On the impact of independence of irrelevant alternatives: the case of two-person NTU games

On several classes of n-person NTU games that have at least one Shapley NTU value, Aumann characterized this solution by six axioms: Non-emptiness, efficiency, unanimity, scale covariance, conditional additivity, and independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA). Each of the first five axioms is logically independent of the remaining axioms, and the logical independence of IIA is an open problem. We show that for n = 2 the first five axioms already characterize the Shapley NTU value, provided that the class of games is not further restricted. Moreover, we present an example of a solution that satisfies the first five axioms and violates IIA for two-person NTU games (N, V) with uniformly p-smooth V(N).

Effectiveness-ntu computation with a mathematical model for cross-flow heat exchangers

Due to the wide range of design possibilities, simple manufactured, low maintenance and low cost, cross-flow heat exchangers are extensively used in the petroleum, petrochemical, air conditioning, food storage, and others industries. In this paper a mathematical model for cross-flow heat exchangers with complex flow arrangements for determining epsilon -NTU relations is presented. The model is based on the tube element approach, according to which the heat exchanger outlet temperatures are obtained by discretizing the coil along the tube fluid path. In each cross section of the element, tube-side fluid temperature is assumed to be constant because the heat capacity rate ratio C*=Cmin/Cmax tends toward zero in the element. Thus temperature is controlled by effectiveness of a local element corresponding to an evaporator or a condenser-type element. The model is validated through comparison with theoretical algebraic relations for single-pass cross-flow arrangements with one or more rows. Very small relative errors are obtained showing the accuracy of the present model. epsilon -NTU curves for several complex circuit arrangements are presented. The model developed represents a useful research tool for theoretical and experimental studies on heat exchangers performance.

Proskinitarū al sfǫntūlūĭ Mūnte al Atonūlūĭ : saū deskriere pe larg a sfintelor lokashūrĭ che sūnt zidite de atîtea veakūrĭ împrezhūrūl achestūĭ sfînt mūnte, shi la kare evlavioshiĭ shi dreptkredinchĭoshiĭ kreshtinĭ merg spre înkinʺchĭūne /

Mode of access: Internet.

Why do so few hold stocks : theory and evidence

This study develops a life-cycle model where investors make investment decisions in a realistic environment. Model results show that personal illiquid projects (housing and children), fixed costs (once-off/per-period participation costs plus variable/fixed transaction costs) and endogenous risky human capital (with permanent, transitory and disastrous shocks) together are able to address both the non-participation puzzle and the age-effects puzzle. Empirical implications of the model are examined using Heckman’s two-step method with the latest five Surveys of Consumer Finance (SCF). Regression results show that liquidity, informational cost and human capital are indeed the major determinants of participation and asset allocation decisions at different stages of an investor’s life.

An evaluation of alternative media for pebble matrix filtration using clay balls and recycled crushed glass

Protecting slow sand filters (SSFs) from high-turbidity waters by pretreatment using pebble matrix filtration (PMF) has previously been studied in the laboratory at University College London, followed by pilot field trials in Papua New Guinea and Serbia. The first full-scale PMF plant was completed at a water-treatment plant in Sri Lanka in 2008, and during its construction, problems were encountered in sourcing the required size of pebbles and sand as filter media. Because sourcing of uniform-sized pebbles may be problematic in many countries, the performance of alternative media has been investigated for the sustainability of the PMF system. Hand-formed clay balls made at a 100-yearold brick factory in the United Kingdom appear to have satisfied the role of pebbles, and a laboratory filter column was operated by using these clay balls together with recycled crushed glass as an alternative to sand media in the PMF. Results showed that in countries where uniform-sized pebbles are difficult to obtain, clay balls are an effective and feasible alternative to natural pebbles. Also, recycled crushed glass performed as well as or better than silica sand as an alternative fine media in the clarification process, although cleaning by drainage was more effective with sand media. In the tested filtration velocity range of ð0:72–1:33Þ m=h and inlet turbidity range of (78–589) NTU, both sand and glass produced above 95% removal efficiencies. The head loss development during clogging was about 30% higher in sand than in glass media.

Modelling word meaning using efficient tensor representations

Models of word meaning, built from a corpus of text, have demonstrated success in emulating human performance on a number of cognitive tasks. Many of these models use geometric representations of words to store semantic associations between words. Often word order information is not captured in these models. The lack of structural information used by these models has been raised as a weakness when performing cognitive tasks. This paper presents an efficient tensor based approach to modelling word meaning that builds on recent attempts to encode word order information, while providing flexible methods for extracting task specific semantic information.

A Comprehensive Benchmarking Framework (CoBeFra) for conformance analysis between procedural process models and event logs in ProM

Process mining encompasses the research area which is concerned with knowledge discovery from information system event logs. Within the process mining research area, two prominent tasks can be discerned. First of all, process discovery deals with the automatic construction of a process model out of an event log. Secondly, conformance checking focuses on the assessment of the quality of a discovered or designed process model in respect to the actual behavior as captured in event logs. Hereto, multiple techniques and metrics have been developed and described in the literature. However, the process mining domain still lacks a comprehensive framework for assessing the goodness of a process model from a quantitative perspective. In this study, we describe the architecture of an extensible framework within ProM, allowing for the consistent, comparative and repeatable calculation of conformance metrics. For the development and assessment of both process discovery as well as conformance techniques, such a framework is considered greatly valuable.

The Tarim picrite-basalt-rhyolite suite, a Permian flood basalt from Northwest China with contrasting rhyolites produced by fractional crystallization and anatexis

We report major and trace element composition, Sr–Nd isotopic and seismological data for a picrite–basalt–rhyolite suite from the northern Tarim uplift (NTU), northwest China. The samples were recovered from 13 boreholes at depths between 5,166 and 6,333 m. The picritic samples have high MgO (14.5–16.8 wt%, volatiles included) enriched in incompatible element and have high 87Sr/86Sr and low 143Nd/144Nd isotopic ratios (εNd (t) = −5.3; Sri = 0.707), resembling the Karoo high-Ti picrites. All the basaltic samples are enriched in TiO2 (2.1–3.2 wt%, volatiles free), have high FeOt abundances (11.27–15.75 wt%, volatiles free), are enriched in incompatible elements and have high Sr and low Nd isotopic ratios (Sri = 0.7049–0.7065; εNd (t) = −4.1 to −0.4). High Nb/La ratios (0.91–1.34) of basalts attest that they are mantle-derived magma with negligible crustal contamination. The rhyolite samples can be subdivided into two coeval groups with overlapping U–Pb zircon ages between 291 ± 4 and 272 ± 2 Ma. Group 1 rhyolites are enriched in Nb and Ta, have similar Nb/La, Nb/U, and Sr–Nd isotopic compositions to the associated basalts, implying that they are formed by fractional crystallization of the basalts. Group 2 rhyolites are depleted in Nb and Ta, have low Nb/La ratios, and have very high Sr and low Nd isotopic ratios, implying that crustal materials have been extensively, if not exclusively, involved in their source. The picrite–basalt–rhyolite suite from the NTU, together with Permian volcanic rocks from elsewhere Tarim basin, constitute a Large Igneous Province (LIP) that is characterized by large areal extent, rapid eruption, OIB-type chemical composition, and eruption of high temperature picritic magma. The Early Permian magmatism, which covered an area >300,000 km2, is therefore named the Tarim Flood Basalt.

Insolvency academics contributing to the review of insolvency laws: An Australian perspective

Introduction 1 It gives me great pleasure to contribute to this publication to honour Professor Ian Fletcher on his retirement as Foundation Chair of the INSOL International Academic Group. A collection of essays that include topics on domestic, cross-border and international insolvency appropriately reflects the breadth of Professor Fletcher’s impact on the scholarship of insolvency law – not only in his “home” jurisdiction of England and Wales and closer to home in Europe, but also stretching around the globe, in this case, to Australia. 2 In the early 1990s when I first began to research in the area of cross-border insolvency law, a colleague mentioned that they had recently attended the XIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law in Montreal in August 1990 and heard the Cross-border Insolvency: General Report expertly delivered by an English academic, Ian Fletcher, who was widely regarded as an authority in the area. This was my first introduction to Professor Fletcher’s work and over the intervening years I have referred often to his scholarship....

Is corporate rescue a realistic ideal? Business as usual in Australia and the United Kingdom

This paper seeks to review the operation of Australian corporate law rescue regimes in the context of those originally contemplated by Sir Kenneth Cork and more latterly in Australia, primarily in the hands of Ron Harmer. In doing so, it draws upon some of the observations made by Professor Fletcher in the second wave of 20th century corporate rescue reform in the United Kingdom.

Effects of turbidity on feeding and distribution of fish

In aquatic systems, the ability of both the predator and prey to detect each other may be impaired by turbidity. This could lead to significant changes in the trophic interactions in the food web of lakes. Most fish use their vision for predation and the location of prey can be highly influenced by light level and clarity of the water environment. Turbidity is an optical property of water that causes light to be scattered and absorbed by particles and molecules. Turbidity is highly variable in lakes, due to seasonal changes in suspended sediments, algal blooms and wind-driven suspension of sediments especially in shallow waters. There is evidence that human activity has increased erosion leading to increased turbidity in aquatic systems. Turbidity could also play a significant role in distribution of fish. Turbidity could act as a cover for small fish and reduce predation risk. Diel horizontal migration by fish is common in shallow lakes and is considered as consequences of either optimal foraging behaviour for food or as a trade-off between foraging and predator avoidance. In turbid lakes, diel horizontal migration patterns could differ since turbidity can act as a refuge itself and affect the predator-prey interactions. Laboratory experiments were conducted with perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) and white bream (Abramis björkna (L.)) to clarify the effects of turbidity on their feeding. Additionally to clarify the effects of turbidity on predator preying on different types of prey, pikeperch larvae (Sander lucioperca (L.)), Daphnia pulex (Leydig), Sida crystallina (O.F. Müller), and Chaoborus flavicans (Meigen) were used as prey in different experiments. To clarify the role of turbidity in distribution and diel horizontal migration of perch, roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.)) and white bream, field studies were conducted in shallow turbid lakes. A clear and a turbid shallow lake were compared to investigate distribution of perch and roach in these two lakes in a 15-year study period. Feeding efficiency of perch and white bream was not significantly affected with increasing clay turbidity up to 50 NTU. The perch experiments with pikeperch larvae suggested that clay turbidity could act as a refuge especially at turbidity levels higher than 50 NTU. Perch experiments with different prey types suggested that pikeperch larvae probably use turbidity as a refuge better compared to Daphnia. Increase in turbidity probably has stronger affect on perch predating on plant-attached prey. The main findings of the thesis show that turbidity can play a significant role in distribution of fish. Perch and roach could use turbidity as refuge when macrophytes disappear while small perch may also use high turbidity as refuge when macrophytes are present. Floating-leaved macrophytes are probably good refuges for small fish in clay-turbid lakes and provide a certain level of turbidity and not too complex structure for refuge. The results give light to the predator-prey interactions in turbid environments. Turbidity of water should be taken in to account when studying the diel horizontal migrations and distribution of fish in shallow lakes.