WorldWideScience

Sample records for utility-based super-replication prices

  1. Static super-replicating strategies for a class of exotic options

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, X.; Deelstra, G.; Dhaene, J.; Vanmaele, M.

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate static super-replicating strategies for European-type call options written on a weighted sum of asset prices. This class of exotic options includes Asian options and basket options among others. We assume that there exists a market where the plain vanilla options on the

  2. Derivative pricing based on local utility maximization

    OpenAIRE

    Jan Kallsen

    2002-01-01

    This paper discusses a new approach to contingent claim valuation in general incomplete market models. We determine the neutral derivative price which occurs if investors maximize their local utility and if derivative demand and supply are balanced. We also introduce the sensitivity process of a contingent claim. This process quantifies the reliability of the neutral derivative price and it can be used to construct price bounds. Moreover, it allows to calibrate market models in order to be co...

  3. Astronomical Orientation Method Based on Lunar Observations Utilizing Super Wide Field of View

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PU Junyu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper,astronomical orientation is achieved by observing the moon utilizing camera with super wide field of view,and formulae are deduced in detail.An experiment based on real observations verified the stability of the method.In this experiment,after 15 minutes' tracking shoots,the internal precision could be superior to ±7.5" and the external precision could approximately reach ±20".This camera-based method for astronomical orientation can change the traditional mode (aiming by human eye based on theodolite,thus lowering the requirements for operator's skill to some extent.Furthermore,camera with super wide field of view can realize the function of continuous tracking shoots on the moon without complicated servo control devices.Considering the similar existence of gravity on the moon and the earth's phase change when observed from the moon,once the technology of self-leveling is developed,this method can be extended to orientation for lunar rover by shooting the earth.

  4. Approximation solutions for indifference pricing under general utility functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, An; Pelsser, Antoon; Vellekoop, M.H.

    2008-01-01

    With the aid of Taylor-based approximations, this paper presents results for pricing insurance contracts by using indifference pricing under general utility functions. We discuss the connection between the resulting "theoretical" indifference prices and the pricing rule-of-thumb that practitioners

  5. Approximate Solutions for Indifference Pricing under General Utility Functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, A.; Pelsser, A.; Vellekoop, M.

    2007-01-01

    With the aid of Taylor-based approximations, this paper presents results for pricing insurance contracts by using indifference pricing under general utility functions. We discuss the connection between the resulting "theoretical" indifference prices and the pricing rule-of-thumb that practitioners

  6. A utility theory approach for insurance pricing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Gharakhani

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Providing insurance contract with “deductible” is beneficial for both insurer and insured. In this paper, we provide a utility modeling approach to handle insurance pricing and evaluate the tradeoff between discount benefit and deductible level. We analyze four different pricing problems of no insurance, full insurance coverage, insurance with β% deductible and insurance with D-dollar deductible based on a given utility function. A numerical example is also used to illustrate some interesting results.

  7. Optimal pricing of non-utility generated electric power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siddiqi, S.N.; Baughman, M.L.

    1994-01-01

    The importance of an optimal pricing policy for pricing non-utility generated power is pointed out in this paper. An optimal pricing policy leads to benefits for all concerned: the utility, industry, and the utility's other customers. In this paper, it is shown that reliability differentiated real-time pricing provides an optimal non-utility generated power pricing policy, from a societal welfare point of view. Firm capacity purchase, and hence an optimal price for purchasing firm capacity, are an integral part of this pricing policy. A case study shows that real-time pricing without firm capacity purchase results in improper investment decisions and higher costs for the system as a whole. Without explicit firm capacity purchase, the utility makes greater investment in capacity addition in order to meet its reliability criteria than is socially optimal. It is concluded that the non-utility generated power pricing policy presented in this paper and implied by reliability differentiated pricing policy results in social welfare-maximizing investment and operation decisions

  8. A Survey of Utility Experience with Real Time Pricing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barbose, Galen; Goldman, Charles; Neenan, Bernie

    2004-12-01

    While more than 70 utilities in the U.S. have offered voluntary RTP tariffs on either a pilot or permanent basis, most have operated in relative obscurity. To bring this broad base of experience to bear on policymakers current efforts to stimulate price responsive demand, we conducted a survey of 43 voluntary RTP tariffs offered in 2003. The survey involved telephone interviews with RTP program managers and other utility staff, as well as a review of regulatory documents, tariff sheets, program evaluations, and other publicly available sources. Based on this review of RTP program experience, we identify key trends related to: utilities motivations for implementing RTP, evolution of RTP tariff design, program participation, participant price response, and program outlook. We draw from these findings to discuss implications for policymakers that are currently considering voluntary RTP as a strategy for developing price responsive demand.

  9. The effects of utility DSM programs on electricity costs and prices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirst, E.

    1991-11-01

    More and more US utilities are running more and larger demand-side management (DSM) programs. Assessing the cost-effectiveness of these programs raises difficult questions for utilities and their regulators. Should these programs aim to minimize the total cost of providing electric-energy services or should they minimize the price of electricity? This study offers quantitative estimates on the tradeoffs between total costs and electricity prices. This study uses a dynamic model to assess the effects of energy-efficiency programs on utility revenues, total resource costs, electricity prices, and electricity consumption for the period 1990 to 2010. These DSM programs are assessed under alternative scenarios. In these cases, fossil-fuel prices, load growth, the amount of excess capacity the utility has in 1990, planned retirements of power plants, the financial treatment of DSM programs, and the costs of energy- efficient programs vary. These analyses are conducted for three utilities: a ``base`` that is typical of US utilities; a ``surplus`` utility that has excess capacity, few planned retirements, and slow growth in fossil-fuel prices and incomes; and a ``deficit`` utility that has little excess capacity, many planned retirements, and rapid growth in fossil-fuel prices and incomes. 28 refs.

  10. The effects of utility DSM programs on electricity costs and prices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirst, E.

    1991-11-01

    More and more US utilities are running more and larger demand-side management (DSM) programs. Assessing the cost-effectiveness of these programs raises difficult questions for utilities and their regulators. Should these programs aim to minimize the total cost of providing electric-energy services or should they minimize the price of electricity This study offers quantitative estimates on the tradeoffs between total costs and electricity prices. This study uses a dynamic model to assess the effects of energy-efficiency programs on utility revenues, total resource costs, electricity prices, and electricity consumption for the period 1990 to 2010. These DSM programs are assessed under alternative scenarios. In these cases, fossil-fuel prices, load growth, the amount of excess capacity the utility has in 1990, planned retirements of power plants, the financial treatment of DSM programs, and the costs of energy- efficient programs vary. These analyses are conducted for three utilities: a base'' that is typical of US utilities; a surplus'' utility that has excess capacity, few planned retirements, and slow growth in fossil-fuel prices and incomes; and a deficit'' utility that has little excess capacity, many planned retirements, and rapid growth in fossil-fuel prices and incomes. 28 refs.

  11. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2005)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L.; Brown, E.

    2006-10-01

    This report presents year-end 2005 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities to benchmark the success of their green power programs.

  12. Does it actually feel right? A replication attempt of the rounded price effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harms, Christopher; Genau, Hanna A; Meschede, Carolin; Beauducel, André

    2018-04-01

    How does the roundedness of prices affect product evaluations? The 'rounded price effect' postulates that depending on the context, rounded or non-rounded prices increase the purchase likelihood of consumers. The study presented here is a replication attempt of these findings and the proposed mediation of the effect through a sense of 'feeling right' when evaluating the product. p -Curve analysis and the R-Index are used to assess the robustness of the originally reported statistics since original data were not available. A pre-registered replication of study 5 from the original article was conducted in a sample of N =588 participants. For both the original product and one alternative product neither an interaction between price roundedness and context, nor a mediation through 'a sense of feeling right' was found. Our results suggest that the effect is either smaller than originally reported or contingent on other, not investigated factors. Further studies might investigate contingencies in larger samples.

  13. Measurement of replication structures at the nanometer scale using super-resolution light microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baddeley, D; Chagin, V O; Schermelleh, L; Martin, S; Pombo, A; Carlton, P M; Gahl, A; Domaing, P; Birk, U; Leonhardt, H; Cremer, C; Cardoso, M C

    2010-01-01

    DNA replication, similar to other cellular processes, occurs within dynamic macromolecular structures. Any comprehensive understanding ultimately requires quantitative data to establish and test models of genome duplication. We used two different super-resolution light microscopy techniques to directly measure and compare the size and numbers of replication foci in mammalian cells. This analysis showed that replication foci vary in size from 210 nm down to 40 nm. Remarkably, spatially modulated illumination (SMI) and 3D-structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) both showed an average size of 125 nm that was conserved throughout S-phase and independent of the labeling method, suggesting a basic unit of genome duplication. Interestingly, the improved optical 3D resolution identified 3- to 5-fold more distinct replication foci than previously reported. These results show that optical nanoscopy techniques enable accurate measurements of cellular structures at a level previously achieved only by electron microscopy and highlight the possibility of high-throughput, multispectral 3D analyses.

  14. Tariff rebalancing and price structure in privatised utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weyman-Jones, T.; Burns, P.

    1996-01-01

    The document contains the end of award report on research into re-balancing and price structure in privatised utilities, funded by the Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC). Ramsey pricing ideas in United Kingdom utilities were modelled under different forms of regulation and cost/price relationships measured. Alternative forms of regulation that permit Ramsey pricing were also evaluated. Option price theory is shown to be central to an understanding of incentive mechanisms and their relationship to regulatory options. (UK)

  15. A comparison of cost-based pricing rules for natural gas distribution utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, C.C.

    1993-01-01

    Partial-equilibrium social welfare deadweight losses under uniform Ramsey pricing, a cost allocation pricing method, and the actual average revenues by customer class for two natural gas distribution utilities are calculated and compared. Marginal cost estimates are derived from a multiple-output translog variable cost function and used, along with three sets of demand elasticities, to generate the Ramsey prices and welfare losses. The actual and cost-allocation prices are taken directly from rate case files. The largest social welfare losses are associated with the cost-allocation rule, as high as 10-25% of revenue, despite suggestions in the literature to the contrary. (Author)

  16. Making Connections: Replicating and Extending the Utility Value Intervention in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hulleman, Chris S.; Kosovich, Jeff J.; Barron, Kenneth E.; Daniel, David B.

    2017-01-01

    We replicated and extended prior research investigating a theoretically guided intervention based on expectancy-value theory designed to enhance student learning outcomes (e.g., Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). First, we replicated prior work by demonstrating that the utility value intervention, which manipulated whether students made…

  17. Renewable Energy Price-Stability Benefits in Utility Green Power Programs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L. A.; Cory, K. S.; Swezey, B. G.

    2008-08-01

    This paper examines utility experiences when offering the fixed-price benefits of renewable energy in green pricing programs, including the methods utilized and the impact on program participation. It focuses primarily on utility green pricing programs in states that have not undergone electric industry restructuring.

  18. Utility green pricing programs: a statistical analysis of program effectiveness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryan, W.; Scott, O.; Lori, B.; Blair, S.

    2005-01-01

    Utility green pricing programs represent one way in which consumers can voluntarily support the development of renewable energy. The design features and effectiveness of these programs varies considerably. Based on a survey of utility program managers in the United States, this article provides insight into which program features might help maximize both customer participation in green pricing programs and the amount of renewable energy purchased by customers in those programs. We find that program length has a substantial impact on customer participation and purchases; to achieve higher levels of success, utilities will need to remain committed to their product offering for some time. Our findings also suggest that utilities should consider higher renewable energy purchase thresholds for residential customers in order to maximize renewable energy sales. Smaller utilities are found to be more successful than larger utilities, and we find some evidence that providing private benefits to nonresidential participants can enhance success. Interestingly, we find little evidence that the cost of the green pricing product greatly impacts customer participation and renewable energy sales, at least over the narrow range of premiums embedded in our data set, and for the initial set of green power purchasers. (author)

  19. Utility Green Pricing Programs: Design, Implementation, and Consumer Response

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L.; Swezey, B.; Aabakken, J.

    2004-02-01

    The term green pricing refers to programs offered by utilities in traditionally regulated electricity markets, which allow customers to support the development of renewable energy sources by paying a small premium on their electric bills. Since the introduction of the concept in the United States, the number of unique utility green pricing programs has expanded from just a few programs in 1993 to more than 90 in 2002. About 10% of U.S. utilities offered a green pricing option to about 26 million consumers by the end of 2002. This report provides: (1) aggregate industry data on consumer response to utility programs, which indicate the collective impact of green pricing on renewable energy development nationally; and (2) market data that can be used by utilities as a benchmark for gauging the relative success of their green pricing programs. Specifically, the paper presents current data and trends in consumer response to green pricing, as measured by renewable energy sales, participants, participation rates, and new renewable energy capacity supported. It presents data on various aspects of program design and implementation, such as product pricing, ownership of supplies, retention rates, marketing costs, the effectiveness of marketing techniques, and methods of enrolling and providing value to customers.

  20. Regulator preferences and utility prices: evidence from natural gas distribution utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, C.C.; Sweeney, G.H.

    1999-01-01

    We investigate the determinants of regulators' relative weighting of the social welfare of customer groups and utilities using panel data on natural gas distribution utilities in the US state of Tennessee. In contrast to previous empirical work on cross-sections of electric utilities, our results are statistically robust and consistent with the interest group theory of regulation. Intervention in rate cases, settlement vs. litigation of cases, and prices of alternative energy sources, as well as the size characteristics of customer groups and the firm, are significant determinants of the elasticity-weighted price-cost margin (Ramsey number) for each group. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

  1. A survey of utility experience with real time pricing: implications for policymakers seeking price responsive demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barbose, Galen; Goldman, Charles; Neenan, Bernard

    2005-01-01

    Economists and policy makers frequently propose real time pricing (RTP) as a strategy for facilitating price responsive demand, thereby improving the performance of electricity markets and regional networks. While theoretically appealing, many practical and empirical issues related to RTP remain unresolved or poorly understood. Over the past two decades, more than 70 utilities in the U.S. have offered voluntary RTP tariffs, on either a pilot or permanent basis. However, most have operated in relative obscurity, and little information has made its way into the public domain. To address this gap, we conducted a conducted a comprehensive review of voluntary RTP programs in the U.S. by surveying 43 U.S. utilities and reviewing regulatory documents, tariffs, program evaluations, and other publicly available sources. Based on this review of RTP program experience, we identify key trends related to utilities' motivations and goals for implementing RTP, evolution of RTP tariff design, program participation, participant price response, and program outlook. Experience with voluntary RTP programs has been mixed. Several utilities have demonstrated that voluntary RTP programs are capable of generating significant load reductions. However, most programs have attracted relatively few participants and therefore have generated quite limited load reductions. About 2700 non-residential customers were enrolled in RTP programs in 2003, representing more than 11 000 MW of load. We then draw from these findings to identify implications for policy makers and regulators that are currently considering RTP as a strategy for facilitating price responsive demand

  2. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2006)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L.; Kaiser, M.

    2007-10-01

    In the early 1990s, only a handful of utilities offered their customers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Today, more than 750 utilities--or about 25% of all utilities nationally--provide their customers a "green power" option. Through these programs, more than 70 million customers have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs--or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2006 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities to benchmark the success of their green power programs.

  3. The case for indexed price caps for U.S. electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lowry, M.N.

    1991-01-01

    Indexed price caps are a promising alternative to traditional, cost-of-service utility rate regulation. In just a decade, they have sprung from the drawing boards of economists to use by major utilities in a number of industries. Several authors have discussed the merits of indexed price caps for U.S. electric utilities. Despite their efforts, many parties to electric utility policy making are unfamiliar with the subject. This is unsurprising given the policy controversies that already embroil the industry. It is also unfortunate, since indexed price caps may help solve some of the problems that prompt these controversies. Indexed price caps can improve electric utility rate regulation in two ways. Utilities would have strong incentives to improve performance without the micromanagement that increasingly characterizes state-level regulation. Utilities could also be granted more extensive marketing freedoms, since indexes can protect customers from cross-subsidization. Two areas of concern about indexed price cap plans have emerged in recent discussions that the author has held with officials of electric utilities, intervenor groups, and regulatory agencies. Officials are often unclear on plan details, and therefore may not appreciate the degree of flexibility that is possible in plan design. Confusion over the available options in price cap adjustment indexes and the logic behind them is especially widespread. Officials also desire a clearer expression of how indexed price caps can coexist with current regulatory initiatives. This article details the major attributes of index plans, provides a brief history of indexing, discusses index design options in depth, and concludes with a vision of how indexed price caps can be made operational in today's electric utility industry

  4. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2006)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, Lori [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kaiser, Marshall [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2007-10-01

    In the early 1990s, only a handful of utilities offered their customers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Today, more than 750 utilities—or about 25% of all utilities nationally—provide their customers a “green power” option. Through these programs, more than 70 million customers have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs—or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2006 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities to benchmark the success of their green power programs.

  5. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2004)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L.; Brown, E.

    2005-10-01

    In the early 1990s, only a handful of utilities offered their customers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Today, nearly 600 utilities in regulated electricity markets--or almost 20% of all utilities nationally--provide their customers a "green power" option. Because some utilities offer programs in conjunction with cooperative associations or other publicly owned power entities, the number of distinct programs totals about 125. Through these programs, more than 40 million customers spanning 34 states have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs--or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2004 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities as benchmarks by which to gauge the success of their green power programs.

  6. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2003)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L.; Cardinal, K.

    2004-09-01

    Utilities first began offering consumers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources in the early 1990s. Since then, the number of U.S. utilities offering green pricing programs has steadily grown. Today, more than 500 utilities in regulated electricity markets--or about 16% of all utilities nationally--offer their customers green power options. Because some of these utilities offer programs in conjunction with cooperative associations or other public power entities, the number of distinct programs is slightly more than 100. Through these programs, more than 33 million customers spanning 34 states have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs, or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers must pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2003 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data provided in this report can be used by utilities as benchmarks by which to gauge the success of their green power programs.

  7. Renewable Energy Price-Stability Benefits in Utility Green Power Programs. 36 pp

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, Lori A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cory, Karlynn S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Swezey, Blair G. [Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA (United States)

    2008-08-01

    This paper examines utility experiences when offering the fixed-price benefits of renewable energy in green pricing programs, including the methods utilized and the impact on program participation. It focuses primarily on utility green pricing programs in states that have not undergone electric industry restructuring.

  8. Utility Green-Pricing Programs: What Defines Success? (Topical Issues Brief)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Swezey, B.; Bird, L.

    2001-09-13

    ''Green pricing'' is an optional service through which customers can support a greater level of investment by their electric utility in renewable energy technologies. Electric utilities in 29 states are now implementing green-pricing programs. This report examines important elements of green-pricing programs, including the different types of programs offered, the premiums charged, customer response, and additional factors that experience indicates are key to the development of successful programs. The best-performing programs tend to share a number of common attributes related to product design, value creation, product pricing, and program implementation. The report ends with a list of ''best practices'' for utilities to follow when developing and implementing programs.

  9. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2005)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, Lori [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Brown, Elizabeth [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2006-10-01

    In the early 1990s, only a handful of utilities offered their customers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Today, more than 600 utilities—or about 20% of all utilities nationally—provide their customers a “green power” option. Because some utilities offer programs in conjunction with cooperative associations or other publicly owned power entities, the number of distinct programs totals more than 130. Through these programs, more than 50 million customers have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs—or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2005 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities to benchmark the success of their green power programs.

  10. Rent dissipation through electricity prices of publicly owned utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernard, J-T.; Roland, M.

    1997-01-01

    Pricing policies of Canadian public utilities were examined. It was shown that under the existing set of rules the prices established are frequently below the marginal cost. This appears to be particularly true in the case of provinces that rely principally on hydroelectric resources. Study recommendations to bring electricity prices in line with marginal costs have had little success to date despite overwhelming evidence of large economic losses associated with the current institutional arrangements. This situation remains at the same time that governments apply high tax rates on incomes. By putting together two strands of economic literature, public choice and the theory of public utility pricing, this paper develops a simple model that explains why the median consumer prefers a low electricity price and a high tax rate. Hydro-Quebec survey data is used to confirm that these conditions are satisfied in Quebec. 17 refs., 1 tab

  11. Utility Green-Pricing Programs: What Defines Success? (Topical Issues Brief); TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swezey, B.; Bird, L.

    2001-01-01

    ''Green pricing'' is an optional service through which customers can support a greater level of investment by their electric utility in renewable energy technologies. Electric utilities in 29 states are now implementing green-pricing programs. This report examines important elements of green-pricing programs, including the different types of programs offered, the premiums charged, customer response, and additional factors that experience indicates are key to the development of successful programs. The best-performing programs tend to share a number of common attributes related to product design, value creation, product pricing, and program implementation. The report ends with a list of ''best practices'' for utilities to follow when developing and implementing programs

  12. Productivity growth and price regulation of Slovenian water distribution utilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Zorić

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to analyse the price regulation method and performance of thewater industry in Slovenia. A stochastic cost frontier model is employed to estimate and decompose the total factor productivity (TFP growth of water distribution utilities in the 1997-2003 period. The main goal is to find out whether the lack of proper incentives to improve performance has resulted in the low TFP growth of Slovenian water distribution utilities. The evidence suggests that cost inefficiencies are present in water utilities, which indicates considerable cost saving potential in the analysed industry. Technical change is found to have positively affected the TFP growth over time, while cost inefficiency levels remained essentially unchanged. Overall, the average annual TFP growth in the analysed period is estimated to be only slightly above zero, which is a relatively poor result. This can largely be contributed to the present institutional and regulatory setting that does not stimulate utilities to improve productivity. Therefore, the introduction of an independent regulatory agency and an incentive-based price regulation scheme should be seriously considered in order to enhance the performance of Slovenian water distribution utilities.

  13. Android malware detection based on evolutionary super-network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Haisheng; Peng, Lingling

    2018-04-01

    In the paper, an android malware detection method based on evolutionary super-network is proposed in order to improve the precision of android malware detection. Chi square statistics method is used for selecting characteristics on the basis of analyzing android authority. Boolean weighting is utilized for calculating characteristic weight. Processed characteristic vector is regarded as the system training set and test set; hyper edge alternative strategy is used for training super-network classification model, thereby classifying test set characteristic vectors, and it is compared with traditional classification algorithm. The results show that the detection method proposed in the paper is close to or better than traditional classification algorithm. The proposed method belongs to an effective Android malware detection means.

  14. Money flexibility, price elasticity, and elasticity of marginal utility of consumption

    OpenAIRE

    Malakhov, Sergey

    2014-01-01

    The development of G.Stigler’s original model of search describes the mathematical relationship between the elasticity of the marginal utility of consumption, the price elasticity, and the elasticity of the marginal utility of money income with respect to increase in the price of living and/or to inflation. This relationship can be used not only in economics of well-being but also in microeconomics where the increase in the price of living, i.e., in purchase price, can make consumption “bad” ...

  15. Profit maximization algorithms for utility companies in an oligopolistic energy market with dynamic prices and intelligent users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiansong Cui

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Dynamic energy pricing provides a promising solution for the utility companies to incentivize energy users to perform demand side management in order to minimize their electric bills. Moreover, the emerging decentralized smart grid, which is a likely infrastructure scenario for future electrical power networks, allows energy consumers to select their energy provider from among multiple utility companies in any billing period. This paper thus starts by considering an oligopolistic energy market with multiple non-cooperative (competitive utility companies, and addresses the problem of determining dynamic energy prices for every utility company in this market based on a modified Bertrand Competition Model of user behaviors. Two methods of dynamic energy pricing are proposed for a utility company to maximize its total profit. The first method finds the greatest lower bound on the total profit that can be achieved by the utility company, whereas the second method finds the best response of a utility company to dynamic pricing policies that the other companies have adopted in previous billing periods. To exploit the advantages of each method while compensating their shortcomings, an adaptive dynamic pricing policy is proposed based on a machine learning technique, which finds a good balance between invocations of the two aforesaid methods. Experimental results show that the adaptive policy results in consistently high profit for the utility company no matter what policies are employed by the other companies.

  16. [The price-based certainty of purchase influences consumer behavior for discount].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arihara, Katsuhiko; Ariga, Atsunori; Furuya, Takeshi

    2016-04-01

    Tversky & Kahneman (1981) reported that most participants decided to drive when they could save money on a low-price good as compared to when they could save on a high-price good, even though the discount prices were same. Although this irrational decision making has been interpreted as a rate-dependent estimation of value (prospect theory), this study newly proposes that it can be explained by the certainty of purchase based on the price of goods. Experiment 1 replicated the previously reported difference in decision making, and additionally demonstrated that participants' certainty of purchase was lower for a high- than a low-price good. When it was emphasized that participants' intention to purchase high- and low-price goods were equally sure, decision making did not significantly differ (Experiment 2). Furthermore, decision making differed based only on the certainty of purchase even,when prices of goods were-same (Experiment 3). Consumers' decision making may be rather rational, depending straightforwardly on the certainty of purchase that is susceptible to price.

  17. Example-Based Super-Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Shu; Han, Boran; Kutz, J Nathan

    2018-04-23

    Capturing biological dynamics with high spatiotemporal resolution demands the advancement in imaging technologies. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy offers spatial resolution surpassing the diffraction limit to resolve near-molecular-level details. While various strategies have been reported to improve the temporal resolution of super-resolution imaging, all super-resolution techniques are still fundamentally limited by the trade-off associated with the longer image acquisition time that is needed to achieve higher spatial information. Here, we demonstrated an example-based, computational method that aims to obtain super-resolution images using conventional imaging without increasing the imaging time. With a low-resolution image input, the method provides an estimate of its super-resolution image based on an example database that contains super- and low-resolution image pairs of biological structures of interest. The computational imaging of cellular microtubules agrees approximately with the experimental super-resolution STORM results. This new approach may offer potential improvements in temporal resolution for experimental super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and provide a new path for large-data aided biomedical imaging.

  18. New pricing approaches for bundled payments: Leveraging clinical standards and regional variations to target avoidable utilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hellsten, Erik; Chu, Scally; Crump, R Trafford; Yu, Kevin; Sutherland, Jason M

    2016-03-01

    Develop pricing models for bundled payments that draw inputs from clinician-defined best practice standards and benchmarks set from regional variations in utilization. Health care utilization and claims data for a cohort of incident Ontario ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke episodes. Episodes of care are created by linking incident stroke hospitalizations with subsequent health service utilization across multiple datasets. Costs are estimated for episodes of care and constituent service components using setting-specific case mix methodologies and provincial fee schedules. Costs are estimated for five areas of potentially avoidable utilization, derived from best practice standards set by an expert panel of stroke clinicians. Alternative approaches for setting normative prices for stroke episodes are developed using measures of potentially avoidable utilization and benchmarks established by the best performing regions. There are wide regional variations in the utilization of different health services within episodes of stroke care. Reconciling the best practice standards with regional utilization identifies significant amounts of potentially avoidable utilization. Normative pricing models for stroke episodes result in increasingly aggressive redistributions of funding. Bundled payment pilots to date have been based on the costs of historical service patterns, which effectively 'bake in' unwarranted and inefficient variations in utilization. This study demonstrates the feasibility of novel clinically informed episode pricing approaches that leverage these variations to target reductions in potentially avoidable utilization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Demand side management in recycling and electricity retail pricing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazan, Osman

    This dissertation addresses several problems from the recycling industry and electricity retail market. The first paper addresses a real-life scheduling problem faced by a national industrial recycling company. Based on their practices, a scheduling problem is defined, modeled, analyzed, and a solution is approximated efficiently. The recommended application is tested on the real-life data and randomly generated data. The scheduling improvements and the financial benefits are presented. The second problem is from electricity retail market. There are well-known patterns in daily usage in hours. These patterns change in shape and magnitude by seasons and days of the week. Generation costs are multiple times higher during the peak hours of the day. Yet most consumers purchase electricity at flat rates. This work explores analytic pricing tools to reduce peak load electricity demand for retailers. For that purpose, a nonlinear model that determines optimal hourly prices is established based on two major components: unit generation costs and consumers' utility. Both are analyzed and estimated empirically in the third paper. A pricing model is introduced to maximize the electric retailer's profit. As a result, a closed-form expression for the optimal price vector is obtained. Possible scenarios are evaluated for consumers' utility distribution. For the general case, we provide a numerical solution methodology to obtain the optimal pricing scheme. The models recommended are tested under various scenarios that consider consumer segmentation and multiple pricing policies. The recommended model reduces the peak load significantly in most cases. Several utility companies offer hourly pricing to their customers. They determine prices using historical data of unit electricity cost over time. In this dissertation we develop a nonlinear model that determines optimal hourly prices with parameter estimation. The last paper includes a regression analysis of the unit generation cost

  20. Relative Pricing of Publicly Traded U.S. Electric Utility Companies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jewczyn, Nicholas Stephen

    In the financial turmoil of 2008, U.S. firms reported debt-ratios that differed from the debt-ratios calculated from balance sheets. The problem is that investors bought common stock expecting initial investment return and lost money when companies delisted. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine sample securities pricing with the application of synthetic assets and debt accrued. Addressed in the research questions was whether those securities were (a) underpriced compared with return-on-assets (ROA), (b) overpriced compared with ROA, (c) a debt-ratio higher than 60% and also overpriced, (d) underpriced with a synthetic asset added, or (e) related by relative pricing to variant pricing and market capitalization. The study's base theory was Pan's efficient market hypothesis (EMH) of security price prediction of market prices versus model prices. The data from the financial statements of 16 publicly traded U.S. electric utility companies were analyzed via correlations and multiple regression analyses to determine securities pricing and suitability. The findings from the analyses of the sample's variables of market price, book value, market-to-book, and study constructed variables from those variable data were statistically significant. The alternate hypotheses were accepted for all 5 research questions since the analytical operationalization of the hypothetical constructs led to significant relationships. Results suggest that the use of more pricing determinants in securities evaluation may lead to investors losing less money and earning the expected returns for a more efficient capital market, leading to a stronger economy and macroeconomic stability.

  1. Value-based pricing

    OpenAIRE

    Netseva-Porcheva Tatyana

    2010-01-01

    The main aim of the paper is to present the value-based pricing. Therefore, the comparison between two approaches of pricing is made - cost-based pricing and value-based pricing. The 'Price sensitively meter' is presented. The other topic of the paper is the perceived value - meaning of the perceived value, the components of perceived value, the determination of perceived value and the increasing of perceived value. In addition, the best company strategies in matrix 'value-cost' are outlined. .

  2. Value-based pricing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Netseva-Porcheva Tatyana

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The main aim of the paper is to present the value-based pricing. Therefore, the comparison between two approaches of pricing is made - cost-based pricing and value-based pricing. The 'Price sensitively meter' is presented. The other topic of the paper is the perceived value - meaning of the perceived value, the components of perceived value, the determination of perceived value and the increasing of perceived value. In addition, the best company strategies in matrix 'value-cost' are outlined. .

  3. Modelling the transition from cost-based to bid-based pricing in a deregulated electricity-market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Druce, Donald J.

    2007-01-01

    Alberta is a province in western Canada with a deregulated electricity-market. Market clearing prices for most hours reflect the cost of either coal-fired or gas-fired thermal generation. Whenever there is a chronic shortage of generation or even a temporary one due to an outage, prices can be bid much higher than fuel costs would suggest. The province of British Columbia borders Alberta to the west and its electric utility, BC Hydro, has a history of trade with the utilities in Alberta. BC Hydro has predominantly hydroelectric resources and large storage reservoirs. Prior to Alberta's deregulation in 1996, BC Hydro was able to enter into mutually beneficial load-factoring contracts with the Alberta utilities. Now, as long as the transmission is available, BC Hydro can buy low priced off-peak coal-fired energy and sell into the high priced periods without having to share the benefits. BC Hydro uses a combination of econometric and Monte Carlo modelling to simulate hourly price-duration curves for Alberta that capture both cost-based and bid-based characteristics. This approach provides a good fit with the stochastic dynamic programming model that BC Hydro has developed for its mid-term hydro scheduling

  4. A Dynamic Pricing Reverse Auction-Based Resource Allocation Mechanism in Cloud Workflow Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuejun Li

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Market-oriented reverse auction is an efficient and cost-effective method for resource allocation in cloud workflow systems since it can dynamically allocate resources depending on the supply-demand relationship of the cloud market. However, during the auction the price of cloud resource is usually fixed, and the current resource allocation mechanisms cannot adapt to the changeable market properly which results in the low efficiency of resource utilization. To address such a problem, a dynamic pricing reverse auction-based resource allocation mechanism is proposed. During the auction, resource providers can change prices according to the trading situation so that our novel mechanism can increase the chances of making a deal and improve efficiency of resource utilization. In addition, resource providers can improve their competitiveness in the market by lowering prices, and thus users can obtain cheaper resources in shorter time which would decrease monetary cost and completion time for workflow execution. Experiments with different situations and problem sizes are conducted for dynamic pricing-based allocation mechanism (DPAM on resource utilization and the measurement of Time⁎Cost (TC. The results show that our DPAM can outperform its representative in resource utilization, monetary cost, and completion time and also obtain the optimal price reduction rates.

  5. Modelling the transition from cost-based to bid-based pricing in a deregulated electricity-market

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Druce, Donald J. [BC Hydro, 6911 Southpoint Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada)

    2007-12-15

    Alberta is a province in western Canada with a deregulated electricity-market. Market clearing prices for most hours reflect the cost of either coal-fired or gas-fired thermal generation. Whenever there is a chronic shortage of generation or even a temporary one due to an outage, prices can be bid much higher than fuel costs would suggest. The province of British Columbia borders Alberta to the west and its electric utility, BC Hydro, has a history of trade with the utilities in Alberta. BC Hydro has predominantly hydroelectric resources and large storage reservoirs. Prior to Alberta's deregulation in 1996, BC Hydro was able to enter into mutually beneficial load-factoring contracts with the Alberta utilities. Now, as long as the transmission is available, BC Hydro can buy low priced off-peak coal-fired energy and sell into the high priced periods without having to share the benefits. BC Hydro uses a combination of econometric and Monte Carlo modelling to simulate hourly price-duration curves for Alberta that capture both cost-based and bid-based characteristics. This approach provides a good fit with the stochastic dynamic programming model that BC Hydro has developed for its mid-term hydro scheduling. (author)

  6. Variance Swap Replication: Discrete or Continuous?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabien Le Floc’h

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The popular replication formula to price variance swaps assumes continuity of traded option strikes. In practice, however, there is only a discrete set of option strikes traded on the market. We present here different discrete replication strategies and explain why the continuous replication price is more relevant.

  7. Biogas slurry pricing method based on nutrient content

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chang-ai; Guo, Honghai; Yang, Zhengtao; Xin, Shurong

    2017-11-01

    In order to promote biogas-slurry commercialization, A method was put forward to valuate biogas slurry based on its nutrient contents. Firstly, element contents of biogas slurry was measured; Secondly, each element was valuated based on its market price, and then traffic cost, using cost and market effect were taken into account, the pricing method of biogas slurry were obtained lastly. This method could be useful in practical production. Taking cattle manure raw meterial biogas slurry and con stalk raw material biogas slurry for example, their price were 38.50 yuan RMB per ton and 28.80 yuan RMB per ton. This paper will be useful for recognizing the value of biogas projects, ensuring biogas project running, and instructing the cyclic utilization of biomass resources in China.

  8. Modeling the Dynamic Interrelations between Mobility, Utility, and Land Asking Price

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidayat, E.; Rudiarto, I.; Siegert, F.; Vries, W. D.

    2018-02-01

    Limited and insufficient information about the dynamic interrelation among mobility, utility, and land price is the main reason to conduct this research. Several studies, with several approaches, and several variables have been conducted so far in order to model the land price. However, most of these models appear to generate primarily static land prices. Thus, a research is required to compare, design, and validate different models which calculate and/or compare the inter-relational changes of mobility, utility, and land price. The applied method is a combination of analysis of literature review, expert interview, and statistical analysis. The result is newly improved mathematical model which have been validated and is suitable for the case study location. This improved model consists of 12 appropriate variables. This model can be implemented in the Salatiga city as the case study location in order to arrange better land use planning to mitigate the uncontrolled urban growth.

  9. Forecasting Day-Ahead Electricity Prices : Utilizing Hourly Prices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    E. Raviv (Eran); K.E. Bouwman (Kees); D.J.C. van Dijk (Dick)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractThe daily average price of electricity represents the price of electricity to be delivered over the full next day and serves as a key reference price in the electricity market. It is an aggregate that equals the average of hourly prices for delivery during each of the 24 individual

  10. Forecasting Day-Ahead Electricity Prices: Utilizing Hourly Prices

    OpenAIRE

    Raviv, Eran; Bouwman, Kees E.; van Dijk, Dick

    2013-01-01

    This discussion paper led to a publication in 'Energy Economics' , 2015, 50, 227-239. The daily average price of electricity represents the price of electricity to be delivered over the full next day and serves as a key reference price in the electricity market. It is an aggregate that equals the average of hourly prices for delivery during each of the 24 individual hours. This paper demonstrates that the disaggregated hourly prices contain useful predictive information for the daily average ...

  11. A bid solicitation and selection method for developing a competitive spot priced electric market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ancona, J.J.

    1997-01-01

    The electric utility industry is in the beginning throes of a transformation from a cost-based regulated structure to a more market based less regulated system. Traditional unit commitment and economic dispatch methodologies can continue to provide reliable least-cost solutions, providing they are modified to accommodate a larger sphere of market participants. This paper offers a method for an entity such as an Independent System Operator (ISO) to solicit and evaluate bids for developing a spot priced electric market by replicating existing utility practices that are effective and efficient, while creating an open and equitable competitive marketplace for electricity

  12. Not So Fast: How Slower Utilities Regulation Can Reduce Prices and Increase Profits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Kent Fellows

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Energy consumers are facing cost pressures from multiple directions. Wholesale natural gas prices have been climbing substantially from their record lows. Oil prices have only recently cooled slightly after reaching nearly $100 a barrel (WTI earlier this year. That makes it that much more important to minimize costs to wholesale consumers of energy, and ultimately, retail buyers, wherever possible. There is little room in the energy network for unnecessary costs. But in a regulated system, profits for utilities must remain healthy, too, if we expect them to stay active in the market. But the way that government agencies regulate oil and gas pipelines in Canada, and elsewhere, appears to be increasing costs beyond where they need to be in order to fairly serve both utilities and customers. By relying on traditional rate-of-return regulation models — which calculate price-rates based on the regulated firm’s cost of capital (that is, how much it costs the company to finance its operations — regulators, including the National Energy Board and the Alberta Utilities Commission, reward firms for over-investing in their operations, rather than reducing costs. Utilities are motivated to prolong the period in which they can earn a return on their capital, since it is one of the few opportunities they have to increase profits under the widely used rateof-return regulatory model. That results in utilities keeping assets on the books — and paying for them — longer than they might otherwise need to be. The end result is a distortion of the decisions made by regulated firms and higher prices for consumers than might occur under a different regulatory model. Regulators that take a more passive role in setting the rate of return for their client industries, however, are likely to see their idleness pay off. Firms with a freer hand to do so will seek to accelerate the depreciation of capital assets, reducing costs more quickly. The result may see end

  13. Frequency Based Real-time Pricing for Residential Prosumers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hambridge, Sarah Mabel

    This work is the first to explore frequency based pricing for secondary frequency control as a price-reactive control mechanism for residential prosumers. A frequency based real-time electricity rate is designed as an autonomous market control mechanism for residential prosumers to provide frequency support as an ancillary service. In addition, prosumers are empowered to participate in dynamic energy transactions, therefore integrating Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and increasing distributed energy storage onto the distributed grid. As the grid transitions towards DERs, a new market based control system will take the place of the legacy distributed system and possibly the legacy bulk power system. DERs provide many benefits such as energy independence, clean generation, efficiency, and reliability to prosumers during blackouts. However, the variable nature of renewable energy and current lack of installed energy storage on the grid will create imbalances in supply and demand as uptake increases, affecting the grid frequency and system operation. Through a frequency-based electricity rate, prosumers will be encouraged to purchase energy storage systems (ESS) to offset their neighbor's distributed generation (DG) such as solar. Chapter 1 explains the deregulation of the power system and move towards Distributed System Operators (DSOs), as prosumers become owners of microgrids and energy cells connected to the distributed system. Dynamic pricing has been proposed as a benefit to prosumers, giving them the ability to make decisions in the energy market, while also providing a way to influence and control their behavior. Frequency based real-time pricing is a type of dynamic pricing which falls between price-reactive control and transactive control. Prosumer-to-prosumer transactions may take the place of prosumer-to-utility transactions, building The Energy Internet. Frequency based pricing could be a mechanism for determining prosumer prices and supporting

  14. U.S. Photovoltaic Prices and Cost Breakdowns. Q1 2015 Benchmarks for Residential, Commercial, and Utility-Scale Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chung, Donald [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Davidson, Carolyn [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Fu, Ran [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ardani, Kristen [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, Robert [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-09-01

    The price of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States (i.e., the cost to the system owner) has continued to decline across all major market sectors. This report provides a Q1 2015 update regarding the prices of residential, commercial, and utility scale PV systems, based on an objective methodology that closely approximates the book value of a PV system. Several cases are benchmarked to represent common variations in business models, labor rates, and system architecture choice. We estimate a weighted-average cash purchase price of $3.09/W for residential scale rooftop systems, $2.15/W for commercial scale rooftop systems, $1.77/W for utility scale systems with fixed mounting structures, and $1.91/W for utility scale systems using single-axis trackers. All systems are modeled assuming standard-efficiency, polycrystalline-silicon PV modules, and further assume installation within the United States.

  15. Effect of the accuracy of price forecasting on profit in a Price Based Unit Commitment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delarue, Erik; Van Den Bosch, Pieterjan; D'haeseleer, William

    2010-01-01

    This paper discusses and quantifies the so-called loss of profit (i.e., the sub-optimality of profit) that can be expected in a Price Based Unit Commitment (PBUC), when incorrect price forecasts are used. For this purpose, a PBUC model has been developed and utilized, using Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP). Simulations are used to determine the relationship between the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of a certain price forecast and the loss of profit, for four different types of power plants. A Combined Cycle (CC) power plant and a pumped storage unit show highest sensitivity to incorrect forecasts. A price forecast with a MAPE of 15%, on average, yields 13.8% and 12.1% profit loss, respectively. A classic thermal power plant (coal fired) and cascade hydro unit are less affected by incorrect forecasts, with only 2.4% and 2.0% profit loss, respectively, at the same price forecast MAPE. This paper further demonstrates that if price forecasts show an average bias (upward or downward), using the MAPE as measure of the price forecast might not be sufficient to quantify profit loss properly. Profit loss in this case has been determined as a function of both shift and MAPE of the price forecast. (author)

  16. Utilizing TOPSIS intensified with adjustment similarity factor to determine price of technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyed Mohammad Seyedhosseini

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Technology transfer has been a very frequent activity in the industrial world nowadays. Technology valuation, and in particular technology pricing, has played a considerable role in these transactions, in spite of a huge amount of limitations in the pricing methodologies applied. Making a sound, traceable and reliable means for applying the price evaluation procedure, seems as a technological requirement to be traced for. The objective of delivering this paper is to introduce a new numerical technology pricing method to provide the two transacting parties a unique compromised price. A three-dimensional model for technology pricing is proposed and The TOPSPS algorithm has been utilized to select the most similar technologies to the intended one and the constructed scoring system is applied to calculate the final technology price accordingly.

  17. Pricing Mining Concessions Based on Combined Multinomial Pricing Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Xiao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A combined multinomial pricing model is proposed for pricing mining concession in which the annualized volatility of the price of mineral products follows a multinomial distribution. First, a combined multinomial pricing model is proposed which consists of binomial pricing models calculated according to different volatility values. Second, a method is provided to calculate the annualized volatility and the distribution. Third, the value of convenience yields is calculated based on the relationship between the futures price and the spot price. The notion of convenience yields is used to adjust our model as well. Based on an empirical study of a Chinese copper mine concession, we verify that our model is easy to use and better than the model with constant volatility when considering the changing annualized volatility of the price of the mineral product.

  18. Edgeworth Price Cycles, Cost-Based Pricing, and Sticky Pricing in Retail Gasoline Markets

    OpenAIRE

    Michael D. Noel

    2007-01-01

    This paper examines dynamic pricing behavior in retail gasoline markets for 19 Canadian cities over 574 weeks. I find three distinct retail pricing patterns: 1. cost-based pricing, 2. sticky pricing, and 3. steep, asymmetric retail price cycles that, while seldom documented empirically, resemble those of Maskin & Tirole[1988]. Using a Markov switching regression, I estimate the prevalence of patterns and the structural characteristics of the cycles. Retail price cycles prevail in over 40% of ...

  19. Oil prices: The role of refinery utilization, futures markets and non-linearities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaufmann, Robert K.; Mann, Michael; Dees, Stephane; Gasteuil, Audrey

    2008-01-01

    We test the hypothesis that real oil prices are determined in part by refinery capacity, non-linearities in supply conditions, and/or expectations and that observed changes in these variables can account for the rise in prices between 2004 and 2006. Results indicate that the refining sector plays an important role in the recent price increase, but not in the way described by many analysts. The relationship is negative such that higher refinery utilization rates reduce crude oil prices. This effect is associated with shifts in the production of heavy and light grades of crude oil and price spreads between them. Non-linear relationships between OPEC capacity and oil prices as well as conditions on the futures markets also account for changes in real oil prices. Together, these factors allow the model to generate a one-step ahead out-of-sample forecast that performs as well as forecasts implied by far-month contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange and is able to account for much of the $27 rise in crude oil prices between 2004 and 2006. (author)

  20. Saving-Based Asset Pricing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dreyer, Johannes Kabderian; Schneider, Johannes; T. Smith, William

    2013-01-01

    This paper explores the implications of a novel class of preferences for the behavior of asset prices. Following a suggestion by Marshall (1920), we entertain the possibility that people derive utility not only from consumption, but also from the very act of saving. These ‘‘saving-based’’ prefere...

  1. Forecasting Financial Extremes: A Network Degree Measure of Super-exponential Growth

    OpenAIRE

    Wanfeng Yan; Edgar van Tuyll van Serooskerken

    2015-01-01

    Investors in stock market are usually greedy during bull markets and scared during bear markets. The greed or fear spreads across investors quickly. This is known as the herding effect, and often leads to a fast movement of stock prices. During such market regimes, stock prices change at a super-exponential rate and are normally followed by a trend reversal that corrects the previous over reaction. In this paper, we construct an indicator to measure the magnitude of the super-exponential grow...

  2. Comparing The Effects Of Reference Pricing And Centers-Of-Excellence Approaches To Value-Based Benefit Design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hui; Cowling, David W; Facer, Matthew

    2017-12-01

    Various health insurance benefit designs based on value-based purchasing have been promoted to steer patients to high-value providers, but little is known about the designs' relative effectiveness and underlying mechanisms. We compared the impact of two designs implemented by the California Public Employees' Retirement System on inpatient hospital total hip or knee replacement: a reference-based pricing design for preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and a centers-of-excellence design for health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Payment and utilization data for the procedures in the period 2008-13 were evaluated using pre-post and quasi-experimental designs at the system and health plan levels, adjusting for demographic characteristics, case-mix, and other confounders. We found that both designs prompted higher use of designated low-price high-quality facilities and reduced average replacement expenses per member at the plan and system levels. However, the designs used different routes: The reference-based pricing design reduced average replacement payments per case in PPOs by 26.7 percent in the first year, compared to HMOs, but did not lower PPO members' utilization rates. In contrast, the centers-of-excellence design lowered HMO members' utilization rates by 29.2 percent in the first year, compared to PPOs, but did not reduce HMO average replacement payments per case. The reference-based pricing design appears more suitable for reducing price variation, and the centers-of-excellence design for addressing variation in use.

  3. Three Transits for the Price of One: Super-Earth Transits of the Nearest Planetary System Discovered By Kepler/K2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redfield, Seth; Niraula, Prajwal; Hedges, Christina; Crossfield, Ian; Kreidberg, Laura; Greene, Tom; Rodriguez, Joey; Vanderburg, Andrew; Laughlin, Gregory; Millholland, Sarah; Wang, Songhu; Cochran, William; Livingston, John; Gandolfi, Davide; Guenther, Eike; Fridlund, Malcolm; Korth, Judith

    2018-05-01

    We propose primary transit observations of three Super-Earth planets in the newly discovered planetary system around a bright, nearby star, GJ 9827. We recently announced the detection of three super-Earth planets in 1:3:5 commensurability, the inner planet, GJ 9827 b having a period of 1.2 days. This is the nearest planetary system that Kepler or K2 has found, at 30 pc, and given its brightness is one of the top systems for follow-up characterization. This system presents a unique opportunity to acquire three planetary transits for the price of one. There are several opportunities in the Spitzer visibility windows to obtain all three transits in a short period of time. We propose 3.6 micron observations of all three Super-Earth transits in a single 18-hour observation window. The proximity to a 1:3:5 resonance is intriguing from a dynamical standpoint as well. Indeed, anomalous transit timing offsets have been measured for planet d in Hubble observations that suffer from partial phase coverage. The short cadence and extended coverage of Spitzer is essential to provide a firm determination of the ephemerides and characterize any transit timing variations. Constraining these orbital parameters is critical for follow-up observations from space and ground-based telescopes. Due to the brightness of the host star, this planetary system is likely to be extensively observed in the years to come. Indeed, our team has acquired observations of the planets orbiting GJ9827 with Hubble in the ultraviolet and infrared. The proposed observations will provide infrared atmospheric measurements and firm orbital characterization which is critical for planning and designing future observations, in particular atmospheric characterization with JWST.

  4. Compact three-dimensional super-resolution system based on fluorescence emission difference microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Dazhao; Chen, Youhua; Fang, Yue; Hussain, Anwar; Kuang, Cuifang; Zhou, Xiaoxu; Xu, Yingke; Liu, Xu

    2017-12-01

    A compact microscope system for three-dimensional (3-D) super-resolution imaging is presented. The super-resolution capability of the system is based on a size-reduced effective 3-D point spread function generated through the fluorescence emission difference (FED) method. The appropriate polarization direction distribution and manipulation allows the panel active area of the spatial light modulator to be fully utilized. This allows simultaneous modulation of the incident light by two kinds of phase masks to be performed with a single spatial light modulator in order to generate a 3-D negative spot. The system is more compact than standard 3-D FED systems while maintaining all the advantages of 3-D FED microscopy. The experimental results demonstrated the improvement in 3-D resolution by nearly 1.7 times and 1.6 times compared to the classic confocal resolution in the lateral and axial directions, respectively.

  5. Forecasting Financial Extremes: A Network Degree Measure of Super-Exponential Growth.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wanfeng Yan

    Full Text Available Investors in stock market are usually greedy during bull markets and scared during bear markets. The greed or fear spreads across investors quickly. This is known as the herding effect, and often leads to a fast movement of stock prices. During such market regimes, stock prices change at a super-exponential rate and are normally followed by a trend reversal that corrects the previous overreaction. In this paper, we construct an indicator to measure the magnitude of the super-exponential growth of stock prices, by measuring the degree of the price network, generated from the price time series. Twelve major international stock indices have been investigated. Error diagram tests show that this new indicator has strong predictive power for financial extremes, both peaks and troughs. By varying the parameters used to construct the error diagram, we show the predictive power is very robust. The new indicator has a better performance than the LPPL pattern recognition indicator.

  6. Forecasting Financial Extremes: A Network Degree Measure of Super-Exponential Growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Wanfeng; van Tuyll van Serooskerken, Edgar

    2015-01-01

    Investors in stock market are usually greedy during bull markets and scared during bear markets. The greed or fear spreads across investors quickly. This is known as the herding effect, and often leads to a fast movement of stock prices. During such market regimes, stock prices change at a super-exponential rate and are normally followed by a trend reversal that corrects the previous overreaction. In this paper, we construct an indicator to measure the magnitude of the super-exponential growth of stock prices, by measuring the degree of the price network, generated from the price time series. Twelve major international stock indices have been investigated. Error diagram tests show that this new indicator has strong predictive power for financial extremes, both peaks and troughs. By varying the parameters used to construct the error diagram, we show the predictive power is very robust. The new indicator has a better performance than the LPPL pattern recognition indicator.

  7. The effect of the Fukushima nuclear accident on stock prices of electric power utilities in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawashima, Shingo; Takeda, Fumiko

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, which is owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), on the stock prices of the other electric power utilities in Japan. Because the other utilities were not directly damaged by the Fukushima nuclear accident, their stock price responses should reflect the change in investor perceptions on risk and return associated with nuclear power generation. Our first finding is that the stock prices of utilities that own nuclear power plants declined more sharply after the accident than did the stock prices of other electric power utilities. In contrast, investors did not seem to care about the risk that may arise from the use of the same type of nuclear power reactors as those at the Fukushima Daiichi station. We also observe an increase of both systematic and total risks in the post-Fukushima period, indicating that negative market reactions are not merely caused by one-time losses but by structural changes in society and regulation that could increase the costs of operating a nuclear power plant.

  8. Human Parvovirus B19 Utilizes Cellular DNA Replication Machinery for Viral DNA Replication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Wei; Wang, Zekun; Xiong, Min; Chen, Aaron Yun; Xu, Peng; Ganaie, Safder S; Badawi, Yomna; Kleiboeker, Steve; Nishimune, Hiroshi; Ye, Shui Qing; Qiu, Jianming

    2018-03-01

    Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection of human erythroid progenitor cells (EPCs) induces a DNA damage response and cell cycle arrest at late S phase, which facilitates viral DNA replication. However, it is not clear exactly which cellular factors are employed by this single-stranded DNA virus. Here, we used microarrays to systematically analyze the dynamic transcriptome of EPCs infected with B19V. We found that DNA metabolism, DNA replication, DNA repair, DNA damage response, cell cycle, and cell cycle arrest pathways were significantly regulated after B19V infection. Confocal microscopy analyses revealed that most cellular DNA replication proteins were recruited to the centers of viral DNA replication, but not the DNA repair DNA polymerases. Our results suggest that DNA replication polymerase δ and polymerase α are responsible for B19V DNA replication by knocking down its expression in EPCs. We further showed that although RPA32 is essential for B19V DNA replication and the phosphorylated forms of RPA32 colocalized with the replicating viral genomes, RPA32 phosphorylation was not necessary for B19V DNA replication. Thus, this report provides evidence that B19V uses the cellular DNA replication machinery for viral DNA replication. IMPORTANCE Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection can cause transient aplastic crisis, persistent viremia, and pure red cell aplasia. In fetuses, B19V infection can result in nonimmune hydrops fetalis and fetal death. These clinical manifestations of B19V infection are a direct outcome of the death of human erythroid progenitors that host B19V replication. B19V infection induces a DNA damage response that is important for cell cycle arrest at late S phase. Here, we analyzed dynamic changes in cellular gene expression and found that DNA metabolic processes are tightly regulated during B19V infection. Although genes involved in cellular DNA replication were downregulated overall, the cellular DNA replication machinery was tightly

  9. Super-Resolution of Plant Disease Images for the Acceleration of Image-based Phenotyping and Vigor Diagnosis in Agriculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Kyosuke; Togami, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Norio

    2017-11-06

    Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) are a very promising branch of technology, and they have been utilized in agriculture-in cooperation with image processing technologies-for phenotyping and vigor diagnosis. One of the problems in the utilization of UAVs for agricultural purposes is the limitation in flight time. It is necessary to fly at a high altitude to capture the maximum number of plants in the limited time available, but this reduces the spatial resolution of the captured images. In this study, we applied a super-resolution method to the low-resolution images of tomato diseases to recover detailed appearances, such as lesions on plant organs. We also conducted disease classification using high-resolution, low-resolution, and super-resolution images to evaluate the effectiveness of super-resolution methods in disease classification. Our results indicated that the super-resolution method outperformed conventional image scaling methods in spatial resolution enhancement of tomato disease images. The results of disease classification showed that the accuracy attained was also better by a large margin with super-resolution images than with low-resolution images. These results indicated that our approach not only recovered the information lost in low-resolution images, but also exerted a beneficial influence on further image analysis. The proposed approach will accelerate image-based phenotyping and vigor diagnosis in the field, because it not only saves time to capture images of a crop in a cultivation field but also secures the accuracy of these images for further analysis.

  10. Adaptive Markov Random Fields for Example-Based Super-resolution of Faces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephenson Todd A

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Image enhancement of low-resolution images can be done through methods such as interpolation, super-resolution using multiple video frames, and example-based super-resolution. Example-based super-resolution, in particular, is suited to images that have a strong prior (for those frameworks that work on only a single image, it is more like image restoration than traditional, multiframe super-resolution. For example, hallucination and Markov random field (MRF methods use examples drawn from the same domain as the image being enhanced to determine what the missing high-frequency information is likely to be. We propose to use even stronger prior information by extending MRF-based super-resolution to use adaptive observation and transition functions, that is, to make these functions region-dependent. We show with face images how we can adapt the modeling for each image patch so as to improve the resolution.

  11. Adaptive Markov Random Fields for Example-Based Super-resolution of Faces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephenson, Todd A.; Chen, Tsuhan

    2006-12-01

    Image enhancement of low-resolution images can be done through methods such as interpolation, super-resolution using multiple video frames, and example-based super-resolution. Example-based super-resolution, in particular, is suited to images that have a strong prior (for those frameworks that work on only a single image, it is more like image restoration than traditional, multiframe super-resolution). For example, hallucination and Markov random field (MRF) methods use examples drawn from the same domain as the image being enhanced to determine what the missing high-frequency information is likely to be. We propose to use even stronger prior information by extending MRF-based super-resolution to use adaptive observation and transition functions, that is, to make these functions region-dependent. We show with face images how we can adapt the modeling for each image patch so as to improve the resolution.

  12. Oncogenic Herpesvirus Utilizes Stress-Induced Cell Cycle Checkpoints for Efficient Lytic Replication.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Balistreri

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV causes Kaposi's sarcoma and certain lymphoproliferative malignancies. Latent infection is established in the majority of tumor cells, whereas lytic replication is reactivated in a small fraction of cells, which is important for both virus spread and disease progression. A siRNA screen for novel regulators of KSHV reactivation identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase MDM2 as a negative regulator of viral reactivation. Depletion of MDM2, a repressor of p53, favored efficient activation of the viral lytic transcription program and viral reactivation. During lytic replication cells activated a p53 response, accumulated DNA damage and arrested at G2-phase. Depletion of p21, a p53 target gene, restored cell cycle progression and thereby impaired the virus reactivation cascade delaying the onset of virus replication induced cytopathic effect. Herpesviruses are known to reactivate in response to different kinds of stress, and our study now highlights the molecular events in the stressed host cell that KSHV has evolved to utilize to ensure efficient viral lytic replication.

  13. Demand-side management pricing options in electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sardana, P.; Herman, P.

    1990-01-01

    In 1989 Ontario Hydro implemented optional time-of-use (TOU) rates at the wholesale level for all municipal utilities in the province. At the same time, mandatory TOU rates were implemented for large users (customers with loads in excess of 5 MW) served by municipal utilities and Ontario Hydro's direct customers. To fully explore the potential of rate structures as demand-side management (DSM) tools, Ontario Hydro retained a consulting firm to carry out a survey of innovative rate structures in other jurisdications. The survey was intended to identify: the status quo of rate structures in other jurisdictions that were designed specifically to encourage DSM; a profile of the cost basis of the rate structures, for example whether traditional embedded cost of service analyses or contentious methods such as marginal cost pricing were used; whether innovative rates have been successful, and customer reactions and attitudes; and how innovative rates fit into the overall strategy of the utilities. It was found that TOU, interruptible and end-use targeted rates are the rate structures of choice for many utilities. Most are concerned with deferring capacity, reducing peak demand, and shifting load out of peak periods. Most utilities report success with their programs and satisfaction with the present form of the programs. 5 tabs

  14. Socioeconophysics:. Opinion Dynamics for Number of Transactions and Price, a Trader Based Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuncay, Çağlar

    Involving effects of media, opinion leader and other agents on the opinion of individuals of market society, a trader based model is developed and utilized to simulate price via supply and demand. Pronounced effects are considered with several weights and some personal differences between traders are taken into account. Resulting time series and probabilty distribution function involving a power law for price come out similar to the real ones.

  15. Value-based differential pricing: efficient prices for drugs in a global context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danzon, Patricia; Towse, Adrian; Mestre-Ferrandiz, Jorge

    2015-03-01

    This paper analyzes pharmaceutical pricing between and within countries to achieve second-best static and dynamic efficiency. We distinguish countries with and without universal insurance, because insurance undermines patients' price sensitivity, potentially leading to prices above second-best efficient levels. In countries with universal insurance, if each payer unilaterally sets an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) threshold based on its citizens' willingness-to-pay for health; manufacturers price to that ICER threshold; and payers limit reimbursement to patients for whom a drug is cost-effective at that price and ICER, then the resulting price levels and use within each country and price differentials across countries are roughly consistent with second-best static and dynamic efficiency. These value-based prices are expected to differ cross-nationally with per capita income and be broadly consistent with Ramsey optimal prices. Countries without comprehensive insurance avoid its distorting effects on prices but also lack financial protection and affordability for the poor. Improving pricing efficiency in these self-pay countries includes improving regulation and consumer information about product quality and enabling firms to price discriminate within and between countries. © 2013 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Scenario-based stochastic optimal operation of wind, photovoltaic, pump-storage hybrid system in frequency- based pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zare Oskouei, Morteza; Sadeghi Yazdankhah, Ahmad

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Two-stage objective function is proposed for optimization problem. • Hourly-based optimal contractual agreement is calculated. • Scenario-based stochastic optimization problem is solved. • Improvement of system frequency by utilizing PSH unit. - Abstract: This paper proposes the operating strategy of a micro grid connected wind farm, photovoltaic and pump-storage hybrid system. The strategy consists of two stages. In the first stage, the optimal hourly contractual agreement is determined. The second stage corresponds to maximizing its profit by adapting energy management strategy of wind and photovoltaic in coordination with optimum operating schedule of storage device under frequency based pricing for a day ahead electricity market. The pump-storage hydro plant is utilized to minimize unscheduled interchange flow and maximize the system benefit by participating in frequency control based on energy price. Because of uncertainties in power generation of renewable sources and market prices, generation scheduling is modeled by a stochastic optimization problem. Uncertainties of parameters are modeled by scenario generation and scenario reduction method. A powerful optimization algorithm is proposed using by General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS)/CPLEX. In order to verify the efficiency of the method, the algorithm is applied to various scenarios with different wind and photovoltaic power productions in a day ahead electricity market. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

  17. Nonlinear Super Integrable Couplings of Super Classical-Boussinesq Hierarchy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiuzhi Xing

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Nonlinear integrable couplings of super classical-Boussinesq hierarchy based upon an enlarged matrix Lie super algebra were constructed. Then, its super Hamiltonian structures were established by using super trace identity. As its reduction, nonlinear integrable couplings of the classical integrable hierarchy were obtained.

  18. Super-Resolution of Plant Disease Images for the Acceleration of Image-based Phenotyping and Vigor Diagnosis in Agriculture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyosuke Yamamoto

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones are a very promising branch of technology, and they have been utilized in agriculture—in cooperation with image processing technologies—for phenotyping and vigor diagnosis. One of the problems in the utilization of UAVs for agricultural purposes is the limitation in flight time. It is necessary to fly at a high altitude to capture the maximum number of plants in the limited time available, but this reduces the spatial resolution of the captured images. In this study, we applied a super-resolution method to the low-resolution images of tomato diseases to recover detailed appearances, such as lesions on plant organs. We also conducted disease classification using high-resolution, low-resolution, and super-resolution images to evaluate the effectiveness of super-resolution methods in disease classification. Our results indicated that the super-resolution method outperformed conventional image scaling methods in spatial resolution enhancement of tomato disease images. The results of disease classification showed that the accuracy attained was also better by a large margin with super-resolution images than with low-resolution images. These results indicated that our approach not only recovered the information lost in low-resolution images, but also exerted a beneficial influence on further image analysis. The proposed approach will accelerate image-based phenotyping and vigor diagnosis in the field, because it not only saves time to capture images of a crop in a cultivation field but also secures the accuracy of these images for further analysis.

  19. A super base station based centralized network architecture for 5G mobile communication systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manli Qian

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available To meet the ever increasing mobile data traffic demand, the mobile operators are deploying a heterogeneous network with multiple access technologies and more and more base stations to increase the network coverage and capacity. However, the base stations are isolated from each other, so different types of radio resources and hardware resources cannot be shared and allocated within the overall network in a cooperative way. The mobile operators are thus facing increasing network operational expenses and a high system power consumption. In this paper, a centralized radio access network architecture, referred to as the super base station (super BS, is proposed, as a possible solution for an energy-efficient fifth-generation (5G mobile system. The super base station decouples the logical functions and physical entities of traditional base stations, so different types of system resources can be horizontally shared and statistically multiplexed among all the virtual base stations throughout the entire system. The system framework and main functionalities of the super BS are described. Some key technologies for system implementation, i.e., the resource pooling, real-time virtualization, adaptive hardware resource allocation are also highlighted.

  20. A Patient-Centered Emergency Department Management Strategy for Sickle-Cell Disease Super-Utilizers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simpson, Grant G; Hahn, Hallie R; Powel, Alex A; Leverence, Robert R; Morris, Linda A; Thompson, Lara G; Zumberg, Marc S; Borde, Deepa J; Tyndall, Joseph A; Shuster, Jonathan J; Yealy, Donald M; Allen, Brandon R

    2017-04-01

    A subpopulation of sickle-cell disease patients, termed super-utilizers, presents frequently to emergency departments (EDs) for vaso-occlusive events and may consume disproportionate resources without broader health benefit. To address the healthcare needs of this vulnerable patient population, we piloted a multidisciplinary intervention seeking to create and use individualized patient care plans that alter utilization through coordinated care. Our goals were to assess feasibility primarily, and to assess resource use secondarily. We evaluated the effects of a single-site interventional study targeted at a population of adult sickle-cell disease super-utilizers using a pre- and post-implementation design. The pre-intervention period was 06/01/13 to 12/31/13 (seven months) and the post-intervention period was 01/01/14 to 02/28/15 (14 months). Our approach included patient-specific best practice advisories (BPA); an ED management protocol; and formation of a "medical home" for these patients. For 10 subjects targeted initially we developed and implemented coordinated care plans; after deployment, we observed a tendency toward reduction in ED and inpatient utilization across all measured indices. Between the annualized pre- and post-implementation periods we found the following: ED visits decreased by 16.5 visits/pt-yr (95% confidence interval [CI] [-1.32-34.2]); ED length of state (LOS) decreased by 115.3 hours/pt-yr (95% CI [-82.9-313.5]); in-patient admissions decreased by 4.20 admissions/pt-yr (95% CI [-1.73-10.1]); in-patient LOS decreased by 35.8 hours/pt-yr (95% CI [-74.9-146.7]); and visits where the patient left before treatment were reduced by an annualized total of 13.7 visits. We observed no patient mortality in our 10 subjects, and no patient required admission to the intensive care unit 72 hours following discharge. This effort suggests that a targeted approach is both feasible and potentially effective, laying a foundation for broader study.

  1. The study of the price of gold futures based on heterogeneous investors' overconfidence

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Wei Jiang; Pupu Luan; Chunpeng Yang

    2014-01-01

    Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to research and analyze the price of gold futures based on heterogeneous investors' overconfidence.Design/methodology/approach-This paper divides the traders of gold futures market into two kinds:the speculators and arbitrageurs,and then constructs a market equilibrium model of futures pricing to analyze the behaviors of the two kinds of traders with overconfidence.After getting the decision-making function,the market equilibrium futures price is attained on the condition of market clearing.Then,this paper analyzes how the overconfidence impacts on futures price,volatility of the price of gold futures and the effects on individual utility.Findings-Under different market conditions,the overconfidence psychological impacts of heterogeneous investor on the price and volatility of futures are different,sometimes completely opposite.Originality/value-In the past literature,the relationships between overconfidence and the price or volatility are positive;however,the study shows that sometimes it is positive,and sometimes it is negative

  2. A choice modelling analysis on the similarity between distribution utilities' and industrial customers' price and quality preferences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soederberg, Magnus

    2008-01-01

    The Swedish Electricity Act states that electricity distribution must comply with both price and quality requirements. In order to maintain efficient regulation it is necessary to firstly, define quality attributes and secondly, determine a customer's priorities concerning price and quality attributes. If distribution utilities gain an understanding of customer preferences and incentives for reporting them, the regulator can save a lot of time by surveying them rather than their customers. This study applies a choice modelling methodology where utilities and industrial customers are asked to evaluate the same twelve choice situations in which price and four specific quality attributes are varied. The preferences expressed by the utilities, and estimated by a random parameter logit, correspond quite well with the preferences expressed by the largest industrial customers. The preferences expressed by the utilities are reasonably homogenous in relation to forms of association (private limited, public and trading partnership). If the regulator acts according to the preferences expressed by the utilities, smaller industrial customers will have to pay for quality they have not asked for. (author)

  3. Utility-Scale Solar 2016: An Empirical Analysis of Project Cost, Performance, and Pricing Trends in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bolinger, Mark; Seel, Joachim; LaCommare, Kristina Hamachi

    2017-09-19

    numbers include only those costs incurred to directly operate and maintain the generating plant. Capacity Factors: The cumulative net AC capacity factors of individual PV projects range widely, from 15.4% to 35.5%, with a sample median of 26.3%. This project-level variation is based on a number of factors, including the strength of the solar resource at the project site, whether the array is mounted at a fixed-tilt or on a tracking mechanism, the inverter loading ratio, degradation, and curtailment. Changes in at least the first three of these factors drove mean capacity factors higher from 2010- to 2013-vintage projects, where they’ve remained fairly steady among both 2014- and 2015-vintage projects as an ongoing increase in the prevalence of tracking has been offset by a build-out of lower resource sites. Meanwhile, several of the newer CSP projects in the United States are struggling to match long-term performance expectations. PPA Prices: Driven by lower installed project prices and improving capacity factors, levelized PPA prices for utility-scale PV have fallen dramatically over time. Most recent PPAs in our sample are priced at or below $50/MWh levelized, with a few priced as aggressively as ~$30/MWh. Though impressive in pace and scale, these falling PPA prices have been offset to some degree by declining wholesale market value within high penetration markets like California, where in 2016 a MWh of solar generation was worth just 83% of a MWh of flat, round-the-clock generation. At the end of 2016, there were at least 121.4 GW of utility-scale solar power capacity within the interconnection queues across the nation. The growth within these queues is widely distributed across all regions of the country: California and the Southeast each account for 23% of the 83.3 GW of solar that first entered the queues in 2016, followed by the Northeast (17%), the Southwest (16%), the Central region (12%), Texas (6%) and the Northwest (3%). The widening geographic distribution

  4. The super-classical-Boussinesq hierarchy and its super-Hamiltonian structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Si-Xing, Tao; Tie-Cheng, Xia

    2010-01-01

    Based on the constructed Lie superalgebra, the super-classical-Boussinesq hierarchy is obtained. Then, its super-Hamiltonian structure is obtained by making use of super-trace identity. Furthermore, the super-classical-Boussinesq hierarchy is also integrable in the sense of Liouville. (general)

  5. Short-term electricity price forecast based on the improved hybrid model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong Yao; Wang Jianzhou; Jiang He; Wu Jie

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → The proposed models can detach high volatility and daily seasonality of electricity price. → The improved hybrid forecast models can make full use of the advantages of individual models. → The proposed models create commendable improvements that are relatively satisfactorily for current research. → The proposed models do not require making complicated decisions about the explicit form. - Abstract: Half-hourly electricity price in power system are volatile, electricity price forecast is significant information which can help market managers and participants involved in electricity market to prepare their corresponding bidding strategies to maximize their benefits and utilities. However, the fluctuation of electricity price depends on the common effect of many factors and there is a very complicated random in its evolution process. Therefore, it is difficult to forecast half-hourly prices with traditional only one model for different behaviors of half-hourly prices. This paper proposes the improved forecasting model that detaches high volatility and daily seasonality for electricity price of New South Wales in Australia based on Empirical Mode Decomposition, Seasonal Adjustment and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average. The prediction errors are analyzed and compared with the ones obtained from the traditional Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model. The comparisons demonstrate that the proposed model can improve the prediction accuracy noticeably.

  6. Short-term electricity price forecast based on the improved hybrid model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dong Yao, E-mail: dongyao20051987@yahoo.cn [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Wang Jianzhou, E-mail: wjz@lzu.edu.cn [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Jiang He; Wu Jie [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China)

    2011-08-15

    Highlights: {yields} The proposed models can detach high volatility and daily seasonality of electricity price. {yields} The improved hybrid forecast models can make full use of the advantages of individual models. {yields} The proposed models create commendable improvements that are relatively satisfactorily for current research. {yields} The proposed models do not require making complicated decisions about the explicit form. - Abstract: Half-hourly electricity price in power system are volatile, electricity price forecast is significant information which can help market managers and participants involved in electricity market to prepare their corresponding bidding strategies to maximize their benefits and utilities. However, the fluctuation of electricity price depends on the common effect of many factors and there is a very complicated random in its evolution process. Therefore, it is difficult to forecast half-hourly prices with traditional only one model for different behaviors of half-hourly prices. This paper proposes the improved forecasting model that detaches high volatility and daily seasonality for electricity price of New South Wales in Australia based on Empirical Mode Decomposition, Seasonal Adjustment and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average. The prediction errors are analyzed and compared with the ones obtained from the traditional Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model. The comparisons demonstrate that the proposed model can improve the prediction accuracy noticeably.

  7. A novel super-resolution camera model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Xiaopeng; Wang, Yi; Xu, Jie; Wang, Lin; Liu, Fei; Luo, Qiuhua; Chen, Xiaodong; Bi, Xiangli

    2015-05-01

    Aiming to realize super resolution(SR) to single image and video reconstruction, a super resolution camera model is proposed for the problem that the resolution of the images obtained by traditional cameras behave comparatively low. To achieve this function we put a certain driving device such as piezoelectric ceramics in the camera. By controlling the driving device, a set of continuous low resolution(LR) images can be obtained and stored instantaneity, which reflect the randomness of the displacements and the real-time performance of the storage very well. The low resolution image sequences have different redundant information and some particular priori information, thus it is possible to restore super resolution image factually and effectively. The sample method is used to derive the reconstruction principle of super resolution, which analyzes the possible improvement degree of the resolution in theory. The super resolution algorithm based on learning is used to reconstruct single image and the variational Bayesian algorithm is simulated to reconstruct the low resolution images with random displacements, which models the unknown high resolution image, motion parameters and unknown model parameters in one hierarchical Bayesian framework. Utilizing sub-pixel registration method, a super resolution image of the scene can be reconstructed. The results of 16 images reconstruction show that this camera model can increase the image resolution to 2 times, obtaining images with higher resolution in currently available hardware levels.

  8. Maritime super Wi-Fi coverage based on TVWS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Jia; Chen, Baodan; Zhang, Yonghui; Huang, Fang

    2014-10-01

    After analyzing the occupancy and characteristics of television white space (TVWS), this paper proposes wireless broadband networking by using super Wi-Fi technology in maritime environment operating on TVWS. A sea surface channel model is developed for predicting maritime network coverage of super Wi-Fi technology. This channel model is based on Irregular Terrain Methodology (ITM) model with revised parameters and dual-path propagation effect. The simulations demonstrated that the sea surface channel model can accurately reflect the transmission loss of radio wave in TVWS.

  9. Electricity pricing model in thermal generating stations under deregulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reji, P.; Ashok, S.; Moideenkutty, K.M.

    2007-01-01

    In regulated public utilities with competitive power markets, deregulation has replaced the monopoly. Under the deregulated power market, the electricity price primarily depends on market mechanism and power demand. In this market, generators generally follow marginal pricing. Each generator fixes the electricity price based on their pricing strategy and it leads to more price volatility. This paper proposed a model to determine the electricity price considering all operational constraints of the plant and economic variables that influenced the price, for a thermal generating station under deregulation. The purpose of the model was to assist existing stations, investors in the power sector, regulatory authorities, transmission utilities, and new power generators in decision-making. The model could accommodate price volatility in the market and was based on performance incentive/penalty considering plant load factor, availability of the plant and peak/ off peak demand. The model was applied as a case study to a typical thermal utility in India to determine the electricity price. It was concluded that the case study of a thermal generating station in a deregulated environment showed that the electricity price mainly depended on the gross calorific value (GCV) of fuel, mode of operation, price of the fuel, and operating charges. 11 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig

  10. Gasoline standard Motor monthly Prices, Projection and Impact, during 1999

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Unidad de Planeacion Minero Energetica, UPME

    1999-01-01

    The liberation of prices for the standard gasoline and ACPM, that was given starting from January of 1.999, it outlines uncertainties on the possible prices evolution, along the supply chain until the final user, in comparison with the system previous of control and adjustment. This article presents an approach to the possible evolution of the gasoline motor prices during 1.999, in their different components. It makes it from the entrance to the producer until when one sells the public to a maximum price that includes the super tax. Additionally, it makes a preliminary calculation of the impact of the prices prospective month to month on the cost of transport of ECOPETROL revenues and the Nation revenues. The prospective annual percentage variation is presented from the entrance to the producer and of the other components of the price of the standard gasoline motor in different scenarios of the rate variation. In the most probable scenario, a variation is expected from the entrance to the producing of 1,9% and an increment in the sale price to the public, without including the super tax, of 12,6%

  11. Prices dip on slow demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    The Restricted Uranium Spot Market Price Range slipped to $9.90-$10.35, mostly due to lackluster demand. Only three transactions took place during the month. Two of the purchases, accounting for 98% of the month's volume, were by European utilities; the other was made by a US utility. One of the European purchases was made in the unrestricted market, but since it included a host of fuel cycle services, the U3O8 price could not be determined. Hence, NUKEM's Unrestricted Uranium Spot Market Price Range stays the same, at $7.90-$8.00. The other European deal, concluded in the restricted market, represents the low end of the restricted market price range. The US deal was based on bids that were made at the beginning of November and therefore does not reflect market conditions in December. Looking ahead, we see four utilities ready to enter the market for nearly 1 million lbs U3O8 equivalent

  12. The evolution of the US ESCO industry: From ESCO to SuperESCO

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vine, E.; Nakagami, Hidetoshi; Murakoshi, Chiharu

    1998-10-01

    As the restructuring of the U.S. electric utility industry proceeds, utility companies are expected to be either competing or partnering with Super ESCOs to provide energy-efficiency services and energy to utility customers. In this paper, Super ESCOs and utilities were interviewed to see how these organizations are currently interacting and planning to interact in the future. As part of this investigation, the types of products and services Super ESCOs will be providing in the future and how utility restructuring will affect their business were examined.

  13. Radiation shielding for the Super Collider West Utility region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meinke, R.; Mokhov, N.; Orth, D.; Parker, B.; Plant, D.

    1994-02-01

    Shielding considerations in the 20 x 20-TeV Superconducting Super Collider are strongly correlated with detailed machine specifics in the various accelerator sections. The West Utility, the most complex area of the Collider, concentrates all the major accelerator subsystems in a single area. The beam loss rate and associated radiation levels in this region are anticipated to be quite high, and massive radiation shielding is therefore required to protect personnel, Collider components, and the environment. The challenging task of simultaneously optimizing accelerator design and radiation shielding, both of which are strongly influenced by subsystem design details, requires the integration of several complex simulation codes. To this end we have performed exhaustive hadronic shower simulations with the MARS12 program; detailed accelerator lattice and optics optimization via the SYNCH, MAD, and MAGIC codes; and extensive 3-D configuration modeling of the accelerator tunnel and subsystems geometries. Our technique and the non-trivial results from such a combined approach are presented here. An integrated procedure is found invaluable in developing cost-effective radiation shielding solutions

  14. Super-Hamiltonian Structures and Conservation Laws of a New Six-Component Super-Ablowitz-Kaup-Newell-Segur Hierarchy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fucai You

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A six-component super-Ablowitz-Kaup-Newell-Segur (-AKNS hierarchy is proposed by the zero curvature equation associated with Lie superalgebras. Supertrace identity is used to furnish the super-Hamiltonian structures for the resulting nonlinear superintegrable hierarchy. Furthermore, we derive the infinite conservation laws of the first two nonlinear super-AKNS equations in the hierarchy by utilizing spectral parameter expansions. PACS: 02.30.Ik; 02.30.Jr; 02.20.Sv.

  15. Reference-based pricing: an evidence-based solution for lab services shopping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melton, L Doug; Bradley, Kent; Fu, Patricia Lin; Armata, Raegan; Parr, James B

    2014-01-01

    To determine the effect of reference-based pricing (RBP) on the percentage of lab services utilized by members that were at or below the reference price. Retrospective, quasi-experimental, matched, case-control pilot evaluation of an RBP benefit for lab services. The study group included employees of a multinational grocery chain covered by a national health insurance carrier and subject to RBP for lab services; it had access to an online lab shopping tool and was informed about the RBP benefit through employer communications. The reference group was covered by the same insurance carrier but not subject to RBP. The primary end point was lab compliance, defined as the percentage of lab claims with total charges at or below the reference price. Difference-in-difference regression estimation evaluated changes in lab compliance between the 2 groups. Higher compliance per lab claim was evident for the study group compared with the reference group (69% vs 57%; Ponline shopping tool was used by 7% of the matched-adjusted study group prior to obtaining lab services. Lab compliance was 76% for study group members using the online tool compared with 68% among nonusers who were subject to RBP (P<.01). RBP can promote cost-conscious selection of lab services. Access to facilities that offer services below the reference price and education about RBP improve compliance. Evaluation of the effect of RBP on higher-cost medical services, including radiology, outpatient specialty, and elective inpatient procedures, is needed.

  16. Pricing of Asian temperature risk

    OpenAIRE

    Benth, Fred; Härdle, Wolfgang Karl; López Cabrera, Brenda

    2009-01-01

    Weather derivatives (WD) are different from most financial derivatives because the underlying weather cannot be traded and therefore cannot be replicated by other financial instruments. The market price of risk (MPR) is an important parameter of the associated equivalent martingale measures used to price and hedge weather futures/options in the market. The majority of papers so far have priced non-tradable assets assuming zero MPR, but this assumption underestimates WD prices. We study the MP...

  17. Super-pixel extraction based on multi-channel pulse coupled neural network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, GuangZhu; Hu, Song; Zhang, Liu; Zhao, JingJing; Fu, YunXia; Lei, BangJun

    2018-04-01

    Super-pixel extraction techniques group pixels to form over-segmented image blocks according to the similarity among pixels. Compared with the traditional pixel-based methods, the image descripting method based on super-pixel has advantages of less calculation, being easy to perceive, and has been widely used in image processing and computer vision applications. Pulse coupled neural network (PCNN) is a biologically inspired model, which stems from the phenomenon of synchronous pulse release in the visual cortex of cats. Each PCNN neuron can correspond to a pixel of an input image, and the dynamic firing pattern of each neuron contains both the pixel feature information and its context spatial structural information. In this paper, a new color super-pixel extraction algorithm based on multi-channel pulse coupled neural network (MPCNN) was proposed. The algorithm adopted the block dividing idea of SLIC algorithm, and the image was divided into blocks with same size first. Then, for each image block, the adjacent pixels of each seed with similar color were classified as a group, named a super-pixel. At last, post-processing was adopted for those pixels or pixel blocks which had not been grouped. Experiments show that the proposed method can adjust the number of superpixel and segmentation precision by setting parameters, and has good potential for super-pixel extraction.

  18. Localization-based super-resolution imaging of cellular structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanchanawong, Pakorn; Waterman, Clare M

    2013-01-01

    Fluorescence microscopy allows direct visualization of fluorescently tagged proteins within cells. However, the spatial resolution of conventional fluorescence microscopes is limited by diffraction to ~250 nm, prompting the development of super-resolution microscopy which offers resolution approaching the scale of single proteins, i.e., ~20 nm. Here, we describe protocols for single molecule localization-based super-resolution imaging, using focal adhesion proteins as an example and employing either photoswitchable fluorophores or photoactivatable fluorescent proteins. These protocols should also be easily adaptable to imaging a broad array of macromolecular assemblies in cells whose components can be fluorescently tagged and assemble into high density structures.

  19. Joint pricing and resource allocation for OFDMA-based cognitive radio systems

    KAUST Repository

    Ben Ghorbel, Mahdi; Goldsmith, André a J.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

    2011-01-01

    Cognitive users can share spectrum with primary users under constraints on the interference that results. We present a new pricing strategy for sharing the primary users' available subchannels with cognitive users by optimizing the secondary and primary users' utilities while meeting the primary users' interference constraints. The primary users aim to maximize their revenues by sharing their subchannels with secondary users while ensuring that they achieve a minimum target capacity. On the other hand, the secondary users aim to maximize their capacity under three different constraints: consumed power, a given budget for sharing subchannels, and tolerable interference caused to the primary users. We introduce a sequential procedure based on a distributed algorithm to determine the resource allocation, interference thresholds and prices that satisfy the requirements of both parties in the network. Simulations show that the users face a tradeoff between capacity, power, and price. © 2011 IEEE.

  20. Joint pricing and resource allocation for OFDMA-based cognitive radio systems

    KAUST Repository

    Ben Ghorbel, Mahdi

    2011-04-01

    Cognitive users can share spectrum with primary users under constraints on the interference that results. We present a new pricing strategy for sharing the primary users\\' available subchannels with cognitive users by optimizing the secondary and primary users\\' utilities while meeting the primary users\\' interference constraints. The primary users aim to maximize their revenues by sharing their subchannels with secondary users while ensuring that they achieve a minimum target capacity. On the other hand, the secondary users aim to maximize their capacity under three different constraints: consumed power, a given budget for sharing subchannels, and tolerable interference caused to the primary users. We introduce a sequential procedure based on a distributed algorithm to determine the resource allocation, interference thresholds and prices that satisfy the requirements of both parties in the network. Simulations show that the users face a tradeoff between capacity, power, and price. © 2011 IEEE.

  1. Rational Synthesis of Hollow Prussian Blue Analogue Through Coordination Replication and Controlled-Etching for Cs-Ion Removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jun; Bu, Fan-Xing; Guo, Yi-Fei; Zhang, Wei; Hu, Ming; Jiang, Ji-Sen

    2018-05-01

    Radioactive cesium pollution have received considerable attention due to the increasing risks in development of the nuclear power plants in the world. Although various functional porous materials are utilized to adsorb Cs+ ions in water, Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) are an impressive class of candidates because of their super affinity of Cs+ ions. The adsorption ability of the PBAs strongly relate to the mesostructure and interstitial sites. To design a hollow PBA with large number of interstitial sites, the traditional hollowing methods are not suitable owing to the difficulty in processing the specific PBAs with large number of interstitial sites. In this work, we empolyed a rational strategy which was to form a "metal oxide"@"PBA" core-shell structure via coordination replication at first, then utilized a mild etching to remove the metal oxide core, led to hollow PBA finally. The obtained hollow PBAs were of high crystallinity and large number of interstitial sites, showing a super adsorption performance for Cs+ ions (221.6 mg/g) within a short period (10 min).

  2. Super-exponential bubbles in lab experiments: evidence for anchoring over-optimistic expectations on price

    OpenAIRE

    Hüsler, Andreas; Sornette, Didier; Hommes, Cars H.

    2012-01-01

    We analyze a controlled price formation experiment in the laboratory that shows evidence for bubbles. We calibrate two models that demonstrate with high statistical significance that these laboratory bubbles have a tendency to grow faster than exponential due to positive feedback. We show that the positive feedback operates by traders continuously upgrading their over-optimistic expectations of future returns based on past prices rather than on realized returns.

  3. Can Walmart make us healthier? Prescription drug prices and health care utilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borrescio-Higa, Florencia

    2015-12-01

    This paper analyzes how prices in the retail pharmaceutical market affect health care utilization. Specifically, I study the impact of Walmart's $4 Prescription Drug Program on utilization of antihypertensive drugs and on hospitalizations for conditions amenable to drug therapy. Identification relies on the change in the availability of cheap drugs introduced by Walmart's program, exploiting variation in the distance to the nearest Walmart across ZIP codes in a difference-in-differences framework. I find that living close to a source of cheap drugs increases utilization of antihypertensive medications by 7 percent and decreases the probability of an avoidable hospitalization by 6.2 percent. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Tracing the Base: A Topographic Test for Collusive Basing-Point Pricing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bos, Iwan; Schinkel, Maarten Pieter

    2009-01-01

    Basing-point pricing is known to have been abused by geographically dispersed firms in order to eliminate competition on transportation costs. This paper develops a topographic test for collusive basing-point pricing. The method uses transaction data (prices, quantities) and customer project site

  5. Tracing the base: A topographic test for collusive basing-point pricing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bos, I.; Schinkel, M.P.

    2008-01-01

    Basing-point pricing is known to have been abused by geographically dispersed firms in order to eliminate competition on transportation costs. This paper develops a topographic test for collusive basing-point pricing. The method uses transaction data (prices, quantities) and customer project site

  6. Proceedings: 1996 EPRI conference on innovative approaches to electricity pricing: Managing the transition to market-based pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-03-01

    This report presents the proceedings from the EPRI conference on innovative approaches to electricity pricing. Topics discussed include: power transmission pricing; retail pricing; price risk management; new pricing paradigms; changes from cost-based to a market-based pricing scheme; ancillary services; retail market strategies; profitability; unbundling; and value added services. This is the leading abstract. Papers are processed separately for the databases

  7. Accounting for fuel price risk: Using forward natural gas prices instead of gas price forecasts to compare renewable to natural gas-fired generation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bolinger, Mark; Wiser, Ryan; Golove, William

    2003-08-13

    Against the backdrop of increasingly volatile natural gas prices, renewable energy resources, which by their nature are immune to natural gas fuel price risk, provide a real economic benefit. Unlike many contracts for natural gas-fired generation, renewable generation is typically sold under fixed-price contracts. Assuming that electricity consumers value long-term price stability, a utility or other retail electricity supplier that is looking to expand its resource portfolio (or a policymaker interested in evaluating different resource options) should therefore compare the cost of fixed-price renewable generation to the hedged or guaranteed cost of new natural gas-fired generation, rather than to projected costs based on uncertain gas price forecasts. To do otherwise would be to compare apples to oranges: by their nature, renewable resources carry no natural gas fuel price risk, and if the market values that attribute, then the most appropriate comparison is to the hedged cost of natural gas-fired generation. Nonetheless, utilities and others often compare the costs of renewable to gas-fired generation using as their fuel price input long-term gas price forecasts that are inherently uncertain, rather than long-term natural gas forward prices that can actually be locked in. This practice raises the critical question of how these two price streams compare. If they are similar, then one might conclude that forecast-based modeling and planning exercises are in fact approximating an apples-to-apples comparison, and no further consideration is necessary. If, however, natural gas forward prices systematically differ from price forecasts, then the use of such forecasts in planning and modeling exercises will yield results that are biased in favor of either renewable (if forwards < forecasts) or natural gas-fired generation (if forwards > forecasts). In this report we compare the cost of hedging natural gas price risk through traditional gas-based hedging instruments (e

  8. 卖空约束下金融市场欧式期权定价研究%Pricing European Options in a Financial Market with Short-sale Constraints

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    黎露

    2012-01-01

    摘 要:针对存在卖空约束金融市场上的期权定价问题,总结了3种定价方法,并在讨论超复制方法的基础上计算出无套利区间和唯一平价.重点分析了在超复制方法的模型中考虑参数股息率g(t),得出了无套利区间端点的更加有效的表述形式.%Aiming at the option pricing method in a financial market with short - sale constraints,three most important methods in this area were summarized. And especially based on the super - replicating method, the arbitrage - free interval and the u-nique fair price were figured out. Furthermore,the new parameter - dividend rate g(t) in the model was investigated and a more effective representation was obtained for the endpoints of the arbitrage - free interval.

  9. Oil price induced gas acquisition contracts. Immune to price changes; Oelpreisindizierte Gasbezugsvertraege. Immun gegen Preisaenderungen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verhoeven, Meike [Soptim AG, Aachen (Germany)

    2012-10-15

    The gas price continues to be linked to the oil price. Gas utilities that must buy gas in these conditions and sell it at a fixed price incur considerable financial risk. Especially with long-term buying contracts, and especially for gas from Russia, producers insist on linking to the oil price. Gas utilities, on the other hand, had to stop to sell gas at a price linked to the oil price two years ago. Utilities attempt to protect themselves, e.g. via oil swaps. Professional portfolio management is necessary to cope with the risks and the highly complex processes involved.

  10. Electricity prices in a competitive environment: Marginal cost pricing of generation services and financial status of electric utilities. A preliminary analysis through 2015

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-08-01

    The emergence of competitive markets for electricity generation services is changing the way that electricity is and will be priced in the United States. This report presents the results of an analysis that focuses on two questions: (1) How are prices for competitive generation services likely to differ from regulated prices if competitive prices are based on marginal costs rather than regulated open-quotes cost-of-serviceclose quotes pricing? (2) What impacts will the competitive pricing of generation services (based on marginal costs) have on electricity consumption patterns, production costs, and the financial integrity patterns, production costs, and the financial integrity of electricity suppliers? This study is not intended to be a cost-benefit analysis of wholesale or retail competition, nor does this report include an analysis of the macroeconomic impacts of competitive electricity prices

  11. Meeting competition through negotiated pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keith, D.M.; Raper, J.W.

    1990-01-01

    A fundamental premise of negotiated pricing as a demand-side management (DSM) tool is that price determines cost. As the ultimate objective of energy efficiency is to increase electromotive work while conserving resources, negotiated prices can have a significant impact as a DSM tool to force costs down. Three examples are offered of the effect of negotiated pricing as a DSM tool. The examples are a small hydroelectric company and an electric utility authority owned, a utility-to-customer example of negotiated pricing with the Public Service Company of Oklahoma's (PSO) system, and a large paper mill on PSO's system. Some of the major problems associated with negotiated pricing, outside of the human effort of finding and training knowledgeable and skilled negotiators, are: obtaining enough information about the customer or potential customer to be able to determine that in negotiating prices the utility is not giving away more benefits than the utility will gain; developing a pricing plan that fits both the customer's and utility's existing and potential future mode of operation; assuring that other customers who cannot negotiate on their own behalf are not adversely affected by utility revenue shortfalls; making such negotiated prices available to all similarly situated customers, so as not to inadvertently create unfair competitive advantages among them; and defining the shared benefits before and after the fact as a result of having negotiated prices in the first place

  12. An EV Charging Scheduling Mechanism Based on Price Negotiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baocheng Wang

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Scheduling EV user’s charging behavior based on charging price and applying renewable energy resources are the effective methods to release the load pressure of power grids brought about by the large-scale popularity of electric vehicles (EVs. This paper presents a novel approach for EV charging scheduling based on price negotiation. Firstly, the EV charging system framework based on price negotiation and renewable energy resources is discussed. Secondly, the price negotiation model is presented, including the initial price models and the conditions of transactions. Finally, an EV charging scheduling mechanism based on price negotiation (CSM-PN, including the price adjustment strategies of both the operator and EV users is proposed to seek a final transaction during multi-round price negotiation. Simulation results show that this novel approach can effectively improve the charging station operator’s income, reduce the EV users’ costs, and balance the load of the power grid while improving the efficiency of the EV charging system.

  13. Energy pricing under uncertain supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serra, P.J.

    1997-01-01

    This paper introduces a new pricing system - based on the Chilean tariff regulations - to deal with an uncertain energy supply. It consists of a basic rate for each unit actually consumed and a compensation that the utilities pay their customers for each unit of energy that they voluntarily reduce below their normal consumption during an energy shortage. Within the framework of a model that portrays the stylized facts of the Chilean electric system, and assumes risk-neutral agents, this paper shows the equivalency of the new pricing system with both contingent pricing and priority pricing. (Author)

  14. Electricity prices in a competitive environment: Marginal cost pricing of generation services and financial status of electric utilities. A preliminary analysis through 2015

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-08-01

    The emergence of competitive markets for electricity generation services is changing the way that electricity is and will be priced in the United States. This report presents the results of an analysis that focuses on two questions: (1) How are prices for competitive generation services likely to differ from regulated prices if competitive prices are based on marginal costs rather than regulated {open_quotes}cost-of-service{close_quotes} pricing? (2) What impacts will the competitive pricing of generation services (based on marginal costs) have on electricity consumption patterns, production costs, and the financial integrity patterns, production costs, and the financial integrity of electricity suppliers? This study is not intended to be a cost-benefit analysis of wholesale or retail competition, nor does this report include an analysis of the macroeconomic impacts of competitive electricity prices.

  15. The development of a value based pricing index for new drugs in metastatic colorectal cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dranitsaris, George; Truter, Ilse; Lubbe, Martie S

    2011-06-01

    Worldwide, prices for cancer drugs have been under downward pressure where several governments have mandated price cuts of branded products. A better alternative to government mandated price cuts would be to estimate a final price based on drug performance, cost effectiveness and a country's ability to pay. We developed a global pricing index for new cancer drugs in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) that encompasses all of these attributes. A pharmacoeconomic model was developed to simulate mCRC patients receiving chemotherapy plus a 'new drug' that improves survival by 1.4, 3 and 6months, respectively. Cost and utility data were obtained from cancer centres and oncology nurses (n=112) in Canada, Spain, India, South Africa and Malaysia. Multivariable analysis was then used to develop the pricing index, which considers survival benefit, per capita GDP and income dispersion (as measured by the Gini coefficient) as predictor variables. Higher survival benefits were associated with elevated drug prices, especially in higher income countries such as Canada. For Argentina with a per capita GDP of $15,000 and a Gini coefficient of 51, the index estimated that for a drug which provides a 4month survival benefit in mCRC, the value based price would be $US 630 per dose. In contrast, the same drug in a wealthier country like Norway (per capita GDP=$50,000) could command a price of $US 2,775 per dose. The application of this index to estimate a price based on cost effectiveness and the wealth of a nation would be important for opening dialogue between the key stakeholders and a better alternative to government mandated price cuts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Value based pricing: the least valued pricing strategy

    OpenAIRE

    Hoenen, Bob

    2017-01-01

    Pricing has been one of the least researched topics in marketing, although within these pricing strategies: cost-plus pricing is considered as the leading pricing strategy worldwide. Why should companies use such an unprofitable strategy, where fighting for a higher market share due to low prices is more a rule than exception? VBP is one of the most underestimated strategies by organizations. The definition of VBP is: 'value pricing applies to products that have the potential of being differe...

  17. MAP-MRF-Based Super-Resolution Reconstruction Approach for Coded Aperture Compressive Temporal Imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tinghua Zhang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Coded Aperture Compressive Temporal Imaging (CACTI can afford low-cost temporal super-resolution (SR, but limits are imposed by noise and compression ratio on reconstruction quality. To utilize inter-frame redundant information from multiple observations and sparsity in multi-transform domains, a robust reconstruction approach based on maximum a posteriori probability and Markov random field (MAP-MRF model for CACTI is proposed. The proposed approach adopts a weighted 3D neighbor system (WNS and the coordinate descent method to perform joint estimation of model parameters, to achieve the robust super-resolution reconstruction. The proposed multi-reconstruction algorithm considers both total variation (TV and ℓ 2 , 1 norm in wavelet domain to address the minimization problem for compressive sensing, and solves it using an accelerated generalized alternating projection algorithm. The weighting coefficient for different regularizations and frames is resolved by the motion characteristics of pixels. The proposed approach can provide high visual quality in the foreground and background of a scene simultaneously and enhance the fidelity of the reconstruction results. Simulation results have verified the efficacy of our new optimization framework and the proposed reconstruction approach.

  18. Microsphere-based super-resolution scanning optical microscope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huszka, Gergely; Yang, Hui; Gijs, Martin A M

    2017-06-26

    High-refractive index dielectric microspheres positioned within the field of view of a microscope objective in a dielectric medium can focus the light into a so-called photonic nanojet. A sample placed in such nanojet can be imaged by the objective with super-resolution, i.e. with a resolution beyond the classical diffraction limit. However, when imaging nanostructures on a substrate, the propagation distance of a light wave in the dielectric medium in between the substrate and the microsphere must be small enough to reveal the sample's nanometric features. Therefore, only the central part of an image obtained through a microsphere shows super-resolution details, which are typically ∼100 nm using white light (peak at λ = 600 nm). We have performed finite element simulations of the role of this critical distance in the super-resolution effect. Super-resolution imaging of a sample placed beneath the microsphere is only possible within a very restricted central area of ∼10 μm 2 , where the separation distance between the substrate and the microsphere surface is very small (∼1 μm). To generate super-resolution images over larger areas of the sample, we have fixed a microsphere on a frame attached to the microscope objective, which is automatically scanned over the sample in a step-by-step fashion. This generates a set of image tiles, which are subsequently stitched into a single super-resolution image (with resolution of λ/4-λ/5) of a sample area of up to ∼10 4 μm 2 . Scanning a standard optical microscope objective with microsphere therefore enables super-resolution microscopy over the complete field-of-view of the objective.

  19. Solutions for wood-based bio-energy price discovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teraes, Timo [FOEX Indexes Ltd., Helsinki (Finland)], e-mail: timo@foex.fi

    2012-11-01

    Energy prices are highly volatile. This volatility can have serious ill-effects on the profitability of companies engaged in the energy business. There are, however, a number of price risk management tools which can be used to reduce the problems caused by price volatility. International trade of wood pellets and wood chips is rapidly growing. A good price transparency helps in developing the trade further. In order to meet the renewable energy targets within the EU, further growth of volumes is needed, at least within Europe and from overseas supply sources to the European markets. Reliable price indices are a central element in price risk management and in general price discovery. Exchanges have provided, in the past, the most widely known price discovery systems. Since 1990's, an increasing number of price risk management tools has been based on cash settlement concept. Cash settlement requires high quality benchmark price indices. These have been developed by the exchanges themselves, by trade press and by independent price benchmark provider companies. The best known of these benchmarks in forest industry and now also in wood-based bioenergy products are the PIX indices, provided by FOEX Indexes Ltd. This presentation discusses the key requirements for a good price index and the different ways of using the indices. Price relationships between wood chip prices and pellet prices are also discussed as will be the outlook for the future volume growth and trade flows in woodchips and pellets mainly from the European perspective.

  20. Shielding Studies for the CERN Super-Proton-Synchrotron at Experimental Point 5

    CERN Document Server

    Müller, Mario J

    2004-01-01

    The European Laboratory for Particle Research, CERN has been operated the Super Proton Sychrotron (SPS) for more than 30 years with the shielding design knowledge of the early 70s. At that time particle transport codes were neither available nor capable of dealing with deep lateral shielding calculations. For the future LHC increasing projected values of beam intensity in the SPS and decreasing limits to radiation exposure have led to the need to re-assess the shielding at point 5 of the SPS. 20 years ago this area housed the UA1 experiment of Carlo Rubbia (nobel-price 1984). The thesis describes a re-assessment based on simulations using the multi-purpose radiation transport codes FLUKA and MCNPX. The latter one was utilized for geometry design and to compare variance reduction methods. Different assumed beam-loss points along the beam-line together with fluence-to-doserate conversion calculations were used to find the worst case scenario. Dose-rates as well as particle-energy spectra inside the accessible a...

  1. Ecophysiological Evaluation of Three Maize (Zea mays L. Cultivars under Irrigation Regimes and Use of Super Absorbent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allahyar Hassanzadeh

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available To evaluate the effects of using super absorbent and irrigation regimes on seed yield and yield components of maize cultivars a split plot experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications was performed at the Research Field of Malekan Islamic Azad University. Main factor consisted of three irrigation regimes (irrigation after 70, 110 and 150 mm evaporation from pan and subfactor of two levels of super absorbent applications (application and without application and three maize cultivars (704, Iranian maxima and overseas maxima. Based on the results obtained it was revealed that highest seed yield (985 g/m2 belonged to the plants irrigated after 70 mm evaporation from the pan without using super absorbent. Irrigation after evaporation of 150 mm from the pan decreased both seed numbers per plant and 100 seed weight, and seed yield loss amounted to be 46.1% as compared with irrigation after 70 mm evaporation from the pan. Without using super absorbent and irrigation after 150 mm evaporation from the pan decreased seed number per ear by 38.8% and 100 seed weight by 13.8%. However, application of super absorbent and irrigation of plants after 150 mm evaporation from the pan increased by grain yield 38% as compared with out using super absorbent. There were not significant difference between cultivars for seed yield and yield components. It could be concluded that application of super absorbent under water shortage conditions may reduce crop yield losses.

  2. Real-time pricing strategy of micro-grid energy centre considering price-based demand response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zhiheng; Zhang, Yongjun; Wang, Gan

    2017-07-01

    With the development of energy conversion technology such as power to gas (P2G), fuel cell and so on, the coupling between energy sources becomes more and more closely. Centralized dispatch among electricity, natural gas and heat will become a trend. With the goal of maximizing the system revenue, this paper establishes the model of micro-grid energy centre based on energy hub. According to the proposed model, the real-time pricing strategy taking into account price-based demand response of load is developed. And the influence of real-time pricing strategy on the peak load shifting is discussed. In addition, the impact of wind power predicted inaccuracy on real-time pricing strategy is analysed.

  3. Localization-based super-resolution imaging meets high-content screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beghin, Anne; Kechkar, Adel; Butler, Corey; Levet, Florian; Cabillic, Marine; Rossier, Olivier; Giannone, Gregory; Galland, Rémi; Choquet, Daniel; Sibarita, Jean-Baptiste

    2017-12-01

    Single-molecule localization microscopy techniques have proven to be essential tools for quantitatively monitoring biological processes at unprecedented spatial resolution. However, these techniques are very low throughput and are not yet compatible with fully automated, multiparametric cellular assays. This shortcoming is primarily due to the huge amount of data generated during imaging and the lack of software for automation and dedicated data mining. We describe an automated quantitative single-molecule-based super-resolution methodology that operates in standard multiwell plates and uses analysis based on high-content screening and data-mining software. The workflow is compatible with fixed- and live-cell imaging and allows extraction of quantitative data like fluorophore photophysics, protein clustering or dynamic behavior of biomolecules. We demonstrate that the method is compatible with high-content screening using 3D dSTORM and DNA-PAINT based super-resolution microscopy as well as single-particle tracking.

  4. Super-Hydrophobic/Icephobic Coatings Based on Silica Nanoparticles Modified by Self-Assembled Monolayers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junpeng Liu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A super-hydrophobic surface has been obtained from nanocomposite materials based on silica nanoparticles and self-assembled monolayers of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (POTS using spin coating and chemical vapor deposition methods. Scanning electron microscope images reveal the porous structure of the silica nanoparticles, which can trap small-scale air pockets. An average water contact angle of 163° and bouncing off of incoming water droplets suggest that a super-hydrophobic surface has been obtained based on the silica nanoparticles and POTS coating. The monitored water droplet icing test results show that icing is significantly delayed by silica-based nano-coatings compared with bare substrates and commercial icephobic products. Ice adhesion test results show that the ice adhesion strength is reduced remarkably by silica-based nano-coatings. The bouncing phenomenon of water droplets, the icing delay performance and the lower ice adhesion strength suggest that the super-hydrophobic coatings based on a combination of silica and POTS also show icephobicity. An erosion test rig based on pressurized pneumatic water impinging impact was used to evaluate the durability of the super-hydrophobic/icephobic coatings. The results show that durable coatings have been obtained, although improvement will be needed in future work aiming for applications in aerospace.

  5. Pay-what-you-want pricing schemes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kahsay, Goytom Abraha; Samahita, Margaret

    2015-01-01

    Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) pricing schemes are becoming increasingly popular. We develop a model incorporating self-image into the buyer’s utility function and introduce heterogeneity in consumption utility and image-sensitivity, generating different purchase decisions and optimal prices across...... individuals. When a good’s fixed price is lower than a threshold fair value, PWYW can lead to a lower utility. This may result in a lower purchase rate and higher average price, accounting for previously unexplained field experimental evidence. An increase in the threshold value decreases the buyer’s utility...... and may further lower the purchase rate, resulting in a further increase in purchase price....

  6. Study of Super Dielectric Material for Novel Paradigm Capacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-03-01

    density, power density, dielectric constant, constant current, constant voltage, electric field minimization, dipole 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 85 16. PRICE... Technology and Strategies for Improvement ..................................................................................6 4. Super Dielectric...ds infinitesimal displacement dt infinitesimal time DT discharge time dV infinitesimal voltage E electric field Etot total energy EC Lab

  7. Research on laser detonation pulse circuit with low-power based on super capacitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hao-yu; Hong, Jin; He, Aifeng; Jing, Bo; Cao, Chun-qiang; Ma, Yue; Chu, En-yi; Hu, Ya-dong

    2018-03-01

    According to the demand of laser initiating device miniaturization and low power consumption of weapon system, research on the low power pulse laser detonation circuit with super capacitor. Established a dynamic model of laser output based on super capacitance storage capacity, discharge voltage and programmable output pulse width. The output performance of the super capacitor under different energy storage capacity and discharge voltage is obtained by simulation. The experimental test system was set up, and the laser diode of low power pulsed laser detonation circuit was tested and the laser output waveform of laser diode in different energy storage capacity and discharge voltage was collected. Experiments show that low power pulse laser detonation based on super capacitor energy storage circuit discharge with high efficiency, good transient performance, for a low power consumption requirement, for laser detonation system and low power consumption and provide reference light miniaturization of engineering practice.

  8. Pay-what-you-want pricing schemes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kahsay, Goytom Abraha; Samahita, Margaret

    this threshold, however, PWYW can lead to a lower utility. This may result in a lower purchase rate and higher average price, in line with previously unexplained evidence from field experiments. Moreover, an increase in the threshold value decreases the buyer's utility and may further lower the purchase rate......Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) pricing schemes are becoming increasingly popular in a wide range of industries. We develop a model incorporating self-image into the buyer's utility function and introduce heterogeneity in consumption utility and image-sensitivity, which generates different purchase...... decisions and optimal prices across individuals. When a good is sold at a fixed price higher than a threshold value, a price that the individual thinks is fair, the adoption of PWYW increases his utility and hence results in a weakly higher purchase rate. When a good is sold at a fixed price lower than...

  9. Mounting and Alignment of Full-Shell Replicated X-Ray Optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gubarev, Mikhail; Arnold, William; Kester, Thomas; Ramsey, Brian; Smithers, Martin

    2007-01-01

    We are developing grazing-incidence x-ray optics for astronomy. The optics are full-cylinder mirror shells fabricated using electroformed-nickel replication off super-polished mandrels. For space-based applications where weight is at a premium, very-thin-walled, light-weight mirrors are required. Such shells have been fabricated at MSFC with greater than 15 arcsec resolution. The challenge, however, is to preserve this resolution during mounting and assembly. We present here a status report on a mounting and alignment system currently under development at Marshall Space Flight Center to meet this challenge.

  10. Optically transparent super-hydrophobic thin film fabricated by reusable polyurethane-acrylate (PUA) mold

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, J.-S.; Park, J.-H.; Lee, D.-W.

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, we describe a simple manufacturing method for producing an optically transparent super-hydrophobic polymer thin film using a reusable photo-curable polymer mold. Soluble photoresist (PR) molds were prepared with under-exposed and under-baked processes, which created unique hierarchical micro/nano structures. The reverse phase of the PR mold was replicated on the surface of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. The unique patterns on the replicated PDMS molds were successfully transferred back to the UV curable polyurethane-acrylate (PUA) using a laboratory-made UV exposure system. Continuous production of the super-hydrophobic PDMS thin film was demonstrated using the reusable PUA mold. In addition, hydrophobic nano-silica powder was sprayed onto the micro/nano structured PDMS surfaces to further improve hydrophobicity. The fabricated PDMS thin films with hierarchical surface texturing showed a water contact angle  ⩾150°. Excellent optical transmittance within the range of visible light of wavelengths between 400-800 nm was experimentally confirmed using a spectrophotometer. High efficiency of the super-hydrophobic PDMS film in optical transparency was also confirmed using solar panels. The fabricated PUA molds are very suitable for use in roll-to-roll or roll-to-plate systems which allow continuous production of super-hydrophobic thin films with an excellent optical transparency.

  11. Replication of urban innovations - prioritization of strategies for the replication of Dhaka's community-based decentralized composting model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yedla, Sudhakar

    2012-01-01

    Dhaka's community-based decentralized composting (DCDC) is a successful demonstration of solid waste management by adopting low-cost technology, local resources community participation and partnerships among the various actors involved. This paper attempts to understand the model, necessary conditions, strategies and their priorities to replicate DCDC in the other developing cities of Asia. Thirteen strategies required for its replication are identified and assessed based on various criteria, namely transferability, longevity, economic viability, adaptation and also overall replication. Priority setting by multi-criteria analysis by applying analytic hierarchy process revealed that immediate transferability without long-term and economic viability consideration is not advisable as this would result in unsustainable replication of DCDC. Based on the analysis, measures to ensure the product quality control; partnership among stakeholders (public-private-community); strategies to achieve better involvement of the private sector in solid waste management (entrepreneurship in approach); simple and low-cost technology; and strategies to provide an effective interface among the complementing sectors are identified as important strategies for its replication.

  12. Construction of Discrete Time Shadow Price

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogala, Tomasz; Stettner, Lukasz

    2015-01-01

    In the paper expected utility from consumption over finite time horizon for discrete time markets with bid and ask prices and strictly concave utility function is considered. The notion of weak shadow price, i.e. an illiquid price, depending on the portfolio, under which the model without bid and ask price is equivalent to the model with bid and ask price is introduced. Existence and the form of weak shadow price is shown. Using weak shadow price usual (called in the paper strong) shadow price is then constructed

  13. Replicative Intermediates of Human Papillomavirus Type 11 in Laryngeal Papillomas: Site of Replication Initiation and Direction of Replication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auborn, K. J.; Little, R. D.; Platt, T. H. K.; Vaccariello, M. A.; Schildkraut, C. L.

    1994-07-01

    We have examined the structures of replication intermediates from the human papillomavirus type 11 genome in DNA extracted from papilloma lesions (laryngeal papillomas). The sites of replication initiation and termination utilized in vivo were mapped by using neutral/neutral and neutral/alkaline two-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis methods. Initiation of replication was detected in or very close to the upstream regulatory region (URR; the noncoding, regulatory sequences upstream of the open reading frames in the papillomavirus genome). We also show that replication forks proceed bidirectionally from the origin and converge 180circ opposite the URR. These results demonstrate the feasibility of analysis of replication of viral genomes directly from infected tissue.

  14. Economic analysis of coal price-electricity price adjustment in China based on the CGE model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, Y.X.; Zhang, S.L.; Yang, L.Y.; Wang, Y.J.; Wang, J.

    2010-01-01

    In recent years, coal price has risen rapidly, which has also brought a sharp increase in the expenditures of thermal power plants in China. Meantime, the power production price and power retail price have not been adjusted accordingly and a large number of thermal power plants have incurred losses. The power industry is a key industry in the national economy. As such, a thorough analysis and evaluation of the economic influence of the electricity price should be conducted before electricity price adjustment is carried out. This paper analyses the influence of coal price adjustment on the electric power industry, and the influence of electricity price adjustment on the macroeconomy in China based on computable general equilibrium models. The conclusions are as follows: (1) a coal price increase causes a rise in the cost of the electric power industry, but the influence gradually descends with increase in coal price; and (2) an electricity price increase has an adverse influence on the total output, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Electricity price increases have a contractionary effect on economic development and, consequently, electricity price policy making must consequently consider all factors to minimize their adverse influence.

  15. Novel transmission pricing scheme based on point-to-point tariff and transaction pair matching for pool market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Qixin; Xia, Qing; Kang, Chongqing

    2010-01-01

    Transmission pricing scheme is a key component in the infrastructure of power market, and pool is an indispensable pattern of market organization; meanwhile, pay-as-bid (PAB) serves as a main option to determine market prices in pool. In this paper, a novel transmission pricing scheme is proposed for pool power market based on PAB. The new scheme is developed by utilizing point-to-point (PTP) tariff and introducing an approach of transaction pair matching (TPM). The model and procedure of the new scheme are presented in detail. Apart from the advantages of existing transmission pricing schemes, such as ensuing open, fair and non-discriminatory access, proper recovery for investment as well as transparency, the new scheme provides economic signals to promote the maximum use of the existing transmission network, encourages appropriate bidding behaviors in pool, and helps to reduce the possibility of the enforcement of market power and the appearing of price spikes; thus improves market operation efficiency and trading effects. In order to testify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a case based on IEEE 30-bus system is studied. (author)

  16. Novel transmission pricing scheme based on point-to-point tariff and transaction pair matching for pool market

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Qixin; Xia, Qing; Kang, Chongqing [State Key Lab. of Power System, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2010-04-15

    Transmission pricing scheme is a key component in the infrastructure of power market, and pool is an indispensable pattern of market organization; meanwhile, pay-as-bid (PAB) serves as a main option to determine market prices in pool. In this paper, a novel transmission pricing scheme is proposed for pool power market based on PAB. The new scheme is developed by utilizing point-to-point (PTP) tariff and introducing an approach of transaction pair matching (TPM). The model and procedure of the new scheme are presented in detail. Apart from the advantages of existing transmission pricing schemes, such as ensuing open, fair and non-discriminatory access, proper recovery for investment as well as transparency, the new scheme provides economic signals to promote the maximum use of the existing transmission network, encourages appropriate bidding behaviors in pool, and helps to reduce the possibility of the enforcement of market power and the appearing of price spikes; thus improves market operation efficiency and trading effects. In order to testify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a case based on IEEE 30-bus system is studied. (author)

  17. Super differential forms on super Riemann surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Konisi, Gaku; Takahasi, Wataru; Saito, Takesi.

    1994-01-01

    Line integral on the super Riemann surface is discussed. A 'super differential operator' which possesses both properties of differential and of differential operator is proposed. With this 'super differential operator' a new theory of differential form on the super Riemann surface is constructed. We call 'the new differentials on the super Riemann surface' 'the super differentials'. As the applications of our theory, the existency theorems of singular 'super differentials' such as 'super abelian differentials of the 3rd kind' and of a super projective connection are examined. (author)

  18. Auction development for the price-based electric power industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dekrajangpetch, Somgiat

    The restructuring of the electric power industry is to move away from the cost-based monopolistic environment of the past to the priced-based competitive environment. As the electric power industry is restructuring in many places, there are still many problems that need to be solved. The work in this dissertation contributes to solve some of the electric power auction problems. The majority of this work is aimed to help develop good markets. A LaGrangian relaxation (LR) Centralized Daily Commitment Auction (CDCA) has been implemented. It has been shown that the solution might not be optimal nor fair to some generation companies (GENCOs) when identical or similar generating units participate in a LR CDCA based auction. Supporting information for bidding strategies on how to change unit data to enhance the chances of bid acceptance has been developed. The majority of this work is based on Single Period Commodity Auction (SPCA). Alternative structures for the SPCA are outlined. Whether the optimal solution is degenerated is investigated. Good pricing criteria are summarized and the pricing method following good pricing criteria is developed. Electricity is generally considered as a homogeneous product. When availability level is used as additional characteristic to distinct electricity, electricity can be considered a heterogeneous product. The procedure to trade electricity as a heterogeneous product is developed. The SPCA is formulated as a linear program. The basic IPLP algorithm has been extended so that sensitivity analysis can be performed as in the simplex method. Sensitivity analysis is used to determine market reach. Additionally, sensitivity analysis is used in combination with the investigation of historical auction results to provide raw data for power system expansion. Market power is a critical issue in electric power deregulation. Firms with market power have an advantage over other competitor firms in terms of market reach. Various approaches to

  19. Super-quasi-conformal transformation and Schiffer variation on super-Riemann surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahasi, Wataru

    1990-01-01

    A set of equations which characterizes the super-Teichmueller deformations is proposed. It is a supersymmetric extension of the Beltrami equation. Relations between the set of equations and the Schiffer variations with the KN bases are discussed. This application of the KN bases shows the powerfulness of the KN theory in the study of super-Riemann surfaces. (author)

  20. Single Image Super-Resolution Using Global Regression Based on Multiple Local Linear Mappings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jae-Seok; Kim, Munchurl

    2017-03-01

    Super-resolution (SR) has become more vital, because of its capability to generate high-quality ultra-high definition (UHD) high-resolution (HR) images from low-resolution (LR) input images. Conventional SR methods entail high computational complexity, which makes them difficult to be implemented for up-scaling of full-high-definition input images into UHD-resolution images. Nevertheless, our previous super-interpolation (SI) method showed a good compromise between Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) performances and computational complexity. However, since SI only utilizes simple linear mappings, it may fail to precisely reconstruct HR patches with complex texture. In this paper, we present a novel SR method, which inherits the large-to-small patch conversion scheme from SI but uses global regression based on local linear mappings (GLM). Thus, our new SR method is called GLM-SI. In GLM-SI, each LR input patch is divided into 25 overlapped subpatches. Next, based on the local properties of these subpatches, 25 different local linear mappings are applied to the current LR input patch to generate 25 HR patch candidates, which are then regressed into one final HR patch using a global regressor. The local linear mappings are learned cluster-wise in our off-line training phase. The main contribution of this paper is as follows: Previously, linear-mapping-based conventional SR methods, including SI only used one simple yet coarse linear mapping to each patch to reconstruct its HR version. On the contrary, for each LR input patch, our GLM-SI is the first to apply a combination of multiple local linear mappings, where each local linear mapping is found according to local properties of the current LR patch. Therefore, it can better approximate nonlinear LR-to-HR mappings for HR patches with complex texture. Experiment results show that the proposed GLM-SI method outperforms most of the state-of-the-art methods, and shows comparable PSNR performance with much lower

  1. Soil-pipe interaction modeling for pipe behavior prediction with super learning based methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Fang; Peng, Xiang; Liu, Huan; Hu, Yafei; Liu, Zheng; Li, Eric

    2018-03-01

    Underground pipelines are subject to severe distress from the surrounding expansive soil. To investigate the structural response of water mains to varying soil movements, field data, including pipe wall strains in situ soil water content, soil pressure and temperature, was collected. The research on monitoring data analysis has been reported, but the relationship between soil properties and pipe deformation has not been well-interpreted. To characterize the relationship between soil property and pipe deformation, this paper presents a super learning based approach combining feature selection algorithms to predict the water mains structural behavior in different soil environments. Furthermore, automatic variable selection method, e.i. recursive feature elimination algorithm, were used to identify the critical predictors contributing to the pipe deformations. To investigate the adaptability of super learning to different predictive models, this research employed super learning based methods to three different datasets. The predictive performance was evaluated by R-squared, root-mean-square error and mean absolute error. Based on the prediction performance evaluation, the superiority of super learning was validated and demonstrated by predicting three types of pipe deformations accurately. In addition, a comprehensive understand of the water mains working environments becomes possible.

  2. The Value of Negotiating Cost-Based Transfer Prices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Chwolka

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the potential of one-step transfer prices based on either variable or full costs for coordinating decentralized production and quality-improving investment decisions. Transfer prices based on variable costs fail to induce investments on the upstream stage. In contrast, transfer prices based on full costs provide strong investment incentives for the upstream divisions. However, they fail to coordinate the investment decisions. We show that negotiations prevent such coordination failure. In particular, we find that the firm benefits from a higher degree of decentralization so that total profit increases in the number of parameters being subject to negotiations.

  3. A kind of color image segmentation algorithm based on super-pixel and PCNN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, GuangZhu; Wang, YaWen; Zhang, Liu; Zhao, JingJing; Fu, YunXia; Lei, BangJun

    2018-04-01

    Image segmentation is a very important step in the low-level visual computing. Although image segmentation has been studied for many years, there are still many problems. PCNN (Pulse Coupled Neural network) has biological background, when it is applied to image segmentation it can be viewed as a region-based method, but due to the dynamics properties of PCNN, many connectionless neurons will pulse at the same time, so it is necessary to identify different regions for further processing. The existing PCNN image segmentation algorithm based on region growing is used for grayscale image segmentation, cannot be directly used for color image segmentation. In addition, the super-pixel can better reserve the edges of images, and reduce the influences resulted from the individual difference between the pixels on image segmentation at the same time. Therefore, on the basis of the super-pixel, the original PCNN algorithm based on region growing is improved by this paper. First, the color super-pixel image was transformed into grayscale super-pixel image which was used to seek seeds among the neurons that hadn't been fired. And then it determined whether to stop growing by comparing the average of each color channel of all the pixels in the corresponding regions of the color super-pixel image. Experiment results show that the proposed algorithm for the color image segmentation is fast and effective, and has a certain effect and accuracy.

  4. New learning based super-resolution: use of DWT and IGMRF prior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gajjar, Prakash P; Joshi, Manjunath V

    2010-05-01

    In this paper, we propose a new learning-based approach for super-resolving an image captured at low spatial resolution. Given the low spatial resolution test image and a database consisting of low and high spatial resolution images, we obtain super-resolution for the test image. We first obtain an initial high-resolution (HR) estimate by learning the high-frequency details from the available database. A new discrete wavelet transform (DWT) based approach is proposed for learning that uses a set of low-resolution (LR) images and their corresponding HR versions. Since the super-resolution is an ill-posed problem, we obtain the final solution using a regularization framework. The LR image is modeled as the aliased and noisy version of the corresponding HR image, and the aliasing matrix entries are estimated using the test image and the initial HR estimate. The prior model for the super-resolved image is chosen as an Inhomogeneous Gaussian Markov random field (IGMRF) and the model parameters are estimated using the same initial HR estimate. A maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation is used to arrive at the cost function which is minimized using a simple gradient descent approach. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach by conducting the experiments on gray scale as well as on color images. The method is compared with the standard interpolation technique and also with existing learning-based approaches. The proposed approach can be used in applications such as wildlife sensor networks, remote surveillance where the memory, the transmission bandwidth, and the camera cost are the main constraints.

  5. DNA replication origins—where do we begin?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prioleau, Marie-Noëlle; MacAlpine, David M.

    2016-01-01

    For more than three decades, investigators have sought to identify the precise locations where DNA replication initiates in mammalian genomes. The development of molecular and biochemical approaches to identify start sites of DNA replication (origins) based on the presence of defining and characteristic replication intermediates at specific loci led to the identification of only a handful of mammalian replication origins. The limited number of identified origins prevented a comprehensive and exhaustive search for conserved genomic features that were capable of specifying origins of DNA replication. More recently, the adaptation of origin-mapping assays to genome-wide approaches has led to the identification of tens of thousands of replication origins throughout mammalian genomes, providing an unprecedented opportunity to identify both genetic and epigenetic features that define and regulate their distribution and utilization. Here we summarize recent advances in our understanding of how primary sequence, chromatin environment, and nuclear architecture contribute to the dynamic selection and activation of replication origins across diverse cell types and developmental stages. PMID:27542827

  6. A pharmacoeconomic modeling approach to estimate a value-based price for new oncology drugs in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dranitsaris, George; Ortega, Ana; Lubbe, Martie S; Truter, Ilse

    2012-03-01

    Several European governments have recently mandated price cuts in drugs to reduce health care spending. However, such measures without supportive evidence may compromise patient care because manufacturers may withdraw current products or not launch new agents. A value-based pricing scheme may be a better approach for determining a fair drug price and may be a medium for negotiations between the key stakeholders. To demonstrate this approach, pharmacoeconomic (PE) modeling was used from the Spanish health care system perspective to estimate a value-based price for bevacizumab, a drug that provides a 1.4-month survival benefit to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The threshold used for economic value was three times the Spanish per capita GDP, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). A PE model was developed to simulate outcomes in mCRC patients receiving chemotherapy ± bevacizumab. Clinical data were obtained from randomized trials and costs from a Spanish hospital. Utility estimates were determined by interviewing 24 Spanish oncology nurses and pharmacists. A price per dose of bevacizumab was then estimated using a target threshold of € 78,300 per quality-adjusted life year gained, which is three times the Spanish per capita GDP. For a 1.4-month survival benefit, a price of € 342 per dose would be considered cost effective from the Spanish public health care perspective. The price may be increased to € 733 or € 843 per dose if the drug were able to improve patient quality of life or enhance survival from 1.4 to 3 months. This study demonstrated that a value-based pricing approach using PE modeling and the WHO criteria for economic value is feasible and perhaps a better alternative to government mandated price cuts. The former approach would be a good starting point for opening dialog between European government payers and the pharmaceutical industry.

  7. Evaluation of automated residential demand response with flat and dynamic pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swisher, Joel; Wang, Kitty; Stewart, Stewart

    2005-01-01

    This paper reviews the performance of two recent automated load management programs for residential customers of electric utilities in two American states. Both pilot programs have been run with about 200 participant houses each, and both programs have control populations of similar customers without the technology or program treatment. In both cases, the technology used in the pilot is GoodWatts, an advanced, two-way, real-time, comprehensive home energy management system. The purpose of each pilot is to determine the household kW reduction in coincident peak electric load from the energy management technology. Nevada Power has conducted a pilot program for Air-Conditioning Load Management (ACLM), in which customers are sent an electronic curtailment signal for three-hour intervals during times of maximum peak demand. The participating customers receive an annual incentive payment, but otherwise they are on a conventional utility tariff. In California, three major utilities are jointly conducting a pilot demonstration of an Automated Demand Response System (ADRS). Customers are on a time-of-use (ToU) tariff, which includes a critical peak pricing (CPP) element. During times of maximum peak demand, customers are sent an electronic price signal that is three times higher than the normal on-peak price. Houses with the automated GoodWatts technology reduced their demand in both the ACLM and the ADRS programs by about 50% consistently across the summer curtailment or super peak events, relative to homes without the technology or any load management program or tariff in place. The absolute savings were greater in the ACLM program, due to the higher baseline air conditioning loads in the hotter Las Vegas climate. The results suggest that either automated technology or dynamic pricing can deliver significant demand response in low-consumption houses. However, for high-consumption houses, automated technology can reduce load by a greater absolute kWh difference. Targeting

  8. Advantages of super-light structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hertz, Kristian Dahl

    2009-01-01

    Super-light structures with pearl-chain reinforcement is a new revolutionary technology that opens possibilities of building load-bearing structures much cheaper and with several other advantages compared to traditional constructions of concrete and steel. Some benefits are: 1 Half price or less. 2...... Architectural expressions never seen before. 3 Material savings of more than 50 %. 4 Energy and CO2 savings of more than 50 %. 5 No Scaffolding and cheaper moulds. 6 Improved durability. 7 Extreme thermal insulation. 8 Better indoor-climate. 9 User friendly operation and maintenance. 10 Increased safety...

  9. 76 FR 13902 - Fair Credit Reporting Risk-Based Pricing Regulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-15

    ... TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Parts 640 and 698 RIN R411009 Fair Credit Reporting Risk-Based Pricing... respective risk-based pricing rules to require disclosure of credit scores and information relating to credit scores in risk-based pricing notices if a credit score of the consumer is used in setting the material...

  10. Texton-based super-resolution for achieving high spatiotemporal resolution in hybrid camera system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamimura, Kenji; Tsumura, Norimichi; Nakaguchi, Toshiya; Miyake, Yoichi

    2010-05-01

    Many super-resolution methods have been proposed to enhance the spatial resolution of images by using iteration and multiple input images. In a previous paper, we proposed the example-based super-resolution method to enhance an image through pixel-based texton substitution to reduce the computational cost. In this method, however, we only considered the enhancement of a texture image. In this study, we modified this texton substitution method for a hybrid camera to reduce the required bandwidth of a high-resolution video camera. We applied our algorithm to pairs of high- and low-spatiotemporal-resolution videos, which were synthesized to simulate a hybrid camera. The result showed that the fine detail of the low-resolution video can be reproduced compared with bicubic interpolation and the required bandwidth could be reduced to about 1/5 in a video camera. It was also shown that the peak signal-to-noise ratios (PSNRs) of the images improved by about 6 dB in a trained frame and by 1.0-1.5 dB in a test frame, as determined by comparison with the processed image using bicubic interpolation, and the average PSNRs were higher than those obtained by the well-known Freeman’s patch-based super-resolution method. Compared with that of the Freeman’s patch-based super-resolution method, the computational time of our method was reduced to almost 1/10.

  11. Effect of super dosing of phytase on growth performance, ileal digestibility and bone characteristics in broilers fed corn-soya-based diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manobhavan, M; Elangovan, A V; Sridhar, M; Shet, D; Ajith, S; Pal, D T; Gowda, N K S

    2016-02-01

    A feeding trial was designed to assess the effect of super dosing of phytase in corn-soya-based diets of broiler chicken. One hundred and sixty-eight day-old broilers were selected and randomly allocated to four dietary treatment groups, with 6 replicates having 7 chicks per treatment group. Two-phased diets were used. The starter and finisher diet was fed from 0 to 3 weeks and 4 to 5 weeks of age respectively. The dietary treatments were consisted of normal phosphorus (NP) group without any phytase enzyme (4.5 g/kg available/non-phytin phosphorus (P) during starter and 4.0 g/kg during finisher phase), three low-phosphorus (LP) groups (3.2 g/kg available/non-phytin P during starter and 2.8 g/kg during finisher phase) supplemented with phytase at 500, 2500, 5000 FTU/kg diet, respectively, to full fill their phosphorus requirements. The results showed that super doses of phytase (at 2500 FTU and 5000 FTU/kg) on low-phosphorus diet improved feed intake, body weight gain, ileal digestibility (serine, aspartic acid, calcium, phosphorus), blood P levels and bone minerals such as calcium (Ca), P, magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) content. It could be concluded that super doses of phytase in low-phosphorus diet were beneficial than the normal standard dose (at 500 FTU/kg) of phytase in diet of broiler chicken. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  12. Marketplace pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1991-01-01

    As discussed in this chapter, interest in marketplace pricing has been increasing in recent years, reflecting the societal trend toward substituting competition for regulation where appropriate. Competition is valuable because it encourages utilities to make efficient decisions with a minimum of regulatory intervention. It enhances efficiency through the incentive for innovation by the regulated companies and by increasing the likelihood they will come forward with proposals for better services, lower prices or both. Ultimately, consumers are beneficiaries. Marketplace pricing is emblematic of the view that the degree of regulation should reflect the degree of market power, that workably competitive markets should be allowed to operate with as little regulatory interference as possible. The Edison Electric Institute has made perhaps the most detailed proposal on marketplace pricing. It and others perceive numerous benefits from this method of pricing transmission services. Given the undeniable market power resulting from line ownership, FERC has emphasized the need to find a workably competitive market before approving such proposals. The ability to make this distinction without a full-blown antitrust review for every transaction is questionable, and FERC has yet to provide generic guidance. Finally, FERC's legal ability to depart from cost-based standards is questionable

  13. Market based solutions for power pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wangensteen, Ivar

    2002-06-01

    The report examines how the price for effect reserves, spot market power and regulated power is formed provided ideal market conditions rule. Primarily the price determining factors in a market for power reserves are examined and how the connection between this market and the energy market (the spot market) is. In a free market there would be a balance between what the actors may obtain by operating in the open market for power reserves/regulated power on the one hand and the market for spot power on the other. Primarily we suppose that the desired amount of power reserve is known. Secondly the problem constellation is extended to comprise the size of the effect reserves i.e. the optimising of the requirement to the power reserves. The optimal amount of power reserves is obtained when there is a balance between the cost and the benefit. This optimal balance is achieved when expected macro economical loss due to outfacing balances against the cost of maintaining larger reserves. By using a simple model it is demonstrated that a system operator regulates the maximal price in the regulated market and this equals the rationing price. The actors will offer sufficient reserves even if the reserve price is zero (provided risk neutrality). If the maximal price for regulated power is lower the price of effect reserves will rise. Based on the same simple model calculations are made for how short and long term market balance will be for increasing demands

  14. Optimal Computing Resource Management Based on Utility Maximization in Mobile Crowdsourcing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haoyu Meng

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Mobile crowdsourcing, as an emerging service paradigm, enables the computing resource requestor (CRR to outsource computation tasks to each computing resource provider (CRP. Considering the importance of pricing as an essential incentive to coordinate the real-time interaction among the CRR and CRPs, in this paper, we propose an optimal real-time pricing strategy for computing resource management in mobile crowdsourcing. Firstly, we analytically model the CRR and CRPs behaviors in form of carefully selected utility and cost functions, based on concepts from microeconomics. Secondly, we propose a distributed algorithm through the exchange of control messages, which contain the information of computing resource demand/supply and real-time prices. We show that there exist real-time prices that can align individual optimality with systematic optimality. Finally, we also take account of the interaction among CRPs and formulate the computing resource management as a game with Nash equilibrium achievable via best response. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed distributed algorithm can potentially benefit both the CRR and CRPs. The coordinator in mobile crowdsourcing can thus use the optimal real-time pricing strategy to manage computing resources towards the benefit of the overall system.

  15. Using pharmacoeconomic modelling to determine value-based pricing for new pharmaceuticals in malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dranitsaris, George; Truter, Ilse; Lubbe, Martie S; Sriramanakoppa, Nitin N; Mendonca, Vivian M; Mahagaonkar, Sangameshwar B

    2011-10-01

    Decision analysis (DA) is commonly used to perform economic evaluations of new pharmaceuticals. Using multiples of Malaysia's per capita 2010 gross domestic product (GDP) as the threshold for economic value as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), DA was used to estimate a price per dose for bevacizumab, a drug that provides a 1.4-month survival benefit in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). A decision model was developed to simulate progression-free and overall survival in mCRC patients receiving chemotherapy with and without bevacizumab. Costs for chemotherapy and management of side effects were obtained from public and private hospitals in Malaysia. Utility estimates, measured as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), were determined by interviewing 24 oncology nurses using the time trade-off technique. The price per dose was then estimated using a target threshold of US$44 400 per QALY gained, which is 3 times the Malaysian per capita GDP. A cost-effective price for bevacizumab could not be determined because the survival benefit provided was insufficient According to the WHO criteria, if the drug was able to improve survival from 1.4 to 3 or 6 months, the price per dose would be $567 and $1258, respectively. The use of decision modelling for estimating drug pricing is a powerful technique to ensure value for money. Such information is of value to drug manufacturers and formulary committees because it facilitates negotiations for value-based pricing in a given jurisdiction.

  16. The super-resolution debate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Won, Rachel

    2018-05-01

    In the quest for nanoscopy with super-resolution, consensus from the imaging community is that super-resolution is not always needed and that scientists should choose an imaging technique based on their specific application.

  17. Deep Learning based Super-Resolution for Improved Action Recognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nasrollahi, Kamal; Guerrero, Sergio Escalera; Rasti, Pejman

    2015-01-01

    with results of a state-of- the-art deep learning-based super-resolution algorithm, through an alpha-blending approach. The experimental results obtained on down-sampled version of a large subset of Hoolywood2 benchmark database show the importance of the proposed system in increasing the recognition rate...

  18. Price Comparisons on the Internet Based on Computational Intelligence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jun Woo; Ha, Sung Ho

    2014-01-01

    Information-intensive Web services such as price comparison sites have recently been gaining popularity. However, most users including novice shoppers have difficulty in browsing such sites because of the massive amount of information gathered and the uncertainty surrounding Web environments. Even conventional price comparison sites face various problems, which suggests the necessity of a new approach to address these problems. Therefore, for this study, an intelligent product search system was developed that enables price comparisons for online shoppers in a more effective manner. In particular, the developed system adopts linguistic price ratings based on fuzzy logic to accommodate user-defined price ranges, and personalizes product recommendations based on linguistic product clusters, which help online shoppers find desired items in a convenient manner. PMID:25268901

  19. Hydrolysis of phytate to its lower esters can influence the growth performance and nutrient utilization of broilers with regular or super doses of phytase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beeson, L A; Walk, C L; Bedford, M R; Olukosi, O A

    2017-07-01

    The aim of the study was to observe the effects of dietary available phosphorus (aP) and calcium (Ca), with regular or super doses of phytase, on phytate hydrolysis and subsequent influences on broiler growth performance and nutrient utilization. In a 2 × 3 factorial design, 384 Ross-308 broilers were allocated to one of 6 dietary treatments with 8 replicates in a randomized complete block design for 21 days. Diets were nutritionally adequate (positive control, PC) or marginally deficient in aP and Ca (negative control, NC), with 0, 500 or 1,500 FTU/kg phytase. Bird and feed weights were recorded on d 0 and 21, excreta were collected on d 19 and 20, and gizzard and ileal contents were collected on d 21. Body weight gain (P phytase in the PC and quadratically in the NC. There was an interactive effect on ileal DM, N, and P utilization, increasing quadratically with phytase supplementation in the NC, but there was no phytase influence in the PC (P Phytase linearly increased copper (P Phytase decreased ileal (IPx, inositol x-phosphate) IP6 and IP5 and increased inositol (quadratic, P phytase was added. Phytate hydrolysis improves the growth potential of birds fed NC diets, allowing them to match the growth performance of birds fed PC diets and improve nutrient utilization. These results indicate that dietary Ca and aP concentrations can be reduced when phytase is supplemented. It also may be beneficial to apply the enzyme nutrient matrix to other nutrients in the diet to maintain an optimal balance of nutrients in the digesta. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Poultry Science Association.

  20. Utility-based early modulation of processing distracting stimulus information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendt, Mike; Luna-Rodriguez, Aquiles; Jacobsen, Thomas

    2014-12-10

    Humans are selective information processors who efficiently prevent goal-inappropriate stimulus information to gain control over their actions. Nonetheless, stimuli, which are both unnecessary for solving a current task and liable to cue an incorrect response (i.e., "distractors"), frequently modulate task performance, even when consistently paired with a physical feature that makes them easily discernible from target stimuli. Current models of cognitive control assume adjustment of the processing of distractor information based on the overall distractor utility (e.g., predictive value regarding the appropriate response, likelihood to elicit conflict with target processing). Although studies on distractor interference have supported the notion of utility-based processing adjustment, previous evidence is inconclusive regarding the specificity of this adjustment for distractor information and the stage(s) of processing affected. To assess the processing of distractors during sensory-perceptual phases we applied EEG recording in a stimulus identification task, involving successive distractor-target presentation, and manipulated the overall distractor utility. Behavioral measures replicated previously found utility modulations of distractor interference. Crucially, distractor-evoked visual potentials (i.e., posterior N1) were more pronounced in high-utility than low-utility conditions. This effect generalized to distractors unrelated to the utility manipulation, providing evidence for item-unspecific adjustment of early distractor processing to the experienced utility of distractor information. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3416720-06$15.00/0.

  1. Using Model Replication to Improve the Reliability of Agent-Based Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Wei; Kim, Yushim

    The basic presupposition of model replication activities for a computational model such as an agent-based model (ABM) is that, as a robust and reliable tool, it must be replicable in other computing settings. This assumption has recently gained attention in the community of artificial society and simulation due to the challenges of model verification and validation. Illustrating the replication of an ABM representing fraudulent behavior in a public service delivery system originally developed in the Java-based MASON toolkit for NetLogo by a different author, this paper exemplifies how model replication exercises provide unique opportunities for model verification and validation process. At the same time, it helps accumulate best practices and patterns of model replication and contributes to the agenda of developing a standard methodological protocol for agent-based social simulation.

  2. A model for the effects of psychological pricing in Gabor-Granger price studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wedel, M; Leeflang, PSH

    We present a model of consumers' price sensitivity that explicitly deals with the existence of so-called psychological price levels or odd prices, i.e. prices ending in an odd number. The model is formulated in a latent class framework, in which splines are used to model utility as a function of

  3. RF plasma based selective modification of hydrophilic regions on super hydrophobic surface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jaehyun; Hwang, Sangyeon; Cho, Dae-Hyun [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419 (Korea, Republic of); Hong, Jungwoo [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141 (Korea, Republic of); Shin, Jennifer H., E-mail: j_shin@kaist.ac.kr [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141 (Korea, Republic of); Byun, Doyoung, E-mail: dybyun@skku.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419 (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-02-01

    Highlights: • Simple and amenable reforming method for a substrate with disparate patterns of hydrophilic dots on super-hydrophobic surfaces is proposed. • Wettability characteristics and modification mechanism for the surfaces are conducted and revealed through SEM, AFM, WSI, and SIMS. • Several representative materials for various applications are successfully deposited. - Abstract: Selective modification and regional alterations of the surface property have gained a great deal of attention to many engineers. In this paper, we present a simple, a cost-effective, and amendable reforming method for disparate patterns of hydrophilic regions on super-hydrophobic surfaces. Uniform super-hydrophobic layer (Contact angle; CA > 150°, root mean square (RMS) roughness ∼0.28 nm) can be formed using the atmospheric radio frequency (RF) plasma on top of the selective hydrophilic (CA ∼ 70°, RMS roughness ∼0.34 nm) patterns imprinted by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing technology with polar alcohols (butyl carbitol or ethanol). The wettability of the modified surface was investigated qualitatively utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and wavelength scanning interferometer (WSI). Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis showed that the alcohol addiction reaction changed the types of radicals on the super-hydrophobic surface. The wettability was found to depend sensitively on chemical radicals on the surface, not on surface morphology (particle size and surface roughness). Furthermore, three different kinds of representative hydrophilic samples (polystyrene nano-particle aqueous solution, Salmonella bacteria medium, and poly(3,4-ethylenediocythiophene) ink) were tested for uniform deposition onto the desired hydrophilic regions. This simple strategy would have broad applications in various research fields that require selective deposition of target materials.

  4. RF plasma based selective modification of hydrophilic regions on super hydrophobic surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jaehyun; Hwang, Sangyeon; Cho, Dae-Hyun; Hong, Jungwoo; Shin, Jennifer H.; Byun, Doyoung

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Simple and amenable reforming method for a substrate with disparate patterns of hydrophilic dots on super-hydrophobic surfaces is proposed. • Wettability characteristics and modification mechanism for the surfaces are conducted and revealed through SEM, AFM, WSI, and SIMS. • Several representative materials for various applications are successfully deposited. - Abstract: Selective modification and regional alterations of the surface property have gained a great deal of attention to many engineers. In this paper, we present a simple, a cost-effective, and amendable reforming method for disparate patterns of hydrophilic regions on super-hydrophobic surfaces. Uniform super-hydrophobic layer (Contact angle; CA > 150°, root mean square (RMS) roughness ∼0.28 nm) can be formed using the atmospheric radio frequency (RF) plasma on top of the selective hydrophilic (CA ∼ 70°, RMS roughness ∼0.34 nm) patterns imprinted by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing technology with polar alcohols (butyl carbitol or ethanol). The wettability of the modified surface was investigated qualitatively utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and wavelength scanning interferometer (WSI). Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis showed that the alcohol addiction reaction changed the types of radicals on the super-hydrophobic surface. The wettability was found to depend sensitively on chemical radicals on the surface, not on surface morphology (particle size and surface roughness). Furthermore, three different kinds of representative hydrophilic samples (polystyrene nano-particle aqueous solution, Salmonella bacteria medium, and poly(3,4-ethylenediocythiophene) ink) were tested for uniform deposition onto the desired hydrophilic regions. This simple strategy would have broad applications in various research fields that require selective deposition of target materials.

  5. Renewable energy as a natural gas price hedge: the case of wind

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berry, David

    2005-01-01

    Electric utilities use natural gas to fuel many of their power plants, especially those plants which provide electricity at peak and intermediate hours. Natural gas prices are highly volatile and have shown a general upward trend. Wind energy can provide a cost-effective hedge against natural gas price volatility or price increases. This conclusion is based on analysis of the costs of marginal conventional generation given the historical probability distribution of natural gas prices, the cost of wind energy, wind integration costs, transmission costs for wind energy, the capacity value of wind, and environmental benefits of wind energy for a hypothetical utility in the Southwestern United States. The efficacy of using wind energy as a hedge at a particular utility will depend on site specific conditions

  6. A capillary pumping device utilizing super-hydrophobic silicon grass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kung, Chun-Fei; Chang, Chien-Cheng; Chu, Chin-Chou

    2011-01-01

    In this study, we show that a compact silicon grass surface can be generated by utilizing the induced coupled plasma method with suitably chosen fabrication parameters. This super-hydrophobic structure suspends deionized water on top of the grass and keeps the contact angle at around 153°. The silicon grass is used to improve the driving efficiency of a capillary pumping micro-duct (without sidewalls), which is completely defined by a bottom hydrophilic stripe (adjacent to a Teflon substrate) and a fully top-covered hydrophobic Teflon surface which is coated on a glass substrate. The channel has a height of 3 µm and a width of 100 µm. In this work, the Teflon substrate is replaced with the silicon grass surface. When the fluid is flowing through the micro-duct on the stripe, the interface between the silicon grass and the hydrophilic stripe forms a stable air cushion barrier to the fluid, thus effectively reducing the frictional force. By changing only the interface with this replacement, we demonstrate that the average measured velocities of the new design show improvements of 21% and 17% in the driving efficiency over the original design for transporting deionized water and human blood, respectively. It is also shown that the measured data of the present design are closer to the values predicted by a theoretical analysis which relates the flow velocity to the contact angles, surface tension and fluid viscosity

  7. Natural gas pricing policies in Southeast Asia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pacudan, R.B.

    1998-01-01

    The very dynamic economies of Southeast Asia have recently been experiencing a rapid increase in energy demand. Parallel to this development, there has been an increase in the utilization of indigenous natural gas resources. This article reviews gas-pricing policies in the region, which partly explain the rise in gas utilization. Although diverse, energy pricing policies in Southeast Asia address the common objective of enhancing domestic gas production and utilization. The article concludes that a more rational gas-pricing policy framework is emerging in the region. In global terms, gas pricing in the region tends to converge in a market-related framework, despite the many different pricing objectives of individual countries, and the predominance of non-economic pricing objectives in certain countries (especially gas-rich nations). Specifically, governments have been flexible enough to follow global trends and initiate changes in contractual agreements (pricing and profit-sharing), giving oil companies more favourable terms, and encouraging continued private investment in gas development. At the same time, promotional pricing has also been used to increase utilization of gas, through set prices and adjusted taxes achieving a lower price level compared to substitute fuels. For an efficient gas-pricing mechanism, refinements in the pricing framework should be undertaken, as demand for gas approaches existing and/or forecast production capacities. (author)

  8. MARKET SIGNALS IN VALUE-BASED PRICING PREMIUMS AND DISCOUNTS

    OpenAIRE

    Feuz, Dillon M.

    1999-01-01

    There is concern in the beef industry that present marketing practices may be impending the transmission of economic signals from consumers to producers. Presently, fed cattle may be sold on a show list, pen-by-pen, or on an individual head basis, and may be priced using live weight, dressed weight, or grid or formula pricing. Market signals are more likely to reach producers if cattle are priced individually. Current value-based pricing are discussed. Three grid pricing systems are evaluated...

  9. Introduction and Utilization of High Priced HCV Medicines across Europe; Implications for the Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bruijn, Winnie; Ibáñez, Cristina; Frisk, Pia; Bak Pedersen, Hanne; Alkan, Ali; Vella Bonanno, Patricia; Brkičić, Ljiljana S.; Bucsics, Anna; Dedet, Guillaume; Eriksen, Jaran; Fadare, Joseph O.; Fürst, Jurij; Gallego, Gisselle; Godói, Isabella P.; Guerra Júnior, Augusto A.; Gürsöz, Hakkı; Jan, Saira; Jones, Jan; Joppi, Roberta; Kerman, Saim; Laius, Ott; Madzikwa, Newman; Magnússon, Einar; Maticic, Mojca; Markovic-Pekovic, Vanda; Massele, Amos; Ogunleye, Olayinka; O'Leary, Aisling; Piessnegger, Jutta; Sermet, Catherine; Simoens, Steven; Tiroyakgosi, Celda; Truter, Ilse; Thyberg, Magnus; Tomekova, Kristina; Wladysiuk, Magdalena; Vandoros, Sotiris; Vural, Elif H.; Zara, Corinne; Godman, Brian

    2016-01-01

    Background: Infection with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a widespread transmittable disease with a diagnosed prevalence of 2.0%. Fortunately, it is now curable in most patients. Sales of medicines to treat HCV infection grew 2.7% per year between 2004 and 2011, enhanced by the launch of the protease inhibitors (PIs) boceprevir (BCV) and telaprevir (TVR) in addition to ribavirin and pegylated interferon (pegIFN). Costs will continue to rise with new treatments including sofosbuvir, which now include interferon free regimens. Objective: Assess the uptake of BCV and TVR across Europe from a health authority perspective to offer future guidance on dealing with new high cost medicines. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study of medicines to treat HCV (pegIFN, ribavirin, BCV and TVR) among European countries from 2008 to 2013. Utilization measured in defined daily doses (DDDs)/1000 patients/quarter (DIQs) and expenditure in Euros/DDD. Health authority activities to influence treatments categorized using the 4E methodology (Education, Engineering, Economics and Enforcement). Results: Similar uptake of BCV and TVR among European countries and regions, ranging from 0.5 DIQ in Denmark, Netherlands and Slovenia to 1.5 DIQ in Tayside and Catalonia in 2013. However, different utilization of the new PIs vs. ribavirin indicates differences in dual vs. triple therapy, which is down to factors including physician preference and genotypes. Reimbursed prices for BCV and TVR were comparable across countries. Conclusion: There was reasonable consistency in the utilization of BCV and TVR among European countries in comparison with other high priced medicines. This may reflect the social demand to limit the transmission of HCV. However, the situation is changing with new curative medicines for HCV genotype 1 (GT1) with potentially an appreciable budget impact. These concerns have resulted in different prices across countries, with their impact on budgets and patient outcomes

  10. Does responsive pricing smooth demand shocks?

    OpenAIRE

    Pascal, Courty; Mario, Pagliero

    2011-01-01

    Using data from a unique pricing experiment, we investigate Vickrey’s conjecture that responsive pricing can be used to smooth both predictable and unpredictable demand shocks. Our evidence shows that increasing the responsiveness of price to demand conditions reduces the magnitude of deviations in capacity utilization rates from a pre-determined target level. A 10 percent increase in price variability leads to a decrease in the variability of capacity utilization rates between...

  11. Fuzzy time-series based on Fibonacci sequence for stock price forecasting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Tai-Liang; Cheng, Ching-Hsue; Jong Teoh, Hia

    2007-07-01

    Time-series models have been utilized to make reasonably accurate predictions in the areas of stock price movements, academic enrollments, weather, etc. For promoting the forecasting performance of fuzzy time-series models, this paper proposes a new model, which incorporates the concept of the Fibonacci sequence, the framework of Song and Chissom's model and the weighted method of Yu's model. This paper employs a 5-year period TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) stock price data and a 13-year period of TAIEX (Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index) stock index data as experimental datasets. By comparing our forecasting performances with Chen's (Forecasting enrollments based on fuzzy time-series. Fuzzy Sets Syst. 81 (1996) 311-319), Yu's (Weighted fuzzy time-series models for TAIEX forecasting. Physica A 349 (2004) 609-624) and Huarng's (The application of neural networks to forecast fuzzy time series. Physica A 336 (2006) 481-491) models, we conclude that the proposed model surpasses in accuracy these conventional fuzzy time-series models.

  12. FPGA-based quench detection system for super-FRS super-ferric dipole prototype

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Tongjun; Wu Wei; Yao Qinggao; Yuan Ping; He Yuan; Han Shaofei; Ma Lizhen

    2011-01-01

    The quench detection system for Super-FRS super-ferric dipole prototype magnet of FAIR has been designed and built. The balance bridge was used to detect quench signal. In order to avoid blind zone of quench detection, two independent bridges were used. NI PXI-7830R FPGA was used to implement filter to quench signal and algorithm of quench decision and to produce quench trigger signal. Pre-sample technique was used in quench data acquisition. The data before and after quench could be recorded for analysis later. The test result indicated that the quench of the dipole's superconducting coil could be reliably detected by the quench detection module. (authors)

  13. The plunge in German electricity futures prices – Analysis using a parsimonious fundamental model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kallabis, Thomas; Pape, Christian; Weber, Christoph

    2016-01-01

    The German market has seen a plunge in wholesale electricity prices from 2007 until 2014, with base futures prices dropping by more than 40%. This is frequently attributed to the unexpected high increase in renewable power generation. Using a parsimonious fundamental model, we determine the respective impact of supply and demand shocks on electricity futures prices. The used methodology is based on a piecewise linear approximation of the supply stack and time-varying price-inelastic demand. This parsimonious model is able to replicate electricity futures prices and discover non-linear dependencies in futures price formation. We show that emission prices have a higher impact on power prices than renewable penetration. Changes in renewables, demand and installed capacities turn out to be similarly important for explaining the decrease in operation margins of conventional power plants. We thus argue for the establishment of an independent authority to stabilize emission prices. - Highlights: •We build a parsimonious fundamental model based on a piecewise linear bid stack. •We use the model to investigate impact factors for the plunge in German futures prices. •Largest impact by CO_2 price developments followed by demand and renewable feed-in. •Power plant operating profits strongly affected by demand and renewables. •We argue that stabilizing CO_2 emission prices could provide better market signals.

  14. DNA replication origins-where do we begin?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prioleau, Marie-Noëlle; MacAlpine, David M

    2016-08-01

    For more than three decades, investigators have sought to identify the precise locations where DNA replication initiates in mammalian genomes. The development of molecular and biochemical approaches to identify start sites of DNA replication (origins) based on the presence of defining and characteristic replication intermediates at specific loci led to the identification of only a handful of mammalian replication origins. The limited number of identified origins prevented a comprehensive and exhaustive search for conserved genomic features that were capable of specifying origins of DNA replication. More recently, the adaptation of origin-mapping assays to genome-wide approaches has led to the identification of tens of thousands of replication origins throughout mammalian genomes, providing an unprecedented opportunity to identify both genetic and epigenetic features that define and regulate their distribution and utilization. Here we summarize recent advances in our understanding of how primary sequence, chromatin environment, and nuclear architecture contribute to the dynamic selection and activation of replication origins across diverse cell types and developmental stages. © 2016 Prioleau and MacAlpine; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  15. Microgrids Real-Time Pricing Based on Clustering Techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Liu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Microgrids are widely spreading in electricity markets worldwide. Besides the security and reliability concerns for these microgrids, their operators need to address consumers’ pricing. Considering the growth of smart grids and smart meter facilities, it is expected that microgrids will have some level of flexibility to determine real-time pricing for at least some consumers. As such, the key challenge is finding an optimal pricing model for consumers. This paper, accordingly, proposes a new pricing scheme in which microgrids are able to deploy clustering techniques in order to understand their consumers’ load profiles and then assign real-time prices based on their load profile patterns. An improved weighted fuzzy average k-means is proposed to cluster load curve of consumers in an optimal number of clusters, through which the load profile of each cluster is determined. Having obtained the load profile of each cluster, real-time prices are given to each cluster, which is the best price given to all consumers in that cluster.

  16. Price sensitivity and innovativeness for fashion among Korean consumers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldsmith, Ronald E; Kim, Daekwan; Flynn, Leisa R; Kim, Wan-Min

    2005-10-01

    Price sensitivity is how consumers react to price levels and to price changes. Consumer innovativeness is a tendency to welcome and to adopt new products. Researchers (e.g., R. E. Goldsmith & S. J. Newell, 1997) consider innovative consumers relatively more price insensitive than other consumers, so there should be a negative correlation between measures of these constructs. The results of the present study supported the psychometric soundness of a self-report measure of price sensitivity among 860 Korean consumers and replicated earlier findings of the negative correlation between the 2 constructs.

  17. Application of auctions as a pricing mechanism for the interchange of electric power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Post, D.L.; Coppinger, S.S.; Sheble, G.B.

    1995-01-01

    The expected move to a market-based electric power industry will significantly change electric utility operations. These changes will fundamentally alter the pricing of electric power. How this pricing will be accomplished is a key issue. Traditionally, embedded cost based methods have been used. Recently, spot-pricing has received attention as a possible approach in a market-based electric power environment. Another market-based approach is the use of auctions. This paper will present the application of a sequential sealed-bid and sealed-offer auction to the pricing of electric power by using linear programming

  18. Learning from errors in super-resolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yi; Yuan, Yuan

    2014-11-01

    A novel framework of learning-based super-resolution is proposed by employing the process of learning from the estimation errors. The estimation errors generated by different learning-based super-resolution algorithms are statistically shown to be sparse and uncertain. The sparsity of the estimation errors means most of estimation errors are small enough. The uncertainty of the estimation errors means the location of the pixel with larger estimation error is random. Noticing the prior information about the estimation errors, a nonlinear boosting process of learning from these estimation errors is introduced into the general framework of the learning-based super-resolution. Within the novel framework of super-resolution, a low-rank decomposition technique is used to share the information of different super-resolution estimations and to remove the sparse estimation errors from different learning algorithms or training samples. The experimental results show the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed framework in enhancing the performance of different learning-based algorithms.

  19. A comprehensive market-based scheme for VAR management and pricing in the electricity markets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    El-Araby, E.E. [Qassim Univ., Alqassim, Meldia (Saudi Arabia). Dept. of Electrical Engineering

    2009-07-01

    In order to enable a power system to operate within an acceptable degree of reliability and security, the provision of VAR ancillary services from the VAR sources in electricity markets is the most effective method. The procurement of VAR services is particularly problematic for transmission operators as it relates to pricing mechanism and various technical issues during system operation. This paper proposed an integrated market-based approach for pricing VAR service in the electricity market. The paper was an extension of the authors' proposal for the provision of the VAR service from dynamic VAR sources in a competitive market-based environment. The formulation was modified to include VAR utilization payment and possible power system transition states multiple base cases and contingencies with their associated occurrence probabilities. The paper discussed the basic terms of the proposed approach including the VAR market objective and generator VAR output and its compensation. The mathematical formulation that considered VAR capacity payment, utilization payment and operating costs under the previous transition states in a unified single problem were introduced. The overall problem formulation and solution algorithm were also presented as a large-scale mixed integer nonlinear optimization problem. It was concluded that the proposed method was suited for the simulation and analysis of the existing VAR market. 8 refs., 3 tabs., 5 figs., 2 appendices.

  20. A dynamic replicator model of the players' bids in an oligopolistic electricity market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahraei-Ardakani, Mostafa; Rahimi-Kian, Ashkan

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, the replicator dynamics of the power suppliers' bids in an oligopolistic electricity market are derived for both the fixed and variable demand cases. The replicator dynamics stability analysis is also performed. The dynamics of the electricity markets are the results of players' decisions. The physical parameters of the power systems (such as the lines capacities, voltage limitations, etc.) also affect the market dynamics indirectly, through the changes in players' behaviors. Assuming rational players, an optimal bidding strategy for constructing the supply function (SF) of a generating firm is presented and based on that, the dynamics of the bid replicators are studied. Both fixed demands and price sensitive demands are taken into account. The replicator model is presented in the well-known state space structure. A case study is presented to show the applicability of the developed dynamic replicator bid model, and also to show how the Nash-SFE equilibrium evolves over time. (author)

  1. FY 1986 Report on research and development of super heat pump energy accumulation system. Part 1. Development of elementary techniques; 1986 nendo super heat pump energy shuseki system no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. 1. Yoso gijutsu no kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1987-04-01

    Summarized in detail herein are R and D results of the super high performance heat pumps and elementary equipment and working fluids, for R and D of the super heat pump energy accumulation system. For R and D of the super high performance compression heat pumps, the R and D efforts are directed to development of new working fluids, high-performance heat exchangers, closed motors and so on for the highly efficient type (for heating only); to researches on mixed coolants, high-efficiency screw compressors and so on for the highly efficient type (for cooling and heating); to development of tooth shape of the screw compression section, surveys on thermal stability of the working fluids for heating and so on for the high temperature type (utilizing low temperature heat source); and to R and D of the high-speed reciprocating compressors and steam superchargers for the high temperature type (utilizing high temperature heat source). For R and D of the elementary equipment and working fluids, researches are conducted on evaporators for mixed working fluids, condensers utilizing the EHD effect, stainless steel plate fin type heat exchangers, heat exchangers for the chemical heat accumulation unit, and so on. The R and D efforts are also directed to the working fluids (alcohol-based and nonalcohol-based). (NEDO)

  2. Cross-catalytic peptide nucleic acid (PNA) replication based on templated ligation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Singhal, Abhishek; Nielsen, Peter E

    2014-01-01

    We report the first PNA self-replicating system based on template directed cross-catalytic ligation, a process analogous to biological replication. Using two template PNAs and four pentameric precursor PNAs, all four possible carbodiimide assisted amide ligation products were detected...... precursors. Cross-catalytic product formation followed product inhibited kinetics, but approximately two replication rounds were observed. Analogous but less efficient replication was found for a similar tetrameric system. These results demonstrate that simpler nucleobase replication systems than natural...

  3. Computer utilization for design and operation of the SuperHILAC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Selph, F.B.; Spence, D.A.

    1974-01-01

    The in-house constructed computer codes at the SuperHILAC can be divided into three main categories: (1) accelerator and component design; (2) control and operation; and (3) performance and diagnostics. The first category includes design programs of rf cavities, magnets, and beam optics. The second group contains programs for administration and logbook entries, machine parameter specifications, and openloop parameter control. Programs in the third category are those which directly or indirectly test the mechanical design and geometry of the machine, such as magnet testing, drift-tube-alignment, beam behavior and diagnostics. The present conversion of the SuperHILAC to computer control and a dual-ion time-sharing mode of operation is outlined in context with the complexities of operating this multi-ion, variable energy accelerator. Routines are discussed from the user's standpoint, covering such topics as on-line/off-line implementation, expected gain, actual results, and differences in characteristics which determine the method of computation. (U.S.)

  4. The diversification value of nuclear power as part of a utility technology mix when gas and carbon prices are uncertain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roques, Fabien A.; Nuttall, William J.; Newbery, David M.; Neufville, Richard de; Connors, Stephen

    2005-01-01

    Despite recent revived interest, the prospects for new nuclear power investment in liberalized electricity industries without government support do not seem promising. The objective of this paper is twofold. First it aims to identify the specific features of nuclear power technology that makes it an unattractive choice. The second objective is to estimate the value to a utility of a nuclear investment as a hedge against uncertain gas and carbon prices. A stylized 5-plant Real Option utility model shows that while the nuclear option value represents about 18% of the net present value (NPV) of the nuclear plant investment in the case where electricity and gas prices are uncorrelated, it reduces to nearly zero for correlation factors between electricity and gas price greater than 30%. These results suggest that the private diversification incentives in electricity markets might not be aligned with the social value of a diverse fuel-mix at the country level. (Author)

  5. Blending of electricity pricing with time flavour - an analysis of net system benefit to an electric utility in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhardwaj, J.L.

    1992-01-01

    Demand-side Management is a powerful strategy for modifying electric energy consumption patterns for the mutual benefit of consumers, the supplier and the economy as a whole Time-of-use pricing of electricity suggest a policy where the price is time-differentiated so as to reduce contribution to the system-peak which determines the capacity and investments of a power-system. This paper describes a case-study of net system benefit to an electric utility in India by offering time-of-use tariff to high voltage (HV) industrial consumers. The study shows that there is a potential of shifting about 19% H.V. Industrial loads from peak to off-peak hours thereby benefitting both, the consumers and the utility. 1 fig., 2 tabs

  6. The Questionable Economic Case for Value-Based Drug Pricing in Market Health Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pauly, Mark V

    2017-02-01

    This article investigates the economic theory and interpretation of the concept of "value-based pricing" for new breakthrough drugs with no close substitutes in a context (such as the United States) in which a drug firm with market power sells its product to various buyers. The interpretation is different from that in a country that evaluates medicines for a single public health insurance plan or a set of heavily regulated plans. It is shown that there will not ordinarily be a single value-based price but rather a schedule of prices with different volumes of buyers at each price. Hence, it is incorrect to term a particular price the value-based price, or to argue that the profit-maximizing monopoly price is too high relative to some hypothesized value-based price. When effectiveness of treatment or value of health is heterogeneous, the profit-maximizing price can be higher than that associated with assumed values of quality-adjusted life-years. If the firm sets a price higher than the value-based price for a set of potential buyers, the optimal strategy of the buyers is to decline to purchase that drug. The profit-maximizing price will come closer to a unique value-based price if demand is less heterogeneous. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Virtual reality-based simulation system for nuclear and radiation safety SuperMC/RVIS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    He, T.; Hu, L.; Long, P.; Shang, L.; Zhou, S.; Yang, Q.; Zhao, J.; Song, J.; Yu, S.; Cheng, M.; Hao, L., E-mail: liqin.hu@fds.org.cn [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Neutronics and Radiation Safety, Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology, Hefei, Anhu (China)

    2015-07-01

    The suggested work scenarios in radiation environment need to be iterative optimized according to the ALARA principle. Based on Virtual Reality (VR) technology and high-precision whole-body computational voxel phantom, a virtual reality-based simulation system for nuclear and radiation safety named SuperMC/RVIS has been developed for organ dose assessment and ALARA evaluation of work scenarios in radiation environment. The system architecture, ALARA evaluation strategy, advanced visualization methods and virtual reality technology used in SuperMC/RVIS are described. A case is presented to show its dose assessment and interactive simulation capabilities. (author)

  8. Virtual reality-based simulation system for nuclear and radiation safety SuperMC/RVIS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, T.; Hu, L.; Long, P.; Shang, L.; Zhou, S.; Yang, Q.; Zhao, J.; Song, J.; Yu, S.; Cheng, M.; Hao, L.

    2015-01-01

    The suggested work scenarios in radiation environment need to be iterative optimized according to the ALARA principle. Based on Virtual Reality (VR) technology and high-precision whole-body computational voxel phantom, a virtual reality-based simulation system for nuclear and radiation safety named SuperMC/RVIS has been developed for organ dose assessment and ALARA evaluation of work scenarios in radiation environment. The system architecture, ALARA evaluation strategy, advanced visualization methods and virtual reality technology used in SuperMC/RVIS are described. A case is presented to show its dose assessment and interactive simulation capabilities. (author)

  9. A Distributed Dynamic Super Peer Selection Method Based on Evolutionary Game for Heterogeneous P2P Streaming Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Chen

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to high efficiency and good scalability, hierarchical hybrid P2P architecture has drawn more and more attention in P2P streaming research and application fields recently. The problem about super peer selection, which is the key problem in hybrid heterogeneous P2P architecture, is becoming highly challenging because super peers must be selected from a huge and dynamically changing network. A distributed super peer selection (SPS algorithm for hybrid heterogeneous P2P streaming system based on evolutionary game is proposed in this paper. The super peer selection procedure is modeled based on evolutionary game framework firstly, and its evolutionarily stable strategies are analyzed. Then a distributed Q-learning algorithm (ESS-SPS according to the mixed strategies by analysis is proposed for the peers to converge to the ESSs based on its own payoff history. Compared to the traditional randomly super peer selection scheme, experiments results show that the proposed ESS-SPS algorithm achieves better performance in terms of social welfare and average upload rate of super peers and keeps the upload capacity of the P2P streaming system increasing steadily with the number of peers increasing.

  10. Agent-Based Modeling of Day-Ahead Real Time Pricing in a Pool-Based Electricity Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sh. Yousefi

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an agent-based structure of the electricity retail market is presented based on which day-ahead (DA energy procurement for customers is modeled. Here, we focus on operation of only one Retail Energy Provider (REP agent who purchases energy from DA pool-based wholesale market and offers DA real time tariffs to a group of its customers. As a model of customer response to the offered real time prices, an hourly acceptance function is proposed in order to represent the hourly changes in the customer’s effective demand according to the prices. Here, Q-learning (QL approach is applied in day-ahead real time pricing for the customers enabling the REP agent to discover which price yields the most benefit through a trial-and-error search. Numerical studies are presented based on New England day-ahead market data which include comparing the results of RTP based on QL approach with that of genetic-based pricing.

  11. Research on the factors influencing the price of commercial housing based on support vector machine (SVM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiaoyang, Zhong; Hong, Ren; Jingxin, Gao

    2018-03-01

    With the gradual maturity of the real estate market in China, urban housing prices are also better able to reflect changes in market demand and the commodity property of commercial housing has become more and more obvious. Many scholars in our country have made a lot of research on the factors that affect the price of commercial housing in the city and the number of related research papers increased rapidly. These scholars’ research results provide valuable wealth to solve the problem of urban housing price changes in our country. However, due to the huge amount of literature, the vast amount of information is submerged in the library and cannot be fully utilized. Text mining technology has been widely concerned and developed in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences in recent years. But through the text mining technology to obtain the influence factors on the price of urban commercial housing is still relatively rare. In this paper, the research results of the existing scholars were excavated by text mining algorithm based on support vector machine in order to further make full use of the current research results and to provide a reference for stabilizing housing prices.

  12. Evaluation of mini super computers for nuclear design applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altomare, S.; Baradari, F.

    1987-01-01

    The evolution of the mini super computers will force changes from the current environment of performing nuclear design calculations on mainframe computers (such as a CRAY) to mini super computers. This change will come about for a number of reasons. First, the mini super computers currently available in the marketplace offer the power and speed comparable to mainframes and can provide the capability to support highly computer intensive calculations. Second, the equipment is physically smaller and can easily be installed and operated without extensive investments in facilities and operations support. Third, the computer capacity can be acquired with as much needed memory, disk, and tape capacity as may be needed. Another reasons is that the performance/cost ratio has increased drastically as hardware costs have decreased. A study was conducted at the Westinghouse Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division (CNFD) to evaluate the mini super computers for use in nuclear core design. As a result of this evaluation, Westinghouse CNFD is offering a combined hardware/software technology transfer package for core design. This package provides the utility designer with a totally dedicated mini super computer comparable in speed to the CRAY 1S with sufficient capacity for a sizable design group to perform the engineering activities related to nuclear core design and operations support. This also assures the utility of being totally compatible with the CNFD design codes, thus assuring total update compatibility

  13. Recent Global Food Price Shocks: Causes, Consequences and Lessons for African Governments and Donors-super- †

    OpenAIRE

    Philip Abbott; Adeline Borot de Battisti

    2011-01-01

    Dramatic increases in international agricultural commodity prices began in 2006 and peaked in July 2008. An equally remarkable and rapid decline of those prices then ensued, accompanied by extreme volatility in those prices. The trend in food prices lagged the rapid increases in other commodity prices, including oil and metals, but accompanied those other prices in the downward part of the cycle. Not all agricultural commodities increased to the same extent—grains and oilseed prices increased...

  14. Super-Segments Based Classification of 3D Urban Street Scenes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Zhou

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available We address the problem of classifying 3D point clouds: given 3D urban street scenes gathered by a lidar sensor, we wish to assign a class label to every point. This work is a key step toward realizing applications in robots and cars, for example. In this paper, we present a novel approach to the classification of 3D urban scenes based on super-segments, which are generated from point clouds by two stages of segmentation: a clustering stage and a grouping stage. Then, six effective normal and dimension features that vary with object class are extracted at the super-segment level for training some general classifiers. We evaluate our method both quantitatively and qualitatively using the challenging Velodyne lidar data set. The results show that by only using normal and dimension features we can achieve better recognition than can be achieved with high-dimensional shape descriptors. We also evaluate the adopting of the MRF framework in our approach, but the experimental results indicate that thisbarely improved the accuracy of the classified results due to the sparse property of the super-segments.

  15. Some fundamental technical concepts about cost based transmission pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shirmohammadi, D.; Filho, X.V.; Gorenstin, B.; Pereira, M.V.P.

    1996-01-01

    In this paper the authors describe the basic technical concepts involved in developing cost based transmission prices. They introduce the concepts of transmission pricing paradigms and methodologies to better illustrate how transmission costs are transformed into transmission prices. The authors also briefly discuss the role of these paradigms and methodologies in promoting ''economic efficiency'' which is narrowly defined in this paper. They conclude the paper with an example of the application of some of these paradigms and methodologies for pricing transmission services in Brazil

  16. Dynamic Pricing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sharifi, Reza; Anvari-Moghaddam, Amjad; Fathi, S. Hamid

    2017-01-01

    Dynamic pricing scheme, also known as real-time pricing (RTP), can be more efficient and technically beneficial than the other price-based schemes (such as flat-rate or time-of-use (TOU) pricing) for enabling demand response (DR) actions. Over the past few years, advantages of RTP-based schemes h...... of dynamic pricing can lead to increased willingness of consumers to participate in DR programs which in turn improve the operation of liberalized electricity markets.......Dynamic pricing scheme, also known as real-time pricing (RTP), can be more efficient and technically beneficial than the other price-based schemes (such as flat-rate or time-of-use (TOU) pricing) for enabling demand response (DR) actions. Over the past few years, advantages of RTP-based schemes...

  17. An Example-Based Super-Resolution Algorithm for Selfie Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jino Hans William

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A selfie is typically a self-portrait captured using the front camera of a smartphone. Most state-of-the-art smartphones are equipped with a high-resolution (HR rear camera and a low-resolution (LR front camera. As selfies are captured by front camera with limited pixel resolution, the fine details in it are explicitly missed. This paper aims to improve the resolution of selfies by exploiting the fine details in HR images captured by rear camera using an example-based super-resolution (SR algorithm. HR images captured by rear camera carry significant fine details and are used as an exemplar to train an optimal matrix-value regression (MVR operator. The MVR operator serves as an image-pair priori which learns the correspondence between the LR-HR patch-pairs and is effectively used to super-resolve LR selfie images. The proposed MVR algorithm avoids vectorization of image patch-pairs and preserves image-level information during both learning and recovering process. The proposed algorithm is evaluated for its efficiency and effectiveness both qualitatively and quantitatively with other state-of-the-art SR algorithms. The results validate that the proposed algorithm is efficient as it requires less than 3 seconds to super-resolve LR selfie and is effective as it preserves sharp details without introducing any counterfeit fine details.

  18. Green Pricing Program Marketing Expenditures: Finding the Right Balance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Friedman, B.; Miller, M.

    2009-09-01

    In practice, it is difficult to determine the optimal amount to spend on marketing and administering a green pricing program. Budgets for marketing and administration of green pricing programs are a function of several factors: the region of the country; the size of the utility service area; the customer base and media markets encompassed within that service area; the point or stage in the lifespan of the program; and certainly, not least, the utility's commitment to and goals for the program. All of these factors vary significantly among programs. This report presents data on programs that have funded both marketing and program administration. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) gathers the data annually from utility green pricing program managers. Programs reporting data to NREL spent a median of 18.8% of program revenues on marketing their programs in 2008 and 16.6% in 2007. The smallest utilities (those with less than 25,000 in their eligible customer base) spent 49% of revenues on marketing, significantly more than the overall median. This report addresses the role of renewable energy credit (REC) marketers and start-up costs--and the role of marketing, generally, in achieving program objectives, including expansion of renewable energy.

  19. List prices vs. bargain prices: which solution to estimate consumer price indices?

    OpenAIRE

    Carlo De Gregorio

    2010-01-01

    Alternative approaches to CPI surveys are here evaluated, in markets where final prices are based on some sort of price listing. Three types of surveys are compared: local surveys (LOC), with small samples and a local price collection; list price surveys (LIS), with huge samples and centralised collection; mixed surveys (MXD), in which LOC and LIS are jointly used. Based on a multiplicative pricing model, some conditions are derived to establish the relative efficiency of these approaches. Th...

  20. Alternative pricing methodologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1991-01-01

    With the increased interest in competitive market forces and growing recognition of the deficiencies in current practices, FERC and others are exploring alternatives to embedded cost pricing. A number of these alternatives are discussed in this chapter. Marketplace pricing, discussed briefly here, is the subject of the next chapter. Obviously, the pricing formula may combine several of these methodologies. One utility of which the authors are aware is seeking a price equal to the sum of embedded costs, opportunity costs, line losses, value of service, FERC's percentage adder formula and a contract service charge

  1. Small but super

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donald, R.L.

    1994-01-01

    This paper compares the advantages and disadvantages between large and small gas utility companies. It discusses areas of construction, gaining markets, technology advances, pricing, and customer service. The paper includes discussions from four chairmen of small utility companies whom describe their perceived position among the larger companies. It also describes methods which small companies use to unite for state and nationally significant issues to voice their opinions

  2. The Combination Forecasting of Electricity Price Based on Price Spikes Processing: A Case Study in South Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianzhou Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Electricity price forecasting holds very important position in the electricity market. Inaccurate price forecasting may cause energy waste and management chaos in the electricity market. However, electricity price forecasting has always been regarded as one of the largest challenges in the electricity market because it shows high volatility, which makes electricity price forecasting difficult. This paper proposes the use of artificial intelligence optimization combination forecasting models based on preprocessing data, called “chaos particles optimization (CPSO weight-determined combination models.” These models allow for the weight of the combined model to take values of [-1,1]. In the proposed models, the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN algorithm is used to identify outliers, and the outliers are replaced by a new data-produced linear interpolation function. The proposed CPSO weight-determined combination models are then used to forecast the projected future electricity price. In this case study, the electricity price data of South Australia are simulated. The results indicate that, while the weight of the combined model takes values of [-1,1], the proposed combination model can always provide adaptive, reliable, and comparatively accurate forecast results in comparison to traditional combination models.

  3. Internet resource pricing models

    CERN Document Server

    Xu, Ke; He, Huan

    2013-01-01

    This brief guides the reader through three basic Internet resource pricing models using an Internet cost analysis. Addressing the evolution of service types, it presents several corresponding mechanisms which can ensure pricing implementation and resource allocation. The authors discuss utility optimization of network pricing methods in economics and underline two classes of pricing methods including system optimization and entities' strategic optimization. The brief closes with two examples of the newly proposed pricing strategy helping to solve the profit distribution problem brought by P2P

  4. Super-quantum curves from super-eigenvalue models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciosmak, Paweł [Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics, University of Warsaw,ul. Banacha 2, 02-097 Warsaw (Poland); Hadasz, Leszek [M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University,ul. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Kraków (Poland); Manabe, Masahide [Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw,ul. Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland); Sułkowski, Piotr [Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw,ul. Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland); Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology,1200 E. California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

    2016-10-10

    In modern mathematical and theoretical physics various generalizations, in particular supersymmetric or quantum, of Riemann surfaces and complex algebraic curves play a prominent role. We show that such supersymmetric and quantum generalizations can be combined together, and construct supersymmetric quantum curves, or super-quantum curves for short. Our analysis is conducted in the formalism of super-eigenvalue models: we introduce β-deformed version of those models, and derive differential equations for associated α/β-deformed super-matrix integrals. We show that for a given model there exists an infinite number of such differential equations, which we identify as super-quantum curves, and which are in one-to-one correspondence with, and have the structure of, super-Virasoro singular vectors. We discuss potential applications of super-quantum curves and prospects of other generalizations.

  5. Super-quantum curves from super-eigenvalue models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ciosmak, Paweł; Hadasz, Leszek; Manabe, Masahide; Sułkowski, Piotr

    2016-01-01

    In modern mathematical and theoretical physics various generalizations, in particular supersymmetric or quantum, of Riemann surfaces and complex algebraic curves play a prominent role. We show that such supersymmetric and quantum generalizations can be combined together, and construct supersymmetric quantum curves, or super-quantum curves for short. Our analysis is conducted in the formalism of super-eigenvalue models: we introduce β-deformed version of those models, and derive differential equations for associated α/β-deformed super-matrix integrals. We show that for a given model there exists an infinite number of such differential equations, which we identify as super-quantum curves, and which are in one-to-one correspondence with, and have the structure of, super-Virasoro singular vectors. We discuss potential applications of super-quantum curves and prospects of other generalizations.

  6. Super-quantum curves from super-eigenvalue models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciosmak, Paweł; Hadasz, Leszek; Manabe, Masahide; Sułkowski, Piotr

    2016-10-01

    In modern mathematical and theoretical physics various generalizations, in particular supersymmetric or quantum, of Riemann surfaces and complex algebraic curves play a prominent role. We show that such supersymmetric and quantum generalizations can be combined together, and construct supersymmetric quantum curves, or super-quantum curves for short. Our analysis is conducted in the formalism of super-eigenvalue models: we introduce β-deformed version of those models, and derive differential equations for associated α/ β-deformed super-matrix integrals. We show that for a given model there exists an infinite number of such differential equations, which we identify as super-quantum curves, and which are in one-to-one correspondence with, and have the structure of, super-Virasoro singular vectors. We discuss potential applications of super-quantum curves and prospects of other generalizations.

  7. Thermal power blocks with ultra-super-critical steam parameters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aličić Merim M.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available New generation of thermal power plants are required to have increased utilization rates, in addition to reduced emissions of pollutants, in order to reach optimal solutions, from both technical and economic point of view. One way to achieve greater utilization efficiency is operation of the plant at super critical (SC or ultra super critical steam parameters (USC. However, achieving high parameters depends on use of new materials, which have better properties at high temperatures and pressures, use of new welding technologies and by solving the problem of corrosion. The paper gives an overview of some of the plants with these parameters.

  8. Super Unit Cells in Aperture-Based Metamaterials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Tanasković

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available An important class of electromagnetic metamaterials are aperture-based metasurfaces. Examples include extraordinary optical transmission arrays and double fishnets with negative refractive index. We analyze a generalization of such metamaterials where a simple aperture is now replaced by a compound object formed by superposition of two or more primitive objects (e.g., rectangles, circles, and ellipses. Thus obtained “super unit cell” shows far richer behavior than the subobjects that comprise it. We show that nonlocalities introduced by overlapping simple subobjects can be used to produce large deviations of spectral dispersion even for small additive modifications of the basic geometry. Technologically, some super cells may be fabricated by simple spatial shifting of the existing photolithographic masks. In our investigation we applied analytical calculations and ab initio finite element modeling to prove the possibility to tailor the dispersion including resonances for plasmonic nanocomposites by adjusting the local geometry and exploiting localized interactions at a subwavelength level. Any desired form could be defined using simple primitive objects, making the situation a geometrical analog of the case of series expansion of a function. Thus an additional degree of tunability of metamaterials is obtained. The obtained designer structures can be applied in different fields like waveguiding and sensing.

  9. Research on Price of Railway Freight Based on Low-Carbon Economy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenling Feng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Transportation is one of the major energy consumption and carbon emission industries. Railway transport is a typical low-carbon transport. To accelerate the green low-carbon transportation development and improve the railway market share, this paper defines the concept of carbon saving profit to study the price of railway freight after the government functions were separated from railway enterprise management. First, taking full account of market factors and on the principle of utility maximization and maximum likelihood method, the sharing ratio model of transportation modes is established. Then consideration is given to both the profit of railway enterprises and social benefits, and income maximization model of railway freight based on low-carbon economy is established. The model can scientifically guide the transportation users who prefer to use resource-saving and environmental-friendly transportation modes, optimize transportation structure, and comprehensively improve the efficiency of transportation system. Finally, case analysis is conducted to verify the rationality and validity of the model, and reference for the rail freight pricing is provided.

  10. The study and analysis of point-to-point vibration isolation and its utility to seismic base isolator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mehboob, M.; Qureshi, A.S.

    2001-01-01

    This paper presents systematic approach to regarding the piece wise vibration isolation generally termed as point-to-point vibration isolation system, and its broad spectrum-utilities to an economic seismic base isolation. Transfer of curves for coulomb damped i.e. softening damper flexible mountings are presented and the utility has been proved equally good for both rigidly and elastically coupled damping. It is clearly shown that the very closest solutions are easily obtainable for both slipping and sticking nature of phases of the motion. This eliminates the conventional and conceptual approximations based on the linearization of the damping. This new concept will not endanger-super-structure if mounted on such isolation systems. (author)

  11. Corrosion behavior of Nb-based and Mo-based super heat-resisting alloys in liquid Li

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, J.; Kano, S.; Morinaga, M.

    1998-07-01

    Research on structural materials which will be utilized even in the severe environment of high-temperature liquid alkali metals has been promoted in order to develop the frontiers of materials techniques. The super-heat resisting alloys which are based on refractory metals, Nb and Mo, are aimed as promising materials used in such an environment. The corrosion resistance in liquid Li and the mechanical properties such as creep and tensile strengths at high temperatures are important for these structural materials. On the basis of many experiments and analyses of these properties at 1473 K, the material design of Nb-based and Mo-based alloys has been carried out successfully. In this report, all the previous experimental results of corrosion tests in liquid Li were summarized systematically for Nb-based and Mo-based alloys. The corrosion mechanism was proposed on the basis of a series of analyses, in particular, focussing on the deposition mechanism of corrosion products on the surface and also on the initiation and growth mechanism of cracks on the corroded surface of Nb-based alloys. The principal results are as follows. (1) For the deposition mechanism, a reaction took place first between dissolved metallic elements and nitrogen which existed as an impurity in liquid Li and then corrosion products (nitrides) precipitated on the metal surface. Subsequently, another reaction took place between dissolved metallic elements in liquid Li, and corrosion products (intermetallic compounds) precipitated on the metal surface. The composition of deposited corrosion products could be predicted on the basis of the deposition mechanism. (2) For the crack initiation mechanism, the chemical potential diagrams were utilized in order to understand the formation of Li-M-O ternary oxides which caused cracks to be formed on the corroded surface. Consequently, it was evident that not only the concentration of the dissolved oxygen in the alloy but also the concentration of Li which

  12. An essay pertaining to the supply and price of natural gas as fuel for electric utilities and independent power producers; and, the related growth of non-utility generators to meet capacity shortfalls in the next decade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clements, J.R.

    1990-01-01

    This paper addresses the impact natural gas and petroleum prices have on how the electric power industry decides to meet increasing demand for electric power. The topics of the paper include the pricing impact of the Iraq-Kuwait conflict, the BTU parity argument, electric utility capacity shortfalls in 1993, the growth of the non-utility generator and the independent power developer market, natural gas as the desired fuel of the decade, the financial strategy in acquiring natural gas reserves, the cost and availability of natural gas supplies for non-utility generators, and the reluctance of the gas producers to enter long term contracts

  13. Marginal-cost pricing for Hydro-Quebec residential customers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paquin, C.

    1994-02-01

    An option available to governments and to utilities such as Hydro-Quebec for responding to objectives of energy efficiency is the adoption of marginal cost pricing. Compared to currently used price structures, marginal cost pricing will allow improvement of price signals and assure an optimal utilization of the resource. That type of pricing could be economically beneficial but may not be desirable from the point of view of revenue distribution. Taking account of Hydro-Quebec's cost structure, pure marginal cost pricing would generate an income that would be strongly contested on equity grounds. For example, it would raise prices 60% for residential customers. Faced with this possibility, an analysis is presented of the impact of a peak-offpeak pricing (or pure marginal cost pricing) on Hydro-Quebec's residential customer energy bills. The marginal costs of Hydro-Quebec are calculated by the method of Bernard and Chatel (1985) and analysis of the results is based on Friedman and Weare (1993). A sample of 28,417 residential customers from a 1989 Hydro-Quebec survey is used in the study. Two scenarios are analyzed; the first allowing comparison of the energy bill only on the basis of marginal costs and of average costs, and the second allowing comparison of the impact of marginal cost pricing on the total bill. In the first scenario, the impact translates into a 31% increase in energy bills for the entire customer class considered; in addition, this impact is inversely proportional to the revenue class. In the second scenario, the increase is 24%. 33 refs., 10 figs., 53 tabs

  14. Electricity Price Forecasting Based on AOSVR and Outlier Detection

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhou Dianmin; Gao Lin; Gao Feng

    2005-01-01

    Electricity price is of the first consideration for all the participants in electric power market and its characteristics are related to both market mechanism and variation in the behaviors of market participants. It is necessary to build a real-time price forecasting model with adaptive capability; and because there are outliers in the price data, they should be detected and filtrated in training the forecasting model by regression method. In view of these points, this paper presents an electricity price forecasting method based on accurate on-line support vector regression (AOSVR) and outlier detection. Numerical testing results show that the method is effective in forecasting the electricity prices in electric power market.

  15. Future prices and market for SO2 allowances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanghi, A.; Joseph, A.; Michael, K.; Munro, W.; Wang, J.

    1993-01-01

    The expected price of SO 2 emission allowances is an important issue in energy and integrated resource planning activities. For example, the expected price of SO 2 allowances in needed in order to evaluate alternative strategies for meeting SO 2 provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In addition, the expected SO 2 allowance price is important to state public utility regulators who must provide guidance on rate-making issues regarding utility compliance plans which involve allowance trading and direct investment of SO 2 control technologies. Last but not the least, the expected SO 2 allowance price is an important determinant of the future market for natural gas and low sulfur coal. The paper develops estimates of SO 2 allowance prices over time by constructing national supply and demand curves for SO 2 reductions. Both the supply and demand for SO 2 reductions are based on an analysis of the sulfur content of fuels burned in 1990 by utilities throughout the United States; and on assumptions about plant retirements, the rate of new capacity growth, the types of new and replacement plants constructed, the costs of SO 2 reduction measures and legislation by midwest states to maintain the use of high sulfur coal to protect local jobs. The paper shows that SO 2 allowance prices will peak around the year 2000 at about $500 per ton, and will eventually fall to zero by about the year 2020. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the price of SO 2 allowances is relatively insensitive to assumptions regarding the availability of natural gas or energy demand growth. However, SO 2 allowance prices tend to be quite sensitive to assumptions regarding regulations which may force early retirement of existing power plants and possible legislation which may reduce CO 2 emissions

  16. Gas prices and price process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Groenewegen, G.G.

    1992-01-01

    On a conference (Gas for Europe in the 1990's) during the Gasexpo '91 the author held a speech of which the Dutch text is presented here. Attention is paid to the current European pricing methods (prices based on the costs of buying, transporting and distributing the natural gas and prices based on the market value, which is deducted from the prices of alternative fuels), and the transparency of the prices (lack of information on the way the prices are determined). Also attention is paid to the market signal transparency and gas-gas competition, which means a more or less free market of gas distribution. The risks of gas-to-gas competition for a long term price stability, investment policies and security of supply are discussed. Opposition against the Third Party Access (TPA), which is the program to implement gas-to-gas competition, is caused by the fear of natural gas companies for lower gas prices and lower profits. Finally attention is paid to government regulation and the activities of the European Commission (EC) in this matter. 1 fig., 6 ills., 1 tab

  17. CAD-based Monte Carlo program for integrated simulation of nuclear system SuperMC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Y.; Song, J.; Zheng, H.; Sun, G.; Hao, L.; Long, P.; Hu, L.

    2013-01-01

    SuperMC is a (Computer-Aided-Design) CAD-based Monte Carlo (MC) program for integrated simulation of nuclear systems developed by FDS Team (China), making use of hybrid MC-deterministic method and advanced computer technologies. The design aim, architecture and main methodology of SuperMC are presented in this paper. The taking into account of multi-physics processes and the use of advanced computer technologies such as automatic geometry modeling, intelligent data analysis and visualization, high performance parallel computing and cloud computing, contribute to the efficiency of the code. SuperMC2.1, the latest version of the code for neutron, photon and coupled neutron and photon transport calculation, has been developed and validated by using a series of benchmarking cases such as the fusion reactor ITER model and the fast reactor BN-600 model

  18. Combined multi-plane phase retrieval and super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging for 4D cell microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Descloux, A.; Grußmayer, K. S.; Bostan, E.; Lukes, T.; Bouwens, A.; Sharipov, A.; Geissbuehler, S.; Mahul-Mellier, A.-L.; Lashuel, H. A.; Leutenegger, M.; Lasser, T.

    2018-03-01

    Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy provides unprecedented insight into cellular and subcellular structures. However, going `beyond the diffraction barrier' comes at a price, since most far-field super-resolution imaging techniques trade temporal for spatial super-resolution. We propose the combination of a novel label-free white light quantitative phase imaging with fluorescence to provide high-speed imaging and spatial super-resolution. The non-iterative phase retrieval relies on the acquisition of single images at each z-location and thus enables straightforward 3D phase imaging using a classical microscope. We realized multi-plane imaging using a customized prism for the simultaneous acquisition of eight planes. This allowed us to not only image live cells in 3D at up to 200 Hz, but also to integrate fluorescence super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging within the same optical instrument. The 4D microscope platform unifies the sensitivity and high temporal resolution of phase imaging with the specificity and high spatial resolution of fluorescence microscopy.

  19. Forecasting Crude Oil Price Using EEMD and RVM with Adaptive PSO-Based Kernels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taiyong Li

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Crude oil, as one of the most important energy sources in the world, plays a crucial role in global economic events. An accurate prediction for crude oil price is an interesting and challenging task for enterprises, governments, investors, and researchers. To cope with this issue, in this paper, we proposed a method integrating ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD, adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO, and relevance vector machine (RVM—namely, EEMD-APSO-RVM—to predict crude oil price based on the “decomposition and ensemble” framework. Specifically, the raw time series of crude oil price were firstly decomposed into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs and one residue by EEMD. Then, RVM with combined kernels was applied to predict target value for the residue and each IMF individually. To improve the prediction performance of each component, an extended particle swarm optimization (PSO was utilized to simultaneously optimize the weights and parameters of single kernels for the combined kernel of RVM. Finally, simple addition was used to aggregate all the predicted results of components into an ensemble result as the final result. Extensive experiments were conducted on the crude oil spot price of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI to illustrate and evaluate the proposed method. The experimental results are superior to those by several state-of-the-art benchmark methods in terms of root mean squared error (RMSE, mean absolute percent error (MAPE, and directional statistic (Dstat, showing that the proposed EEMD-APSO-RVM is promising for forecasting crude oil price.

  20. Melting in super-earths.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stixrude, Lars

    2014-04-28

    We examine the possible extent of melting in rock-iron super-earths, focusing on those in the habitable zone. We consider the energetics of accretion and core formation, the timescale of cooling and its dependence on viscosity and partial melting, thermal regulation via the temperature dependence of viscosity, and the melting curves of rock and iron components at the ultra-high pressures characteristic of super-earths. We find that the efficiency of kinetic energy deposition during accretion increases with planetary mass; considering the likely role of giant impacts and core formation, we find that super-earths probably complete their accretionary phase in an entirely molten state. Considerations of thermal regulation lead us to propose model temperature profiles of super-earths that are controlled by silicate melting. We estimate melting curves of iron and rock components up to the extreme pressures characteristic of super-earth interiors based on existing experimental and ab initio results and scaling laws. We construct super-earth thermal models by solving the equations of mass conservation and hydrostatic equilibrium, together with equations of state of rock and iron components. We set the potential temperature at the core-mantle boundary and at the surface to the local silicate melting temperature. We find that ancient (∼4 Gyr) super-earths may be partially molten at the top and bottom of their mantles, and that mantle convection is sufficiently vigorous to sustain dynamo action over the whole range of super-earth masses.

  1. Real-Time Pricing-Based Scheduling Strategy in Smart Grids: A Hierarchical Game Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Yang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a scheduling strategy based on real-time pricing in smart grids. A hierarchical game is employed to analyze the decision-making process of generators and consumers. We prove the existence and uniqueness of Nash equilibrium and utilize a backward induction method to obtain the generation and consumption strategies. Then, we propose two dynamic algorithms for the generators and consumers to search for the equilibrium in a distributed fashion. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheduling strategy can match supply with demand and shift load away from peak time.

  2. The integration of Price Responsive Demand into Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) wholesale power markets and system operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Centolella, Paul

    2010-01-01

    A number of states and utilities are pursuing demand response based on dynamic and time-differentiated retail prices and utility investments in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), often as part of Smart Grid initiatives. These developments could produce large amounts of Price Responsive Demand, demand that predictably responds to changes in wholesale prices. Price Responsive Demand could provide significant reliability and economic benefits. However, existing RTO tariffs present potential barriers to the development of Price Responsive Demand. Effectively integrating Price Responsive Demand into RTO markets and operations will require changes in demand forecasting, scarcity pricing reform, synchronization of scarcity pricing with capacity markets, tracking voluntary hedging by price responsive loads, and a non-discriminatory approach in curtailments in capacity emergencies. The article describes changes in RTO policies and systems needed incorporate Price Responsive Demand. (author)

  3. Image super-resolution reconstruction based on regularization technique and guided filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, De-tian; Huang, Wei-qin; Gu, Pei-ting; Liu, Pei-zhong; Luo, Yan-min

    2017-06-01

    In order to improve the accuracy of sparse representation coefficients and the quality of reconstructed images, an improved image super-resolution algorithm based on sparse representation is presented. In the sparse coding stage, the autoregressive (AR) regularization and the non-local (NL) similarity regularization are introduced to improve the sparse coding objective function. A group of AR models which describe the image local structures are pre-learned from the training samples, and one or several suitable AR models can be adaptively selected for each image patch to regularize the solution space. Then, the image non-local redundancy is obtained by the NL similarity regularization to preserve edges. In the process of computing the sparse representation coefficients, the feature-sign search algorithm is utilized instead of the conventional orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm to improve the accuracy of the sparse coefficients. To restore image details further, a global error compensation model based on weighted guided filter is proposed to realize error compensation for the reconstructed images. Experimental results demonstrate that compared with Bicubic, L1SR, SISR, GR, ANR, NE + LS, NE + NNLS, NE + LLE and A + (16 atoms) methods, the proposed approach has remarkable improvement in peak signal-to-noise ratio, structural similarity and subjective visual perception.

  4. Price-based Optimal Control of Electrical Power Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jokic, A.

    2007-09-10

    The research presented in this thesis is motivated by the following issue of concern for the operation of future power systems: Future power systems will be characterized by significantly increased uncertainties at all time scales and, consequently, their behavior in time will be difficult to predict. In Chapter 2 we will present a novel explicit, dynamic, distributed feedback control scheme that utilizes nodal-prices for real-time optimal power balance and network congestion control. The term explicit means that the controller is not based on solving an optimization problem on-line. Instead, the nodal prices updates are based on simple, explicitly defined and easily comprehensible rules. We prove that the developed control scheme, which acts on the measurements from the current state of the system, always provide the correct nodal prices. In Chapter 3 we will develop a novel, robust, hybrid MPC control (model predictive controller) scheme for power balance control with hard constraints on line power flows and network frequency deviations. The developed MPC controller acts in parallel with the explicit controller from Chapter 2, and its task is to enforce the constraints during the transient periods following suddenly occurring power imbalances in the system. In Chapter 4 the concept of autonomous power networks will be presented as a concise formulation to deal with economic, technical and reliability issues in power systems with a large penetration of distributed generating units. With autonomous power networks as new market entities, we propose a novel operational structure of ancillary service markets. In Chapter 5 we will consider the problem of controlling a general linear time-invariant dynamical system to an economically optimal operating point, which is defined by a multiparametric constrained convex optimization problem related with the steady-state operation of the system. The parameters in the optimization problem are values of the exogenous inputs to

  5. Proactive replica checking to assure reliability of data in cloud storage with minimum replication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murarka, Damini; Maheswari, G. Uma

    2017-11-01

    The two major issues for cloud storage systems are data reliability and storage costs. For data reliability protection, multi-replica replication strategy which is used mostly in current clouds acquires huge storage consumption, leading to a large storage cost for applications within the loud specifically. This paper presents a cost-efficient data reliability mechanism named PRCR to cut back the cloud storage consumption. PRCR ensures data reliability of large cloud information with the replication that might conjointly function as a price effective benchmark for replication. The duplication shows that when resembled to the standard three-replica approach, PRCR will scale back to consume only a simple fraction of the cloud storage from one-third of the storage, thence considerably minimizing the cloud storage price.

  6. Barriers and facilitators to replicating an evidence-based palliative care model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, E Maxwell; Jamison, Paula; Brumley, Richard; Enguídanos, Susan

    2006-01-01

    Recognition of the difficulties involved in replicating evidence- based interventions is well documented in the literature within the medical field. Promising research findings are often not translated into practice, and if they are, there is a significant time gap between study conclusion and practice adoption. The purpose of this article is to describe the barriers and facilitators encountered by two managed care organizations while replicating an evidence-based end of life in-home palliative care model. Using Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a theoretical framework, results from focus groups and interviews with the project's clinical, administrative and research teams are presented and recommendations made for improving translational efforts. The process of replicating the end of life in-home palliative care model clearly illustrated the key elements required for successfully diffusing innovation. These key elements include marketing and communication, leadership, organizational support and training and mentorship. This qualitative process study provides clear, real world perspectives of the myriad of challenges encountered in replicating an evidence-based project.

  7. Price or Privilege? Customer Perception on Loyalty Programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asnan Furinto

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of the research is to understand how customers perceive loyalty programs. The author argues that types of loyalty programs could be classified into two: price based and privilege based. This research models that customer perceptions on loyalty programs, differ between these two types, and is contingent upon the relationship between customers and firm. Using settings of air-line domestic passengers and bank customers in Indonesia, the research provides evidence that price based rewards are perceived to provide higher utility perception in contractual relationships compared to non contractual relationships. However, this research failed to provide empirical support that privilege based rewards are perceived to provide higher utility perception in non contractual relation-ship compared to contractual relationship. Firms are therefore, encouraged to incorporate affective elements into their loyalty programs, on top of monetary elements, in order for the loyalty programs to be better perceived by their customers.

  8. The Dynamic Pricing of Next Generation Consumer Durables

    OpenAIRE

    Barry L. Bayus

    1992-01-01

    Learning curve effects, aspects of consumer demand models (e.g., reservation price distributions, intertemporal utility maximizing behavior), and competitive activity are reasons which have been offered to explain why prices of new durables decline over time. This paper presents an alternative rationale based on the buying behavior for products with overlapping replacement cycles (i.e., next generation products). A model for consumer sales of a new durable is developed by incorporating the re...

  9. Super jackstraws and super waterwheels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Jin-Ho

    2007-01-01

    We construct various new BPS states of D-branes preserving 8 supersymmetries. These include super Jackstraws (a bunch of scattered D- or (p, q)-strings preserving supersymmetries), and super waterwheels (a number of D2-branes intersecting at generic angles on parallel lines while preserving supersymmetries). Super D-Jackstraws are scattered in various dimensions but are dynamical with all their intersections following a common null direction. Meanwhile, super (p, q)-Jackstraws form a planar static configuration. We show that the SO(2) subgroup of SL(2, R), the group of classical S-duality transformations in IIB theory, can be used to generate this latter configuration of variously charged (p, q)-strings intersecting at various angles. The waterwheel configuration of D2-branes preserves 8 supersymmetries as long as the 'critical' Born-Infeld electric fields are along the common direction

  10. A Dynamic Programming Approach for Pricing Weather Derivatives under Issuer Default Risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wolfgang Karl Härdle

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Weather derivatives are contingent claims with payoff based on a pre-specified weather index. Firms exposed to weather risk can transfer it to financial markets via weather derivatives. We develop a utility-based model for pricing baskets of weather derivatives under default risk on the issuer side in over-the-counter markets. In our model, agents maximise the expected utility of their terminal wealth, while they dynamically rebalance their weather portfolios over a finite investment horizon. Using dynamic programming approach, we obtain semi-closed forms for the equilibrium prices of weather derivatives and for the optimal strategies of the agents. We give an example on how to price rainfall derivatives on selected stations in China in the universe of a financial investor and a weather exposed crop insurer.

  11. Effect of firm variables on patent price

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shyam Sreekumaran Nair

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available In this study, using singleton patent auction price data from Ocean Tomo, LLC, we analyse the effect of firm variables on patent price. Patents owned by small firms attract higher price than patents owned by large firms, if they engage in multi-country filings. The patents owned by small firms get cited more than the patents owned by large firms. The patents owned by individual inventors attract a higher price than the patents owned by organisations when multi-country filings are not included. We believe that the lack of resources is preventing individual inventors from engaging in multi-country filings and maximising the revenue from their invention. A larger representative data should be used to replicate the results before generalising it.

  12. Toward Value-Based Pricing to Boost Cancer Research and Innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ocana, Alberto; Amir, Eitan; Tannock, Ian F

    2016-06-01

    The high market price of new anticancer agents has stimulated debate about the long-term sustainability of healthcare systems and whether these new agents can continue to be supported by public healthcare or by private insurers. In addition, some drugs have been approved with limited clinical benefit, raising concerns about setting a minimum requirement for medical benefit. Options to resolve these problems include raising the bar for approval of new drugs and/or pricing of new agents based on the medical benefit that they offer to patients. In this commentary, we suggest that new agents should be marketed in a two-step process that would include first the approval of the new drug by the regulatory agencies and second the introduction of a market price based on the medical benefit that the new intervention offers to patients. Introduction of value-based pricing would maintain the sustainability of health care systems and would improve drug development, as it would pressure pharmaceutical companies to become more innovative and avoid the development of compounds with limited benefit. Value-based pricing could also stimulate the funding of research directed to development of new anticancer drugs with novel mechanisms of action. Cancer Res; 76(11); 3127-9. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  13. [Single-molecule detection and characterization of DNA replication based on DNA origami].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qi; Fan, Youjie; Li, Bin

    2014-08-01

    To investigate single-molecule detection and characterization of DNA replication. Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) as the template of DNA replication was attached to DNA origami by a hybridization reaction based on the complementary base-pairing principle. DNA replication catalyzed by E.coli DNA polymerase I Klenow Fragment (KF) was detected using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The height variations between the ssDNA and the double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), the distribution of KF during DNA replication and biotin-streptavidin (BA) complexes on the DNA strand after replication were detected. Agarose gel electrophoresis was employed to analyze the changes in the DNA after replication. The designed ssDNA could be anchored on the target positions of over 50% of the DNA origami. The KF was capable of binding to the ssDNA fixed on DNA origami and performing its catalytic activities, and was finally dissociated from the DNA after replication. The height of DNA strand increased by about 0.7 nm after replication. The addition of streptavidin also resulted in an DNA height increase to about 4.9 nm due to the formation of BA complexes on the biotinylated dsDNA. The resulting dsDNA and BA complex were subsequently confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The combination of AFM and DNA origami allows detection and characterization of DNA replication at the single molecule level, and this approach provides better insights into the mechanism of DNA polymerase and the factors affecting DNA replication.

  14. Peak load pricing lowers generation costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lande, R.H.

    1980-01-01

    Before a utility implements peak load pricing for different classes of consumers, the costs and the benefits should be compared. The methodology described enables a utility to determine whether peak load pricing should be introduced for specific users. Cost-benefit analyses for domestic consumers and commercial/industrial consumers, showing break-even points are presented. (author)

  15. Convergence of decision rules for value-based pricing of new innovative drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandjour, Afschin

    2015-04-01

    Given the high costs of innovative new drugs, most European countries have introduced policies for price control, in particular value-based pricing (VBP) and international reference pricing. The purpose of this study is to describe how profit-maximizing manufacturers would optimally adjust their launch sequence to these policies and how VBP countries may best respond. To decide about the launching sequence, a manufacturer must consider a tradeoff between price and sales volume in any given country as well as the effect of price in a VBP country on the price in international reference pricing countries. Based on the manufacturer's rationale, it is best for VBP countries in Europe to implicitly collude in the long term and set cost-effectiveness thresholds at the level of the lowest acceptable VBP country. This way, international reference pricing countries would also converge towards the lowest acceptable threshold in Europe.

  16. Product-line selection and pricing with remanufacturing under availability constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aras, Necati; Esenduran, G.÷k.‡e.; Altinel, I. Kuban

    2004-12-01

    Product line selection and pricing are two crucial decisions for the profitability of a manufacturing firm. Remanufacturing, on the other hand, may be a profitable strategy that captures the remaining value in used products. In this paper we develop a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model form the perspective of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The objective of the OEM is to select products to manufacture and remanufacture among a set of given alternatives and simultaneously determine their prices so as to maximize its profit. It is assumed that the probability a customer selects a product is proportional to its utility and inversely proportional to its price. The utility of a product is an increasing function of its perceived quality. In our base model, products are discriminated by their unit production costs and utilities. We also analyze a case where remanufacturing is limited by the available quantity of collected remanufacturable products. We show that the resulting problem is decomposed into the pricing and product line selection subproblems. Pricing problem is solved by a variant of the simplex search procedure which can also handle constraints, while complete enumeration and a genetic algorithm are used for the solution of the product line selection problem. A number of experiments are carried out to identify conditions under which it is economically viable for the firm to sell remanufactured products. We also determine the optimal utility and unit production cost values of a remanufactured product, which maximizes the total profit of the OEM.

  17. Pricing electricity for sustainability : climate change and Canada's electricity sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-01-01

    The electricity sector is Canada's largest single source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper discussed electricity and carbon pricing approaches to reducing GHG emissions in the electricity sector. An overview of the links between electricity pricing and climate change was presented, and current and emerging trends in electricity pricing related to encouraging energy conservation were reviewed. Market prices and failures were discussed. Approaches to pricing electricity included an increase in block prices; time-of-use prices; demand-side management and energy efficiency; and carbon pricing in Canada and electricity pricing signals. The study showed that several provincial utilities in Canada are experimenting with market-based pricing approaches for electricity and carbon that may help to reduce GHG emissions over time. Concerns over electricity supply and the negative environmental impacts of electricity production may lead to the full social pricing of electricity in some regions of Canada. 46 refs., 3 tabs., 5 figs.

  18. Uranium price formation. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1977-10-01

    The modern uranium industry came into existence in 1946. Until 1966, its sole customer was the Atomic Energy Commission, whose needs for U 3 O 8 relative to industry capacity declined over the years. The development of the commercial market after 1965 coincided with a period of excess capacity and falling nominal and real prices. Gradually in 1973 and dramatically thereafter, market conditions changed and prices rose as utilities sought larger quantities of U 3 O 8 and longer term contracts. Questions about availability of long-run supplies were raised, given the known reserve base. The response of the supply of U 3 O 8 to incentives offered first by the AEC and later by the utilities in the context of new and developing market conventions is examined. The methodology used is microeconomic analysis, qualitatively applied to the history of price formation in the market. Because the study emphasizes the implications of the history of uranium price formation for forecasting supply response, the study presents many different kinds of data and evaluates their quality and appropriateness for forecasting. A simple, very-useful framework for analyzing the history of the market for U 3 O 8 was developed and used to describe supply responses in selected important periods of the industry's development. It is concluded that the response of supply of U 3 O 8 to rising prices or to expectations of demand growth has been impressively strong. The potential reserve inventory is large enough to meet the needs for nuclear power generation through the end of this century. The price necessary to induce producers to find and produce these reserves is uncertain, partly because of problems inherent in estimating long-run supply curves and partly because recent inflation has created major uncertainties about the cost of future supplies

  19. The impact of electricity price changes on industrial prices and the general price level in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lim, Seul-Ye; Yoo, Seung-Hoon

    2013-01-01

    Electricity has played an important role in the economic development of Korea and, thus, has become a critical factor in sustaining the well-being of the Korean people. This study attempts to investigate the impact of electricity price changes on industrial prices and the general price level using input–output (I–O) analysis. To this end, we apply the I–O price model to the 2011 I–O table recently produced by the Bank of Korea, paying particular attention to the electricity sector by considering it as exogenous and then investigating its impacts. The impacts of the electricity price changes on each industrial sector's prices and the general price level are quantitatively derived. For example, the overall impact of a 10% increase in electricity price on the Korean national economy is estimated to be 0.4367%. We also report the results from the model with the electricity sector endogenous and the model with endogenous electricity and labor sectors. This information can be usefully utilized in decision-making regarding price management for electricity. - Highlights: • We investigate the impact of electricity price changes on the Korean economy. • We use the input–output (I–O) analysis specifying the electricity sector as exogenous. • We apply the I–O price model to 2010 I–O table produced by the Bank of Korea. • The impact of a 10% increase in electricity price on the Korean economy is 0.2176%

  20. Modes of DNA repair and replication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanawalt, P.; Kondo, S.

    1979-01-01

    Modes of DNA repair and replication require close coordination as well as some overlap of enzyme functions. Some classes of recovery deficient mutants may have defects in replication rather than repair modes. Lesions such as the pyrimidine dimers produced by ultraviolet light irradiation are the blocks to normal DNA replication in vivo and in vitro. The DNA synthesis by the DNA polymerase 1 of E. coli is blocked at one nucleotide away from the dimerized pyrimidines in template strands. Thus, some DNA polymerases seem to be unable to incorporate nucleotides opposite to the non-pairing lesions in template DNA strands. The lesions in template DNA strands may block the sequential addition of nucleotides in the synthesis of daughter strands. Normal replication utilizes a constitutive ''error-free'' mode that copies DNA templates with high fidelity, but which may be totally blocked at a lesion that obscures the appropriate base pairing specificity. It might be expected that modified replication system exhibits generally high error frequency. The error rate of DNA polymerases may be controlled by the degree of phosphorylation of the enzyme. Inducible SOS system is controlled by recA genes that also control the pathways for recombination. It is possible that SOS system involves some process other than the modification of a blocked replication apparatus to permit error-prone transdimer synthesis. (Yamashita, S.)

  1. CAD-based Monte Carlo program for integrated simulation of nuclear system SuperMC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Yican; Song, Jing; Zheng, Huaqing; Sun, Guangyao; Hao, Lijuan; Long, Pengcheng; Hu, Liqin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The new developed CAD-based Monte Carlo program named SuperMC for integrated simulation of nuclear system makes use of hybrid MC-deterministic method and advanced computer technologies. SuperMC is designed to perform transport calculation of various types of particles, depletion and activation calculation including isotope burn-up, material activation and shutdown dose, and multi-physics coupling calculation including thermo-hydraulics, fuel performance and structural mechanics. The bi-directional automatic conversion between general CAD models and physical settings and calculation models can be well performed. Results and process of simulation can be visualized with dynamical 3D dataset and geometry model. Continuous-energy cross section, burnup, activation, irradiation damage and material data etc. are used to support the multi-process simulation. Advanced cloud computing framework makes the computation and storage extremely intensive simulation more attractive just as a network service to support design optimization and assessment. The modular design and generic interface promotes its flexible manipulation and coupling of external solvers. • The new developed and incorporated advanced methods in SuperMC was introduced including hybrid MC-deterministic transport method, particle physical interaction treatment method, multi-physics coupling calculation method, geometry automatic modeling and processing method, intelligent data analysis and visualization method, elastic cloud computing technology and parallel calculation method. • The functions of SuperMC2.1 integrating automatic modeling, neutron and photon transport calculation, results and process visualization was introduced. It has been validated by using a series of benchmarking cases such as the fusion reactor ITER model and the fast reactor BN-600 model. - Abstract: Monte Carlo (MC) method has distinct advantages to simulate complicated nuclear systems and is envisioned as a routine

  2. Cost savings of unit-based pricing of household waste; the case of the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    E. Dijkgraaf (Elbert); R.H.J.M. Gradus (Raymond)

    2003-01-01

    textabstractUsing a panel data set for Dutch municipalities we estimate effects for weight-based, bag-based, frequency-based and volume-based pricing of household waste collection. Unit-based pricing shows to be effective in reducing solid and compostable and increasing recyclable waste. Pricing has

  3. Confocal pore size measurement based on super-resolution image restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dali; Wang, Yun; Qiu, Lirong; Mao, Xinyue; Zhao, Weiqian

    2014-09-01

    A confocal pore size measurement based on super-resolution image restoration is proposed to obtain a fast and accurate measurement for submicrometer pore size of nuclear track-etched membranes (NTEMs). This method facilitates the online inspection of the pore size evolution during etching. Combining confocal microscopy with super-resolution image restoration significantly improves the lateral resolution of the NTEM image, yields a reasonable circle edge-setting criterion of 0.2408, and achieves precise pore edge detection. Theoretical analysis shows that the minimum measuring diameter can reach 0.19 μm, and the root mean square of the residuals is only 1.4 nm. Edge response simulation and experiment reveal that the edge response of the proposed method is better than 80 nm. The NTEM pore size measurement results obtained by the proposed method agree well with that obtained by scanning electron microscopy.

  4. The Replication Recipe: What makes for a convincing replication?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brandt, M.J.; IJzerman, H.; Dijksterhuis, A.J.; Farach, F.J.; Geller, J.; Giner-Sorolla, R.; Grange, J.A.; Perugini, M.; Spies, J.R.; Veer, A. van 't

    2014-01-01

    Psychological scientists have recently started to reconsider the importance of close replications in building a cumulative knowledge base; however, there is no consensus about what constitutes a convincing close replication study. To facilitate convincing close replication attempts we have developed

  5. The replication recipe : What makes for a convincing replication?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brandt, M.J.; IJzerman, H.; Dijksterhuis, Ap; Farach, Frank J.; Geller, Jason; Giner-Sorolla, Roger; Grange, James A.; Perugini, Marco; Spies, Jeffrey R.; van 't Veer, Anna

    Psychological scientists have recently started to reconsider the importance of close replications in building a cumulative knowledge base; however, there is no consensus about what constitutes a convincing close replication study. To facilitate convincing close replication attempts we have developed

  6. Price-based control of electrical power systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jokic, A.; Lazar, M.; Bosch, van den P.P.J.; Negenborn, R.R.; Lukszo, Z.; Hellendorn, H.

    2010-01-01

    In this chapter we present the price-based control as a suitable approach to solve some of the challenging problems facing future, market-based power sys tems. On the example of economically optimal power balance and transmission network congestion control, we present how global objectives and

  7. Price and utilization: why we must target both to curb health care costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spiro, Topher; Lee, Emily Oshima; Emanuel, Ezekiel J

    2012-10-16

    The United States spends nearly $8000 per person on health care annually. Even for a wealthy country, this amount is substantially more than would be expected and 2.5 times the average spent by other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The growth rate of health care spending in the United States has also far outpaced that in all other high-income OECD countries since 1970, even accounting for population growth. This increase in health spending threatens to squeeze out critical investments in education and infrastructure. To successfully develop and implement policies that effectively address both the level and growth of U.S. health care costs, it is critical to first understand cost drivers. Many health policy and economics scholars have contributed to an ongoing debate on whether to blame high prices or high utilization of services for escalating health care spending in the United States. This paper argues that price and volume both contribute to high and increasing health care costs, along with high administrative costs, supply issues, and the fee-for-service payment system. Initial strategies to contain costs might include implementation and expansion of bundled payment systems and competitive bidding.

  8. Benchmark Two-Good Utility Functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jaegher, K.

    Benchmark two-good utility functions involving a good with zero income elasticity and unit income elasticity are well known. This paper derives utility functions for the additional benchmark cases where one good has zero cross-price elasticity, unit own-price elasticity, and zero own price

  9. Image Super-Resolution Algorithm Based on an Improved Sparse Autoencoder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Detian Huang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to the limitations of the resolution of the imaging system and the influence of scene changes and other factors, sometimes only low-resolution images can be acquired, which cannot satisfy the practical application’s requirements. To improve the quality of low-resolution images, a novel super-resolution algorithm based on an improved sparse autoencoder is proposed. Firstly, in the training set preprocessing stage, the high- and low-resolution image training sets are constructed, respectively, by using high-frequency information of the training samples as the characterization, and then the zero-phase component analysis whitening technique is utilized to decorrelate the formed joint training set to reduce its redundancy. Secondly, a constructed sparse regularization term is added to the cost function of the traditional sparse autoencoder to further strengthen the sparseness constraint on the hidden layer. Finally, in the dictionary learning stage, the improved sparse autoencoder is adopted to achieve unsupervised dictionary learning to improve the accuracy and stability of the dictionary. Experimental results validate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing algorithms both in terms of the subjective visual perception and the objective evaluation indices, including the peak signal-to-noise ratio and the structural similarity measure.

  10. Carbon Pricing: Design, Experiences and Issues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carbon Pricing reflects upon and further develops the ongoing and worthwhile global debate into how to design carbon pricing, and how to utilize the financial proceeds in the best possible way for society. The world has recently witnessed a significant downward adjustment in fossil fuel prices...

  11. Database Replication Prototype

    OpenAIRE

    Vandewall, R.

    2000-01-01

    This report describes the design of a Replication Framework that facilitates the implementation and com-parison of database replication techniques. Furthermore, it discusses the implementation of a Database Replication Prototype and compares the performance measurements of two replication techniques based on the Atomic Broadcast communication primitive: pessimistic active replication and optimistic active replication. The main contributions of this report can be split into four parts....

  12. Financing Target and Resale Pricing in Reward-Based Crowdfunding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Xu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Resale is an effective tool for reward-based crowdfunding creators to make more profit after crowdfunding successfully. On the one hand, funds raised during the crowdfunding affect the resale pricing as a capital constraint; on the other hand, backers’ strategic purchasing behavior in the resale stage can also disturb the creator’s financing target decision-making through affecting resale pricing. In view of this, this paper builds a two-stage crowdfunding model to examine the interaction between the financing target and resale pricing in the presence of strategic backers. The results show that a lower financing amount leads to higher prices in the resale stage due to the rationing effect, and suppresses price volatility due to strategic purchasing behavior. In contrast, a higher financing amount enables the creator to build a large capacity, which does not restrict the resale prices and profit. Besides, in the context of high unit production cost or high backer patience level, there is no need for the creator to set a high financing target at the risk of crowdfunding failure.

  13. Can and should value-based pricing be applied to molecular diagnostics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garau, Martina; Towse, Adrian; Garrison, Louis; Housman, Laura; Ossa, Diego

    2013-01-01

    Current pricing and reimbursement systems for diagnostics are not efficient. Prices for diagnostics are often driven by administrative practices and expected production cost. The purpose of the paper is to discuss how a value-based pricing framework being used to ensure efficient use and price of medicines could also be applied to diagnostics. Diagnostics not only facilitates health gain and cost savings, but also information to guide patients' decisions on interventions and their future 'behaviors'. For value assessment processes we recommend a two-part approach. Companion diagnostics introduced at the launch of the drug should be assessed through new drug assessment processes considering a broad range of value elements and a balanced analysis of diagnostic impacts. A separate diagnostic-dedicated committee using value-based pricing principles should review other diagnostics lying outside the companion diagnostics-and-drug 'at-launch' situation.

  14. Spatial equilibrium energy prices: a proposal for trade in electric power under deregulation and privatization of the generation sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mukherjee, S.

    1992-01-01

    The concept of spatial equilibrium prices for electricity is presented based on incremental generating costs and transmission costs between major generating and load centers, which may be individual generators, utilities or countries. The equilibrium price changes in time and space, with the important property that these prices, if used for trading of electricity, results in all loads being served at minimal total cost. A network modeling approach for determining optimal operation of an interconnected system of utilities and independent generators simultaneously calculates these equilibrium prices. The methodology determines optimal generation by each utility, transactions between them, and the flows in the transmission network. 11 refs., 3 figs

  15. Analysis and model testing of Super Tiger Type B packaging in accident environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshimura, H.R.; Romesberg, L.E.; May, R.A.; Joseph, B.J.

    1980-01-01

    Based on previous scale model test results with more rigid systems and the subsystem tests on drums, it is believed that the scaled models realistically replicate full scale system behavior. Future work will be performed to obtain improved stiffness data on the Type A containers. These data will be incorporated into the finite element model, and improved correlation with the test results is expected. Review of the scale model transport system test results indicated that the method of attachment of the Super Tiger to the trailer was the primary cause for detachment of the outer door during the one-eighth scale grade-crossing test. Although the container seal on the scale model of Super Tiger was not adequately modeled to provide a leak-tight seal, loss of the existing seal in a full scale test can be inferred from the results of the one-quarter scale model grade-crossing test. In each test, approximately two-thirds of the model drums were estimated to have deformed sufficiently to predict loss of drum head closure seal, with several partially losing their contents within the overpack. In no case were drums ejected from the overpack, nor was there evidence of material loss in excess of the amount assumed in the WIPP EIS from any of the Super Tiger models tested. 9 figures

  16. Eukaryotic DNA Replication Fork.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgers, Peter M J; Kunkel, Thomas A

    2017-06-20

    This review focuses on the biogenesis and composition of the eukaryotic DNA replication fork, with an emphasis on the enzymes that synthesize DNA and repair discontinuities on the lagging strand of the replication fork. Physical and genetic methodologies aimed at understanding these processes are discussed. The preponderance of evidence supports a model in which DNA polymerase ε (Pol ε) carries out the bulk of leading strand DNA synthesis at an undisturbed replication fork. DNA polymerases α and δ carry out the initiation of Okazaki fragment synthesis and its elongation and maturation, respectively. This review also discusses alternative proposals, including cellular processes during which alternative forks may be utilized, and new biochemical studies with purified proteins that are aimed at reconstituting leading and lagging strand DNA synthesis separately and as an integrated replication fork.

  17. Pricing Policy in the Presence of Pro-environmental Consumers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salies, Evens

    2010-02-01

    In response to the climate change issue, many electric utilities introduce price schemes for inducing their customers to reduce electricity consumption. When a significant fraction of consumers find costly to save electricity, one would expect utilities to 'pay' them to use less electricity. This paper suggests a model that helps to understand why a typical electric utility may rather prefer to price discriminate against its pro-environmental customers, by increasing the price of electricity for these latter. This result holds even when the utility is charged for its greenhouse gas emissions. But in this case the price increase is sufficiently small so as to induce energy saving also from customers who have a positive cost of doing so. (author)

  18. The evolutionary ecology of molecular replicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nee, Sean

    2016-08-01

    By reasonable criteria, life on the Earth consists mainly of molecular replicators. These include viruses, transposons, transpovirons, coviruses and many more, with continuous new discoveries like Sputnik Virophage. Their study is inherently multidisciplinary, spanning microbiology, genetics, immunology and evolutionary theory, and the current view is that taking a unified approach has great power and promise. We support this with a new, unified, model of their evolutionary ecology, using contemporary evolutionary theory coupling the Price equation with game theory, studying the consequences of the molecular replicators' promiscuous use of each others' gene products for their natural history and evolutionary ecology. Even at this simple expository level, we can make a firm prediction of a new class of replicators exploiting viruses such as lentiviruses like SIVs, a family which includes HIV: these have been explicitly stated in the primary literature to be non-existent. Closely connected to this departure is the view that multicellular organism immunology is more about the management of chronic infections rather than the elimination of acute ones and new understandings emerging are changing our view of the kind of theatre we ourselves provide for the evolutionary play of molecular replicators. This study adds molecular replicators to bacteria in the emerging field of sociomicrobiology.

  19. Did the expiration of retail price caps affect prices in the restructured Texas electricity market?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Linhong; Zarnikau, Jay

    2009-01-01

    On January 1, 2007, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market became the first restructured market in the US to completely remove caps on the prices which could be charged to residential energy consumers by the retailers associated with the traditional or incumbent utility service providers. Our analysis suggests that the expiration of the price-to-beat (PTB) price caps may have led to a reduction in the average prices charged by competitive retail electric providers (REPs). (author)

  20. Five-year examination of utilization and drug cost outcomes associated with benefit design changes including reference pricing for proton pump inhibitors in a state employee health plan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Jill T; Neill, Kathryn K; Davis, Dwight A

    2011-04-01

    month) compared with the esomeprazole-exclusion period. Compared with a group of self-insured health plans without pharmacy benefit reference pricing of PPIs, the cost savings over the 43-month period from September 1, 2005, through March 31, 2009, were approximately $7.2 million or $1.31 PMPM. For this state employee health plan, the policy change that excluded esomeprazole from coverage but grandfathered current users was associated with a relatively small reduction in PMPM spending on PPIs compared with the subsequent policy change that applied reference pricing to the PPI class based on the price (drug cost plus dispensing fee) for omeprazole OTC. Over 43 months of reference pricing, net plan costs fell dramatically by 49.5% PMPM compared with the preperiod or decreased by 43.5% compared with the esomeprazole-exclusion period. While utilization was essentially unchanged compared with the 18 months before reference pricing, the average pharmacy dispensing fee per PPI claim increased, and beneficiary costs PMPM decreased.

  1. Utility-Scale Solar 2014. An Empirical Analysis of Project Cost, Performance, and Pricing Trends in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bolinger, Mark [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Seel, Joachim [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2015-09-01

    Other than the nine Solar Energy Generation Systems (“SEGS”) parabolic trough projects built in the 1980s, virtually no large-scale or “utility-scale” solar projects – defined here to include any groundmounted photovoltaic (“PV”), concentrating photovoltaic (“CPV”), or concentrating solar thermal power (“CSP”) project larger than 5 MWAC – existed in the United States prior to 2007. By 2012 – just five years later – utility-scale had become the largest sector of the overall PV market in the United States, a distinction that was repeated in both 2013 and 2014 and that is expected to continue for at least the next few years. Over this same short period, CSP also experienced a bit of a renaissance in the United States, with a number of large new parabolic trough and power tower systems – some including thermal storage – achieving commercial operation. With this critical mass of new utility-scale projects now online and in some cases having operated for a number of years (generating not only electricity, but also empirical data that can be mined), the rapidly growing utility-scale sector is ripe for analysis. This report, the third edition in an ongoing annual series, meets this need through in-depth, annually updated, data-driven analysis of not just installed project costs or prices – i.e., the traditional realm of solar economics analyses – but also operating costs, capacity factors, and power purchase agreement (“PPA”) prices from a large sample of utility-scale solar projects in the United States. Given its current dominance in the market, utility-scale PV also dominates much of this report, though data from CPV and CSP projects are presented where appropriate.

  2. DMD-based LED-illumination super-resolution and optical sectioning microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dan, Dan; Lei, Ming; Yao, Baoli; Wang, Wen; Winterhalder, Martin; Zumbusch, Andreas; Qi, Yujiao; Xia, Liang; Yan, Shaohui; Yang, Yanlong; Gao, Peng; Ye, Tong; Zhao, Wei

    2013-01-01

    Super-resolution three-dimensional (3D) optical microscopy has incomparable advantages over other high-resolution microscopic technologies, such as electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, in the study of biological molecules, pathways and events in live cells and tissues. We present a novel approach of structured illumination microscopy (SIM) by using a digital micromirror device (DMD) for fringe projection and a low-coherence LED light for illumination. The lateral resolution of 90 nm and the optical sectioning depth of 120 μm were achieved. The maximum acquisition speed for 3D imaging in the optical sectioning mode was 1.6×10(7) pixels/second, which was mainly limited by the sensitivity and speed of the CCD camera. In contrast to other SIM techniques, the DMD-based LED-illumination SIM is cost-effective, ease of multi-wavelength switchable and speckle-noise-free. The 2D super-resolution and 3D optical sectioning modalities can be easily switched and applied to either fluorescent or non-fluorescent specimens.

  3. The Solution Construction of Heterotic Super-Liouville Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhan-Ying; Zhen, Yi

    2001-12-01

    We investigate the heterotic super-Liouville model on the base of the basic Lie super-algebra Osp(1|2).Using the super extension of Leznov-Saveliev analysis and Drinfeld-Sokolov linear system, we construct the explicit solution of the heterotic super-Liouville system in component form. We also show that the solutions are local and periodic by calculating the exchange relation of the solution. Finally starting from the action of heterotic super-Liouville model, we obtain the conserved current and conserved charge which possessed the BRST properties.

  4. Architectural Engineering to Super-Light Structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Castberg, Niels Andreas

    The increasing global urbanisation creates a great demand for new buildings. In the aim to honour this, a new structural system, offering flexibility and variation at no extra cost appears beneficial. Super-Light Structures constitute such a system. This PhD thesis examines Super-Light Structures...... with architectural engineering as a starting point. The thesis is based on a two stringed hypothesis: Architectural engineering gives rise to better architecture and Super-Light Structures support and enables a static, challenging architecture. The aim of the thesis is to clarify architectural engineering's impact...... on the work process between architects and engineers in the design development. Using architectural engineering, Super-Light Structures are examined in an architectural context, and it is explained how digital tools can support architectural engineering and design of Super-Light Structures. The experiences...

  5. Coordination of Nordic system operators in the electric power market - profit from improved capacity utilization and a more flexible division into price zones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjoerndal, Mette; Joernsten, Kurt

    2001-08-01

    This report evaluates the possible profits of establishing a common system operator function in the Nordic electric power market. The main focus is placed on how to deal with congestion in the transmission grid. To estimate possible profits from a better utilization of the resources in the Nordic grid, the authors have analyzed socio-economic profits for several load scenarios. A simplified model of the Nordic stock area was used in the calculations. The existence of two methods of dealing with congestion in the grid may lead to reduced capacity utilization and to greater price differences than necessary. The examples show that ''indirect'' congestion control may be very expensive and that considerable cost reduction can be achieved by improved exploitation of congestion. This implies that if the Nordic area is divided into price zones, it is advantageous to regard the grid as an entity independent of national borders and system operators and to let the real transmission limitations determine the price zoning

  6. Effects of unit-based garbage pricing : A differences-in-differences approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Allers, Maarten A.; Hoeben, Corine

    Using a unique 10-year dataset of all 458 Dutch municipalities, we apply a differences-in-differences approach to estimate the effect of unit-based pricing on household waste quantities and recycling. Community-level studies of unit-based pricing typically do not include fixed effects at the local

  7. Green pricing: A Colorado case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blank, E.; Udall, J.R.

    1996-12-31

    A model program for green pricing targeted primarily at large customers is proposed in this paper. The program would create a partnership between a local community group, a renewables advocacy group, and several Colorado utilities. The first part of the paper summarizes pertinent background issues, including utility experience with green pricing programs. The rest of the paper outlines the program proposal, focusing primarily on organizational structure.

  8. Demand side management—A simulation of household behavior under variable prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gottwalt, Sebastian; Ketter, Wolfgang; Block, Carsten; Collins, John; Weinhardt, Christof

    2011-01-01

    Within the next years, consumer households will be increasingly equipped with smart metering and intelligent appliances. These technologies are the basis for households to better monitor electricity consumption and to actively control loads in private homes. Demand side management (DSM) can be adopted to private households. We present a simulation model that generates household load profiles under flat tariffs and simulates changes in these profiles when households are equipped with smart appliances and face time-based electricity prices. We investigate the impact of smart appliances and variable prices on electricity bills of a household. We show that for households the savings from equipping them with smart appliances are moderate compared to the required investment. This finding is quite robust with respect to variation of tariff price spreads and to different types of appliance utilization patterns. Finally, our results indicate that electric utilities may face new demand peaks when day-ahead hourly prices are applied. However, a considerable amount of residential load is available for shifting, which is interesting for the utilities to balance demand and supply. - Highlights: ► Our model generates residential load profiles that are based on real world data. ► We simulate changes in load profiles when smart appliances and time-of-use tariffs are applied. ► The economic incentive for households to invest in smart appliances is low. ► Time-of-use tariffs create new, even higher peaks. ► Electric utilities have a large amount of the hourly load available for shifting.

  9. Hepatitis A virus infection suppresses hepatitis C virus replication and may lead to clearance of HCV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deterding, Katja; Tegtmeyer, Björn; Cornberg, Markus; Hadem, Johannes; Potthoff, Andrej; Böker, Klaus H W; Tillmann, Hans L; Manns, Michael P; Wedemeyer, Heiner

    2006-12-01

    The significance of hepatitis A virus (HAV) super-infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C had been a matter of debate. While some studies suggested an incidence of fulminant hepatitis A of up to 35%, this could not be confirmed by others. We identified 17 anti-HCV-positive patients with acute hepatitis A from a cohort of 3170 anti-HCV-positive patients recruited at a single center over a period of 12 years. Importantly, none of the anti-HCV-positive patients had a fulminant course of hepatitis A. HCV-RNA was detected by PCR in 84% of the anti-HCV-positive/anti-HAV-IgM-negative patients but only in 65% of anti-HCV-positive patients with acute hepatitis A (p=0.03), indicating suppression of HCV replication during hepatitis A. Previous HAV infection had no effect on HCV replication. After recovery from hepatitis A, an increased HCV replication could be demonstrated for 6 out of 9 patients with serial quantitative HCV-RNA values available while 2 patients remained HCV-RNA negative after clearance of HAV throughout follow-up of at least 2 years. HAV super-infection is associated with decreased HCV-RNA replication which may lead to recovery from HCV in some individuals. Fulminant hepatitis A is not frequent in patients with chronic hepatitis C recruited at a tertiary referral center.

  10. Electricity transmission pricing: Tracing based point-of-connection tariff

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abhyankar, A.R.; Khaparde, S.A.

    2009-01-01

    Point-of-connection (POC) scheme of transmission pricing in decentralized markets charges the participants a single rate per MW depending on their point-of-connection. Use of grossly aggregated postage stamp rates as POC charges fails to provide appropriate price signals. The POC tariff based on distribution of network sunk costs by employing conventional tracing assures recovery of sunk costs based on extent of use of network by participants. However, the POC tariff by this method does not accommodate economically efficient price signals which correspond to marginal costs. On the other hand, the POC tariff, if made proportional to marginal costs alone, fails to account for sunk costs and extent of use of network. This paper overcomes these lacunae by combining the above stated desired objectives under the recently proposed optimal tracing framework. Since real power tracing problem is amenable to multiple solutions, it is formulated as linearly constrained optimization problem. By employing this methodology, consideration of extent of network use and sunk cost recovery are guaranteed, while objective function is designed such that the spatial pattern of price signals closely follows the pattern of scaled locational marginal prices. The methodology is tested on IEEE 30 bus system, wherein average power flow pattern is established by running various simulation states on congested and un-congested network conditions. (author)

  11. Enhancing medicine price transparency through price information mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinsch, Michael; Kaddar, Miloud; Schmitt, Sarah

    2014-05-08

    Medicine price information mechanisms provide an essential tool to countries that seek a better understanding of product availability, market prices and price compositions of individual medicines. To be effective and contribute to cost savings, these mechanisms need to consider prices in their particular contexts when comparing between countries. This article discusses in what ways medicine price information mechanisms can contribute to increased price transparency and how this may affect access to medicines for developing countries. We used data collected during the course of a WHO project focusing on the development of a vaccine price and procurement information mechanism. The project collected information from six medicine price information mechanisms and interviewed data managers and technical experts on key aspects as well as observed market effects of these mechanisms.The reviewed mechanisms were broken down into categories including objective and target audience, as well as the sources, types and volumes of data included. Information provided by the mechanisms was reviewed according to data available on medicine prices, product characteristics, and procurement modalities. We found indications of positive effects on access to medicines resulting from the utilization of the reviewed mechanisms. These include the uptake of higher quality medicines, more favorable results from contract negotiations, changes in national pricing policies, and the decrease of prices in certain segments for countries participating in or deriving data from the various mechanisms. The reviewed mechanisms avoid the methodological challenges observed for medicine price comparisons that only use national price databases. They work with high quality data and display prices in the appropriate context of procurement modalities as well as the peculiarities of purchasing countries. Medicine price information mechanisms respond to the need for increased medicine price transparency and have the

  12. Consumer Choice Between Hospital-Based and Freestanding Facilities for Arthroscopy: Impact on Prices, Spending, and Surgical Complications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, James C; Brown, Timothy T; Whaley, Christopher; Bozic, Kevin J

    2015-09-16

    Hospital-based outpatient departments traditionally charge higher prices for ambulatory procedures, compared with freestanding surgery centers. Under emerging reference-based benefit designs, insurers establish a contribution limit that they will pay, requiring the patient to pay the difference between that contribution limit and the actual price charged by the facility. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of reference-based benefits on consumer choices, facility prices, employer spending, and surgical outcomes for orthopaedic procedures performed at ambulatory surgery centers. We obtained data on 3962 patients covered by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) who underwent arthroscopy of the knee or shoulder in the three years prior to the implementation of reference-based benefits in January 2012 and on 2505 patients covered by CalPERS who underwent arthroscopy in the two years after implementation. Control group data were obtained on 57,791 patients who underwent arthroscopy and were not subject to reference-based benefits. The impact of reference-based benefits on consumer choices between hospital-based and freestanding facilities, facility prices, employer spending, and surgical complications was assessed with use of difference-in-differences multivariable regressions to adjust for patient demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and geographic location. By the second year of the program, the shift to reference-based benefits was associated with an increase in the utilization of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers by 14.3 percentage points (95% confidence interval, 8.1 to 20.5 percentage points) for knee arthroscopy and by 9.9 percentage points (95% confidence interval, 3.2 to 16.7 percentage points) for shoulder arthroscopy and a corresponding decrease in the use of hospital-based facilities. The mean price paid by CalPERS fell by 17.6% (95% confidence interval, -24.9% to -9.6%) for knee procedures and by 17

  13. Examination of energy price policies in Iran for optimal configuration of CHP and CCHP systems based on particle swarm optimization algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tichi, S.G.; Ardehali, M.M.; Nazari, M.E.

    2010-01-01

    The current subsidized energy prices in Iran are proposed to be gradually eliminated over the next few years. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of current and future energy price policies on optimal configuration of combined heat and power (CHP) and combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems in Iran, under the conditions of selling and not-selling electricity to utility. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is used for minimizing the cost function for owning and operating various CHP and CCHP systems in an industrial dairy unit. The results show that with the estimated future unsubsidized utility prices, CHP and CCHP systems operating with reciprocating engine prime mover have total costs of 5.6 and $2.9x10 6 over useful life of 20 years, respectively, while both systems have the same capital recovery periods of 1.3 years. However, for the same prime mover and with current subsidized prices, CHP and CCHP systems require 4.9 and 5.2 years for capital recovery, respectively. It is concluded that the current energy price policies hinder the promotion of installing CHP and CCHP systems and, the policy of selling electricity to utility as well as eliminating subsidies are prerequisites to successful widespread utilization of such systems.

  14. A supply and demand based volatility model for energy prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanamura, Takashi

    2009-01-01

    This paper proposes a new volatility model for energy prices using the supply-demand relationship, which we call a supply and demand based volatility model. We show that the supply curve shape in the model determines the characteristics of the volatility in energy prices. It is found that the inverse Box-Cox transformation supply curve reflecting energy markets causes the inverse leverage effect, i.e., positive correlation between energy prices and volatility. The model is also used to show that an existing (G)ARCH-M model has the foundations on the supply-demand relationship. Additionally, we conduct the empirical studies analyzing the volatility in the U.S. natural gas prices. (author)

  15. A supply and demand based volatility model for energy prices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kanamura, Takashi [J-POWER, 15-1, Ginza 6-Chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8165 (Japan)

    2009-09-15

    This paper proposes a new volatility model for energy prices using the supply-demand relationship, which we call a supply and demand based volatility model. We show that the supply curve shape in the model determines the characteristics of the volatility in energy prices. It is found that the inverse Box-Cox transformation supply curve reflecting energy markets causes the inverse leverage effect, i.e., positive correlation between energy prices and volatility. The model is also used to show that an existing (G)ARCH-M model has the foundations on the supply-demand relationship. Additionally, we conduct the empirical studies analyzing the volatility in the U.S. natural gas prices. (author)

  16. Brain Atlas Fusion from High-Thickness Diagnostic Magnetic Resonance Images by Learning-Based Super-Resolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jinpeng; Zhang, Lichi; Xiang, Lei; Shao, Yeqin; Wu, Guorong; Zhou, Xiaodong; Shen, Dinggang; Wang, Qian

    2017-03-01

    It is fundamentally important to fuse the brain atlas from magnetic resonance (MR) images for many imaging-based studies. Most existing works focus on fusing the atlases from high-quality MR images. However, for low-quality diagnostic images (i.e., with high inter-slice thickness), the problem of atlas fusion has not been addressed yet. In this paper, we intend to fuse the brain atlas from the high-thickness diagnostic MR images that are prevalent for clinical routines. The main idea of our works is to extend the conventional groupwise registration by incorporating a novel super-resolution strategy. The contribution of the proposed super-resolution framework is two-fold. First, each high-thickness subject image is reconstructed to be isotropic by the patch-based sparsity learning. Then, the reconstructed isotropic image is enhanced for better quality through the random-forest-based regression model. In this way, the images obtained by the super-resolution strategy can be fused together by applying the groupwise registration method to construct the required atlas. Our experiments have shown that the proposed framework can effectively solve the problem of atlas fusion from the low-quality brain MR images.

  17. The Reputational Consequences of Failed Replications and Wrongness Admission among Scientists.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam K Fetterman

    Full Text Available Scientists are dedicating more attention to replication efforts. While the scientific utility of replications is unquestionable, the impact of failed replication efforts and the discussions surrounding them deserve more attention. Specifically, the debates about failed replications on social media have led to worry, in some scientists, regarding reputation. In order to gain data-informed insights into these issues, we collected data from 281 published scientists. We assessed whether scientists overestimate the negative reputational effects of a failed replication in a scenario-based study. Second, we assessed the reputational consequences of admitting wrongness (versus not as an original scientist of an effect that has failed to replicate. Our data suggests that scientists overestimate the negative reputational impact of a hypothetical failed replication effort. We also show that admitting wrongness about a non-replicated finding is less harmful to one's reputation than not admitting. Finally, we discovered a hint of evidence that feelings about the replication movement can be affected by whether replication efforts are aimed one's own work versus the work of another. Given these findings, we then present potential ways forward in these discussions.

  18. The Reputational Consequences of Failed Replications and Wrongness Admission among Scientists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fetterman, Adam K; Sassenberg, Kai

    2015-01-01

    Scientists are dedicating more attention to replication efforts. While the scientific utility of replications is unquestionable, the impact of failed replication efforts and the discussions surrounding them deserve more attention. Specifically, the debates about failed replications on social media have led to worry, in some scientists, regarding reputation. In order to gain data-informed insights into these issues, we collected data from 281 published scientists. We assessed whether scientists overestimate the negative reputational effects of a failed replication in a scenario-based study. Second, we assessed the reputational consequences of admitting wrongness (versus not) as an original scientist of an effect that has failed to replicate. Our data suggests that scientists overestimate the negative reputational impact of a hypothetical failed replication effort. We also show that admitting wrongness about a non-replicated finding is less harmful to one's reputation than not admitting. Finally, we discovered a hint of evidence that feelings about the replication movement can be affected by whether replication efforts are aimed one's own work versus the work of another. Given these findings, we then present potential ways forward in these discussions.

  19. A novel algorithm of super-resolution image reconstruction based on multi-class dictionaries for natural scene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Wei; Zhao, Dewei; Zhang, Huan

    2015-12-01

    Super-resolution image reconstruction is an effective method to improve the image quality. It has important research significance in the field of image processing. However, the choice of the dictionary directly affects the efficiency of image reconstruction. A sparse representation theory is introduced into the problem of the nearest neighbor selection. Based on the sparse representation of super-resolution image reconstruction method, a super-resolution image reconstruction algorithm based on multi-class dictionary is analyzed. This method avoids the redundancy problem of only training a hyper complete dictionary, and makes the sub-dictionary more representatives, and then replaces the traditional Euclidean distance computing method to improve the quality of the whole image reconstruction. In addition, the ill-posed problem is introduced into non-local self-similarity regularization. Experimental results show that the algorithm is much better results than state-of-the-art algorithm in terms of both PSNR and visual perception.

  20. Real-time electricity pricing mechanism in China based on system dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, Yongxiu; Zhang, Jixiang

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The system dynamics is used to research the real-time electricity pricing mechanism. • Four kinds of the real-time electricity pricing models are carried out and simulated. • It analysed the electricity price, the user satisfaction and the social benefits under the different models. • Market pricing is the trend of the real-time electricity pricing mechanism. • Initial development path of the real-time price mechanism for China is designed between 2015 and 2030. - Abstract: As an important means of demand-side response, the reasonable formulation of the electricity price mechanism will have an important impact on the balance between the supply and demand of electric power. With the introduction of Chinese intelligence apparatus and the rapid development of smart grids, real-time electricity pricing, as the frontier electricity pricing mechanism in the smart grid, will have great significance on the promotion of energy conservation and the improvement of the total social surplus. From the perspective of system dynamics, this paper studies different real-time electricity pricing mechanisms based on load structure, cost structure and bidding and analyses the situation of user satisfaction and the total social surplus under different pricing mechanisms. Finally, through the comparative analysis of examples under different real-time pricing scenarios, this paper aims to explore and design the future dynamic real-time electricity pricing mechanism in China, predicts the dynamic real-time pricing level and provides a reference for real-time electricity price promotion in the future

  1. A comprehensive family-based replication study of schizophrenia genes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aberg, Karolina A; Liu, Youfang; Bukszár, Jozsef

    2013-01-01

     768 control subjects from 6 databases and, after quality control 6298 individuals (including 3286 cases) from 1811 nuclear families. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Case-control status for SCZ. RESULTS Replication results showed a highly significant enrichment of SNPs with small P values. Of the SNPs...... in an independent family-based replication study that, after quality control, consisted of 8107 SNPs. SETTING Linkage meta-analysis, brain transcriptome meta-analysis, candidate gene database, OMIM, relevant mouse studies, and expression quantitative trait locus databases. PATIENTS We included 11 185 cases and 10...

  2. Deriving Global Convection Maps From SuperDARN Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gjerloev, J. W.; Waters, C. L.; Barnes, R. J.

    2018-04-01

    A new statistical modeling technique for determining the global ionospheric convection is described. The principal component regression (PCR)-based technique is based on Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) observations and is an advanced version of the PCR technique that Waters et al. (https//:doi.org.10.1002/2015JA021596) used for the SuperMAG data. While SuperMAG ground magnetic field perturbations are vector measurements, SuperDARN provides line-of-sight measurements of the ionospheric convection flow. Each line-of-sight flow has a known azimuth (or direction), which must be converted into the actual vector flow. However, the component perpendicular to the azimuth direction is unknown. Our method uses historical data from the SuperDARN database and PCR to determine a fill-in model convection distribution for any given universal time. The fill-in data process is driven by a list of state descriptors (magnetic indices and the solar zenith angle). The final solution is then derived from a spherical cap harmonic fit to the SuperDARN measurements and the fill-in model. When compared with the standard SuperDARN fill-in model, we find that our fill-in model provides improved solutions, and the final solutions are in better agreement with the SuperDARN measurements. Our solutions are far less dynamic than the standard SuperDARN solutions, which we interpret as being due to a lack of magnetosphere-ionosphere inertia and communication delays in the standard SuperDARN technique while it is inherently included in our approach. Rather, we argue that the magnetosphere-ionosphere system has inertia that prevents the global convection from changing abruptly in response to an interplanetary magnetic field change.

  3. Super-Efficiency and Sensitivity Analysis Based on Input-Oriented DEA-R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. R. Mozaffari∗

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper suggests a method of finding super-efficiency scores and modification of input-oriented models for sensitivity analysis of decision making units. First, by using DEA-R (ratiobased DEA models in the input orientation, the models of superefficiency and also models of super-efficiency modification are suggested. Second, the worst-case scenarios are considered where the efficiency of the test DMU is deteriorating while the efficiencies of the other DMUs are improving. Then, by combining these two ideas, a model is suggested which increases the super-efficiency score and modifies the change ranges in order to preserve the performance class. In the end, the super-efficiency and change interval of efficient decision making units for 23 branches of Zone 1 of the Islamic Azad University are calculated

  4. A super soliton connection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gurses, M.; Oguz, O.

    1985-07-01

    Integrable super non-linear classical partial differential equations are considered. A super s1(2,R) algebra valued connection 1-form is constructed. It is shown that curvature 2-form of this super connection vanishes by virtue of the integrable super equations of motion. A super extension of the AKNS scheme is presented and a class of super extension of the Lax hierarchy and super non-linear Schroedinger equation are found. O(N) extension and the Baecklund transformations of the above super equations are also considered. (author)

  5. Rule-Based and Case-Based Reasoning in Housing Prices

    OpenAIRE

    Gabrielle Gayer; Itzhak Gilboa; Offer Lieberman

    2004-01-01

    People reason about real-estate prices both in terms of general rules and in terms of analogies to similar cases. We propose to empirically test which mode of reasoning fits the data better. To this end, we develop the statistical techniques required for the estimation of the case-based model. It is hypothesized that case-based reasoning will have relatively more explanatory power in databases of rental apartments, whereas rule-based reasoning will have a relative advantage in sales data. We ...

  6. The SPL-based Neutrino Super Beam

    CERN Document Server

    Baussan, E; Bobeth, C; Bouquerel, E; Caretta, O; Cupial, P; Davenne, T; Densham, C; Dracos, M; Fitton, M; Gaudiot, G; Kozien, M; Lacny, L; Lepers, B; Longhin, A; Loveridge, P; Osswald, F; Poussot, P; Rooney, M; Skoczen, B; Szybinski, B; Ustrzycka, A; Vassilopoulos, N; Wilcox, D; Wroblewski, A; Wurtz, J; Zeter, V; Zito, M

    2012-01-01

    The EUROnu Super Beam work package has studied a neutrino beam based on SPL at CERN and aimed at MEMPHYS, a large water Cherenkov detector, proposed for the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (Fr\\'ejus tunnel, France), with a baseline of 130 km. The aim of this proposed experiment is to study the CP violation in the neutrino sector. In the study reported here, we have developed the conceptual design of the neutrino beam, especially the target and the magnetic focusing device. Indeed, this beam present several unprecedented challenges, like the high primary proton beam power (4 MW), the high repetition rate (50 Hz) and the low energy of the protons (4.5 GeV). The design is completed by a study of all the main component of the system, starting from the transport system to guide the beam to the target up to the beam dump.

  7. Habit-based Asset Pricing with Limited Participation Consumption

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bach, Christian; Møller, Stig Vinther

    We calibrate and estimate a consumption-based asset pricing model with habit formation using limited participation consumption data. Based on survey data of a representative sample of American households, we distinguish between assetholder and non-assetholder consumption, as well as the standard...

  8. Habit-based asset pricing with limited participation consumption

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Stig Vinther; Bach, Christian

    2011-01-01

    We calibrate and estimate a consumption-based asset pricing model with habit formation using limited participation consumption data. Based on survey data of a representative sample of American households, we distinguish between assetholder and non-assetholder consumption, as well as the standard...

  9. Research and development on super heat pump energy accumulation system. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1993-06-01

    This is the final report on research and development of super heat pump energy accumulation system, which has been carried out from FY 1985 to 1992. It describes outline of the research and development program, R and D results, final evaluation methodology, evaluation of the R and D, proposals for the commercialization, and so on. The super high performance compression heat pumps are technically evaluated for highly efficient type (for heating, and cooling and heating), high temperature type (utilizing high temperature heat source, and low temperature heat source), working fluids (alcohol-based and nonalcohol-based), stainless steel plate fin type heat exchanger, EHD heat exchanger, and so on. The other techniques evaluated include those for chemical heat storage, combined systems, plant simulation, and systemization. The evaluation works are also directed to the economic and environmental aspects. Finally, the R and D themes are proposed to leap over various hurdles, e.g., reliability and economic viability, for the eventual commercialization of the energy accumulation system. (NEDO)

  10. Forecasting crude oil price with an EMD-based neural network ensemble learning paradigm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Lean; Wang, Shouyang; Lai, Kin Keung

    2008-01-01

    In this study, an empirical mode decomposition (EMD) based neural network ensemble learning paradigm is proposed for world crude oil spot price forecasting. For this purpose, the original crude oil spot price series were first decomposed into a finite, and often small, number of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Then a three-layer feed-forward neural network (FNN) model was used to model each of the extracted IMFs, so that the tendencies of these IMFs could be accurately predicted. Finally, the prediction results of all IMFs are combined with an adaptive linear neural network (ALNN), to formulate an ensemble output for the original crude oil price series. For verification and testing, two main crude oil price series, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot price and Brent crude oil spot price, are used to test the effectiveness of the proposed EMD-based neural network ensemble learning methodology. Empirical results obtained demonstrate attractiveness of the proposed EMD-based neural network ensemble learning paradigm. (author)

  11. Gas prices in the UK: markets and insecurity supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wright, P.

    2006-01-01

    In this article, Professor P. Wright argues that the high and volatile gas price experienced by UK consumers over the last 3 years are the result of the extend of liberalization in the UK - which has made UK prices much more sensitive to insecurities of supply. Businesses pay the cost of this, straightaway, while the strategies which gas companies have used to respond to heightened price risks means domestic consumers also bear the cost of higher supply-markups. The prospect of high levels of demand in bad winters then just adds to price risk and its associated costs. The implication of this analysis is that it is illogical for the UK's regulator and government to blame the UK's high prices on the slow progress of liberalization in the rest of Europe - greater liberalization in Europe might simply replicate the UK's price difficulties throughout Europe

  12. Super cool X-1000 and Super cool Z-1000, two ice blockers, and their effect on vitrification/warming of mouse embryos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badrzadeh, H; Najmabadi, S; Paymani, R; Macaso, T; Azadbadi, Z; Ahmady, A

    2010-07-01

    To evaluate the survival and blastocyst formation rates of mouse embryos after vitrification/thaw process with different ice blocker media. We used X-1000 and Z-1000 separately and mixed using V-Kim, a closed vitrification system. Mouse embryos were vitrified using ethylene glycol based medium supplemented with Super cool X-1000 and/or Super cool Z-1000. Survival rates for the control, Super cool X-1000, Super cool Z-1000, and Super cool X-1000/Z-1000 groups were 74%, 72%, 68%, and 85% respectively, with no significant difference among experimental and control groups; however, a significantly higher survival rate was noticed in the Super cool X-1000/Z-1000 group when compared with the Super cool Z-1000 group. Blastocyst formation rates for the control, Super cool X-1000, Super cool Z-1000, and Super cool X-1000/Z-1000 groups were 71%, 66%, 65%, and 72% respectively. There was no significant difference in this rate among control and experimental groups. In a closed vitrification system, addition of ice blocker Super cool X-1000 to the vitrification solution containing Super cool Z-1000 may improve the embryo survival rate. We recommend combined ice blocker usage to optimize the vitrification outcome. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Evaluation on Influence of Unstable Primary-Energy Price in a Deregulated Electric Power Market—Analysis based on a simulation model approach—

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maitani, Tatsuyuki; Tezuka, Tetsuo

    The electric power market of Japan has been locally monopolized for a long time. But, like many countries, Japan is moving forward with the deregulation of its electric power industry so that any power generation company could sell electric power in the market. The power price, however, will fluctuate inevitably to balance the power supply and demand. A new appropriate market design is indispensable when introducing new market mechanisms in the electric power market to avoid undesirable results of the market. The first stage of deregulation will be the competition between an existing large-scaled power utility and a new power generation company. In this paper we have investigated the wholesale market with competition of these two power companies based on a simulation model approach. Under the competitive situation the effects of exogenous disturbance may bring serious results and we estimated the influence on the market when the price of fossil fuel rises. The conclusion of this study is that several types of Nash equilibriums have been found in the market: the larger the new power generation company becomes, the higher the electricity price under the Nash equilibriums rises. Because of the difference in their structure of generation capacity, the existing large-scaled power utility gets more profit while the new power generation company loses its profit when the price of fossil fuel rises.

  14. Simultaneous super-resolution and blind deconvolution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sroubek, F; Flusser, J; Cristobal, G

    2008-01-01

    In many real applications, blur in input low-resolution images is a nuisance, which prevents traditional super-resolution methods from working correctly. This paper presents a unifying approach to the blind deconvolution and superresolution problem of multiple degraded low-resolution frames of the original scene. We introduce a method which assumes no prior information about the shape of degradation blurs and which is properly defined for any rational (fractional) resolution factor. The method minimizes a regularized energy function with respect to the high-resolution image and blurs, where regularization is carried out in both the image and blur domains. The blur regularization is based on a generalized multichannel blind deconvolution constraint. Experiments on real data illustrate robustness and utilization of the method

  15. Raspberry Pi super cluster

    CERN Document Server

    Dennis, Andrew K

    2013-01-01

    This book follows a step-by-step, tutorial-based approach which will teach you how to develop your own super cluster using Raspberry Pi computers quickly and efficiently.Raspberry Pi Super Cluster is an introductory guide for those interested in experimenting with parallel computing at home. Aimed at Raspberry Pi enthusiasts, this book is a primer for getting your first cluster up and running.Basic knowledge of C or Java would be helpful but no prior knowledge of parallel computing is necessary.

  16. Enrichment demand boosts SWU prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    The enrichment market is picking up significantly on very brisk demand. US utilities, which normally purchase material nine months to a year ahead of time, are already hitting the market to fill their 1996 requirements. In June, two non-US utilities, one European entity and a US utility bought SWUs, the entity in an off-market deal. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Three other US utilities entered the market during the month. Meanwhile, we count 13 more utilities getting ready to hit the market for more than 4 million SWUs. Why the surge in demand? Utilities, uncertain of the role to be played by the new US Enrichment Corp. and seeking to take advantage of low interest rates, are implementing buy and hold strategies. As a result, the upper end of NUKEM's SWU price range inched up to $78. The lower end dipped to $67 based on the European deal

  17. Research and development of a super fast reactor (12). Considerations for the reactor characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goto, Shoji; Ishiwatari, Yuki; Oka, Yoshiaki

    2008-01-01

    A research program aimed at developing the Super Fast Reactor (Super FR) has been entrusted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan since December 2005. It includes the following three projects. (A) Development of the Super Fast Reactor concept. (B)Thermal-hydraulic experiments. (C) Materials development. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has joined this program and works on part (A) together with the University of Tokyo. From the utility's viewpoint, it is important to consider the most desirable characteristics for Super FR to have. Four issues were identified in project (A), (1) Fuel design, (2) Reactor core design, (3) Safety, and (4) Plant characteristics of Super FR. This report describes the desired characteristics of Super FR with respect to item (1) fuel design and item (2) Reactor core design, as compared with a boiling water reactor (BWR) plant. The other two issues will be discussed in this project, and will also be considered in the design process of Super FR. (author)

  18. Study on Utilization of Super Grade Plutonium in Molten Salt Reactor FUJI-U3 using CITATION Code

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wulandari, Cici; Waris, Abdul; Pramuditya, Syeilendra; Asril, Pramutadi AM; Novitrian

    2017-07-01

    FUJI-U3 type of Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) has a unique design since it consists of three core regions in order to avoid the replacement of graphite as moderator. MSR uses floride as a nuclear fuel salt with the most popular chemical composition is LiF-BeF2-ThF4-233UF4. ThF4 and 233UF4 are the fertile and fissile materials, respectively. On the other hand, LiF and BeF2 working as both fuel and heat transfer medium. In this study, the super grade plutonium will be utilized as substitution of 233U since plutonium is easier to be obtained compared to 233U as main fuel. Neutronics calculation was performed by using PIJ and CITATION modules of SRAC 2002 code with JENDL 3.2 as nuclear data library.

  19. The effect of costs and regulation on electricity prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlaf, E.P.

    1991-01-01

    Two distinct econometric tests were performed to determine if state price regulation of public utilities has had a measurable impact on retail electricity prices. The results of both tests agree that, during the 1971-1985 period, average national electricity prices in each of the three major consuming sectors and the four Census regions were below the level which would have been preferred by profit-maximizing monopolists. Electricity consumers received price benefits during the sample period as a result of regulation. The first test of the effectiveness of state price regulation used a 'revealed preference' approach by comparing the actual prices set by regulatory commissioners with prices and outcomes predicted by three competing theories of regulatory motivation. The second test of the effectiveness of price regulation combined traditional cost function inputs with regulatory variables in reduced-form price equations to determine whether the amount of regulatory intensity, as measured by the number of staff members per regulated utility, is associated with declining electricity prices and whether appointed commissioners allow higher prices than elected commissioners

  20. Application of the Price-Volume Approach in Cases of Innovative Drugs Where Value-Based Pricing is Inadequate: Description of Real Experiences in Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messori, Andrea

    2016-08-01

    Several cases of expensive drugs designed for large patient populations (e.g. sofosbuvir) have raised a complex question in terms of drug pricing. Even assuming value-based pricing, the treatment with these drugs of all eligible patients would have an immense budgetary impact, which is unsustainable also for the richest countries. This raises the need to reduce the prices of these agents in comparison with those suggested by the value-based approach and to devise new pricing methods that can achieve this goal. The present study discusses in detail the following two methods: (i) The approach based on setting nation-wide budget thresholds for individual innovative agents in which a fixed proportion of the historical pharmaceutical expenditure represents the maximum budget attributable to an innovative treatment; (ii) The approach based on nation-wide price-volume agreements in which drug prices are progressively reduced as more patients receive the treatment. The first approach has been developed in the USA by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review and has been applied to PCSK9 inhibitors (alirocumab and evolocumab). The second approach has been designed for the Italian market and has found a systematic application to manage the price of ranibizumab, sofosbuvir, and PCSK9 inhibitors. While, in the past, price-volume agreements have been applied only on an empirical basis (i.e. in the absence of any quantitative theoretical rule), more recently some explicit mathematical models have been described. The performance of these models is now being evaluated on the basis of the real-world experiences conducted in some European countries, especially Italy.

  1. Study of Research and Development Processes through Fuzzy Super FRM Model and Optimization Solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flavius Aurelian Sârbu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to measure resources for R&D (research and development at the regional level in Romania and also obtain primary data that will be important in making the right decisions to increase competitiveness and development based on an economic knowledge. As our motivation, we would like to emphasize that by the use of Super Fuzzy FRM model we want to determine the state of R&D processes at regional level using a mean different from the statistical survey, while by the two optimization methods we mean to provide optimization solutions for the R&D actions of the enterprises. Therefore to fulfill the above mentioned aim in this application-oriented paper we decided to use a questionnaire and for the interpretation of the results the Super Fuzzy FRM model, representing the main novelty of our paper, as this theory provides a formalism based on matrix calculus, which allows processing of large volumes of information and also delivers results difficult or impossible to see, through statistical processing. Furthermore another novelty of the paper represents the optimization solutions submitted in this work, given for the situation when the sales price is variable, and the quantity sold is constant in time and for the reverse situation.

  2. Prices on the way up?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    It may have taken until the very last day of the month, but prices are finally on the way up. On July 31, a US utility concluded at least two transactions for a minimum of 250,000 lbs U3O8 equivalent, pushing the top of NUKEM's price range up 10 cents. After three months with prices languishing below US$7.85, the price range now stands at US$7.75-$7.95. The pace of new demand held steady in July versus June, with more than 3.4 million lbs equivalent in new requests entering the market. There was one difference: The new demand in July was characterized by longer lead time. Most new demand in June required delivery by the end of the fourth quarter, a lead time of about 3 to 6 months. In July, buyers accepted delivery anywhere from 4 to 9 months out, with most delivery requests landing in 1993. This jump in lead times is largely due to one seller in the market offering first and second quarter 1993 deliveries near the bottom of the price range to utilities with flexible needs

  3. Flow-based market coupling. Stepping stone towards nodal pricing?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van der Welle, A.J.

    2012-07-01

    For achieving one internal energy market for electricity by 2014, market coupling is deployed to integrate national markets into regional markets and ultimately one European electricity market. The extent to which markets can be coupled depends on the available transmission capacities between countries. Since interconnections are congested from time to time, congestion management methods are deployed to divide the scarce available transmission capacities over market participants. For further optimization of the use of available transmission capacities while maintaining current security of supply levels, flow-based market coupling (FBMC) will be implemented in the CWE region by 2013. Although this is an important step forward, important hurdles for efficient congestion management remain. Hence, flow based market coupling is compared to nodal pricing, which is often considered as the most optimal solution from theoretical perspective. In the context of decarbonised power systems it is concluded that advantages of nodal pricing are likely to exceed its disadvantages, warranting further development of FBMC in the direction of nodal pricing.

  4. Super-Calogero-Moser-Sutherland systems and free super-oscillators: a mapping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghosh, Pijush K.

    2001-01-01

    We show that the supersymmetric rational Calogero-Moser-Sutherland (CMS) model of A N+1 -type is equivalent to a set of free super-oscillators, through a similarity transformation. We prescribe methods to construct the complete eigenspectrum and the associated eigenfunctions, both in supersymmetry-preserving as well as supersymmetry-breaking phases, from the free super-oscillator basis. Further we show that a wide class of super-Hamiltonians realizing dynamical OSp(2 vertical bar 2) supersymmetry, which also includes all types of rational super-CMS as a small subset, are equivalent to free super-oscillators. We study BC N+1 -type super-CMS model in some detail to understand the subtleties involved in this method

  5. Study on the LLFPs transmutation in a super-critical water-cooled fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Haoliang; Ishiwatari, Yuki; Oka, Yoshiaki

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → Transmutation of LLFPs with a super-criticial water cooled fast reactor. → Transmutation of iodine and cesium without the isotopic separation. → The transmuted isotope was mixed with UO 2 to reduce the effect of self-shielding. → A weak neutron moderator Al 2 O 3 was used to suppress the creation of 135 Cs from 133 Cs. - Abstract: The performance of the super-critical water-cooled fast reactor (Super FR) for the transmutation treatment of long-lived fission products (LLFPs) was evaluated. Two regions with the soft neutron spectrum, which is of great benefit to the LLFPs transmutation, can be utilized in the Super FR. First region is in the blanket assembly due to the ZrH 1.7 layer which was utilized to slow down the fast neutrons to achieve a negative void reactivity. Second region is in the reflector region of core like other metal-cooled fast reactors. The LLFPs selected in the transmutation analysis include 99 Tc, 129 I and 135 Cs discharged from LWR or fast reactor. Their isotopes, such as 127 I, 133 Cs, 134 Cs and 137 Cs were also considered to avoid the separation. By loading the isotopes ( 99 Tc or 127 I and 129 I) in the blanket assembly and the reflector region simultaneously, the transmutation rates of 5.36%/GWe year and 2.79%/GWe year can be obtained for 99 Tc and 129 I, respectively. The transmuted amounts of 99 Tc and 129 I are equal to the yields from 11.8 and 6.2 1000 MWe-class PWRs. Because of the very low capture cross section of 135 Cs and the effect of other cesium isotopes, 135 Cs was loaded with three rings of assemblies in the reflector region to make the transmuted amount be larger than the yields of two 1000 MWe-class PWRs. Based on these results, 99 Tc and 129 I can be transmuted conveniently and higher transmutation performance can be obtained in the Super FR. However, the transmutation of 135 Cs is very difficult and the transmuted amount is less than that produced by the Super FR. It turns out that the

  6. Super Riemann surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogers, Alice

    1990-01-01

    A super Riemann surface is a particular kind of (1,1)-dimensional complex analytic supermanifold. From the point of view of super-manifold theory, super Riemann surfaces are interesting because they furnish the simplest examples of what have become known as non-split supermanifolds, that is, supermanifolds where the odd and even parts are genuinely intertwined, as opposed to split supermanifolds which are essentially the exterior bundles of a vector bundle over a conventional manifold. However undoubtedly the main motivation for the study of super Riemann surfaces has been their relevance to the Polyakov quantisation of the spinning string. Some of the papers on super Riemann surfaces are reviewed. Although recent work has shown all super Riemann surfaces are algebraic, some areas of difficulty remain. (author)

  7. The futility of utility: how market dynamics marginalize Adam Smith

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCauley, Joseph L.

    2000-10-01

    Economic theorizing is based on the postulated, nonempiric notion of utility. Economists assume that prices, dynamics, and market equilibria are supposed to be derived from utility. The results are supposed to represent mathematically the stabilizing action of Adam Smith's invisible hand. In deterministic excess demand dynamics I show the following. A utility function generally does not exist mathematically due to nonintegrable dynamics when production/investment are accounted for, resolving Mirowski's thesis. Price as a function of demand does not exist mathematically either. All equilibria are unstable. I then explain how deterministic chaos can be distinguished from random noise at short times. In the generalization to liquid markets and finance theory described by stochastic excess demand dynamics, I also show the following. Market price distributions cannot be rescaled to describe price movements as ‘equilibrium’ fluctuations about a systematic drift in price. Utility maximization does not describe equilibrium. Maximization of the Gibbs entropy of the observed price distribution of an asset would describe equilibrium, if equilibrium could be achieved, but equilibrium does not describe real, liquid markets (stocks, bonds, foreign exchange). There are three inconsistent definitions of equilibrium used in economics and finance, only one of which is correct. Prices in unregulated free markets are unstable against both noise and rising or falling expectations: Adam Smith's stabilizing invisible hand does not exist, either in mathematical models of liquid market data, or in real market data.

  8. 1988 coal price negotiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Senmura, Akira

    1988-12-01

    In the negotiation on raw coal price for 1988, which began at the end of 1987, Australia requested price rise of 4 - 5 dollars for the reason of rise of Australian dollars, conditions of mines, price drop in the past five years, and world supply/demand of coal. Japan insisted to maintain the price of preceding year. The talk ended in a dead lock which could last a long time. Negotiation on the Canadian coal price also encountered difficulties but an agreement was obtained in March as Japan accepted the increased price. After which, Japan and Australia agreed to raise the price by 2.90 dollars and an increase over last year. Producing countries also requested a wide price rise as 7.50 dollars for general coal, making in this area very difficult to progress. Finally, they agreed to raise the price by 6.30 dollars and the electric power utility in Japan responded by importing of U.S. coal, which has a lower heat output but is also cheaper. It depends on Australia for 70% of coal supply but started to diversify the source. 3 tabs.

  9. 78 FR 10579 - TRICARE Revision to CHAMPUS DRG-Based Payment System, Pricing of Hospital Claims

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-14

    ... 0720-AB58 TRICARE Revision to CHAMPUS DRG-Based Payment System, Pricing of Hospital Claims AGENCY... change TRICARE's current regulatory provision for hospital claims priced under the DRG-based payment... under the DRG- based payment system from the beneficiary's date of admission, to pricing such claims...

  10. BREEDING SUPER-EARTHS AND BIRTHING SUPER-PUFFS IN TRANSITIONAL DISKS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Eve J.; Chiang, Eugene, E-mail: evelee@berkeley.edu, E-mail: echiang@astro.berkeley.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)

    2016-02-01

    The riddle posed by super-Earths (1–4R{sub ⊕}, 2–20M{sub ⊕}) is that they are not Jupiters: their core masses are large enough to trigger runaway gas accretion, yet somehow super-Earths accreted atmospheres that weigh only a few percent of their total mass. We show that this puzzle is solved if super-Earths formed late, as the last vestiges of their parent gas disks were about to clear. This scenario would seem to present fine-tuning problems, but we show that there are none. Ambient gas densities can span many (in one case up to 9) orders of magnitude, and super-Earths can still robustly emerge after ∼0.1–1 Myr with percent-by-weight atmospheres. Super-Earth cores are naturally bred in gas-poor environments where gas dynamical friction has weakened sufficiently to allow constituent protocores to gravitationally stir one another and merge. So little gas is present at the time of core assembly that cores hardly migrate by disk torques: formation of super-Earths can be in situ. The basic picture—that close-in super-Earths form in a gas-poor (but not gas-empty) inner disk, fed continuously by gas that bleeds inward from a more massive outer disk—recalls the largely evacuated but still accreting inner cavities of transitional protoplanetary disks. We also address the inverse problem presented by super-puffs: an uncommon class of short-period planets seemingly too voluminous for their small masses (4–10R{sub ⊕}, 2–6M{sub ⊕}). Super-puffs most easily acquire their thick atmospheres as dust-free, rapidly cooling worlds outside ∼1 AU where nebular gas is colder, less dense, and therefore less opaque. Unlike super-Earths, which can form in situ, super-puffs probably migrated in to their current orbits; they are expected to form the outer links of mean-motion resonant chains, and to exhibit greater water content. We close by confronting observations and itemizing remaining questions.

  11. BREEDING SUPER-EARTHS AND BIRTHING SUPER-PUFFS IN TRANSITIONAL DISKS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Eve J.; Chiang, Eugene

    2016-01-01

    The riddle posed by super-Earths (1–4R ⊕ , 2–20M ⊕ ) is that they are not Jupiters: their core masses are large enough to trigger runaway gas accretion, yet somehow super-Earths accreted atmospheres that weigh only a few percent of their total mass. We show that this puzzle is solved if super-Earths formed late, as the last vestiges of their parent gas disks were about to clear. This scenario would seem to present fine-tuning problems, but we show that there are none. Ambient gas densities can span many (in one case up to 9) orders of magnitude, and super-Earths can still robustly emerge after ∼0.1–1 Myr with percent-by-weight atmospheres. Super-Earth cores are naturally bred in gas-poor environments where gas dynamical friction has weakened sufficiently to allow constituent protocores to gravitationally stir one another and merge. So little gas is present at the time of core assembly that cores hardly migrate by disk torques: formation of super-Earths can be in situ. The basic picture—that close-in super-Earths form in a gas-poor (but not gas-empty) inner disk, fed continuously by gas that bleeds inward from a more massive outer disk—recalls the largely evacuated but still accreting inner cavities of transitional protoplanetary disks. We also address the inverse problem presented by super-puffs: an uncommon class of short-period planets seemingly too voluminous for their small masses (4–10R ⊕ , 2–6M ⊕ ). Super-puffs most easily acquire their thick atmospheres as dust-free, rapidly cooling worlds outside ∼1 AU where nebular gas is colder, less dense, and therefore less opaque. Unlike super-Earths, which can form in situ, super-puffs probably migrated in to their current orbits; they are expected to form the outer links of mean-motion resonant chains, and to exhibit greater water content. We close by confronting observations and itemizing remaining questions

  12. FY 1986 report on research and development of super heat pump energy accumulation system. R and D of total systems (Surveys on heat sources and heat-utilization systems); 1986 nendo super heat pump energy shuseki system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Total system no kenkyu (netsugen netsu riyokei no chosa)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1987-03-01

    The heat source systems and heat utilization systems are surveyed and studied for the super heat pump energy accumulation systems, in order to clarify effective application and application types of these systems in the domestic and industrial energy areas. These works include surveys on literature, both domestic and foreign, surveys on actual situations of the related facilities and plants and on-the-spot hearing, and numerical simulation to establish the basic data for some items. The FY 1986 program includes the literature surveys on heat source and heat utilization systems and on-the-spot hearing for the domestic energy areas, reviews of heat demand variation patterns, and studies on methodology for applying the data to the areas not investigated so far. For the industrial areas to which super heat pumps are potentially applicable, the chemical, refining, food manufacturing and plastic manufacturing/processing industries are selected, to study problems related to system structures and conditions of the heat pump systems in these areas. (NEDO)

  13. The Super Patalan Numbers

    OpenAIRE

    Richardson, Thomas M.

    2014-01-01

    We introduce the super Patalan numbers, a generalization of the super Catalan numbers in the sense of Gessel, and prove a number of properties analagous to those of the super Catalan numbers. The super Patalan numbers generalize the super Catalan numbers similarly to how the Patalan numbers generalize the Catalan numbers.

  14. Grassmann, super-Kac-Moody and super-derivation algebras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frappat, L.; Ragoucy, E.; Sorba, P.

    1989-05-01

    We study the cyclic cocycles of degree one on the Grassmann algebra and on the super-circle with N supersymmetries (i.e. the tensor product of the algebra of functions on the circle times a Grassmann algebra with N generators). They are related to central extensions of graded loop algebras (i.e. super-Kac-Moody algebras). The corresponding algebras of super-derivations have to be compatible with the cocycle characterizing the extension; we give a general method for determining these algebras and examine in particular the cases N = 1,2,3. We also discuss their relations with the Ademollo et al. algebras, and examine the possibility of defining new kinds of super-conformal algebras, which, for N > 1, generalize the N = 1 Ramond-Neveu-Schwarz algebra

  15. Evaluation of alternative institutional arrangements in public utilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ermishina Anna, V.

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Since early 2000s a policy of attracting private operators to public utilities, which should help to increase productivity, reduce costs, and as a result, reduce utility prices takes place in Russia. The aim of the study is to identify the relationship between institutional arrangements and pricing for water and wastewater services. Applying statistical and cluster analysis to empirical data on water utilities in 13 largest cities has revealed the differences in the level and dynamics of prices for water and wastewater services in the group of public utilities and public private water utilities. In 2011-2014 the level and growth price rates in the group of public private partnerships were higher than in group of municipal water utilities. Thus, the involvement of private operators has not yet lead to the expected reduction in prices.

  16. Why strategic pricing is the most powerful DSM [demand-side management] tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LeBlanc, W.

    1990-01-01

    Strategic pricing has long been under-utilized as a strategic tool by the electric utility industry. Ways by which utility, customer and regulatory interests can and should overlap with reference to strategic planning, and how the electric industry could enhance its ability to continue providing premier energy services to its customers and society are examined. Strategic pricing in the airline, banking, automobile and telephone industries are examined and compared. Strategic pricing can help utilities segment markets to improve service value, define products, create customer incentives to purchase/consume desirable goods and services, and signal competitors. Each of these benefits is illustrated with an example that closely integrates strategic pricing with demand-side management. Pricing strategically takes many steps, but can be broken down into: meet common challenges of business and marketing objectives; gain regulatory acceptance; and energize the organization to accept, adopt and implement strategic pricing

  17. SuperSegger

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stylianidou, Stella; Brennan, Connor; Nissen, Silas B

    2016-01-01

    -colonies with many cells, facilitating the analysis of cell-cycle dynamics in bacteria as well as cell-contact mediated phenomena. This package has a range of built-in capabilities for characterizing bacterial cells, including the identification of cell division events, mother, daughter, and neighboring cells......Many quantitative cell biology questions require fast yet reliable automated image segmentation to identify and link cells from frame-to-frame, and characterize the cell morphology and fluorescence. We present SuperSegger, an automated MATLAB-based image processing package well......-suited to quantitative analysis of high-throughput live-cell fluorescence microscopy of bacterial cells. SuperSegger incorporates machine-learning algorithms to optimize cellular boundaries and automated error resolution to reliably link cells from frame-to-frame. Unlike existing packages, it can reliably segment micro...

  18. Option pricing: Stock price, stock velocity and the acceleration Lagrangian

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baaquie, Belal E.; Du, Xin; Bhanap, Jitendra

    2014-12-01

    The industry standard Black-Scholes option pricing formula is based on the current value of the underlying security and other fixed parameters of the model. The Black-Scholes formula, with a fixed volatility, cannot match the market's option price; instead, it has come to be used as a formula for generating the option price, once the so called implied volatility of the option is provided as additional input. The implied volatility not only is an entire surface, depending on the strike price and maturity of the option, but also depends on calendar time, changing from day to day. The point of view adopted in this paper is that the instantaneous rate of return of the security carries part of the information that is provided by implied volatility, and with a few (time-independent) parameters required for a complete pricing formula. An option pricing formula is developed that is based on knowing the value of both the current price and rate of return of the underlying security which in physics is called velocity. Using an acceleration Lagrangian model based on the formalism of quantum mathematics, we derive the pricing formula for European call options. The implied volatility of the market can be generated by our pricing formula. Our option price is applied to foreign exchange rates and equities and the accuracy is compared with Black-Scholes pricing formula and with the market price.

  19. 73 Activity Based Costing and Product Pricing Decision: the Nigerian Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ebipanipre Gabriel Mieseigha

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper examined activity based costing and product pricing decisions in Nigeria so as to ascertain whether activity based costing have the ability to enhance profitability and control cost of manufacturing firms. Towards this end, a multiple correlation and regression estimation technique was used in analyzing the data obtained in the study. The study found that activity based costing affects product costing and pricing decision. In addition, the results showed that improved profitability and cost control can be achieved by implementing activity based costing approach by manufacturing firms. The implication is that traditional costing approach fails in many pricing situations by arbitrarily allocating indirect cost and activity based costing helps in allocating indirect cost accurately. Thus, it was recommended amongst others that activity based costing need to be practiced, maintained and implemented by manufacturing firms since it has a broad range of uses for a wide variety of company functions and operations in the area of process analysis, strategy support, time-based accounting, monitoring wastage, as well as quality and productivity management.

  20. Gas prices in the UK: markets and insecurity of supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wright, P.

    2006-01-01

    In this article Professor Philip Wright argues that the high and volatile gas prices experienced by UK consumers over the last 3 years are the result of the extent of liberalization in the UK which has made UK prices much more sensitive to insecurities of supply. Businesses pay the cost of this, straightaway, while the strategies which gas companies have used to respond to heightened price risks means domestic consumers also bear the cost of higher supply-markups. The prospect of high levels of demand in bad winters then just adds to price risk and its associated costs. The implication of this analysis is that it is illogical for the UK's regulator and government to blame the UK's high prices on the slow progress of liberalization in the rest of Europe - greater liberalization in Europe might simply replicate the UK's price difficulties throughout Europe. (author)

  1. Pricing in M/M/1 queues when cost of waiting in queue differs from cost of waiting in service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Görkem Sarıyer

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Service providers can adjust the entrance price to the state of the demand in real life service systems where the customers' decision to receive the service, is based on this price, state of demand and other system parameters. We analyzed service provider's short and long term pricing problems in unobservable M/M/1 queues having the rational customers, where, for customers, the unit cost of waiting in the queue is higher than unit cost of waiting in the service. We showed that waiting in the queue has a clear negative effect on customers’ utilities, hence the service provider's price values. We also showed that, in the short term, monopolistic pricing is optimal for congested systems with high server utilization levels, whereas in the long term, market capturing pricing is more profitable.

  2. Utility systems operation: Optimisation-based decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Velasco-Garcia, Patricia; Varbanov, Petar Sabev; Arellano-Garcia, Harvey; Wozny, Guenter

    2011-01-01

    Utility systems provide heat and power to industrial sites. The importance of operating these systems in an optimal way has increased significantly due to the unstable and in the long term rising prices of fossil fuels as well as the need for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents an analysis of the problem for supporting operator decision making under conditions of variable steam demands from the production processes on an industrial site. An optimisation model has been developed, where besides for running the utility system, also the costs associated with starting-up the operating units have been modelled. The illustrative case study shows that accounting for the shut-downs and start-ups of utility operating units can bring significant cost savings. - Highlights: → Optimisation methodology for decision making on running utility systems. → Accounting for varying steam demands. → Optimal operating specifications when a demand change occurs. → Operating costs include start-up costs of boilers and other units. → Validated on a real-life case study. Up to 20% cost savings are possible.

  3. Risk Based Milk Pricing Model at Dairy Farmers Level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Septiani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The milk price from a cooperative institution to farmer does not fully cover the production cost. Though, dairy farmers encounter various risks and uncertainties in conducting their business. The highest risk in milk supply lies in the activities at the farm. This study was designed to formulate a model for calculating milk price at farmer’s level based on risk. Risks that occur on farms include the risk of cow breeding, sanitation, health care, cattle feed management, milking and milk sales. This research used the location of the farm in West Java region. There were five main stages in the preparation of this model, (1 identification and analysis of influential factors, (2 development of a conceptual model, (3 structural analysis and the amount of production costs, (4 model calculation of production cost with risk factors, and (5 risk based milk pricing model. This research built a relationship between risks on smallholder dairy farms with the production costs to be incurred by the farmers. It was also obtained the formulation of risk adjustment factor calculation for the variable costs of production in dairy cattle farm. The difference in production costs with risk and the total production cost without risk was about 8% to 10%. It could be concluded that the basic price of milk proposed based on the research was around IDR 4,250-IDR 4,350/L for 3 to 4 cows ownership. Increasing farmer income was expected to be obtained by entering the value of this risk in the calculation of production costs. 

  4. Process of super-black shading material applied to the star sensor based on Ni-P alloys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Fengdeng; Xing, Fei; Wu, Yuelong; You, Zheng

    2014-12-01

    Super-black materials based on Nanotechnology have very important applications in many science fields. Super-black materials which have been reported currently, although have excellent light-trapping properties, most of them need the use of sophisticated equipment , the long-time synthesis , high temperature environment and release flammable, explosive and other dangerous gases. So many kinds of problems have hindered the application of such super-black material in practice. This project had nano super-black material developed with simple equipment and process, instead of complicated and dangerous process steps in high temperature and high pressure. On the basis of literature research, we successfully worked out a set of large-area Ni-P alloy plating method through a series of experiments exploring and analyze the experimental results. In the condition of the above Ni-P alloy, we took the solution, which anodized the Ni-P alloy immersed in the non-oxidizing acid, instead of conventional blackening process. It`s a big break for changing the situation in which oxidation, corrosion, vigorous evolution of hydrogen gas in the process are performed at the same location. As a result, not only the reaction process decreased sensitivity to time error, but also the position of the bubble layer no longer located in the surface of the workpiece which may impede observing the process of reaction. Consequently, the solution improved the controllability of the blackening process. In addition, we conducted the research of nano super-black material, exploring nano-super-black material in terms of space optical sensor.

  5. Is Swedish district heating operating on an integrated market? – Differences in pricing, price convergence, and marketing strategy between public and private district heating companies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Åberg, M.; Fälting, L.; Forssell, A.

    2016-01-01

    The deregulation of the Swedish electricity market in 1996 made it possible to operate municipal district heating commercially. Until that time district heating had been organized mainly as municipal utilities. After 1996 district heating is instead expected to function on a market. In competitive and integrated markets, prices are expected to be equal, or converging. To find out if district heating operates on an integrated market the differences in price levels, price convergence, price strategy, and business goals, among municipal, private and state owned district heating companies are investigated. Price statistics was used along with results from a questionnaire that was answered by representatives for 109 Swedish district heating companies. The results show that prices among district heating systems do not converge significantly and that variations in prices among municipal systems are larger than among private and state owned systems. Furthermore, despite the fact that district heating is supposed to be commercial, a vast majority of district heating companies apply cost-based pricing and not market pricing. The municipal companies give priority to political goals before financial goals. The conclusion is that a Swedish integrated market for heat has not yet evolved, and some district heating price-controlling mechanism is necessary. - Highlights: • Price statistics and owner type data were used along with results from a questionnaire. • Results show that prices among district heating systems do not converge. • Municipal district heating companies still apply cost-based pricing to a large extent. • District heating companies are not operating on an integrated market for heat. • Some price-controlling mechanism for district heating is necessary.

  6. Evaluation of railway transportation efficiency based on super-cross efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuang, Xiuyuan

    2018-01-01

    The efficiency of railway transportation is an important index. It can measure the development of railway transportation enterprises, and the efficiency of railway transportation has become a hot issue in the study of railway development. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been widely applied to railway efficiency analysis. In this paper, BBC model and super-cross efficiency model are constructed by using DEA theory, taking the 18 Railway Bureau as the research object, with the mileage, the number of employees, locomotive number, average daily loading number as input indicators, the passenger turnover, freight turnover and transport income as output indicators, then calculated and evaluated comprehensive efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. We get that the super-cross efficiency is more in line with the actual situation. Getting the super-cross efficiency is more in line with the actual situation.

  7. An electricity price model with consideration to load and gas price effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Min-xiang; Tao, Xiao-hu; Han, Zhen-xiang

    2003-01-01

    Some characteristics of the electricity load and prices are studied, and the relationship between electricity prices and gas (fuel) prices is analyzed in this paper. Because electricity prices are strongly dependent on load and gas prices, the authors constructed a model for electricity prices based on the effects of these two factors; and used the Geometric Mean Reversion Brownian Motion (GMRBM) model to describe the electricity load process, and a Geometric Brownian Motion(GBM) model to describe the gas prices; deduced the price stochastic process model based on the above load model and gas price model. This paper also presents methods for parameters estimation, and proposes some methods to solve the model.

  8. Cost-reflective electricity pricing: Consumer preferences and perceptions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hall, Nina L.; Jeanneret, Talia D.; Rai, Alan

    2016-01-01

    In Australia, residential electricity peak demand has risen steeply in recent decades, leading to higher prices as new infrastructure was needed to satisfy demand. One way of limiting further infrastructure-induced retail price rises is via ‘cost-reflective’ electricity network pricing that incentivises users to shift their demand to non-peak periods. Empowering consumers with knowledge of their energy usage is critical to maximise the potential benefits of cost-reflective pricing. This research consulted residential electricity consumers in three Australian states on their perceptions and acceptance of two cost-reflective pricing scenarios (Time-of-Use and Peak Capacity pricing) and associated technologies to support such pricing (smart meters, in-home displays and direct load control devices). An energy economist presented information to focus groups on the merits and limitations of each scenario, and participants’ views were captured. Almost half of the 53 participants were agreeable to Time-of-Use pricing, but did not have a clear preference for Peak Capacity pricing, where the price was based on the daily maximum demand. Participants recommended further information to both understand and justify the potential benefits, and for technologies to be introduced to enhance the pricing options. The results have implications for utilities and providers who seek to reduce peak demand. - Highlights: •Electricity price rises can be limited by ‘cost-reflective’ pricing. •We consulted residential electricity consumers on Time-of-Use and Peak Capacity pricing. •Understanding of peak electricity demand must increase to enable demand shift. •Interactive website could enable consumers to evaluate pricing options. •Smart meter adoption may increase if voluntary and includes an in-home display.

  9. Production of polymer nanomembranes by super deep penetration method

    OpenAIRE

    Figovsky, Oleg; Gotlib, Elena; Pashin, Dmitry; Makeev, Alexander

    2012-01-01

    A new super deep penetration (SDP) method of polymer nanomembranes production was developed. Its advantages as compared to nuclear methods were discussed. They are connected with simplicity and low price of SDP application. SDP method implies the use of explosion for track membranes forming. As a result, a plurality of holes are formed in polymer matrixes. Removal of the residual particles of water-soluble salt is done by washing the pierced membrane with water. Розроблено новий метод надг...

  10. Drug Pricing Reforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Mendez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Reference price systems for prescription drugs have found widespread use as cost containment tools. Under such regulatory regimes, patients co-pay a fraction of the difference between pharmacy retail price of the drug and a reference price. Reference prices are either externally (based on drug...... prices in other countries) or internally (based on domestic drug prices) determined. In a recent study, we analysed the effects of a change from external to internal reference pricing in Denmark in 2005, finding that the reform led to substantial reductions in prices, producer revenues, and expenditures...... for patients and the health insurance system. We also estimated an increase in consumer welfare but the size effect depends on whether or not perceived quality differences between branded and other drugs are taken into account....

  11. Nodal price volatility reduction and reliability enhancement of restructured power systems considering demand-price elasticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goel, L.; Wu, Qiuwei; Wang, Peng

    2008-01-01

    With the development of restructured power systems, the conventional 'same for all customers' electricity price is getting replaced by nodal prices. Electricity prices will fluctuate with time and nodes. In restructured power systems, electricity demands will interact mutually with prices. Customers may shift some of their electricity consumption from time slots of high electricity prices to those of low electricity prices if there is a commensurate price incentive. The demand side load shift will influence nodal prices in return. This interaction between demand and price can be depicted using demand-price elasticity. This paper proposes an evaluation technique incorporating the impact of the demand-price elasticity on nodal prices, system reliability and nodal reliabilities of restructured power systems. In this technique, demand and price correlations are represented using the demand-price elasticity matrix which consists of self/cross-elasticity coefficients. Nodal prices are determined using optimal power flow (OPF). The OPF and customer damage functions (CDFs) are combined in the proposed reliability evaluation technique to assess the reliability enhancement of restructured power systems considering demand-price elasticity. The IEEE reliability test system (RTS) is simulated to illustrate the developed techniques. The simulation results show that demand-price elasticity reduces the nodal price volatility and improves both the system reliability and nodal reliabilities of restructured power systems. Demand-price elasticity can therefore be utilized as a possible efficient tool to reduce price volatility and to enhance the reliability of restructured power systems. (author)

  12. Finite detector based projection model for super resolution CT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Hengyong; Wang, Ge [Wake Forest Univ. Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC (United States). Dept. of Radiology; Virgina Tech, Blacksburg, VA (United States). Biomedical Imaging Div.

    2011-07-01

    For finite detector and focal spot sizes, here we propose a projection model for super resolution CT. First, for a given X-ray source point, a projection datum is modeled as an area integral over a narrow fan-beam connecting the detector elemental borders and the X-ray source point. Then, the final projection value is expressed as the integral obtained in the first step over the whole focal spot support. An ordered-subset simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (OS-SART) is developed using the proposed projection model. In the numerical simulation, our method produces super spatial resolution and suppresses high-frequency artifacts. (orig.)

  13. sl(1|2) Super-Toda Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhan-Ying; Xue, Pan-Pan; Zhao, Liu; Shi, Kang-Jie

    2008-11-01

    Explicit exact solution of supersymmetric Toda fields associated with the Lie superalgebra sl(2|1) is constructed. The approach used is a super extension of Leznov Saveliev algebraic analysis, which is based on a pair of chiral and antichiral Drienfeld Sokolov systems. Though such approach is well understood for Toda field theories associated with ordinary Lie algebras, its super analogue was only successful in the super Liouville case with the underlying Lie superalgebra osp(1|2). The problem lies in that a key step in the construction makes use of the tensor product decomposition of the highest weight representations of the underlying Lie superalgebra, which is not clear until recently. So our construction made in this paper presents a first explicit example of Leznov Saveliev analysis for super Toda systems associated with underlying Lie superalgebras of the rank higher than 1.

  14. sl(1|2) Super-Toda Fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Zhanying; Xue Panpan; Zhao Liu; Shi Kangjie

    2008-01-01

    Explicit exact solution of supersymmetric Toda fields associated with the Lie superalgebra sl(2|1) is constructed. The approach used is a super extension of Leznov-Saveliev algebraic analysis, which is based on a pair of chiral and antichiral Drienfeld-Sokolov systems. Though such approach is well understood for Toda field theories associated with ordinary Lie algebras, its super analogue was only successful in the super Liouville case with the underlying Lie superalgebra osp(1|2). The problem lies in that a key step in the construction makes use of the tensor product decomposition of the highest weight representations of the underlying Lie superalgebra, which is not clear until recently. So our construction made in this paper presents a first explicit example of Leznov-Saveliev analysis for super Toda systems associated with underlying Lie superalgebras of the rank higher than 1

  15. GROUND-BASED TRANSIT OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUPER-EARTH 55 Cnc e

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Mooij, E. J. W. [Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto (Canada); López-Morales, M. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA (United States); Karjalainen, R.; Hrudkova, M. [Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, La Palma (Spain); Jayawardhana, Ray, E-mail: demooij@astro.utoronto.ca [Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto (Canada)

    2014-12-20

    We report the first ground-based detections of the shallow transit of the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cnc e using a 2 m class telescope. Using differential spectrophotometry, we observed one transit in 2013 and another in 2014, with average spectral resolutions of ∼700 and ∼250, spanning the Johnson BVR photometric bands. We find a white light planet-to-star radius ratio of 0.0190{sub −0.0027}{sup +0.0023} from the 2013 observations and 0.0200{sub −0.0018}{sup +0.0017} from the 2014 observations. The two data sets combined result in a radius ratio of 0.0198{sub −0.0014}{sup +0.0013}. These values are all in agreement with previous space-based results. Scintillation noise in the data prevents us from placing strong constraints on the presence of an extended hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Nevertheless, our detections of 55 Cnc e in transit demonstrate that moderate-sized telescopes on the ground will be capable of routine follow-up observations of super-Earth candidates discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite around bright stars. We expect it also will be possible to place constraints on the atmospheric characteristics of those planets by devising observational strategies to minimize scintillation noise.

  16. KlenTaq polymerase replicates unnatural base pairs by inducing a Watson-Crick geometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betz, Karin; Malyshev, Denis A; Lavergne, Thomas; Welte, Wolfram; Diederichs, Kay; Dwyer, Tammy J; Ordoukhanian, Phillip; Romesberg, Floyd E; Marx, Andreas

    2012-07-01

    Many candidate unnatural DNA base pairs have been developed, but some of the best-replicated pairs adopt intercalated structures in free DNA that are difficult to reconcile with known mechanisms of polymerase recognition. Here we present crystal structures of KlenTaq DNA polymerase at different stages of replication for one such pair, dNaM-d5SICS, and show that efficient replication results from the polymerase itself, inducing the required natural-like structure.

  17. Price fairness

    OpenAIRE

    Diller, Hermann

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this article is to integrate the various strands of fair price research into a concise conceptual model. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed price fairness model is based on a review of the fair pricing literature, incorporating research reported in not only English but also German. Findings – The proposed fair price model depicts seven components of a fair price: distributive fairness, consistent behaviour, personal respect and regard for the partner, fair dea...

  18. Identify super quality markers from prototype-based pharmacokinetic markers of Tangzhiqing tablet (TZQ) based on in vitro dissolution/ permeation and in vivo absorption correlations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ziqiang; Liu, Jia; Li, Yazhuo; Du, Xi; Li, Yanfen; Wang, Ruihua; Lv, Chunxiao; He, Xin; Wang, Baohe; Huang, Yuhong; Zhang, Deqin

    2018-06-01

    A quality marker (Q-marker) is defined as an inherent chemical compound that is used for the quality control of a drug. Its biological activities are closely related to safety and therapeutic effects. Generally, a multiple-component herbal medicine may have many Q-markers. We therefore proposed a concept of "super Q-marker" satisfying both the criterion of Q-markers and PK-markers to be used in more effective quality control of herbal medicine. The first aim was to find suitable prototype-based PK-markers from Tangzhiqing tablets (TZQ), a Chinese patent medicine. Then super Q-markers were expected to be identified from the prototype-based PK-markers based on an in vitro-in vivo correlation study. Potentially eligible prototype-based PK-markers were identified in a single- and multiple-dose pharmacokinetic study on TZQ in 30 healthy volunteers. The in vitro dissolution and permeation profiles of the prototype-based PK-markers of TZQ were evaluated by the physiologically-based drug dissolution/absorption simulating system (DDASS). An in vitro-in vivo correlation analysis was conducted between the dissolution/permeation behaviors in DDASS and the actual absorption profiles in human to test the transferability and traceability of the promising super Q-markers for TZQ. In human, plasma paeoniflorin and nuciferine as prototype-based PK-markers exhibited the appropriate pharmacokinetic properties, including dose-dependent systemic exposure (AUC, C max ) and a proper elimination half-life (1∼3h). In DDASS, it was predicted that paeoniflorin and nuciferine are highly permeable but the absorption rates are primarily limited by the dissolution rates. Moreover, the established in vitro-in vivo correlations of paeoniflorin and nuciferine were in support of the super Q-markers features. Paeoniflorin and nuciferine are identified as the super Q-markers from the prototype-based PK-markers of TZQ based on findings from a combination of in vitro, in vivo, and in vitro-in vivo

  19. Finding the multipath propagation of multivariable crude oil prices using a wavelet-based network approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Xiaoliang; An, Haizhong; Sun, Xiaoqi; Huang, Xuan; Gao, Xiangyun

    2016-04-01

    The globalization and regionalization of crude oil trade inevitably give rise to the difference of crude oil prices. The understanding of the pattern of the crude oil prices' mutual propagation is essential for analyzing the development of global oil trade. Previous research has focused mainly on the fuzzy long- or short-term one-to-one propagation of bivariate oil prices, generally ignoring various patterns of periodical multivariate propagation. This study presents a wavelet-based network approach to help uncover the multipath propagation of multivariable crude oil prices in a joint time-frequency period. The weekly oil spot prices of the OPEC member states from June 1999 to March 2011 are adopted as the sample data. First, we used wavelet analysis to find different subseries based on an optimal decomposing scale to describe the periodical feature of the original oil price time series. Second, a complex network model was constructed based on an optimal threshold selection to describe the structural feature of multivariable oil prices. Third, Bayesian network analysis (BNA) was conducted to find the probability causal relationship based on periodical structural features to describe the various patterns of periodical multivariable propagation. Finally, the significance of the leading and intermediary oil prices is discussed. These findings are beneficial for the implementation of periodical target-oriented pricing policies and investment strategies.

  20. Research and development of super light water reactors and super fast reactors in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Y.; Morooka, S.; Yamakawa, M.; Ishiwatari, Y.; Ikejiri, S.; Katsumura, Y.; Muroya, Y.; Terai, T.; Sasaki, K.; Mori, H.; Hamamoto, Y.; Okumura, K.; Kugo, T.; Nakatsuka, T.; Ezato, K.; Akasaka, N.; Hotta, A.

    2011-01-01

    Super Light Water Reactors (Super LWR) and Super Fast Reactors (Super FR) are the supercritical- pressure light water cooled reactors (SCWR) that are developed by the research group of University of Tokyo since 1989 and now jointly under development with the researchers of Waseda University, University of Tokyo and other organizations in Japan. The principle of the reactor concept development, the results of the past Super LWR and Super FR R&D as well as the R&D program of the Super FR second phase project are described. (author)

  1. Synthesis, characterization and potential utility of doped ceramics based catalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Ritika; Yadav, Deepshikha; Singh, G. P.; Vyas, G.; Bhojak, N.

    2018-05-01

    Excessive utilization of petrol, diesel and other fossil fuels, continuous increase in their prices, and the big problem of carbon dioxide mission have encouraged scientists and technologist to find either new sources of energy or to develop technologies for the sustainable utilization of fuel. Biofuels are the only energy technologies that can resolve the problem of carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere as well as reduce the amount of fossil fuel burned. Bio ethanol and biodiesel are the most common types of biofuel which are being used at present. Biodiesel has become more interesting for all the researchers in present scenario. Various feedstock viz. edible, nonedible oils, waste cooking oil, animal fat, algae etc, are using for the production of biodiesel worldwide according to their availability. Selection of efficient heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel preparation still needs more attention of researchers. The present investigation deals with determination of synthesis, characterization and applications of doped ceramic based materials in different medium. Two of doped ceramic based catalysts which has been potentially used for the production of biodiesel. The Engine performance of biodiesel samples, made from industrial waste oils and ceramic based catalyst, have also been investigated and found up to satisfactory levels.

  2. The super W∞ symmetry of the Manin-Radul super KP hierarchy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Das, A.; Sin, S.J.

    1991-11-01

    We show that the Manin-Radul super KP hierarchy is invariant under super W ∞ transformations. These transformations are characterized by time dependent flows which commute with the usual flows generated by the conserved quantities of the super KP hierarchy. (author). 16 refs

  3. Asymmetric distribution of the ionospheric electric potential in the opposite hemispheres as inferred from the SuperDARN observations and FAC-based convection model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lukianova, R.; Hanuise, C.; Christiansen, Freddy

    2008-01-01

    We compare the SuperDARN convection patterns with the predictions of a new numerical model of the global distribution of ionospheric electric potentials. The model utilizes high-precision statistical maps of field-aligned currents (FAC) derived from measurements made by polar-orbiting low-altitud...

  4. Aggregate modeling of fast-acting demand response and control under real-time pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chassin, David P.; Rondeau, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Demand elasticity for fast-acting demand response load under real-time pricing. • Validated first-principles logistic demand curve matches random utility model. • Logistic demand curve suitable for diversified aggregate loads market-based transactive control systems. - Abstract: This paper develops and assesses the performance of a short-term demand response (DR) model for utility load control with applications to resource planning and control design. Long term response models tend to underestimate short-term demand response when induced by prices. This has two important consequences. First, planning studies tend to undervalue DR and often overlook its benefits in utility demand management program development. Second, when DR is not overlooked, the open-loop DR control gain estimate may be too low. This can result in overuse of load resources, control instability and excessive price volatility. Our objective is therefore to develop a more accurate and better performing short-term demand response model. We construct the model from first principles about the nature of thermostatic load control and show that the resulting formulation corresponds exactly to the Random Utility Model employed in economics to study consumer choice. The model is tested against empirical data collected from field demonstration projects and is shown to perform better than alternative models commonly used to forecast demand in normal operating conditions. The results suggest that (1) existing utility tariffs appear to be inadequate to incentivize demand response, particularly in the presence of high renewables, and (2) existing load control systems run the risk of becoming unstable if utilities close the loop on real-time prices.

  5. The Earnings/Price Risk Factor in Capital Asset Pricing Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Falcão Noda

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This article integrates the ideas from two major lines of research on cost of equity and asset pricing: multi-factor models and ex ante accounting models. The earnings/price ratio is used as a proxy for the ex ante cost of equity, in order to explain realized returns of Brazilian companies within the period from 1995 to 2013. The initial finding was that stocks with high (low earnings/price ratios have higher (lower risk-adjusted realized returns, already controlled by the capital asset pricing model's beta. The results show that selecting stocks based on high earnings/price ratios has led to significantly higher risk-adjusted returns in the Brazilian market, with average abnormal returns close to 1.3% per month. We design asset pricing models including an earnings/price risk factor, i.e. high earnings minus low earnings, based on the Fama and French three-factor model. We conclude that such a risk factor is significant to explain returns on portfolios, even when controlled by size and market/book ratios. Models including the high earnings minus low earnings risk factor were better to explain stock returns in Brazil when compared to the capital asset pricing model and to the Fama and French three-factor model, having the lowest number of significant intercepts. These findings may be due to the impact of historically high inflation rates, which reduce the information content of book values, thus making the models based on earnings/price ratios better than those based on market/book ratios. Such results are different from those obtained in more developed markets and the superiority of the earnings/price ratio for asset pricing may also exist in other emerging markets.

  6. Natural gas for utility generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, T.

    1992-01-01

    Forecasters predict that natural gas will be the dominant fuel choice for utility capacity additions in the coming decade and that power generation will be by far the largest growth market for gas sales. While gas's low emissions, high efficiency potential, and present low cost argue persuasively for a surge in gas-fired generation, many utilities have been slow to commit to a gas future, citing reasoned concern about long-term price trends and the ability of gas suppliers to deliver the fuel where and when it will be needed. Meanwhile, the relatively low cost of gas-fired units is providing an opportunity for independent power producers to compete strongly with utilities for generation contracts. EPRI studies suggest that a sound, competitive strategy will be based not on how much gas a utility burns, but rather on how this capacity fits into its overall generating mix at various fuel price levels. Gas suppliers will need to pay special attention to the operating needs of power generators if they are to solidify this important market

  7. Information pricing based on trusted system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zehua; Zhang, Nan; Han, Hongfeng

    2018-05-01

    Personal information has become a valuable commodity in today's society. So our goal aims to develop a price point and a pricing system to be realistic. First of all, we improve the existing BLP system to prevent cascading incidents, design a 7-layer model. Through the cost of encryption in each layer, we develop PI price points. Besides, we use association rules mining algorithms in data mining algorithms to calculate the importance of information in order to optimize informational hierarchies of different attribute types when located within a multi-level trusted system. Finally, we use normal distribution model to predict encryption level distribution for users in different classes and then calculate information prices through a linear programming model with the help of encryption level distribution above.

  8. Pay for load demand - electricity pricing with load demand component

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pyrko, Jurek; Sernhed, Kerstin; Abaravicius, Juozas

    2003-01-01

    This publication is part of a project called Direct and Indirect Load Control in Buildings. Peak load problems have attracted considerable attention in Sweden during last three winters, caused by a significant decrease in available reserve power, which is a consequence of political decisions and liberalisation of the electricity market. A possible way to lower peak loads, avoiding electricity shortages and reducing electricity costs both for users and utilities, is to make customers experience the price difference during peak load periods and, in this way, become more aware of their energy consumption pattern and load demand. As of January 1st 2001, one of the Swedish energy utilities - Sollentuna Energi - operating in the Stockholm area, introduced a new electricity tariff with differentiated grid fees based on a mean value of the peak load every month. This tariff was introduced for all residential customers in the service area. The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which a Load Demand Component, included in electricity pricing, can influence energy use and load demand in residential buildings. What are the benefits and disadvantages for customers and utilities? This paper investigates the impact of the new tariff on the utility and different types of typical residential customers, making comparisons with previous tariff. Keywords Load demand, electricity pricing, tariff, residential customers, energy behaviour

  9. The effects of residential real-time pricing contracts on transco loads, pricing, and profitability: Simulations using the N-ABLE trademark agent-based model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ehlen, Mark A.; Scholand, Andrew J.; Stamber, Kevin L.

    2007-01-01

    An agent-based model is constructed in which a demand aggregator sells both uniform-price and real-time price (RTP) contracts to households as means for adding price elasticity in residential power use sectors, particularly during peak-price hours of the day. Simulations suggest that RTP contracts help a demand aggregator (1) shift its long-term contracts toward off-peak hours, thereby reducing its cost of power and (2) increase its short-run profits if it is one of the first aggregators to have large numbers of RTP contracts; but (3) create susceptibilities to short-term market demand and price volatilities. (author)

  10. X - FACTOR EVALUATION UNDER RPI-X REGULATION FOR INDIAN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PAVAN KHETRAPAL

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available With regulators’ growing interest in improving operational efficiency and quality supply, the time is nearing when performance based regulation will become norm for regulating the distribution tariff in Indian electricity distribution sector. In this context, the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions proposed replacing rate-of-return regulation with most commonly used performance based regulatory regime, i.e., Price Cap regulation also known as RPI-X (Retail Price Index - Productivity Offset regulatory framework. However, the potential problem associated with applying price cap regulation scheme in practice is the determination of productivity offset or X factor used in price caps setting. This paper proposed an approach to calculate the X-factor for 58 government-owned and privately-owned electricity distribution utilities in India during a five year period from 2007/08 to 2011/12. A Stochastic Frontier model through an input distance function is first applied to compute the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (TFP and the estimated TFP is then used to calculate the utility-specific X-factor. With rely on calculated X-factor, the distribution utilities would be able to cap either on prices or revenues thus accounting the inflation in the tariff determination. This will be more realistic approach as compared to cost plus approach.

  11. Status of the low-energy super-heavy element facility at RIKEN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schury, P., E-mail: schury@riken.jp [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Wada, M.; Ito, Y. [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Arai, F. [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Institute of Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki (Japan); Kaji, D. [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Kimura, S. [Institute of Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki (Japan); Morimoto, K.; Haba, H. [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Jeong, S. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies (IPNS), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Koura, H. [Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Miyatake, H. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies (IPNS), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Morita, K.; Reponen, M. [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Ozawa, A. [Institute of Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki (Japan); Sonoda, T.; Takamine, A. [RIKEN, Nishina Center for Accelerator Based Science, Wako City, Saitama (Japan); Wollnik, H. [Dept. Chemistry and BioChemistry, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM (United States)

    2016-06-01

    In order to investigate nuclei produced via fusion–evaporation reactions, especially super-heavy elements (SHE), we have begun construction of a facility for conversion of fusion–evaporation residues (EVR) to low-energy beams. At the base of this facility is a small cryogenic gas cell utilizing a traveling wave RF-carpet, located directly following the gas-filled recoil ion separator GARIS-II, which will thermalize EVRs to convert them into ion beams amenable to ion trapping. We present here the results of initial studies of this small gas cell.

  12. FY 1988 Report on research and development of super heat pump energy accumulation system. Part 1; 1988 nendo super heat pump energy shuseki system no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1989-11-01

    Summarized in detail herein are the 1988 R and D results of the super high performance compression heat pumps and elementary equipment/media, for R and D of the super heat pump energy accumulation system. For R and D of the heat pumps, the R and D efforts are directed to manufacture, on a trial basis, and installation of the bench plant, and preparation of the basic plan for the pilot system for the highly efficient type (for heating only); to researches on the screw compressor, bench plant operation, heat exchanger, and so on for the highly efficient type (for cooling and heating); to development of the compressor with which a screw type expander is integrated at the low-temperature side, evaporator and so on, test runs of the bench plant, researches on the control methods, and so on for the high temperature type (utilization low temperature heat source); and to manufacture, on a trial basis, of the high-speed reciprocating compressor and steam supercharger, and tests for demonstrating their performance for the high temperature type (utilizing high temperature heat source). For R and D of the elementary equipment and working fluids, the R and D efforts are directed to the evaporator and EHD condenser for the mixed working fluids, heat exchanger, working fluids (alcohol-based and nonalcohol-based), and so on. (NEDO)

  13. Perancangan dan Pengembangan Permainan “Super Sigi” Menggunakan Stencyl Sebagai Media Pengenalan Menyikat Gigi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusnia Alfi Syahrin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To maintain and preserve healthy teeth is very important to prevent damage inflicted due to ignore. The introduction for maintaining and preserving the healthy teeth since early seems necessary because the damage of teeth which allowed too long would be bad for children later. The introduction about healthy teeth care for children also can use the role of technology nowadays like multimedia. Based on those things, there is an idea to design and build a game application for helping that issue. Through this “Super Sigi” game, hopefully become an instrumentality of a healthy teeth care introduction especially of brushing the teeth for children. The “Super Sigi” game is made from Stencyl. Stencyl is a toolkit for creating 2D video games that will run on many different mobile and desktop devices. This game developed by the method of Multimedia Development Life Cycle (MDLC that consists of concept, design, collecting material, assembly, and distribution. The result of this research is a “Super Sigi” game application that can be a utility for children containing an introduction about how to care the teeth. Based on the black-box testing, the whole function of the menu that is in the game has successfully and run according to each function.

  14. A new approach for crude oil price prediction based on stream learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuang Gao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Crude oil is the world's leading fuel, and its prices have a big impact on the global environment, economy as well as oil exploration and exploitation activities. Oil price forecasts are very useful to industries, governments and individuals. Although many methods have been developed for predicting oil prices, it remains one of the most challenging forecasting problems due to the high volatility of oil prices. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for crude oil price prediction based on a new machine learning paradigm called stream learning. The main advantage of our stream learning approach is that the prediction model can capture the changing pattern of oil prices since the model is continuously updated whenever new oil price data are available, with very small constant overhead. To evaluate the forecasting ability of our stream learning model, we compare it with three other popular oil price prediction models. The experiment results show that our stream learning model achieves the highest accuracy in terms of both mean squared prediction error and directional accuracy ratio over a variety of forecast time horizons.

  15. The mid-Cretaceous super plume, carbon dioxide, and global warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldeira, Ken; Rampino, Michael R.

    1991-01-01

    Carbon-dioxide releases associated with a mid-Cretaceous super plume and the emplacement of the Ontong-Java Plateau have been suggested as a principal cause of the mid-Cretaceous global warming. A carbonate-silicate cycle model is developed to quantify the possible climatic effects of these CO2 releases, utilizing four different formulations for the rate of silicate-rock weathering as a function of atmospheric CO2. CO2 emissions resulting from super-plume tectonics could have produced atmospheric CO2 levels from 3.7 to 14.7 times the modern preindustrial value of 285 ppm. Based on the temperature sensitivity to CO2 increases used in the weathering-rate formulations, this would cause a global warming of from 2.8 to 7.7 C over today's glogal mean temperature. Altered continental positions and higher sea level may have been contributed about 4.8 C to mid-Cretaceous warming. Thus, the combined effects of paleogeographic changes and super-plume related CO2 emissions could be in the range of 7.6 to 12.5 C, within the 6 to 14 C range previously estimated for mid-Cretaceous warming. CO2 releases from oceanic plateaus alone are unlikely to have been directly responsible for more than 20 percent of the mid-Cretaceous increase in atmospheric CO2.

  16. Technology Timing and Pricing In the Presence of an Installed Base

    OpenAIRE

    Qiu_Hong Wang; Kai-Lung Hui

    2005-01-01

    This paper studies a vendor.s timing and pricing strategies to tackle its own installed base when selling a newly improved product. We characterize the market with either a partly- or fully- covered installed base, consumers. relative willingness to pay for the newly improved version of the product, and their relative payoffs from delayed purchase. Instead of using the conventional assumption of constant consumer reservation price, we propose that if consumers already own an existing (old) ve...

  17. Optimal Electricity Charge Strategy Based on Price Elasticity of Demand for Users

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xin; Xu, Daidai; Zang, Chuanzhi

    The price elasticity is very important for the prediction of electricity demand. This paper mainly establishes the price elasticity coefficient for electricity in single period and inter-temporal. Then, a charging strategy is established based on these coefficients. To evaluate the strategy proposed, simulations of the two elastic coefficients are carried out based on the history data of a certain region.

  18. Wavelet-based prediction of oil prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yousefi, Shahriar; Weinreich, Ilona; Reinarz, Dominik

    2005-01-01

    This paper illustrates an application of wavelets as a possible vehicle for investigating the issue of market efficiency in futures markets for oil. The paper provides a short introduction to the wavelets and a few interesting wavelet-based contributions in economics and finance are briefly reviewed. A wavelet-based prediction procedure is introduced and market data on crude oil is used to provide forecasts over different forecasting horizons. The results are compared with data from futures markets for oil and the relative performance of this procedure is used to investigate whether futures markets are efficiently priced

  19. Graphene-enabled electron microscopy and correlated super-resolution microscopy of wet cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wojcik, Michal; Hauser, Margaret; Li, Wan; Moon, Seonah; Xu, Ke

    2015-06-11

    The application of electron microscopy to hydrated biological samples has been limited by high-vacuum operating conditions. Traditional methods utilize harsh and laborious sample dehydration procedures, often leading to structural artefacts and creating difficulties for correlating results with high-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Here, we utilize graphene, a single-atom-thick carbon meshwork, as the thinnest possible impermeable and conductive membrane to protect animal cells from vacuum, thus enabling high-resolution electron microscopy of wet and untreated whole cells with exceptional ease. Our approach further allows for facile correlative super-resolution and electron microscopy of wet cells directly on the culturing substrate. In particular, individual cytoskeletal actin filaments are resolved in hydrated samples through electron microscopy and well correlated with super-resolution results.

  20. Value-based pricing: A success factor in the competitive struggle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Netseva-Porcheva Tatyana

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the past decade, the view that the main purpose of market oriented organizations is not to satisfy the consumer, but to create values has dominated. Exactly the values, their creation, retention and increase, are the main sources of competitive advantage of the company. The purpose of the present report is to present the price formation, based on product value, as a source of competitive advantage. In connection with the so-defined objective, the value and the product price for the customer are derived as key factors for success of the company in the competitive struggle; the role of the value of the product in the marketing and pricing is revealed; and theory clarifies the two basic approaches for determining the price of the product on the basis of value - customer value modeling (CVM and economic value modeling (EVM, their nature, scope of application, advantages and disadvantages.

  1. Do Canadian electricity prices reflect costs?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaccard, M.

    1993-01-01

    In an article by Cairns and Heyes (1993), it is argued that electricity pricing in Canada diverges from cost due to inter-class rate design that results in cross-subsidies, subsidized cost of capital, intra-class rate design that lacks time-of-use pricing, and failure to collect differential rent. Some problems with the key components of the initial assumption that prices diverge from cost are examined. The premise that inter-class rate design results in cross-subsidies may be correct, but is difficult to test since unregulated crown utilities are not required to make the necessary information public. Cairns and Heyes are on firmer ground in their assertion that provincial government backing of utility debts leads to lower costs of capital than would otherwise occur. Quebec and British Columbia governments have recently undertaken revenue collection initiatives justified under the rationale of addressing this situation. However, there are problems with the assumption that lack of time-of-use pricing indicates cost/price divergence, since such pricing is especially relevant in capacity-critical systems. Most hydroelectric systems are energy-critical and time-of-use differentials are not appropriate. Finally, recent evidence suggests reassessing the differential rent assumptions of the 1980s. The economic rents estimated in that period may be more accurately described as windfall rents existing in the short term while markets adjust to erratic fuel prices and cost changes in nuclear and hydro energy. There may be good economic efficiency arguments against short-term rent collection strategies involving erratic price adjustments. 1 ref

  2. Axial heterogeneous core concept applied for super phoenix reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batista, J.L.; Renke, C.A.C.; Waintraub, M.; Santos Bastos, W. dos; Brito Aghina, L.O. de.

    1991-11-01

    Always maintaining the current design rules, this paper presents a parametric study on the type of axial heterogeneous core concept (CHA), utilizing a core of fast reactor Super Phenix type, reaching a maximum thermal burnup rate of 150000 M W d/t and being managed in single batch. (author)

  3. An Evaluation of Research Replication with Q Method and Its Utility in Market Segmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, R. C.

    Precipitated by questions of using Q methodology in television market segmentation and of the replicability of such research, this paper reports on both a reexamination of 1968 research by Joseph M. Foley and an attempt to replicate Foley's study. By undertaking a reanalysis of the Foley data, the question of replication in Q method is addressed.…

  4. Applying Activity Based Costing (ABC) Method to Calculate Cost Price in Hospital and Remedy Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajabi, A; Dabiri, A

    2012-01-01

    Activity Based Costing (ABC) is one of the new methods began appearing as a costing methodology in the 1990's. It calculates cost price by determining the usage of resources. In this study, ABC method was used for calculating cost price of remedial services in hospitals. To apply ABC method, Shahid Faghihi Hospital was selected. First, hospital units were divided into three main departments: administrative, diagnostic, and hospitalized. Second, activity centers were defined by the activity analysis method. Third, costs of administrative activity centers were allocated into diagnostic and operational departments based on the cost driver. Finally, with regard to the usage of cost objectives from services of activity centers, the cost price of medical services was calculated. The cost price from ABC method significantly differs from tariff method. In addition, high amount of indirect costs in the hospital indicates that capacities of resources are not used properly. Cost price of remedial services with tariff method is not properly calculated when compared with ABC method. ABC calculates cost price by applying suitable mechanisms but tariff method is based on the fixed price. In addition, ABC represents useful information about the amount and combination of cost price services.

  5. Prelife catalysts and replicators

    OpenAIRE

    Ohtsuki, Hisashi; Nowak, Martin A.

    2009-01-01

    Life is based on replication and evolution. But replication cannot be taken for granted. We must ask what there was prior to replication and evolution. How does evolution begin? We have proposed prelife as a generative system that produces information and diversity in the absence of replication. We model prelife as a binary soup of active monomers that form random polymers. ‘Prevolutionary’ dynamics can have mutation and selection prior to replication. Some sequences might have catalytic acti...

  6. New market based price regulation on combined heat and power in Denmark

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koch, Jesper; Nielsen, Marianne; Hansen, Anders B.; Lawaetz, Henrik

    2003-01-01

    Major economic risks can become reality when local co-generation plants (L-CHP ) meet the full market penetration with new market based price regulation. Co-generation produces more than 50% of the national electricity consumption and half of the production is generated from L-CHP. The new price regulation is assumed to take action in 2004. The paper will present an analysis of a market based price regulation on the L-CHP-sector. The paper will spotlight on L-CHP in district heating systems supplying heat for domestic purposes. When smaller and medium sized CHP sell electricity they are paid an average price of 46 Euro per MWh. The return of selling electricity shall primarily cover the expenditure of buying gas for electricity production and writing off investments cost of a CHP-plant. With the framework of today it is a fact that the plants (in average) are only slightly competitive compared to individual heat production plants. When CHP meet market conditions there is a high risk that electricity prices will be reduced significantly (prices of 20 - 30 Euro per MWh) for a longer period. Significantly reduced electricity prices will result in dramatically increased heat prices. If no action is taken there will be a potential risk that heat consumers in the smaller and medium sized cities together must pay an extra bill of 200 million Euro each year. It corresponds to an average increase of the heating bill of 300 - 500 Euro per year for an average house. This is far from acceptable. There will also be a high risk that companies with industrial CHP will permanently convert to heat only boiler and only use their CHP occasionally because CHP plants might not be cost-effective when electricity prices are low. These effects can cause a significant increase of the national CO 2 emission

  7. Reduction of 4-dim self dual super Yang-Mills onto super Riemann surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendoza, A.; Restuccia, A.; Martin, I.

    1990-05-01

    Recently self dual super Yang-Mills over a super Riemann surface was obtained as the zero set of a moment map on the space of superconnections to the dual of the super Lie algebra of gauge transformations. We present a new formulation of 4-dim Euclidean self dual super Yang-Mills in terms of constraints on the supercurvature. By dimensional reduction we obtain the same set of superconformal field equations which define self dual connections on a super Riemann surface. (author). 10 refs

  8. Nonlinear Pricing in Energy and Environmental Markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ito, Koichiro

    This dissertation consists of three empirical studies on nonlinear pricing in energy and environmental markets. The first investigates how consumers respond to multi-tier nonlinear price schedules for residential electricity. Chapter 2 asks a similar research question for residential water pricing. Finally, I examine the effect of nonlinear financial rewards for energy conservation by applying a regression discontinuity design to a large-scale electricity rebate program that was implemented in California. Economic theory generally assumes that consumers respond to marginal prices when making economic decisions, but this assumption may not hold for complex price schedules. The chapter "Do Consumers Respond to Marginal or Average Price? Evidence from Nonlinear Electricity Pricing" provides empirical evidence that consumers respond to average price rather than marginal price when faced with nonlinear electricity price schedules. Nonlinear price schedules, such as progressive income tax rates and multi-tier electricity prices, complicate economic decisions by creating multiple marginal prices for the same good. Evidence from laboratory experiments suggests that consumers facing such price schedules may respond to average price as a heuristic. I empirically test this prediction using field data by exploiting price variation across a spatial discontinuity in electric utility service areas. The territory border of two electric utilities lies within several city boundaries in southern California. As a result, nearly identical households experience substantially different nonlinear electricity price schedules. Using monthly household-level panel data from 1999 to 2008, I find strong evidence that consumers respond to average price rather than marginal or expected marginal price. I show that even though this sub-optimizing behavior has a minimal impact on individual welfare, it can critically alter the policy implications of nonlinear pricing. The second chapter " How Do

  9. The impact of oil price on Malaysian sector indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ismail, Mohd Tahir; Luan, Yeap Pei; Ee, Ong Joo

    2015-12-01

    In this paper, vector error correction model (VECM) has been utilized to model the dynamic relationships between world crude oil price and the sector indices of Malaysia. The sector indices have been collected are covering the period Jan 1998 to Dec 2013. Surprisingly, our investigations show that oil price changes do not Granger-cause any of the sectors in all of Malaysia. However, sector indices of Food Producer and Utilities are found to be the cause of the changes in world crude oil prices. Furthermore, from the results of variance decomposition, very high percentage of shocks is explained by world crude oil price itself over the 12 months and small impact from other sector indices.

  10. An integrated utility-based model of conflict evaluation and resolution in the Stroop task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuderski, Adam; Smolen, Tomasz

    2016-04-01

    Cognitive control allows humans to direct and coordinate their thoughts and actions in a flexible way, in order to reach internal goals regardless of interference and distraction. The hallmark test used to examine cognitive control is the Stroop task, which elicits both the weakly learned but goal-relevant and the strongly learned but goal-irrelevant response tendencies, and requires people to follow the former while ignoring the latter. After reviewing the existing computational models of cognitive control in the Stroop task, its novel, integrated utility-based model is proposed. The model uses 3 crucial control mechanisms: response utility reinforcement learning, utility-based conflict evaluation using the Festinger formula for assessing the conflict level, and top-down adaptation of response utility in service of conflict resolution. Their complex, dynamic interaction led to replication of 18 experimental effects, being the largest data set explained to date by 1 Stroop model. The simulations cover the basic congruency effects (including the response latency distributions), performance dynamics and adaptation (including EEG indices of conflict), as well as the effects resulting from manipulations applied to stimulation and responding, which are yielded by the extant Stroop literature. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. On maximizing profit of wind-battery supported power station based on wind power and energy price forecasting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khalid, Muhammad; Aguilera, Ricardo P.; Savkin, Andrey V.

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposes a framework to develop an optimal power dispatch strategy for grid-connected wind power plants containing a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Considering the intermittent nature of wind power and rapidly varying electricity market price, short-term forecasting...... Dynamic Programming tool which can incorporate the predictions of both wind power and market price simultaneously as inputs in a receding horizon approach. The proposed strategy is validated using real electricity market price and wind power data in different scenarios of BESS power and capacity...... of these variables is used for efficient energy management. The predicted variability trends in market price assist in earning additional income which subsequently increase the operational profit. Then on the basis of income improvement, optimal capacity of the BESS can be determined. The proposed framework utilizes...

  12. Super-preshowers (DPG-Fruehjahrstagung 2016)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaeaepae, Alex [Bergische Universitaet Wuppertal, Gaussstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal (Germany); Collaboration: Pierre-Auger-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    Based on the current data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, no evidence of cosmic ray photon primaries has been found. However, photon primaries could induce so-called ''super-preshowers'', which have not been considered sofar, but are a promising candidate for explaining the ''composition puzzle'' at ultra-high energies. In this presentation, possible super-preshower processes are examined, and their effects on important Auger parameters, such as the energy deposit and muon production, are studied via simulations.

  13. Calculus super review

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    Get all you need to know with Super Reviews! Each Super Review is packed with in-depth, student-friendly topic reviews that fully explain everything about the subject. The Calculus I Super Review includes a review of functions, limits, basic derivatives, the definite integral, combinations, and permutations. Take the Super Review quizzes to see how much you've learned - and where you need more study. Makes an excellent study aid and textbook companion. Great for self-study!DETAILS- From cover to cover, each in-depth topic review is easy-to-follow and easy-to-grasp - Perfect when preparing for

  14. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy by stepwise optical saturation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yide; Nallathamby, Prakash D.; Vigil, Genevieve D.; Khan, Aamir A.; Mason, Devon E.; Boerckel, Joel D.; Roeder, Ryan K.; Howard, Scott S.

    2018-01-01

    Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy is an important tool in biomedical research for its ability to discern features smaller than the diffraction limit. However, due to its difficult implementation and high cost, the super-resolution microscopy is not feasible in many applications. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a saturation-based super-resolution fluorescence microscopy technique that can be easily implemented and requires neither additional hardware nor complex post-processing. The method is based on the principle of stepwise optical saturation (SOS), where M steps of raw fluorescence images are linearly combined to generate an image with a M-fold increase in resolution compared with conventional diffraction-limited images. For example, linearly combining (scaling and subtracting) two images obtained at regular powers extends the resolution by a factor of 1.4 beyond the diffraction limit. The resolution improvement in SOS microscopy is theoretically infinite but practically is limited by the signal-to-noise ratio. We perform simulations and experimentally demonstrate super-resolution microscopy with both one-photon (confocal) and multiphoton excitation fluorescence. We show that with the multiphoton modality, the SOS microscopy can provide super-resolution imaging deep in scattering samples. PMID:29675306

  15. Nonlinear Pricing of Information Goods

    OpenAIRE

    Arun Sundararajan

    2003-01-01

    This paper analyzes optimal pricing for information goods under incomplete information, when both unlimited-usage (fixed-fee) pricing and usage-based pricing are feasible, and administering usage-based pricing may involve transaction costs. It is shown that offering fixed- fee pricing in addition to a non-linear usage-based pricing scheme is always profit-improving in the presence of any non-zero transaction costs, and there may be markets in which a pure fixed-fee is optimal. This implies th...

  16. Option-Based Estimation of the Price of Co-Skewness and Co-Kurtosis Risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Fournier, Mathieu

    -neutral second moments, and the price of co-kurtosis risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk-neutral third moments. The option-based estimates of the prices of risk lead to reasonable values of the associated risk premia. An out-of-sample analysis of factor models with co-skewness and co......We show that the prices of risk for factors that are nonlinear in the market return are readily obtained using index option prices. We apply this insight to the price of co-skewness and co-kurtosis risk. The price of co-skewness risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk......-kurtosis risk indicates that the new estimates of the price of risk improve the models performance. Models with higher-order market moments also robustly outperform standard competitors such as the CAPM and the Fama-French model....

  17. Option-Based Estimation of the Price of Co-Skewness and Co-Kurtosis Risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Jacobs, Kris

    -neutral second moments, and the price of co-kurtosis risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk-neutral third moments. The option-based estimates of the prices of risk lead to reasonable values of the associated risk premia. An out-of-sample analysis of factor models with co-skewness and co......We show that the prices of risk for factors that are nonlinear in the market return are readily obtained using index option prices. We apply this insight to the price of co-skewness and co-kurtosis risk. The price of co-skewness risk corresponds to the spread between the physical and the risk......-kurtosis risk indicates that the new estimates of the price of risk improve the models' performance. Models with higher-order market moments also robustly outperform standard competitors such as the CAPM and the Fama-French model....

  18. a Super Voxel-Based Riemannian Graph for Multi Scale Segmentation of LIDAR Point Clouds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Minglei

    2018-04-01

    Automatically segmenting LiDAR points into respective independent partitions has become a topic of great importance in photogrammetry, remote sensing and computer vision. In this paper, we cast the problem of point cloud segmentation as a graph optimization problem by constructing a Riemannian graph. The scale space of the observed scene is explored by an octree-based over-segmentation with different depths. The over-segmentation produces many super voxels which restrict the structure of the scene and will be used as nodes of the graph. The Kruskal coordinates are used to compute edge weights that are proportional to the geodesic distance between nodes. Then we compute the edge-weight matrix in which the elements reflect the sectional curvatures associated with the geodesic paths between super voxel nodes on the scene surface. The final segmentation results are generated by clustering similar super voxels and cutting off the weak edges in the graph. The performance of this method was evaluated on LiDAR point clouds for both indoor and outdoor scenes. Additionally, extensive comparisons to state of the art techniques show that our algorithm outperforms on many metrics.

  19. The SUPER Program: A Research-based Undergraduate Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ernakovich, J. G.; Boone, R. B.; Boot, C. M.; Denef, K.; Lavallee, J. M.; Moore, J. C.; Wallenstein, M. D.

    2014-12-01

    Producing undergraduates capable of broad, independent thinking is one of the grand challenges in science education. Experience-based learning, specifically hands-on research, is one mechanism for increasing students' ability to think critically. With this in mind, we created a two-semester long research program called SUPER (Skills for Undergraduate Participation in Ecological Research) aimed at teaching students to think like scientists and enhancing the student research experience through instruction and active-learning about the scientific method. Our aim was for students to gain knowledge, skills, and experience, and to conduct their own research. In the first semester, we hosted active-learning workshops on "Forming Hypotheses", "Experimental Design", "Collecting and Managing Data", "Analysis of Data", "Communicating to a Scientific Audience", "Reading Literature Effectively", and "Ethical Approaches". Each lesson was taught by different scientists from one of many ecological disciplines so that students were exposed to the variation in approach that scientists have. In the second semester, students paired with a scientific mentor and began doing research. To ensure the continued growth of the undergraduate researcher, we continued the active-learning workshops and the students attended meetings with their mentors. Thus, the students gained technical and cognitive skills in parallel, enabling them to understand both "the how" and "the why" of what they were doing in their research. The program culminated with a research poster session presented by the students. The interest in the program has grown beyond our expectations, and we have now run the program successfully for two years. Many of the students have gone on to campus research jobs, internships and graduate school, and have attributed part of their success in obtaining their positions to their experience with the SUPER program. Although common in other sciences, undergraduate research experiences are

  20. Plasticity of DNA replication initiation in Epstein-Barr virus episomes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Norio

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available In mammalian cells, the activity of the sites of initiation of DNA replication appears to be influenced epigenetically, but this regulation is not fully understood. Most studies of DNA replication have focused on the activity of individual initiation sites, making it difficult to evaluate the impact of changes in initiation activity on the replication of entire genomic loci. Here, we used single molecule analysis of replicated DNA (SMARD to study the latent duplication of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV episomes in human cell lines. We found that initiation sites are present throughout the EBV genome and that their utilization is not conserved in different EBV strains. In addition, SMARD shows that modifications in the utilization of multiple initiation sites occur across large genomic regions (tens of kilobases in size. These observations indicate that individual initiation sites play a limited role in determining the replication dynamics of the EBV genome. Long-range mechanisms and the genomic context appear to play much more important roles, affecting the frequency of utilization and the order of activation of multiple initiation sites. Finally, these results confirm that initiation sites are extremely redundant elements of the EBV genome. We propose that these conclusions also apply to mammalian chromosomes.

  1. Uranium price reporting systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-09-01

    This report describes the systems for uranium price reporting currently available to the uranium industry. The report restricts itself to prices for U 3 O 8 natural uranium concentrates. Most purchases of natural uranium by utilities, and sales by producers, are conducted in this form. The bulk of uranium in electricity generation is enriched before use, and is converted to uranium hexafluoride, UF 6 , prior to enrichment. Some uranium is traded as UF 6 or as enriched uranium, particularly in the 'secondary' market. Prices for UF 6 and enriched uranium are not considered directly in this report. However, where transactions in UF 6 influence the reported price of U 3 O 8 this influence is taken into account. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms uranium and natural uranium used here refer exclusively to U 3 O 8 . (author)

  2. Price adjustment for traditional Chinese medicine procedures: Based on a standardized value parity model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Haiyin; Jin, Chunlin; Jiang, Qingwu

    2017-11-20

    Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of China's medical system. Due to the prolonged low price of TCM procedures and the lack of an effective mechanism for dynamic price adjustment, the development of TCM has markedly lagged behind Western medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the need to enhance the development of alternative and traditional medicine when creating national health care systems. The establishment of scientific and appropriate mechanisms to adjust the price of medical procedures in TCM is crucial to promoting the development of TCM. This study has examined incorporating value indicators and data on basic manpower expended, time spent, technical difficulty, and the degree of risk in the latest standards for the price of medical procedures in China, and this study also offers a price adjustment model with the relative price ratio as a key index. This study examined 144 TCM procedures and found that prices of TCM procedures were mainly based on the value of medical care provided; on average, medical care provided accounted for 89% of the price. Current price levels were generally low and the current price accounted for 56% of the standardized value of a procedure, on average. Current price levels accounted for a markedly lower standardized value of acupuncture, moxibustion, special treatment with TCM, and comprehensive TCM procedures. This study selected a total of 79 procedures and adjusted them by priority. The relationship between the price of TCM procedures and the suggested price was significantly optimized (p based on a standardized value parity model is a scientific and suitable method of price adjustment that can serve as a reference for other provinces and municipalities in China and other countries and regions that mainly have fee-for-service (FFS) medical care.

  3. Super(210) Pb based trace element fluxes in the nearshore and estuarine sediments off Bombay, India

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Sharma, P.; Borole, D.V.; Zingde, M.D.

    Seven sediment cores from the Thana Creek-Bombay harbour complex (THC) have been studied for excess super(210) Pb (super(210) Pb sub(exc), that portion of super(210) Pb not supported by decay of super(226) Ra in sediment), C sub(org), Mn, Fe, Co, Ni...

  4. Modeling the relationship between the oil price and global food prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Sheng-Tung; Kuo, Hsiao-I; Chen, Chi-Chung

    2010-01-01

    The growth of corn-based ethanol production and soybean-based bio-diesel production following the increase in the oil prices have significantly affect the world agricultural grain productions and its prices. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between the crude oil price and the global grain prices for corn, soybean, and wheat. The empirical results show that the change in each grain price is significantly influenced by the changes in the crude oil price and other grain prices during the period extending from the 3rd week in 2005 to the 20th week in 2008 which implies that grain commodities are competing with the derived demand for bio-fuels by using soybean or corn to produce ethanol or bio-diesel during the period of higher crude oil prices in these recent years. The subsidy policies in relation to the bio-fuel industries in some nations engaging in bio-fuel production should be considered to avoid the consequences resulting from high oil prices. (author)

  5. Motivating Calculus-Based Kinematics Instruction with Super Mario Bros

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordine, Jeffrey C.

    2011-09-01

    High-quality physics instruction is contextualized, motivates students to learn, and represents the discipline as a way of investigating the world rather than as a collection of facts and equations. Inquiry-oriented pedagogy, such as problem-based instruction, holds great promise for both teaching physics content and representing the process of doing real science.2 A challenge for physics teachers is to find instructional contexts that are meaningful, accessible, and motivating for students. Today's students are spending a growing fraction of their lives interacting with virtual environments, and these environments—physically realistic or not—can provide valuable contexts for physics explorations3-5 and lead to thoughtful discussions about decisions that programmers make when designing virtual environments. In this article, I describe a problem-based approach to calculus-based kinematics instruction that contextualizes students' learning within the Super Mario Bros. video game—a game that is more than 20 years old, but still remarkably popular with today's high school and college students.

  6. The effect of utility time-varying pricing and load control strategies on residential summer peak electricity use. A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newsham, Guy R.; Bowker, Brent G.

    2010-01-01

    Peak demand for electricity in North America is expected to grow, challenging electrical utilities to supply this demand in a cost-effective, reliable manner. Therefore, there is growing interest in strategies to reduce peak demand by eliminating electricity use, or shifting it to non-peak times. This strategy is commonly called 'demand response'. In households, common strategies are time-varying pricing, which charge more for energy use on peak, or direct load control, which allows utilities to curtail certain loads during high demand periods. We reviewed recent North American studies of these strategies. The data suggest that the most effective strategy is a critical peak price (CPP) program with enabling technology to automatically curtail loads on event days. There is little evidence that this causes substantial hardship for occupants, particularly if they have input into which loads are controlled and how, and have an override option. In such cases, a peak load reduction of at least 30% is a reasonable expectation. It might be possible to attain such load reductions without enabling technology by focusing on household types more likely to respond, and providing them with excellent support. A simple time-of-use (TOU) program can only expect to realise on-peak reductions of 5%. (author)

  7. Economics of pyrolysis-based energy production and biochar utilization: A case study in Taiwan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kung, Chih-Chun; McCarl, Bruce A.; Cao, Xiaoyong

    2013-01-01

    Pyrolysis is an alternative form of renewable energy production and a potential source of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. This study examines how poplar-based biochar can be applied in Taiwan for electricity generation and for soil improvement and to what extent it brings economic and environmental benefits. It is a preliminary study and focuses on the balances of different economic and environmental items. This paper reports on a case study examination of the economic and greenhouse gas implications of pyrolysis plus biochar utilization. The case study involves using poplar grown on set-aside land in Taiwan with the biochar applied to rice fields. We examine both fast and slow forms of pyrolysis and find how the profitability varies under different price structures. The results show that fast pyrolysis is more profitable than slow pyrolysis under current electricity price, GHG price and crop yield as the slow pyrolysis generates relatively less electricity but lower value product—biochar. We also find that fast pyrolysis and slow pyrolysis offset about 1.4 t and 1.57 t of CO 2 equivalent per ton of raw material, respectively. - Highlights: • Profitability varies due to sales revenue from electricity generation. • Neither fast pyrolysis nor slow pyrolysis is profitable under current electricity price. • Both systems offset about 1.4 t to 1.57 t of CO 2 equivalent per ton of raw material

  8. Supermanifolds and super Riemann surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rabin, J.M.

    1986-09-01

    The theory of super Riemann surfaces is rigorously developed using Rogers' theory of supermanifolds. The global structures of super Teichmueller space and super moduli space are determined. The super modular group is shown to be precisely the ordinary modular group. Super moduli space is shown to be the gauge-fixing slice for the fermionic string path integral

  9. Materials Chemistry and Performance of Silicone-Based Replicating Compounds.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brumbach, Michael T.; Mirabal, Alex James; Kalan, Michael; Trujillo, Ana B; Hale, Kevin

    2014-11-01

    Replicating compounds are used to cast reproductions of surface features on a variety of materials. Replicas allow for quantitative measurements and recordkeeping on parts that may otherwise be difficult to measure or maintain. In this study, the chemistry and replicating capability of several replicating compounds was investigated. Additionally, the residue remaining on material surfaces upon removal of replicas was quantified. Cleaning practices were tested for several different replicating compounds. For all replicating compounds investigated, a thin silicone residue was left by the replica. For some compounds, additional inorganic species could be identified in the residue. Simple solvent cleaning could remove some residue.

  10. Leadership Training Program for Shared Leadership Based on Super Leadership at Cheo-Eum Korean Presbyterian Church: A Study of Christian Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youn, Houng Jin

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this dissertation was to launch a leadership training program for shared leadership based on "super leadership." The constructs of the study were designed to study Bible leaders in shared leadership, leadership paradigm and types, transformational leadership, and, super leadership and shared leadership theory that are all…

  11. Entropy-based financial asset pricing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihály Ormos

    Full Text Available We investigate entropy as a financial risk measure. Entropy explains the equity premium of securities and portfolios in a simpler way and, at the same time, with higher explanatory power than the beta parameter of the capital asset pricing model. For asset pricing we define the continuous entropy as an alternative measure of risk. Our results show that entropy decreases in the function of the number of securities involved in a portfolio in a similar way to the standard deviation, and that efficient portfolios are situated on a hyperbola in the expected return-entropy system. For empirical investigation we use daily returns of 150 randomly selected securities for a period of 27 years. Our regression results show that entropy has a higher explanatory power for the expected return than the capital asset pricing model beta. Furthermore we show the time varying behavior of the beta along with entropy.

  12. Entropy-based financial asset pricing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormos, Mihály; Zibriczky, Dávid

    2014-01-01

    We investigate entropy as a financial risk measure. Entropy explains the equity premium of securities and portfolios in a simpler way and, at the same time, with higher explanatory power than the beta parameter of the capital asset pricing model. For asset pricing we define the continuous entropy as an alternative measure of risk. Our results show that entropy decreases in the function of the number of securities involved in a portfolio in a similar way to the standard deviation, and that efficient portfolios are situated on a hyperbola in the expected return-entropy system. For empirical investigation we use daily returns of 150 randomly selected securities for a period of 27 years. Our regression results show that entropy has a higher explanatory power for the expected return than the capital asset pricing model beta. Furthermore we show the time varying behavior of the beta along with entropy.

  13. Pricing structures in US coal supply contracts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kacker, Kanishka

    The subject of my dissertation is the study of coal procurement by electric utilities in the US over 2 decades, from 1979 to 2000. Energy markets are typically characterized by severe contracting problems. Buyers and sellers therefore employ various instruments, such as contract length or complex pricing arrangements, to restrict these problems. Relationship specific investment, wherein buyers make investments specific to their suppliers, has been advanced as a prominent explanation for contractual length. Investment decisions are however endogenous in length or pricing, making causal identification of the role of investment specificity difficult. In my first chapter, I attempt a resolution. I use the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment as an exogenous shifter of the extent of relationship specific investment. A key feature of the Amendment's design helps me define a difference-in-difference model arguably free of the endogeneity issues discussed above. I find that the plants forced into switching - Phase I plants located in the US Midwest - are more likely to choose fixed price contracts than those that were not. Further they also write contracts of shorter terms, with the reduction being approximately 30%. Considerably little is known about the performance implications of contractual choices. These form the basis for Chapter 2. Here I find prices to be lower, by between 5% to 20% of the total transaction price, but the probability of renegotiation higher, under fixed price contracts than under escalator or cost-plus contracts. Contract choices appear consistent with a trade-off between establishing incentives ex-ante and lowering negotiation costs ex-post, with relationship specific investments in particular making such a trade-off compelling. Chapter 3 considers the regulatory environment these utilities were subject to. Both incentive based regulation as well as the restructuring of electricity generation are smaller in comparison to relationship specific investment

  14. Stittco Utilities Man Ltd. application for an interim ex parte order under section 45 of the Public Utilities Board Act for the approval of a change to its schedule of rates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1990-11-15

    Stittco Utilities, a company distributing propane in Manitoba, applied to the Manitoba Public Utilities Board for an interim order authorizing an increase in rates for all domestic and commercial customers in 3 Manitoba localities. The rate increase requested is based on the increase in the commodity price of propane and related changes in freight rates. If approved, the average rate will increase by ca 28% for residential customers and 27% for commercial customers. With the expectation that the price of propane would decrease in the near future, Stittco proposed to base its rates on a propane price lower than the current market price, in an effort to retain existing customers. Stittco also proposed to establish a variance account, in which the difference between the cost of propane built into the rates and the actual market price would be accumulated. From time to time Stittco would apply to adjust the rate schedule to refund overages or collect shortfalls contained in this variance account. It is Stittco's intention to cancel its new propane supply contract when propane prices stabilize and enter into a new fixed-price contract. Stittco would then apply for a new rate schedule based on the long-term price of propane. Based on the evidence, the Board decided that a prima facie case has been made showing a 105% increase in Stittco's cost of product and delivery, and that this increase should be passed through to Stittco customers effective November 16, 1990. Status reports were required for the variance account starting December 1990.

  15. Distributed, price-based control approach to market-based operation of future power systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jokic, A.; Bosch, van den P.P.J.; Hermans, R.M.

    2009-01-01

    In this paper we present, discuss and illustrate on examples the price-based control paradigm as a suitable approach to solve some of the challenging problems facing future, market-based power systems. It is illustrated how global objectives and constraints are optimally translated into time-varying

  16. The effects of the vegetable prices insurance on the fluctuation of price: Based on Shanghai evidences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Chunhong; Li, Huishang; Hao, Shuai; Zhang, Xuebiao; Yang, Wei

    2017-10-01

    Taking Shanghai as an example, the influence of the vegetable price insurance on the fluctuation of prices was analyzed in the article. It was found that the sequence of seasonal fluctuations characteristics of leafy vegetable prices was changed by the vegetable cost-price insurance, the period of price fluctuation was elongated from 12-to-18 months to 37 months, and the influence of random factors on the price fluctuations was reduced in some degree. There was still great space for innovation of the vegetable prices insurance system in Shanghai. Some countermeasures would be suggested to develop the insurance system to better to play the role of insurance and promote the market running more smoothly in Shanghai such as prolonging the insurance cycle, improving the price information monitoring mechanism and innovating income insurance products and so on.

  17. Washington biofuel feedstock crop supply under output price and quantity uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng Qiujie; Shumway, C. Richard

    2012-01-01

    Subsidized development of an in-state biofuels industry has received some political support in the state of Washington, USA. Utilizing in-state feedstock supplies could be an efficient way to stimulate biofuel industries and the local economy. In this paper we estimate supply under output price and quantity uncertainty for major biofuel feedstock crops in Washington. Farmers are expected to be risk averse and maximize the utility of profit and uncertainty. We estimate very large Washington price elasticities for corn and sugar beets but a small price elasticity for a third potential feedstock, canola. Even with the large price elasticities for two potential feedstocks, their current and historical production levels in the state are so low that unrealistically large incentives would likely be needed to obtain sufficient feedstock supply for a Washington biofuel industry. Based on our examination of state and regional data, we find low likelihood that a Washington biofuels industry will develop in the near future primarily using within-state biofuel feedstock crops. - Highlights: ► Within-state feedstock crop supplies insufficient for Washington biofuel industry. ► Potential Washington corn and sugar beet supplies very responsive to price changes. ► Feedstock supplies more responsive to higher expected profit than lower risk. ► R and D for conversion of waste cellulosic feedstocks is potentially important policy.

  18. Variance Swaps in BM&F: Pricing and Viability of Hedge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard John Brostowicz Junior

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available A variance swap can theoretically be priced with an infinite set of vanilla calls and puts options considering that the realized variance follows a purely diffusive process with continuous monitoring. In this article we willanalyze the possible differences in pricing considering discrete monitoring of realized variance. It will analyze the pricing of variance swaps with payoff in dollars, since there is a OTC market that works this way and thatpotentially serve as a hedge for the variance swaps traded in BM&F. Additionally, will be tested the feasibility of hedge of variance swaps when there is liquidity in just a few exercise prices, as is the case of FX optionstraded in BM&F. Thus be assembled portfolios containing variance swaps and their replicating portfolios using the available exercise prices as proposed in (DEMETERFI et al., 1999. With these portfolios, the effectiveness of the hedge was not robust in mostly of tests conducted in this work.

  19. Quantitative live imaging of endogenous DNA replication in mammalian cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Burgess

    Full Text Available Historically, the analysis of DNA replication in mammalian tissue culture cells has been limited to static time points, and the use of nucleoside analogues to pulse-label replicating DNA. Here we characterize for the first time a novel Chromobody cell line that specifically labels endogenous PCNA. By combining this with high-resolution confocal time-lapse microscopy, and with a simplified analysis workflow, we were able to produce highly detailed, reproducible, quantitative 4D data on endogenous DNA replication. The increased resolution allowed accurate classification and segregation of S phase into early-, mid-, and late-stages based on the unique subcellular localization of endogenous PCNA. Surprisingly, this localization was slightly but significantly different from previous studies, which utilized over-expressed GFP tagged forms of PCNA. Finally, low dose exposure to Hydroxyurea caused the loss of mid- and late-S phase localization patterns of endogenous PCNA, despite cells eventually completing S phase. Taken together, these results indicate that this simplified method can be used to accurately identify and quantify DNA replication under multiple and various experimental conditions.

  20. Ordinal Regression Based Subpixel Shift Estimation for Video Super-Resolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrovic Nemanja

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a supervised learning-based approach for subpixel motion estimation which is then used to perform video super-resolution. The novelty of this work is the formulation of the problem of subpixel motion estimation in a ranking framework. The ranking formulation is a variant of classification and regression formulation, in which the ordering present in class labels namely, the shift between patches is explicitly taken into account. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of our approach on superresolving synthetically generated images with global subpixel shifts and enhancing real video frames by accounting for both local integer and subpixel shifts.

  1. Unified Model for Generation Complex Networks with Utility Preferential Attachment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Jianjun; Gao Ziyou; Sun Huijun

    2006-01-01

    In this paper, based on the utility preferential attachment, we propose a new unified model to generate different network topologies such as scale-free, small-world and random networks. Moreover, a new network structure named super scale network is found, which has monopoly characteristic in our simulation experiments. Finally, the characteristics of this new network are given.

  2. Deterministic phase measurements exhibiting super-sensitivity and super-resolution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schäfermeier, Clemens; Ježek, Miroslav; Madsen, Lars S.

    2018-01-01

    Phase super-sensitivity is obtained when the sensitivity in a phase measurement goes beyond the quantum shot noise limit, whereas super-resolution is obtained when the interference fringes in an interferometer are narrower than half the input wavelength. Here we show experimentally that these two...

  3. Portability, Salary and Asset Price Risk: A Continuous-Time Expected Utility Comparison of DB and DC Pension Plans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    An Chen

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper compares two different types of private retirement plans from the perspective of a representative beneficiary: a defined benefit (DB and a defined contribution (DC plan. While salary risk is the main common risk factor in DB and DC pension plans, one of the key differences is that DB plans carry portability risks, whereas DC plans bear asset price risk. We model these tradeoffs explicitly in this paper and compare these two plans in a utility-based framework. Our numerical analysis focuses on answering the question of when the beneficiary is indifferent between the DB and DC plan. Most of our results confirm the findings in the existing literature, among which, e.g., portability losses considerably reduce the relative attractiveness of the DB plan. However, we also find that the attractiveness of the DB plan can decrease in the level of risk aversion, which is inconsistent with the existing literature.

  4. Tergiversating the price of nuclear waste storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mills, R.L.

    1984-01-01

    Tergiversation, the evasion of straightforward action of clearcut statement of position, was a characteristic of high-level nuclear waste disposal until the US Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. How the price of waste storage is administered will affect the design requirements of monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facilities as well as repositories. Those decisions, in part, are internal to the Department of Energy. From the utility's viewpoint, the options are few but clearer. Reprocessing, as performed in Europe, is not a perfect substitute for MRS. The European reprocess-repository sequence will not yield the same nuclear resource base as the American MRS-repository scheme. For the future price of the energy resource represented by nuclear waste, the author notes that tergiversation continues. 3 references

  5. The imperfect price reversibility of non-transport oil demand in the OECD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dargay, J.; Gately, D.

    1995-01-01

    This paper examines the price reversibility of OECD non-transport oil demand and its components: residual (heavy) fuel oil, non-transport distillates and other non-transport oil products. Our purpose is to determine the extent to which the reductions in demand following the oil price increases of the 1970s have been - and will be - reversed by the price cuts of the 1980s. The analysis is based on an econometric model which utilizes price decomposition methods to measure separately the effects of price increases and price decreases. These methods allow empirical testing of irreversibility and hysteresis, and should be applicable in other areas of economics where asymmetry of response or persistence of effect are evident. Based on the statistical evidence, we reject the conventional specification of demand being perfectly price reversible. We conclude that the response to the price cuts of the 1980s has been significantly smaller than to the price increases of the 1970s. Demand has followed a ratchet process: price increases reduced demand substantially when demanders conserved and switched away from oil, but price cuts did not reverse this process completely, if at all. This has important implications for projections of oil demand, especially under low price assumptions: the OECD's dependency on oil will not increase as much as some analysts may have feared. There is, however, another aspect of imperfect price reversibility: the possibilities of adjusting to future price rises may not be as great as they have been in the past. The easiest and least costly demand savings have already been made, and oil has been replaced by other energy sources in many uses: what's done is done. (author)

  6. The determination of parameters for thermal unit pricing and economic interchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Briggs, D.W.; Pickles, R.; McPhail, E.M.

    1988-01-01

    When an interchange of energy occurs between adjoining utilities which is not the subject of a predetermined fixed price agreement but is related to the immediate cost of generating and transmitting the power, the purchaser and seller need to know the cost of the power before agreeing to the interchange. A working party from three Maritime utilities was set up to reveiw areas of interchange energy pricing between them and in particular standardize the following aspects: test procedure for a unit heat rate over its load range; maintenance and operating costs; provision for contingency costs; start up costs of units; and a pricing formula considering the above items. The three utilities are Nova Scotia Power Corporation, Maritime Electric, and New Brunswick Power Commission. Details are presented of the three utility's methods of determining heat rate, operating factor, total fuel cost, transmission loss, operations and maintenance costs, gas turbine parameters, pricing formulae, and start up costs. 2 figs., 7 tabs

  7. The development of a value based pricing index for new drugs in metastatic colorectal cancer

    OpenAIRE

    Lubbe, Martha Susanna; Dranitsaris, George; Truter, Ilse

    2011-01-01

    Background Worldwide, prices for cancer drugs have been under downward pressure where several governments have mandated price cuts of branded products. A better alternative to government mandated price cuts would be to estimate a final price based on drug performance, cost effectiveness and a country’s ability to pay. We developed a global pricing index for new cancer drugs in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) that encompasses all of these attributes. Methods ...

  8. Value-based pricing: A success factor in the competitive struggle

    OpenAIRE

    Netseva-Porcheva Tatyana

    2011-01-01

    Over the past decade, the view that the main purpose of market oriented organizations is not to satisfy the consumer, but to create values has dominated. Exactly the values, their creation, retention and increase, are the main sources of competitive advantage of the company. The purpose of the present report is to present the price formation, based on product value, as a source of competitive advantage. In connection with the so-defined objective, the value and the product price for the custo...

  9. A tree-based method to price American options in the Heston model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vellekoop, M.; Nieuwenhuis, H.

    2009-01-01

    We develop an algorithm to price American options on assets that follow the stochastic volatility model defined by Heston. We use an approach which is based on a modification of a combined tree for stock prices and volatilities, where the number of nodes grows quadratically in the number of time

  10. Land of Addicts? An Empirical Investigation of Habit-Based Asset Pricing Models

    OpenAIRE

    Sydney Ludvigson; Xiaohong Chen

    2004-01-01

    A leading explanation of aggregate stock market behavior suggests that assets are priced as if there were a representative investor whose utility is a power function of the difference between aggregate consumption and a "habit" level, where the habit is some function of lagged and (possibly) contemporaneous consumption. But theory does not provide precise guidelines about the parametric functional relationship between the habit and aggregate consumption. This makes formal estimation and testi...

  11. A price based automatic generation control using unscheduled ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this paper, a model for price based automatic generation control is presented. A modified control scheme is proposed which will prevent unintended unscheduled interchanges among the participants. The proposed scheme is verified by simulating it on a model of isolated area system having four generators. It has been ...

  12. What is a new drug worth? An innovative model for performance-based pricing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dranitsaris, G; Dorward, K; Owens, R C; Schipper, H

    2015-05-01

    This article focuses on a novel method to derive prices for new pharmaceuticals by making price a function of drug performance. We briefly review current models for determining price for a new product and discuss alternatives that have historically been favoured by various funding bodies. The progressive approach to drug pricing, proposed herein, may better address the views and concerns of multiple stakeholders in a developed healthcare system by acknowledging and incorporating input from disparate parties via comprehensive and successive negotiation stages. In proposing a valid construct for performance-based pricing, the following model seeks to achieve several crucial objectives: earlier and wider access to new treatments; improved transparency in drug pricing; multi-stakeholder involvement through phased pricing negotiations; recognition of innovative product performance and latent changes in value; an earlier and more predictable return for developers without sacrificing total return on investment (ROI); more involved and informed risk sharing by the end-user. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Mapping yeast origins of replication via single-stranded DNA detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Wenyi; Raghuraman, M K; Brewer, Bonita J

    2007-02-01

    Studies in th Saccharomyces cerevisiae have provided a framework for understanding how eukaryotic cells replicate their chromosomal DNA to ensure faithful transmission of genetic information to their daughter cells. In particular, S. cerevisiae is the first eukaryote to have its origins of replication mapped on a genomic scale, by three independent groups using three different microarray-based approaches. Here we describe a new technique of origin mapping via detection of single-stranded DNA in yeast. This method not only identified the majority of previously discovered origins, but also detected new ones. We have also shown that this technique can identify origins in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, illustrating the utility of this method for origin mapping in other eukaryotes.

  14. Impedance measurement and modelling of super-capacitors for railway applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hammar, A.; Chabas, J. [Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (SNCF), Dir. de la Recherche, 75 - Paris (France); Coquery, G.; Lallemand, R. [Institut National de Recherche sur les Transports et leur Securite (INRETS), Lab. des Technologies Nouvelles, 94 - Arcueil (France); Rojat, G.; Venet, P. [Lyon-1 Univ. Claude Bernard, CEGELY, 69 - Villeurbanne (France)

    2004-07-01

    Railways and electrical traction systems require high power rates to achieve their operating performances. Systems of power supply based on super-capacitors should offer high power density along with good energy efficiency and expected operating safety. We investigate general behaviours of super-capacitors with two powerful methods of analysis. The first is constant charge/discharge current at high level value (500 A), the second is impedance spectroscopy which leads to the acquisition of a set of parameters that are considered sufficient to describe general properties of super-capacitor, in particular the state of health and the available energy in any operating conditions. An electrical circuit model is defined for super-capacitors based on activated carbon and organic electrolyte. It takes into account the dependence of super-capacitor to voltage and current. The mixture of data of the two methods permits to obtain a representative model for power applications. Matlab/Simulink simulations are shown to verify the validity of the model. (authors)

  15. Energy prices, volatility, and the stock market. Evidence from the Eurozone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oberndorfer, Ulrich

    2009-01-01

    This paper constitutes a first analysis on stock returns of energy corporations from the Eurozone. It focuses on the relationship between energy market developments and the pricing of European energy stocks. According to our results, oil price hikes negatively impact on stock returns of European utilities. However, they lead to an appreciation of oil and gas stocks. Interestingly, forecastable oil market volatility negatively affects European oil and gas stocks, implying profit opportunities for strategic investors. In contrast, the gas market does not play a role for the pricing of Eurozone energy stocks. Coal price developments affect the stock returns of European utilities. However, this effect is small compared to oil price impacts, although oil is barely used for electricity generation in Europe. This suggests that for the European stock market, the oil price is the main indicator for energy price developments as a whole. (author)

  16. Optimal Price Skimming by a Monopolist Facing Rational Consumers

    OpenAIRE

    David Besanko; Wayne L. Winston

    1990-01-01

    This paper considers the intertemporal pricing problem for a monopolist marketing a new product. The key feature differentiating this paper from the extant management science literature on intertemporal pricing is the assumption that consumers are intertemporal utility maximizers. A subgame perfect Nash equilibrium pricing policy is characterized and shown to involve intertemporal price discrimination. We compare this policy to the optimal policy for a monopolist facing myopic consumers and f...

  17. Essays on microgrids, asymmetric pricing and market power in electricity markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo Prete, Chiara

    This dissertation presents four studies of the electricity industry. The first and second essays use economic-engineering models to assess different aspects of microgrid penetration in regional electricity markets, while the last two studies contain empirical analyses aimed at evaluating the performance of wholesale electricity markets. Chapter 2 develops a framework to quantify economic, environmental, efficiency and reliability impacts of different power production scenarios in a regional system, focusing on the interaction of microgrids with the existing transmission and distribution grid. The setting is the regional network formed by Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The study presents simulations of power market outcomes under various policies and levels of microgrid penetration, and evaluates them using a diverse set of metrics. Chapter 3 studies the interaction between a microgrid and a regulated electric utility in a regional electricity market. I consider the interaction among the utility, the microgrid developer and consumers in the framework of cooperative game theory (assuming exchangeable utility), and use regional market models to simulate scenarios in which microgrid introduction may or may not be socially beneficial. Under the assumptions of this chapter, customer participation is essential to the development of socially beneficial microgrids, while the utility has little or no gain from it. Discussed incentives to avoid that utilities block microgrid entry include additional revenue drivers related to microgrid connection, decoupling and performance-based mechanisms targeted at service quality. When prices are below marginal costs of utility provided power, microgrid development may be socially beneficial, but unprofitable for microgrid customers and its developer. By imposing lower charges and higher remuneration for its services, the regulator could ensure that microgrid value is positive, without adversely impacting the utility

  18. Pricing of brand extensions based on perceptions of brand equity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panagiotis Arsenos

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper explores the role of brand equity when pricing hypothetical brand extensions. Companies tend to use different pricing techniques for their products, and their pricing decisions are based on many factors, including image and category fit of the product with the existing image and products of the company. Brand extensions are usually investigated from a consumer perspective, focusing on the extension attitude, however, it is essential to understand the corporate decision-making process regarding pricing. Exploring this matter using quantitative research methods, the study provides empirical evidence that companies that have invested heavily in marketing actions in the past and have built strong brand equity over-time, show flexibility in the mark-up during the cost decision-making process of a hypothetical brand extensions. Variations in mark-up percentages are also observed when there is a difference in image and category fit of the extension to the original brand. However, companies characterized by greater brand equity exhibited greater flexibility in the mark-up percentages, even for low fit extensions.

  19. Improving the asset pricing ability of the Consumption-Capital Asset Pricing Model?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Anne-Sofie Reng

    This paper compares the asset pricing ability of the traditional consumption-based capital asset pricing model to models from two strands of literature attempting to improve on the poor empirical results of the C-CAPM. One strand is based on the intertemporal asset pricing model of Campbell (1993...... able to price assets conditionally as suggested by Cochrane (1996) and Lettau and Ludvigson (2001b). The unconditional C-CAPM is rewritten as a scaled factor model using the approximate log consumptionwealth ratio cay, developed by Lettau and Ludvigson (2001a), as scaling variable. The models...... and composite. Thus, there is no unambiguous solution to the pricing ability problems of the C-CAPM. Models from both the alternative literature strands are found to outperform the traditional C-CAPM on average pricing errors. However, when weighting pricing errors by the full variance-covariance matrix...

  20. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING METHOD IN DETERMINING SELLING PRICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhtarudin Muhtarudin

    2017-08-01

    Costing method. After applying the latter cost determining the method there turned out to be a significant difference in the shoe production cost resulted from the inaccurate price calculation in the former method, as here a selling price is fixed by marking-up efforts aiming to cover the production cost. Determining a selling price in this way causes the selling price to be too low; thus it cannot optimize the profit. Keywords: Activity-Based Costing; Production Cost; Selling Price

  1. Segmentation Based Classification of 3D Urban Point Clouds: A Super-Voxel Based Approach with Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laurent Trassoudaine

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Segmentation and classification of urban range data into different object classes have several challenges due to certain properties of the data, such as density variation, inconsistencies due to missing data and the large data size that require heavy computation and large memory. A method to classify urban scenes based on a super-voxel segmentation of sparse 3D data obtained from LiDAR sensors is presented. The 3D point cloud is first segmented into voxels, which are then characterized by several attributes transforming them into super-voxels. These are joined together by using a link-chain method rather than the usual region growing algorithm to create objects. These objects are then classified using geometrical models and local descriptors. In order to evaluate the results, a new metric that combines both segmentation and classification results simultaneously is presented. The effects of voxel size and incorporation of RGB color and laser reflectance intensity on the classification results are also discussed. The method is evaluated on standard data sets using different metrics to demonstrate its efficacy.

  2. Rate adaptation in ad hoc networks based on pricing

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Awuor, F

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available that incorporates penalty (pricing) obtruded to users’ choices of transmission parameters to curb the self-interest behaviour. Therefore users determine their data rates and transmit power based on the perceived coupled interference at the intended receiver...

  3. When to "Fire" Customers: Customer Cost-Based Pricing

    OpenAIRE

    Jiwoong Shin; K. Sudhir; Dae-Hee Yoon

    2012-01-01

    The widespread adoption of activity-based costing enables firms to allocate common service costs to each customer, allowing for precise measurement of both the cost to serve a particular customer and the customer's profitability. In this paper, we investigate how pricing strategies based on customer cost information affects a firm's customer acquisition and retention dynamics, and ultimately its profit, using a two-period monopoly model with high- and low-cost customer segments. Although past...

  4. Weight-based pricing in the collection of household waste. The Oostzaan case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Linderhof, Vincent; Kooreman, Peter; Allers, Maarten; Wiersma, Doede

    2001-01-01

    This paper provides an empirical analysis of the effects of weight-based pricing in the collection of household waste. Using a comprehensive panel data set on all households in a Dutch municipality we estimate short-run as well as long-run price effects for the amounts of both compostable and non-recyclable household waste. We find significant and sizeable price effects, with the elasticity for compostable waste being four times as large as the elasticity for non-recyclable waste. Long-run elasticities are about 30% larger than short-run elasticities

  5. Pricing hospital care: Global budgets and marginal pricing strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutherland, Jason M

    2015-08-01

    The Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) is adding financial incentives to increase the volume of surgeries provided by hospitals using a marginal pricing approach. The objective of this study is to calculate marginal costs of surgeries based on assumptions regarding hospitals' availability of labor and equipment. This study is based on observational clinical, administrative and financial data generated by hospitals. Hospital inpatient and outpatient discharge summaries from the province are linked with detailed activity-based costing information, stratified by assigned case mix categorizations. To reflect a range of operating constraints governing hospitals' ability to increase their volume of surgeries, a number of scenarios are proposed. Under these scenarios, estimated marginal costs are calculated and compared to prices being offered as incentives to hospitals. Existing data can be used to support alternative strategies for pricing hospital care. Prices for inpatient surgeries do not generate positive margins under a range of operating scenarios. Hip and knee surgeries generate surpluses for hospitals even under the most costly labor conditions and are expected to generate additional volume. In health systems that wish to fine-tune financial incentives, setting prices that create incentives for additional volume should reflect knowledge of hospitals' underlying cost structures. Possible implications of mis-pricing include no response to the incentives or uneven increases in supply. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  6. Urea hydrolysis and ammonia volatilization from some urea based fertilizers applied to rice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misra, C.; Jena, D.; Bandyopadhyay, K.K.; Schepers, J.S.

    1995-01-01

    Field experiments were carried out in replicated microplots (1 m x 1 m) with rice (cv. Pathara) to study urea hydrolysis using several urea based N-fertilizer sources. Results indicated highly significant urea based N-fertilizers, among which urea super granule (USG) and prilled urea (PU) (applied in two splits) could be rated as the most efficient sources of N. Based on measured ammonia volatilization loss, NH 2 -N concentration in flood water and soil solution (following fertilizer application); urea hydrolysis was observed to be faster in the case of PU, USG, PU + ECC (encapsulated calcium carbide) and UNP (urea nitro phosphate) (19-19-0) than in the case of GCU (gypsum coated urea) and UNP (27-9-0) treatments. Based on the 15 N tagged prilled urea experiment, it is observed that about 24 per cent of fertilizer nitrogen was utilized by the crop in closed system as compared to 18 per cent in natural free system. (author). 5 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs

  7. Computation of spot prices and congestion costs in large interconnected power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mukerji, R.; Jordan, G.A.; Clayton, R.; Haringa, G.E.

    1995-01-01

    Foremost among the new paradigms for the US utility industry is the ''poolco'' concept proposed by Prof. William W. Hogan of Harvard University. This concept uses a central pool or power exchange in which physical power is traded based on spot prices or market clearing prices. The rapid and accurate calculation of these ''spot'' prices and associated congestion costs for large interconnected power systems is the central tenet upon which the poolco concept is based. The market clearing price would be the same throughout the system if there were no system losses and transmission limitations did not exist. System losses cause small differences in market clearing prices as the cost of supplying a MW at various load buses includes the cost of losses. Transmission limits may cause large differences in market clearing prices between regions as low cost generation is blocked by the transmission constraints from serving certain loads. In models currently in use in the electric power industry spot price calculations range from ''bubble diagram'' type contract path models to full electrical representation such as GE-MAPS. The modeling aspects of the full electrical representation are included in the Appendix. The problem with the bubble diagram representation is that these models are liable to produce unacceptably large errors in the calculation of spot prices and congestion costs. The subtleties of the calculation of spot prices and congestion costs are illustrated in this paper

  8. Effect of gamma radiation on the stability of UV replicated composite mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaldivar, Rafael J.; Kim, Hyun I.; Ferrelli, Geena L.

    2018-04-01

    Composite replicated mirrors are gaining increasing attention for space-based applications due to their lower density, tailorable mechanical properties, and rapid manufacturing times over state-of-the-art glass mirrors. Ultraviolet (UV)-cured mirrors provide a route by which high-quality mirrors can be manufactured at relatively low processing temperatures that minimize residual stresses. The successful utilization of these mirrors requires nanometer scale dimensional stability after both thermal cycling and hygrothermal exposure. We investigate the effect of gamma irradiation as a process to improve the stability of UV replicated mirrors. Gamma radiation exposure was shown to increase the cure state of these mirrors as evidenced by an increase in modulus, glass transition temperature, and the thermal degradation behavior with dosage. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy also showed evidence of consumption of the primary monomers and initiation of the photosensitive agent with gamma exposure. The gamma-exposed mirrors exhibited significant improvement in stability even after multiple thermal cycling in comparison with nonirradiated composite mirrors. Though improvements in the cure state contribute to the overall stability, the radiation dosage was also shown to reduce the film stress of the mirror by over 80% as evidenced using Stoney replicated specimens. This reduction in residual stress is encouraging considering the utilization of these structures for space applications. This paper shows that replicated composite mirrors are a viable alternative to conventional optical structures.

  9. A new six-component super soliton hierarchy and its self-consistent sources and conservation laws

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Han-yu; Xia Tie-cheng

    2016-01-01

    A new six-component super soliton hierarchy is obtained based on matrix Lie super algebras. Super trace identity is used to furnish the super Hamiltonian structures for the resulting nonlinear super integrable hierarchy. After that, the self-consistent sources of the new six-component super soliton hierarchy are presented. Furthermore, we establish the infinitely many conservation laws for the integrable super soliton hierarchy. (paper)

  10. Theory of super LIE groups

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prakash, M.

    1985-01-01

    The theory of supergravity has attracted increasing attention in the recent years as a unified theory of elementary particle interactions. The superspace formulation of the theory is highly suggestive of an underlying geometrical structure of superspace. It also incorporates the beautifully geometrical general theory of relativity. It leads us to believe that a better understanding of its geometry would result in a better understanding of the theory itself, and furthermore, that the geometry of superspace would also have physical consequences. As a first step towards that goal, we develop here a theory of super Lie groups. These are groups that have the same relation to a super Lie algebra as Lie groups have to a Lie algebra. More precisely, a super Lie group is a super-manifold and a group such that the group operations are super-analytic. The super Lie algebra of a super Lie group is related to the local properties of the group near the identity. This work develops the algebraic and super-analytical tools necessary for our theory, including proofs of a set of existence and uniqueness theorems for a class of super-differential equations

  11. Gas prices: realities and probabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Broadfoot, M.

    2000-01-01

    An assessment of price trends suggests continuing rise in 2001, with some easing of upward price movement in 2002 and 2003. Storage levels as of Nov. 1, 2000 are expected to be at 2.77 Tcf, but if the winter of 2000/2001 proves to be more severe than usual, inventory levels could sink as low as 500 Bcf by April 1, 2001. With increasing demand for natural gas for non-utility electric power generation the major challenge will be to achieve significant supply growth, which means increased developmental drilling and inventory draw-downs, as well as more exploratory drilling in deepwater and frontier regions. Absence of a significant supply response by next summer will affect both growth in demand and in price levels, and the increased demand for electric generation in the summer will create a flatter consumption profile, erasing the traditional summer/winter spread in consumption, further intensifying price volatility. Managing price fluctuations is the second biggest challenge (after potential supply problems) facing the industry

  12. The price facade: Symbolic and behavioural price cues in service environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoeven, J.W.M.; van Rompay, Thomas Johannes Lucas; Pruyn, Adriaan T.H.

    2009-01-01

    Although the role of price expectations in predicting consumer behavior has been widely acknowledged, little is known about the way in which price expectations depend on environmental elements in hospitality settings. We propose that restaurant guests base price expectations on (1) perceptions of

  13. Algebra & trigonometry super review

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    Get all you need to know with Super Reviews! Each Super Review is packed with in-depth, student-friendly topic reviews that fully explain everything about the subject. The Algebra and Trigonometry Super Review includes sets and set operations, number systems and fundamental algebraic laws and operations, exponents and radicals, polynomials and rational expressions, equations, linear equations and systems of linear equations, inequalities, relations and functions, quadratic equations, equations of higher order, ratios, proportions, and variations. Take the Super Review quizzes to see how much y

  14. Stock price change rate prediction by utilizing social network activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Shangkun; Mitsubuchi, Takashi; Sakurai, Akito

    2014-01-01

    Predicting stock price change rates for providing valuable information to investors is a challenging task. Individual participants may express their opinions in social network service (SNS) before or after their transactions in the market; we hypothesize that stock price change rate is better predicted by a function of social network service activities and technical indicators than by a function of just stock market activities. The hypothesis is tested by accuracy of predictions as well as performance of simulated trading because success or failure of prediction is better measured by profits or losses the investors gain or suffer. In this paper, we propose a hybrid model that combines multiple kernel learning (MKL) and genetic algorithm (GA). MKL is adopted to optimize the stock price change rate prediction models that are expressed in a multiple kernel linear function of different types of features extracted from different sources. GA is used to optimize the trading rules used in the simulated trading by fusing the return predictions and values of three well-known overbought and oversold technical indicators. Accumulated return and Sharpe ratio were used to test the goodness of performance of the simulated trading. Experimental results show that our proposed model performed better than other models including ones using state of the art techniques.

  15. Stock Price Change Rate Prediction by Utilizing Social Network Activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shangkun Deng

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Predicting stock price change rates for providing valuable information to investors is a challenging task. Individual participants may express their opinions in social network service (SNS before or after their transactions in the market; we hypothesize that stock price change rate is better predicted by a function of social network service activities and technical indicators than by a function of just stock market activities. The hypothesis is tested by accuracy of predictions as well as performance of simulated trading because success or failure of prediction is better measured by profits or losses the investors gain or suffer. In this paper, we propose a hybrid model that combines multiple kernel learning (MKL and genetic algorithm (GA. MKL is adopted to optimize the stock price change rate prediction models that are expressed in a multiple kernel linear function of different types of features extracted from different sources. GA is used to optimize the trading rules used in the simulated trading by fusing the return predictions and values of three well-known overbought and oversold technical indicators. Accumulated return and Sharpe ratio were used to test the goodness of performance of the simulated trading. Experimental results show that our proposed model performed better than other models including ones using state of the art techniques.

  16. Equilibrium prices supported by dual price functions in markets with non-convexities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjoerndal, Mette; Joernsten, Kurt

    2004-06-01

    The issue of finding market clearing prices in markets with non-convexities has had a renewed interest due to the deregulation of the electricity sector. In the day-ahead electricity market, equilibrium prices are calculated based on bids from generators and consumers. In most of the existing markets, several generation technologies are present, some of which have considerable non-convexities, such as capacity limitations and large start up costs. In this paper we present equilibrium prices composed of a commodity price and an uplift charge. The prices are based on the generation of a separating valid inequality that supports the optimal resource allocation. In the case when the sub-problem generated as the integer variables are held fixed to their optimal values possess the integrality property, the generated prices are also supported by non-linear price-functions that are the basis for integer programming duality. (Author)

  17. Effective ANT based Routing Algorithm for Data Replication in MANETs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.J. Nithya Nandhini

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In mobile ad hoc network, the nodes often move and keep on change its topology. Data packets can be forwarded from one node to another on demand. To increase the data accessibility data are replicated at nodes and made as sharable to other nodes. Assuming that all mobile host cooperative to share their memory and allow forwarding the data packets. But in reality, all nodes do not share the resources for the benefits of others. These nodes may act selfishly to share memory and to forward the data packets. This paper focuses on selfishness of mobile nodes in replica allocation and routing protocol based on Ant colony algorithm to improve the efficiency. The Ant colony algorithm is used to reduce the overhead in the mobile network, so that it is more efficient to access the data than with other routing protocols. This result shows the efficiency of ant based routing algorithm in the replication allocation.

  18. Real-time electricity pricing in a deregulated environment using artificial intelligence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dondo, M.G.

    1998-12-31

    The challenge of implementing real-time pricing of electricity was discussed. Several electric utilities want to incorporate real-time pricing into their rate policies. Conventional programming methods are not fast enough to process and distribute information in real time. Therefore, a new method that would match the current advances in communication speeds is needed. Also, conventional programming methods do not incorporate the uncertainties that are inherent in the lives of humans. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate this fuzziness into the model. This study showed that the elements of speed and uncertainties can be readily incorporated into the determination of spot-pricing based electricity rates. A unique computational intelligence model was designed which consists of a feedforward neural network based on back-propagation training and a fuzzy logic model. The work has been demonstrated on the IEEE test systems and the Nova Scotia Power Corporation`s system.

  19. Super-resolution imaging applied to moving object tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swalaganata, Galandaru; Ratna Sulistyaningrum, Dwi; Setiyono, Budi

    2017-10-01

    Moving object tracking in a video is a method used to detect and analyze changes that occur in an object that being observed. Visual quality and the precision of the tracked target are highly wished in modern tracking system. The fact that the tracked object does not always seem clear causes the tracking result less precise. The reasons are low quality video, system noise, small object, and other factors. In order to improve the precision of the tracked object especially for small object, we propose a two step solution that integrates a super-resolution technique into tracking approach. First step is super-resolution imaging applied into frame sequences. This step was done by cropping the frame in several frame or all of frame. Second step is tracking the result of super-resolution images. Super-resolution image is a technique to obtain high-resolution images from low-resolution images. In this research single frame super-resolution technique is proposed for tracking approach. Single frame super-resolution was a kind of super-resolution that it has the advantage of fast computation time. The method used for tracking is Camshift. The advantages of Camshift was simple calculation based on HSV color that use its histogram for some condition and color of the object varies. The computational complexity and large memory requirements required for the implementation of super-resolution and tracking were reduced and the precision of the tracked target was good. Experiment showed that integrate a super-resolution imaging into tracking technique can track the object precisely with various background, shape changes of the object, and in a good light conditions.

  20. Calculating the marginal costs of a district-heating utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoedin, Joergen; Henning, Dag

    2004-01-01

    District heating plays an important role in the Swedish heat-market. At the same time, the price of district heating varies considerably among different district-heating utilities. A case study is performed here in which a Swedish utility is analysed using three different methods for calculating the marginal costs of heat supply: a manual spreadsheet method, an optimising linear-programming model, and a least-cost dispatch simulation model. Calculated marginal-costs, obtained with the three methods, turn out to be similar. The calculated marginal-costs are also compared to the actual heat tariff in use by the utility. Using prices based on marginal costs should be able to bring about an efficient resource-allocation. It is found that the fixed rate the utility uses today should be replaced by a time-of-use rate, which would give a more accurate signal for customers to change their heat consumptions. (Author)

  1. An analysis of the impact of Renewable Portfolio Standards on residential electricity prices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Andrew James

    A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) has become a popular policy for states seeking to increase the amount of renewable energy generated for consumers of electricity. The success of these state programs has prompted debate about the viability of a national RPS. The impact that these state level policies have had on the price consumers pay for electricity is the subject of some debate. Several federal organizations have conducted studies of the impact that a national RPS would have on electricity prices paid by consumers. NREL and US EIA utilize models that analyze the inputs in electricity generation to examine the future price impact of changes to electricity generation and show marginal increases in prices paid by end users. Other empirical research has produced similar results, showing that the existence of an RPS increases the price of electricity. These studies miss important aspects of RPS policies that may change how we view these price increases from RPS policies. By examining the previous empirical research on RPS policies, this study seeks to identify the controls necessary to build an effective model. These controls are utilized in a fixed effects model that seeks to show how the controls and variables of interest impact electricity prices paid by residential consumers of electricity. This study utilizes a panel data set from 1990 to 2014 to analyze the impact of these policies controlling for generating capacity, the regulatory status of utilities in each state, demographic characteristics of the states, and fuel prices. The results of the regressions indicate that prices are likely to be higher in states that have an RPS compared to states that do not have such a policy. Several of the characteristics mentioned above have price impacts, and so discussing RPS policies in the context of other factors that contribute to electricity prices is essential. In particular, the regulatory status of utilities in each state is an important determinate of price as

  2. Technology trends, energy prices affect worldwide rig activity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rappold, K.

    1995-01-01

    The major worldwide offshore rig markets have improved slightly this year, while the onshore markets generally lagged slightly. Offshore rig utilization rates have remained strong worldwide, with some areas reaching nearly 100%. Total worldwide offshore rig (jack ups, semisubmersible, drillships, submersibles, and barges) utilization was about 86%. Offshore drilling activity is driven primarily by oil and natural gas price expectations. Natural gas prices tend to drive North American offshore drilling activity, including the shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico. International offshore drilling activity and deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico are more closely tied to oil prices. The paper discusses US rig count, directional drilling activity, jack up rig demand, semisubmersibles demand, rig replacement costs, and new construction

  3. SuperB Progress Report: Detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grauges, E.; /Barcelona U., ECM; Donvito, G.; Spinoso, V.; /INFN, Bari /Bari U.; Manghisoni, M.; Re, V.; Traversi, G.; /INFN, Pavia /Bergamo U., Ingengneria Dept.; Eigen, G.; Fehlker, D.; Helleve, L.; /Bergen U.; Carbone, A.; Di Sipio, R.; Gabrielli, A.; Galli, D.; Giorgi, F.; Marconi, U.; Perazzini, S.; Sbarra, C.; Vagnoni, V.; Valentinetti, S.; Villa, M.; Zoccoli, A.; /INFN, Bologna /Bologna U. /Caltech /Carleton U. /Cincinnati U. /INFN, CNAF /INFN, Ferrara /Ferrara U. /UC, Irvine /Taras Shevchenko U. /Orsay, LAL /LBL, Berkeley /UC, Berkeley /Frascati /INFN, Legnaro /Orsay, IPN /Maryland U. /McGill U. /INFN, Milan /Milan U. /INFN, Naples /Naples U. /Novosibirsk, IYF /INFN, Padua /Padua U. /INFN, Pavia /Pavia U. /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /INFN, Perugia /Caltech /INFN, Pisa /Pisa U. /Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore /PNL, Richland /Queen Mary, U. of London /Rutherford /INFN, Rome /Rome U. /INFN, Rome2 /Rome U.,Tor Vergata /INFN, Rome3 /Rome III U. /SLAC /Tel Aviv U. /INFN, Turin /Turin U. /INFN, Padua /Trento U. /INFN, Trieste /Trieste U. /TRIUMF /British Columbia U. /Montreal U. /Victoria U.

    2012-02-14

    This report describes the present status of the detector design for SuperB. It is one of four separate progress reports that, taken collectively, describe progress made on the SuperB Project since the publication of the SuperB Conceptual Design Report in 2007 and the Proceedings of SuperB Workshop VI in Valencia in 2008.

  4. SuperB Progress Report: Detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grauges, E.; Donvito, G.; Spinoso, V.; Manghisoni, M.; Re, V.; Traversi, G.; Eigen, G.; Fehlker, D.; Helleve, L.; Cheng, C.; Chivukula, A.; Doll, D.; Echenard, B.; Hitlin, D.; Ongmongkolkul, P.; Porter, F.; Rakitin, A.; Thomas, M.; Zhu, R.; Tatishvili, G.; Andreassen, R.; Fabby, C.; Meadows, B.; Simpson, A.; Sokoloff, M.; Tomko, K.; Fella, A.; Andreotti, M.; Baldini, W.; Calabrese, R.; Carassiti, V.; Cibinetto, G.; Cotta Ramusino, A.; Gianoli, A.; Luppi, E.; Munerato, M.; Santoro, V.; Tomassetti, L.; Stoker, D.; Bezshyyko, O.; Dolinska, G.; Arnaud, N.; Beigbeder, C.; Bogard, F.; Breton, D.; Burmistrov, L.; Charlet, D.; Maalmi, J.; Perez Perez, L.; Puill, V.; Stocchi, A.; Tocut, V.; Wallon, S.; Wormser, G.; Brown, D.

    2012-01-01

    This report describes the present status of the detector design for SuperB. It is one of four separate progress reports that, taken collectively, describe progress made on the SuperB Project since the publication of the SuperB Conceptual Design Report in 2007 and the Proceedings of SuperB Workshop VI in Valencia in 2008.

  5. SuperB Progress Reports Accelerator

    CERN Document Server

    Biagini, Maria Enrica; Boscolo, M; Buonomo, B; Demma, T; Drago, A; Esposito, M; Guiducci, S; Mazzitelli, G; Pellegrino, L; Preger, M A; Raimondi, P; Ricci, R; Rotundo, U; Sanelli, C; Serio, M; Stella, A; Tomassini, S; Zobov, M; Bertsche, K; Brachman, A; Cai, Y; Chao, A; Chesnut, R; Donald, M.H; Field, C; Fisher, A; Kharakh, D; Krasnykh, A; Moffeit, K; Nosochkov, Y; Pivi, M; Seeman, J; Sullivan, M.K; Weathersby, S; Weidemann, A; Weisend, J; Wienands, U; Wittmer, W; Woods, M; Yocky, G; Bogomiagkov, A; Koop, I; Levichev, E; Nikitin, S; Okunev, I; Piminov, P; Sinyatkin, S; Shatilov, D; Vobly, P; Bosi, F; Liuzzo, S; Paoloni, E; Bonis, J; Chehab, R; Le Meur, G; Lepercq, P; Letellier-Cohen, F; Mercier, B; Poirier, F; Prevost, C; Rimbault, C; Touze, F; Variola, A; Bolzon, B; Brunetti, L; Jeremie, A; Baylac, M; Bourrion, O; De Conto, J M; Gomez, Y; Meot, F; Monseu, N; Tourres, D; Vescovi, C; Chanci, A; Napoly, O; Barber, D P; Bettoni, S; Quatraro, D

    2010-01-01

    This report details the present status of the Accelerator design for the SuperB Project. It is one of four separate progress reports that, taken collectively, describe progress made on the SuperB Project since the publication of the SuperB Conceptual Design Report in 2007 and the Proceedings of SuperB Workshop VI in Valencia in 2008.

  6. An assessment of innovative pricing schemes for the communication of value: is price discrimination and two-part pricing a way forward?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hertzman, Peter; Miller, Paul; Tolley, Keith

    2018-02-01

    With the introduction of new expensive medicines, traditional pricing schemes based on constructs such as price per pill/vial have been challenged. Potential innovative schemes could be either financial-based or performance-based. Within financial-based schemes the use of price discrimination is an emerging option, which we explore in this assessment. Areas covered: In the short term the price per indication approach is likely to become more prevalent for high cost, high benefit new pharmaceuticals, such as those emerging in oncology (e.g. new combination immunotherapies). 'Two-Part Pricing' (2PP) is a frequently used payment method in other industries, which consists of an Entry Fee, giving the buyer the right to use the product, and a Usage Price charged every time the product is purchased. Introducing 2PP into biopharma could have cross-stakeholder benefits including broader patient access, and improvement in budget/revenue predictability. A concern however is the potential complexity of the negotiation between manufacturer and payer. Expert commentary: We believe 'price discrimination' and 2PP in particular can be relevant for some new, expensive specialist medicines. A recommended first step would be to initiate pilots to test to what degree the 2PP approach meets stakeholder objectives and is practical to implement within specialty care.

  7. Pricing: A Normative Strategy in the Delivery of Human Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Stephen T.

    1995-01-01

    Discusses a normative strategy toward pricing human services, which will allow providers to develop pricing strategies within the context of organizational missions, goals, and values. Pricing is an effective tool for distributing resources and improving efficiency, and can be used as a tool for encouraging desired patterns of service utilization.…

  8. Deformations of super Riemann surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ninnemann, H.

    1992-01-01

    Two different approaches to (Konstant-Leites-) super Riemann surfaces are investigated. In the local approach, i.e. glueing open superdomains by superconformal transition functions, deformations of the superconformal structure are discussed. On the other hand, the representation of compact super Riemann surfaces of genus greater than one as a fundamental domain in the Poincare upper half-plane provides a simple description of super Laplace operators acting on automorphic p-forms. Considering purely odd deformations of super Riemann surfaces, the number of linear independent holomorphic sections of arbitrary holomorphic line bundles will be shown to be independent of the odd moduli, leading to a simple proof of the Riemann-Roch theorem for compact super Riemann surfaces. As a further consequence, the explicit connections between determinants of super Laplacians and Selberg's super zeta functions can be determined, allowing to calculate at least the 2-loop contribution to the fermionic string partition function. (orig.)

  9. Deformations of super Riemann surfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ninnemann, H [Hamburg Univ. (Germany). 2. Inst. fuer Theoretische Physik

    1992-11-01

    Two different approaches to (Konstant-Leites-) super Riemann surfaces are investigated. In the local approach, i.e. glueing open superdomains by superconformal transition functions, deformations of the superconformal structure are discussed. On the other hand, the representation of compact super Riemann surfaces of genus greater than one as a fundamental domain in the Poincare upper half-plane provides a simple description of super Laplace operators acting on automorphic p-forms. Considering purely odd deformations of super Riemann surfaces, the number of linear independent holomorphic sections of arbitrary holomorphic line bundles will be shown to be independent of the odd moduli, leading to a simple proof of the Riemann-Roch theorem for compact super Riemann surfaces. As a further consequence, the explicit connections between determinants of super Laplacians and Selberg's super zeta functions can be determined, allowing to calculate at least the 2-loop contribution to the fermionic string partition function. (orig.).

  10. Single Image Super-Resolution Based on Multi-Scale Competitive Convolutional Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Xiaofeng; Qu, Xiaobo; He, Yifan; Guo, Di

    2018-03-06

    Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are successful in single-image super-resolution. Traditional CNNs are limited to exploit multi-scale contextual information for image reconstruction due to the fixed convolutional kernel in their building modules. To restore various scales of image details, we enhance the multi-scale inference capability of CNNs by introducing competition among multi-scale convolutional filters, and build up a shallow network under limited computational resources. The proposed network has the following two advantages: (1) the multi-scale convolutional kernel provides the multi-context for image super-resolution, and (2) the maximum competitive strategy adaptively chooses the optimal scale of information for image reconstruction. Our experimental results on image super-resolution show that the performance of the proposed network outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

  11. Cuba's transition to market-based energy prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez-Lopez, J.F.

    1992-01-01

    Since 1960 the Soviet Union has been, for all practical purposes, Cuba's exclusive supplier of energy products. For certain time periods, Soviet sales of oil and oil products to Cuba were made at concessional prices; prior to 1991, they were priced using transferable rubles and were essentially bartered for Cuban goods, especially sugar. Effective January 1, 1991, the Soviet Union shifted to world market prices and convertible currency payments for all traded commodities, including energy products. The shift to market prices and convertible currencies in Cuban-Soviet energy trade has already brought - or is likely to bring - a number of adjustments in four areas: (1) the trade balance; (2) the ability to reexport oil and oil products; (3) energy consumption patterns; (4) and the structure of energy supplies. 33 refs., 8 tabs

  12. Decentralized method for utility regulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loeb, M. (North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh); Magat, W.A.

    1979-10-01

    A new institutional arrangement for regulating utilities is suggested that minimizes the costs of natural monopolies. A mixture of regulation and franchising, the plan draws on the advantages of each and eliminates many of the problems. The proposal allows utilities to set their own price on the basis of demand and marginal-cost projections. Subsidies are provided by the regulatory agency if there is a consumer surplus. The system encourages the utility to select a competitive price and to produce only the amount of service needed. Operating efficiency is encouraged by rewarding cost reductions and discouraging cost overstatement at the rate review. The regulatory agency would not need to take action to bring price and marginal costs into equality. The franchise sale can be made by competitive bidding, in which the bidders would capitalize part or all of the subsidy or the regulatory agency could recover the subsidy in a lump-sum tax on the utility.

  13. Theoretical and practical bases of transfer pricing formation at the microlevel in terms of national economy

    OpenAIRE

    Oksana Desyatniuk; Olga Cherevko

    2015-01-01

    The theoretical and methodological bases of transfer pricing formation at microlevel are studied. The factors acting upon transfer pricing are analysed and the algorithm to form transfer price at an enterprise is suggested. The model example to choose the method of transfer pricing and calculate the profitability interval meeting modern legal requirements is considered.

  14. The Cushing OK Crude Oil Futures Price Pass - Through to New York Harbor Reformulated RBOB Regular Gasoline Futures Price

    OpenAIRE

    Chu V. Nguyen

    2017-01-01

    This study utilizes an Autoregressive Distributed Lag model to investigate the nature of crude oil futures price pass-through since 2006. The empirical results reveal a very high but incomplete short-run pass-through rate from the crude oil futures price to the gasoline futures price of 0.849298 with a corresponding negative long-run pass-through rate of -0.2440894. These empirical findings suggest that traders in the U.S. oil and gasoline futures markets overreact to fluctuations in the crud...

  15. Use of perampanel in one case of super-refractory hypoxic myoclonic status: Case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Estevo Santamarina

    2015-01-01

    Conclusion: This case shows the potential utility of PER as a therapeutic option in super-refractory hypoxic status and even its potential use before other aggressive alternatives considering their greater morbidity.

  16. Forward Volatility Contract Pricing in the Brazilian Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandro Magalhães Manteiga

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available In this work we consider the pricing of a special class of volatility derivatives, the so-called variance swaps. The fair value of a variance swap is equal to the expected value of the realized variance of the underlying of the swap during the lifetime of the contract. It is shown how this expected value can be computed by means of an exotic option with logarithmic pay-off. We show how to statically replicate this pay-off in terms of a basket of synthetic vanilla call and put options. We apply this construction to the TNLP4 ticker of BOVESPA and synthetize a basket with pure exposure to volatility using actual market prices.

  17. Medicines utilization and trends in Sudan between 2006 and 2010

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Discipline, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 ... (DOAJ), African Journal Online, Bioline International, Open-J-Gate and ..... Table 5: Antianaemic preparations utilization in NHIF-Sudan based on retail prices ...

  18. Mapping ionospheric backscatter measured by the SuperDARN HF radars – Part 2: Assessing SuperDARN virtual height models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. K. Yeoman

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN network of HF coherent backscatter radars form a unique global diagnostic of large-scale ionospheric and magnetospheric dynamics in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Currently the ground projections of the HF radar returns are routinely determined by a simple rangefinding algorithm, which takes no account of the prevailing, or indeed the average, HF propagation conditions. This is in spite of the fact that both direct E- and F-region backscatter and 1½-hop E- and F-region backscatter are commonly used in geophysical interpretation of the data. In a companion paper, Chisham et al. (2008 have suggested a new virtual height model for SuperDARN, based on average measured propagation paths. Over shorter propagation paths the existing rangefinding algorithm is adequate, but mapping errors become significant for longer paths where the roundness of the Earth becomes important, and a correct assumption of virtual height becomes more difficult. The SuperDARN radar at Hankasalmi has a propagation path to high power HF ionospheric modification facilities at both Tromsø on a ½-hop path and SPEAR on a 1½-hop path. The SuperDARN radar at Þykkvibǽr has propagation paths to both facilities over 1½-hop paths. These paths provide an opportunity to quantitatively test the available SuperDARN virtual height models. It is also possible to use HF radar backscatter which has been artificially induced by the ionospheric heaters as an accurate calibration point for the Hankasalmi elevation angle of arrival data, providing a range correction algorithm for the SuperDARN radars which directly uses elevation angle. These developments enable the accurate mappings of the SuperDARN electric field measurements which are required for the growing number of multi-instrument studies of the Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere.

  19. The Importance of Replication in Measurement Research: Using Curriculum-Based Measures with Postsecondary Students with Developmental Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosp, John L.; Ford, Jeremy W.; Huddle, Sally M.; Hensley, Kiersten K.

    2018-01-01

    Replication is a foundation of the development of a knowledge base in an evidence-based field such as education. This study includes two direct replications of Hosp, Hensley, Huddle, and Ford which found evidence of criterion-related validity of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for reading and mathematics with postsecondary students with…

  20. TRICARE revision to CHAMPUS DRG-based payment system, pricing of hospital claims. Final rule.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-05-21

    This Final rule changes TRICARE's current regulatory provision for inpatient hospital claims priced under the DRG-based payment system. Claims are currently priced by using the rates and weights that are in effect on a beneficiary's date of admission. This Final rule changes that provision to price such claims by using the rates and weights that are in effect on a beneficiary's date of discharge.

  1. Cross-border electricity market effects due to price caps in an emission trading system: An agent-based approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richstein, Jörn C.; Chappin, Emile J.L.; Vries, Laurens J. de

    2014-01-01

    The recent low CO 2 prices in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) have triggered a discussion whether the EU ETS needs to be adjusted. We study the effects of CO 2 price floors and a price ceiling on the dynamic investment pathway of two interlinked electricity markets (loosely based on Great Britain, which already has introduced a price floor, and on Central Western Europe). Using an agent-based electricity market simulation with endogenous investment and a CO 2 market (including banking), we analyse the cross-border effects of national policies as well as system-wide policy options. A common, moderate CO 2 auction reserve price results in a more continuous decarbonisation pathway. This reduces CO 2 price volatility and the occurrence of carbon shortage price periods, as well as the average cost to consumers. A price ceiling can shield consumers from extreme price shocks. These price restrictions do not cause a large risk of an overall emissions overshoot in the long run. A national price floor lowers the cost to consumers in the other zone; the larger the zone with the price floor, the stronger the effect. Price floors that are too high lead to inefficiencies in investment choices and to higher consumer costs. - Highlights: • Cross-border effects of CO 2 policies were investigated with an agent-based model. • The current EU ETS might cause CO 2 price shocks and CO 2 price volatility. • A CO 2 auction reserve price does not lower welfare, but lowers CO 2 price volatility. • A national CO 2 price floor lowers consumer cost in the other countries. • A CO 2 price ceiling does not lead to an overshoot of emissions

  2. Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Mendez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

    On April 1, 2005, Denmark changed the way references prices, a main determinant of reimbursements for pharmaceutical purchases, are calculated. The previous reference prices, which were based on average EU prices, were substituted to minimum domestic prices. Novel to the literature, we estimate...... the joint eects of this reform on prices and quantities. Prices decreased more than 26 percent due to the reform, which reduced patient and government expenditures by 3.0 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, and producer revenues by 5.0 percent. The prices of expensive products decreased more than...

  3. Fabrication and anti-frosting performance of super hydrophobic coating based on modified nano-sized calcium carbonate and ordinary polyacrylate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang Hao [Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Tang Liming [Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)], E-mail: tanglm@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn; Wu Xiaomin; Dai Wantian [Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Qiu Yipeng [Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2007-09-15

    Nano-sized calcium carbonate (CaCO{sub 3}) particles were modified by heptadecafluorodecyl trimethoxysilane under acidic water condition. An ordinary polyacrylate prepared via radical copolymerization of methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, acrylic acid and {beta}-hydroxyethyl methacrylate was used as the binder to form hydrophobic coatings with the modified CaCO{sub 3}. Super hydrophobic coating with water contact angle of 155{sup o} was obtained from modified CaCO{sub 3} and the polyacrylate at their weight ratio of 8/2 by a simple procedure. Based on surface analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the super hydrophobicity can be attributed to both the surface microstructure and surface enrichment of fluoroalkyl chains. Due to a low water sliding angle, carbon black powder on super hydrophobic surface was easily removed by rolling water droplet. Furthermore, the anti-frosting performance of different surfaces was investigated, which indicated that the frost formed on superhydrophobic surface was greatly retarded compared with that on bare copper surface. The surface kept super hydrophobicity even after freezing-thawing treatment for 10 times.

  4. Electricity transmission pricing. How contracts must reflect costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shuttleworth, G.

    1996-01-01

    Two basic structures of transmission systems are distinguished: transmission channels offered through an integrated electric utility and open access offered over an independent network. The first structure allows the application of 'top-down pricing', where transmission prices are derived from customer tariffs less avoidable generation costs. Transmission prices in the second structure must be derived from a 'bottom-up' analysis of transmission costs, including building capacity, marginal losses, and congestion. 5 refs

  5. Super periodic potential

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasan, Mohammd; Mandal, Bhabani Prasad

    2018-04-01

    In this paper we introduce the concept of super periodic potential (SPP) of arbitrary order n, n ∈I+, in one dimension. General theory of wave propagation through SPP of order n is presented and the reflection and transmission coefficients are derived in their closed analytical form by transfer matrix formulation. We present scattering features of super periodic rectangular potential and super periodic delta potential as special cases of SPP. It is found that the symmetric self-similarity is the special case of super periodicity. Thus by identifying a symmetric fractal potential as special cases of SPP, one can obtain the tunnelling amplitude for a particle from such fractal potential. By using the formalism of SPP we obtain the close form expression of tunnelling amplitude of a particle for general Cantor and Smith-Volterra-Cantor potentials.

  6. On cost-informed pricing and customer value: a resource-advantage perspective on industrial innovation pricing practices

    OpenAIRE

    Ingenbleek, Paul; Debruyne, Marion; Frambach, Ruud T.

    2001-01-01

    By empirically testing a framework of pricing strategies and their determinants in an industrial setting, Noble and Gruca (1999a) help to overcome the lack of empirical validation of pricing theory. In a commentary to the article, Cressman (1999) (1) expresses worries about the high percentage of firms that engages in cost-based pricing; (2) raises a definition question on value-based pricing; and (3) stresses that empirical pricing literature does not provide ideas on successful pricing prac...

  7. Novel viral vectors utilizing intron splice-switching to activate genome rescue, expression and replication in targeted cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    El Andaloussi Samir

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The outcome of virus infection depends from the precise coordination of viral gene expression and genome replication. The ability to control and regulate these processes is therefore important for analysis of infection process. Viruses are also useful tools in bio- and gene technology; they can efficiently kill cancer cells and trigger immune responses to tumors. However, the methods for constructing tissue- or cell-type specific viruses typically suffer from low target-cell specificity and a high risk of reversion. Therefore novel and universal methods of regulation of viral infection are also important for therapeutic application of virus-based systems. Methods Aberrantly spliced introns were introduced into crucial gene-expression units of adenovirus vector and alphavirus DNA/RNA layered vectors and their effects on the viral gene expression, replication and/or the release of infectious genomes were studied in cell culture. Transfection of the cells with splice-switching oligonucleotides was used to correct the introduced functional defect(s. Results It was demonstrated that viral gene expression, replication and/or the release of infectious genomes can be blocked by the introduction of aberrantly spliced introns. The insertion of such an intron into an adenovirus vector reduced the expression of the targeted gene more than fifty-fold. A similar insertion into an alphavirus DNA/RNA layered vector had a less dramatic effect; here, only the release of the infectious transcript was suppressed but not the subsequent replication and spread of the virus. However the insertion of two aberrantly spliced introns resulted in an over one hundred-fold reduction in the infectivity of the DNA/RNA layered vector. Furthermore, in both systems the observed effects could be reverted by the delivery of splice-switching oligonucleotide(s, which corrected the splicing defects. Conclusions Splice-switch technology, originally developed for

  8. How Do Drug Prices Respond to a Change from External to Internal Reference Pricing?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Mendez, Susan J.

    (where they are based on the cheapest domestic substitute). We analyze three therapeutic classes with different treatment durations and show that the reform led to substantial price decreases for our lifelong treatment and to less substantial price reductions for our medium duration treatment while we do......We study the effects of a change in the way patient reimbursements are calculated on the prices of pharmaceuticals using quasi-experimental data for Denmark which switched from external (where reimbursements are based on prices of similar products in foreign countries) to internal reference pricing...

  9. Optimizing Human Diet Problem Based on Price and Taste Using

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein EGHBALI

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Low price and good taste of foods are regarded as two major factors for optimal human nutrition. Due to price fluctuations and taste diversity, these two factors cannot be certainly and determinately evaluated. This problem must be viewed from another perspective because of the uncertainty about the amount of nutrients per unit of foods and also diversity of people’s daily needs to receive them.This paper discusses human diet problem in fuzzy environment. The approach deals with multi-objective fuzzy linear programming problem using a fuzzy programming technique for its solution. By prescribing a diet merely based on crisp data, some ofthe realities are neglected. For the same reason, we dealt with human diet problem through fuzzy approach. Results indicated uncertainty about factors of nutrition diet -including taste and price, amount of nutrients and their intake- would affect diet quality, making the proposed diet more realistic.

  10. PRICE AND PRICING STRATEGIES

    OpenAIRE

    SUCIU Titus

    2013-01-01

    In individual companies, price is one significant factor in achieving marketing success. In many purchase situations, price can be of great importance to customers. Marketers must establish pricing strategies that are compatible with the rest of the marketing mix. Management should decide whether to charge the same price to all similar buyers of identical quantities of a product (a one-price strategy) or to set different prices (a flexible price strategy). Many organizations, especially retai...

  11. Trends in prices to commercial energy consumers in the competitive Texas electricity market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zarnikau, Jay; Fox, Marilyn; Smolen, Paul

    2007-01-01

    To date, the price of electricity to commercial or business energy consumers has generally increased at greater rates in the areas of Texas where retail competition has been introduced than in areas that do not enjoy competition. Trends in commercial competitive prices have largely mirrored trends in residential prices. Market restructuring has tended to increase the sensitivity of retail electricity prices to changes in the price of natural gas, the marginal fuel used for generation in Texas. Consequently, the rapid increases in the commodity price of natural gas following restructuring led to increases in competitive electric rates which exceeded the increases in areas not exposed to restructuring, where the fuel component of electric rates tend to reflect a weighted average of the utilities' fuel costs. There is some evidence that pricing behavior by competitive retailers changed when the retailers affiliated with the incumbent utilities were permitted some pricing flexibility, resulting in a reduction in prices. (author)

  12. A forward look at power prices in Alberta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reid-Carlson, D.

    1999-01-01

    The various components of the price of electricity, various rate design methodologies, and factors that influence cost-of-service such as types of generation and fuel, age of the physical plant, size of utility, rate of customer and load growth, funding arrangements, tax status, customer mix, and load profile are examined in an effort to predict the future price of electricity in Alberta. The prediction is that delivered prices will increase across all sectors, albeit at levels less than the increase would be without competition. Alberta pool prices in the longer term will continue to reflect the marginal cost of the last generators dispatched to meet the demand. Convergence between electricity spot prices and natural gas prices is predicted to occur over time

  13. Pulsating stars in SuperWASP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holdsworth Daniel L.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available SuperWASP is one of the largest ground-based surveys for transiting exoplanets. To date, it has observed over 31 million stars. Such an extensive database of time resolved photometry holds the potential for extensive searches of stellar variability, and provide solid candidates for the upcoming TESS mission. Previous work by e.g. [15], [5], [12] has shown that the WASP archive provides a wealth of pulsationally variable stars. In this talk I will provide an overview of the SuperWASP project, present some of the published results from the survey, and some of the on-going work to identify key targets for the TESS mission.

  14. Periodically Collapsing Bubbles in Stock Prices Cointegrated with Broad Dividends and Macroeconomic Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Man Fu

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available We study fluctuations in stock prices using a framework derived from the present value model augmented with a macroeconomic factor. The fundamental value is derived as the expected present discounted value of broad dividends that include, in addition to traditional cash dividends, other payouts to shareholders. A stochastic discount factor motivated by the consumption-based asset pricing model is utilized. A single macroeconomic factor, namely the output gap determines the non-fundamental component of stock prices. A resulting trivariate Vector Autoregression (TVAR model of stock prices, broad dividends, and the output gap shows evidence of cointegration in the DJIA and S&P 500 index data. Nonetheless, a sup augmented Dickey-Fuller test reveals existence of periodically collapsing bubbles in S&P 500 data during the late 1990s.

  15. The status of the SuperHILAC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grunder, H.A.; Selph, F.B.

    1976-01-01

    The SuperHILAC is an Alvarez linear accelerator designed to accelerate all ions to a maximum energy of 8.5 MeV/u. Duplication of effort is made possible by the utilization of a technique known as timeshare - two different ion beams are accelerated independently through the same linac structure. Recent operating experience is reviewed. Also discussed are recent major improvements which have been made to the accelerator, and a proposed improvement which will increase reliability and beam intensity for the very heavy ions (A > approximately 84) by adding a third injector of improved design

  16. Covariant super reggeon calculus for superstrings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petersen, J.L.; Sidenius, J.R.; Tollsten, A.K.

    1988-07-01

    A previously developed formalism for the bosonic string is extended to the Neveu-Schwarz-Ramond string using 2-d superspace techniques throughout. 3-string vertices for NS- and R-strings are constructed, sewing rules developed, and the technique of quasi-superconformal modes is set up for constructing the measure on super moduli space. Symmetries, such as superconformal invariance and BRST-invariance, are guaranteed ab initio. Picture changing and bosonization are avoided. Examples are given. The formalism should allow a superstring loop calculus based on supermoduli. Results concerning the ensuing super-Schottky description are given. (orig.)

  17. X-ray diffraction measurement of residual stress in sol-gel grown lead zirconate titanate thick films on nickel-based super alloy substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoshyarmanesh, Hamidreza; Nehzat, Naser; Salehi, Mehdi [Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghodsi, Mojtaba [Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat (Oman)

    2015-02-15

    Residual compressive stress of Pb(Zr{sub 0.52}Ti{sub 0.48})O{sub 3} thick films was investigated using residual strains derived from X-ray diffraction patterns. Sin{sup 2}ψ method was applied for the 5, 10 and 15 μm sol-gel derived thick films annealed at 700 .deg. C for 1 hr as high frequency structural health monitoring square-shape transducers of 10 x10 mm, deposited onto the curved nickel-based super alloy substrates. A triaxial model was proposed based on piezoelectric constitutive equations, and Bragg's law at a large diffraction angle (∼89°) was utilized considering the electromechanical coupling factor as well as elastic, dielectric and piezoelectric constants. Thickness variations led to a significant change in residual stress magnitudes delineated from more-accurate triaxial model compared to small angle plane-stress results not considering the piezoelectric coupling effects.

  18. Super Efficient Refrigerator Program (SERP) evaluation. Volume 1: Process evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sandahl, L.J.; Ledbetter, M.R.; Chin, R.I.; Lewis, K.S.; Norling, J.M.

    1996-01-01

    The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted this study for the US Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the Super Efficient Refrigerator Program (SERP) Evaluation. This report documents the SERP formation and implementation process, and identifies preliminary program administration and implementation issues. The findings are based primarily on interviews with those familiar with the program, such as utilities, appliance manufacturers, and SERP administrators. These interviews occurred primarily between March and April 1995, when SERP was in the early stages of program implementation. A forthcoming report will estimate the preliminary impacts of SERP within the industry and marketplace. Both studies were funded by DOE at the request of SERP Inc., which sought a third-party evaluation of its program.

  19. Exploration of approaches to adjusting brand-name drug prices in Mainland of China: based on comparison and analysis of some brand-name drug prices of Mainland and Taiwan, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Geng; Han, Sheng; Pu, Run; Pan, Wynn H T; Shi, Luwen

    2014-01-01

    Under the circumstance of the New Medical Reform in Mainland of China, lowering drug prices has become an approach to relieving increase of medical expenses, and lowering brand-name medication price is a key strategy. This study, by comparing and analyzing brand-name medication prices between Mainland of China and Taiwan, explores how to adjust brand-name medication prices in Mainland of China in the consideration of the drug administrative strategies in Taiwan. By selecting brand-name drug with generic name and dose types matched in Mainland and Taiwan, calculate the average unit price and standard deviation and test it with the paired t-test. In the mean time, drug administrative strategies between Mainland and Taiwan are also compared systematically. Among the 70 brand-name medications with generic names and matched dose types, 54 are at higher prices in Mainland of China than Taiwan, which is statistically significant in t-test. Also, among the 47 medications with all of matched generic names, dose types, and manufacturing enterprises, 38 are at higher prices in Mainland than Taiwan, and the gap is also statistically significant in t-test. In Mainland of China, brand-name medication took cost-plus pricing and price-based price adjustment, while in Taiwan, brand-name medication took internal and external reference pricing and market-based price adjustment. Brand-name drug prices were higher in Mainland of China than in Taiwan. The adjustment strategies of drug prices are scientific in Taiwan and are worth reference by Mainland of China.

  20. Electric utility deregulation - A nuclear opportunity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeMella, J.R.

    2002-01-01

    The implications of electric deregulation are and will continue to be pervasive and significant. Not only will the fundamental monopoly regulatory concepts of managing electric utilities change but deregulation will have a profound and dramatic impact on the way electric generating plants are managed and operated. In the past, under the various approaches to financial regulation, the economic benefits normally attributed to competition or that would have otherwise been derived from competitive or open market forces, were assumed to be embodied in and inherent to the various processes, methods and principles of financial oversight of utility companies by regional, state and municipal regulatory authorities. Traditionally, under the various forms of regulated monopolies, a utility company, in exchange for an exclusive franchise to produce and sell electricity in a particular region, was obligated to provide an adequate supply to all consumers wanting it, at a price that was 'just and reasonable'. The determination of adequate supply and reasonable price was a matter of interpretation by utility companies and their regulators. In essence, the ultimate economic benefits, normally attributed to price equilibrium, in balance with supply, demand and other market forces, were expected to be achieved through a complex, political process of financial regulatory oversight, in which utility companies were usually reimbursed for all annual expenses or their 'cost of service' and additionally allowed to earn a 'reasonable' rate of return on plant investments. The result was often escalating electric prices, over supplies of electric capacity, by justifying unnecessarily high reserve margins based on long planning horizons (typically 20 years or greater) with extrapolated demand requirements that were generally in excess of what actually occurred over time. Although the regulatory process varied from country or country and region-to-region, the fundamental principles, which

  1. Replication Research and Special Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Travers, Jason C.; Cook, Bryan G.; Therrien, William J.; Coyne, Michael D.

    2016-01-01

    Replicating previously reported empirical research is a necessary aspect of an evidence-based field of special education, but little formal investigation into the prevalence of replication research in the special education research literature has been conducted. Various factors may explain the lack of attention to replication of special education…

  2. Customizing Prices in Online Markets

    OpenAIRE

    Werner Reinartz

    2002-01-01

    Dynamic pricing is the dynamic adjustment of prices to consumers depending on the value these customers attribute to a good. Underlying the concept of dynamic pricing is what marketers call price customization. Price customization is the charging of different prices to end consumers based on a discriminatory variable. Internet technology will serve as a great enabling tool for making dynamic pricing accessible to many industries.

  3. Multivariate EMD-Based Modeling and Forecasting of Crude Oil Price

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaijian He

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent empirical studies reveal evidence of the co-existence of heterogeneous data characteristics distinguishable by time scale in the movement crude oil prices. In this paper we propose a new multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD-based model to take advantage of these heterogeneous characteristics of the price movement and model them in the crude oil markets. Empirical studies in benchmark crude oil markets confirm that more diverse heterogeneous data characteristics can be revealed and modeled in the projected time delayed domain. The proposed model demonstrates the superior performance compared to the benchmark models.

  4. Trading network predicts stock price.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Xiao-Qian; Shen, Hua-Wei; Cheng, Xue-Qi

    2014-01-16

    Stock price prediction is an important and challenging problem for studying financial markets. Existing studies are mainly based on the time series of stock price or the operation performance of listed company. In this paper, we propose to predict stock price based on investors' trading behavior. For each stock, we characterize the daily trading relationship among its investors using a trading network. We then classify the nodes of trading network into three roles according to their connectivity pattern. Strong Granger causality is found between stock price and trading relationship indices, i.e., the fraction of trading relationship among nodes with different roles. We further predict stock price by incorporating these trading relationship indices into a neural network based on time series of stock price. Experimental results on 51 stocks in two Chinese Stock Exchanges demonstrate the accuracy of stock price prediction is significantly improved by the inclusion of trading relationship indices.

  5. STS pricing policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, C. M.; Stone, B.

    1982-01-01

    In 1977 NASA published Shuttle Reimbursement Policies for Civil U.S. Government, DOD and Commercial and Foreign Users. These policies were based on the principle of total cost recovery over a period of time with a fixed flat price for initial period to time to enhance transition. This fixed period was to be followed with annual adjustments thereafter, NASA is establishing a new price for 1986 and beyond. In order to recover costs, that price must be higher than the initial fixed price through FY 1985. NASA intends to remain competitive. Competitive posture includes not only price, but other factors such as assured launch, reliability, and unique services. NASA's pricing policy considers all these factors.

  6. Ketogenic diet treatment for pediatric super-refractory status epilepticus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appavu, Brian; Vanatta, Lisa; Condie, John; Kerrigan, John F; Jarrar, Randa

    2016-10-01

    We aimed to study whether ketogenic diet (KD) therapy leads to resolution of super-refractory status epilepticus in pediatric patients without significant harm. A retrospective review was performed at Phoenix Children's Hospital on patients with super-refractory status epilepticus undergoing ketogenic diet therapy from 2011 to 2015. Ten children with super-refractory status epilepticus, ages 2-16 years, were identified. 4/10 patients had immune mediated encephalitis, including Rasmussen encephalitis, anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis, and post-infectious mycoplasma encephalitis. Other etiologies included Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, non-ketotic hyperglycinemia, PCDH19 and GABRG2 genetic epilepsy, New Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus, and Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome. 4/10 patients' EEG features suggested focal with status epilepticus, and 6/10 suggested generalized with status epilepticus. Median hospital length was 61days and median ICU length was 27days. The median number of antiepileptic medications prior to diet initiation was 3.0 drugs, and the median after ketogenic diet treatment was 3.5 drugs. Median duration of status epilepticus prior to KD was 18days. 9/10 patients had resolution of super-refractory status epilepticus in a median of 7days after diet initiation. 8/9 patients were weaned off anesthesia within 15days of diet initiation, and within 1day of achieving ketonuria. 1/10 patients experienced side effects on the diet requiring supplementation. Most patients achieved resolution of status epilepticus on KD therapy, suggesting it could be an effective therapy that can be utilized early in the treatment of children with super refractory status epilepticus. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  7. Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Méndez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    Reference prices constitute a main determinant of patient health care reimbursement in many countries. We study the effects of a change from an "external" (based on a basket of prices in other countries) to an "internal" (based on comparable domestic products) reference price system. We find...... that while our estimated consumer compensating variation is small, the reform led to substantial reductions in list and reference prices as well as co-payments, and to sizeable decreases in overall producer revenues, health care expenditures, and co-payments. These effects differ markedly between branded...

  8. Regulation of Pharmaceutical Prices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaiser, Ulrich; Méndez, Susan J.; Rønde, Thomas

    Reference prices constitute a main determinant of patient health care reimbursement in many countries. We study the effects of a change from an "external" (based on a basket of prices in other countries) to an "internal" (based on comparable domestic products) reference price system. We find...... that while our estimated consumer compensating variation is small, the reform led to substantial reductions in list and reference prices as well as co-payments, and to sizeable decreases in overall producer revenues, health care expenditures, and co-payments. These effects differ markedly between branded...

  9. Strategic Generation with Conjectured Transmission Price Responses in a Mixed Transmission Pricing System. Part 2. Application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wals, A.F.; Hobbs, B.F.; Rijkers, F.A.M.

    2004-05-01

    The conjectured transmission price response model presented in the first of this two-paper series considers the expectations of oligopolistic generators regarding how demands for transmission services affect the prices of those services. Here, the model is applied to northwest Europe, simulating a mixed transmission pricing system including export fees, a path-based auction system for between-country interfaces, and implicit congestion-based pricing of internal country constraints. The path-based system does not give credit for counterflows when calculating export capability. The application shows that this no-netting policy can exacerbate the economic inefficiencies caused by oligopolistic pricing by generators. The application also illustrates the effects of different generator conjectures regarding rival supply responses and transmission prices. If generators anticipate that their increased demand for transmission services will increase transmission prices, then competitive intensity diminishes and energy prices rise. In the example here, the effect of this anticipation is to double the price increase that results from oligopolistic (Cournot) competition among generators

  10. Frames in super Hilbert modules

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Rashidi-Kouchi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we define super Hilbert module and investigate frames in this space. Super Hilbert modules are  generalization of super Hilbert spaces in Hilbert C*-module setting. Also, we define frames in a super Hilbert module and characterize them by using of the concept of g-frames in a Hilbert C*-module. Finally, disjoint frames in Hilbert C*-modules are introduced and investigated.

  11. Strong volume, stable prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    This article is the September-October 1993 market report, providing trading volume and prices in the Uranium market. Activity was brisk, with 15 deals concluded. Six were in the spot concentrates market, with four of the six deals involving U.S. utilities and approximately 1.8M pounds of U3O8 equivalent. There were five conversion deals announced, with four of the five deals involving U.S. utilities. Four deals were concluded in the enrichment market, and the deals involving U.S. utilities were approximately 327k SWUs. On the horizon, there are deals for approximately 4.1M SWU

  12. Price performance following stock's IPO in different price limit systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ting; Wang, Yue; Li, Ming-Xia

    2018-01-01

    An IPO burst occurred in China's stock markets in 2015, while price limit trading rules usually help to reduce the short-term trading mania on individual stocks. It is interesting to make clear the function of the price limits after IPOs. We firstly make a statistical analysis based on all the IPO stocks listed from 1990 to 2015. A high dependency exists between the activities in stock's IPO and various market environment. We also focus on the price dynamics in the first 40 trading days after the stock listed. We find that price limit system will delay the price movement, especially for the up-trend movements, which may lead to longer continuous price limit hits. Similar to our previous work, many results such as ;W; shape can be also observed in the future daily return after the price limit open. At last, we find most IPO measures show evident correlations with the following price limit hits. IPO stocks with lower first-day turnover and earning per share will be followed with a longer continuous price limit hits and lower future daily return under the newest trading rules, which give us a good way to estimate the occurrence of price limit hits and the following price dynamics. Our analysis provides a better understanding of the price dynamics after IPO events and offers potential practical values for investors.

  13. Ensemble Prediction Model with Expert Selection for Electricity Price Forecasting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bijay Neupane

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Forecasting of electricity prices is important in deregulated electricity markets for all of the stakeholders: energy wholesalers, traders, retailers and consumers. Electricity price forecasting is an inherently difficult problem due to its special characteristic of dynamicity and non-stationarity. In this paper, we present a robust price forecasting mechanism that shows resilience towards the aggregate demand response effect and provides highly accurate forecasted electricity prices to the stakeholders in a dynamic environment. We employ an ensemble prediction model in which a group of different algorithms participates in forecasting 1-h ahead the price for each hour of a day. We propose two different strategies, namely, the Fixed Weight Method (FWM and the Varying Weight Method (VWM, for selecting each hour’s expert algorithm from the set of participating algorithms. In addition, we utilize a carefully engineered set of features selected from a pool of features extracted from the past electricity price data, weather data and calendar data. The proposed ensemble model offers better results than the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA method, the Pattern Sequence-based Forecasting (PSF method and our previous work using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN alone on the datasets for New York, Australian and Spanish electricity markets.

  14. Real Time Pricing as a Default or Optional Service for C&ICustomers: A Comparative Analysis of Eight Case Studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barbose, Galen; Goldman, Charles; Bharvirkar, Ranjit; Hopper,Nicole; Ting, Michael; Neenan, Bernie

    2005-08-01

    Demand response (DR) has been broadly recognized to be an integral component of well-functioning electricity markets, although currently underdeveloped in most regions. Among the various initiatives undertaken to remedy this deficiency, public utility commissions (PUC) and utilities have considered implementing dynamic pricing tariffs, such as real-time pricing (RTP), and other retail pricing mechanisms that communicate an incentive for electricity consumers to reduce their usage during periods of high generation supply costs or system reliability contingencies. Efforts to introduce DR into retail electricity markets confront a range of basic policy issues. First, a fundamental issue in any market context is how to organize the process for developing and implementing DR mechanisms in a manner that facilitates productive participation by affected stakeholder groups. Second, in regions with retail choice, policymakers and stakeholders face the threshold question of whether it is appropriate for utilities to offer a range of dynamic pricing tariffs and DR programs, or just ''plain vanilla'' default service. Although positions on this issue may be based primarily on principle, two empirical questions may have some bearing--namely, what level of price response can be expected through the competitive retail market, and whether establishing RTP as the default service is likely to result in an appreciable level of DR? Third, if utilities are to have a direct role in developing DR, what types of retail pricing mechanisms are most appropriate and likely to have the desired policy impact (e.g., RTP, other dynamic pricing options, DR programs, or some combination)? Given a decision to develop utility RTP tariffs, three basic implementation issues require attention. First, should it be a default or optional tariff, and for which customer classes? Second, what types of tariff design is most appropriate, given prevailing policy objectives, wholesale market

  15. Operationalizing value-based pricing of medicines : a taxonomy of approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sussex, Jon; Towse, Adrian; Devlin, Nancy

    2013-01-01

    The UK Government is proposing a novel form of price regulation for branded medicines, which it has dubbed 'value-based pricing' (VBP). The specifics of how VBP will work are unclear. We provide an account of the possible means by which VBP of medicines might be operationalized, and a taxonomy to describe and categorize the various approaches. We begin with a brief discussion of the UK Government's proposal for VBP and proceed to define a taxonomy of approaches to VBP. The taxonomy has five main dimensions: (1) what is identified as being of value, (2) how each element is measured, (3) how it is valued, (4) how the different elements of value are aggregated, and (5) how the result is then used to determine the price of a medicine. We take as our starting point that VBP will include a measure of health gain and that, as proposed by the UK Government, this will be built on the QALY. Our principal interest is in the way criteria other than QALYs are taken into account, including severity of illness, the extent of unmet need, and wider societal considerations such as impacts on carers. We set out to: (1) identify and describe the full range of alternative means by which 'value' might be measured and valued, (2) identify and describe the options available for aggregating the different components of value to establish a maximum price, and (3) note the challenges and relative advantages associated with these approaches. We review the means by which aspects of VBP are currently operationalized in a selection of countries and place these, and proposals for the UK, in the context of our taxonomy. Finally, we give an initial assessment of the challenges, pros and cons of each approach. We conclude that identifying where VBP should lie on each of the five dimensions entails value judgements: there are no simple 'right or wrong' solutions. If a wider definition of value than incremental QALYs gained is adopted, as is desirable, then a pragmatic way to aggregate the different

  16. Value-Based Pricing and Reimbursement in Personalised Healthcare: Introduction to the Basic Health Economics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrison, Louis P; Towse, Adrian

    2017-09-04

    'Value-based' outcomes, pricing, and reimbursement are widely discussed as health sector reforms these days. In this paper, we discuss their meaning and relationship in the context of personalized healthcare, defined as receipt of care conditional on the results of a biomarker-based diagnostic test. We address the question: "What kinds of pricing and reimbursement models should be applied in personalized healthcare?" The simple answer is that competing innovators and technology adopters should have incentives that promote long-term dynamic efficiency. We argue that-to meet this social objective of optimal innovation in personalized healthcare-payers, as agents of their plan participants, should aim to send clear signals to their suppliers about what they value. We begin by revisiting the concept of value from an economic perspective, and argue that a broader concept of value is needed in the context of personalized healthcare. We discuss the market for personalized healthcare and the interplay between price and reimbursement. We close by emphasizing the potential barrier posed by inflexible or cost-based reimbursement systems, especially for biomarker-based predictive tests, and how these personalized technologies have global public goods characteristics that require global value-based differential pricing to achieve dynamic efficiency in terms of the optimal rate of innovation and adoption.

  17. Price formation on the Swedish woodfuel market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hillring, B.

    1999-01-01

    The Swedish woodfuel market has grown rapidly in the past ten years. Government policy has strongly supported this development and environmental taxes on fossil fuels have been introduced. This has favoured untaxed biofuels, i.e. woodfuels, in the district heating sector where the market has grown very rapidly. This study on price formation is based on the earlier knowledge of the market and shows that the woodfuel market has seen a dramatic increase combined with falling prices. Unrefined wood fuels demonstrate an annual volume increase of 13% while real prices have fallen at an annual rate of 5% during the first half of the 1990s. Total taxes paid by the district heating sector have increased during the period studied and of which taxes for fossil fuels have increased dramatically during the past ten years. However, tax as a share of the total fuelmix supplying the district heating sector has been stabilised over time. The primary reason for this development is the replacement of the highly taxed fossil fuels in the supplied fuels with untaxed biofuels. Companies have reacted very quickly and rationally from an economic point of view to the rising costs of fossil fuels, substituting an increasing share with biofuels. For the future, many utilities have the capacity to adapt to new changes in costs resulting from either changes in fuel prices, changes in fuel taxes or changes in prices on heating or electricity markets. (author)

  18. Evaluation of transmutation performance of long-lived fission products with a super fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Haoliang; Han, Chiyoung; Oka, Yoshiaki; Ikejiri, Satoshi; Ishiwatari, Yuki

    2009-01-01

    The performance of the Super Fast Reactor for transmutation treatment of long-lived fission products (LLFPs) was evaluated. Two regions with soft neutron spectrum, which is of great benefit to the LLFPs transmutation, can be utilized in the Super Fast Reactor. First is in the blanket assembly due to the ZrH 1.7 layer which can slow down the fast neutrons. Second is in the reflector region of core like other metal-cooled fast reactors. The LLFPs selected of transmutation analysis include 99 Tc, 129 I and 135 Cs discharged from LWR. Their isotopes, such as 127 I, 133 Cs, 134 Cs and 137 Cs were also considered. By loading the isotopes ( 99 Tc or 127 I and 129 I) in the blanket assembly and the reflector region simultaneously, the transmutation rates of 5.36%/GWe·y and 2.79%/GWe.y can be obtained for 99 Tc and 129 I, respectively. The transmuted amounts of 99 Tc and 129 I are equal to the outputs from 11.8 and 6.2 1000MWe-class PWRs. Because of the very low capture cross section of 135 Cs and the effect of other cesium isotopes, 135 Cs was loaded with three rings of assemblies in the reflector region to make the transmuted amount be larger than the yields of two 1000MWe-class PWRs. Based on these results, 99 Tc and 129 I can be transmuted conveniently and higher transmutation performance can be obtained by the Super Fast Reactor. However, the transmutation of 135 Cs is very difficult and the transmuted amount is less than that produced by the Super Fast Reactor. It turns out that the 135 Cs transmutation is a challenge not only for the Super Fast Reactor but also for other commercial fast reactors. (author)

  19. Prices and Price Setting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R.P. Faber (Riemer)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractThis thesis studies price data and tries to unravel the underlying economic processes of why firms have chosen these prices. It focuses on three aspects of price setting. First, it studies whether the existence of a suggested price has a coordinating effect on the prices of firms.

  20. A cost-based empirical model of the aggregate price determination for the Turkish economy: A multivariate cointegration approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeren Fatma

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper tries to examine the long run relationships between the aggregate consumer prices and some cost-based components for the Turkish economy. Based on a simple economic model of the macro-scaled price formation, multivariate cointegration techniques have been applied to test whether the real data support the a priori model construction. The results reveal that all of the factors, related to the price determination, have a positive impact on the consumer prices as expected. We find that the most significant component contributing to the price setting is the nominal exchange rate depreciation. We also cannot reject the linear homogeneity of the sum of all the price data as to the domestic inflation. The paper concludes that the Turkish consumer prices have in fact a strong cost-push component that contributes to the aggregate pricing.