety will dilute this strong performance. Multi-branched paraffins come in distant second place, owing to their negligible sensitivity. Depending on the type and location of functional oxygen groups, oxygenates can have a beneficial, neutral or detrimental impact on anti-knock quality.

[Effect of lead microparticles introduced into the respiratory system of the sensitivity of mice to Pasteurella multocida infection via aerosol].

Science.gov (United States)

Bouley, G; Dubreuil, A; Arsac, F; Boudène, C

1977-12-19

Lead microparticles, resulting from the pyrolysis of organic lead used as an anti-knock agent in gasoline, were introduced into the lungs of Mice, during a short single exposure. When 6 microgram of lead were retained in the lungs (mean value per Mouse), the phagocytic ability of the pulmonary alveolar macrophages harvested 6 and 18 hrs. later, was significantly reduced. It was observed, in the same conditions, that the resistance of Mice to experimental infection by aerosolized Pasteurella multocida, was significantly reduced. When 3 microgram of lead were retained in the lungs, there was no significant difference between control and intoxicated Mice.

Avaliação de biocombustível derivado do bio-óleo obtido por pirólise rápida de biomassa lignocelulósica como aditivo para gasolina Evaluation of biofuel derived from lignocellulosic biomass fast pyrolysis bio-oil for use as gasoline addictive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Luisa Barbosa Guedes

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A biofuel was prepared from acid aqueous fraction (pH = 2 of bio-oil produced by fast pyrolysis (Bioware Technology of lignocellulosic biomass (sugar cane residue and tested in blends (2, 5, 10 e 20% v/v with gasoline type C (common marketed in Brazil. The specification tests made in the Refinery President Getúlio Vargas (PETROBRAS showed increasing in the octane number (MON and antiknock index (AKI with reduction in the residue generation during the combustion. The physicochemical characteristics of the biofuel were similar that combustible alcohol allowing its use as gasoline additive.

THz wave sensing for petroleum industrial applications

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Douseri, Fatemah M.; Chen, Yunqing; Zhang, X.-C.

2006-04-01

We present the results of terahertz (THz) sensing of gasoline products. The frequency-dependent absorption coefficients, refractive indices, and complex dielectric constants of gasoline and xylene isomers were extracted in the spectral range from 0.5 3.0 THz. The THz spectra of gasoline (#87, #89, #93) and related BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) compounds were studied by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the 1.5 20 THz (50 660 cm-1). The xylene isomers, which are used as antiknock agent in gasoline were determined quantitatively in gasoline in the THz range. Our investigations show the potential of THz technology for the petroleum industrial applications.

Blending Octane Number of Toluene with Gasoline-like and PRF Fuels in HCCI Combustion Mode

KAUST Repository

Waqas, Muhammad Umer

2018-04-03

Future internal combustion engines demand higher efficiency but progression towards this is limited by the phenomenon called knock. A possible solution for reaching high efficiency is Octane-on-Demand (OoD), which allows to customize the antiknock quality of a fuel through blending of high-octane fuel with a low octane fuel. Previous studies on Octane-on-Demand highlighted efficiency benefits depending on the combination of low octane fuel with high octane booster. The author recently published works with ethanol and methanol as high-octane fuels. The results of this work showed that the composition and octane number of the low octane fuel is significant for the blending octane number of both ethanol and methanol. This work focuses on toluene as the high octane fuel (RON 120). Aromatics offers anti-knock quality and with high octane number than alcohols, this work will address if toluene can provide higher octane enhancement. Our aim is to investigate the impact of three gasoline-like fuels and two Primary Reference Fuels (PRFs). More specifically, fuels are FACE (Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines) I, FACE J, FACE A, PRF 70 and PRF 84. A CFR engine was used to conduct the experiments in HCCI mode. For this combustion mode, the engine operated at four specific conditions based on RON and MON conditions. The octane numbers corresponding to four HCCI numbers were obtained for toluene concentration of 0, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20%. Results show that the blending octane number of toluene varies non-linearly and linearly with the increase in toluene concentration depending on the base fuel, experimental conditions and the concentration of toluene. As a result, the blending octane number can range from close to 150 with a small fraction of toluene to a number closer to that of toluene, 120, with larger fractions.

Reforming process. Reformierungsverfahren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCoy, C.S.

1982-05-19

A naphta fraction is subjected to a catalytic reforming process in several series-connected reactors. The first reactor is equipped with a moving catalyst bed containing not more the 30% of volume of the total catalyst amount. The other reactors are designed as packed-bed systems. The content of coke deposited on the catalyst of the first reactor owing to the reforming process is maintained at below 1% of weight. This is effected by periodic removal of a proportion of the contaminated catalyst from the bottom part of the bed, by its regeneration and re-feeding to the top part of the bed. This results in prolonged service life of the catalyst and simultaneous improvement of the anti-knock value of the product.

Lead in Glasgow street dirt and soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farmer, J G [Univ. of Glasgow; Lyon, T D.B.

1977-07-01

The levels of lead in city street dirt and in soil from various locations in Glasgow were investigated during spring 1976. Lead concentrations in street dirt ranged from 150 to 2300 ppM, mean 960 ppM, and were significantly elevated with respect to the observed ''natural'' level of 78 ppM. Lead derived from anti-knock compounds in petrol and introduced to the environment via automobile exhausts was clearly implicated as the main source of lead pollution in a series of soil lead measurements at the centre and periphery of eight Glasgow parks. Various chemical leaching techniques were employed and compared. Less than 5 percent of street dirt and soil lead was found to be associated with the organic phase.

Investigation of an anti-knock index and hydrocarbon emissions of various natural gas blends.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

The North American rail industry is examining the use of natural gas to reduce fuel costs for locomotives that are powered by dual : fuel engines. This report evaluates the ability of an existing methane number algorithm to predict rapid combustion i...

Infrared spectrophotometry, a rapid and effective tool for characterization of direct distillation naphthas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldrich Ferrer, Carlos A; Novoa Mantilla, Luz Angela

2005-01-01

The characterization of naphtha obtained by direct distillation of medium and heavy crude oils is often limited by the low yield of these fractions. Gas chromatography is a technique that allows a complete determination of the chemical composition of this fraction. However, the prediction of properties such as octane rating and RVP from chromatographic data is a difficult task because there are not adequate models to predict the interaction of the different components, and particularly in the case of heavier fractions, there are some problems for the complete separation of components under the gas chromatographic conditions. The IR technology constitutes a rapid and effective tool to predict several properties of naphtha from the correlation of the spectrum in the infrared area and the properties. In this study, prediction models were developed in a Petrospec Cetane 2000 analyzer, in order to predict in a fast and simple way, the density, the antiknock index and the aromatic content of straight run naphtha obtained in a standard crude oil distillation unit. The equipment used was designed in the factory for the exclusive characterization of medium distillation and not for lighter fractions therefore this work constitutes an innovation given the extensive applications of this type of analyzers

Compositional effects on the ignition of FACE gasolines

KAUST Repository

Sarathy, Mani; Kukkadapu, Goutham; Mehl, Marco; Javed, Tamour; Ahmed, Ahfaz; Naser, Nimal; Tekawade, Aniket; Kosiba, Graham; Alabbad, Mohammed; Singh, Eshan; Park, Sungwoo; Rashidi, Mariam Al; Chung, Suk-Ho; Roberts, William L.; Oehlschlaeger, Matthew A.; Sung, Chih-Jen; Farooq, Aamir

2016-01-01

As regulatory measures for improved fuel economy and decreased emissions are pushing gasoline engine combustion technologies towards extreme conditions (i.e., boosted and intercooled intake with exhaust gas recirculation), fuel ignition characteristics become increasingly important for enabling stable operation. This study explores the effects of chemical composition on the fundamental ignition behavior of gasoline fuels. Two well-characterized, high-octane, non-oxygenated FACE (Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines) gasolines, FACE F and FACE G, having similar antiknock indices but different octane sensitivities and chemical compositions are studied. Ignition experiments were conducted in shock tubes and a rapid compression machine (RCM) at nominal pressures of 20 and 40. atm, equivalence ratios of 0.5 and 1.0, and temperatures ranging from 650 to 1270. K. Results at temperatures above 900. K indicate that ignition delay time is similar for these fuels. However, RCM measurements below 900. K demonstrate a stronger negative temperature coefficient behavior for FACE F gasoline having lower octane sensitivity. In addition, RCM pressure profiles under two-stage ignition conditions illustrate that the magnitude of low-temperature heat release (LTHR) increases with decreasing fuel octane sensitivity. However, intermediate-temperature heat release is shown to increase as fuel octane sensitivity increases. Various surrogate fuel mixtures were formulated to conduct chemical kinetic modeling, and complex multicomponent surrogate mixtures were shown to reproduce experimentally observed trends better than simpler two- and three-component mixtures composed of n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene. Measurements in a Cooperative Fuels Research (CFR) engine demonstrated that the multicomponent surrogates accurately captured the antiknock quality of the FACE gasolines. Simulations were performed using multicomponent surrogates for FACE F and G to reveal the underlying chemical

Compositional effects on the ignition of FACE gasolines

KAUST Repository

Sarathy, Mani

2016-05-08

As regulatory measures for improved fuel economy and decreased emissions are pushing gasoline engine combustion technologies towards extreme conditions (i.e., boosted and intercooled intake with exhaust gas recirculation), fuel ignition characteristics become increasingly important for enabling stable operation. This study explores the effects of chemical composition on the fundamental ignition behavior of gasoline fuels. Two well-characterized, high-octane, non-oxygenated FACE (Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines) gasolines, FACE F and FACE G, having similar antiknock indices but different octane sensitivities and chemical compositions are studied. Ignition experiments were conducted in shock tubes and a rapid compression machine (RCM) at nominal pressures of 20 and 40. atm, equivalence ratios of 0.5 and 1.0, and temperatures ranging from 650 to 1270. K. Results at temperatures above 900. K indicate that ignition delay time is similar for these fuels. However, RCM measurements below 900. K demonstrate a stronger negative temperature coefficient behavior for FACE F gasoline having lower octane sensitivity. In addition, RCM pressure profiles under two-stage ignition conditions illustrate that the magnitude of low-temperature heat release (LTHR) increases with decreasing fuel octane sensitivity. However, intermediate-temperature heat release is shown to increase as fuel octane sensitivity increases. Various surrogate fuel mixtures were formulated to conduct chemical kinetic modeling, and complex multicomponent surrogate mixtures were shown to reproduce experimentally observed trends better than simpler two- and three-component mixtures composed of n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene. Measurements in a Cooperative Fuels Research (CFR) engine demonstrated that the multicomponent surrogates accurately captured the antiknock quality of the FACE gasolines. Simulations were performed using multicomponent surrogates for FACE F and G to reveal the underlying chemical

Predicting Agency Rating Migrations with Spread Implied Ratings

OpenAIRE

Jianming Kou; Dr Simone Varotto

2005-01-01

Investors traditionally rely on credit ratings to price debt instruments. However, rating agencies are known to be prudent in their approach to rating revisions, which results in delayed ratings adjustments to mutating credit conditions. For a large set of eurobonds we derive credit spread implied ratings and compare them with the ratings issued by rating agencies. Our results indicate that spread implied ratings often anticipate future movement of agency ratings and hence could help track cr...

Rating Movies and Rating the Raters Who Rate Them.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Hua; Lange, Kenneth

2009-11-01

The movie distribution company Netflix has generated considerable buzz in the statistics community by offering a million dollar prize for improvements to its movie rating system. Among the statisticians and computer scientists who have disclosed their techniques, the emphasis has been on machine learning approaches. This article has the modest goal of discussing a simple model for movie rating and other forms of democratic rating. Because the model involves a large number of parameters, it is nontrivial to carry out maximum likelihood estimation. Here we derive a straightforward EM algorithm from the perspective of the more general MM algorithm. The algorithm is capable of finding the global maximum on a likelihood landscape littered with inferior modes. We apply two variants of the model to a dataset from the MovieLens archive and compare their results. Our model identifies quirky raters, redefines the raw rankings, and permits imputation of missing ratings. The model is intended to stimulate discussion and development of better theory rather than to win the prize. It has the added benefit of introducing readers to some of the issues connected with analyzing high-dimensional data.

Estimating diversification rates for higher taxa: BAMM can give problematic estimates of rates and rate shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Andreas L S; Wiens, John J

2018-01-01

Estimates of diversification rates are invaluable for many macroevolutionary studies. Recently, an approach called BAMM (Bayesian Analysis of Macro-evolutionary Mixtures) has become widely used for estimating diversification rates and rate shifts. At the same time, several articles have concluded that estimates of net diversification rates from the method-of-moments (MS) estimators are inaccurate. Yet, no studies have compared the ability of these two methods to accurately estimate clade diversification rates. Here, we use simulations to compare their performance. We found that BAMM yielded relatively weak relationships between true and estimated diversification rates. This occurred because BAMM underestimated the number of rates shifts across each tree, and assigned high rates to small clades with low rates. Errors in both speciation and extinction rates contributed to these errors, showing that using BAMM to estimate only speciation rates is also problematic. In contrast, the MS estimators (particularly using stem group ages), yielded stronger relationships between true and estimated diversification rates, by roughly twofold. Furthermore, the MS approach remained relatively accurate when diversification rates were heterogeneous within clades, despite the widespread assumption that it requires constant rates within clades. Overall, we caution that BAMM may be problematic for estimating diversification rates and rate shifts. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Content and ratings of mature-rated video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Kimberly M; Tepichin, Karen; Haninger, Kevin

2006-04-01

To quantify the depiction of violence, blood, sexual themes, profanity, substances, and gambling in video games rated M (for "mature") and to measure agreement between the content observed and the rating information provided to consumers on the game box by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. We created a database of M-rated video game titles, selected a random sample, recorded at least 1 hour of game play, quantitatively assessed the content, performed statistical analyses to describe the content, and compared our observations with the Entertainment Software Rating Board content descriptors and results of our prior studies. Harvard University, Boston, Mass. Authors and 1 hired game player. M-rated video games. Percentages of game play depicting violence, blood, sexual themes, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs; use of profanity in dialogue, song lyrics, or gestures. Although the Entertainment Software Rating Board content descriptors for violence and blood provide a good indication of such content in the game, we identified 45 observations of content that could warrant a content descriptor in 29 games (81%) that lacked these content descriptors. M-rated video games are significantly more likely to contain blood, profanity, and substances; depict more severe injuries to human and nonhuman characters; and have a higher rate of human deaths than video games rated T (for "teen"). Parents and physicians should recognize that popular M-rated video games contain a wide range of unlabeled content and may expose children and adolescents to messages that may negatively influence their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Characteristics of Butanol Isomers Oxidation in a Micro Flow Reactor

KAUST Repository

Bin Hamzah, Muhamad Firdaus

2017-05-01

Ignition and combustion characteristics of n-butanol/air, 2-butanol.air and isobutanol/air mixtures at stoichiometric (ϕ = 1) and lean (ϕ = 0.5) conditions were investigated in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile from 323 K to 1313 K, under atmospheric pressure. Sole distinctive weak flame was observed for each mixture, with inlet fuel/air mixture velocity set low at 2 cm/s. One-dimensional computation with comprehensive chemistry and transport was conducted. At low mixture velocities, one-stage oxidation was confirmed from heat release rate profiles, which was broadly in agreement with the experimental results. The weak flame positions were congruent with literature describing reactivity of the butanol isomers. These weak flame responses were also found to mirror the trend in Anti-Knock Indexes of the butanol isomers. Flux and sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate the fuel oxidation pathways at low and high temperatures. Further computational investigations on oxidation of butanol isomers at higher pressure of 5 atm indicated two-stage oxidation through the heat release rate profiles. Low temperature chemistry is accentuated in the region near the first weak cool flame for oxidation under higher pressure, and its impact on key species – such as hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide – were considered. Both experimental and computational findings demonstrate the advantage of employing the micro flow reactor in investigating oxidation processes in the temperature region of interest along the reactor channel. By varying physical conditions such as pressure, the micro flow reactor system is proven to be highly beneficial in elucidating oxidation behavior of butanol isomers in conditions in engines such as those that mirror HCCI operations.

Ignition studies of two low-octane gasolines

KAUST Repository

Javed, Tamour

2017-07-24

Low-octane gasolines (RON ∼ 50–70 range) are prospective fuels for gasoline compression ignition (GCI) internal combustion engines. GCI technology utilizing low-octane fuels has the potential to significantly improve well-to-wheel efficiency and reduce the transportation sector\\'s environmental footprint by offsetting diesel fuel usage in compression ignition engines. In this study, ignition delay times of two low-octane FACE (Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines) gasolines, FACE I and FACE J, were measured in a shock tube and a rapid compression machine over a broad range of engine-relevant conditions (650–1200 K, 20 and 40 bar and ϕ = 0.5 and 1). The two gasolines are of similar octane ratings with anti-knock index, AKI = (RON + MON)/2, of ∼ 70 and sensitivity, S = RON–MON, of ∼ 3. However, the molecular compositions of the two gasolines are notably different. Experimental ignition delay time results showed that the two gasolines exhibited similar reactivity over a wide range of test conditions. Furthermore, ignition delay times of a primary reference fuel (PRF) surrogate (n-heptane/iso-octane blend), having the same AKI as the FACE gasolines, captured the ignition behavior of these gasolines with some minor discrepancies at low temperatures (T < 700 K). Multi-component surrogates, formulated by matching the octane ratings and compositions of the two gasolines, emulated the autoignition behavior of gasolines from high to low temperatures. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine simulations were used to show that the PRF and multi-component surrogates exhibited similar combustion phasing over a wide range of engine operating conditions.

Performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine with COME-Triacetin additive blends as fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Venkateswara Rao, P. [Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, K I T S, Warangal- 506015, A. P. (India); Appa Rao, B.V. [Dept. of Marine Engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam-530003, A. P. (India)

2012-07-01

The Triacetin [C9H14O6] additive is used an anti-knocking agent along with the bio-diesel in DI- diesel engine. In the usage of diesel fuel and neat bio-diesel knocking can be detected to some extent. The T- additive usage in the engine suppressed knocking, improved the performance and reduced tail pipe emissions. Comparative study is conducted using petro-diesel, bio-diesel, and with various additive blends of bio-diesel on DI- diesel engine. Coconut oil methyl ester (COME) is used with additive Triacetin (T) at various percentages by volume for all loads (No load, 25%, 50%, 75% and full load). The performance of engine is compared with neat diesel in respect of engine efficiency, exhaust emissions and combustion knock. Of the five Triacetin- biodiesel blends tried, 10% Triacetin combination with biodiesel proved encouraging in all respects of performance of the engine.

Female literacy rate is a better predictor of birth rate and infant mortality rate in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suman Saurabh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Educated women are known to take informed reproductive and healthcare decisions. These result in population stabilization and better infant care reflected by lower birth rates and infant mortality rates (IMRs, respectively. Materials and Methods: Our objective was to study the relationship of male and female literacy rates with crude birth rates (CBRs and IMRs of the states and union territories (UTs of India. The data were analyzed using linear regression. CBR and IMR were taken as the dependent variables; while the overall literacy rates, male, and female literacy rates were the independent variables. Results: CBRs were inversely related to literacy rates (slope parameter = -0.402, P < 0.001. On multiple linear regression with male and female literacy rates, a significant inverse relationship emerged between female literacy rate and CBR (slope = -0.363, P < 0.001, while male literacy rate was not significantly related to CBR (P = 0.674. IMR of the states were also inversely related to their literacy rates (slope = -1.254, P < 0.001. Multiple linear regression revealed a significant inverse relationship between IMR and female literacy (slope = -0.816, P = 0.031, whereas male literacy rate was not significantly related (P = 0.630. Conclusion: Female literacy is relatively highly important for both population stabilization and better infant health.

Spontaneous mutation rates and the rate-doubling dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Von Borstel, R.C.; Moustaccki, E.; Latarjet, R.

1978-01-01

The amount of radiation required to double the frequency of mutations or tumours over the rate of those that occur spontaneously is called the rate-doubling dose. An equivalent concept has been proposed for exposure to other environmental mutagens. The doubling dose concept is predicated on the assumption that all human populations have the same spontaneous mutation rate, and that this spontaneous mutation rate is known. It is now established for prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes that numerous genes control the spontaneous mutation rate, and it is likely that the same is true for human cells as well. Given that the accepted mode of evolution of human populatons is from small, isolated groups of individuals, it seems likely that each population would have a different spontaneous mutation rate. Given that a minimum of twenty genes control or affect the spontaneous mutation rate, and that each of these in turn is susceptible to spontaneously arising or environmentally induced mutations, it seems likely that every individual within a population (except for siblings from identical multiple births) will have a unique spontaneous mutation rate. If each individual in a population does have a different spontaneous mutation rate, the doubling dose concept, in rigorous terms, is fallacious. Therefore, as with other concepts of risk evaluation, the doubling dose concept is subject to criticism. Nevertheless, until we know individual spontaneous mutation rates with precision, and can evaluate risks based on this information, the doubling dose concept has a heuristic value and is needed for practical assessment of risks for defined populations. (author)

29 CFR 778.112 - Day rates and job rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Day rates and job rates. 778.112 Section 778.112 Labor... Requirements Principles for Computing Overtime Pay Based on the âregular Rateâ § 778.112 Day rates and job rates. If the employee is paid a flat sum for a day's work or for doing a particular job, without regard...

[Awareness rate, treatment rate and control rate of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults, 2010].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jian-hong; Wang, Li-min; Mi, Sheng-quan; Zhang, Mei; Li, Yi-chong; Jiang, Yong; Xu, Yu; Dai, Meng; Wang, Lin-hong

2012-08-01

To explore the awareness, treatment and control rates of dyslipidemia among Chinese adults aged over 18 in 2010, and to analyze the prevalent features. 97 409 subjects aged over 18 were recruited from 162 monitoring sites around 31 provinces in China mainland in 2010, applying multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method. Information about subjects' history of dyslipidemia, treatment and control were collected by face-to-face interview; and each subject's fasting venous blood was drawn in the morning before having food, to test total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). In total, 51 818 cases of dyslipidemia ever or now, including 2235 subjects who once suffered from dyslipidemia but had their blood lipid controlled to normal, were screened out. And the awareness, treatment and control rates were calculated by complex weighting. The awareness rate of dyslipidemia among Chinese adults was 10.93%, while the stratified rates were 6.00%, 16.75% and 18.74% in the groups of subjects aged 18 - 44, 45 - 59 and over 60 years old, respectively (χ² = 1293.02, P China, respectively (χ² = 117.04, P China, respectively (χ² = 50.71, P control rate of dyslipidemia was 3.53% among total subjects, while whose stratified rates were 1.64%, 5.49% and 6.94% in the groups of subjects aged 18 - 44, 45 - 59 and over 60 years old, respectively (χ² = 554.12, P China, respectively (χ² = 91.45, P control rates of dyslipidemia have been comparatively low among Chinese adults, especially among the population who were young, or who were from rural area or western China.

Heart rate index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haedersdal, C; Pedersen, F H; Svendsen, J H

1992-01-01

after the myocardial infarction. A significant correlation (Spearman's correlation coefficient rs, p less than 0.05) was found between LVEF at rest and the following variables assessed at exercise test: 1) the heart rate at rest, 2) rise in heart rate, 3) ratio between maximal heart rate and heart rate...... at rest, 4) rise in systolic blood pressure, 5) rate pressure product at rest, 6) rise in rate pressure product, 7) ratio (rHR) between maximal rate pressure product and rate pressure product at rest, 8) total exercise time. The heart rate was corrected for effects caused by age (heart index (HR...

Pass-through of Change in Policy Interest Rate to Market Rates

OpenAIRE

M. Idrees Khawaja; Sajawal Khan

2008-01-01

This paper examines the pass through of the change in policy interest rate of the central bank of Pakistan to market interest rates. The market rates examined include KIBOR, six month deposit rate and weighted average lending rate. More or less complete pass-through of the change in policy rate to KIBOR is observed within one month. However, the magnitude of change in policy rate to deposit and lending rate is not only low but is slow as well. The pass-through to the weighted average lending ...

Reduction of lead pollution from vehicular emissions in cairo Part 1: Comparison of alternative solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Haggar, S.M.; Saleh, S.K.; El-Kady, M.A.

1996-01-01

It has been recognized for decades that the major source of lead pollution is lead additives to automotive fuels. This problem has been countered in most countries in europe and Usa by introducing alternative anti-knock chemicals and unleaded gasoline. In egypt lead is still being added to gasoline in large quantities. However, progress has been made, and unleaded gasoline is currently being produced in Alexandria. Nevertheless, the major pollution problem remains in the Greater Cairo region as indicated by the atmospheric lead levels and the lead blood levels of the children in Cairo. The aim of the present study is to find an optimum solution to this problem. A comparison of the different solutions is conducted in order to come up with the most feasible solution to this urgent problem. In conclusion it has been demonstrated that the elimination of lead additives, with its huge positives effects on the country environment, proved to be profitable. 4 figs., 2 tabs

Severe neurotoxicity following ingestion of tetraethyl lead.

Science.gov (United States)

Wills, Brandon K; Christensen, Jason; Mazzoncini, Joe; Miller, Michael

2010-03-01

Organic lead compounds are potent neurotoxins which can result in death even from small exposures. Traditionally, these compounds are found in fuel stabilizers, anti-knock agents, and leaded gasoline. Cases of acute organic lead intoxication have not been reported for several decades. We report a case of a 13-year-old Iraqi male who unintentionally ingested a fuel stabilizer containing 80-90% tetraethyl lead, managed at our combat support hospital. The patient developed severe neurologic symptoms including agitation, hallucinations, weakness, and tremor. These symptoms were refractory to escalating doses of benzodiazepines and ultimately required endotracheal intubation and a propofol infusion. Adjunctive therapies included chelation, baclofen, and nutrition provided through a gastrostomy tube. The patient slowly recovered and was discharged in a wheelchair 20 days after ingestion, still requiring tube feeding. Follow-up at 62 days post-ingestion revealed near-resolution of symptoms with residual slurred speech and slight limp. This case highlights the profound neurotoxic manifestations of acute organic lead compounds.

2007 Wholesale Power Rate Schedules : 2007 General Rate Schedule Provisions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

2006-11-01

This schedule is available for the contract purchase of Firm Power to be used within the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Priority Firm (PF) Power may be purchased by public bodies, cooperatives, and Federal agencies for resale to ultimate consumers, for direct consumption, and for Construction, Test and Start-Up, and Station Service. Rates in this schedule are in effect beginning October 1, 2006, and apply to purchases under requirements Firm Power sales contracts for a three-year period. The Slice Product is only available for public bodies and cooperatives who have signed Slice contracts for the FY 2002-2011 period. Utilities participating in the Residential Exchange Program (REP) under Section 5(c) of the Northwest Power Act may purchase Priority Firm Power pursuant to the Residential Exchange Program. Rates under contracts that contain charges that escalate based on BPA's Priority Firm Power rates shall be based on the three-year rates listed in this rate schedule in addition to applicable transmission charges. This rate schedule supersedes the PF-02 rate schedule, which went into effect October 1, 2001. Sales under the PF-07 rate schedule are subject to BPA's 2007 General Rate Schedule Provisions (2007 GRSPs). Products available under this rate schedule are defined in the 2007 GRSPs. For sales under this rate schedule, bills shall be rendered and payments due pursuant to BPA's 2007 GRSPs and billing process.

Interest Rates and Exchange Rate Relationship in BRIC-T Countries

OpenAIRE

Selim KAYHAN; Tayfur BAYAT; Ahmet UGUR

2013-01-01

This study examines the dynamic relationships between the real exchange rate and the real interest rate in the BRIC-T (Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkey) countries by employing monthly data from the beginning of flexible exchange rate regime to July 2011. For this aim, non-linear causality test and frequency domain causality test approaches are used. According to frequency domain causality test results, interest rate affects exchange rate in only China and this effect exist only in the ...

Money market rates and implied CCAPM rates: some international evidence

OpenAIRE

Yamin Ahmad

2004-01-01

New Neoclassical Synthesis models equate the instrument of monetary policy to the implied CCAPM rate arising from an Euler equation. This paper identifies monetary policy shocks within six of the G7 countries and examines the movement of money market and implied CCAPM rates. The key result is that an increase in the nominal interest rate leads to a fall in the implied CCAPM rate. Incorporating habit still yields the same result. The findings suggest that the movement of these two rates implie...

The influence of sovereign credit ratings on corporate credit ratings.

OpenAIRE

Umutoni, Liliane

2017-01-01

Credit ratings have a key role in modern financial markets as they communicate crucial information on the creditworthiness of a debt issuer to investors and regulators. These credit ratings are mostly determined by three rating agencies, namely Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, even though, the credit rating industry counts a dozen of recognized rating agencies. Indeed, the three agencies have become the market leaders with a market share of 94.3% on the U.S market (Bloomberg, 2015) and 9...

Mixed butanols addition to gasoline surrogates: Shock tube ignition delay time measurements and chemical kinetic modeling

KAUST Repository

AlRamadan, Abdullah S.

2015-10-01

The demand for fuels with high anti-knock quality has historically been rising, and will continue to increase with the development of downsized and turbocharged spark-ignition engines. Butanol isomers, such as 2-butanol and tert-butanol, have high octane ratings (RON of 105 and 107, respectively), and thus mixed butanols (68.8% by volume of 2-butanol and 31.2% by volume of tert-butanol) can be added to the conventional petroleum-derived gasoline fuels to improve octane performance. In the present work, the effect of mixed butanols addition to gasoline surrogates has been investigated in a high-pressure shock tube facility. The ignition delay times of mixed butanols stoichiometric mixtures were measured at 20 and 40bar over a temperature range of 800-1200K. Next, 10vol% and 20vol% of mixed butanols (MB) were blended with two different toluene/n-heptane/iso-octane (TPRF) fuel blends having octane ratings of RON 90/MON 81.7 and RON 84.6/MON 79.3. These MB/TPRF mixtures were investigated in the shock tube conditions similar to those mentioned above. A chemical kinetic model was developed to simulate the low- and high-temperature oxidation of mixed butanols and MB/TPRF blends. The proposed model is in good agreement with the experimental data with some deviations at low temperatures. The effect of mixed butanols addition to TPRFs is marginal when examining the ignition delay times at high temperatures. However, when extended to lower temperatures (T < 850K), the model shows that the mixed butanols addition to TPRFs causes the ignition delay times to increase and hence behaves like an octane booster at engine-like conditions. © 2015 The Combustion Institute.

Characteristics of self-rating and rating by others of safety behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Hirokazu; Yoshida, Michio; Sugiman, Toshio; Watanabe, Toshie

2002-01-01

It is known that in questionnaire surveys in general, behavior that are recognized as socially desirable are more highly rated by the actors themselves than by others. Safety behavior can be viewed as behavior closely related to social desirability. Therefore, in the present study, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine how the self-rating and rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report', which serves as one of the rating scales of safety climate and criterion for safety behavior rating, are related to other factors of safety climate. The analysis results reveal that the self-rating of 'safety confirmation/report' tends to give better scores than rating by others and is more strongly related to individual factors than organizational environmental factors. Meanwhile, the rating by others of safety confirmation/report' is strongly related to organizational environmental factors and demonstrates little or no link with individual factors. It can be said, therefore, that the rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report' reflects more accurately the influence of the organizational environment concerned than self-rating, and hence is more appropriate as a rating scale for safety climate. (author)

Characteristics of self-rating and rating by others of safety behavior

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukui, Hirokazu [Institute of Nuclear Safety System, Inc., Mihama, Fukui (Japan); Yoshida, Michio; Sugiman, Toshio; Watanabe, Toshie [Japan Institute for Group Dynamics, Fukuoka (Japan)

2002-09-01

It is known that in questionnaire surveys in general, behavior that are recognized as socially desirable are more highly rated by the actors themselves than by others. Safety behavior can be viewed as behavior closely related to social desirability. Therefore, in the present study, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine how the self-rating and rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report', which serves as one of the rating scales of safety climate and criterion for safety behavior rating, are related to other factors of safety climate. The analysis results reveal that the self-rating of 'safety confirmation/report' tends to give better scores than rating by others and is more strongly related to individual factors than organizational environmental factors. Meanwhile, the rating by others of safety confirmation/report' is strongly related to organizational environmental factors and demonstrates little or no link with individual factors. It can be said, therefore, that the rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report' reflects more accurately the influence of the organizational environment concerned than self-rating, and hence is more appropriate as a rating scale for safety climate. (author)

10 CFR 903.21 - Completion of rate development; provisional rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... business principles. The rates shall be submitted promptly to the FERC for confirmation and approval on a..., Southwestern, and Western Area Power Administrations § 903.21 Completion of rate development; provisional rates...

Phylogenetic estimates of diversification rate are affected by molecular rate variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Duchêne, D A; Hua, X; Bromham, L

2017-10-01

Molecular phylogenies are increasingly being used to investigate the patterns and mechanisms of macroevolution. In particular, node heights in a phylogeny can be used to detect changes in rates of diversification over time. Such analyses rest on the assumption that node heights in a phylogeny represent the timing of diversification events, which in turn rests on the assumption that evolutionary time can be accurately predicted from DNA sequence divergence. But there are many influences on the rate of molecular evolution, which might also influence node heights in molecular phylogenies, and thus affect estimates of diversification rate. In particular, a growing number of studies have revealed an association between the net diversification rate estimated from phylogenies and the rate of molecular evolution. Such an association might, by influencing the relative position of node heights, systematically bias estimates of diversification time. We simulated the evolution of DNA sequences under several scenarios where rates of diversification and molecular evolution vary through time, including models where diversification and molecular evolutionary rates are linked. We show that commonly used methods, including metric-based, likelihood and Bayesian approaches, can have a low power to identify changes in diversification rate when molecular substitution rates vary. Furthermore, the association between the rates of speciation and molecular evolution rate can cause the signature of a slowdown or speedup in speciation rates to be lost or misidentified. These results suggest that the multiple sources of variation in molecular evolutionary rates need to be considered when inferring macroevolutionary processes from phylogenies. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Understanding High Rate Behavior Through Low Rate Analog

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-28

challenges in high rate character- isation of polymers. The most important is that, owing to their low stress wavespeed, the structural response of...box’ tool, to provide supporting date for the rate dependent mechanical character- isation . Experiments were performed on a TA instruments Q800

The foreign exchange rate rate exposure of nations

OpenAIRE

Entorf, Horst; Moebert, Jochen; Sonderhof, Katja

2007-01-01

Following the well-known approach by Adler and Dumas (1984) we evaluate the foreign exchange rate exposure of nations. Results based on data from 27 countries show that national foreign exchange rate exposures are significantly related to the current trade balance variables of corresponding economies.

47 CFR 64.1801 - Geographic rate averaging and rate integration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Geographic rate averaging and rate integration. 64.1801 Section 64.1801 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS Geographic Rate Averaging and...

7 CFR 1714.5 - Determination of interest rates on municipal rate loans.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Determination of interest rates on municipal rate... General § 1714.5 Determination of interest rates on municipal rate loans. (a) RUS will post on the RUS website, Electric Program HomePage, a schedule of interest rates for municipal rate loans at the beginning...

Exchange rate behavior with negative interest rates: Some early negative observations

OpenAIRE

Hameed, Allaudeen S.; Rose, Andrew

2017-01-01

This paper examines exchange rate behavior during the recent period with negative nominal interest rates. We use a daily panel of data on 61 currencies from January 2010 through May 2016, during which five economies - Denmark, the European Economic and Monetary Union, Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland - experienced negative nominal interest rates. We examine both effective exchange rates and bilateral rates; the latter typically measured against the Swiss franc since Switzerland has had the long...

A Longitudinal Examination of Rater and Ratee Effects in Performance Ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Vance, Robert J.; And Others

1983-01-01

Investigated the consistency and loci of leniency, halo, and range restriction effects in performance ratings in a longitudinal study. Policy supervisors (N=90) rated 350 subordinates on five occasions. Concluded that reliable variance in mean ratings is partly attributable to ratees, but mainly introduced by raters. (JAC)

Electric rate operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maillard, D.

1993-01-01

The share of nuclear power in EDF production implies multiple rate structures. How are these rates determined. What are the new applications of electricity, and in particular those that make use of the especially low summer prices for electricity. These are topics of interest to the man in the street (witness EDF's recent 'red-white-blue' rates). This prompted the 'Nuclear Power in the Financial, Energy and Economic situation' department of France's nuclear power company to organize a conference bringing together an expert on rates - M.P. Bernard, head of the rate fixing service at the EDF's headquarters - and representatives from suppliers of equipment taking advantage of the various EDF rate options

Exchange rate policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plačkov Slađana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Small oscillations of exchange rate certainly affect the loss of confidence in the currency (Serbian dinar, CSD and because of the shallow market even the smallest change in the supply and demand leads to a shift in exchange rate and brings uncertainty. Some economists suggest that the course should be linked to inflation and thus ensure predictable and stable exchange rates. Real exchange rate or slightly depressed exchange rate will encourage the competitiveness of exporters and perhaps ensure the development of new production lines which, in terms of overvalued exchange rate, had no economic justification. Fixed exchange rate will bring lower interest rates, lower risk and lower business uncertainty (uncertainty avoidance, but Serbia will also reduce foreign exchange reserves by following this trend. On the other hand, a completely free exchange rate, would lead to a (real fall of Serbian currency, which in a certain period would lead to a significant increase in exports, but the consequences for businessmen and citizens with loans pegged to the euro exchange rate, would be disastrous. We will pay special attention to the depreciation of the exchange rate, as it is generally favorable to the export competitiveness of Serbia and, on the other hand, it leads to an increase in debt servicing costs of the government as well as of the private sector. Oscillations of the dinar exchange rate, appreciation and depreciation, sometimes have disastrous consequences on the economy, investors, imports and exports. In subsequent work, we will observe the movement of the dinar exchange rate in Serbia, in the time interval 2009-2012, in order to strike a balance and maintain economic equilibrium. A movement of foreign currencies against the local currency is controlled in the foreign exchange market, so in case economic interests require, The National Bank of Serbia (NBS, on the basis of arbitrary criteria, can intervene in the market.

Interest Rate Rules, Exchange Market Pressure, and Successful Exchange Rate Management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klaassen, F.; Mavromatis, K.

2016-01-01

Central banks with an exchange rate objective set the interest rate in response to what they call ''pressure.'' Instead, existing interest rate rules rely on the exchange rate minus its target. To stay closer to actual policy, we introduce a rule that uses exchange market pressure (EMP), the

Interest rate derivatives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenstrup, Mikkel

This Ph.D. thesis consists of four self-contained essays on valuation of interest rate derivatives. In particular derivatives related to management of interest rate risk care are considered.......This Ph.D. thesis consists of four self-contained essays on valuation of interest rate derivatives. In particular derivatives related to management of interest rate risk care are considered....

Aggregate Social Discount Rate Derived from Individual Discount Rates

OpenAIRE

Kenneth F. Reinschmidt

2002-01-01

In the economic evaluation of large public-sector projects, an aggregate social discount rate may be used in present worth comparison of alternatives. This paper uses the assumptions that individual discount rates are constant over time and approximately Normally distributed across the affected population, with mean \\mu and variance \\sigma 2 , to derive an aggregate discount function that is exponential in form but with time-dependent aggregate discount rate \\rho (t) = \\mu - \\sigma 2 t/2, whe...

Variable-Rate Premiums

Data.gov (United States)

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation — These interest rates are used to value vested benefits for variable rate premium purposes as described in PBGC's regulation on Premium Rates (29 CFR Part 4006) and...

Modeling inflation rates and exchange rates in Ghana: application of multivariate GARCH models.

Science.gov (United States)

Nortey, Ezekiel Nn; Ngoh, Delali D; Doku-Amponsah, Kwabena; Ofori-Boateng, Kenneth

2015-01-01

This paper was aimed at investigating the volatility and conditional relationship among inflation rates, exchange rates and interest rates as well as to construct a model using multivariate GARCH DCC and BEKK models using Ghana data from January 1990 to December 2013. The study revealed that the cumulative depreciation of the cedi to the US dollar from 1990 to 2013 is 7,010.2% and the yearly weighted depreciation of the cedi to the US dollar for the period is 20.4%. There was evidence that, the fact that inflation rate was stable, does not mean that exchange rates and interest rates are expected to be stable. Rather, when the cedi performs well on the forex, inflation rates and interest rates react positively and become stable in the long run. The BEKK model is robust to modelling and forecasting volatility of inflation rates, exchange rates and interest rates. The DCC model is robust to model the conditional and unconditional correlation among inflation rates, exchange rates and interest rates. The BEKK model, which forecasted high exchange rate volatility for the year 2014, is very robust for modelling the exchange rates in Ghana. The mean equation of the DCC model is also robust to forecast inflation rates in Ghana.

Rates of Very Preterm Birth in Europe and Neonatal Mortality Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Field, David John; Draper, Elizabeth S; Fenton, Alan

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the influence of variation in the rate of very preterm delivery on the reported rate of neonatal death in ten European regions. DESIGN: Comparison of 10 separate geographically defined European populations, from nine European countries, over a one year period (seven months......) a standardised rate of very preterm delivery and b) the existing death rate for babies born at this gestation in the individual region. This produced much greater homogeneity in terms of neonatal mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in the rate of very preterm delivery has a major influence on reported neonatal...

5 CFR 531.245 - Computing locality rates and special rates for GM employees.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Computing locality rates and special... Gm Employees § 531.245 Computing locality rates and special rates for GM employees. Locality rates and special rates are computed for GM employees in the same manner as locality rates and special rates...

Rate My Stake: Interpretation of Ordinal Stake Ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Patricia Lebow; Grant Kirker

2014-01-01

Ordinal rating systems are commonly employed to evaluate biodeterioration of wood exposed outdoors over long periods of time. The purpose of these ratings is to compare the durability of test systems to nondurable wood products or known durable wood products. There are many reasons why these systems have evolved as the chosen method of evaluation, including having an...

Universal Rate Model Selector: A Method to Quickly Find the Best-Fit Kinetic Rate Model for an Experimental Rate Profile

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

k2 – k1) 3.3 Universal Kinetic Rate Platform Development Kinetic rate models range from pure chemical reactions to mass transfer...14 8. The rate model that best fits the experimental data is a first-order or homogeneous catalytic reaction ...Avrami (7), and intraparticle diffusion (6) rate equations to name a few. A single fitting algorithm (kinetic rate model ) for a reaction does not

Eddy-current flow rate meter for measuring sodium flow rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knaak, J.

1976-01-01

For safety reasons flow rate meters for monitoring coolant flow rates are inserted in the core of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactors. These are so-called eddy-current flow rate meters which can be mounted directly above the fuel elements. In the present contribution the principle of measurement, the mechanical construction and the circuit design of the flow rate measuring device are described. Special problems and their solution on developing the measuring system are pointed out. Finally, results of measurement and experience with the apparatus in several experiments are reported, where also further possibilities of application were tested. (orig./TK) [de

High Heating Rates Affect Greatly the Inactivation Rate of Escherichia coli

Science.gov (United States)

Huertas, Juan-Pablo; Aznar, Arantxa; Esnoz, Arturo; Fernández, Pablo S.; Iguaz, Asunción; Periago, Paula M.; Palop, Alfredo

2016-01-01

Heat resistance of microorganisms can be affected by different influencing factors. Although, the effect of heating rates has been scarcely explored by the scientific community, recent researches have unraveled its important effect on the thermal resistance of different species of vegetative bacteria. Typically heating rates described in the literature ranged from 1 to 20°C/min but the impact of much higher heating rates is unclear. The aim of this research was to explore the effect of different heating rates, such as those currently achieved in the heat exchangers used in the food industry, on the heat resistance of Escherichia coli. A pilot plant tubular heat exchanger and a thermoresistometer Mastia were used for this purpose. Results showed that fast heating rates had a deep impact on the thermal resistance of E. coli. Heating rates between 20 and 50°C/min were achieved in the heat exchanger, which were much slower than those around 20°C/s achieved in the thermoresistometer. In all cases, these high heating rates led to higher inactivation than expected: in the heat exchanger, for all the experiments performed, when the observed inactivation had reached about seven log cycles, the predictions estimated about 1 log cycle of inactivation; in the thermoresistometer these differences between observed and predicted values were even more than 10 times higher, from 4.07 log cycles observed to 0.34 predicted at a flow rate of 70 mL/min and a maximum heating rate of 14.7°C/s. A quantification of the impact of the heating rates on the level of inactivation achieved was established. These results point out the important effect that the heating rate has on the thermal resistance of E. coli, with high heating rates resulting in an additional sensitization to heat and therefore an effective food safety strategy in terms of food processing. PMID:27563300

Strain hardening rate sensitivity and strain rate sensitivity in TWIP steels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bintu, Alexandra [TEMA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 (Portugal); Vincze, Gabriela, E-mail: gvincze@ua.pt [TEMA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 (Portugal); Picu, Catalin R. [Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 (United States); Lopes, Augusto B. [CICECO, Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 (Portugal); Grácio, Jose J. [TEMA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 (Portugal); Barlat, Frederic [Materials Mechanics Laboratory, Graduate Institute of Ferrous Technology, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-04-01

TWIP steels are materials with very high strength and exceptional strain hardening capability, parameters leading to large energy absorption before failure. However, TWIP steels also exhibit reduced (often negative) strain rate sensitivity (SRS) which limits the post-necking deformation. In this study we demonstrate for an austenitic TWIP steel with 18% Mn a strong dependence of the twinning rate on the strain rate, which results in negative strain hardening rate sensitivity (SHRS). The instantaneous component of SHRS is large and negative, while its transient is close to zero. The SRS is observed to decrease with strain, becoming negative for larger strains. Direct observations of the strain rate dependence of the twinning rate are made using electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, which substantiate the proposed mechanism for the observed negative SHRS.

Strain hardening rate sensitivity and strain rate sensitivity in TWIP steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bintu, Alexandra; Vincze, Gabriela; Picu, Catalin R.; Lopes, Augusto B.; Grácio, Jose J.; Barlat, Frederic

2015-01-01

TWIP steels are materials with very high strength and exceptional strain hardening capability, parameters leading to large energy absorption before failure. However, TWIP steels also exhibit reduced (often negative) strain rate sensitivity (SRS) which limits the post-necking deformation. In this study we demonstrate for an austenitic TWIP steel with 18% Mn a strong dependence of the twinning rate on the strain rate, which results in negative strain hardening rate sensitivity (SHRS). The instantaneous component of SHRS is large and negative, while its transient is close to zero. The SRS is observed to decrease with strain, becoming negative for larger strains. Direct observations of the strain rate dependence of the twinning rate are made using electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, which substantiate the proposed mechanism for the observed negative SHRS

Interest Rate Swaps

OpenAIRE

Marina Pepic

2014-01-01

Interest rates changes have a huge impact on the business performance. Therefore, it is of great importance for the market participants to identify and adequately manage this risk. Financial derivatives are a relatively simple way of protection from adverse changes in interest rates. Interest rate swaps are particularly popular because they reduce interest rate risk to a minimum with a relatively low initial cost and without great risk, but also because of the fact that there are many modific...

The influence of interest rates on the exchange rate and exchange rate volatility

OpenAIRE

Florin MAVRIS; Dumitru-Cristian OANEA

2014-01-01

The dynamic of interest rates has been the subject of attention by both traders and researchers. We see in what manner different factors that depend on the actions of central banks that influence them by using a GARCH type model and we compare its performance with other models to see what approach explains and predicts the movement of the exchange rate. To better understand the type of model that is applicable the data is tested for heteroskedasticity, and only after that the model is impleme...

The rating reliability calculator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solomon David J

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rating scales form an important means of gathering evaluation data. Since important decisions are often based on these evaluations, determining the reliability of rating data can be critical. Most commonly used methods of estimating reliability require a complete set of ratings i.e. every subject being rated must be rated by each judge. Over fifty years ago Ebel described an algorithm for estimating the reliability of ratings based on incomplete data. While his article has been widely cited over the years, software based on the algorithm is not readily available. This paper describes an easy-to-use Web-based utility for estimating the reliability of ratings based on incomplete data using Ebel's algorithm. Methods The program is available public use on our server and the source code is freely available under GNU General Public License. The utility is written in PHP, a common open source imbedded scripting language. The rating data can be entered in a convenient format on the user's personal computer that the program will upload to the server for calculating the reliability and other statistics describing the ratings. Results When the program is run it displays the reliability, number of subject rated, harmonic mean number of judges rating each subject, the mean and standard deviation of the averaged ratings per subject. The program also displays the mean, standard deviation and number of ratings for each subject rated. Additionally the program will estimate the reliability of an average of a number of ratings for each subject via the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula. Conclusion This simple web-based program provides a convenient means of estimating the reliability of rating data without the need to conduct special studies in order to provide complete rating data. I would welcome other researchers revising and enhancing the program.

Parents rate the ratings: a test of the validity of the American movie, television, and video game ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, D A; Gentile, D A; Van Brederode, T M

2002-02-01

Numerous studies have documented the potential effects on young audiences of violent content in media products, including movies, television programs, and computer and video games. Similar studies have evaluated the effects associated with sexual content and messages. Cumulatively, these effects represent a significant public health risk for increased aggressive and violent behavior, spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and pediatric pregnancy. In partial response to these risks and to public and legislative pressure, the movie, television, and gaming industries have implemented ratings systems intended to provide information about the content and appropriate audiences for different films, shows, and games. We conducted a panel study to test the validity of the current movie, television, and video game rating systems. Participants used the KidScore media evaluation tool, which evaluates films, television shows, and video and computer games on 10 aspects, including the appropriateness of the media product for children on the basis of age. Results revealed that when an entertainment industry rates a product as inappropriate for children, parent raters agree that it is inappropriate for children. However, parent raters disagree with industry usage of many of the ratings designating material suitable for children of different ages. Products rated as appropriate for adolescents are of the greatest concern. The level of disagreement varies from industry to industry and even from rating to rating. Analysis indicates that the amount of violent content and portrayals of violence are the primary markers for disagreement between parent raters and industry ratings. Short-term and long-term recommendations are suggested.

Interest rates mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Kanevski, M.; Maignan, M.; Pozdnoukhov, A.; Timonin, V.

2008-06-01

The present study deals with the analysis and mapping of Swiss franc interest rates. Interest rates depend on time and maturity, defining term structure of the interest rate curves (IRC). In the present study IRC are considered in a two-dimensional feature space-time and maturity. Exploratory data analysis includes a variety of tools widely used in econophysics and geostatistics. Geostatistical models and machine learning algorithms (multilayer perceptron and Support Vector Machines) were applied to produce interest rate maps. IR maps can be used for the visualisation and pattern perception purposes, to develop and to explore economical hypotheses, to produce dynamic asset-liability simulations and for financial risk assessments. The feasibility of an application of interest rates mapping approach for the IRC forecasting is considered as well.

Ratings Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lai, Signe Sophus

2015-01-01

tværs af medier og platforme, forskudt i tid og on-demand. This article focuses on audience ratings, which have functioned as the central ‘currency’ informing the media trade. It discusses changes to the production and accuracy of audience ratings at a time when established standards are being...

Estimation of the rate of volcanism on Venus from reaction rate measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Fegley, Bruce, Jr.; Prinn, Ronald G.

1989-01-01

Laboratory rate data for the reaction between SO2 and calcite to form anhydrite are presented. If this reaction rate represents the SO2 reaction rate on Venus, then all SO2 in the Venusian atmosphere will disappear in 1.9 Myr unless volcanism replenishes the lost SO2. The required volcanism rate, which depends on the sulfur content of the erupted material, is in the range 0.4-11 cu km of magma erupted per year. The Venus surface composition at the Venera 13, 14, and Vega 2 landing sites implies a volcanism rate of about 1 cu km/yr. This geochemically estimated rate can be used to determine if either (or neither) of two discordant geophysically estimated rates is correct. It also suggests that Venus may be less volcanically active than the earth.

The Effects of Gun Ownership Rates and Gun Control Laws on Suicide Rates

OpenAIRE

Mark Gius

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of gun control laws and gun ownership rates on state-level suicide rates. Using the most recent data on suicide rates, gun control measures, and gun ownership rates, the results of the present study suggest that states that require handgun permits have lower gun-related suicide rates, and states that have higher gun ownership rates have higher gun-related suicide rates. Regarding non-gun suicides, results suggest that stricter gun c...

15 CFR 700.3 - Priority ratings and rated orders.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Priority ratings and rated orders. 700.3 Section 700.3 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE...

Interest Rate Swaps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Pepić

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Interest rates changes have a huge impact on the business performance. Therefore, it is of great importance for the market participants to identify and adequately manage this risk. Financial derivatives are a relatively simple way of protection from adverse changes in interest rates. Interest rate swaps are particularly popular because they reduce interest rate risk to a minimum with a relatively low initial cost and without great risk, but also because of the fact that there are manymodifications of the standard swap created to better satisfy the different needs of market players.

Heating and cooling rates and their effects upon heart rate in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The heating and cooling rates of adult Chersina angulata were investigated to ascertain whether these tortoises can physiologically alter their rates of heat exchange. In addition, heart rates were recorded to provide an insight into the control of heat exchange. C. angulata heats significantly faster than it cools. Heart rates ...

Rain-rate data base development and rain-rate climate analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Crane, Robert K.

1993-01-01

The single-year rain-rate distribution data available within the archives of Consultative Committee for International Radio (CCIR) Study Group 5 were compiled into a data base for use in rain-rate climate modeling and for the preparation of predictions of attenuation statistics. The four year set of tip-time sequences provided by J. Goldhirsh for locations near Wallops Island were processed to compile monthly and annual distributions of rain rate and of event durations for intervals above and below preset thresholds. A four-year data set of tropical rain-rate tip-time sequences were acquired from the NASA TRMM program for 30 gauges near Darwin, Australia. They were also processed for inclusion in the CCIR data base and the expanded data base for monthly observations at the University of Oklahoma. The empirical rain-rate distributions (edfs) accepted for inclusion in the CCIR data base were used to estimate parameters for several rain-rate distribution models: the lognormal model, the Crane two-component model, and the three parameter model proposed by Moupfuma. The intent of this segment of the study is to obtain a limited set of parameters that can be mapped globally for use in rain attenuation predictions. If the form of the distribution can be established, then perhaps available climatological data can be used to estimate the parameters rather than requiring years of rain-rate observations to set the parameters. The two-component model provided the best fit to the Wallops Island data but the Moupfuma model provided the best fit to the Darwin data.

The optimal rating philosophy for the rating of SMEs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rikkers, F.; Thibeault, A.

2007-01-01

The objective of this research is to determine the optimal rating philosophy for the rating of SMEs, and to describe the consequences of the chosen philosophy on several related aspects. As to our knowledge, this is the first paper that studies the considerations of financial institutions on what

Attaining the rate-independent limit of a rate-dependent strain gradient plasticity theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

El-Naaman, Salim Abdallah; Nielsen, Kim Lau; Niordson, Christian Frithiof

2016-01-01

The existence of characteristic strain rates in rate-dependent material models, corresponding to rate-independent model behavior, is studied within a back stress based rate-dependent higher order strain gradient crystal plasticity model. Such characteristic rates have recently been observed...... for steady-state processes, and the present study aims to demonstrate that the observations in fact unearth a more widespread phenomenon. In this work, two newly proposed back stress formulations are adopted to account for the strain gradient effects in the single slip simple shear case, and characteristic...... rates for a selected quantity are identified through numerical analysis. Evidently, the concept of a characteristic rate, within the rate-dependent material models, may help unlock an otherwise inaccessible parameter space....

River rating complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Robert R.

2016-01-01

Accuracy of streamflow data depends on the veracity of the rating model used to derive a continuous time series of discharge from the surrogate variables that can readily be collected autonomously at a streamgage. Ratings are typically represented as a simple monotonic increasing function (simple rating), meaning the discharge is a function of stage alone, however this is never truly the case unless the flow is completely uniform at all stages and in transitions from one stage to the next. For example, at some streamflow-monitoring sites the discharge on the rising limb of the hydrograph is discernably larger than the discharge at the same stage on the falling limb of the hydrograph. This is the so-called “loop rating curve” (loop rating). In many cases, these loops are quite small and variation between rising- and falling-limb discharge measurements made at the same stage are well within the accuracy of the measurements. However, certain hydraulic conditions can produce a loop that is large enough to preclude use of a monotonic rating. A detailed data campaign for the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri during a multi-peaked flood over a 56-day period in 2015 demonstrates the rating complexity at this location. The shifting-control method used to deal with complexity at this site matched all measurements within 8%.

Provider-Initiated Patient Satisfaction Reporting Yields Improved Physician Ratings Relative to Online Rating Websites.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricciardi, Benjamin F; Waddell, Brad S; Nodzo, Scott R; Lange, Jeffrey; Nocon, Allina A; Amundsen, Spencer; Tarity, T David; McLawhorn, Alexander S

2017-09-01

Recently, providers have begun to publicly report the results of patient satisfaction surveys from their practices. However, these outcomes have never been compared with the findings of commercial online physician rating websites. The goals of the current study were to (1) compare overall patient satisfaction ratings for orthopedic surgeons derived from provider-based third-party surveys with existing commercial physician rating websites and (2) determine the association between patient ratings and provider characteristics. The authors identified 12 institutions that provided publicly available patient satisfaction outcomes derived from third-party surveys for their orthopedic surgeons as of August 2016. Orthopedic surgeons at these institutions were eligible for inclusion (N=340 surgeons). Provider characteristics were recorded from publicly available data. Four high-traffic commercial online physician rating websites were identified: Healthgrades.com, UCompareHealthCare.com, Vitals.com, and RateMDs.com. For each surgeon, overall ratings (on a scale of 1-5), total number of ratings, and percentage of negative ratings were compared between provider-initiated internal ratings and each commercial online website. Associations between baseline factors and overall physician ratings and negative ratings were assessed. Provider-initiated internal patient satisfaction ratings showed a greater number of overall patient ratings, higher overall patient satisfaction ratings, and a lower percentage of negative comments compared with commercial online physician rating websites. A greater number of years in practice had a weak association with lower internal ratings, and an academic practice setting and a location in the Northeast were protective factors for negative physician ratings. Compared with commercial online physician rating websites, provider-initiated patient satisfaction ratings of orthopedic surgeons appear to be more favorable, with greater numbers of responses

76 FR 77581 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-13

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

77 FR 76586 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-28

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

76 FR 18821 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-05

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

78 FR 18664 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-27

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

75 FR 81326 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-27

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

77 FR 39560 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-03

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

75 FR 37872 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-30

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

77 FR 20476 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-04

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

75 FR 60152 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-29

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

77 FR 59447 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-27

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

78 FR 62932 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-22

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

78 FR 39434 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-01

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will...

The Optimal Interest Rates and the Current Interest Rate System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioannis N. Kallianiotis

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the current target interest rate, which is closed to zero with the new experiment of quantitative easing since 2009 and has reduced the rate of return and the income and has made the real savings rate negative. This target rate has not reduced unemployment and has not improved growth (it is not optimal, but has increased the debt of individuals and the low taxes on businesses have magnified the budget deficits and the national debt. People were borrowing the present value of their uncertain future wealth and their high debt and low income raise the risk and this high risk premium heighten the interest rate on loans, especially on credit cards. The current monetary system needs to be changed and an interest rate floor on deposits (savings and an interest rate ceiling on individuals‟ loans (borrowings is necessary to improve social welfare, fairness, and justice in our society and not to support only disintermediation (financial markets. The middle class cannot work only to pay taxes and interest on its debt (redistribution of their wealth to government and banks or worse to be in chronic unemployment. Many home owners defaulted on their loans payments and their homes are foreclosed. They will end up without property (real assets. The unconcern towards the middle class will affect negatively the entire socio-economic structure of the nation and after losing its productive power, it will start declining, as history has shown to us with so many empires that do not exist anymore. We hope the leaders (the democratic governments to improve public policies, to regulate the financial market and institutions, and to satisfy their policy ultimate objective, which is citizens‟ perfection and the nation‟s highest point of prosperity.

Airline Quality Rating 1996

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

1996-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline performance on combined multiple factors important to consumers. Development history and calculation details for the AQR rating system are detailed in The Airline Quality Rating issued in April, 1991, by the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 1996, contains monthly Airline Quality Rating scor...

Rating mutual funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Rangvid, Jesper

2007-01-01

We develop a new rating of mutual funds: the atpRating. The atpRating assigns crowns to each individual mutual fund based upon the costs an investor pays when investing in the fund in relation to what it would cost to invest in the fund's peers. Within each investment category, the rating assigns...... the return of a fund in a certain year generally contains only little information about the future return that the fund will generate. Finally, we have information on the investments in different mutual funds made by a small subgroup of investors known to have been exposed to both the atp...... five crowns to funds with the lowest costs and one crown to funds with the highest costs. We investigate the ability of the atpRating to predict the future performance of a fund. We find that an investor who has invested in the funds with the lowest costs within an investment category would have...

Rating Mutual Funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Rangvid, Jesper

We develop a new rating of mutual funds: the atpRating. The atpRating assigns crowns to each individual mutual fund based upon the costs an investor pays when investing in the fund in relation to what it would cost to invest in the fund’s peers. Within each investment category, the rating assigns......, whereas the return of a fund in a certain year generally contains only little information about the future return that the fund will generate. Finally, we have information on the investments in different mutual funds made by a small subgroup of investors known to have been exposed to both the atp...... five crowns to funds with the lowest costs and one crown to funds with the highest costs. We investigate the ability of the atpRating to predict the future performance of a fund. We find that an investor who has invested in the funds with the lowest costs within an investment category would have...

Kinetics of protein–ligand unbinding: Predicting pathways, rates, and rate-limiting steps

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwary, Pratyush; Limongelli, Vittorio; Salvalaglio, Matteo; Parrinello, Michele

2015-01-01

The ability to predict the mechanisms and the associated rate constants of protein–ligand unbinding is of great practical importance in drug design. In this work we demonstrate how a recently introduced metadynamics-based approach allows exploration of the unbinding pathways, estimation of the rates, and determination of the rate-limiting steps in the paradigmatic case of the trypsin–benzamidine system. Protein, ligand, and solvent are described with full atomic resolution. Using metadynamics, multiple unbinding trajectories that start with the ligand in the crystallographic binding pose and end with the ligand in the fully solvated state are generated. The unbinding rate koff is computed from the mean residence time of the ligand. Using our previously computed binding affinity we also obtain the binding rate kon. Both rates are in agreement with reported experimental values. We uncover the complex pathways of unbinding trajectories and describe the critical rate-limiting steps with unprecedented detail. Our findings illuminate the role played by the coupling between subtle protein backbone fluctuations and the solvation by water molecules that enter the binding pocket and assist in the breaking of the shielded hydrogen bonds. We expect our approach to be useful in calculating rates for general protein–ligand systems and a valid support for drug design. PMID:25605901

Experimental evaluation of the effect of compression ratio on performance and emission of SI engine fuelled with gasoline and n-butanol blend at different loads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinu Thomas

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Never ending demand for efficient and less polluting engines have always inspired newer technologies. Extensive study has been done on variable compression ratio, a promising in-cylinder technology, in the recent past. The present work is an experimental investigation to examine the variation of different parameters such as brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature and emissions with respect to change in compression ratio in a single-cylinder carbureted SI engine at different loads with two different fuels. Experiments were conducted at three different compression ratios (CR = 7:1, 8.5:1 and 10:1. The fuels used in this study are pure gasoline and 20% n-butanol blend (B20 in gasoline. The results showed that brake thermal efficiency increases with CR at all loads. Further, the experimental results showed the scope of improving the part-load efficiency of SI engine by adopting the concept of variable compression ratio (VCR technology, especially when fuels with better anti-knock characteristics are used. The uncertainty analysis of the experiments based on the specifications of the equipment used is also tabulated.

Numerical Simulation of Shock Response and Dynamic Fracture of a Concrete Dam Subjected to Impact Load

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Lu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The shock response and dynamic fracture of concrete gravity dams under impact load are the key problems to evaluate the antiknock safety of the dam. This study aims at understanding the effects of impact shock on the elastic response and dynamic fracture of concrete gravity dams. Firstly, this paper uses acceleration records of a concrete gravity dam under impact to establish the correct way to determine the concrete gravity dam of the fundamental frequency and present cut sheets multi-degree-of-freedom dynamic modeling. Under strong impact loading, the constitutive relation of concrete gravity dam and the highest frequency of the impact are uncertain. So, the main advantage of this method is avoiding the use of elastic modulus in the calculation. The result indicates that the calculation method is a reliable computational method for concrete gravity dams subjected to impact. Subsequently, the failure process of dam models was numerically simulated based on ABAQUS commercial codes. Finally, this paper puts forward suggestions for future research based on the results of the analysis.

Comparative toxicity of tetra ethyl lead and lead oxide to earthworms, Eisenia fetida (Savigny)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venkateswara Rao, J.; Kavitha, P.; Padmanabha Rao, A.

2003-01-01

Leaded gasoline contains tetra ethyl lead (TEL) as an antiknocking agent, which produces major amounts of lead oxide in automobile exhaust along with traces of TEL. To minimize the lead contamination, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is used as a substitute for producing unleaded gasoline. It has become increasingly apparent that young children are highly susceptible to the harmful effects of lead. Hence, a study was carried out to monitor lead toxicity in soil, using adult earthworms (Eisenia fetida, Savigny). Leaded gasoline (TEL) and lead oxide are 383- and 211-fold more toxic than unleaded gasoline (MTBE) in 7 days of exposure and 627- and 290-fold more toxic in 14 days, respectively. Results indicate that the presence of TEL in leaded gasoline and lead oxide has a significant effect on behavior, morphology, and histopathology of earthworms. Absorption of TEL into the tissues is comparatively less than that of lead oxide but toxic effects were severe. Rupture of the cuticle, extrusion of coelomic fluid and inflexible metameric segmentation were observed, causing desensitization of the posterior region leading to fragmentation in earthworms

Ratings are Overrated!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgios N. Yannakakis

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Are ratings of any use in human-computer interaction and user studies at large? If ratings are of limited use, is there a better alternative for quantitative subjective assessment? Beyond the intrinsic shortcomings of human reporting, there are a number of supplementary limitations and fundamental methodological flaws associated with rating-based questionnaires --- i.e. questionnaires that ask participants to rate their level of agreement with a given statement such as a Likert item. While the effect of these pitfalls has been largely downplayed, recent findings from diverse areas of study question the reliability of using ratings. Rank-based questionnaires --- i.e. questionnaires that ask participants to rank two or more options --- appear as the evident alternative that not only eliminates the core limitations of ratings but also simplifies the use of sound methodologies that yield more reliable models of the underlying reported construct: user emotion, preference, or opinion. This paper solicits recent findings from various disciplines interlinked with psychometrics and offers a quick guide for the use, processing and analysis of rank-based questionnaires for the unique advantages they offer. The paper challenges the traditional state-of-practice in human-computer interaction and psychometrics directly contributing towards a paradigm shift in subjective reporting.

39 CFR 3010.25 - Limitation on unused rate adjustment authority rate adjustments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... only be applied together with inflation-based limitation rate adjustments or when inflation-based... used in lieu of an inflation-based limitation rate adjustment. ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Limitation on unused rate adjustment authority...

Credit Rating and Competition

OpenAIRE

Nelson Camanho; Pragyan Deb; Zijun Liu

2010-01-01

In principle, credit rating agencies are supposed to be impartial observers that bridge the gap between private information of issuers and the information available to the wider pool of investors. However, since the 1970s, rating agencies have relied on an issuer-pay model, creating a conflict of interest the largest source of income for the rating agencies are the fees paid by the issuers the rating agencies are supposed to impartially rate. In this paper, we explore the trade-off between re...

Understanding Interest Rate Volatility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Volker, Desi

This thesis is the result of my Ph.D. studies at the Department of Finance of the Copenhagen Business School. It consists of three essays covering topics related to the term structure of interest rates, monetary policy and interest rate volatility. The rst essay, \\Monetary Policy Uncertainty...... and Interest Rates", examines the role of monetary policy uncertainty on the term structure of interest rates. The second essay, \\A Regime-Switching A ne Term Structure Model with Stochastic Volatility" (co-authored with Sebastian Fux), investigates the ability of the class of regime switching models...... with and without stochastic volatility to capture the main stylized features of U.S. interest rates. The third essay, \\Variance Risk Premia in the Interest Rate Swap Market", investigates the time-series and cross-sectional properties of the compensation demanded for holding interest rate variance risk. The essays...

The Impact of the Rating Agencies' Through-the-cycle Methodology on Rating Dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Altman, E.I.; Rijken, H.A.

2005-01-01

Surveys on the use of agency credit ratings reveal that some investors believe that credit-rating agencies are relatively slow in adjusting their ratings. A well-accepted explanation for this perception on rating timeliness is the through-the-cycle methodology that agencies use. Through-the-cycle

76 FR 38717 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-01

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may be used as a base rate for guaranteed fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This [[Page...

Tapping Into Rate Flexibility: Musical Training Facilitates Synchronization Around Spontaneous Production Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Scheurich, Rebecca; Zamm, Anna; Palmer, Caroline

2018-01-01

The ability to flexibly adapt one’s behavior is critical for social tasks such as speech and music performance, in which individuals must coordinate the timing of their actions with others. Natural movement frequencies, also called spontaneous rates, constrain synchronization accuracy between partners during duet music performance, whereas musical training enhances synchronization accuracy. We investigated the combined influences of these factors on the flexibility with which individuals can synchronize their actions with sequences at different rates. First, we developed a novel musical task capable of measuring spontaneous rates in both musicians and non-musicians in which participants tapped the rhythm of a familiar melody while hearing the corresponding melody tones. The novel task was validated by similar measures of spontaneous rates generated by piano performance and by the tapping task from the same pianists. We then implemented the novel task with musicians and non-musicians as they synchronized tapping of a familiar melody with a metronome at their spontaneous rates, and at rates proportionally slower and faster than their spontaneous rates. Musicians synchronized more flexibly across rates than non-musicians, indicated by greater synchronization accuracy. Additionally, musicians showed greater engagement of error correction mechanisms than non-musicians. Finally, differences in flexibility were characterized by more recurrent (repetitive) and patterned synchronization in non-musicians, indicative of greater temporal rigidity. PMID:29681872

Tapping Into Rate Flexibility: Musical Training Facilitates Synchronization Around Spontaneous Production Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Scheurich

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The ability to flexibly adapt one’s behavior is critical for social tasks such as speech and music performance, in which individuals must coordinate the timing of their actions with others. Natural movement frequencies, also called spontaneous rates, constrain synchronization accuracy between partners during duet music performance, whereas musical training enhances synchronization accuracy. We investigated the combined influences of these factors on the flexibility with which individuals can synchronize their actions with sequences at different rates. First, we developed a novel musical task capable of measuring spontaneous rates in both musicians and non-musicians in which participants tapped the rhythm of a familiar melody while hearing the corresponding melody tones. The novel task was validated by similar measures of spontaneous rates generated by piano performance and by the tapping task from the same pianists. We then implemented the novel task with musicians and non-musicians as they synchronized tapping of a familiar melody with a metronome at their spontaneous rates, and at rates proportionally slower and faster than their spontaneous rates. Musicians synchronized more flexibly across rates than non-musicians, indicated by greater synchronization accuracy. Additionally, musicians showed greater engagement of error correction mechanisms than non-musicians. Finally, differences in flexibility were characterized by more recurrent (repetitive and patterned synchronization in non-musicians, indicative of greater temporal rigidity.

Understanding Rig Rates

OpenAIRE

Petter Osmundsen; Knut Einar Rosendahl; Terje Skjerpen

2013-01-01

We examine the largest cost component in offshore development projects, drilling rates, which have been high over the last years. To our knowledge, rig rates have not been analysed empirically before in the economic literature. By econometric analysis we examine the effects on Gulf of Mexico rig rates of gas and oil prices, rig capacity utilization, contract length and lead time, and rig specific characteristics. Having access to a unique data set containing contract information, we are able ...

Asteroid rotation rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Binzel, R.P.; Farinella, P.

1989-01-01

Within the last decade the data base of asteroid rotation parameters (rotation rates and lightcurve amplitudes) has become sufficiently large to identify some definite rends and properties which can help us to interpret asteroid collisional evolution. Many significant correlations are found between rotation parameters and diameter, with distinct changes occurring near 125 km. The size range, which is also the diameter above which self-gravity may become important, perhaps represents a division between surviving primordial asteroids and collisional fragments. A Maxwellian is able to fit the observed rotation rate distributions of asteroids with D>125 km, implying that their rotation rates may be determined by collisional evolution. Asteroids with D<125 km show an excess of slow rotators and their non-Maxwellian distributions suggests that their rotation rates are more strongly influenced by other processes, such as the distribution resulting from their formation in catastrophic disruption events. Other correlations observed in the data set include different mean rotation rates for C, S and M type asteroids implying that their surface spectra are indicative of bulk properties

Effects of Liraglutide on Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kumarathurai, Preman; Anholm, Christian; Larsen, Bjørn Strøier

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Reduced heart rate variability (HRV) and increased heart rate (HR) have been associated with cardiovascular mortality. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) increase HR, and studies have suggested that they may reduce HRV. We examined the effect of the GLP-1 RA...

Empirical Studies of Exchange Rates: Price Behavior, Rate Determinationand Market Efficiency

OpenAIRE

Richard M. Levich

1983-01-01

Theoretical and empirical research completed over the last decade has dramatically increased our understanding of exchange rate behavior. The major insight to come from this decade of research is that foreign exchange is a financial asset. In an asset pricing framework, current exchange rates reflect the expected values of future exogenous variables. The purpose of this paper is to survay the empirical evidence on exchange rate behavior, market efficiency and related topics. Section 2 present...

Rate My Information Systems Professor: Exploring the Factors That Influence Student Ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Sena, Mark; Crable, Elaine

2017-01-01

Based on 820 entries on Ratemyprofessors.com, we explore whether information systems course ratings differ from those in marketing or management courses, whether lower level course ratings differ from those in senior or graduate level courses, whether course ratings differ between genders, and whether perceived course difficulty impacts course…

Content and ratings of teen-rated video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Haninger, Kevin; Thompson, Kimberly M

2004-02-18

Children's exposure to violence, blood, sexual themes, profanity, substances, and gambling in the media remains a source of public health concern. However, content in video games played by older children and adolescents has not been quantified or compared with the rating information provided to consumers by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). To quantify and characterize the content in video games rated T (for "Teen") and to measure the agreement between the content observed in game play and the ESRB-assigned content descriptors displayed on the game box. We created a database of all 396 T-rated video game titles released on the major video game consoles in the United States by April 1, 2001, to identify the distribution of games by genre and to characterize the distribution of ESRB-assigned content descriptors. We randomly sampled 80 video game titles (which included 81 games because 1 title included 2 separate games), played each game for at least 1 hour, quantitatively assessed the content, and compared the content we observed with the content descriptors assigned by the ESRB. Depictions of violence, blood, sexual themes, gambling, and alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs; whether injuring or killing characters is rewarded or is required to advance in the game; characterization of gender associated with sexual themes; and use of profanity in dialogue, lyrics, or gestures. Analysis of all content descriptors assigned to the 396 T-rated video game titles showed 373 (94%) received content descriptors for violence, 102 (26%) for blood, 60 (15%) for sexual themes, 57 (14%) for profanity, 26 (7%) for comic mischief, 6 (2%) for substances, and none for gambling. In the random sample of 81 games we played, we found that 79 (98%) involved intentional violence for an average of 36% of game play, 73 (90%) rewarded or required the player to injure characters, 56 (69%) rewarded or required the player to kill, 34 (42%) depicted blood, 22 (27%) depicted sexual themes

Split credit ratings and the prediction of bank ratings in the Basel II environment

OpenAIRE

Barton, Amanda

2006-01-01

This thesis investigates two aspects of credit risk measurement in the context of Basel 11: The International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards. The first is the problem arising when two credit rating agencies disagree over the rating assigned to an issuer and a split rating arises. The second area is the determination of internal credit rating models for use under the Internal ratings-based approach. This thesis presents a variety of bank rating modes for individual an...

Rate Review Data

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — As of September 1, 2011, the Affordable Care Act and rate review regulation require review of rate increases of 10 percent or more. A non-grandfathered health plan...

Real Property Tax Rates

Data.gov (United States)

Montgomery County of Maryland — The Levy Year 2012 real property tax rate dataset reflects all the rates per $100 set each year by the County Council. These rates are applied to the assessed value...

Field Office Telephone Service - Monthly National Answer Rate and Busy Rate

Data.gov (United States)

Social Security Administration — This dataset provides information at the national level by month for federal fiscal year 2013 onward for answer rate and busy rate for calls to our field offices....

Low dose rate and high dose rate intracavitary treatment for cervical cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hareyama, Masato; Oouchi, Atsushi; Shidou, Mitsuo

1997-01-01

From 1984 through 1993, 144 previous untreated patients with carcinoma of uterine cervix were treated with either low dose rate 137 Cs therapy (LDR) or high dose rate 60 Co therapy (HDR). The local failure rates for more than 2-years for the primary lesions were 11.8% (8 of 63 patients) for LDR and 18.0% (11 of 61 patients). Rectal complication rates were significantly lower for HDR versus LDR (14.3% VS. 32.8%. p<0.01). Also, bladder complication rates were significantly lower for HDR versus LDR (0% VS. 10.4%, p<0.005). Treatment results in term of local control were equivalent for HDR and LDR treatment. However, the incidence of complications was higher for the LDR group than for the HDR group. (author)

Influence of Gas Flow Rate on the Deposition Rate on Stainless Steel 202 Substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.A. Chowdhury

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Solid thin films have been deposited on stainless steel 202 (SS 202 substrates at different flow rates of natural gas using a hot filament thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD reactor. In the experiments, the variations of thin film deposition rate with the variation of gas flow rate have been investigated. The effects of gap between activation heater and substrate on the deposition rate have also been observed. Results show that deposition rate on SS 202 increases with the increase in gas flow rate within the observed range. It is also found that deposition rate increases with the decrease in gap between activation heater and substrate. In addition, friction coefficient and wear rate of SS 202 sliding against SS 304 under different sliding velocities are also investigated before and after deposition. The experimental results reveal that improved friction coefficient and wear rate is obtained after deposition than that of before deposition.

75 FR 17453 - Interest Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-06

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120.214) on a quarterly basis. This rate is a.... This rate may [[Page 17454

Bretton Woods Fixed Exchange Rate System versus Floating Exchange Rate System

OpenAIRE

Geza, Paula; Giurca Vasilescu, Laura

2011-01-01

One of the most important issues of monetary policy is to find out whether the state should intervene among the exchange rates, taking into account the fact that changes in the exchange rates represent a significant transmission channel of the effects generated by the monetary policy. Taking into consideration the failure of fixed exchange rate regimes and the recent improvement of financial markets, the return in the near future to such a regime – as for example the Bretton Woods system –...

Observed Barium Emission Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Stenbaek-Nielsen, H. C.; Wescott, E. M.; Hallinan, T. J.

1993-01-01

The barium releases from the CRRES satellite have provided an opportunity for verifying theoretically calculated barium ion and neutral emission rates. Spectra of the five Caribbean releases in the summer of 1991 were taken with a spectrograph on board a U.S. Air Force jet aircraft. Because the line of sight release densities are not known, only relative rates could be obtained. The observed relative rates agree well with the theoretically calculated rates and, together with other observations, confirm the earlier detailed theoretical emission rates. The calculated emission rates can thus with good accuracy be used with photometric observations. It has been postulated that charge exchange between neutral barium and oxygen ions represents a significant source for ionization. If so. it should be associated with emissions at 4957.15 A and 5013.00 A, but these emissions were not detected.

Throughput rate study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, L.; Bailey, W.; Gottlieb, P.; Emami, F.; Fleming, M.; Robertson, D.

1993-01-01

The Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS) Management and Operating (M ampersand O) Contractor, has completed a study to analyze system wide impacts of operating the CRWMS at varying throughput rates, including the 3000 MTU/year rate which has been assumed in the past. Impacts of throughput rate on all phases of the CRWMS operations (acceptance, transportation, storage and disposal) were evaluated. The results of the study indicate that a range from 3000 to 5000 MTU/year is preferred, based on system cost per MTU of SNF emplaced and logistics constraints

Nonmarital Fertility and the Effects of Divorce Rates on Youth Suicide Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Messner, Steven F.; Bjarnason, Thoroddur; Raffalovich, Lawrence E.; Robinson, Bryan K.

2006-01-01

Using pooled, time-series data for a sample of 15 developed nations, we assess the effect of divorce rates on gender-specific suicide rates for youths aged 15-19 with models of relative cohort size, lagged nonmarital fertility, and an interaction term for divorce rates and nonmarital fertility. The results reveal that, for young men, relative…

Understanding Interest Rate Volatility

OpenAIRE

Volker, Desi

2016-01-01

This thesis is the result of my Ph.D. studies at the Department of Finance of the Copenhagen Business School. It consists of three essays covering topics related to the term structure of interest rates, monetary policy and interest rate volatility. The rst essay, \\Monetary Policy Uncertainty and Interest Rates", examines the role of monetary policy uncertainty on the term structure of interest rates. The second essay, \\A Regime-Switching A ne Term Structure Model with Stochast...

Airline Quality Rating 2003

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

2003-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2003, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 2002. AQR scores for the calendar year 2002 are based on 15 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers. The Airline Quality Rating 2003 is a summary of month-by-month qualit...

Airline Quality Rating 2001

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

2001-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 2001, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 2000. AQR scores for the calendar year 2000 are based on 15 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers. The Airline Quality Rating 2001 is a summary of month-by-month quality ra...

GROWTH RATE DISTRIBUTION OF BORAX SINGLE CRYSTALS ON THE (001 FACE UNDER VARIOUS FLOW RATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suharso Suharso

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The growth rates of borax single crystals from aqueous solutions at various flow rates in the (001 direction were measured using in situ cell method. From the growth rate data obtained, the growth rate distribution of borax crystals was investigated using Minitab Software and SPSS Software at relative supersaturation of 0807 and temperature of 25 °C. The result shows that normal, gamma, and log-normal distribution give a reasonably good fit to GRD. However, there is no correlation between growth rate distribution and flow rate of solution.   Keywords: growth rate dispersion (GRD, borax, flow rate

[Do online ratings reflect structural differences in healthcare? The example of German physician-rating websites].

Science.gov (United States)

Meszmer, Nina; Jaegers, Lena; Schöffski, Oliver; Emmert, Martin

2018-04-01

Previous surveys have shown that patient satisfaction varies with the regional supply of physicians. Online ratings on physician-rating websites represent a relatively new instrument to display patient satisfaction results. The aim of this study was (1) to assess the current state of online ratings for two medical disciplines (dermatologists and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists), and (2) to analyze online derived patient satisfaction results according to the physician density in Germany. We collected online ratings for 420 dermatologists and 450 ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists on twelve German physician-rating websites. We analyzed the online ratings according to the physician density (low, medium, high physician density). For this purpose, we collected secondary data from both physician-rating websites and the regional associations of statutory health insurance physicians. Data analysis was performed using Median tests and Chi-square tests. In total, 10,239 online ratings for dermatologists and 8,168 online ratings for ENT specialists were analyzed. Almost all dermatologists (99.3 %) and ENT specialists (98.9 %) were listed on one of the physician-rating websites. A total of 93.5 % of all listed dermatologists and 96.9 % of ENT-specialists were rated on at least one of the physician-rating websites. Significant differences were found in the distribution (i.e., percentage of listed or rated physicians) of the ratings according to the regional physician density on only one physician-rating website (pexample, dermatologist ratings were better in regions with a higher physician density compared to regions with a lower number of physicians (average rating: 2.16 vs. 2.67; p<0.001). Online ratings of dermatologists and ENT specialists hardly differ in terms of regional physician density. Physician-rating websites thus do not appear to be appropriate to mirror differences in the health service delivery structure. Our findings thus do not confirm the

Interest Rates and Inflation

OpenAIRE

Coopersmith, Michael; Gambardella, Pascal J.

2016-01-01

This article is an extension of the work of one of us (Coopersmith, 2011) in deriving the relationship between certain interest rates and the inflation rate of a two component economic system. We use the well-known Fisher relation between the difference of the nominal interest rate and its inflation adjusted value to eliminate the inflation rate and obtain a delay differential equation. We provide computer simulated solutions for this equation over regimes of interest. This paper could be of ...

Reaction rate and energy-loss rate for photopair production by relativistic nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Chodorowski, Michal J.; Zdziarski, Andrzej A.; Sikora, Marek

1992-01-01

The process of e(+/-) pair production by relativistic nuclei on ambient photons is considered. The process is important for cosmic-ray nuclei in interstellar and intergalactic space as well as in galactic and extragalactic compact objects. The rate of this process is given by an integral of the cross section over the photon angular and energy distribution. In the case of isotropic photons, the angular integration is performed to provide an expression for the rate at given photon energy in the nucleus rest frame. The total rate then becomes a single integral of that rate over the photon energy distribution. Formulas are also given for the fractional energy loss of a relativistic nucleus colliding with a photon of a given energy in the rest frame. The nucleus energy-loss rate is integrated over the photon angular distribution in the case of isotropic photons, and simple fits are provided.

Relativistic electronic structure calculations on endohedral Gd rate at C60, La rate at C60, Gd rate at C74, and La rate at C74

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, J.; Zhang, X.; Zhao, X.

2000-01-01

Relativistic discrete-variational local density functional calculations on endohedral Gd rate at C 60 , La rate at C 60 ,Gd rate at C 74 , and La rate at C 74 are performed. All the C 60 - and C 74 -derived levels are lowered upon endohedral Gd and La doping. Both the Gd (4f 7 5d 1 6s 2 ) and La (5d 1 6s 2 ) atoms only donate their two 6s valence electrons to the cages, leaving behind their 5d electrons when they are placed at the cage centers. Compared with large-band-gap C 60 , small-band-gap C 74 and Gd (La)-metallofullerenes have strong both electron-donating and electron-accepting characters, and the calculated ionization potentials and electron affinities for them agree well with the available experimental data. (orig.)

Rating the Quality of Open Textbooks: How Reviewer and Text Characteristics Predict Ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Lane; Ernst, David; Mason, Stacie

2017-01-01

Using data collected from peer reviews for Open Textbook Library titles, this paper explores questions about rating the quality of open textbooks. The five research questions addressed the relationship between textbook and reviewer characteristics and ratings. Although reviewers gave textbooks high ratings generally, reviewers identified…

Inflation, Exchange Rates and Interest Rates in Ghana: an Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Nchor

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the impact of exchange rate movement and the nominal interest rate on inflation in Ghana. It also looks at the presence of the Fisher Effect and the International Fisher Effect scenarios. It makes use of an autoregressive distributed lag model and an unrestricted error correction model. Ordinary Least Squares regression methods were also employed to determine the presence of the Fischer Effect and the International Fisher Effect. The results from the study show that in the short run a percentage point increase in the level of depreciation of the Ghana cedi leads to an increase in the rate of inflation by 0.20%. A percentage point increase in the level of nominal interest rates however results in a decrease in inflation by 0.98%. Inflation increases by 1.33% for every percentage point increase in the nominal interest rate in the long run. An increase in inflation on the other hand increases the nominal interest rate by 0.51% which demonstrates the partial Fisher effect. A 1% increase in the interest rate differential leads to a depreciation of the Ghana cedi by approximately 1% which indicates the full International Fisher effect.

Influence of Gas Flow Rate on the Deposition Rate on Stainless Steel 202 Substrates

OpenAIRE

M.A. Chowdhury; D.M. Nuruzzaman

2012-01-01

Solid thin films have been deposited on stainless steel 202 (SS 202) substrates at different flow rates of natural gas using a hot filament thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor. In the experiments, the variations of thin film deposition rate with the variation of gas flow rate have been investigated. The effects of gap between activation heater and substrate on the deposition rate have also been observed. Results show that deposition rate on SS 202 increases with the increase in g...

Choice of exchange rate regimes for African countries: Fixed or Flexible Exchange rate regimes?

OpenAIRE

Simwaka, Kisu

2010-01-01

The choice of an appropriate exchange rate regime has been a subject of ongoing debate in international economics. The majority of African countries are small open economies and thus where the choice of the exchange rate regime is an important policy issue. Aside from factors such as interest rates and inflation, the exchange rate is one of the most important determinants of a country’s relative level of economic health. For this reason, exchange rates are among the most watched analyzed and ...

Is a more stable exchange rate associated with reduced exchange rate pass-through?

OpenAIRE

Mark J. Holmes

2007-01-01

Pass-through from the nominal effective exchange rate to import prices is modelled within a regime-switching environment. Evidence suggests that exchange rate pass through can be characterised as regime-specific where the probability of switching between regimes is influenced by the extent of exchange rate volatility.

Analysis of 4999 online physician ratings indicates that most patients give physicians a favorable rating.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadry, Bassam; Chu, Larry F; Kadry, Bayan; Gammas, Danya; Macario, Alex

2011-11-16

Many online physician-rating sites provide patients with information about physicians and allow patients to rate physicians. Understanding what information is available is important given that patients may use this information to choose a physician. The goals of this study were to (1) determine the most frequently visited physician-rating websites with user-generated content, (2) evaluate the available information on these websites, and (3) analyze 4999 individual online ratings of physicians. On October 1, 2010, using Google Trends we identified the 10 most frequently visited online physician-rating sites with user-generated content. We then studied each site to evaluate the available information (eg, board certification, years in practice), the types of rating scales (eg, 1-5, 1-4, 1-100), and dimensions of care (eg, recommend to a friend, waiting room time) used to rate physicians. We analyzed data from 4999 selected physician ratings without identifiers to assess how physicians are rated online. The 10 most commonly visited websites with user-generated content were HealthGrades.com, Vitals.com, Yelp.com, YP.com, RevolutionHealth.com, RateMD.com, Angieslist.com, Checkbook.org, Kudzu.com, and ZocDoc.com. A total of 35 different dimensions of care were rated by patients in the websites, with a median of 4.5 (mean 4.9, SD 2.8, range 1-9) questions per site. Depending on the scale used for each physician-rating website, the average rating was 77 out of 100 for sites using a 100-point scale (SD 11, median 76, range 33-100), 3.84 out of 5 (77%) for sites using a 5-point scale (SD 0.98, median 4, range 1-5), and 3.1 out of 4 (78%) for sites using a 4-point scale (SD 0.72, median 3, range 1-4). The percentage of reviews rated ≥75 on a 100-point scale was 61.5% (246/400), ≥4 on a 5-point scale was 57.74% (2078/3599), and ≥3 on a 4-point scale was 74.0% (740/1000). The patient's single overall rating of the physician correlated with the other dimensions of care that

An Econometric Diffusion Model of Exchange Rate Movements within a Band - Implications for Interest Rate Differential and Credibility of Exchange Rate Policy

OpenAIRE

Rantala, Olavi

1992-01-01

The paper presents a model ofexchange rate movements within a specified exchange rate band enforced by central bank interventions. The model is based on the empirical observation that the exchange rate has usually been strictly inside the band, at least in Finland. In this model the distribution of the exchange rate is truncated lognormal from the edges towards the center of the band and hence quite different from the bimodal distribution of the standard target zone model. The model is estima...

Larval developmental rate, metabolic rate and future growth performance in Atlantic salmon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Serrano, Jonathan Vaz; Åberg, Madelene; Gjoen, Hans Magnus

2009-01-01

, quantified as time to first feeding, and growth in later stages was demonstrated in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). The observed relationship between future growth and larval developmental rate suggests that sorting larvae by time to first feeding can be a potential tool to optimize feeding strategies...... and growth in commercial rearing of Atlantic salmon. Furthermore, the link between larval standard metabolic rate and developmental rate and future growth is discussed in the present study....

Hatching rate and growth rate of Nothobranchius guentheri fertilized eggs after space flight

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Mingzhong; Zheng Leyun; Lin Guangji; Zhong Jianxing; Yang Huosheng; Zheng Yangfu

2012-01-01

Hatching, abnormal, growth and survival rate of the fertilized eggs of Nothobranchius guentheri were carried by Shenzhou 7 spacecraft were studied. The results indicated that the hatching and abnormal rate were no significant difference between the spaceflight group (99.3% and 16.8%) and ground group (97.2% and 10.4%); but the growth rate of male fish from spaceflight group was significant higher (0.094 g/d) than that of ground group (0.059 g/d), leading to the significant bigger of the male fish from spaceflight group. The survival rate of spaceflight group (66.7%) was higher than the ground group (47.9%). It was concluded that there was a higher growth and survival rate of Nothobranchius guentheri fertilized eggs after space flight. (authors)

Do Predation Rates on Artificial Nests Accurately Reflect Predation Rates on Natural Bird Nests?

Science.gov (United States)

David I. King; Richard M. DeGraaf; Curtice R. Griffin; Thomas J. Maier

1999-01-01

Artificial nests are widely used in avian field studies. However, it is unclear how well predation rates on artificial nests reflect predation rates on natural nests. Therefore, we compared survival rates of artificial nests (unused natural nests baited with House Sparrow eggs) with survival rates of active bird nests in the same habitat at the same sites. Survival...

Radiobiological aspects of continuous low dose-rate irradiation and fractionated high dose-rate irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turesson, I.

1990-01-01

The biological effects of continuous low dose-rate irradiation and fractionated high dose-rate irradiation in interstitial and intracavitary radiotherapy and total body irradiation are discussed in terms of dose-rate fractionation sensitivity for various tissues. A scaling between dose-rate and fraction size was established for acute and late normal-tissue effects which can serve as a guideline for local treatment in the range of dose rates between 0.02 and 0.005 Gy/min and fraction sizes between 8.5 and 2.5 Gy. This is valid provided cell-cycle progression and proliferation can be ignored. Assuming that the acute and late tissue responses are characterized by α/β values of about 10 and 3 Gy and a mono-exponential repair half-time of about 3 h, the same total doses given with either of the two methods are approximately equivalent. The equivalence for acute and late non-hemopoietic normal tissue damage is 0.02 Gy/min and 8.5 Gy per fraction; 0.01 Gy/min and 5.5 Gy per fraction; and 0.005 Gy/min and 2.5Gy per fraction. A very low dose rate, below 0.005 Gy/min, is thus necessary to simulate high dose-rate radiotherapy with fraction sizes of about 2Gy. The scaling factor is, however, dependent on the repair half-time of the tissue. A review of published data on dose-rate effects for normal tissue response showed a significantly stronger dose-rate dependence for late than for acute effects below 0.02 Gy/min. There was no significant difference in dose-rate dependence between various acute non-hemopoietic effects or between various late effects. The consistent dose-rate dependence, which justifies the use of a general scaling factor between fraction size and dose rate, contrasts with the wide range of values for repair half-time calculated for various normal-tissue effects. This indicates that the model currently used for repair kinetics is not satisfactory. There are also few experimental data in the clinical dose-rate range, below 0.02 Gy/min. It is therefore

Dose rate correction in medium dose rate brachytherapy for carcinoma cervix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, F.D.; Negi, P.S.; Sharma, S.C.; Kapoor, R.; Singh, D.P.; Ghoshal, S.

1998-01-01

Purpose: To establish the magnitude of brachytherapy dose reduction required for stage IIB and III carcinoma cervix patients treated by external radiation and medium dose rate (MDR) brachytherapy at a dose rate of 220±10 cGy/h at point A.Materials and methods: In study-I, at the time of MDR brachytherapy application at a dose rate of 220±10 cGy/h at point A, patients received either 3060 cGy, a 12.5% dose reduction (MDR-12.5), or 2450 cGy, a 30% dose reduction (MDR-30), to point A and they were compared to a group of previously treated LDR patients who received 3500 cGy to point A at a dose rate of 55-65 cGy/h. Study-II was a prospective randomized trial and patients received either 2450 cGy, a 30% dose reduction (MDR-II (30)) or 2800 cGy, a 20% dose reduction (MDR-II (20)), at point A. Patients were evaluated for local control of disease and morbidity. Results: In study-I the 5-year actuarial local control rate in the MDR-30 and MDR-12.5 groups was 71.7±10% and 70.5±10%, respectively, compared to 63.4±10% in the LDR group. However, the actuarial morbidity (all grades) in the MDR-12.5 group was 58.5±14% as against 34.9±9% in the LDR group (P 3 developed complication as against 62.5% of those receiving a rectal BED of (140 3 (χ 2 =46.43; P<0.001). Conclusion: We suggest that at a dose rate of 220±10 cGy/h at point A the brachytherapy dose reduction factor should be around 30%, as suggested by radiobiological data, to keep the morbidity as low as possible without compromising the local control rates. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

On the Dependence of the X-Ray Burst Rate on Accretion and Spin Rate

Science.gov (United States)

Cavecchi, Yuri; Watts, Anna L.; Galloway, Duncan K.

2017-12-01

Nuclear burning and its dependence on the mass accretion rate are fundamental ingredients for describing the complicated observational phenomenology of neutron stars (NSs) in binary systems. Motivated by high-quality burst rate data emerging from large statistical studies, we report general calculations relating the bursting rate to the mass accretion rate and NS rotation frequency. In this first work, we ignore general relativistic effects and accretion topology, although we discuss where their inclusion should play a role. The relations we derive are suitable for different burning regimes and provide a direct link between parameters predicted by theory and what is to be expected in observations. We illustrate this for analytical relations of different unstable burning regimes that operate on the surface of an accreting NS. We also use the observed behavior of the burst rate to suggest new constraints on burning parameters. We are able to provide an explanation for the long-standing problem of the observed decrease of the burst rate with increasing mass accretion that follows naturally from these calculations: when the accretion rate crosses a certain threshold, ignition moves away from its initially preferred site, and this can cause a net reduction of the burst rate due to the effects of local conditions that set local differences in both the burst rate and stabilization criteria. We show under which conditions this can happen even if locally the burst rate keeps increasing with accretion.

Vitreous flow rates through dual pneumatic cutters: effects of duty cycle and cut rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abulon DJK

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Dina Joy K Abulon Medical Affairs, Alcon Research, Ltd, Lake Forest, CA, USA Purpose: We aimed to investigate effects of instrument settings on porcine vitreous flow rates through dual pneumatic high-speed vitrectomy probes. Methods: The CONSTELLATION® Vision System was tested with 250, 450, and 650 mmHg of vacuum using six ULTRAVIT® vitrectomy probes of each diameter (25+®, 25, 23, and 20 gauge operated from 500 cuts per minute (cpm up to 5,000 cpm. Duty cycle modes tested included biased open, 50/50, and biased closed. Flow rates were calculated by assessing the change in weight of porcine eyes during vitreous aspiration. Volumetric flow rate was measured with a computer-connected electronic scale. Results: At lower cut rates, the biased open mode produced higher flow than did the 50/50 mode, which produced higher flow than did the biased closed mode. In the biased closed and 50/50 modes, vitreous flow rates tended to increase with increasing cut rate. Vitreous flow rates in the biased open duty cycle mode remained relatively constant across cut rates. Conclusion: Vitreous flow rates through dual pneumatic vitrectomy probes could be manipulated by changing the duty cycle modes on the vitrectomy system. Differences in duty cycle behavior suggest that high-speed cut rates of 5,000 cpm may optimize vitreous aspiration. Keywords: enhanced 25-gauge vitrectomy, 25-gauge vitrectomy, 20-gauge vitrectomy, 23-gauge vitrectomy, aspiration, Constellation Vision System

The Vietnamese lending rate, policy-related rate, and monetary policy post-1997 Asian financial crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chu V. Nguyen

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Asymmetries in the Vietnamese lending central bank’s policy-related rate spread were documented. Empirical results revealed that the spread adjusts to the threshold faster when the central bank’s policy-related rates decrease relative to the lending rates than when the central bank’s policy-related rates move in the opposite direction. Additionally, the empirical findings indicate that Vietnamese commercial banks exhibit competitive rate setting behavior which may be attributable to graft maximization by bank’s management. The results also show bidirectional Granger causality between the Vietnamese lending rate and the central bank’s policy-related rate, indicating that the lending rate and the central bank’s policy-related rate affect each other’s movements. These results suggest that monetary authority can use its countercyclical monetary policy instruments to achieve its macroeconomics objectives. However, the estimation results of the GARCH (2, 3-in-Mean model suggest that they should intervene more frequently and by small policy measures to minimize the conditional variance of the spread to minimize the magnitude of the cycle of the lending rate.

Long Maturity Forward Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Charlotte

2001-01-01

The paper aims to improve the knowledge of the empirical properties of the long maturity region of the forward rate curve. Firstly, the theoretical negative correlation between the slope at the long end of the forward rate curve and the term structure variance is recovered empirically and found...... to be statistically significant. Secondly, the expectations hypothesis is analyzed for the long maturity region of the forward rate curve using "forward rate" regressions. The expectations hypothesis is numerically close to being accepted but is statistically rejected. The findings provide mixed support...... for the affine term structure model....

Estimating Discount Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurence Booth

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Discount rates are essential to applied finance, especially in setting prices for regulated utilities and valuing the liabilities of insurance companies and defined benefit pension plans. This paper reviews the basic building blocks for estimating discount rates. It also examines market risk premiums, as well as what constitutes a benchmark fair or required rate of return, in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program. Some of the results are disconcerting. In Canada, utilities and pension regulators responded to the crash in different ways. Utilities regulators haven’t passed on the full impact of low interest rates, so that consumers face higher prices than they should whereas pension regulators have done the opposite, and forced some contributors to pay more. In both cases this is opposite to the desired effect of monetary policy which is to stimulate aggregate demand. A comprehensive survey of global finance professionals carried out last year provides some clues as to where adjustments are needed. In the U.S., the average equity market required return was estimated at 8.0 per cent; Canada’s is 7.40 per cent, due to the lower market risk premium and the lower risk-free rate. This paper adds a wealth of historic and survey data to conclude that the ideal base long-term interest rate used in risk premium models should be 4.0 per cent, producing an overall expected market return of 9-10.0 per cent. The same data indicate that allowed returns to utilities are currently too high, while the use of current bond yields in solvency valuations of pension plans and life insurers is unhelpful unless there is a realistic expectation that the plans will soon be terminated.

Extended rate equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shore, B.W.

1981-01-01

The equations of motion are discussed which describe time dependent population flows in an N-level system, reviewing the relationship between incoherent (rate) equations, coherent (Schrodinger) equations, and more general partially coherent (Bloch) equations. Approximations are discussed which replace the elaborate Bloch equations by simpler rate equations whose coefficients incorporate long-time consequences of coherence

Adaptive threshold control for auto-rate fallback algorithm in IEEE 802.11 multi-rate WLANs

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Qilin; Lu, Yang; Zhu, Xiaolin; Ge, Fangzhen

2012-03-01

The IEEE 802.11 standard supports multiple rates for data transmission in the physical layer. Nowadays, to improve network performance, a rate adaptation scheme called auto-rate fallback (ARF) is widely adopted in practice. However, ARF scheme suffers performance degradation in multiple contending nodes environments. In this article, we propose a novel rate adaptation scheme called ARF with adaptive threshold control. In multiple contending nodes environment, the proposed scheme can effectively mitigate the frame collision effect on rate adaptation decision by adaptively adjusting rate-up and rate-down threshold according to the current collision level. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve significantly higher throughput than the other existing rate adaptation schemes. Furthermore, the simulation results also demonstrate that the proposed scheme can effectively respond to the varying channel condition.

Determination of the Optimal Exchange Rate Via Control of the Domestic Interest Rate in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virtue U. Ekhosuehi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available An economic scenario has been considered where the government seeks to achieve a favourable balance-of-payments over a fixed planning horizon through exchange rate policy and control of the domestic interest rate. The dynamics of such an economy was considered in terms of a bounded optimal control problem where the exchange rate is the state variable and the domestic interest rate is the control variable. The idea of balance-of-payments was used as a theoretical underpinning to specify the objective function. By assuming that, changes in exchange rates were induced by two effects: the impact of the domestic interest rate on the exchange rate and the exchange rate system adopted by the government. Instances for both fixed and flexible optimal exchange rate regimes have been determined. The use of the approach has been illustrated employing data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN statistical bulletin. (original abstract

The Russian Landing Rate, Central Bank’s Policy Related Rate and Intermediation Premium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chu V. Nguyen

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper illustrates asymmetries in the Russian intermediation premium as measured by the spread between the commercial lending rate and the Central Bank’s policy related rate. Empirical results have shown that the Russian intermediation premium adjusts to the threshold faster when the Central Bank’s policy related rates increase relative to lending rates as opposed to when the Central Bank’s policy related rates move in the opposite direction. The findings of this paper suggest that during the period when the Russian Federation faced formidable challenges from a sharp decline in oil prices and reduced access to international capital markets due to Western sanctions, the Central Bank of Russia was not effective in utilizing countercyclical monetary policy to achieve macroeconomic objectives and commercial banks exhibited predatory pricing behavior.

Thermonuclear reaction rates. III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, M.J.; Fowler, W.A.; Caughlan, G.R.; Zimmerman, B.A.

1983-01-01

Stellar thermonuclear reaction rates are revised and updated, adding a number of new important reaction rates. Several reactions with large negative Q-values are included, and examples of them are discussed. The importance of the decay rates for Mg-26(p,n) exp 26 Al and Al-26(n,p) exp 26 Mg for stellar studies is emphasized. 19 references

Resonant thermonuclear reaction rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haubold, H.J.; Mathai, A.M.

1986-01-01

Basic physical principles for the resonant and nonresonant thermonuclear reaction rates are applied to find their standard representations for nuclear astrophysics. Closed-form representations for the resonant reaction rate are derived in terms of Meijer's G-function. Analytic representations of the resonant and nonresonant nuclear reaction rates are compared and the appearance of Meijer's G-function is discussed in physical terms

Credit rating dynamics and competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hirth, Stefan

2014-01-01

I analyze the market for credit ratings with competition between more than two rating agencies. How can honest rating behavior be achieved, and under which conditions can a new honest rating agency successfully invade a market with inflating incumbents? My model predicts cyclic dynamics...

High population increase rates.

Science.gov (United States)

1991-09-01

In addition to its economic and ethnic difficulties, the USSR faces several pressing demographic problems, including high population increase rates in several of its constituent republics. It has now become clear that although the country's rigid centralized planning succeeded in covering the basic needs of people, it did not lead to welfare growth. Since the 1970s, the Soviet economy has remained sluggish, which as led to increase in the death and birth rates. Furthermore, the ideology that held that demography could be entirely controlled by the country's political and economic system is contradicted by current Soviet reality, which shows that religion and ethnicity also play a significant role in demographic dynamics. Currently, Soviet republics fall under 2 categories--areas with high or low natural population increase rates. Republics with low rates consist of Christian populations (Armenia, Moldavia, Georgia, Byelorussia, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine), while republics with high rates are Muslim (Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizia, Azerbaijan Kazakhstan). The later group has natural increase rates as high as 3.3%. Although the USSR as a whole is not considered a developing country, the later group of republics fit the description of the UNFPA's priority list. Another serious demographic issue facing the USSR is its extremely high rate of abortion. This is especially true in the republics of low birth rates, where up to 60% of all pregnancies are terminated by induced abortions. Up to 1/5 of the USSR's annual health care budget is spent on clinical abortions -- money which could be better spent on the production of contraceptives. Along with the recent political and economic changes, the USSR is now eager to deal with its demographic problems.

Decomposing the social discount rate

OpenAIRE

Scarborough, Helen

2010-01-01

Recent modelling of the costs and benefits of climate change has renewed debate surrounding assumptions regarding the social discount rate in analysing the impacts of environmental change. Previous literature segments the social discount rate into being influenced by two key factors; the rate of pure time preference and the elasticity of marginal utility of future consumption. These components of the social discount rate reinforce the linkages between the choice of social discount rate and in...

Exchange rate smoothing in Hungary

OpenAIRE

Karádi, Péter

2005-01-01

The paper proposes a structural empirical model capable of examining exchange rate smoothing in the small, open economy of Hungary. The framework assumes the existence of an unobserved and changing implicit exchange rate target. The central bank is assumed to use interest rate policy to obtain this preferred rate in the medium term, while market participants are assumed to form rational expectations about this target and influence exchange rates accordingly. The paper applies unobserved varia...

National Rates of Uterine Rupture are not Associated with Rates of Previous Caesarean Delivery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Colmorn, Lotte B.; Langhoff-Roos, Jens; Jakobsson, Maija

2017-01-01

% of all Nordic deliveries. Information on the comparison population was retrieved from the national medical birth registers. Incidence rate ratios by previous caesarean delivery and intended mode of delivery after caesarean were modelled using Poisson regression. RESULTS: The incidence of uterine rupture......BACKGROUND: Previous caesarean delivery and intended mode of delivery after caesarean are well-known individual risk factors for uterine rupture. We examined if different national rates of uterine rupture are associated with differences in national rates of previous caesarean delivery and intended...... was 7.8/10 000 in Finland and 4.6/10 000 in Denmark. Rates of caesarean (21.3%) and previous caesarean deliveries (11.5%) were highest in Denmark, while the rate of intended vaginal delivery after caesarean was highest in Finland (72%). National rates of uterine rupture were not associated...

Hydration rate of obsidian.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, I; Long, W

1976-01-30

The hydration rates of 12 obsidian samples of different chemical compositions were measured at temperatures from 95 degrees to 245 degrees C. An expression relating hydration rate to temperature was derived for each sample. The SiO(2) content and refractive index are related to the hydration rate, as are the CaO, MgO, and original water contents. With this information it is possible to calculate the hydration rate of a sample from its silica content, refractive index, or chemical index and a knowledge of the effective temperature at which the hydration occurred. The effective hydration temperature can be either measured or approximated from weather records. Rates have been calculated by both methods, and the results show that weather records can give a good approximation to the true EHT, particularly in tropical and subtropical climates. If one determines the EHT by any of the methods suggested, and also measures or knows the rate of hydration of the particular obsidian used, it should be possible to carry out absolute dating to +/- 10 percent of the true age over periods as short as several years and as long as millions of years.

The Correlation of Sovereign Rating and Bonds’ Interest Rate in EU Member States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilian-Constantin MIRICESCU

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The importance of borrowing is fundamental for central public administration and it consists in sources of f nancing budget def cit and ref nanc-ing government debt. In the last years, a lot of countries had diff culties regarding the payment of public loans at their maturity due to the burden of government debt to GDP ratio. In this situa-tion, investors lose their conf dence not only in the country that is facing problems, but also in other states that pay their debt at maturity. For this reason, they are careful at any change that affects sovereign rating. From our investigation we found that sover-eign rating has a negative inf uence on bonds’ interest rate. As such, decision makers from central public administration should focus on improving sovereign ratings in order to decrease interest rates.

Rate Control Efficacy in Permanent Atrial Fibrillation : Successful and Failed Strict Rate Control Against a Background of Lenient Rate Control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenveld, Hessel F.; Tijssen, Jan G. P.; Crijns, Harry J. G. M.; Van den Berg, Maarten P.; Hillege, Hans L.; Alings, Marco; Van Veldhuisen, Dirk J.; Van Gelder, Isabelle C.

2013-01-01

Objectives This study sought to investigate differences in outcome between patients treated with successful strict, failed strict, and lenient rate control. Background The RACE II (Rate Control Efficacy in Permanent Atrial Fibrillation) study showed no difference in outcome between lenient and

An Empirical Investigation into Exchange Rate Regime Choice and Exchange Rate Volatility

OpenAIRE

Helge Berger; Jan-Egbert Sturm; Jakob de Haan

2000-01-01

We test a simple model of exchange rate regime choice with data for 65 non-OECD countries covering the period 1980-94. We find that the variance of output at home and in potential target c ountries as well as the correlation between home and foreign real activity are powerful and robust predictors of exchange rate regime choice. Surprisingly, a more volatile foreign economy can be an argument in favor of a fixed exchange rate regime once similarities in the business cycle are taken into accou...

National Utility Rate Database: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ong, S.; McKeel, R.

2012-08-01

When modeling solar energy technologies and other distributed energy systems, using high-quality expansive electricity rates is essential. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed a utility rate platform for entering, storing, updating, and accessing a large collection of utility rates from around the United States. This utility rate platform lives on the Open Energy Information (OpenEI) website, OpenEI.org, allowing the data to be programmatically accessed from a web browser, using an application programming interface (API). The semantic-based utility rate platform currently has record of 1,885 utility rates and covers over 85% of the electricity consumption in the United States.

States with low non-fatal injury rates have high fatality rates and vice-versa.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendeloff, John; Burns, Rachel

2013-05-01

State-level injury rates or fatality rates are sometimes used in studies of the impact of various safety programs or other state policies. How much does the metric used affect the view of relative occupational risks among U.S. states? This paper uses a measure of severe injuries (fatalities) and of less severe injuries (non-fatal injuries with days away from work, restricted work, or job transfer-DART) to examine that issue. We looked at the correlation between the average DART injury rate (from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses) and an adjusted average fatality rate (from the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries) in the construction sector for states for 2003-2005 and for 2006-2008. The RAND Human Subjects Protection Committee determined that this study was exempt from review. The correlations between the fatal and non-fatal injury rates were between -0.30 and -0.70 for all construction and for the subsector of special trade contractors. The negative correlation was much smaller between the rate of fatal falls from heights and the rate of non-fatal falls from heights. Adjusting for differences in the industry composition of the construction sector across states had minor effects on these results. Although some have suggested that fatal and non-fatal injury rates should not necessarily be positively correlated, no one has suggested that the correlation is negative, which is what we find. We know that reported non-fatal rates are influenced by workers' compensation benefits and other factors. Fatality rates appear to be a more valid measure of risk. Efforts to explain the variations that we find should be undertaken. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Linkage of Credit on BI Rate, Funds Rate, Inflation and Government Spending on Capital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mangasa Augustinus Sipahutar

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Linkage of credit on BI rate, funds rate, inflation, and government spending on capital provides evidence from Indonesia.  This paper found advance explanation about banks credit as monetary transmission channel and its role on Indonesian economy.  We used credit depth as a ratio of banks credit to GDP nominal, to explain the role of credit in Indonesian economy.  We developed a VAR model to measure the response of credit to BI rate, funds rate and inflation rate, and OLS method to find out how banks credit response to government spending on capital. This paper revealed bi-direction causality between credit and BI rate, credit and funds rate, and credit and inflation.  There is trade-off between credit and BI rate, credit and funds rate, and credit and inflation, but government spending on capital promotes credit depth.  We found that Indonesian banking is bank view, allocated their credit based on their performance, not merely on the monetary policy determined by central bank.  For bank view perspectives, we analyzed the link between LDR as an indicator of credit channel mechanism to NPLs and CAR.  We found that there is no significant effect of CAR to LDR, but has a strong negatively relationship between NPLs to LDR.  This evidence indicates that commercial banks in Indonesia allocated their credit do not related to their capital but merely to the quality of their credit portfolio.

Sovereign ratings in the post-crisis world : an analysis of actual, shadow and relative risk ratings

OpenAIRE

Basu, Kaushik; De, Supriyo; Ratha, Dilip; Timmer, Hans

2013-01-01

This paper analyzes the evolution of sovereign credit ratings in the wake of the global financial crisis by studying changes in actual, shadow, and relative ratings between 2008 and 2012. For countries that do not have a rating from the major rating agencies, shadow ratings are estimated as a function of macroeconomic, structural, and governance variables. The shadow rating exercise confir...

High Dose-Rate Versus Low Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Lip Cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghadjar, Pirus, E-mail: pirus.ghadjar@insel.ch [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland); Bojaxhiu, Beat [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland); Simcock, Mathew [Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research Coordinating Center, Bern (Switzerland); Terribilini, Dario; Isaak, Bernhard [Division of Medical Radiation Physics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Bern (Switzerland); Gut, Philipp; Wolfensberger, Patrick; Broemme, Jens O.; Geretschlaeger, Andreas; Behrensmeier, Frank; Pica, Alessia; Aebersold, Daniel M. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland)

2012-07-15

Purpose: To analyze the outcome after low-dose-rate (LDR) or high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for lip cancer. Methods and Materials: One hundred and three patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the lip were treated between March 1985 and June 2009 either by HDR (n = 33) or LDR brachytherapy (n = 70). Sixty-eight patients received brachytherapy alone, and 35 received tumor excision followed by brachytherapy because of positive resection margins. Acute and late toxicity was assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 3.0. Results: Median follow-up was 3.1 years (range, 0.3-23 years). Clinical and pathological variables did not differ significantly between groups. At 5 years, local recurrence-free survival, regional recurrence-free survival, and overall survival rates were 93%, 90%, and 77%. There was no significant difference for these endpoints when HDR was compared with LDR brachytherapy. Forty-two of 103 patients (41%) experienced acute Grade 2 and 57 of 103 patients (55%) experienced acute Grade 3 toxicity. Late Grade 1 toxicity was experienced by 34 of 103 patients (33%), and 5 of 103 patients (5%) experienced late Grade 2 toxicity; no Grade 3 late toxicity was observed. Acute and late toxicity rates were not significantly different between HDR and LDR brachytherapy. Conclusions: As treatment for lip cancer, HDR and LDR brachytherapy have comparable locoregional control and acute and late toxicity rates. HDR brachytherapy for lip cancer seems to be an effective treatment with acceptable toxicity.

Heart rate monitoring mobile applications

OpenAIRE

Chaudhry, Beenish M.

2016-01-01

Total number of times a heart beats in a minute is known as the heart rate. Traditionally, heart rate was measured using clunky gadgets but these days it can be measured with a smartphone?s camera. This can help you measure your heart rate anywhere and at anytime, especially during workouts so you can adjust your workout intensity to achieve maximum health benefits. With simple and easy to use mobile app, ?Unique Heart Rate Monitor?, you can also maintain your heart rate history for personal ...

The association between household poverty rates and tuberculosis case notification rates in Cambodia, 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mao Yang Eang

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Poverty is a risk factor for tuberculosis (TB; it increases the risk of infection and active disease but limits diagnostic opportunities. The role of poverty in the stagnant case detection in Cambodia is unclear. This study aims to assess the relationship between district household poverty rates and sputum-positive TB case notification rates (CNRs in Cambodia in 2010. Methods: Poisson regression models were used to calculate the relative risk of new sputum-positive TB CNR for Operational Districts (ODs with different poverty rates using data from the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control and the National Committee for SubNational Democratic Development. Models were adjusted for other major covariates and a geographical information system was used to examine the spatial distribution of these covariates in the country. Results: The univariate model showed a positive association between household poverty rates and sputum-positive TB CNRs. However, in multivariate models, after adjusting for major covariates, household poverty rates showed a significantly negative association with sputum-positive TB CNRs (relative risk [RR] = 0.95 per 5% increase in poverty rate. The negative association was stronger among males than females (RR = 0.93 versus 0.96 per 5% increase in poverty rate. Similar spatial patterns were observed between household poverty rates and other covariates, particularly OD population density. Conclusion: Household poverty rate is associated with a decrease in sputum-positive TB CNR in Cambodia, particularly in men. The potential of combining surveillance data and socioeconomic variables should be explored further to provide more insights for TB control programme planning.

Heart rate monitoring mobile applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhry, Beenish M

2016-01-01

Total number of times a heart beats in a minute is known as the heart rate. Traditionally, heart rate was measured using clunky gadgets but these days it can be measured with a smartphone's camera. This can help you measure your heart rate anywhere and at anytime, especially during workouts so you can adjust your workout intensity to achieve maximum health benefits. With simple and easy to use mobile app, 'Unique Heart Rate Monitor', you can also maintain your heart rate history for personal reflection and sharing with a provider.

Legal issues of tax rates

OpenAIRE

Sadílek, Jiří

2010-01-01

Tax rate problems The subject of the graduation thesis is legal problems of tax rate. The aim of this thesis is description and estimation of the flat tax rate and states, where is established. First of all I define the basic kinds of tax systems - the tax system with one tax rate, the progressive tax system and the flat tax system. Further I deal with the principles and elements of the flat tax rate as interpreted by American economists Robert E. Hall and Alvin Rabushka who are generally ack...

Optimal Discount Rates for Government Projects

OpenAIRE

Park, Sangkyun

2012-01-01

Project selection based on the net present value can be optimal only if the discount rate is optimal. The optimal discount rate for a government project can be a risk-free rate, a comparable market rate (market interest rate corresponding to the risk of cash flows to the government), or an adjusted market rate, depending on circumstances. This paper clarifies the conditions for each case. Provided that the optimal discount rate is the comparable market rate, it varies across intervention meth...

Combining Review Text Content and Reviewer-Item Rating Matrix to Predict Review Rating

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bingkun; Huang, Yongfeng; Li, Xing

2016-01-01

E-commerce develops rapidly. Learning and taking good advantage of the myriad reviews from online customers has become crucial to the success in this game, which calls for increasingly more accuracy in sentiment classification of these reviews. Therefore the finer-grained review rating prediction is preferred over the rough binary sentiment classification. There are mainly two types of method in current review rating prediction. One includes methods based on review text content which focus almost exclusively on textual content and seldom relate to those reviewers and items remarked in other relevant reviews. The other one contains methods based on collaborative filtering which extract information from previous records in the reviewer-item rating matrix, however, ignoring review textual content. Here we proposed a framework for review rating prediction which shows the effective combination of the two. Then we further proposed three specific methods under this framework. Experiments on two movie review datasets demonstrate that our review rating prediction framework has better performance than those previous methods. PMID:26880879

Combining Review Text Content and Reviewer-Item Rating Matrix to Predict Review Rating.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bingkun; Huang, Yongfeng; Li, Xing

2016-01-01

E-commerce develops rapidly. Learning and taking good advantage of the myriad reviews from online customers has become crucial to the success in this game, which calls for increasingly more accuracy in sentiment classification of these reviews. Therefore the finer-grained review rating prediction is preferred over the rough binary sentiment classification. There are mainly two types of method in current review rating prediction. One includes methods based on review text content which focus almost exclusively on textual content and seldom relate to those reviewers and items remarked in other relevant reviews. The other one contains methods based on collaborative filtering which extract information from previous records in the reviewer-item rating matrix, however, ignoring review textual content. Here we proposed a framework for review rating prediction which shows the effective combination of the two. Then we further proposed three specific methods under this framework. Experiments on two movie review datasets demonstrate that our review rating prediction framework has better performance than those previous methods.

Influence of birth rates and transmission rates on the global seasonality of rotavirus incidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitzer, Virginia E; Viboud, Cécile; Lopman, Ben A; Patel, Manish M; Parashar, Umesh D; Grenfell, Bryan T

2011-11-07

Rotavirus is a major cause of mortality in developing countries, and yet the dynamics of rotavirus in such settings are poorly understood. Rotavirus is typically less seasonal in the tropics, although recent observational studies have challenged the universality of this pattern. While numerous studies have examined the association between environmental factors and rotavirus incidence, here we explore the role of intrinsic factors. By fitting a mathematical model of rotavirus transmission dynamics to published age distributions of cases from 15 countries, we obtain estimates of local transmission rates. Model-predicted patterns of seasonal incidence based solely on differences in birth rates and transmission rates are significantly correlated with those observed (Spearman's ρ = 0.65, p birth rates and transmission rates and explore how vaccination may impact these patterns. Our results suggest that the relative lack of rotavirus seasonality observed in many tropical countries may be due to the high birth rates and transmission rates typical of developing countries rather than being driven primarily by environmental conditions. While vaccination is expected to decrease the overall burden of disease, it may increase the degree of seasonal variation in the incidence of rotavirus in some settings.

13 CFR 301.4 - Investment rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Investment rates. 301.4 Section... ELIGIBILITY, INVESTMENT RATE AND PROPOSAL AND APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS Investment Rates and Matching Share Requirements § 301.4 Investment rates. (a) Minimum Investment Rate. There is no minimum Investment Rate for a...

Mind the rate. Why rate global climate change matters, and how much

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambrosi, Ph.

2006-01-01

To assess climate policies in a cost-efficiency framework with constraints on the magnitude and rate of global climate change we have built RESPONSE, an optimal control integrated assessment model. Our results show that the uncertainty about climate sensitivity leads to significant short-term mitigation efforts all the more as the arrival of information regarding this parameter is belated. There exists thus a high opportunity cost to know before 2030 the true value of this parameter, which is not totally granted so far. Given this uncertainty, a +2 deg C objective could lead to rather stringent policy recommendations for the coming decades and might prove unacceptable. Furthermore, the uncertainty about climate sensitivity magnifies the influence of the rate constraint on short-term decision, leading to rather stringent policy recommendations for the coming decades. This result is particularly robust to the choice of discount rate and to the beliefs of the decision-maker about climate sensitivity. We finally show that the uncertainty about the rate constraint is even more important for short-term decision than the uncertainty about climate sensitivity or magnitude of warming. This means that the critical rate of climate change, i.e. a transient characteristic of climate risks, matters much more than the long-term objective of climate policy, i.e. the critical magnitude of climate change. Therefore, research should be aimed at better characterising climate change risks in view to help decision-makers in agreeing on a safe guardrail to limit the rate of global warming. (author)

Relaxed Poisson cure rate models.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Josemar; Cordeiro, Gauss M; Cancho, Vicente G; Balakrishnan, N

2016-03-01

The purpose of this article is to make the standard promotion cure rate model (Yakovlev and Tsodikov, ) more flexible by assuming that the number of lesions or altered cells after a treatment follows a fractional Poisson distribution (Laskin, ). It is proved that the well-known Mittag-Leffler relaxation function (Berberan-Santos, ) is a simple way to obtain a new cure rate model that is a compromise between the promotion and geometric cure rate models allowing for superdispersion. So, the relaxed cure rate model developed here can be considered as a natural and less restrictive extension of the popular Poisson cure rate model at the cost of an additional parameter, but a competitor to negative-binomial cure rate models (Rodrigues et al., ). Some mathematical properties of a proper relaxed Poisson density are explored. A simulation study and an illustration of the proposed cure rate model from the Bayesian point of view are finally presented. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Heart rate response to breathing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mehlsen, J; Pagh, K; Nielsen, J S

1987-01-01

Heart rate responses to stepwise and periodic changes in lung volume were studied in seven young healthy males. Stepwise inspiration and expiration both resulted in an increase in heart rate followed by a rapid decrease in heart rate. The fastest heart rate was reached in 1.6 +/- 0.5 s and in 3.......6 +/- 1.4 s in response to inspiration and expiration, respectively (P less than 0.01). The slowest heart rate was reached in 4.8 +/- 1.0 s and in 7.6 +/- 1.9 s in response to inspiration and expiration, respectively (P less than 0.01). Following this biphasic change the heart rate returned to a steady...... level. The difference between the fastest and the slowest heart rates was significantly larger in response to inspiration (21.7 +/- 7.3 beats per minute) than in response to expiration (12.0 +/- 7.3 beats per minute; P less than 0.01). Periodic changes in lung volume were performed with frequencies from...

Determinants of patient-rated and clinician-rated illness severity in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fervaha, Gagan; Takeuchi, Hiroyoshi; Agid, Ofer; Lee, Jimmy; Foussias, George; Remington, Gary

2015-07-01

The contribution of specific symptoms on ratings of global illness severity in patients with schizophrenia is not well understood. The present study examined the clinical determinants of clinician and patient ratings of overall illness severity. This study included 1,010 patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia who participated in the baseline visit of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study conducted between January 2001 and December 2004 and who had available symptom severity, side effect burden, cognition, and community functioning data. Both clinicians and patients completed the 7-point Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S), the primary measure of interest in the present study. Symptoms were rated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, and functional status with the Quality of Life Scale. Neurocognition, insight, and medication-related side effects were also evaluated. Clinicians rated illness severity significantly higher than patients (P negative, disorganized, and depressive symptoms, as well as functional outcome (all P values enhance patient engagement in care and improve outcomes. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00014001. © Copyright 2014 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Exchange Rate and Interest Rate in the Monetary Policy Reaction Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krušković Borivoje D.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years there has been a particular interest in the relation between exchange rates and interest rates both in developed countries and emerging countries. This is understandable given the important role that these variables have in determining the movement of nominal and real economic variables, including the movement of domestic inflation, real output, exports and imports, foreign exchange reserves, etc. To realized the importance of the given instruments selected macroeconomic indicators, data analysis (monthly data relating to Serbia was made on the basis of the Transfer Function Model, a data analysis (annual data relating to emerging countries was done on the basis of the Stepvise Multiple Regression model. In the transfer function model we used the Maximum Likelihood method for assessing unknown coefficients. In the gradual multiple regression model we used the Least Square method for the evaluation of unknown coefficients. All indicator values were used in the original unmodified form, i.e. there was no need for a variety of transformations. Empirical analysis showed that the exchange rate is a more significant transmission mechanism than the interest rate both in emerging markets and Serbia.

Airline Quality Rating 2013

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

2013-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method for assessing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2013, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for calendar year 2012. AQR scores for 2013 are based on 15 elements in four major areas that focus on airline performance aspects important to air travel consumers over the calendar year of 2012. The Airline Quality...

Does basal metabolic rate drive eating rate?

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Christiani Jeyakumar; Ponnalagu, Shalini; Bi, Xinyan; Forde, Ciaran

2018-05-15

There have been recent advances in our understanding of the drivers of energy intake (EI). However, the biological drivers of differences in eating rate (ER) remain less clear. Studies have reported that the fat-free mass (FFM) and basal metabolic rate (BMR) are both major components that contribute to daily energy expenditure (EE) and drive EI. More recently, a number of observations report that higher ER can lead to greater EI. The current study proposed that adults with a higher BMR and higher energy requirements would also exhibit higher ERs. Data on BMR, FFM, and ER were collected from 272 Chinese adults (91 males and 181 females) in a cross-sectional study. Analysis showed significant positive associations between BMR and ER (r s  = 0.405, p BMR explained about 15% of the variation in ER which was taken to be metabolically significant. This association provides metabolic explanation that the differences in an individual's BMR (hence energy requirements) may be correlated with ERs. This merits further research. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Basal metabolic rate and the rate of senescence in the great tit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwhuis, Sandra; Sheldon, Ben C.; Verhulst, Simon; Koteja, Pawel

1. Between-individual variation in rates of senescence has recently been found to relate to natal and early-life conditions in several natural populations. Mechanistic theories of senescence have predicted between-individual variation in basal metabolic rate (BMR) to also underlie such variation in

Empirical rate equation model and rate calculations of hydrogen generation for Hanford tank waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

HU, T.A.

1999-01-01

Empirical rate equations are derived to estimate hydrogen generation based on chemical reactions, radiolysis of water and organic compounds, and corrosion processes. A comparison of the generation rates observed in the field with the rates calculated for twenty eight tanks shows agreement within a factor of two to three

42 CFR 413.196 - Notification of changes in rate-setting methodologies and payment rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Notification of changes in rate-setting... NURSING FACILITIES Payment for End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Services and Organ Procurement Costs § 413.196 Notification of changes in rate-setting methodologies and payment rates. Link to an amendment...

High Dose-Rate Versus Low Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Lip Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghadjar, Pirus; Bojaxhiu, Beat; Simcock, Mathew; Terribilini, Dario; Isaak, Bernhard; Gut, Philipp; Wolfensberger, Patrick; Brömme, Jens O.; Geretschläger, Andreas; Behrensmeier, Frank; Pica, Alessia; Aebersold, Daniel M.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To analyze the outcome after low-dose-rate (LDR) or high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for lip cancer. Methods and Materials: One hundred and three patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the lip were treated between March 1985 and June 2009 either by HDR (n = 33) or LDR brachytherapy (n = 70). Sixty-eight patients received brachytherapy alone, and 35 received tumor excision followed by brachytherapy because of positive resection margins. Acute and late toxicity was assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 3.0. Results: Median follow-up was 3.1 years (range, 0.3–23 years). Clinical and pathological variables did not differ significantly between groups. At 5 years, local recurrence-free survival, regional recurrence-free survival, and overall survival rates were 93%, 90%, and 77%. There was no significant difference for these endpoints when HDR was compared with LDR brachytherapy. Forty-two of 103 patients (41%) experienced acute Grade 2 and 57 of 103 patients (55%) experienced acute Grade 3 toxicity. Late Grade 1 toxicity was experienced by 34 of 103 patients (33%), and 5 of 103 patients (5%) experienced late Grade 2 toxicity; no Grade 3 late toxicity was observed. Acute and late toxicity rates were not significantly different between HDR and LDR brachytherapy. Conclusions: As treatment for lip cancer, HDR and LDR brachytherapy have comparable locoregional control and acute and late toxicity rates. HDR brachytherapy for lip cancer seems to be an effective treatment with acceptable toxicity.

Rate design in a competitive environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wathen, J.M.

1995-01-01

Innovative rate designs used by several United States utilities to become more competitive, were presented. Considerations of retail wheeling and other services for increasing competitiveness were debated. The process for designing specialized rate programs was described, along with descriptions of special rate types, including economic development rates, load retention/anti-bypass rates, cogeneration/self-generation rates, distressed industry rates, load management rates and special situation rates. The existence of special provisions in state legislation allowing special rates to be offered was noted. Confidentiality and the need for a review process to ensure fairness of special agreements was discussed. The efficacy of using individual customer contracts to allow full recognition of the special characteristics and needs of individual customers and the effects of such contracts on the industry, were considered

Extending the Direct Behavior Rating: An Examination of Schoolwide Behavior Ratings and Academic Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Bruhn, Allison; Barron, Sheila; Fernando, Josephine; Balint-Langel, Kinga

2018-01-01

Direct behavior ratings have been identified as a practical and feasible alternative to direct observation of behavior for monitoring behavioral progress. Despite the evidence of usability, there have been calls for further examination of direct behavior ratings using different behaviors and scales. To this end, we examined the ratings of…

On a Corporate Bond Pricing Model with Credit Rating Migration Risksand Stochastic Interest Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Liang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we study a corporate bond-pricing model with credit rating migration and astochastic interest rate. The volatility of bond price in the model strongly depends on potential creditrating migration and stochastic change of the interest rate. This new model improves the previousexisting models in which the interest rate is considered to be a constant. The existence, uniquenessand regularity of the solution for the model are established. Moreover, some properties includingthe smoothness of the free boundary are obtained. Furthermore, some numerical computations arepresented to illustrate the theoretical results.

Correlation analysis of the progesterone-induced sperm acrosome reaction rate and the fertilisation rate in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, T; Qin, Y; Ye, T; Wang, Y; Pan, J; Zhu, Y; Duan, L; Li, K; Teng, X

2015-10-01

In this study, we aimed to investigate whether progesterone-induced acrosome reaction (AR) rate could be an indicator for fertilisation rate in vitro. Twenty-six couples with unexplained infertility and undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment were involved. On the oocytes retrieval day after routine IVF, residual sperm samples were collected to receive progesterone induction (progesterone group) or not (control group). AR rate was calculated and fertilisation rate was recorded. The correlation between progesterone-induced AR and fertilisation rate and between sperm normal morphology and 3PN (tripronuclear) were analysed using the Spearman correlation analysis. The AR rate of progesterone group was statistically higher than that of the control group (15.6 ± 5.88% versus 9.66 ± 5.771%, P rate (r = -0.053, P > 0.01) or rate of high-quality embryo development (r = -0.055, P > 0.01). Normal sperm morphology also showed no significant correlation with the amount of 3PN zygotes (r = 0.029, P > 0.01), rate of 3PN zygotes production (r = 0.20, P > 0.01), rate of 3PN embryo development (r = -0.406, P > 0.01), fertilisation rate (r = -0.148, P > 0.01) or progesterone-induced AR rate (r = 0.214, P > 0.01). Progesterone can induce AR in vitro significantly; however, the progesterone-induced AR may not be used to indicate fertilisation rate. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Subcutaneous insulin infusion: change in basal infusion rate has no immediate effect on insulin absorption rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hildebrandt, P.; Birch, K.; Jensen, B.M.; Kuehl, C.

1986-01-01

Eight insulin-dependent diabetic patients were simultaneously given subcutaneous infusions (1.12 IU/h each) of 125 I-labeled Actrapid insulin in each side of the abdominal wall. After 24 h of infusion, the size of the infused insulin depots was measured by external counting for 5 h. The basal infusion rate was then doubled in one side and halved in the other for the next 4 h. Finally, 1.12 IU/h of insulin was given in both sides of the abdominal wall for an additional 3 h. The changes in the size of the depots were measured, and the absorption rates for each hour were calculated. During the first 5 h of infusion, the depot size was almost constant (approximately 5 IU) with an absorption rate that equaled the infusion rate. Doubling the infusion rate led to a significant increase in depot size, but the absorption rate remained unchanged for the first 3 h, and only thereafter was a significant increase seen. When the infusion rate was reduced to the initial 1.12 IU/h, the absorption rate remained elevated during the next 3 h. Correspondingly, when the infusion rate was decreased, the depot size also decreased, but the absorption rate remained unchanged for the first 3 h. The results show that a change in the basal insulin infusion rate does not lead to any immediate change in the insulin absorption rate. This should be considered when planning an insulin-infusion program that includes alteration(s) in the basal-rate setting

High Strain Rate Tensile Testing of Silver Nanowires: Rate-Dependent Brittle-to-Ductile Transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachandramoorthy, Rajaprakash; Gao, Wei; Bernal, Rodrigo; Espinosa, Horacio

2016-01-13

The characterization of nanomaterials under high strain rates is critical to understand their suitability for dynamic applications such as nanoresonators and nanoswitches. It is also of great theoretical importance to explore nanomechanics with dynamic and rate effects. Here, we report in situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) tensile testing of bicrystalline silver nanowires at strain rates up to 2/s, which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in the literature. The experiments are enabled by a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) with fast response time. It was identified that the nanowire plastic deformation has a small activation volume (ductile failure mode transition was observed at a threshold strain rate of 0.2/s. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that along the nanowire, dislocation density and spatial distribution of plastic regions increase with increasing strain rate. Furthermore, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations show that deformation mechanisms such as grain boundary migration and dislocation interactions are responsible for such ductility. Finally, the MD and experimental results were interpreted using dislocation nucleation theory. The predicted yield stress values are in agreement with the experimental results for strain rates above 0.2/s when ductility is pronounced. At low strain rates, random imperfections on the nanowire surface trigger localized plasticity, leading to a brittle-like failure.

Labor Force Participation Rate

Data.gov (United States)

City and County of Durham, North Carolina — This thematic map presents the labor force participation rate of working-age people in the United States in 2010. The 2010 Labor Force Participation Rate shows the...

High Rate Digital Demodulator ASIC

Science.gov (United States)

Ghuman, Parminder; Sheikh, Salman; Koubek, Steve; Hoy, Scott; Gray, Andrew

1998-01-01

The architecture of High Rate (600 Mega-bits per second) Digital Demodulator (HRDD) ASIC capable of demodulating BPSK and QPSK modulated data is presented in this paper. The advantages of all-digital processing include increased flexibility and reliability with reduced reproduction costs. Conventional serial digital processing would require high processing rates necessitating a hardware implementation in other than CMOS technology such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) which has high cost and power requirements. It is more desirable to use CMOS technology with its lower power requirements and higher gate density. However, digital demodulation of high data rates in CMOS requires parallel algorithms to process the sampled data at a rate lower than the data rate. The parallel processing algorithms described here were developed jointly by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The resulting all-digital receiver has the capability to demodulate BPSK, QPSK, OQPSK, and DQPSK at data rates in excess of 300 Mega-bits per second (Mbps) per channel. This paper will provide an overview of the parallel architecture and features of the HRDR ASIC. In addition, this paper will provide an over-view of the implementation of the hardware architectures used to create flexibility over conventional high rate analog or hybrid receivers. This flexibility includes a wide range of data rates, modulation schemes, and operating environments. In conclusion it will be shown how this high rate digital demodulator can be used with an off-the-shelf A/D and a flexible analog front end, both of which are numerically computer controlled, to produce a very flexible, low cost high rate digital receiver.

Testing the Control of Mineral Supply Rates on Chemical Erosion Rates in the Klamath Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

West, N.; Ferrier, K.

2016-12-01

The relationship between rates of chemical erosion and mineral supply is central to many problems in Earth science, including how tightly Earth's climate should be coupled to tectonics, how strongly nutrient supply to soils and streams depends on soil production, and how much lithology affects landscape evolution. Despite widespread interest in this relationship, there remains no consensus on how closely coupled chemical erosion rates should be to mineral supply rates. To address this, we have established a network of field sites in the Klamath Mountains along a latitudinal transect that spans an expected gradient in mineral supply rates associated with the geodynamic response to the migration of the Mendocino Triple Junction. Here, we present new measurements of regolith geochemistry and topographic analyses that will be compared with cosmogenic 10Be measurements to test hypotheses about supply-limited and kinetically-limited chemical erosion on granodioritic ridgetops. Previous studies in this area suggest a balance between rock uplift rates and basin wide erosion rates, implying the study ridgetops may have adjusted to an approximate steady state. Preliminary data are consistent with a decrease in chemical depletion fraction (CDF) with increasing ridgetop curvature. To the extent that ridgetop curvature reflects ridgetop erosion rates, this implies that chemical erosion rates at these sites are influenced by both mineral supply rates and dissolution kinetics.

Implantation rate effects on microstructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choyke, W.J.; Spitznagel, J.A.; Wood, S.; Doyle, N.J.

1981-01-01

We report a detailed TEM study of rate effects in a metal (304 SS) where we dope with an insoluble atom (He) and create the displacement damage with high energy Si. The rates of doping and the rates of producing lattice damage are independently varied during dual implantation. In addition to varying the doping rates of the He the magnitude of the displacement damage prior to He implantation is also varied (beam history). We find that the beam history has virtually no effect on maximum bubble size but it has a major effect on the average cavity diameter. A weak dependence of cavity number density on helium implantation rate is found. The total dislocation density is relatively independent of the doping rate and beam history at 550 and 700 0 C, whereas the loop fraction is sensitive to beam history at these temperatures. Acicular precipitate formation is weakly dependent on doping, doping rate and more strongly dependent on doping concentration and temperature. This form of solute segregation is very sensitive to beam history. (orig.)

Combining Review Text Content and Reviewer-Item Rating Matrix to Predict Review Rating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bingkun Wang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available E-commerce develops rapidly. Learning and taking good advantage of the myriad reviews from online customers has become crucial to the success in this game, which calls for increasingly more accuracy in sentiment classification of these reviews. Therefore the finer-grained review rating prediction is preferred over the rough binary sentiment classification. There are mainly two types of method in current review rating prediction. One includes methods based on review text content which focus almost exclusively on textual content and seldom relate to those reviewers and items remarked in other relevant reviews. The other one contains methods based on collaborative filtering which extract information from previous records in the reviewer-item rating matrix, however, ignoring review textual content. Here we proposed a framework for review rating prediction which shows the effective combination of the two. Then we further proposed three specific methods under this framework. Experiments on two movie review datasets demonstrate that our review rating prediction framework has better performance than those previous methods.

Rising Long-term Interest Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallett, Andrew Hughes

Rather than chronicle recent developments in European long-term interest rates as such, this paper assesses the impact of increases in those interest rates on economic performance and inflation. That puts us in a position to evaluate the economic pressures for further rises in those rates......, the first question posed in this assignment, and the scope for overshooting (the second question), and then make some illustrative predictions of future interest rates in the euro area. We find a wide range of effects from rising interest rates, mostly small and mostly negative, focused on investment...... till the emerging European recovery is on a firmer basis and capable of overcoming increases in the cost of borrowing and shrinking fiscal space. There is also an implication that worries about rising/overshooting interest rates often reflect the fact that inflation risks are unequally distributed...

Effectiveness of high interest rate policy on exchange rates: A reexamination of the Asian financial crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chin Diew Lai

2006-09-01

Full Text Available One of the most controversial issues in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis has been the appropriate response of monetary policy to a sharp decline in the value of some currencies. In this paper, we empirically examine the effects on Asian exchange rates of sharply higher interest rates during the Asian financial crisis. Taking account of the currency contagion effect, our results indicate that sharply higher interest rates helped to support the exchange rates of South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. For Malaysia, no significant causal relation is found from the rate of interest to exchange rates, as the authorities in Malaysia did not actively adopt a high interest rate policy to defend the currency.

47 CFR 65.800 - Rate base.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Rate base. 65.800 Section 65.800 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES (CONTINUED) INTERSTATE RATE OF RETURN PRESCRIPTION PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGIES Rate Base § 65.800 Rate base. The rate base shall...

Calculating graduation rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Starck, Patricia L; Love, Karen; McPherson, Robert

2008-01-01

In recent years, the focus has been on increasing the number of registered nurse (RN) graduates. Numerous states have initiated programs to increase the number and quality of students entering nursing programs, and to expand the capacity of their programs to enroll additional qualified students. However, little attention has been focused on an equally, if not more, effective method for increasing the number of RNs produced-increasing the graduation rate of students enrolling. This article describes a project that undertook the task of compiling graduation data for 15 entry-level programs, standardizing terms and calculations for compiling the data, and producing a regional report on graduation rates of RN students overall and by type of program. Methodology is outlined in this article. This effort produced results that were surprising to program deans and directors and is expected to produce greater collaborative efforts to improve these rates both locally and statewide.

76 FR 59767 - Interest Rates; Notice

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-27

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Interest Rates; Notice AGENCY: Small Business Administration. The Small Business Administration publishes an interest rate called the optional ``peg'' rate (13 CFR 120... fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This rate will be 3.125 (3\\1/8\\) percent for the October-December quarter...

Charged-particle thermonuclear reaction rates: II. Tables and graphs of reaction rates and probability density functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iliadis, C.; Longland, R.; Champagne, A.E.; Coc, A.; Fitzgerald, R.

2010-01-01

Numerical values of charged-particle thermonuclear reaction rates for nuclei in the A=14 to 40 region are tabulated. The results are obtained using a method, based on Monte Carlo techniques, that has been described in the preceding paper of this issue (Paper I). We present a low rate, median rate and high rate which correspond to the 0.16, 0.50 and 0.84 quantiles, respectively, of the cumulative reaction rate distribution. The meaning of these quantities is in general different from the commonly reported, but statistically meaningless expressions, 'lower limit', 'nominal value' and 'upper limit' of the total reaction rate. In addition, we approximate the Monte Carlo probability density function of the total reaction rate by a lognormal distribution and tabulate the lognormal parameters μ and σ at each temperature. We also provide a quantitative measure (Anderson-Darling test statistic) for the reliability of the lognormal approximation. The user can implement the approximate lognormal reaction rate probability density functions directly in a stellar model code for studies of stellar energy generation and nucleosynthesis. For each reaction, the Monte Carlo reaction rate probability density functions, together with their lognormal approximations, are displayed graphically for selected temperatures in order to provide a visual impression. Our new reaction rates are appropriate for bare nuclei in the laboratory. The nuclear physics input used to derive our reaction rates is presented in the subsequent paper of this issue (Paper III). In the fourth paper of this issue (Paper IV) we compare our new reaction rates to previous results.

Aspect-Aware Latent Factor Model: Rating Prediction with Ratings and Reviews

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Zhiyong; Ding, Ying; Zhu, Lei; Kankanhalli, Mohan

2018-01-01

Although latent factor models (e.g., matrix factorization) achieve good accuracy in rating prediction, they suffer from several problems including cold-start, non-transparency, and suboptimal recommendation for local users or items. In this paper, we employ textual review information with ratings to tackle these limitations. Firstly, we apply a proposed aspect-aware topic model (ATM) on the review text to model user preferences and item features from different aspects, and estimate the aspect...

7 CFR 1779.33 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 1779.33 Section 1779.33 Agriculture... (CONTINUED) WATER AND WASTE DISPOSAL PROGRAMS GUARANTEED LOANS § 1779.33 Interest rates. (a) General. Rates.... Interest rates will be those rates customarily charged borrowers in similar circumstances in the ordinary...

A parametric study of rate of advance and area coverage rate performance of synthetic aperture radar.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raynal, Ann Marie [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hensley, Jr., William H. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Burns, Bryan L. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Doerry, Armin Walter [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2014-11-01

The linear ground distance per unit time and ground area covered per unit time of producing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, termed rate of advance (ROA) and area coverage rate (ACR), are important metrics for platform and radar performance in surveillance applications. These metrics depend on many parameters of a SAR system such as wavelength, aircraft velocity, resolution, antenna beamwidth, imaging mode, and geometry. Often the effects of these parameters on rate of advance and area coverage rate are non-linear. This report addresses the impact of different parameter spaces as they relate to rate of advance and area coverage rate performance.

Rising longitudinal trajectories in suicide rates: The role of firearm suicide rates and firearm legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Anestis, Michael D; Selby, Edward A; Butterworth, Sarah E

2017-07-01

Firearms account for approximately half of all US suicide deaths each year despite being utilized in only a small minority of suicide attempts. We examined the extent to which overall suicide rates fluctuated relative to firearm and non-firearm suicide rates across a period of 16years (1999-2015). We further tested the notion of means substitution by examining the association between firearm suicide rates and non-firearm suicide rates. Lastly, we examined the extent to which the presence of specific laws related to handgun ownership previously shown cross-sectionally to be associated with lower suicide rates (universal background checks, mandatory waiting periods) were associated with an attenuated trajectory in suicide rates across the study period. As anticipated, whereas decreases in firearm suicide rates were associated with decreases in overall suicide rates (b=0.46, SE=0.07, psuicides were not associated with off-setting increases in suicides by other methods (b=-0.04, SE=0.05, p=0.36). Furthermore, the absence of universal background check (b=0.12, SE=0.05, p=0.028) and mandatory waiting period (b=0.16, SE=0.06, p=0.008) laws was associated with a more steeply rising trajectory of statewide suicide rates. These results mitigate concerns regarding means substitution and speak to the potential high yield impact of systematically implemented means safety prevention efforts focused on firearms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Logic of Collective Rating

Science.gov (United States)

Nax, Heinrich

2016-05-01

The introduction of participatory rating mechanisms on online sales platforms has had substantial impact on firms' sales and profits. In this note, we develop a dynamic model of consumer influences on ratings and of rating influences on consumers, focussing on standard 5-star mechanisms as implemented by many platforms. The key components of our social influence model are the consumer trust in the `wisdom of crowds' during the purchase phase and indirect reciprocity during the rating decision. Our model provides an overarching explanation for well-corroborated empirical regularities. We quantify the performance of the voluntary rating mechanism in terms of realized consumer surplus with the no-mechanism and full-information benchmarks, and identify how it could be improved.

78 FR 44459 - Rate Regulation Reforms

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-24

... the interest rate. A simple multiplication of the nominal rate by the portion of the year covered by... makes technical changes to the full and simplified rate procedures; changes the interest rate that... allocation methodology for cross-over traffic. Part IV sets out the change in the interest rate carriers must...

27 CFR 70.93 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interest rate. 70.93... Excise and Special (Occupational) Tax Interest § 70.93 Interest rate. (a) In general. The interest rate... annual percentage rate of interest will exceed the prescribed rate of interest. (b) Applicability of...

7 CFR 3575.33 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 3575.33 Section 3575.33 Agriculture... GENERAL Community Programs Guaranteed Loans § 3575.33 Interest rates. (a) General. Rates will be negotiated between the lender and the borrower. They may be either fixed or variable rates. Interest rates...

Increased heart rate variability but normal resting metabolic rate in hypocretin/orexin-deficient human narcolepsy.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fronczek, R.; Overeem, S.; Reijntjes, R.; Lammers, G.J.; Dijk, J.G.M.; Pijl, H.

2008-01-01

STUDY OBJECTIVES: We investigated autonomic balance and resting metabolic rate to explore their possible involvement in obesity in hypocretin/orexin-deficient narcoleptic subjects. METHODS: Resting metabolic rate (using indirect calorimetry) and variability in heart rate and blood pressure were

The Air Quality and Economic Impact of Atmospheric Lead from General Aviation Aircraft in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, P. J.; Selin, N. E.; Barrett, S. R. H.

2015-12-01

While leaded fuels for automobiles were phased-out of use in the United States by 1996, lead (Pb) continues to be used as an anti-knock additive for piston-driven aircraft. We model the annual concentration of atmospheric lead attributable to piston driven aircraft emissions in the continental United States using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Using aircraft emissions inventories for 2008, we then calculate annual economic damages from lead as lifetime employment losses for a one-year cohort exposed to elevated atmospheric lead concentrations using a range of concentration response functions from literature. Mean and median estimates of annual damages attributable to lifetime lost earnings are 1.06 and 0.60 billion respectively. Economy-wide impacts of IQ-deficits on productivity and labor increase expected damages by 54%. Damages are sensitive to background lead concentrations; as emissions decrease from other sources, the damages attributable to aviation are expected to increase holding aviation emissions constant. The monetary impact of General Aviation lead emissions on the environment is the same order of magnitude as noise, climate change, and air quality degradation from all commercial operations.

Bio-MTBE. A new option to fulfil biofuel quota for gasoline; Bio-MTBE. Eine neue Option zur Erfuellung der Biokraftstoffquote in Ottokraftstoffen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Busch, Oliver M.; Schade, Arnd; Locher, Annette [Evonik Industries AG, Essen (Germany)

2013-05-15

To meet the legally required bio-fuel quota in gasoline, an alternative to the ethanol blend E10 is nowavailable for nearly one year. Evonik Industries has introduced a bio-version of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), an anti-knock agent, on the market. Chemically, both products are identical, because in production methanol is exchanged for bio-methanol. Bio-methanol is produced from raw glycerine, which arises as a byproduct from biodiesel production. This makes bio-MTBE an ideal bio-fuel component as defined by the EU's Renewable Energy Directive: Fuel components made from waste and residues are ''double counted'' regarding their bio-energy content. The product is widely used in the German and Dutch markets. In both countries, bio- MTBE is legally recognized as a bio-fuel component fulfilling double counting requirements. In the meantime, also other European countries have been introducing double counting for second-generation biofuel components. The EU Commission proposed to allow components based on residual materials to be calculated fourfold in the future. Should this be the case, bio-MTBE would become significantly more valuable. (orig.)

7 CFR 1714.4 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 1714.4 Section 1714.4 Agriculture... PRE-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR INSURED ELECTRIC LOANS General § 1714.4 Interest rates. (a) Municipal rate loans. Each advance of funds on a municipal rate loan shall bear interest at a single rate...

Rate of force development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maffiuletti, Nicola A; Aagaard, Per; Blazevich, Anthony J

2016-01-01

The evaluation of rate of force development during rapid contractions has recently become quite popular for characterising explosive strength of athletes, elderly individuals and patients. The main aims of this narrative review are to describe the neuromuscular determinants of rate of force devel...

Relationship among reaction rate, release rate and efficiency of nanomachine-based targeted drug delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Qingying; Li, Min; Luo, Jun

2017-12-04

In nanomachine applications towards targeted drug delivery, drug molecules released by nanomachines propagate and chemically react with tumor cells in aqueous environment. If the nanomachines release drug molecules faster than the tumor cells react, it will result in loss and waste of drug molecules. It is a potential issue associated with the relationship among reaction rate, release rate and efficiency. This paper aims to investigate the relationship among reaction rate, release rate and efficiency based on two drug reception models. We expect to pave a way for designing a control method of drug release. We adopted two analytical methods that one is drug reception process based on collision with tumors and another is based on Michaelis Menten enzymatic kinetics. To evaluate the analytical formulations, we used the well-known simulation framework N3Sim to establish simulations. The analytical results of the relationship among reaction rate, release rate and efficiency is obtained, which match well with the numerical simulation results in a 3-D environment. Based upon two drug reception models, the results of this paper would be beneficial for designing a control method of nanomahine-based drug release.

7 CFR 1980.320 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Interest rate. 1980.320 Section 1980.320 Agriculture... REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) GENERAL Rural Housing Loans § 1980.320 Interest rate. The interest rate must not... interest rate over the life of the loan. The rate shall be agreed upon by the borrower and the Lender and...

Analysis of the spatial rates dose rates during dental panoramic radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ko, Jong Kyung [Dept. of Radiation Safety Management Commission, Daegu Health College, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Park, Myeong Hwan [Dept. of Radiologic Technology, Daegu Health College, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Yong Min [Dept. of Radiological Science, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2016-12-15

A dental panoramic radiography which usually uses low level X-rays is subject to the Nuclear Safety Act when it is installed for the purpose of education. This paper measures radiation dose and spatial dose rate by usage and thereby aims to verify the effectiveness of radiation safety equipment and provide basic information for radiation safety of radiation workers and students. After glass dosimeter (GD-352M) is attached to direct exposure area, the teeth, and indirect exposure area, the eye lens and the thyroid, on the dental radiography head phantom, these exposure areas are measured. Then, after dividing the horizontal into a 45°, it is separated into seven directions which all includes 30, 60, 90, 120 cm distance. The paper shows that the spatial dose rate is the highest at 30 cm and declines as the distance increases. At 30 cm, the spatial dose rate around the starting area of rotation is 3,840 μSv/h, which is four times higher than the lowest level 778 μSv/h. Furthermore, the spatial dose rate was 408 μSv/h on average at the distance of 60 cm where radiation workers can be located. From a conservative point of view, It is possible to avoid needless exposure to radiation for the purpose of education. However, in case that an unintended exposure to radiation happens within a radiation controlled area, it is still necessary to educate radiation safety. But according to the current Medical Service Act, in medical institutions, even if they are not installed, the equipment such as interlock are obliged by the Nuclear Safety Law, considering that the spatial dose rate of the educational dental panoramic radiography room is low. It seems to be excessive regulation.

Effect of neutron irradiation on hatching rate of eggs and growth rate of chicken

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yubin; Zhao Jide; Liu Shengdian; Xy Xiuwei

1995-01-01

It was proved through 3 years of experiments and productions that after the eggs of AA meat chickens being irradiated by 14 MeV fast neutron, the hatching rate and the survival rate as well the weight of commercial chickens increased greatly. In addition it is found that the optimum neutron fluence for hatching and growth rate is 6.2 x 10 5 n·cm -2

78 FR 14821 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-07

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Indian Gaming Commission Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian..., that the National Indian Gaming Commission has adopted its 2013 preliminary annual fee rates of 0.00... self-regulation under 25 CFR part 518, the 2013 preliminary fee rate on Class II revenues shall be one...

Management of interest rate risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šabović Šerif

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Interest rate risk is one of the biggest and most dangerous risks that a bank is exposed to. When a change of interest rates occurs, the incomes of a bank based on credits and securities endure significant changes. Banks resources also endure some changes. The change of interest rates changes the value of the assets and liabilities of the bank and it's net and investment worth . The change of interest rates also affects bank's balance sheet, income sheet statement and bank's share capital.

7 CFR 4279.125 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 4279.125 Section 4279.125 Agriculture... Interest rates. The interest rate for the guaranteed loan will be negotiated between the lender and the applicant and may be either fixed or variable as long as it is a legal rate. Interest rates will not be more...

Effects of interest rate, exchange rate and their volatilities on stock prices: evidence from banking industry of Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syed Tehseen JAWAID

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the effects of exchange rate, interest rates, and their volatilities on stock prices of banking industry of Pakistan. Cointegration results suggests the existance of significant negative long run relationship between exchange rate and short term interest rate with stock prices. On the other hand, positive and significant relationship exists between volatilities of exchange rate and interest rate with stock prices. Causality analysis confirms bidirectional causality between exchange rate and stock prices. Whereas, unidirectional causality runs from short term interest rate to stock prices. Sensitivity analysis confirms that the results are robust. It is suggested that investors should invest in banking sector stocks when exchange rate and interest rates are highly volatile. The result also supports the view that exchange rate and interest rate can be used as an indicator for investment decision making in banking sector stocks.

Self-rated function, self-rated health, and postmortem evidence of brain infarcts: findings from the Nun Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Greiner, P A; Snowdon, D A; Greiner, L H

1999-07-01

Self-rated function is a new global measure. Previous findings suggest that self-rated function predicts future functional decline and is strongly associated with all-cause mortality. We hypothesized that the strength of the relationship of self-rated function to all-cause mortality was in part due to functional decline, such as would occur with brain infarcts. Self-ratings of function and health (on a 5-point scale, ranging from excellent to poor) were assessed annually on 630 participants in the Nun Study. Mortality surveillance extended from October 31, 1991 to March 1, 1998, and, among those who died, neuropathological examination determined postmortem evidence of brain infarcts. Cox regression modeling with self-rated function and health as time-dependent covariates and stratification by assessment period were used in these analyses. Self-rated function and health ratings of good, fair, and poor were significantly associated with doubling of the risk of mortality, compared with ratings of very good and excellent. Self-rated function ratings of fair or poor were associated with a threefold increase in the risk of mortality with brain infarcts, but self-rated function and health ratings of fair and poor were comparable in their association with all-cause mortality and mortality without brain infarcts. Self-rated function was significantly associated with mortality with brain infarcts, suggesting that brain infarcts may be experienced as functional loss but not recognized or labeled as disease. Our results suggest that self-rated function and health should be explored simultaneously in future research.

Weak interaction rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugarbaker, E.

1995-01-01

I review available techniques for extraction of weak interaction rates in nuclei. The case for using hadron charge exchange reactions to estimate such rates is presented and contrasted with alternate methods. Limitations of the (p,n) reaction as a probe of Gamow-Teller strength are considered. Review of recent comparisons between beta-decay studies and (p,n) is made, leading to cautious optimism regarding the final usefulness of (p,n)- derived GT strengths to the field of astrophysics. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

Rate of volcanism on Venus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fegley, B. Jr.; Prinn, R.G.

1988-07-01

The maintenance of the global H 2 SO 4 clouds on Venus requires volcanism to replenish the atmospheric SO 2 which is continually being removed from the atmosphere by reaction with calcium minerals on the surface of Venus. The first laboratory measurements of the rate of one such reaction, between SO 2 and calcite (CaCO 3 ) to form anhydrite (CaSO 4 ), are reported. If the rate of this reaction is representative of the SO 2 reaction rate at the Venus surface, then we estimate that all SO 2 in the Venus atmosphere (and thus the H 2 SO 4 clouds) will be removed in 1.9 million years unless the lost SO 2 is replenished by volcanism. The required rate of volcanism ranges from about 0.4 to about 11 cu km of magma erupted per year, depending on the assumed sulfur content of the erupted material. If this material has the same composition as the Venus surface at the Venera 13, 14 and Vega 2 landing sites, then the required rate of volcanism is about 1 cu km per year. This independent geochemically estimated rate can be used to determine if either (or neither) of the two discordant (2 cu km/year vs. 200 to 300 cu km/year) geophysically estimated rates is correct. The geochemically estimated rate also suggests that Venus is less volcanically active than the Earth

Heart rate effects of intraosseous injections using slow and fast rates of anesthetic solution deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Susi, Louis; Reader, Al; Nusstein, John; Beck, Mike; Weaver, Joel; Drum, Melissa

2008-01-01

The authors, using a crossover design, randomly administered, in a single-blind manner, 3 primary intraosseous injections to 61 subjects using: the Wand local anesthetic system at a deposition rate of 45 seconds (fast injection); the Wand local anesthetic system at a deposition rate of 4 minutes and 45 seconds (slow injection); a conventional syringe injection at a deposition rate of 4 minutes and 45 seconds (slow injection), in 3 separate appointments spaced at least 3 weeks apart. A pulse oximeter measured heart rate (pulse). The results demonstrated the mean maximum heart rate was statistically higher with the fast intraosseous injection (average 21 to 28 beats/min increase) than either of the 2 slow intraosseous injections (average 10 to 12 beats/min increase). There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 slow injections. We concluded that an intraosseous injection of 1.4 mL of 2% lidocaine with 1 : 100,000 epinephrine with the Wand at a 45-second rate of anesthetic deposition resulted in a significantly higher heart rate when compared with a 4-minute and 45-second anesthetic solution deposition using either the Wand or traditional syringe.

Literacy Rates and its Impact on Birth Rates in Nadia District, West Bengal, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahadeb Ghosh

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Equality in socio-economic component is essential for human development and social change. Educational inequality reduces economic growth and women's empowerment on the one hand and increases birth rate on the other. In population studies, it has been established that educational level is collinearly related with demographic behaviour. This study aims to investigate inequalities in literacy rates and its impact on birth rates in Nowpara-I Gram Panchayat (GP located in the Krishnagar II C.D. Block, Nadia District of West Bengal using a household survey conducted in 356 households among women aged 49 and above in triangulation with secondary data. The aim of this study is to explore the causes of the spatial inequalities in education and its effect on spatial variations in birth rates. The key finding suggest that in Nowpara-I, negative relationships exist between female education and birth rate because education has a positive impact on empowerment, late marriage, use of contraceptives and family size.

76 FR 7879 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-11

... NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission. ACTION... Commission has adopted preliminary annual fee rates of 0.00% for tier 1 and 0.074% (.00074) for tier 2 for... part 518, the preliminary fee rate on class II revenues for calendar year 2011 shall be one-half of the...

75 FR 5342 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-02

... NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission. ACTION... Commission has adopted preliminary annual fee rates of 0.00% for tier 1 and 0.060% (.00060) for tier 2 for... part 518, the preliminary fee rate on class II revenues for calendar year 2010 shall be one-half of the...

77 FR 5267 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-02

... NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission. ACTION... Commission has adopted preliminary annual fee rates of 0.00% for tier 1 and 0.074% (.00074) for tier 2 for... part 518, the preliminary fee rate on class II revenues for calendar year 2012 shall be one-half of the...

75 FR 44807 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-29

... NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission. ACTION... Commission has adopted final annual fee rates of 0.00% for tier 1 and 0.060% (.00060) for tier 2 for calendar... 518, the preliminary fee rate on class II revenues for calendar year 2010 shall be one-half of the...

18 CFR 284.10 - Rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... of the Natural Gas Act. (3) Differentiation due to time and distance. Any rate filed for service... Subpart G of this part, it may not charge, in a transaction involving its marketing affiliate, a rate that is lower than the highest rate it charges in any transaction not involving its marketing affiliate...

76 FR 38207 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-29

... NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission. ACTION... Commission has adopted final annual fee rates of 0.00% for tier 1 and 0.074% (.00074) for tier 2 for calendar... 518, the final fee rate on class II revenues for calendar year 2011 shall be one-half of the annual...

77 FR 41202 - Fee Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-12

... NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION Fee Rate AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission. ACTION... Commission has adopted final annual fee rates of 0.00% for tier 1 and 0.074% (.00074) for tier 2 for calendar... 518, the final fee rate on class II revenues for calendar year 2012 shall be one-half of the annual...

Developments in the Frequency of Ratings and Evaluation Tendencies: A Review of German Physician Rating Websites.

Science.gov (United States)

McLennan, Stuart; Strech, Daniel; Reimann, Swantje

2017-08-25

Physician rating websites (PRWs) have been developed to allow all patients to rate, comment, and discuss physicians' quality online as a source of information for others searching for a physician. At the beginning of 2010, a sample of 298 randomly selected physicians from the physician associations in Hamburg and Thuringia were searched for on 6 German PRWs to examine the frequency of ratings and evaluation tendencies. The objective of this study was to examine (1) the number of identifiable physicians on German PRWs; (2) the number of rated physicians on German PRWs; (3) the average and maximum number of ratings per physician on German PRWs; (4) the average rating on German PRWs; (5) the website visitor ranking positions of German PRWs; and (6) how these data compare with 2010 results. A random stratified sample of 298 selected physicians from the physician associations in Hamburg and Thuringia was generated. Every selected physician was searched for on the 6 PRWs (Jameda, Imedo, Docinsider, Esando, Topmedic, and Medführer) used in the 2010 study and a PRW, Arztnavigator, launched by Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK). The results were as follows: (1) Between 65.1% (194/298) on Imedo to 94.6% (282/298) on AOK-Arztnavigator of the physicians were identified on the selected PRWs. (2) Between 16.4% (49/298) on Esando to 83.2% (248/298) on Jameda of the sample had been rated at least once. (3) The average number of ratings per physician ranged from 1.2 (Esando) to 7.5 (AOK-Arztnavigator). The maximum number of ratings per physician ranged from 3 (Esando) to 115 (Docinsider), indicating an increase compared with the ratings of 2 to 27 in the 2010 study sample. (4) The average converted standardized rating (1=positive, 2=neutral, and 3=negative) ranged from 1.0 (Medführer) to 1.2 (Jameda and Topmedic). (5) Only Jameda (position 317) and Medführer (position 9796) were placed among the top 10,000 visited websites in Germany. Whereas there has been an overall increase in

Moment generating function approach to pricing interest rate and foreign exchange rate claims

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, T.K.; Yao, Y.

2002-01-01

This paper uses moment generating functions to provide a general framework to model international term structures and to price interest rate and foreign exchange rate claims. When moment generating functions of state variables have a closed-form formula, closed-form formulas for bond prices are

Reliability of Direct Behavior Ratings--Social Competence (DBR-SC) Data: How Many Ratings Are Necessary?

Science.gov (United States)

Kilgus, Stephen P.; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris; Stichter, Janine P.; Schoemann, Alexander M.; Bellesheim, Katie

2016-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the reliability of Direct Behavior Ratings--Social Competence (DBR-SC) ratings. Participants included 60 students identified as possessing deficits in social competence, as well as their 23 classroom teachers. Teachers used DBR-SC to complete ratings of 5 student behaviors within the general…

Investigation of the dose rate dependency of the PAGAT gel dosimeter at low dose rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zehtabian, M.; Faghihi, R.; Zahmatkesh, M.H.; Meigooni, A.S.; Mosleh-Shirazi, M.A.; Mehdizadeh, S.; Sina, S.; Bagheri, S.

2012-01-01

Medical physicists need dosimeters such as gel dosimeters capable of determining three-dimensional dose distributions with high spatial resolution. To date, in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), polyacrylamide gel (PAG) polymers are the most promising gel dosimetry systems. The purpose of this work was to investigate the dose rate dependency of the PAGAT gel dosimeter at low dose rates. The gel dosimeter was used for measurement of the dose distribution around a Cs-137 source from a brachytherapy LDR source to have a range of dose rates from 0.97 Gy h −1 to 0.06 Gy h −1 . After irradiation of the PAGAT gel, it was observed that the dose measured by gel dosimetry was almost the same at different distances (different dose rates) from the source, although the points nearer the source had been expected to receive greater doses. Therefore, it was suspected that the PAGAT gel is dose rate dependent at low dose rates. To test this further, three other sets of measurements were performed by placing vials containing gel at different distances from a Cs-137 source. In the first two measurements, several plastic vials were exposed to equal doses at different dose rates. An ionization chamber was used to measure the dose rate at each distance. In addition, three TLD chips were simultaneously irradiated in order to verify the dose to each vial. In the third measurement, to test the oxygen diffusion through plastic vials, the experiment was repeated again using plastic vials in a nitrogen box and glass vials. The study indicates that oxygen diffusion through plastic vials for dose rates lower than 2 Gy h −1 would affect the gel dosimeter response and it is suggested that the plastic vials or (phantoms) in an oxygen free environment or glass vials should be used for the dosimetry of low dose rate sources using PAGAT gel to avoid oxygen diffusion through the vials.

Factors Impacting Online Ratings for Otolaryngologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Calixto, Nathaniel E; Chiao, Whitney; Durr, Megan L; Jiang, Nancy

2018-06-01

To identify factors associated with online patient ratings and comments for a nationwide sample of otolaryngologists. Ratings, demographic information, and written comments were obtained for a random sample of otolaryngologists from HealthGrades.com and Vitals.com . Online Presence Score (OPS) was based on 10 criteria, including professional website and social media profiles. Regression analyses identified factors associated with increased rating. We evaluated for correlations between OPS and other attributes with star rating and used chi-square tests to evaluate content differences between positive and negative comments. On linear regression, increased OPS was associated with higher ratings on HealthGrades and Vitals; higher ratings were also associated with younger age on Vitals and less experience on HealthGrades. However, detailed correlation studies showed weak correlation between OPS and rating; age and graduation year also showed low correlation with ratings. Negative comments more likely focused on surgeon-independent factors or poor bedside manner. Though younger otolaryngologists with greater online presence tend to have higher ratings, weak correlations suggest that age and online presence have only a small impact on the content found on ratings websites. While most written comments are positive, deficiencies in bedside manner or other physician-independent factors tend to elicit negative comments.

Decreasing incidence rates of bacteremia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Stig Lønberg; Pedersen, C; Jensen, T G

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that the incidence rate of bacteremia has been increasing over time. However, few studies have distinguished between community-acquired, healthcare-associated and nosocomial bacteremia. METHODS: We conducted a population-based study among adults with first......-time bacteremia in Funen County, Denmark, during 2000-2008 (N = 7786). We reported mean and annual incidence rates (per 100,000 person-years), overall and by place of acquisition. Trends were estimated using a Poisson regression model. RESULTS: The overall incidence rate was 215.7, including 99.0 for community......-acquired, 50.0 for healthcare-associated and 66.7 for nosocomial bacteremia. During 2000-2008, the overall incidence rate decreased by 23.3% from 254.1 to 198.8 (3.3% annually, p incidence rate of community-acquired bacteremia decreased by 25.6% from 119.0 to 93.8 (3.7% annually, p

Effective Exchange Rate Classifications and Growth

OpenAIRE

Justin M. Dubas; Byung-Joo Lee; Nelson C. Mark

2005-01-01

We propose an econometric procedure for obtaining de facto exchange rate regime classifications which we apply to study the relationship between exchange rate regimes and economic growth. Our classification method models the de jure regimes as outcomes of a multinomial logit choice problem conditional on the volatility of a country's effective exchange rate, a bilateral exchange rate and international reserves. An `effective' de facto exchange rate regime classification is then obtained by as...

The Effects of a Normal Rate versus a Slow Intervalled Rate of Oral Nutrient Intake and Intravenous Low Rate Macronutrient Application on Psychophysical Function – Two Pilot Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Y. Denzer-Lippmann

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Stomach distension and energy per time are factors influencing satiety. Moreover, different rates of nutrient intake induce different stomach distension. The goal of our studies was to elucidate the influence of different oral rates of nutrient intake (normal rate versus slow intervalled rate; study I and intravenous low rate macronutrient application (protein, carbohydrate, fat or placebo (study II on psychophysical function. The pilot studies investigated the effects of 1 study I: a mixed nutrient solution (1/3 protein, 1/3 fat, 1/3 carbohydrates 2 study II: intravenous macronutrient infusions (protein, carbohydrate, fat or placebo on psychophysical function (mood, hunger, food craving, alertness, smell intensity ratings and hedonic ratings in human subjects. In study I 10 male subjects (age range: 21–30 years completed the study protocol participating in both test conditions and in study II 20 male subjects (age range: 19–41 years completed the study protocol participating in all test conditions. Additionally, metabolic function was analyzed and cognitive and olfactory tests were conducted twice starting 100 min before the beginning of the intervention and 240 min after. Psychophysical (mood, hunger, fat-, protein-, carbohydrate-, sweets- and vegetable-craving, alertness and metabolic function tests were performed seven times on each examination day. Greater effects on hunger and food cravings were observed for normal rate of intake compared to slow intervalled rate of intake and intravenous low rate macronutrient application. Our findings potentially confirm that volume of the food ingested and a higher rate of energy per time contribute to satiety during normal rate of food intake, while slow intervalled rate of food intake and intravenous low rate macronutrient application showed no effects on satiation. Our results motivate the view that a certain amount of volume of the food ingested and a certain energy per time ratio are necessary

Dose-rate effects and chronological changes of chromosome aberration rates in spleen cells from mice that are chronically exposed to gamma-ray at low dose rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Kimio; Kohda, Atsushi; Ichinohe, Kazuaki; Matsumoto, Tsuneya; Oghiso, Yoichi

2006-01-01

Dose-rate effects have not been examined in the low dose-rate regions of less than 60-600 mGy/h. Mice were chronically exposed to gamma-ray at 20 mGy/day (approximately 1 mGy/h) up to 700 days and at 1 mGy/day (approximately 0.05 mGy/h) for 500 days under SPF conditions. Chronological changes of chromosome aberration rates in spleen cells were observed along with accumulated doses at both low dose-rates. Unstable aberrations increased in a biphasic manner within 0-2 Gy and 4-14 Gy in 20 mGy/day irradiation. They slightly increased up to 0.5 Gy in 1 mGy/day irradiation. Chromosome aberration rates at 20 mGy/day and 1 mGy/day were compared at the same total doses of 0.5 Gy and 0.25 Gy. They were 2.0 vs. 0.53, and 1.0 vs. 0.47 respectively. Thus, dose-rate effects were observed in these low dose-rate regions. (author)

The new NISSAN V8 gasoline engine with VVEL and DIG

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ando, Shosaku; Chujo, Keisuke [Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Kanagawa (Japan)

2010-07-01

This paper describes the new 5.6-Liter V8 engine, which has been developed for use in Nissan and Infiniti full-size SUV's with the purpose of achieving excellent performance while responding to the growing environmental requirements of lower fuel consumption and lower emissions. To achieve higher full load performance, lower fuel consumption under partial load operation and lower exhaust gas emissions at cold start operation; Continuous Variable Valve Event and Lift (VVEL) and Direct Injection Gasoline (DIG) are employed as key technologies. Concerning DIG combustion concept, a wall-guided concept with side spray was finally selected for this engine rather than a spray-guided concept with centre spray in order to obtain high volumetric efficiency in natural aspiration. CFD was fully used for not only air flow, but also for fuel dynamic behaviour to analyze mixture formation in detail. The optimized intake port, piston crown shape and combustion chamber with masking shape especially realized homogeneous combustion. The concrete key factors are higher flow rate coefficient and tumble ratio for both partial load with lower valve lift and full load conditions. Thus homogeneity of mixture for anti-knocking capability at low valve lift and higher flow coefficient at WOT were developed and confirmed. Also, stratified charge combustion enables ignition timing retard and lean Air / Fuel ratio, which improves the catalyst warm up and HC gas emission after engine start. On top of the higher DIG thermal efficiency, the VVEL system which is carried over from the VK50VE and VQ37VHR engines, improves fuel consumption at partial loads by reducing pumping loss. This paper describes details of this new engine as well as highlights of the applied technologies and development procedures which have contributed to the highly balanced performances of the engine. (orig.)

FURTHER STUDIES ON THE VARIATION OF SPRAY DEPOSITS IN VINEYARDS WITH AIRFLOW RATE AND VOLUME RATE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuele Cerruto

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The present research, continuing that reported in [2], deals with the spray application subject, so to investigate as volume rate and airflow rate, forward speed being equal, affect the foliar deposition in an espalier vineyard. Experimental trials were carried out by means of an air assisted towed sprayer, equipped with “Albuz ATR” nozzles. To take into account the influence of the development of the trees, the field trials were replicated in two phenological stages with an interval of about one month: “Inflorescences fully developed” (stage 1 and “Beginning of berry touch” (stage 2. A full factorial experiment was carried out for each growth stage, with two airflow rates (3.9 and 7.5 m3/s, three volume rates (103, 216, and 276 L/ha in the first growth stage and 154, 330 and 432 L/ha in the second growth stage, and four replicates, arranged according to a randomised complete block design. Working pressure (1.2 MPa and forward speed (1.4 m/s were kept unchanged for all the trials. The foliar deposition was measured by means of a spectrophotometric technique. The leaves were sampled on two depth layers and two or three heights, according to the trees’ development. The results showed that volume rate did not significantly influence the mean foliar deposition in both the two growth stages, while the highest deposits were obtained with the lowest airflow rate. The airflow rate × volume rate interaction, though not statistically significant, showed that low volume rates together with high airflow rates, result in a noticeable reduction in foliar deposition (29% with respect the grand mean, due to an increase of the spry drift, especially at the first growth stage, when the foliar development is little. These second tests, unlike those described in [2], did not show any positive influence of the airflow rate on the foliar deposition in the inner part of the canopy, so further investigations could be necessary to better understand the

Dose-rate effects on the bulk etch-rate of CR-39 track detector exposed to low-LET radiations

CERN Document Server

Yamauchi, T; Oda, K; Ikeda, T; Honda, Y; Tagawa, S

1999-01-01

The effect of gamma-rays and pulsed electrons has been investigated on the bulk etch rate of CR-39 detector at doses up to 100 kGy under various dose-rate between 0.0044 and 35.0 Gy/s. The bulk etch rate increased exponentially with the dose at every examined dose-rates. It was reveled to be strongly depend on the dose-rate: the bulk etch rate was decreased with increasing dose-rate at the same total dose. A primitive model was proposed to explain the dose-rate effect in which oxygen dissolved was assumed to dominate the damage formation process.

77 FR 36585 - Postal Rate Changes

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-19

... Service notice of rate and changes affecting Inbound Air Parcel Post at Universal Postal Union (UPU) rates... United States Postal Service of Filing Changes in Rates Not of General Applicability and Application for... the Postal Service's explanation of Inbound Air Parcel Post (at UPU Rates) provided in the initial...

Exchange rate stabilization under imperfect credibility

OpenAIRE

Calvo, Guillermo; Vegh, Carlos

1991-01-01

This paper analyzes stabilization policy under predetermined exchange rates in a cash-in-advance, staggered-prices model. Under full credibility, a reduction in the rate of devaluation results in an immediate and permanent reduction in the inflation rate, with no effect on output or consumption. In contrast, a non-credible stabilization results in an initial expansion of output, followed by a later recession. The inflation rate of home goods remains above the rate of devaluation throughout...

Evolutionary rates of mitochondrial genomes correspond to diversification rates and to contemporary species richness in birds and reptiles

Science.gov (United States)

Eo, Soo Hyung; DeWoody, J. Andrew

2010-01-01

Rates of biological diversification should ultimately correspond to rates of genome evolution. Recent studies have compared diversification rates with phylogenetic branch lengths, but incomplete phylogenies hamper such analyses for many taxa. Herein, we use pairwise comparisons of confamilial sauropsid (bird and reptile) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome sequences to estimate substitution rates. These molecular evolutionary rates are considered in light of the age and species richness of each taxonomic family, using a random-walk speciation–extinction process to estimate rates of diversification. We find the molecular clock ticks at disparate rates in different families and at different genes. For example, evolutionary rates are relatively fast in snakes and lizards, intermediate in crocodilians and slow in turtles and birds. There was also rate variation across genes, where non-synonymous substitution rates were fastest at ATP8 and slowest at CO3. Family-by-gene interactions were significant, indicating that local clocks vary substantially among sauropsids. Most importantly, we find evidence that mitochondrial genome evolutionary rates are positively correlated with speciation rates and with contemporary species richness. Nuclear sequences are poorly represented among reptiles, but the correlation between rates of molecular evolution and species diversification also extends to 18 avian nuclear genes we tested. Thus, the nuclear data buttress our mtDNA findings. PMID:20610427

Applications of Reaction Rate

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Kevin

2007-01-01

This article presents an assignment in which students are to research and report on a chemical reaction whose increased or decreased rate is of practical importance. Specifically, students are asked to represent the reaction they have chosen with an acceptable chemical equation, identify a factor that influences its rate and explain how and why it…

Exchange rate regulation, the behavior of exchange rates, and macroeconomic stability in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Eduardo Pires de Souza

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In the last two decades an entirely new set of rules governing the foreign exchange transactions was established in Brazil, substituting for the framework inherited from the 1930s. Foreign exchange controls were dismantled and a floating exchange rate regime replaced different forms of peg. In this paper we argue that although successful by comparison to previous experiences, the current arrangement has important flaws that should be addressed. We discuss how it first led to high volatility and extremely high interest rates, which, when overcome, gave way to a long lasting appreciation of the real exchange rate with adverse consequences to industry.

24 CFR 206.21 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interest rate. 206.21 Section 206... CONVERSION MORTGAGE INSURANCE Eligibility; Endorsement Eligible Mortgages § 206.21 Interest rate. (a) Fixed interest rate. A fixed interest rate is agreed upon by the mortgagor and mortgagee. (b) Adjustable interest...

7 CFR 4280.124 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 4280.124 Section 4280.124 Agriculture... Improvements Program Section B. Guaranteed Loans § 4280.124 Interest rates. (a) The interest rate for the... in similar circumstances in the ordinary course of business. The interest rate charged is subject to...

7 CFR 1980.423 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Interest rates. 1980.423 Section 1980.423 Agriculture... REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) GENERAL Business and Industrial Loan Program § 1980.423 Interest rates. (a) Guaranteed... variable as long as they are legal. Interest rates will be those rates customarily charged borrowers in...

48 CFR 942.704 - Billing rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ADMINISTRATION AND AUDIT SERVICES Indirect Cost Rates 942.704 Billing rates. (b) When the contracting officer or auditor responsible for establishing billing rates, in accordance with 48 CFR 42.704, has not established... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Billing rates. 942.704...

Base Rates: Both Neglected and Intuitive

Science.gov (United States)

Pennycook, Gordon; Trippas, Dries; Handley, Simon J.; Thompson, Valerie A.

2014-01-01

Base-rate neglect refers to the tendency for people to underweight base-rate probabilities in favor of diagnostic information. It is commonly held that base-rate neglect occurs because effortful (Type 2) reasoning is required to process base-rate information, whereas diagnostic information is accessible to fast, intuitive (Type 1) processing…

Temporal Trends in Fertility Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Martin Blomberg; Priskorn, Lærke; Jensen, Tina Kold

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Increasing age at first childbirth has been suggested to increase the risk for infertility. Our objective is to determine whether women above thirty years of age historically have been able to sustain fertility rates above replacement level. DESIGN: A descriptive nationwide Danish study...... to determine total and age specific fertility rates. RESULTS: Total fertility rate (TFR) decreased from 4.1 to 1.8 children per woman and age specific fertility also decreased from 1901 to 2014. Women aged 30-34, 35-39 or 40-44 years in the first decade of the 20th century had higher fertility rates than...... for 10% of TFR in 1901 compared with 4% in 2014 despite usage of assisted reproduction. CONCLUSION: This nationwide study shows that women above 30 years of age historically have been able to sustain fertility rates above replacement level. This implies that other factors besides age are strong...

Determinants of self-rated health: could health status explain the association between self-rated health and mortality?

Science.gov (United States)

Murata, Chiyoe; Kondo, Takaaki; Tamakoshi, Koji; Yatsuya, Hiroshi; Toyoshima, Hideaki

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to self-rated health and to mortality among 2490 community-living elderly. Respondents were followed for 7.3 years for all-cause mortality. To compare the relative impact of each variable, we employed logistic regression analysis for self-rated health and Cox hazard analysis for mortality. Cox analysis stratified by gender, follow-up periods, age group, and functional status was also employed. Series of analysis found that factors associated with self-rated health and with mortality were not identical. Psychological factors such as perceived isolation at home or 'ikigai (one aspect of psychological well-being)' were associated with self-rated health only. Age, functional status, and social relations were associated both with self-rated health and mortality after controlling for possible confounders. Illnesses and functional status accounted for 35-40% of variances in the fair/poor self-rated health. Differences by gender and functional status were observed in the factors related to self-rated health. Overall, self-rated health effect on mortality was stronger for people with no functional impairment, for shorter follow-up period, and for young-old age group. Although, illnesses and functional status were major determinants of self-rated health, economical, psychological, and social factors were also related to self-rated health.

Dynamic half-rate connections in GSM

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winands, E.M.M.; Wieland, J.; Sanders, B.

2006-01-01

Dynamic half-rate is an optional feature that allows a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) cell to switch new incoming half-rate capable calls to half-rate speech coding, when the cell is nearly congested. Since two half-rate speech calls can be put together in one single-time slot, dynamic

Exchange Rate Policy in Philippine Development

OpenAIRE

Bautista, Romeo M.

2003-01-01

This paper examines the conduct of exchange rate policy in the Philippines since the early 1980s, paying particular attention to the influence of exchange rate adjustments on relative production incentives. While primary interest is in the exchange rate regime and its incentive effects, the role of trade policy has to be simultaneously analyzed in view of its influence on the conduct of exchange rate policy as well as its direct effect on the real exchange rate. Moreover, there are analytical...

Property rating potentials and hurdles: what can be done to boost property rating in Ghana?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elias Danyi Kuusaana

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Population growth in many of Africa’s towns and cities has outpaced local authority capacity to provide efficient management, infrastructure and financing. There is already debate over the capability and capacity of urban local governments to provide basic services to a growing population, due to budget constraints and inability to raise the required local-level revenue. This paper looks at how the potential of property rating can be harnessed to generate the bulk of revenue needed for local-level development, despite the huge default rates across Ghana. Focusing on Wa Municipality as a case study, the study finds that the major hurdles to property rating are poor property data systems, political interference, non-enforcement of the law, low budget deficit in financing revaluation, insufficient staffing, and insufficient technical capacity of the few staff available at the municipal valuation and rating divisions. Despite these constraints, however, field data still indicates that property rating in Ghana, and especially in Wa Municipality, can generate up to 30% of local government revenue needed. This is conditional on streamlining current challenges and improving resources for the rating and valuation units. There is extensive non-payment of property rates in Wa Municipality due to lack of awareness of the purpose of this tax, of how to pay and of the penalties for defaulting payees.

Bayesian estimation of dose rate effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnish, J.J.; Groer, P.G.

2000-01-01

A Bayesian statistical method was used to quantify the effectiveness of high dose rate 137 Cs gamma radiation at inducing fatal mammary tumours and increasing the overall mortality rate in BALB/c female mice. The Bayesian approach considers both the temporal and dose dependence of radiation carcinogenesis and total mortality. This paper provides the first direct estimation of dose rate effectiveness using Bayesian statistics. This statistical approach provides a quantitative description of the uncertainty of the factor characterising the dose rate in terms of a probability density function. The results show that a fixed dose from 137 Cs gamma radiation delivered at a high dose rate is more effective at inducing fatal mammary tumours and increasing the overall mortality rate in BALB/c female mice than the same dose delivered at a low dose rate. (author)

Monitoring apparatus for monitoring a user's heart rate and/or heart rate variation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2012-01-01

A monitoring apparatus (4) monitors a user's heart rate and/or heart rate variation. The apparatus includes a capacitor (22) which is positionable on or near a body part of a person, for example a person's limb, for example an arm (3), such that an electrical capacitance of the capacitor (22) is

TRIP RATES FOR CONDOMINIUM CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wirach Hirun

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The number of large scale condominium construction projects had dramatically increased in Bangkok. Many projects had occurred in either densely populated areas or in central business districts, where traffic conditions were usually highly congested. To prevent traffic problems, a traffic impact study must be prepared and submitted for review by concerned public authorities. Unit trip generation rates were important data in traffic impact analysis. Without accurate unit trip generation rates, public agencies could not obtain accurate information on the traffic that will be generated. This study aimed to study trip rates and the factors affecting them for condominium construction project in Bangkok. The data were collected from 30 condominium construction sites located in 15 districts of Bangkok. The analysis used the linear regression method and was divided into three cases: 1 trip rates for all vehicles, 2 trip rates for classified vehicles, and 3 trip rates for all types of condominium. All case analyses considered weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday. The results found that trip rates related to the number of dwellings in the condominium. The trip rates for all vehicle types on weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday were 10.636, 4.647, and 9.294 vehicles per 100 dwelling units per day respectively. The trip rates for six-wheeled and ten-wheeled trucks on weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday were 2.046, 0.975, and 0.575 vehicles per 100 dwelling units per day respectively. The trip rate for four-wheeled trucks and passenger cars on weekdays was 1.960. Regarding condominium types, the trip rate for low rise condominiums for all vehicle types on weekdays was 5.315 while the trip rates for high rise condominiums for weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday were 3.965, 2.667, and 1.261 respectively.

7 CFR 1950.105 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Interest rate. 1950.105 Section 1950.105 Agriculture... rate. (a) The Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act requires that the effective interest rate charged a... Supervisor will send the borrower a letter which states that the interest rate on the borrower's FmHA or its...

23 CFR 650.707 - Rating factor.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rating factor. 650.707 Section 650.707 Highways FEDERAL..., STRUCTURES, AND HYDRAULICS Discretionary Bridge Candidate Rating Factor § 650.707 Rating factor. (a) The.... ER15OC02.010 The lower the rating factor, the higher the priority for selection and funding. (b) The terms...

Development of polymer film dosage forms of lidocaine for buccal administration. I. Penetration rate and release rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, H; Taguchi, H; Iida, K; Danjo, K

2001-12-13

We examined the penetration rate of lidocaine (LC) through excised oral mucosa from hamster cheek pouch and the in vitro release rate of LC from film dosage forms with hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) as a film base. Addition of glycyrrhizic acid (GL) to the HPC films increased the LC release rate almost GL-content-dependently, while an optimum GL content was observed for the LC penetration rate. No LC penetration was observed from an acidic aqueous solution (pH 3.4) of LC, suggesting only unionized LC can substantially penetrate through the mucosa. A significant relationship between the penetration rate of LC and the release rate of unionized LC was found, suggesting that the in vitro dissolution study is a useful tool to predict the penetration rate taking the unionized drug fraction into consideration.

Inflation Rate Modelling in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rezzy Eko Caraka

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The purposes of this research were to analyse: (i Modelling the inflation rate in Indonesia with parametric regression. (ii Modelling the inflation rate in Indonesia using non-parametric regression spline multivariable (iii Determining the best model the inflation rate in Indonesia (iv Explaining the relationship inflation model parametric and non-parametric regression spline multivariable. Based on the analysis using the two methods mentioned the coefficient of determination (R2 in parametric regression of 65.1% while non-parametric amounted to 99.39%. To begin with, the factor of money supply or money stock, crude oil prices and the rupiah exchange rate against the dollar is significant on the rate of inflation. The stability of inflation is essential to support sustainable economic development and improve people's welfare. In conclusion, unstable inflation will complicate business planning business activities, both in production and investment activities as well as in the pricing of goods and services produced.DOI: 10.15408/etk.v15i2.3260

12 CFR 614.4155 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 614.4155 Section 614.4155 Banks... Policies for Banks and Associations § 614.4155 Interest rates. Loans made by each bank and direct lender association shall bear interest at a rate or rates as may be determined by the institution board. The board...

7 CFR 4274.325 - Interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rates. 4274.325 Section 4274.325 Agriculture... (IRP) § 4274.325 Interest rates. (a) Loans made by the Agency pursuant to this subpart shall bear interest at a fixed rate of 1 percent per annum over the term of the loan. (b) Interest rates charged by...

Dietary restriction of rodents decreases aging rate without affecting initial mortality rate -- a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Mirre J P; Koch, Wouter; Verhulst, Simon

2013-06-01

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in multiple species from various taxa. This effect can arise via two distinct but not mutually exclusive ways: a change in aging rate and/or vulnerability to the aging process (i.e. initial mortality rate). When DR affects vulnerability, this lowers mortality instantly, whereas a change in aging rate will gradually lower mortality risk over time. Unraveling how DR extends lifespan is of interest because it may guide toward understanding the mechanism(s) mediating lifespan extension and also has practical implications for the application of DR. We reanalyzed published survival data from 82 pairs of survival curves from DR experiments in rats and mice by fitting Gompertz and also Gompertz-Makeham models. The addition of the Makeham parameter has been reported to improve the estimation of Gompertz parameters. Both models separate initial mortality rate (vulnerability) from an age-dependent increase in mortality (aging rate). We subjected the obtained Gompertz parameters to a meta-analysis. We find that DR reduced aging rate without affecting vulnerability. The latter contrasts with the conclusion of a recent analysis of a largely overlapping data set, and we show how the earlier finding is due to a statistical artifact. Our analysis indicates that the biology underlying the life-extending effect of DR in rodents likely involves attenuated accumulation of damage, which contrasts with the acute effect of DR on mortality reported for Drosophila. Moreover, our findings show that the often-reported correlation between aging rate and vulnerability does not constrain changing aging rate without affecting vulnerability simultaneously. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and the Anatomical Society.

BANK RATING. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Batrancea Ioan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Banks in Romania offers its customers a wide range of products but which involves both risk taking. Therefore researchers seek to build rating models to help managers of banks to risk of non-recovery of loans and interest. In the following we highlight rating Raiffeisen Bank, BCR-ERSTE Bank and Transilvania Bank, based on the models CAAMPL and Stickney making a comparative analysis of the two rating models.

Reaction rate of propene pyrolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Peipei; Su, Kehe; Liu, Yan; Wang, Yanli; Wang, Xin; Zeng, Qingfeng; Cheng, Laifei; Zhang, Litong

2011-10-01

The reaction rate of propene pyrolysis was investigated based on the elementary reactions proposed in Qu et al., J Comput Chem 2009, 31, 1421. The overall reaction rate was developed with the steady-state approximation and the rate constants of the elementary reactions were determined with the variational transition state theory. For the elementary reaction having transition state, the vibrational frequencies of the selected points along the minimum energy path were calculated with density functional theory at B3PW91/6-311G(d,p) level and the energies were improved with the accurate model chemistry method G3(MP2). For the elementary reaction without transition state, the frequencies were calculated with CASSCF/6-311G(d,p) and the energies were refined with the multireference configuration interaction method MRCISD/6-311G(d,p). The rate constants were evaluated within 200-2000 K and the fitted three-parameter expressions were obtained. The results are consistent with those in the literatures in most cases. For the overall rate, it was found that the logarithm of the rate and the reciprocal temperature have excellent linear relationship above 400 K, predicting that the rate follows a typical first-order law at high temperatures of 800-2000 K, which is also consistent with the experiments. The apparent activation energy in 800-2000 K is 317.3 kJ/mol from the potential energy surface of zero Kelvin. This value is comparable with the energy barriers, 365.4 and 403.7 kJ/mol, of the rate control steps. However, the apparent activation energy, 215.7 kJ/mol, developed with the Gibbs free energy surface at 1200 K is consistent with the most recent experimental result 201.9 ± 0.6 kJ/mol. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Annual Percentage Rate and Annual Effective Rate: Resolving Confusion in Intermediate Accounting Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Vicknair, David; Wright, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Evidence of confusion in intermediate accounting textbooks regarding the annual percentage rate (APR) and annual effective rate (AER) is presented. The APR and AER are briefly discussed in the context of a note payable and correct formulas for computing each is provided. Representative examples of the types of confusion that we found is presented…

Rate Adaptive OFDMA Communication Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdelhakim, M.M.M.

2009-01-01

Due to the varying nature of the wireless channels, adapting the transmission parameters, such as code rate, modulation order and power, in response to the channel variations provides a significant improvement in the system performance. In the OFDM systems, Per-Frame adaptation (PFA) can be employed where the transmission variables are fixed over a given frame and may change from one frame to the other. Subband (tile) loading offers more degrees of adaptation such that each group of carriers (subband) uses the same transmission parameters and different subbands may use different parameters. Changing the code rate for each tile in the same frame, results in transmitting multiple codewords (MCWs) for a single frame. In this thesis a scheme is proposed for adaptively changing the code rate of coded OFDMA systems via changing the puncturing rate within a single codeword (SCW). In the proposed structure, the data is encoded with the lowest available code rate then it is divided among the different tiles where it is punctured adaptively based on some measure of the channel quality for each tile. The proposed scheme is compared against using multiple codewords (MCWs) where the different code rates for the tiles are obtained using separate encoding processes. For bit interleaved coded modulation architecture two novel interleaving methods are proposed, namely the puncturing dependant interleaver (PDI) and interleaved puncturing (IntP), which provide larger interleaving depth. In the PDI method the coded bits with the same rate over different tiles are grouped for interleaving. In IntP structure the interleaving is performed prior to puncturing. The performance of the adaptive puncturing technique is investigated under constant bit rate constraint and variable bit rate. Two different adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) selection methods are examined for variable bit rate adaptive system. The first is a recursive scheme that operates directly on the SNR whereas the second

Rate shock crisis faces completed nukes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utroska, D.

1982-01-01

Political reluctance on the part of regulators to grant utilities a full rate base for large generating plants is a new crisis facing utilities with newly completed nuclear plants. Zero- or partial-rate treatment for large new plants will increase the financial strains of electric companies if they cannot recover their investment. Such rate decisions will affect the commitment to uncompleted and planned nuclear plants as the economic advantage is removed. Economists warn that consumer resistance to large rate increases to cover construction periods could lead to an overhaul of regulatory practices. Alternatives to sudden rate shocks could be moderated with phased-in increases or rate trending. Analysts disagree on whether consumer opposition is the beginning of a national movement or a regional response, but if other states follow Alabama's example of turning rate decisions over to the courts, it may confirm their assessment that the trending approach is unworkable

Optimum solar collector fluid flow rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Furbo, Simon; Shah, Louise Jivan

1996-01-01

Experiments showed that by means of a standard electronically controlled pump, type UPE 2000 from Grundfos it is possible to control the flow rate in a solar collector loop in such a way that the flow rate is strongly influenced by the temperature of the solar collector fluid passing the pump....... The flow rate is increasing for increasing temperature.The flow rate at the high temperature level is typically 70 % greater than the flow rate at the low temperature level.Further, the energy consumption for the electronically controlled pump in a solar heating system will be somewhat smaller than...... the energy consumption of a normal ciculation pump in the solar heating system.Calculations showed that the highest thermal performances for small SDHW systems based on mantle tanks with constant volume flow rates in the solar collector loops are achieved if the flow rate is situated in the interval from 0...

Liability aspects of home energy-rating systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendrickson, P.L.

1983-10-01

Liability aspects of home energy rating systems are discussed. An introduction to the rating system concept, including types of rating systems, implementation efforts to date, and possible groups to conduct ratings, is also included. The home energy rating system concept involves the periodic rating of the energy efficiency of residential buildings. The rating can provide a relative indication of a home's energy efficiency and also a quantitative estimate of consumption, fuel cost, or both. Primary attention is given to liability issues associated with developing and performing ratings. Secondary attention is given to possible liability associated with misuse of a rating once it has been performed.

Rating Migration and Bond Valuation: Decomposing Rating Migration Matrices from Market Data via Default Probability Term Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian BARNARD

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The study builds on previous research that decomposes rating category default probability term structures from rating category interest rate term structures, and proposes a method to decompose rating migration matrices from market data, via decomposed default probability term structures. To investigate the power and accuracy of the proposed method, it was examined to what extent an existing, known rating migration matrix could again be surfaced by the method. Overall, the results are more than satisfactory, and the method promises to be accurate. Although not considered here, the main objective is the application of the method to market data. The outcome should be insightful in itself, and can be used to evaluate historical rating migration matrices commonly devised by rating agencies, and to form a better understanding of the default probability term structures embedded in market data.

Rate based failure detection

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Brett Emery Trabun; Gamage, Thoshitha Thanushka; Bakken, David Edward

2018-01-02

This disclosure describes, in part, a system management component and failure detection component for use in a power grid data network to identify anomalies within the network and systematically adjust the quality of service of data published by publishers and subscribed to by subscribers within the network. In one implementation, subscribers may identify a desired data rate, a minimum acceptable data rate, desired latency, minimum acceptable latency and a priority for each subscription. The failure detection component may identify an anomaly within the network and a source of the anomaly. Based on the identified anomaly, data rates and or data paths may be adjusted in real-time to ensure that the power grid data network does not become overloaded and/or fail.

Homicide Rates in Lithuania.

Science.gov (United States)

Chmieliauskas, Sigitas; Laima, Sigitas; Andriuskeviciute, Gerda; Jurolaic, Eleonora; Jasulaitis, Algimantas

2018-05-01

Homicide rate in Lithuania between 2004 and 2013 decreased and reached an average of 6.7 per 100,000 people in 2013. The data regarding forensic autopsies of intentional homicide victims were obtained from the State Forensic Medicine Service. Spearman's correlation test was used to assess trends in the homicide rates. A significant correlation was observed between homicide distribution and the following variables: Lithuania's gross domestic product (r = -0.85, p = 0.003), the number of alcohol intoxication cases of victims (r = 0.97, p homicide distribution (p homicides were carried out indoors, 57% in urban area. The presented findings help decide which prevention programs may be the most effective in homicide rate reduction. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

A packet-based dual-rate PID control strategy for a slow-rate sensing Networked Control System.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuenca, A; Alcaina, J; Salt, J; Casanova, V; Pizá, R

2018-05-01

This paper introduces a packet-based dual-rate control strategy to face time-varying network-induced delays, packet dropouts and packet disorder in a Networked Control System. Slow-rate sensing enables to achieve energy saving and to avoid packet disorder. Fast-rate actuation makes reaching the desired control performance possible. The dual-rate PID controller is split into two parts: a slow-rate PI controller located at the remote side (with no permanent communication to the plant) and a fast-rate PD controller located at the local side. The remote side also includes a prediction stage in order to generate the packet of future, estimated slow-rate control actions. These actions are sent to the local side and converted to fast-rate ones to be used when a packet does not arrive at this side due to the network-induced delay or due to occurring dropouts. The proposed control solution is able to approximately reach the nominal (no-delay, no-dropout) performance despite the existence of time-varying delays and packet dropouts. Control system stability is ensured in terms of probabilistic Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Via real-time control for a Cartesian robot, results clearly reveal the superiority of the control solution compared to a previous proposal by authors. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Validity of Online Patient Ratings of Physicians: Analysis of Physician Peer Reviews and Patient Ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

McGrath, Robert J; Priestley, Jennifer Lewis; Zhou, Yiyun; Culligan, Patrick J

2018-04-09

Information from ratings sites are increasingly informing patient decisions related to health care and the selection of physicians. The current study sought to determine the validity of online patient ratings of physicians through comparison with physician peer review. We extracted 223,715 reviews of 41,104 physicians from 10 of the largest cities in the United States, including 1142 physicians listed as "America's Top Doctors" through physician peer review. Differences in mean online patient ratings were tested for physicians who were listed and those who were not. Overall, no differences were found between the online patient ratings based upon physician peer review status. However, statistical differences were found for four specialties (family medicine, allergists, internal medicine, and pediatrics), with online patient ratings significantly higher for those physicians listed as a peer-reviewed "Top Doctor" versus those who were not. The results of this large-scale study indicate that while online patient ratings are consistent with physician peer review for four nonsurgical, primarily in-office specializations, patient ratings were not consistent with physician peer review for specializations like anesthesiology. This result indicates that the validity of patient ratings varies by medical specialization. ©Robert J McGrath, Jennifer Lewis Priestley, Yiyun Zhou, Patrick J Culligan. Originally published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research (http://www.i-jmr.org/), 09.04.2018.

Self-rated and observer-rated measures of well-being and distress in adolescence: an exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vescovelli, Francesca; Albieri, Elisa; Ruini, Chiara

2014-01-01

The evaluation of eudaimonic well-being in adolescence is hampered by the lack of specific assessment tools. Moreover, with younger populations, the assessment of positive functioning may be biased by self-report data only, and may be more accurate by adding significant adults' evaluations. The objective of this research was to measure adolescents' well-being and prosocial behaviours using self-rated and observer-rated instruments, and their pattern of associations. The sample included 150 Italian high school adolescents. Observed-evaluation was performed by their school teachers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Adolescents completed Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scales and Symptom Questionnaire. Pearson' r correlations and Linear regression were performed. Self-rated dimensions of psychological well-being significantly correlated with all observer-rated dimensions, but Strengths and Difficulties Emotional symptom scale. Multiple linear regression showed that the self-rated dimensions Environmental Mastery and Personal Growth, and surprisingly not Positive Relations, are related to the observer-rated dimension Prosocial Behaviour. Adolescents with higher levels of well-being in specific dimensions tend to be perceived as less problematic by their teachers. However, some dimensions of positive functioning present discrepancies between self and observer-rated instruments. Thus, the conjunct use of self-reports and observer-rated tools for a more comprehensive assessment of students' eudaimonic well-being is recommended.

Reaction rate of hydrolysis of iodine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyake, Yoshikazu; Eguchi, Wataru; Adachi, Motonari

1979-01-01

Absorption rates of dilute iodine vapor contained in air by aqueous mixtures of sodium hydroxide and boric acid were measured using a laminar liquid jet column absorber at 298 K. Absorption rates in this system are controlled by a series of complex reactions taking place in the liquid phase. The reaction rate constant of iodine hydrolysis in the aqueous phase was determined from the absorption rates observed under the conditions that the base-catalytic hydrolysis reaction of iodine can be considered to be irreversible and that other reactions can be neglected. The absorption rates calculated theoretically with the rate constant value obtained above were in good accordance with the whole experimental data observed for a wide range of experimental conditions. (author)

Reliability of Direct Behavior Ratings - Social Competence (DBR-SC) data: How many ratings are necessary?

Science.gov (United States)

Kilgus, Stephen P; Riley-Tillman, T Chris; Stichter, Janine P; Schoemann, Alexander M; Bellesheim, Katie

2016-09-01

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the reliability of Direct Behavior Ratings-Social Competence (DBR-SC) ratings. Participants included 60 students identified as possessing deficits in social competence, as well as their 23 classroom teachers. Teachers used DBR-SC to complete ratings of 5 student behaviors within the general education setting on a daily basis across approximately 5 months. During this time, each student was assigned to 1 of 2 intervention conditions, including the Social Competence Intervention-Adolescent (SCI-A) and a business-as-usual (BAU) intervention. Ratings were collected across 3 intervention phases, including pre-, mid-, and postintervention. Results suggested DBR-SC ratings were highly consistent across time within each student, with reliability coefficients predominantly falling in the .80 and .90 ranges. Findings further indicated such levels of reliability could be achieved with only a small number of ratings, with estimates varying between 2 and 10 data points. Group comparison analyses further suggested the reliability of DBR-SC ratings increased over time, such that student behavior became more consistent throughout the intervention period. Furthermore, analyses revealed that for 2 of the 5 DBR-SC behavior targets, the increase in reliability over time was moderated by intervention grouping, with students receiving SCI-A demonstrating greater increases in reliability relative to those in the BAU group. Limitations of the investigation as well as directions for future research are discussed herein. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Super-Eddington Accretion in Tidal Disruption Events: the Impact of Realistic Fallback Rates on Accretion Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Samantha; Coughlin, Eric R.; Nixon, Chris

2018-04-01

After the tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole, disrupted stellar debris can fall back to the hole at a rate significantly exceeding its Eddington limit. To understand how black hole mass affects the duration of super-Eddington accretion in tidal disruption events, we first run a suite of simulations of the disruption of a Solar-like star by a supermassive black hole of varying mass to directly measure the fallback rate onto the hole, and we compare these fallback rates to the analytic predictions of the "frozen-in" model. Then, adopting a Zero-Bernoulli Accretion flow as an analytic prescription for the accretion flow around the hole, we investigate how the accretion rate onto the black hole evolves with the more accurate fallback rates calculated from the simulations. We find that numerically-simulated fallback rates yield accretion rates onto the hole that can, depending on the black hole mass, be nearly an order of magnitude larger than those predicted by the frozen-in approximation. Our results place new limits on the maximum black hole mass for which super-Eddington accretion occurs in tidal disruption events.

HANARO core channel flow-rate measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Heon Il; Chae, Hee Tae; Im, Don Soon; Kim, Seon Duk [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1996-06-01

HANARO core consists of 23 hexagonal flow tubes and 16 cylindrical flow tubes. To get the core flow distribution, we used 6 flow-rate measuring dummy fuel assemblies (instrumented dummy fuel assemblies). The differential pressures were measured and converted to flow-rates using the predetermined relationship between AP and flow-rate for each instrumented dummy fuel assemblies. The flow-rate for the cylindrical flow channels shows +-7% relative errors and that for the hexagonal flow channels shows +-3.5% relative errors. Generally the flow-rates of outer core channels show smaller values compared to those of inner core. The channels near to the core inlet pipe and outlet pipes also show somewhat lower flow-rates. For the lower flow channels, the thermal margin was checked by considering complete linear power histories. From the experimental results, the gap flow-rate was estimated to be 49.4 kg/s (cf. design flow of 50 kg/s). 15 tabs., 9 figs., 10 refs. (Author) .new.

Dose rate measuring device and dose rate measuring method using the same

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urata, Megumu; Matsushita, Takashi; Hanazawa, Sadao; Konno, Takahiro; Chiba, Yoshinori; Yumitate, Tadahiro

1998-01-01

The device of the present invention comprises a scintillation fiber scope having a shape elongated in the direction of the height of a pressure vessel and emitting light by incident of radiation to detect radiation, a radioactivity measuring device for measuring a dose rate based on the detection of the fiber scope and a reel means for dispensing and taking up the fiber scope, and it constituted such that the dose rate of the pressure vessel and that of a shroud are determined independently. Then, when the taken out shroud is contained in an container, excessive shielding is not necessary, in addition, this device can reliably be inserted to or withdrawn from complicated places between the pressure vessel and the shroud, and further, the dose rate of the pressure vessel and that of the shroud can be measured approximately accurately even when the thickness of them is different greatly. (N.H.)

Dose rate measuring device and dose rate measuring method using the same

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urata, Megumu; Matsushita, Takashi; Hanazawa, Sadao; Konno, Takahiro; Chiba, Yoshinori; Yumitate, Tadahiro

1998-11-13

The device of the present invention comprises a scintillation fiber scope having a shape elongated in the direction of the height of a pressure vessel and emitting light by incident of radiation to detect radiation, a radioactivity measuring device for measuring a dose rate based on the detection of the fiber scope and a reel means for dispensing and taking up the fiber scope, and it constituted such that the dose rate of the pressure vessel and that of a shroud are determined independently. Then, when the taken out shroud is contained in an container, excessive shielding is not necessary, in addition, this device can reliably be inserted to or withdrawn from complicated places between the pressure vessel and the shroud, and further, the dose rate of the pressure vessel and that of the shroud can be measured approximately accurately even when the thickness of them is different greatly. (N.H.)

26 CFR 1.1274-4 - Test rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... applicable Federal rate for the debt instrument is a foreign currency rate of interest that is analogous to... test rate of interest—(1) In general—(i) Test rate is the 3-month rate. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the test rate of interest for a debt instrument issued in consideration for...

Work Rate during Self-paced Exercise is not Mediated by the Rate of Heat Storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Friesen, Brian J; Périard, Julien D; Poirier, Martin P; Lauzon, Martin; Blondin, Denis P; Haman, Francois; Kenny, Glen P

2018-01-01

To date, there have been mixed findings on whether greater anticipatory reductions in self-paced exercise intensity in the heat are mediated by early differences in rate of body heat storage. The disparity may be due to an inability to accurately measure minute-to-minute changes in whole-body heat loss. Thus, we evaluated whether early differences in rate of heat storage can mediate exercise intensity during self-paced cycling at a fixed rate of perceived exertion (RPE of 16; hard-to-very-hard work effort) in COOL (15°C), NORMAL (25°C), and HOT (35°C) ambient conditions. On separate days, nine endurance-trained cyclists exercised in COOL, NORMAL, and HOT conditions at a fixed RPE until work rate (measured after first 5 min of exercise) decreased to 70% of starting values. Whole-body heat loss and metabolic heat production were measured by direct and indirect calorimetry, respectively. Total exercise time was shorter in HOT (57 ± 20 min) relative to both NORMAL (72 ± 23 min, P = 0.004) and COOL (70 ± 26 min, P = 0.045). Starting work rate was lower in HOT (153 ± 31 W) compared with NORMAL (166 ± 27 W, P = 0.024) and COOL (170 ± 33 W, P = 0.037). Rate of heat storage was similar between conditions during the first 4 min of exercise (all P > 0.05). Thereafter, rate of heat storage was lower in HOT relative to NORMAL and COOL until 30 min of exercise (last common time-point between conditions; all P exercise. No differences were measured at end exercise. We show that rate of heat storage does not mediate exercise intensity during self-paced exercise at a fixed RPE in cool to hot ambient conditions.

Status of rates and rate equations for thermal leptogenesis

Science.gov (United States)

Biondini, S.; Bödeker, D.; Brambilla, N.; Garny, M.; Ghiglieri, J.; Hohenegger, A.; Laine, M.; Mendizabal, S.; Millington, P.; Salvio, A.; Vairo, A.

2018-02-01

In many realizations of leptogenesis, heavy right-handed neutrinos play the main role in the generation of an imbalance between matter and antimatter in the early Universe. Hence, it is relevant to address quantitatively their dynamics in a hot and dense environment by taking into account the various thermal aspects of the problem at hand. The strong washout regime offers an interesting framework to carry out calculations systematically and reduce theoretical uncertainties. Indeed, any matter-antimatter asymmetry generated when the temperature of the hot plasma T exceeds the right-handed neutrino mass scale M is efficiently erased, and one can focus on the temperature window T ≪ M. We review recent progress in the thermal field theoretic derivation of the key ingredients for the leptogenesis mechanism: the right-handed neutrino production rate, the CP asymmetry in the heavy-neutrino decays and the washout rates. The derivation of evolution equations for the heavy-neutrino and lepton-asymmetry number densities, their rigorous formulation and applicability are also discussed.

Rate control for electron gun evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schellingerhout, A.J.G.; Janocko, M.A.; Klapwijk, T.M.; Mooij, J.E.

1989-01-01

Principles for obtaining high-quality rate control for electron gun evaporation are discussed. The design criteria for rate controllers are derived from this analysis. Results are presented which have been obtained with e-guns whose evaporation rate is controlled by a Wehnelt electrode or by sweeping of the electron beam. Further improvements of rate stability can be obtained by improved design of e-guns and power supplies

Ethical principles for physician rating sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Strech, Daniel

2011-12-06

During the last 5 years, an ethical debate has emerged, often in public media, about the potential positive and negative effects of physician rating sites and whether physician rating sites created by insurance companies or government agencies are ethical in their current states. Due to the lack of direct evidence of physician rating sites' effects on physicians' performance, patient outcomes, or the public's trust in health care, most contributions refer to normative arguments, hypothetical effects, or indirect evidence. This paper aims, first, to structure the ethical debate about the basic concept of physician rating sites: allowing patients to rate, comment, and discuss physicians' performance, online and visible to everyone. Thus, it provides a more thorough and transparent starting point for further discussion and decision making on physician rating sites: what should physicians and health policy decision makers take into account when discussing the basic concept of physician rating sites and its possible implications on the physician-patient relationship? Second, it discusses where and how the preexisting evidence from the partly related field of public reporting of physician performance can serve as an indicator for specific needs of evaluative research in the field of physician rating sites. This paper defines the ethical principles of patient welfare, patient autonomy, physician welfare, and social justice in the context of physician rating sites. It also outlines basic conditions for a fair decision-making process concerning the implementation and regulation of physician rating sites, namely, transparency, justification, participation, minimization of conflicts of interest, and openness for revision. Besides other issues described in this paper, one trade-off presents a special challenge and will play an important role when deciding about more- or less-restrictive physician rating sites regulations: the potential psychological and financial harms for

Real exchange rate misalignments

OpenAIRE

Terra, Maria Cristina T.; Valladares, Frederico Estrella Carneiro

2003-01-01

This paper characterizes episodes of real appreciations and depreciations for a sample of 85 countries, approximately from 1960 to 1998. First, the equilibrium real exchange rate series are constructed for each country using Goldfajn and Valdes (1999) methodology (cointegration with fundamentals). Then, departures from equilibrium real exchange rate (misalignments) are obtained, and a Markov Switching Model is used to characterize the misalignments series as stochastic autor...

Tank Z-361 dose rate calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richard, R.F.

1998-01-01

Neutron and gamma ray dose rates were calculated above and around the 6-inch riser of tank Z-361 located at the Plutonium Finishing Plant. Dose rates were also determined off of one side of the tank. The largest dose rate 0.029 mrem/h was a gamma ray dose and occurred 76.2 cm (30 in.) directly above the open riser. All other dose rates were negligible. The ANSI/ANS 1991 flux to dose conversion factor for neutrons and photons were used in this analysis. Dose rates are reported in units of mrem/h with the calculated uncertainty shown within the parentheses

Drying Rate of Carbonate of Nickel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ing. Aymara Ricardo-Riverón

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In the present work, the drying rate of carbonate of nickel was studied experimentally at the laboratory scale. The values of critical moisture are shown and the graphics: characteristic curve of drying rate and the moisture dependence of the time. Models ware obtained to estimate the slope of the constant - rate period and to the falling - rate period until the equilibrium humidity, in dependence of external factors: drying temperature, initial moisture and the pH of the slurry. The chemical composition of the carbonate didn't exercise effect statistically significant over the drying rate.

Dealing with China's future population decline: a proposal for replacing low birth rates with sustainable rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Shixiong; Wang, Xiuqing

2009-09-01

Decreasing population levels due to declining birth rates are becoming a potentially serious social problem in developed and rapidly developing countries. China urgently needed to reduce birth rates so that its population would decline to a sustainable level, and the family planning policy designed to achieve this goal has largely succeeded. However, continuing to pursue this policy is leading to serious, unanticipated problems such as a shift in the country's population distribution towards the elderly and increasing difficulty supporting that elderly population. Social and political changes that promoted low birth rates and the lack of effective policies to encourage higher birth rates suggest that mitigating the consequences of the predicted population decline will depend on a revised approach based on achieving sustainable birth rates.

High burn rate solid composite propellants

Science.gov (United States)

Manship, Timothy D.

High burn rate propellants help maintain high levels of thrust without requiring complex, high surface area grain geometries. Utilizing high burn rate propellants allows for simplified grain geometries that not only make production of the grains easier, but the simplified grains tend to have better mechanical strength, which is important in missiles undergoing high-g accelerations. Additionally, high burn rate propellants allow for a higher volumetric loading which reduces the overall missile's size and weight. The purpose of this study is to present methods of achieving a high burn rate propellant and to develop a composite propellant formulation that burns at 1.5 inches per second at 1000 psia. In this study, several means of achieving a high burn rate propellant were presented. In addition, several candidate approaches were evaluated using the Kepner-Tregoe method with hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)-based propellants using burn rate modifiers and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD)-based propellants being selected for further evaluation. Propellants with varying levels of nano-aluminum, nano-iron oxide, FeBTA, and overall solids loading were produced using the HTPB binder and evaluated in order to determine the effect the various ingredients have on the burn rate and to find a formulation that provides the burn rate desired. Experiments were conducted to compare the burn rates of propellants using the binders HTPB and DCPD. The DCPD formulation matched that of the baseline HTPB mix. Finally, GAP-plasticized DCPD gumstock dogbones were attempted to be made for mechanical evaluation. Results from the study show that nano-additives have a substantial effect on propellant burn rate with nano-iron oxide having the largest influence. Of the formulations tested, the highest burn rate was a 84% solids loading mix using nano-aluminum nano-iron oxide, and ammonium perchlorate in a 3:1(20 micron: 200 micron) ratio which achieved a burn rate of 1.2 inches per second at 1000

Can Exchange Rates Be Predicted?

OpenAIRE

Siriwutiset, Trin

2007-01-01

Foreign exchange rates produce significant impacts on both the macroeconomic and microeconomic scale. Countries� government and multinational companies have been seeking ways to stabilize the exchange rates for a few decades. However, there is no perfect consensus on methods to control and stabilize the exchange rates. In fact, there are several occasions in history where turbulence movements caused crisis in the economies. There are several factors that are identified by economis...

Social motivation in prospective memory: higher importance ratings and reported performance rates for social tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Penningroth, Suzanna L; Scott, Walter D; Freuen, Margaret

2011-03-01

Few studies have addressed social motivation in prospective memory (PM). In a pilot study and two main studies, we examined whether social PM tasks possess a motivational advantage over nonsocial PM tasks. In the pilot study and Study 1, participants listed their real-life important and less important PM tasks. Independent raters categorized the PM tasks as social or nonsocial. Results from both studies showed a higher proportion of tasks rated as social when important tasks were requested than when less important tasks were requested. In Study 1, participants also reported whether they had remembered to perform each PM task. Reported performance rates were higher for tasks rated as social than for those rated as nonsocial. Finally, in Study 2, participants rated the importance of two hypothetical PM tasks, one social and one nonsocial. The social PM task was rated higher in importance. Overall, these findings suggest that social PM tasks are viewed as more important than nonsocial PM tasks and they are more likely to be performed. We propose that consideration of the social relevance of PM will lead to a more complete and ecologically valid theoretical description of PM performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

What does self rated mental health represent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daphna Levinson

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background. Unlike the widely used self rated health, the self rated mental health was found unsuitable as a proxy for mental illness. This paper analyses the relationships between the self ratings of physical health, mental health and overall health, and their association of with the objective indicators for physical and mental health. Design and methods. The study is a secondary analysis of data from a nationwide representative sample of the non-institutionalized adult residents of Israel in 2003 that was collected via computer-assisted personal interview methods [n=4859].Results. The self rated physical health and the self rated mental health were strongly related to each other yet the self rated mental health was not related to chronic physical conditions and the self rated physical health was not related to mental disorders. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, those with positive self rated mental health had 93 times the odds of reporting positive overall health whereas those with positive self rated physical health had 40 times the odds of reporting positive overall health. Conclusions. The self rating of mental health presents a qualitatively different dimension from mental illness. The self rated mental health is two times more important than the self rated physical health in predicting the self rated overall health

19 CFR 159.33 - Proclaimed rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... currency involved, such proclaimed rate shall be used unless it varies by 5 percent or more from the... (CONTINUED) LIQUIDATION OF DUTIES Conversion of Foreign Currency § 159.33 Proclaimed rate. If a rate of...

Uncertain discount rates in climate policy analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newell, R.G.; Pizer, W.A.

2004-01-01

Consequences in the distant future - such as those from climate change--have little value today when discounted using conventional rates. This result contradicts our 'gut feeling' about such problems and often leads to ad hoc application of lower rates for valuations over longer horizons - a step facilitated by confusion and disagreement over the correct rate even over short horizons. We review the theory and intuition behind the choice of discount rates now and, importantly, the impact of likely variation in rates in the future. Correlated changes in future rates imply that the distant future should be discounted at much lower rates than suggested by the current rate, thereby raising the value of future consequences - regardless of opinions concerning the current rate. Using historic data to quantity the likely changes and correlation in changes in future rates, we find that future valuations rise by a factor of many thousands at horizons of 300 years or more, almost doubling the expected present value of climate mitigation benefits relative to constant 4% discounting. Ironically, uncertainty about future rates reduces the ratio of valuations based on alternate choices of the current rate

Evaporation rate of nucleating clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Zapadinsky, Evgeni

2011-11-21

The Becker-Döring kinetic scheme is the most frequently used approach to vapor liquid nucleation. In the present study it has been extended so that master equations for all cluster configurations are included into consideration. In the Becker-Döring kinetic scheme the nucleation rate is calculated through comparison of the balanced steady state and unbalanced steady state solutions of the set of kinetic equations. It is usually assumed that the balanced steady state produces equilibrium cluster distribution, and the evaporation rates are identical in the balanced and unbalanced steady state cases. In the present study we have shown that the evaporation rates are not identical in the equilibrium and unbalanced steady state cases. The evaporation rate depends on the number of clusters at the limit of the cluster definition. We have shown that the ratio of the number of n-clusters at the limit of the cluster definition to the total number of n-clusters is different in equilibrium and unbalanced steady state cases. This causes difference in evaporation rates for these cases and results in a correction factor to the nucleation rate. According to rough estimation it is 10(-1) by the order of magnitude and can be lower if carrier gas effectively equilibrates the clusters. The developed approach allows one to refine the correction factor with Monte Carlo and molecular dynamic simulations.

Heart rate variability in healthy population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alamgir, M.; Hussain, M.M.

2010-01-01

Background: Heart rate variability has been considered as an indicator of autonomic status. Little work has been done on heart rate variability in normal healthy volunteers. We aimed at evolving the reference values of heart rate variability in our healthy population. Methods: Twenty-four hour holter monitoring of 37 healthy individuals was done using Holter ECG recorder 'Life card CF' from 'Reynolds Medical'. Heart rate variability in both time and frequency domains was analysed with 'Reynolds Medical Pathfinder Digital/700'. Results: The heart rate variability in normal healthy volunteers of our population was found in time domain using standard deviation of R-R intervals (SDNN), standard deviation of average NN intervals (SDANN), and Square root of the mean squared differences of successive NN intervals (RMSSD). Variation in heart rate variability indices was observed between local and foreign volunteers and RMSSD was found significantly increased (p<0.05) in local population. Conclusions: The values of heart rate variability (RMSSD) in healthy Pakistani volunteers were found increased compared to the foreign data reflecting parasympathetic dominance in our population. (author)

Experimental weathering rates of aluminium silicates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gudbrandsson, Snorri

2013-01-01

The chemical weathering of primary rocks and minerals in natural systems has a major impact on soil development and its composition. Chemical weathering is driven to a large extent by mineral dissolution. Through mineral dissolution, elements are released into groundwater and can readily react to precipitate secondary minerals such as clays, zeolites, and carbonates. Carbonates form from divalent cations (e.g. Ca, Fe and Mg) and CO 2 , and kaolin clay and gibbsite formation is attributed to the weathering of aluminium-rich minerals, most notably the feldspars. The CarbFix Project in Hellisheidi (SW-Iceland) aims to use natural weathering processes to form carbonate minerals by the re-injection of CO 2 from a geothermal power plant back into surrounding basaltic rocks. This process is driven by the dissolution of basaltic rocks, rich in divalent cations, which can combine with injected CO 2 to form and precipitate carbonates. This thesis focuses on the dissolution behaviour of Stapafell crystalline basalt, which consists of three major phases (plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine) and is rich in divalent cations. Steady-state element release rates from crystalline basalt at far-from-equilibrium conditions were measured at pH from 2 to 11 and temperatures from 5 to 75 C in mixed-flow reactors. Steady-state Si and Ca release rates exhibit a U-shaped variation with pH, where rates decrease with increasing pH at acid condition but increase with increasing pH at alkaline conditions. Silicon release rates from crystalline basalt are comparable to Si release rates from basaltic glass of the same chemical composition at low pH and temperatures ≥25 C but slower at alkaline pH and temperatures ≥50 C. In contrast, Mg and Fe release rates decrease continuously with increasing pH at all temperatures. This behaviour is interpreted to stem from the contrasting dissolution behaviours of the three major minerals comprising the basalt: plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine. Element

The Relationship between Tax Rate, Penalty Rate, Tax Fairness and Excise Duty Non-compliance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sinnasamy Perabavathi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The rise of indirect tax non-compliance by taxpayers became the main concern of most of the tax authorities around the globe. In Malaysia, non complaince such as smuggling and illegal trade activities by importers involving cigarettes, liquor and imported vehicles bound under Excise Act 1976 have caused revenue losses in monetary and non-monetary aspects. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the relationship of tax rate, penalty rate and tax fairness of excise duty non-compliance. This study uses the Deterrence Theory as a basis theory to investigate the phenomenon of excise duty non complaince. A total of 500 excise duty offenders throughout Malaysia responded to the survey. The model was empirically tested by using Partial Least Squares (PLS with disproportionate stratified random sampling technique. The results indicated that the perception of tax rate and penalty rate are positively related while tax fairness is negatively related to excise duty non-compliance among importers.

Constitutive law for seismicity rate based on rate and state friction: Dieterich 1994 revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Heimisson, E. R.; Segall, P.

2017-12-01

Dieterich [1994] derived a constitutive law for seismicity rate based on rate and state friction, which has been applied widely to aftershocks, earthquake triggering, and induced seismicity in various geological settings. Here, this influential work is revisited, and re-derived in a more straightforward manner. By virtue of this new derivation the model is generalized to include changes in effective normal stress associated with background seismicity. Furthermore, the general case when seismicity rate is not constant under constant stressing rate is formulated. The new derivation provides directly practical integral expressions for the cumulative number of events and rate of seismicity for arbitrary stressing history. Arguably, the most prominent limitation of Dieterich's 1994 theory is the assumption that seismic sources do not interact. Here we derive a constitutive relationship that considers source interactions between sub-volumes of the crust, where the stress in each sub-volume is assumed constant. Interactions are considered both under constant stressing rate conditions and for arbitrary stressing history. This theory can be used to model seismicity rate due to stress changes or to estimate stress changes using observed seismicity from triggered earthquake swarms where earthquake interactions and magnitudes are take into account. We identify special conditions under which influence of interactions cancel and the predictions reduces to those of Dieterich 1994. This remarkable result may explain the apparent success of the model when applied to observations of triggered seismicity. This approach has application to understanding and modeling induced and triggered seismicity, and the quantitative interpretation of geodetic and seismic data. It enables simultaneous modeling of geodetic and seismic data in a self-consistent framework. To date physics-based modeling of seismicity with or without geodetic data has been found to give insight into various processes

Rating of environmental criteria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glueck, K; Krasser, G

1980-01-01

After a general theoretical discussion on the question of rating within a framework of cost-benefit studies, first trials as to the quantification and standardisation of twelve selected environmental criteria by means of an indicator system are worked out and compiled. The selection includes the criteria exhaust gas, dust, micro climate, water pollution, water regime, land requirement, vibrations, traffic noise, landscape scene, urban scene, effect of separation and safety risks. An insight is given of the rating practice using an evaluation of the available literature, of a household interview and of an interview of experts. The interviewing of 156 experts as to their rating conception of ten criteria in the second round has provided contributions to the general problem of the evaluation estimate based on multi criteria analysis as well as differentiation of the twelve or ten environmental criteria. The following criteria ratings given by the experts and which are averaged and smoothed are: traffic noise 20,0% +- 8,5; air pollution 15,0% +- 7,0; safety risk 13,0% +- 7,0; soil and water pollution 8,5% +- 5,0; landscape scene 8,0% +- 4,5; urban scene 8,0% +- 4,5; water regime 6,5% +- 3,5 and vibrations 4,5% +- 2,5.

Outdoor γ-ray dose rate in Shariki Village and environmental factors affecting outdoor γ-ray dose rate in IES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyogi, Takashi; Hisamatsu, Shun'ichi; Inaba, Jiro

2000-01-01

Previously, we surveyed the outdoor γ-ray dose rate throughout Aomori Prefecture from 1992 to 1995, and found an annual mean dose rate of 51 nGy h -1 . Relatively high dose rates were also observed in several areas (municipalities) of the survey locations. In this study, we examined the detailed distribution of the γ-ray dose rate in one such high dose rate area, Shariki Village. Glass dosemeters were used for the monitoring of cumulative γ-ray dose rate at 10 locations in the village. The dose rate from each radioactive nuclide in the ground at the monitoring locations was measured by using an in situ γ-ray spectrometer with a Ge detector. The results obtained with the glass dosemeters showed that the γ-ray dose rates in Shariki Village varied from 49 to 55 nGy h -1 . Although the dose rates were generally higher than the mean dose in Aomori Prefecture (1992-1995), the rates were lower than other high dose rate areas which had already been measured. The in situ γ-ray spectrometry revealed that these relatively high dose rates were mainly caused by 40 K and Th series radionuclides in the village. The effect of meteorological conditions on the γ-ray dose rate was studied at a monitoring station in the IES site. The dose rate was continuously recorded by a DBM NaI(Tl) scintillation detector system. The mean dose rate obtained when precipitation was sensed was 27 nGy h -1 and higher than when no precipitation was sensed (25 nGy h -1 ). (author)

Outdoor γ-ray dose rate in Mutsu city and environmental factors affecting outdoor γ-ray dose rate in IES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyogi, Takashi; Hisamatsu, Shun'ichi; Inaba, Jiro

2001-01-01

Previously, we surveyed outdoor γ-ray dose rates throughout Aomori Prefecture from 1992 to 1995, and found a mean annual dose rate of 28 nGy h -1 . Relatively high dose rates were also observed in several areas (municipalities) of the survey locations. In this study, we examined the detailed distribution of the γ-ray dose rate in one such high dose rate area, Mutsu City. Glass dosemeters were used for the monitoring of cumulative γ-ray dose rate at 10 locations in the city. The dose rate from each radioactive nuclide in the ground at the monitoring locations was measured by using an in situ γ-ray spectrometer with a Ge detector. The results obtained with the glass dosemeters showed that the γ-ray dose rates in Mutsu City varied from 17 to 32 nGy h -1 . Although the dose rates were almost the same as the mean dose in Aomori Prefecture (1992-1995), the rates were lower than other high dose rate areas which had already been measured. The in situ γ-ray spectrometry revealed that these relatively high dose rates were mainly caused by 40 K and Th series radionuclides in the local ground. The effect of meteorological conditions on the γ-ray dose rate was studied at a monitoring station in the IES site. The dose rate was continuously recorded by a DBM NaI(Tl) scintillation detector system. The mean dose rate obtained when precipitation was sensed was 26 nGy h -1 and higher than when no precipitation was sensed (24 nGy h -1 ). (author)

Effects of social stress on heart rate and heart rate variability in growing pigs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, de I.C.; Sgoifo, A.; Lambooij, E.; Korte, S.M.; Blokhuis, H.J.; Koolhaas, J.M.

2000-01-01

The effects of social stress on heart rate, heart rate variability and the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias were studied in 12 growing pigs. Social stress was induced during a good competition test with a pen mate, and subsequently during a resident-intruder test with an unacquainted pig in which

Effects of social stress on heart rate and heart rate variability in growing pigs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, IC; Sgoifo, A; Lambooij, E; Korte, SM; Blokhuis, HJ; Koolhaas, JM

The effects of social stress on heart rate, heart rate variability and the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias were studied in 12 growing pigs. Social stress was induced during a good competition test with a pen mate, and subsequently during a resident-intruder test with an unacquainted pig in which

Exchange-rate forecasts and asymmetric loss: empirical evidence for the yen/dollar exchange rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stadtmann, Georg; Pierdzioch; Rülke

2012-01-01

We used the yen/dollar exchange-rate forecasts of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll to analyse whether exchange-rate forecasters have an asymmetric loss function. To this end, we applied an approach recently developed by Elliott et al. (2005). We found that only few forecasters seem to form...

5 CFR 430.308 - Rating performance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Rating performance. 430.308 Section 430.308 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Managing Senior Executive Performance § 430.308 Rating performance. (a) Initial summary rating...

Long-term rate orientations: Development plan 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

Hydro-Quebec's preferred rate orientations for Quebec markets are presented. The background for a rate structure revision is outlined, followed by proposed changes to residential and general rates, and by a plan to implement the new rate structure. Some of the principles used in setting rates are described. The new rate structure proposals are intended to provide a better reflection of the utility's costs of supply and a clearer signal in favor of the rational use of electricity, thereby limiting long-term increases in both supply costs and electricity rates. It is proposed to use marginal costs to design rate structures, while the overall rate level will continue to reflect changes in average costs of supply. Also included in the proposed changes are time-of-use rates, which will help reduce costs by shifting loads from peak to off-peak periods and by encouraging the adoption of energy-conservation measures. Moreover, the integration of time-of-use options into the rate system will not only provide Hydro-Quebec with more powerful load-management tools but also give customers the opportunity to change their consumption patterns and thereby reduce their electricity bills. 11 figs., 11 tabs

19 CFR 159.36 - Multiple certified rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... multiple rates have been certified for a foreign currency, the rate to be used for Customs purposes shall... TREASURY (CONTINUED) LIQUIDATION OF DUTIES Conversion of Foreign Currency § 159.36 Multiple certified rates... rates of exchange (e.g., official and free) for a foreign currency: (a) Rates to be published. When the...

Modeling Equity for Alternative Water Rate Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, R.; Mjelde, J.

2011-12-01

The rising popularity of increasing block rates for urban water runs counter to mainstream economic recommendations, yet decision makers in rate design forums are attracted to the notion of higher prices for larger users. Among economists, it is widely appreciated that uniform rates have stronger efficiency properties than increasing block rates, especially when volumetric prices incorporate intrinsic water value. Yet, except for regions where water market purchases have forced urban authorities to include water value in water rates, economic arguments have weakly penetrated policy. In this presentation, recent evidence will be reviewed regarding long term trends in urban rate structures while observing economic principles pertaining to these choices. The main objective is to investigate the equity of increasing block rates as contrasted to uniform rates for a representative city. Using data from four Texas cities, household water demand is established as a function of marginal price, income, weather, number of residents, and property characteristics. Two alternative rate proposals are designed on the basis of recent experiences for both water and wastewater rates. After specifying a reasonable number (~200) of diverse households populating the city and parameterizing each household's characteristics, every household's consumption selections are simulated for twelve months. This procedure is repeated for both rate systems. Monthly water and wastewater bills are also computed for each household. Most importantly, while balancing the budget of the city utility we compute the effect of switching rate structures on the welfares of households of differing types. Some of the empirical findings are as follows. Under conditions of absent water scarcity, households of opposing characters such as low versus high income do not have strong preferences regarding rate structure selection. This changes as water scarcity rises and as water's opportunity costs are allowed to

Dutch courage? Effects of acute alcohol consumption on self-ratings and observer ratings of foreign language skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Renner, Fritz; Kersbergen, Inge; Field, Matt; Werthmann, Jessica

2018-01-01

A popular belief is that alcohol improves the ability to speak in a foreign language. The effect of acute alcohol consumption on perceived foreign language performance and actual foreign language performance in foreign language learners has not been investigated. The aim of the current study was to test the effects of acute alcohol consumption on self-rated and observer-rated verbal foreign language performance in participants who have recently learned this language. Fifty native German speakers who had recently learned Dutch were randomized to receive either a low dose of alcohol or a control beverage that contained no alcohol. Following the experimental manipulation, participants took part in a standardized discussion in Dutch with a blinded experimenter. The discussion was audio-recorded and foreign language skills were subsequently rated by two native Dutch speakers who were blind to the experimental condition (observer-rating). Participants also rated their own individual Dutch language skills during the discussion (self-rating). Participants who consumed alcohol had significantly better observer-ratings for their Dutch language, specifically better pronunciation, compared with those who did not consume alcohol. However, alcohol had no effect on self-ratings of Dutch language skills. Acute alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects on the pronunciation of a foreign language in people who have recently learned that language.

Self-rated versus Caregiver-rated Health for Patients with Mild Dementia as Predictors of Patient Mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phung, Thien Kieu Thi; Siersma, Volkert; Vogel, Asmus

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Self-assessment of health is a strong and independent predictor of mortality for cognitively intact people. Because the ability of patients with dementia to rate their own health is questionable, caregiver-rated health for patients may serve as a proxy. The authors aimed to validate...... and compare self- and caregiver-rated health for patients with dementia as independent predictors of patient mortality. METHODS: This was a post-hoc analysis of data from The Danish Alzheimer's Disease Intervention Study, a randomized controlled trial of psychosocial intervention for 330 patients with mild...... dementia and their caregivers with a 36-month follow-up. Patients and caregivers rated patients' health on the Euro Quality of Life Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). The ability of self- and caregiver-rated health for the patient to predict patient mortality was analyzed as hazard...

12 CFR Appendix A to Subpart A of... - Minimum Capital Components for Interest Rate and Foreign Exchange Rate Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... sheet interest rate and foreign exchange rate contracts: a. Interest Rate Contracts i. Single currency... Contracts i. Cross-currency interest rate swaps. ii. Forward foreign exchange rate contracts. iii. Currency... contracts traded on exchanges that require daily payment of variation margins are excluded from the minimum...

Chaos regularization of quantum tunneling rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pecora, Louis M.; Wu Dongho; Lee, Hoshik; Antonsen, Thomas; Lee, Ming-Jer; Ott, Edward

2011-01-01

Quantum tunneling rates through a barrier separating two-dimensional, symmetric, double-well potentials are shown to depend on the classical dynamics of the billiard trajectories in each well and, hence, on the shape of the wells. For shapes that lead to regular (integrable) classical dynamics the tunneling rates fluctuate greatly with eigenenergies of the states sometimes by over two orders of magnitude. Contrarily, shapes that lead to completely chaotic trajectories lead to tunneling rates whose fluctuations are greatly reduced, a phenomenon we call regularization of tunneling rates. We show that a random-plane-wave theory of tunneling accounts for the mean tunneling rates and the small fluctuation variances for the chaotic systems.

Gender Contrasts in Negotiation Impasse Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J. Cotter

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study contrasts the rate of impasse in genders in face-to-face negotiations for newly trained women and men. The empirical study analyzed negotiators’ negotiation impasse rates based on gender using a two-tailed t-test. The bargainers were involved in a series of ten high-stakes, zero-sum game negotiations. A total of 4,855 separate negotiations were examined. Overall, there were no statistically significant differences in the impasse rates of men and women The female rate of impasse was lower than the male rate of impasse, but without any significant differences, the results indicate that there are no gender differences in the abilities of negotiators to arrive at a deal.

78 FR 25101 - Credit Ratings Roundtable

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-29

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34-69433; File No. 4-661] Credit Ratings... examine issues in connection with the possibility of developing a credit rating assignment system. The... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Davey at (212) 336-0075, Office of Credit Ratings, Securities and...

Atmospheric production rate of 36Cl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parrat, Y.; Hajdas, W.; Baltensperger, U.; Synal, H.A.; Kubik, P.W.; Gaeggeler, H.W.; Suter, M.

1997-01-01

Using experimental cross sections, a new calculation of the atmospheric production rate of 36 Cl was carried out. A mean production rate of 20 atoms m -2 s -1 was obtained, which is lower than mean 36 Cl deposition rates. (author) 2 figs., 7 refs

Herding Behavior and Rating Convergence among Credit Rating Agencies : Evidence from the Subprime Crisis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lugo, Stefano; Croce, Annalisa; Faff, Robert

2015-01-01

This article examines how credit rating agencies (CRAs) react to rating decisions on mortgage-backed securities by rival agencies in the aftermath of the subprime crisis. While Fitch is on average the first mover, Moody’s and S&P perform more timely downgrades given a downgrade or a more severe

Breast Cancer Rates by State

Science.gov (United States)

... Associated Lung Ovarian Prostate Skin Uterine Cancer Home Breast Cancer Rates by State Language: English (US) Español (Spanish) ... from breast cancer each year. Rates of Getting Breast Cancer by State The number of people who get ...

Delta count-rate monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Etten, D.; Olsen, W.A.

1985-01-01

A need for a more effective way to rapidly search for gamma-ray contamination over large areas led to the design and construction of a very sensitive gamma detection system. The delta count-rate monitoring system was installed in a four-wheel-drive van instrumented for environmental surveillance and accident response. The system consists of four main sections: (1) two scintillation detectors, (2) high-voltage power supply amplifier and single-channel analyzer, (3) delta count-rate monitor, and (4) count-rate meter and recorder. The van's 6.5-kW generator powers the standard nuclear instrument modular design system. The two detectors are mounted in the rear corners of the van and can be run singly or jointly. A solid-state bar-graph count-rate meter mounted on the dashboard can be read easily by both the driver and passenger. A solid-state strip chart recorder shows trends and provides a permanent record of the data. An audible alarm is sounded at the delta monitor and at the dashboard count-rate meter if a detected radiation level exceeds the set background level by a predetermined amount

Response rate and reinforcement rate in Pavlovian conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Justin A; Carpenter, Joanne S

2011-10-01

Four experiments used delay conditioning of magazine approach in rats to investigate the relationship between the rate of responding, R, to a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the rate, r, at which the CS is reinforced with the unconditioned stimulus (US). Rats were concurrently trained with four variable-duration CSs with different rs, either as a result of differences in the mean CS-US interval or in the proportion of CS presentations that ended with the US. In each case, R was systematically related to r, and the relationship was very accurately characterized by a hyperbolic function, R = Ar/(r +c). Accordingly, the reciprocal of these two variables-response interval, I (= 1/R), and CS-US interval, i (= 1/r) - were related by a simple affine (straight line) transformation, I = mi+b. This latter relationship shows that each increment in the time that the rats had to wait for food produced a linear increment in the time they waited between magazine entries. We discuss the close agreement between our findings and the Matching Law (Herrnstein, 1970) and consider their implications for both associative theories (e.g., Rescorla & Wagner, 1972) and nonassociative theories (Gallistel & Gibbon, 2000) of conditioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Prostate cancer incidence rates in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Lisa W; Ritchey, Jamie; Devesa, Susan S; Quraishi, Sabah M; Zhang, Hongmei; Hsing, Ann W

2011-01-01

African American men have among the highest prostate cancer incidence rates in the world yet rates among their African counterparts are unclear. In this paper, we compared reported rates among black men of Sub-Saharan African descent using data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for 1973-2007. Although population-based data in Africa are quite limited, the available data from IARC showed that rates among blacks were highest in the East (10.7-38.1 per 100,000 man-years, age-adjusted world standard) and lowest in the West (4.7-19.8). These rates were considerably lower than those of 80.0-195.3 observed among African Americans. Rates in Africa increased over time (1987-2002) and have been comparable to those for distant stage in African Americans. These patterns are likely due to differences between African and African American men in medical care access, screening, registry quality, genetic diversity, and Westernization. Incidence rates in Africa will likely continue to rise with improving economies and increasing Westernization, warranting the need for more high-quality population-based registration to monitor cancer incidence in Africa.

Hazard rate for a two-channel protective system subject to a high demand rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, L.F.; Youngblood, R.; Melo, P.F.F.

1989-01-01

A basic figure of merit associated with a protective system for an industrial plant is the number of accidents expected to occur in the plant within a given period of time, with the system installed. By definition, in a plant equipped with a protective system, an accident can only happen if an initiating event (a demand) occurs while the protective system is unavailable, that is, while it is in one of its possible failed states. This means that the hazard rate or accident frequency depends on the demand rate and on the unavailability of the protective systems. It has long been recognized that the demand rate influences the unavailability of the protective system, and practical expressions incorporating that effect have been developed for single-channel (Lees, 1982) and multi-channel (Kumamoto and Henley 1978) protective systems. The effect has also been incorporated into a Markovian treatment of a plant protection system (Papazoglou and Cho, 1985). In a previous paper (Oliveira and Netto, 1987) a Markovian approach was used to derive analytical expressions for the evaluation of the plant hazard rate for a single-channel protective system, properly accounting for the effects of the demand and the repair rates. In this paper the authors present an extension of that model to the case of a plant equipped with a two-channel protective system

Credit Ratings Failures and Policy Options

OpenAIRE

Marco Pagano; Paolo Volpin

2009-01-01

This paper examines the role of credit rating agencies in the subprime crisis that triggered the 2007-2008 financial turmoil. We focus on two aspects of ratings that contributed to the boom and bust of the market for structured debt: rating inflation and coarse information disclosure. The paper discusses how regulation can be designed to mitigate these problems in the future. Our preferred policy is to require rating agencies to be paid by investors rather than by issuers and to grant open an...

5 CFR 9901.305 - Rate of pay.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Rate of pay. 9901.305 Section 9901.305... (NSPS) Pay and Pay Administration General § 9901.305 Rate of pay. (a) The term “rate of pay” in 5 U.S.C... overtime and other premium pay rates (including compensatory time off); and (2) The rates comprising the...

18 CFR 292.305 - Rates for sales.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rates for sales. 292... § 292.305 Rates for sales. (a) General rules. (1) Rates for sales: (i) Shall be just and reasonable and... to rates for sales to other customers served by the electric utility. (2) Rates for sales which are...

Interest Rate Pass-through in Sri Lanka

OpenAIRE

Amarasekara, Chandranath

2005-01-01

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has increasingly been relying on interest rates as the instrument for conducting monetary policy. Changes to the key monetary policy variables, the Repo and the Reverse Repo rates, are initially expected to be reflected in the OMO rates and the call money market rates, before being passedthrough to commercial bank retail interest rates. It is important to obtain a good understanding of the speed and magnitude of the interest rate pass-through to make timely monet...

Mortality Rates Among Arab Americans in Michigan

OpenAIRE

Dallo, Florence J.; Schwartz, Kendra; Ruterbusch, Julie J.; Booza, Jason; Williams, David R.

2012-01-01

The objectives of this study were to: (1) calculate age-specific and age-adjusted cause-specific mortality rates for Arab Americans; and (2) compare these rates with those for blacks and whites. Mortality rates were estimated using Michigan death certificate data, an Arab surname and first name list, and 2000 U.S. Census data. Age-specific rates, age-adjusted all-cause and cause-specific rates were calculated. Arab Americans (75+) had higher mortality rates than whites and blacks. Among men, ...

Factors influencing variation in dentist service rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Grembowski, D; Milgrom, P; Fiset, L

1990-01-01

In the previous article, we calculated dentist service rates for 200 general dentists based on a homogeneous, well-educated, upper-middle-class population of patients. Wide variations in the rates were detected. In this analysis, factors influencing variation in the rates were identified. Variation in rates for categories of dental services was explained by practice characteristics, patient exposure to fluoridated water supplies, and non-price competition in the dental market. Rates were greatest in large, busy practices in markets with high fees. Older practices consistently had lower rates across services. As a whole, these variables explained between 5 and 30 percent of the variation in the rates.

Supernova rates from the SUDARE VST-Omegacam search II. Rates in a galaxy sample

Science.gov (United States)

Botticella, M. T.; Cappellaro, E.; Greggio, L.; Pignata, G.; Della Valle, M.; Grado, A.; Limatola, L.; Baruffolo, A.; Benetti, S.; Bufano, F.; Capaccioli, M.; Cascone, E.; Covone, G.; De Cicco, D.; Falocco, S.; Haeussler, B.; Harutyunyan, V.; Jarvis, M.; Marchetti, L.; Napolitano, N. R.; Paolillo, M.; Pastorello, A.; Radovich, M.; Schipani, P.; Tomasella, L.; Turatto, M.; Vaccari, M.

2017-02-01

Aims: This is the second paper of a series in which we present measurements of the supernova (SN) rates from the SUDARE survey. The aim of this survey is to constrain the core collapse (CC) and Type Ia SN progenitors by analysing the dependence of their explosion rate on the properties of the parent stellar population averaging over a population of galaxies with different ages in a cosmic volume and in a galaxy sample. In this paper, we study the trend of the SN rates with the intrinsic colours, the star formation activity and the masses of the parent galaxies. To constrain the SN progenitors we compare the observed rates with model predictions assuming four progenitor models for SNe Ia with different distribution functions of the time intervals between the formation of the progenitor and the explosion, and a mass range of 8-40 M⊙ for CC SN progenitors. Methods: We considered a galaxy sample of approximately 130 000 galaxies and a SN sample of approximately 50 events. The wealth of photometric information for our galaxy sample allows us to apply the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting technique to estimate the intrinsic rest frame colours, the stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) for each galaxy in the sample. The galaxies have been separated into star-forming and quiescent galaxies, exploiting both the rest frame U-V vs. V-J colour-colour diagram and the best fit values of the specific star formation rate (sSFR) from the SED fitting. Results: We found that the SN Ia rate per unit mass is higher by a factor of six in the star-forming galaxies with respect to the passive galaxies, identified as such both on the U-V vs. V-J colour-colour diagram and for their sSFR. The SN Ia rate per unit mass is also higher in the less massive galaxies that are also younger. These results suggest a distribution of the delay times (DTD) less populated at long delay times than at short delays. The CC SN rate per unit mass is proportional to both the sSFR and the galaxy

Mortality rates among Arab Americans in Michigan.

Science.gov (United States)

Dallo, Florence J; Schwartz, Kendra; Ruterbusch, Julie J; Booza, Jason; Williams, David R

2012-04-01

The objectives of this study were to: (1) calculate age-specific and age-adjusted cause-specific mortality rates for Arab Americans; and (2) compare these rates with those for blacks and whites. Mortality rates were estimated using Michigan death certificate data, an Arab surname and first name list, and 2000 U.S. Census data. Age-specific rates, age-adjusted all-cause and cause-specific rates were calculated. Arab Americans (75+) had higher mortality rates than whites and blacks. Among men, all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates for Arab Americans were in the range of whites and blacks. However, Arab American men had lower mortality rates from cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease compared to both whites and blacks. Among women, Arab Americans had lower mortality rates from heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes than whites and blacks. Arab Americans are growing in number. Future study should focus on designing rigorous separate analyses for this population.

Brachytherapy for early oral tongue cancer. Low dose rate to high dose rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, Hideya; Inoue, Takehiro; Yoshida, Ken; Yoshioka, Yasuo; Shimizutani, Kimishige; Inoue, Toshihiko; Furukawa, Souhei; Kakimoto, Naoya

2003-01-01

To examine the compatibility of low dose rate (LDR) with high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, we reviewed 399 patients with early oral tongue cancer (T1-2N0M0) treated solely by brachytherapy at Osaka University Hospital between 1967 and 1999. For patients in the LDR group (n=341), the treatment sources consisted of Ir-192 pin for 227 patients (1973-1996; irradiated dose, 61-85 Gy; median, 70 Gy), Ra-226 needle for 113 patients (1967-1986; 55-93 Gy; median, 70 Gy). Ra-226 and Ir-192 were combined for one patient. Ir-192 HDR (microSelectron-HDR) was used for 58 patients in the HDR group (1991-present; 48-60 Gy; median, 60 Gy). LDR implantations were performed via oral and HDR via a submental/submandibular approach. The dose rates at the reference point for the LDR group were 0.30 to 0.8 Gy/h, and for the HDR group 1.0 to 3.4 Gy/min. The patients in the HDR group received a total dose of 48-60 Gy (8-10 fractions) during one week. Two fractions were administered per day (at least a 6-h interval). The 3- and 5-year local control rates for patients in the LDR group were 85% and 80%, respectively, and those in the HDR group were both 84%. HDR brachytherapy showed the same lymph-node control rate as did LDR brachytherapy (67% at 5 years). HDR brachytherapy achieved the same locoregional result as did LDR brachytherapy. A converting factor of 0.86 is applicable for HDR in the treatment of early oral tongue cancer. (author)

Effects of hot-iron branding on heart rate, breathing rate and behaviour of anaesthetised Steller sea lions.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, K A; Mellish, J E; Weary, D M

2011-10-01

This study assessed the heart rate, breathing rate and behavioural responses of 12 juvenile Steller sea lions during hot-iron branding under isoflurane anaesthesia. Physiological and behavioural measures were recorded in four periods: baseline (five minutes), sham branding (one minute), branding (approximately 2.7 minutes) and postbranding (five minutes). No difference in heart rate was noted from baseline to sham branding, but heart rate increased from mean (sem) 78.3 (2.4) bpm in the baseline period to 85.6 (2.5) bpm in the branding period. Heart rate remained elevated in the postbranding period, averaging 84.7 (2.5) bpm. Breathing rate averaged 2.5 (1.0) breaths/minute in the baseline and sham branding periods increased to 8.9 (1.0) breaths/minute during branding, but returned to baseline by the postbranding period. Behaviourally, half of the sea lions exhibited trembling and head and shoulder movements during branding.

Evaluation of strain-rate sensitivity of ion-irradiated austenitic steel using strain-rate jump nanoindentation tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kasada, Ryuta, E-mail: r-kasada@iae.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University Gokasho, Uji 611-0011, Kyoto (Japan); Konishi, Satoshi [Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University Gokasho, Uji 611-0011, Kyoto (Japan); Hamaguchi, Dai; Ando, Masami; Tanigawa, Hiroyasu [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Rokkasho, Aomori (Japan)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • We examined strain-rate jump nanoindentation on ion-irradiated stainless steel. • We observed irradiation hardening of the ion-irradiated stainless steel. • We found that strain-rate sensitivity parameter was slightly decreased after the ion-irradiation. - Abstract: The present study investigated strain-rate sensitivity (SRS) of a single crystal Fe–15Cr–20Ni austenitic steel before and after 10.5 MeV Fe{sup 3+} ion-irradiation up to 10 dpa at 300 °C using a strain-rate jump (SRJ) nanoindentation test. It was found that the SRJ nanoindentation test is suitable for evaluating the SRS at strain-rates from 0.001 to 0.2 s{sup −1}. Indentation size effect was observed for depth dependence of nanoindentation hardness but not the SRS. The ion-irradiation increased the hardness at the shallow depth region but decreased the SRS slightly.

Floating Exchange Rate Regime

OpenAIRE

Quader, Syed Manzur

2004-01-01

In recent years, many developing countries having a history of high inflation, unfavorable balance of payment situation and a high level of foreign currencies denominated debt, have switched or are in the process of switching to a more flexible exchange rate regime. Therefore, the stability of the exchange rate and the dynamics of its volatility are more crucial than before to prevent financial crises and macroeconomic disturbances. This paper is designed to find out the reasons behind Bangla...

76 FR 16570 - Interest Rate Risk

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-24

... NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 741 RIN 3133-AD66 Interest Rate Risk AGENCY... regulations to require Federally insured credit unions to have a written policy addressing interest rate risk... Risk Management for Credit Unions with Large Positions in Fixed Rate Mortgages; 06-CU-16 Inter-Agency...

33 CFR 159.69 - Motor ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Motor ratings. 159.69 Section 159.69 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) POLLUTION MARINE SANITATION DEVICES Design, Construction, and Testing § 159.69 Motor ratings. Motors must be rated...

Exchange Rate Pass-Through in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Marco Rossi; Daniel Leigh

2002-01-01

In light of the strong correlation between exchange rate movements and domestic prices in Turkey, it is important to assess the impact of the exchange rate on domestic prices, in particular as Turkey moves to an inflation targeting regime. This paper uses a recursive vector autoregression model to investigate the impact of exchange rate movements on prices in Turkey. We find that (i) the impact of the exchange rate on prices is over after about a year, but is mostly felt in the first four mon...

Is the rate of metabolic ageing and survival determined by Basal metabolic rate in the zebra finch?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernt Rønning

Full Text Available The relationship between energy metabolism and ageing is of great interest because aerobic metabolism is the primary source of reactive oxygen species which is believed to be of major importance in the ageing process. We conducted a longitudinal study on captive zebra finches where we tested the effect of age on basal metabolic rate (BMR, as well as the effect of BMR on the rate of metabolic ageing (decline in BMR with age and survival. Basal metabolic rate declined with age in both sexes after controlling for the effect of body mass, indicating a loss of functionality with age. This loss of functionality could be due to accumulated oxidative damage, believed to increase with increasing metabolic rate, c.f. the free radical theory of ageing. If so, we would expect the rate of metabolic ageing to increase and survival to decrease with increasing BMR. However, we found no effect of BMR on the rate of metabolic ageing. Furthermore, survival was not affected by BMR in the males. In female zebra finches there was a tendency for survival to decrease with increasing BMR, but the effect did not reach significance (P<0.1. Thus, the effect of BMR on the rate of functional deterioration with age, if any, was not strong enough to influence neither the rate of metabolic ageing nor survival in the zebra finches.

Is the rate of metabolic ageing and survival determined by Basal metabolic rate in the zebra finch?

Science.gov (United States)

Rønning, Bernt; Moe, Børge; Berntsen, Henrik H; Noreen, Elin; Bech, Claus

2014-01-01

The relationship between energy metabolism and ageing is of great interest because aerobic metabolism is the primary source of reactive oxygen species which is believed to be of major importance in the ageing process. We conducted a longitudinal study on captive zebra finches where we tested the effect of age on basal metabolic rate (BMR), as well as the effect of BMR on the rate of metabolic ageing (decline in BMR with age) and survival. Basal metabolic rate declined with age in both sexes after controlling for the effect of body mass, indicating a loss of functionality with age. This loss of functionality could be due to accumulated oxidative damage, believed to increase with increasing metabolic rate, c.f. the free radical theory of ageing. If so, we would expect the rate of metabolic ageing to increase and survival to decrease with increasing BMR. However, we found no effect of BMR on the rate of metabolic ageing. Furthermore, survival was not affected by BMR in the males. In female zebra finches there was a tendency for survival to decrease with increasing BMR, but the effect did not reach significance (PBMR on the rate of functional deterioration with age, if any, was not strong enough to influence neither the rate of metabolic ageing nor survival in the zebra finches.

Association of Changing Hospital Readmission Rates With Mortality Rates After Hospital Discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yongfei; Lin, Zhenqiu; Normand, Sharon-Lise T.; Ross, Joseph S.; Horwitz, Leora I.; Desai, Nihar R.; Suter, Lisa G.; Drye, Elizabeth E.; Bernheim, Susannah M.; Krumholz, Harlan M.

2017-01-01

Importance The Affordable Care Act has led to US national reductions in hospital 30-day readmission rates for heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and pneumonia. Whether readmission reductions have had the unintended consequence of increasing mortality after hospitalization is unknown. Objective To examine the correlation of paired trends in hospital 30-day readmission rates and hospital 30-day mortality rates after discharge. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective study of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years or older hospitalized with HF, AMI, or pneumonia from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2014. Exposure Thirty-day risk-adjusted readmission rate (RARR). Main Outcomes and Measures Thirty-day RARRs and 30-day risk-adjusted mortality rates (RAMRs) after discharge were calculated for each condition in each month at each hospital in 2008 through 2014. Monthly trends in each hospital’s 30-day RARRs and 30-day RAMRs after discharge were examined for each condition. The weighted Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated for hospitals’ paired monthly trends in 30-day RARRs and 30-day RAMRs after discharge for each condition. Results In 2008 through 2014, 2 962 554 hospitalizations for HF, 1 229 939 for AMI, and 2 544 530 for pneumonia were identified at 5016, 4772, and 5057 hospitals, respectively. In January 2008, mean hospital 30-day RARRs and 30-day RAMRs after discharge were 24.6% and 8.4% for HF, 19.3% and 7.6% for AMI, and 18.3% and 8.5% for pneumonia. Hospital 30-day RARRs declined in the aggregate across hospitals from 2008 through 2014; monthly changes in RARRs were −0.053% (95% CI, −0.055% to −0.051%) for HF, −0.044% (95% CI, −0.047% to −0.041%) for AMI, and −0.033% (95% CI, −0.035% to −0.031%) for pneumonia. In contrast, monthly aggregate changes across hospitals in hospital 30-day RAMRs after discharge varied by condition: HF, 0.008% (95% CI, 0.007% to 0.010%); AMI, −0

Lung Cancer Rates by State

Science.gov (United States)

... the Biggest Cancer Killer in Both Men and Women” Stay Informed Rates by State for Other Kinds of Cancer All Cancers Combined Breast Cervical Colorectal (Colon) HPV-Associated Ovarian Prostate Skin Uterine Cancer Home Lung Cancer Rates by State Language: English (US) ...

7 CFR 3550.66 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rate. 3550.66 Section 3550.66 Agriculture... DIRECT SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING LOANS AND GRANTS Section 502 Origination § 3550.66 Interest rate. Loans will be written using the applicable RHS interest rate in effect at loan approval or loan closing...

5 CFR 1655.7 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rate. 1655.7 Section 1655.7 Administrative Personnel FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD LOAN PROGRAM § 1655.7 Interest rate. (a... interest rate established by the Department of the Treasury in effect on the date the TSP record keeper...

13 CFR 120.932 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rate. 120.932 Section 120.932 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Development Company Loan Program (504) 504 Loans and Debentures § 120.932 Interest rate. The interest rate of the 504 Loan...

Have Floating Rates Been a Success?

Science.gov (United States)

Higham, David

1983-01-01

Floating exchange rates have not lived up to all expectations, but neither have they performed as badly as some critics have suggested. Examined are the impact of floating rates on balance of payments adjustment, domestic economic policy, and inflation and the claim that floating rates have displayed excessive fluctuations. (Author/RM)

7 CFR 1435.101 - Loan rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Loan rates. 1435.101 Section 1435.101 Agriculture... AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUGAR PROGRAM Sugar Loan Program § 1435.101 Loan rates. (a) The national average loan rate for raw cane sugar produced from domestically grown sugarcane is: 18...

18 CFR 704.39 - Discount rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Discount rate. 704.39... STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES Standards for Plan Formulation and Evaluation § 704.39 Discount rate. (a) The interest rate to be used in plan formulation and evaluation for discounting future benefits and computing...

Numerical Analysis of Inlet Gas-Mixture Flow Rate Effects on Carbon Nanotube Growth Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Zahed

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The growth rate and uniformity of Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs based on Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD technique is investigated by using a numerical model. In this reactor, inlet gas mixture, including xylene as carbon source and mixture of argon and hydrogen as  carrier gas enters into a horizontal CVD reactor at atmospheric pressure. Based on the gas phase and surface reactions, released carbon atoms are grown as CNTs on the iron catalysts at the reactor hot walls. The effect of inlet gas-mixture flow rate, on CNTs growth rate and its uniformity is discussed. In addition the velocity and temperature profile and also species concentrations throughout the reactor are presented.

Influence of User Ratings, Expert Ratings and Purposes of Information Use on the Credibility Judgments of College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Sook; Steffel, Nick

2015-01-01

Introduction: This study examined whether user ratings, expert ratings and the purpose of the use of a book on a user-generated site influenced the credibility of the book. It also examined whether the effects of user ratings and expert ratings on credibility judgments of the book varied according to the purpose of information use. In addition,…

[Photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency of cotton canopy in oasis edge of Linze].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Ting-Ting; Su, Pei-Xi; Gao, Song

2010-06-01

The measurement system of Li-8100 carbon flux and the modified assimilation chamber were used to study the photosynthetic characteristics of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) canopy in the oasis edge region in middle reach of Heihe River Basin, mid Hexi Corridor of Gansu. At the experimental site, soil respiration and evaporation rates were significantly higher in late June than in early August, and the diurnal variation of canopy photosynthetic rate showed single-peak type. The photosynthetic rate was significantly higher (P transpiration rate also presented single-peak type, with the daily average value in late June and early August being (3.10 +/- 0.34) mmol H2O x m(-2) x s(-1) and (1.60 +/- 0.26) mmol H2O x m(-2) x s(-1), respectively, and differed significantly (P efficiency in late June and early August was (15.67 +/- 1.77) mmol CO2 x mol(-1) H2O and (23.08 +/- 5.54) mmol CO2 x mol(-1) H2O, respectively, but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05). Both in late June and in early August, the canopy photosynthetic rate was positively correlated with air temperature, PAR, and soil moisture content, suggesting that there was no midday depression of photosynthesis in the two periods. In August, the canopy photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate decreased significantly, because of the lower soil moisture content and leaf senescence, but the canopy water use efficiency had no significant decrease.

20 CFR 345.303 - Computation of rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... a percentage rate, and then round such rate to the nearest 100th of one percent. If the rate so computed is zero or less than zero, the percentage rate will be deemed zero at this point; (5) Step 5. Add...

Interest Rates and Coupon Bonds in Quantum Finance

Science.gov (United States)

Baaquie, Belal E.

2009-09-01

1. Synopsis; 2. Interest rates and coupon bonds; 3. Options and option theory; 4. Interest rate and coupon bond options; 5. Quantum field theory of bond forward interest rates; 6. Libor Market Model of interest rates; 7. Empirical analysis of forward interest rates; 8. Libor Market Model of interest rate options; 9. Numeraires for bond forward interest rates; 10. Empirical analysis of interest rate caps; 11. Coupon bond European and Asian options; 12. Empirical analysis of interest rate swaptions; 13. Correlation of coupon bond options; 14. Hedging interest rate options; 15. Interest rate Hamiltonian and option theory; 16. American options for coupon bonds and interest rates; 17. Hamiltonian derivation of coupon bond options; Appendixes; Glossaries; List of symbols; Reference; Index.

40 CFR 1033.140 - Rated power.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Rated power. 1033.140 Section 1033.140... EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Emission Standards and Related Requirements § 1033.140 Rated power. This section describes how to determine the rated power of a locomotive for the purposes of this part. (a) A locomotive...

24 CFR 232.560 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interest rate. 232.560 Section 232... Equipment Eligible Security Instruments § 232.560 Interest rate. (a) The loan shall bear interest at the rate agreed upon by the lender and the borrower. (b) Interest shall be payable in monthly installments...

24 CFR 200.83 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interest rate. 200.83 Section 200... Eligibility Requirements for Existing Projects Mortgage Provisions § 200.83 Interest rate. (a) The mortgage shall bear interest at the rate agreed upon by the mortgagee and the mortgagor. (b) Interest shall be...

24 CFR 597.103 - Poverty rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Poverty rate. 597.103 Section 597... Area Requirements § 597.103 Poverty rate. (a) General. The poverty rate shall be established in accordance with the following criteria: (1) In each census tract within a nominated urban area, the poverty...

Credit Ratings and Bank Monitoring Ability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nakamura, L.I.; Roszbach, K.

2010-01-01

In this paper we use credit rating data from two Swedish banks to elicit evidence on these banks’ loan monitoring ability. We do so by comparing the ability of bank ratings to predict loan defaults relative to that of public ratings from the Swedish credit bureau. We test the banks’ abilility to

Formation rate of natural gas hydrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mork, Marit

2002-07-01

The rate of methane hydrate and natural gas hydrate formation was measured in a 9.5 litre stirred tank reactor of standard design. The experiments were performed to better understand the performance and scale-up of a reactor for continuous production of natural gas hydrates. The hydrate formation rate was measured at steady-state conditions at pressures between 70 and 90 bar and temperatures between 7 and 15 deg C. Between 44 and 56 % of the gas continuously supplied to the reactor was converted to hydrate. The experimental results show that the rate of hydrate formation is strongly influenced by gas injection rate and pressure. The effect of stirring rate is less significant and subcooling has no observable effect on the formation rate. Hydrate crystal concentration and gas composition do not influence the hydrate formation rate. Observations of produced hydrate crystals indicate that the crystals are elongated, about 5 micron in diameter and 10 micron long. Analysis of the results shows that the rate of hydrate formation is dominated by gas-liquid mass transfer. A mass transfer model, the bubble-to-crystal model, was developed for the hydrate formation rate in a continuous stirred tank reactor, given in terms of concentration driving force and an overall mass transfer coefficient. The driving force is the difference between the gas concentration at the gas-liquid interface and at the hydrate crystal surface. These concentrations correspond to the solubility of gas in water at experimental temperature and pressure and the solubility of gas at hydrate equilibrium temperature and experimental pressure, respectively. The overall mass transfer coefficient is expressed in terms of superficial gas velocity and impeller power consumption, parameters commonly used in study of stirred tank reactors. Experiments and modeling show that the stirred tank reactor has a considerable potential for increased production capacity. However, at higher hydrate production rates the

Ventilation rates and health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sundell, Jan; Levin, H; Nazaroff, W W

2011-01-01

and health effects to inform the relationship. Consistency was found across multiple investigations and different epidemiologic designs for different populations. Multiple health endpoints show similar relationships with ventilation rate. There is biological plausibility for an association of health outcomes...... studies of the relationship between ventilation rates and health, especially in diverse climates, in locations with polluted outdoor air and in buildings other than offices. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Ventilation with outdoor air plays an important role influencing human exposures to indoor pollutants...

Rate of Speed

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — Rate of spread was modeled using FlamMap, an interagency fire behavior mapping and analysis program that computes potential fire behavior characteristics. The tool...

Thresholds of sea-level rise rate and sea-level acceleration rate in a vulnerable coastal wetland

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, W.; Biber, P.; Bethel, M.

2017-12-01

Feedback among inundation, sediment trapping, and vegetation productivity help maintain coastal wetlands facing sea-level rise (SLR). However, when the SLR rate exceeds a threshold, coastal wetlands can collapse. Understanding the threshold help address the key challenge in ecology - nonlinear response of ecosystems to environmental change, and promote communication between ecologists and policy makers. We studied the threshold of SLR rate and developed a new threshold of SLR acceleration rate on sustainability of coastal wetlands as SLR is likely to accelerate due to the enhanced anthropogenic forces. We developed a mechanistic model to simulate wetland change and derived the SLR thresholds for Grand Bay, MS, a micro-tidal estuary with limited upland freshwater and sediment input in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The new SLR acceleration rate threshold complements the threshold of SLR rate and can help explain the temporal lag before the rapid decline of wetland area becomes evident after the SLR rate threshold is exceeded. Deriving these two thresholds depends on the temporal scale, the interaction of SLR with other environmental factors, and landscape metrics, which have not been fully accounted for before this study. The derived SLR rate thresholds range from 7.3 mm/yr to 11.9 mm/yr. The thresholds of SLR acceleration rate are 3.02×10-4 m/yr2 and 9.62×10-5 m/yr2 for 2050 and 2100 respectively. Based on the thresholds developed, predicted SLR that will adversely impact the coastal wetlands in Grand Bay by 2100 will fall within the likely range of SLR under a high warming scenario (RCP8.5), and beyond the very likely range under a low warming scenario (RCP2.6 or 3), highlighting the need to avoid the high warming scenario in the future if these marshes are to be preserved.

8 CFR 293.2 - Interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 8 Aliens and Nationality 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rate. 293.2 Section 293.2 Aliens... CASH RECEIVED TO SECURE IMMIGRATION BONDS § 293.2 Interest rate. The Secretary of the Treasury has determined that effective from date of deposit occurring after April 27, 1966, the interest rate shall be 3...

Test Review: Autism Spectrum Rating Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Simek, Amber N.; Wahlberg, Andrea C.

2011-01-01

This article reviews Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS) which are designed to measure behaviors in children between the ages of 2 and 18 that are associated with disorders on the autism spectrum as rated by parents/caregivers and/or teachers. The rating scales include items related to behaviors associated with Autism, Asperger's Disorder, and…

7 CFR 25.104 - Poverty rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Poverty rate. 25.104 Section 25.104 Agriculture Office... § 25.104 Poverty rate. (a) General. Eligibility of an area on the basis of poverty shall be established in accordance with the following poverty rate criteria specific to Round I, Round II, Round IIS and...

Debenture Interest Rates

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — Interest rates to be paid on debentures issued with respect to a loan or mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Commissioner under the provisions of the National...

Nontraditional Student Graduation Rate Benchmarks

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Nathan B.

2014-01-01

The prominence of discourse on postsecondary degree completion, student persistence, and retention has increased in the national dialogue. Heightened attention to college completion rates by the federal government and pressure to tie state funding to performance metrics associated with graduation rates are catalysts for the discussion.…

Rate-cost tradeoffs in control

KAUST Repository

Kostina, Victoria; Hassibi, Babak

2017-01-01

function is the mean-square deviation of the system state from the desired state. We study the fundamental tradeoff between the communication rate r bits/sec and the limsup of the expected cost b, and show a lower bound on the rate necessary to attain b

76 FR 80326 - 2012 Rate Changes for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, and Laboratory Services Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-23

..., Holiday, and Laboratory Services Rates AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice... voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and laboratory services. The 2012 basetime, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied on the first FSIS pay...

Diffusion rates for elevated releases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsdell, J.V.

1983-11-01

A search of the literature related to diffusion from elevated sources has determined that an adequate data base exists for use in developing parameterizations for estimating diffusion rates for material released from free standing stacks at nuclear power plants. A review of published data analyses indicates that a new parameterization of horizontal diffusion rates specifically for elevated releases is not likely to significantly change the magnitudes of horizontal diffusion coefficients on the average. However, the uncertainties associated with horizontal diffusion coefficient estimates under any given set of atmospheric conditions could be reduced by a new parameterization. Similarly, a new parameterization of vertical diffusion rates would be unlikely to significantly alter the magnitudes of diffusion coefficients for unstable atmospheric conditons. However, for neutral and stable atmospheric conditions, a new parameterization of vertical diffusion rates might increase vertical diffusion coefficients significantly. The increase would move ground-level time-integrated concentration maxima closer to the plant and would increase the maxima. 55 references, 2 figures, 4 tables

Streamflow ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Robert R.; Singh, Vijay P.

2016-01-01

Autonomous direct determination of a continuous time series of streamflow is not economically feasible at present (2014). As such, surrogates are used to derive a continuous time series of streamflow. The derivation process entails developing a streamflow rating, which can range from a simple, single-valued relation between stage and streamflow to a fully dynamic one-dimensional model based on hydraulics of the flow.

Corporate financing and anticipated credit rating changes

OpenAIRE

Hung, Chi-Hsiou D.; Banerjee, Anurag; Meng, Qingrui

2017-01-01

Firm circumstances change but rating agencies may not make timely revisions to their\\ud ratings, increasing information asymmetry between firms and the market. We examine\\ud whether firms time the securities market before a credit rating agency publicly reveals\\ud its decision to downgrade a firm's credit rating. Using quarterly data, we show that\\ud firms adjust their financing structures before credit rating downgrades are publicly\\ud revealed. More specifically, firms on average increase t...

Intergenerational equity and the social discount rate

OpenAIRE

Scarborough, Helen

2011-01-01

Recent modelling of the costs and benefits of climate change has renewed debate regarding assumptions for the social discount rate in analysing the impacts of environmental change. Previous literature suggests two key factors influence estimates of the social discount rate: the rate of pure time preference and the elasticity of marginal utility of future consumption. These components of the social discount rate reinforce the linkages between the choice of social discount rate and intergenerat...

24 CFR 598.115 - Poverty rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Poverty rate. 598.115 Section 598... Requirements § 598.115 Poverty rate. (a) General. In order to be eligible for designation, an area's poverty... poverty rate must be not less than 20 percent; and (2) For at least 90 percent of the census tracts within...

Extracting factors for interest rate scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Molgedey, L.; Galic, E.

2001-04-01

Factor based interest rate models are widely used for risk managing purposes, for option pricing and for identifying and capturing yield curve anomalies. The movements of a term structure of interest rates are commonly assumed to be driven by a small number of orthogonal factors such as SHIFT, TWIST and BUTTERFLY (BOW). These factors are usually obtained by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of historical bond prices (interest rates). Although PCA diagonalizes the covariance matrix of either the interest rates or the interest rate changes, it does not use both covariance matrices simultaneously. Furthermore higher linear and nonlinear correlations are neglected. These correlations as well as the mean reverting properties of the interest rates become crucial, if one is interested in a longer time horizon (infrequent hedging or trading). We will show that Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a more appropriate tool than PCA, since ICA uses the covariance matrix of the interest rates as well as the covariance matrix of the interest rate changes simultaneously. Additionally higher linear and nonlinear correlations may be easily incorporated. The resulting factors are uncorrelated for various time delays, approximately independent but nonorthogonal. This is in contrast to the factors obtained from the PCA, which are orthogonal and uncorrelated for identical times only. Although factors from the ICA are nonorthogonal, it is sufficient to consider only a few factors in order to explain most of the variation in the original data. Finally we will present examples that ICA based hedges outperforms PCA based hedges specifically if the portfolio is sensitive to structural changes of the yield curve.

Foreshock occurrence rates before large earthquakes worldwide

Science.gov (United States)

Reasenberg, P.A.

1999-01-01

Global rates of foreshock occurrence involving shallow M ??? 6 and M ??? 7 mainshocks and M ??? 5 foreshocks were measured, using earthquakes listed in the Harvard CMT catalog for the period 1978-1996. These rates are similar to rates ones measured in previous worldwide and regional studies when they are normalized for the ranges of magnitude difference they each span. The observed worldwide rates were compared to a generic model of earthquake clustering, which is based on patterns of small and moderate aftershocks in California, and were found to exceed the California model by a factor of approximately 2. Significant differences in foreshock rate were found among subsets of earthquakes defined by their focal mechanism and tectonic region, with the rate before thrust events higher and the rate before strike-slip events lower than the worldwide average. Among the thrust events a large majority, composed of events located in shallow subduction zones, registered a high foreshock rate, while a minority, located in continental thrust belts, measured a low rate. These differences may explain why previous surveys have revealed low foreshock rates among thrust events in California (especially southern California), while the worldwide observations suggest the opposite: California, lacking an active subduction zone in most of its territory, and including a region of mountain-building thrusts in the south, reflects the low rate apparently typical for continental thrusts, while the worldwide observations, dominated by shallow subduction zone events, are foreshock-rich.

Automatic Strain-Rate Controller,

Science.gov (United States)

1976-12-01

D—AO37 9~e2 ROME AIR DEVELOPMENT CENTER GRIFFISS AFB N 1’ FIG 13/ 6AUTOMATIC STRAIN—RATE CONTROLLER, (U) DEC 76 R L HUNTSINGER. J A ADAMSK I...goes to zero. CONTROLLER, Leeds and Northrup Series 80 CAT with proportional band , rate , reset, and approach controls . Input from deviation output...8) through ( 16) . (8) Move the set-point slowl y up to 3 or 4. (9) If the recorder po inter hunts , adjust the func t ion controls on tine Ser

Violence in teen-rated video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Haninger, Kevin; Ryan, M Seamus; Thompson, Kimberly M

2004-03-11

Children's exposure to violence in the media remains a source of public health concern; however, violence in video games rated T (for "Teen") by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has not been quantified. To quantify and characterize the depiction of violence and blood in T-rated video games. According to the ESRB, T-rated video games may be suitable for persons aged 13 years and older and may contain violence, mild or strong language, and/or suggestive themes. We created a database of all 396 T-rated video game titles released on the major video game consoles in the United States by April 1, 2001 to identify the distribution of games by genre and to characterize the distribution of content descriptors for violence and blood assigned to these games. We randomly sampled 80 game titles (which included 81 games because 1 title included 2 separate games), played each game for at least 1 hour, and quantitatively assessed the content. Given the release of 2 new video game consoles, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, and a significant number of T-rated video games released after we drew our random sample, we played and assessed 9 additional games for these consoles. Finally, we assessed the content of 2 R-rated films, The Matrix and The Matrix: Reloaded, associated with the T-rated video game Enter the Matrix. Game genre; percentage of game play depicting violence; depiction of injury; depiction of blood; number of human and nonhuman fatalities; types of weapons used; whether injuring characters, killing characters, or destroying objects is rewarded or is required to advance in the game; and content that may raise concerns about marketing T-rated video games to children. Based on analysis of the 396 T-rated video game titles, 93 game titles (23%) received content descriptors for both violence and blood, 280 game titles (71%) received only a content descriptor for violence, 9 game titles (2%) received only a content descriptor for blood, and 14 game titles

Rate in template-directed polymer synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Takuya

2014-06-01

We discuss the temporal efficiency of template-directed polymer synthesis, such as DNA replication and transcription, under a given template string. To weigh the synthesis speed and accuracy on the same scale, we propose a template-directed synthesis (TDS) rate, which contains an expression analogous to that for the Shannon entropy. Increasing the synthesis speed accelerates the TDS rate, but the TDS rate is lowered if the produced sequences are diversified. We apply the TDS rate to some production system models and investigate how the balance between the speed and the accuracy is affected by changes in the system conditions.

Remarks on Interest Rate Risk Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena-Violeta DRAGOI

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Bank interest and interest rate risk management is a contemporary subject and for socio-economic environment of Romania cause serious consequences in the level of economic development. The purpose of this research is to highlight the main indicator that measures the total cost of a loan, namely the annual percentage rate (APR, because if we refer to an interest rate lower, at first glance that loan seems more advantageous, but at a closer look, taking into account the commissions charged by the bank, we see that the loan is more expensive compared to another, whose interest rate is higher.

Failure Rates in Introductory Programming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennedsen, Jens; Caspersen, Michael Edelgaard

2007-01-01

It is a common conception that CS1 is a very difficult course and that failure rates are high. However, until now there has only been anecdotal evidence for this claim. This article reports on a survey among institutions around the world regarding failure rates in introductory programming courses...

Increased metabolic turnover rate and transcapillary escape rate of albumin in long-term juvenile diabetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parving, H H; Rossing, N; Sander, E

1975-01-01

The metabolic turnover rate and transcapillary escape rate of albumin were studied with 131I-labelled human albumin in nine patients with long-term diabetes mellitus. Retinopathy was present in all patients and nephropathy in four. Plasma albumin concentration and plasma volume were reduced (P...

Two-Stage Variable Sample-Rate Conversion System

Science.gov (United States)

Tkacenko, Andre

2009-01-01

A two-stage variable sample-rate conversion (SRC) system has been pro posed as part of a digital signal-processing system in a digital com munication radio receiver that utilizes a variety of data rates. The proposed system would be used as an interface between (1) an analog- todigital converter used in the front end of the receiver to sample an intermediatefrequency signal at a fixed input rate and (2) digita lly implemented tracking loops in subsequent stages that operate at v arious sample rates that are generally lower than the input sample r ate. This Two-Stage System would be capable of converting from an input sample rate to a desired lower output sample rate that could be var iable and not necessarily a rational fraction of the input rate.

12 CFR 619.9130 - Differential interest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Differential interest rates. 619.9130 Section 619.9130 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9130 Differential interest rates. An interest rate program under which different rates of interest may be made...

Radar meteor rates and solar activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prikryl, P.

1983-01-01

The short-term variation of diurnal radar meteor rates with solar activity represented by solar microwave flux Fsub(10.7), and sunspots relative number Rsub(z), is investigated. Applying the superposed-epoch analysis to the observational material of radar meteor rates from Christchurch (1960-61 and 1963-65), a decrease in the recorded radar rates is found during days of enhanced solar activity. No effect of geomagnetic activity similar to the one reported for the Swedish and Canadian radar meteor data was found by the author in the Christchurch data. A possible explanation of the absence of the geomagnetic effect on radar meteor rates from New Zealand due to a lower echo ceiling height of the Christchurch radar is suggested. The variation of the atmospheric parameters as a possible cause of the observed variation in radar meteor rates is also discussed. (author)

Exchange-Rate-Based Stabilization under Imperfect Credibility

OpenAIRE

Guillermo Calvo; Carlos A. Végh Gramont

1991-01-01

This paper analyzes stabilization policy under predetermined exchange rates in a cash-in-advance, staggered-prices model. Under full credibility, a reduction in the rate of devaluation results in an immediate and permanent reduction in the inflation rate, with no effect on output or consumption. In contrast, a non-credible stabilization results in an initial expansion of output, followed by a later recession. The inflation rate of home goods remains above the rate of devaluation throughout th...

76 FR 38282 - Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: New Premium Rating Method for Most Community Rated Plans

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-29

... set but prior to January 1 of the plan year, including book rates filed with the state. Once SSSGs... after rates were set but before January 1 of the plan year, such as new book rates filed in the state in.... OPM's intention is to keep FEHB premiums stable and sustainable using this more transparent...

7 CFR 3565.210 - Maximum interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maximum interest rate. 3565.210 Section 3565.210... AGRICULTURE GUARANTEED RURAL RENTAL HOUSING PROGRAM Loan Requirements § 3565.210 Maximum interest rate. The interest rate for a guaranteed loan must not exceed the maximum allowable rate specified by the Agency in...

13 CFR 120.1015 - Risk Rating System.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Risk Rating System. 120.1015 Section 120.1015 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Risk-Based Lender Oversight Supervision § 120.1015 Risk Rating System. (a) Risk Rating. SBA may assign a Risk Rating...

Can you Trust Online Ratings?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wulff, Julie; Hardt, Daniel

2014-01-01

Do user populations differ systematically in the way they express and rate sentiment? We use large collections of Danish and U.S. reviews to investigate this question, and we find evidence of important systematic differences: first, positive ratings are far more common in the U.S. data than in th...

What Is a Reaction Rate?

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Guy

2005-01-01

The definition of reaction rate is derived and demonstrations are made for the care to be taken while using the term. Reaction rate can be in terms of a reaction property, the extent of reaction and thus it is possible to give a definition applicable in open and closed systems.

Self-rated health and age

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Frank Krarup; Christensen, Kaare; Frederiksen, Henrik

2007-01-01

AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore and describe self-rated health in middle-aged and elderly Danes using both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design. Global and (age) comparative self-rated health are examined and compared. METHODS: This study is interview based and comprises data on...

[FeII] as a tracer supernova rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, M J F; Van der Werf, P P; Israel, F P

2012-01-01

Supernovae play an integral role in the feedback of processed material into the ISM of galaxies and are responsible for most of the chemical enrichment of the universe. The rate of supernovae can also reveal the star formation histories. Supernova rate is usually measured through the non-thermal radio continuum luminosity, but in this paper we establish a quantitative relationship between the [FeII] 1.26 luminosity and supernova rate in a sample of 11 near-by starburst galaxies. SINFONI data cubes are used to perform a pixel pixel analysis of this correlation. Using Bry equivalent width and luminosity as the only observational inputs into Starburst 99, the supernova rate is derived at each pixel and a map of supernova rate is created. This is then compared morphologically and quantitatively to [FeII] 1.26 luminosity map. We find a strong linear and morphological correlation between supernova rate and [FeII] 1.26 on a pixel-pixel basis. The Starburst 99 derived supernova rates are also in good agreement with the radio derived supernova rates, which further demonstrates the strength of [FeII] as a tracer of supernova rate. With the strong correlation found in this sample of galaxies, we now qualitatively use [FeII] 1.26 to derive supernova rate on either a pixel-pixel or integrated galactic basis.

Dietary restriction of rodents decreases aging rate without affecting initial mortality rate a meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Simons, Mirre J. P.; Koch, Wouter; Verhulst, Simon

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in multiple species from various taxa. This effect can arise via two distinct but not mutually exclusive ways: a change in aging rate and/or vulnerability to the aging process (i.e. initial mortality rate). When DR affects vulnerability, this lowers

24 CFR 242.26 - Agreed interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Agreed interest rate. 242.26... MORTGAGE INSURANCE FOR HOSPITALS Mortgage Requirements § 242.26 Agreed interest rate. (a) The mortgage shall bear interest at the rate or rates agreed upon by the mortgagee and the mortgagor. (b) The amount...

20 CFR 655.207 - Adverse effect rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Adverse effect rates. 655.207 Section 655.207... Agricultural Employment § 655.207 Adverse effect rates. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the adverse effect rates for all agricultural and logging employment shall be the prevailing wage rates in the...

78 FR 62627 - Sam Rayburn Dam Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-22

..., Wholesale Rates for Hydro Power and Energy Sold to Sam Rayburn Dam Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Contract No... Schedule SRD-08, Wholesale Rates for Hydro Power and Energy Sold to Sam Rayburn Dam Electric Cooperative... ADMINISTRATION RATE SCHEDULE SRD-13 \\1\\ WHOLESALE RATES FOR HYDRO POWER AND ENERGY SOLD TO SAM RAYBURN DAM...

The Influence of the Student Mobility Rate on the Graduation Rate in the State of New Jersey

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Lavetta S.

2016-01-01

This study examined the influence of the student mobility rate on the high school graduation rate of schools in the state of New Jersey. Variables found to have an influence on the graduation rate in the extant literature were evaluated and reported. The analysis included multiple and hierarchical regression models for school variables (i.e.,…

Community Rates of Breastfeeding Initiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Grubesic, Tony H; Durbin, Kelly M

2016-11-01

Breastfeeding initiation rates vary considerably across racial and ethnic groups, maternal age, and education level, yet there are limited data concerning the influence of geography on community rates of breastfeeding initiation. This study aimed to describe how community rates of breastfeeding initiation vary in geographic space, highlighting "hot spots" and "cool spots" of initiation and exploring the potential connections between race, socioeconomic status, and urbanization levels on these patterns. Birth certificate data from the Kentucky Department of Health for 2004-2010 were combined with county-level geographic base files, Census 2010 demographic and socioeconomic data, and Rural-Urban Continuum Codes to conduct a spatial statistical analysis of community rates of breastfeeding initiation. Between 2004 and 2010, the average rate of breastfeeding initiation for Kentucky increased from 43.84% to 49.22%. Simultaneously, the number of counties identified as breastfeeding initiation hot spots also increased, displaying a systematic geographic pattern in doing so. Cool spots of breastfeeding initiation persisted in rural, Appalachian Kentucky. Spatial regression results suggested that unemployment, income, race, education, location, and the availability of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants are connected to breastfeeding initiation. Not only do spatial analytics facilitate the identification of breastfeeding initiation hot spots and cool spots, but they can be used to better understand the landscape of breastfeeding initiation and help target breastfeeding education and/or support efforts.

Reduced Dietary Sodium Intake Increases Heart Rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Graudal, Niels A; Hubeck-Graudal, Thorbjørn; Jürgens, Gesche

2016-01-01

Reduced dietary sodium intake (sodium reduction) increases heart rate in some studies of animals and humans. As heart rate is independently associated with the development of heart failure and increased risk of premature death a potential increase in heart rate could be a harmful side......-effect of sodium reduction. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of sodium reduction on heart rate. Relevant studies were retrieved from an updated pool of 176 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the period 1973-2014. Sixty-three of the RCTs including 72 study...... populations reported data on heart rate. In a meta-analysis of these data sodium reduction increased heart rate with 1.65 beats per minute [95% CI: 1.19, 2.11], p heart rate. This effect was independent of baseline blood pressure. In conclusion sodium reduction...

Estimating NHL Scoring Rates

OpenAIRE

Buttrey, Samuel E.; Washburn, Alan R.; Price, Wilson L.; Operations Research

2011-01-01

The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1334 We propose a model to estimate the rates at which NHL teams score and yield goals. In the model, goals occur as if from a Poisson process whose rate depends on the two teams playing, the home-ice advantage, and the manpower (power-play, short-handed) situation. Data on all the games from the 2008-2009 season was downloaded and processed into a form suitable for the analysis. The model...

Weather Balloon Ascent Rate

Science.gov (United States)

Denny, Mark

2016-05-01

The physics of a weather balloon is analyzed. The surprising aspect of the motion of these balloons is that they ascend to great altitudes (typically 35 km) at a more or less constant rate. Such behavior is not surprising near the ground—say for a helium-filled party balloon rising from street level to the top of the Empire State building—but it is unexpected for a balloon that rises to altitudes where the air is rarefied. We show from elementary physical laws why the ascent rate is approximately constant.

Pushing the network harder `Dynamic Ratings`

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liondas, V.; Howatt, C.; Norrie, P. [Prospect Electricity, Blacktown, NSW (Australia)

1995-12-31

The demand for electricity in the area serviced by Prospect Electricity, is increasing, necessitating an increase in power transfer through the distribution system. Satisfying this demand generally requires more electrical infrastructure, but this is becoming less feasible due to economic constraints and environmental considerations. This paper discusses an approach to the dynamic (or real time) rating of different network elements. Dynamic rating is taken to mean that rating which is determined essentially in real time using known temperature constraints for the relevant elements, together with the prevailing ambient or environmental conditions. The purpose of dynamic rating is to achieve greater system utilization, thus allowing significant economic benefits, particularly from deferment of capital expenditure and greater operational flexibility. A number of technologies are being developed to do this for overhead lines, underground cables and transformers. The dynamic rating of cables has proved to be the most intractable part of the dynamic rating project. Work done to date, however, using finite element techniques together with the proposals to further develop point and distributed temperature sensing using fibre optic methods gives some confidence to the future success of this development. (author). 2 tabs., 4 figs., 4 refs.

Currency Risk Management under Floating Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicu Duret

2016-09-01

Full Text Available As for the research into this subject, we find, therefore, that one of the most important indicators that quantify the international competitiveness is the exchange rate, together with other fundamental macroeconomic variables such as the size of the potential GDP, the equilibrium real exchange rate, gives a certain insight into the functioning of the fundamental macroeconomic mechanisms and their regulation. Commercial and financial operations imply relationships between partners from different currency countries or areas that involve conversion operations, of replacement of a currency to another. Exchange rate fluctuations of one currency create currency risk, to the extent that it is used to carry out international transactions. These operations are subjected to currency risk as exchange rates change frequently from one period to another and, on the other hand, speculations in the forex market influence the exchange rate by the interventions of those who perform them.

Exchange rate regimes and monetary arrangements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Ribnikar

2005-06-01

Full Text Available There is a close relationship between a country’s exchange rate regime and monetary arrangement and if we are to examine monetary arrangements then exchange rate regimes must first be analysed. Within the conventional and most widely used classification of exchange rate regimes into rigid and flexible or into polar regimes (hard peg and float on one side, and intermediate regimes on the other there, is a much greater variety among intermediate regimes. A more precise and, as will be seen, more useful classification of exchange rate regimes is the first topic of the paper. The second topic is how exchange rate regimes influence or determine monetary arrangements and monetary policy or monetary policy regimes: monetary autonomy versus monetary nonautonomy and discretion in monetary policy versus commitment in monetary policy. Both topics are important for countries on their path to the EU and the euro area

75 FR 9257 - SBA Lender Risk Rating System

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

... Liquidation Rate; 3. Gross Delinquency Rate; 4. Gross Past-Due Rate; 5. Six (6) Month Net Flow Indicator; 6.... The statistical analysis performed showed that incorporating the Portfolio Size/Age component improved...) Month Delinquency Rate; 3. Gross Delinquency Rate; 4. Gross Past-Due Rate; 5. Average Small Business...

7 CFR 1714.6 - Interest rate term.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rate term. 1714.6 Section 1714.6 Agriculture... PRE-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR INSURED ELECTRIC LOANS General § 1714.6 Interest rate term. (a) Municipal rate loans. Selection of interest rate terms shall be made by the borrower for each advance of...

7 CFR 1714.7 - Interest rate cap.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest rate cap. 1714.7 Section 1714.7 Agriculture... PRE-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR INSURED ELECTRIC LOANS General § 1714.7 Interest rate cap. Except... section, or both the rate disparity test for the interest rate cap and the consumer income test set forth...

Photovoltaic Degradation Rates -- An Analytical Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jordan, D. C.; Kurtz, S. R.

2012-06-01

As photovoltaic penetration of the power grid increases, accurate predictions of return on investment require accurate prediction of decreased power output over time. Degradation rates must be known in order to predict power delivery. This article reviews degradation rates of flat-plate terrestrial modules and systems reported in published literature from field testing throughout the last 40 years. Nearly 2000 degradation rates, measured on individual modules or entire systems, have been assembled from the literature, showing a median value of 0.5%/year. The review consists of three parts: a brief historical outline, an analytical summary of degradation rates, and a detailed bibliography partitioned by technology.

The Behavior of Interest Rate Differentials Under Shifting Exchange Rate Regimes: The Experience of Chile, Colombia and Israel

OpenAIRE

Carlos Ibarra

2005-01-01

This paper studies the dynamics of the interest rate differential across band and floating exchange rate regimes in Chile, Colombia and Israel, and in a benchmark group composed of Italy, Portugal and Spain. Significant differences in the interest rate-exchange rate link are found between the two groups, irrespective of regime. However, in all countries, except Italy, the interest differential ceased to behave anti-cyclically against output after the adoption of floating, possibly because of ...

A numerical basis for strain-gradient plasticity theory: Rate-independent and rate-dependent formulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kim Lau; Niordson, Christian Frithiof

2014-01-01

of a single plastic zone is analyzed to illustrate the agreement with earlier published results, whereafter examples of (ii) multiple plastic zone interaction, and (iii) elastic–plastic loading/unloading are presented. Here, the simple shear problem of an infinite slab constrained between rigid plates......A numerical model formulation of the higher order flow theory (rate-independent) by Fleck and Willis [2009. A mathematical basis for strain-gradient plasticity theory – part II: tensorial plastic multiplier. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 57, 1045-1057.], that allows for elastic–plastic...... loading/unloading and the interaction of multiple plastic zones, is proposed. The predicted model response is compared to the corresponding rate-dependent version of visco-plastic origin, and coinciding results are obtained in the limit of small strain-rate sensitivity. First, (i) the evolution...

Exchange Rate Determinants in Russia; 1992-1993

OpenAIRE

Vincent Koen; Eric Meyermans

1994-01-01

This paper examines the evolution of the exchange rate of the ruble vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar from exchange rate unification, in July 1992, to the end of 1993. The expected and actual paths of the exchange rate are related to the exchange and trade regime and to the stance of financial and exchange rate policies. An econometric analysis based on weekly data is offered, which suggests that monetary factors have a significant impact on the short run behavior of the exchange rate.

29 CFR 20.58 - Rate of interest.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Rate of interest. 20.58 Section 20.58 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor FEDERAL CLAIMS COLLECTION Interest, Penalties and Administrative Costs § 20.58 Rate of interest. (a) The rate of interest assessed shall be the rate of the current value of funds to the United...

Affinity functions for modeling glass dissolution rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bourcier, W.L. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1997-07-01

Glass dissolution rates decrease dramatically as glass approach ''saturation'' with respect to the leachate solution. Most repository sites are chosen where water fluxes are minimal, and therefore the waste glass is most likely to dissolve under conditions close to ''saturation''. The key term in the rate expression used to predict glass dissolution rates close to ''saturation'' is the affinity term, which accounts for saturation effects on dissolution rates. Interpretations of recent experimental data on the dissolution behaviour of silicate glasses and silicate minerals indicate the following: 1) simple affinity control does not explain the observed dissolution rate for silicate minerals or glasses; 2) dissolution rates can be significantly modified by dissolved cations even under conditions far from saturation where the affinity term is near unity; 3) the effects of dissolved species such as Al and Si on the dissolution rate vary with pH, temperature, and saturation state; and 4) as temperature is increased, the effect of both pH and temperature on glass and mineral dissolution rates decrease, which strongly suggests a switch in rate control from surface reaction-based to diffusion control. Borosilicate glass dissolution models need to be upgraded to account for these recent experimental observations. (A.C.)

Relationships between Medicare Advantage contract characteristics and quality-of-care ratings: an observational analysis of Medicare Advantage star ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Peng; Burgess, James F; Cabral, Howard; Soria-Saucedo, Rene; Kazis, Lewis E

2015-03-03

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes star ratings on Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts to measure plan quality of care with implications for reimbursement and bonuses. To investigate whether MA contract characteristics are associated with quality of care through the Medicare plan star ratings. Retrospective study of MA star ratings in 2010. Unadjusted and adjusted multivariable linear regression models assessed the relationship between 5-star rating summary scores and plan characteristics. CMS MA contracts nationally. 409 (71%) of a total of 575 MA contracts, covering 10.56 million Medicare beneficiaries (90% of the MA population) in the United States in 2010. The MA quality ratings summary score (stars range from 1 to 5) is a quality measure based on 36 indicators related to processes of care, health outcomes, access to care, and beneficiary satisfaction. Nonprofit, larger, and older MA contracts were more likely to receive higher star ratings. Star ratings ranged from 2 to 5. Nonprofit contracts received an average 0.55 (95% CI, 0.42 to 0.67) higher star ratings than for-profit contracts (P  star ratings than for-profit contracts. When comparing health plans in the future, the CMS should give increasing attention to for-profit plans with lower quality ratings and consider developing programs to assist newer and smaller plans in improving their care for Medicare beneficiaries. None.

Gamma dose rate effect on JFET transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Assaf, J.

2011-04-01

The effect of Gamma dose rate on JFET transistors is presented. The irradiation was accomplished at the following available dose rates: 1, 2.38, 5, 10 , 17 and 19 kGy/h at a constant dose of 600 kGy. A non proportional relationship between the noise and dose rate in the medium range (between 2.38 and 5 kGy/h) was observed. While in the low and high ranges, the noise was proportional to the dose rate as the case of the dose effect. This may be explained as follows: the obtained result is considered as the yield of a competition between many reactions and events which are dependent on the dose rate. At a given values of that events parameters, a proportional or a non proportional dose rate effects are generated. No dependence effects between the dose rate and thermal annealing recovery after irradiation was observed . (author)

Hand hygiene compliance rates: Fact or fiction?

Science.gov (United States)

McLaws, Mary-Louise; Kwok, Yen Lee Angela

2018-05-16

The mandatory national hand hygiene program requires Australian public hospitals to use direct human auditing to establish compliance rates. To establish the magnitude of the Hawthorne effect, we compared direct human audit rates with concurrent automated surveillance rates. A large tertiary Australian teaching hospital previously trialed automated surveillance while simultaneously performing mandatory human audits for 20 minutes daily on a medical and a surgical ward. Subtracting automated surveillance rates from human audit rates provided differences in percentage points (PPs) for each of the 3 quarterly reporting periods for 2014 and 2015. Direct human audit rates for the medical ward were inflated by an average of 55 PPs in 2014 and 64 PPs in 2015, 2.8-3.1 times higher than automated surveillance rates. The rates for the surgical ward were inflated by an average of 32 PPs in 2014 and 31 PPs in 2015, 1.6 times higher than automated surveillance rates. Over the 6 mandatory reporting quarters, human audits collected an average of 255 opportunities, whereas automation collected 578 times more data, averaging 147,308 opportunities per quarter. The magnitude of the Hawthorne effect on direct human auditing was not trivial and produced highly inflated compliance rates. Mandatory compliance necessitates accuracy that only automated surveillance can achieve, whereas daily hand hygiene ambassadors or reminder technology could harness clinicians' ability to hyperrespond to produce habitual compliance. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Where Would the EUR/CHF Exchange Rate be Without the SNB's Minimum Exchange Rate Policy?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanke, Michael; Poulsen, Rolf; Weissensteiner, Alex

2015-01-01

Since its announcement made on September 6, 2011, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has been pursuing the goal of a minimum EUR/CHF exchange rate of 1.20, promising to intervene on currency markets to prevent the exchange rate from falling below this level.We use a compound option pricing approach...

REAL INTEREST RATES AND GOVERNMENT DEBT DURING STABILIZATION

OpenAIRE

Velasco, Andres

1989-01-01

High real interest rates typically accompany successful disinflations. If government deficits are financed with domestic debt, this behavior of interest rates can be destabilizing. High interest rates increase debt service costs and contribute to the accumulation of debt, threatening the whole anti-inflation effort. The exchange rate regime matters in this context. Under perfectly flexible exchange rates, the real interest rate is invariant to changes in the rate of money creation. By contras...

Predicting prey population dynamics from kill rate, predation rate and predator-prey ratios in three wolf-ungulate systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Vucetich, John A; Hebblewhite, Mark; Smith, Douglas W; Peterson, Rolf O

2011-11-01

1. Predation rate (PR) and kill rate are both fundamental statistics for understanding predation. However, relatively little is known about how these statistics relate to one another and how they relate to prey population dynamics. We assess these relationships across three systems where wolf-prey dynamics have been observed for 41 years (Isle Royale), 19 years (Banff) and 12 years (Yellowstone). 2. To provide context for this empirical assessment, we developed theoretical predictions of the relationship between kill rate and PR under a broad range of predator-prey models including predator-dependent, ratio-dependent and Lotka-Volterra dynamics. 3. The theoretical predictions indicate that kill rate can be related to PR in a variety of diverse ways (e.g. positive, negative, unrelated) that depend on the nature of predator-prey dynamics (e.g. structure of the functional response). These simulations also suggested that the ratio of predator-to-prey is a good predictor of prey growth rate. That result motivated us to assess the empirical relationship between the ratio and prey growth rate for each of the three study sites. 4. The empirical relationships indicate that PR is not well predicted by kill rate, but is better predicted by the ratio of predator-to-prey. Kill rate is also a poor predictor of prey growth rate. However, PR and ratio of predator-to-prey each explained significant portions of variation in prey growth rate for two of the three study sites. 5. Our analyses offer two general insights. First, Isle Royale, Banff and Yellowstone are similar insomuch as they all include wolves preying on large ungulates. However, they also differ in species diversity of predator and prey communities, exploitation by humans and the role of dispersal. Even with the benefit of our analysis, it remains difficult to judge whether to be more impressed by the similarities or differences. This difficulty nicely illustrates a fundamental property of ecological

No evidence of purported lunar effect on hospital admission rates or birth rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Margot, Jean-Luc

2015-01-01

Studies indicate that a fraction of nursing professionals believe in a "lunar effect"-a purported correlation between the phases of the Earth's moon and human affairs, such as birth rates, blood loss, or fertility. This article addresses some of the methodological errors and cognitive biases that can explain the human tendency of perceiving a lunar effect where there is none. This article reviews basic standards of evidence and, using an example from the published literature, illustrates how disregarding these standards can lead to erroneous conclusions. Román, Soriano, Fuentes, Gálvez, and Fernández (2004) suggested that the number of hospital admissions related to gastrointestinal bleeding was somehow influenced by the phases of the Earth's moon. Specifically, the authors claimed that the rate of hospital admissions to their bleeding unit is higher during the full moon than at other times. Their report contains a number of methodological and statistical flaws that invalidate their conclusions. Reanalysis of their data with proper procedures shows no evidence that the full moon influences the rate of hospital admissions, a result that is consistent with numerous peer-reviewed studies and meta-analyses. A review of the literature shows that birth rates are also uncorrelated to lunar phases. Data collection and analysis shortcomings, as well as powerful cognitive biases, can lead to erroneous conclusions about the purported lunar effect on human affairs. Adherence to basic standards of evidence can help assess the validity of questionable beliefs.

Lapse rate modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Giovanni, Domenico

2010-01-01

prepayment models for mortgage backed securities, this paper builds a Rational Expectation (RE) model describing the policyholders' behavior in lapsing the contract. A market model with stochastic interest rates is considered, and the pricing is carried out through numerical approximation...

Lapse Rate Modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Giovanni, Domenico

prepayment models for mortgage backed securities, this paper builds a Rational Expectation (RE) model describing the policyholders' behavior in lapsing the contract. A market model with stochastic interest rates is considered, and the pricing is carried out through numerical approximation...

Investigation of MTBE and aromatic compound concentrations at a gas service station.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chi-Wen; Chiang, Song-Bor; Lu, San-Ju