767 research outputs found
Out-of-pocket health care expenditure in Turkey: analysis of the household budget surveys 2002-2008
This paper analyses the prevalence of âcatastrophicâ out-of-pocket health expenditure in Turkey and identifies the factors which are associated with its risk using the Turkish Household Budget Surveys from 2002 to 2008. A sample selection approach based on Sartori (2003) is adopted to allow for the potential selection problem which may arise if poor households choose not to seek health care due to concerns regarding its affordability. The results suggest that poor households are less likely to seek health care as compared to non-poor households and that a negative relationship between poverty and experiencing catastrophic health expenditure remains even after allowing for such selection bias. Our findings, which may assist policy-makers concerned with health care system reforms, also highlight factors such as insurance coverage, which may protect households from the risk of incurring catastrophic health expenditure
Noncooperative equilibrium solutions for spectrum access in distributed cognitive radio networks
Lyapunov stochastic stability and control of robust dynamic coalitional games with transferable utilities
This paper considers a dynamic game with transferable utilities (TU), where the characteristic function is a continuous-time bounded mean ergodic process. A central planner interacts continuously over time with the players by choosing the instantaneous allocations subject to budget constraints. Before the game starts, the central planner knows the nature of the process (bounded mean ergodic), the bounded set from which the coalitions' values are sampled, and the long run average coalitions' values. On the other hand, he has no knowledge of the underlying probability function generating the coalitions' values. Our goal is to find allocation rules that use a measure of the extra reward that a coalition has received up to the current time by re-distributing the budget among the players. The objective is two-fold: i) guaranteeing convergence of the average allocations to the core (or a specific point in the core) of the average game, ii) driving the coalitions' excesses to an a priori given cone. The resulting allocation rules are robust as they guarantee the aforementioned convergence properties despite the uncertain and time-varying nature of the coaltions' values. We highlight three main contributions. First, we design an allocation rule based on full observation of the extra reward so that the average allocation approaches a specific point in the core of the average game, while the coalitions' excesses converge to an a priori given direction. Second, we design a new allocation rule based on partial observation on the extra reward so that the average allocation converges to the core of the average game, while the coalitions' excesses converge to an a priori given cone. And third, we establish connections to approachability theory and attainability theory
A note on a gauge-gravity relation and functional determinants
We present a refinement of a recently found gauge-gravity relation between
one-loop effective actions: on the gauge side, for a massive charged scalar in
2d dimensions in a constant maximally symmetric electromagnetic field; on the
gravity side, for a massive spinor in d-dimensional (Euclidean) anti-de Sitter
space. The inclusion of the dimensionally regularized volume of AdS leads to
complete mapping within dimensional regularization. In even-dimensional AdS, we
get a small correction to the original proposal; whereas in odd-dimensional
AdS, the mapping is totally new and subtle, with the `holographic trace
anomaly' playing a crucial role.Comment: 6 pages, io
In-vitro antioxidant activities of the fruits peel of citrus macroptera Mont. Var. Annamensis
In-vitro antioxidant activities of the fruit peels of Citrus macroptera were studied in the present work. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assays were performed to evaluate the antioxidant properties of the fractions from n-hexane and methanol crude extracts from the fruit peels of this plant. Results suggested that all fractions from methanol crude extract showed good antioxidant activities. Meanwhile, all fractions from n-hexane extract exhibited as weak antioxidant properties. The results were comparable with standard ascorbic acid. The potency of antioxidant activities of the fruits peel of C. macroptera depends on the type of extracts
Large networks of dynamic agents: Consensus under adversarial disturbances
This paper studies interactions among homogeneous social groups within the framework of large population games. Each group is represented by a network and the behavior described by a two-player repeated game. The contribution is three-fold. Beyond the idea of providing a novel two-level model with repeated games at a lower level and population games at a higher level, we also establish a mean field equilibrium and study state feedback best-response strategies as well as worst-case adversarial disturbances in that context. © 2012 IEEE
Opinion dynamics in coalitional games with transferable utilities
© 2014 IEEE. This paper studies opinion dynamics in a large number of homogeneous coalitional games with transferable utilities (TU), where the characteristic function is a continuous-time stochastic process. For each game, which we can see as a 'small world', the players share opinions on how to allocate revenues based on the mean-field interactions with the other small worlds. As a result of such mean-field interactions among small worlds, in each game, a central planner allocates revenues based on the extra reward that a coalition has received up to the current time and the extra reward that the same coalition has received in the other games. The paper also studies the convergence and stability of opinions on allocations via stochastic stability theory
Chiral Modulations in Curved Space I: Formalism
The goal of this paper is to present a formalism that allows to handle
four-fermion effective theories at finite temperature and density in curved
space. The formalism is based on the use of the effective action and zeta
function regularization, supports the inclusion of inhomogeneous and
anisotropic phases. One of the key points of the method is the use of a
non-perturbative ansatz for the heat-kernel that returns the effective action
in partially resummed form, providing a way to go beyond the approximations
based on the Ginzburg-Landau expansion for the partition function. The
effective action for the case of ultra-static Riemannian spacetimes with
compact spatial section is discussed in general and a series representation,
valid when the chemical potential satisfies a certain constraint, is derived.
To see the formalism at work, we consider the case of static Einstein spaces at
zero chemical potential. Although in this case we expect inhomogeneous phases
to occur only as meta-stable states, the problem is complex enough and allows
to illustrate how to implement numerical studies of inhomogeneous phases in
curved space. Finally, we extend the formalism to include arbitrary chemical
potentials and obtain the analytical continuation of the effective action in
curved space.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; version to appear in JHE
Bose-Fermi degeneracies in large N adjoint QCD
Abstract: We analyze the large N limit of adjoint QCD, an SU(N) gauge theory with Nf flavors of massless adjoint Majorana fermions, compactified on S3 Ă S1. We focus on the weakly-coupled confining small-S3 regime. If the fermions are given periodic boundary conditions on S1, we show that there are large cancellations between bosonic and fermionic contributions to the twisted partition function. These cancellations follow a pattern previously seen in the context of misaligned supersymmetry, and lead to the absence of Hagedorn instabilities for any S1 size L, even though the bosonic and fermionic densities of states both have Hagedorn growth. Adjoint QCD stays in the confining phase for any L ⌠N0, explaining how it is able to enjoy large N volume independence for any L. The large N boson-fermion cancellations take place in a setting where adjoint QCD is manifestly non-supersymmetric at any finite N, and are consistent with the recent conjecture that adjoint QCD has emergent fermionic symmetries in the large N limit
Antioxidant property, traditional uses and chemical composition of seed oil plants of North-east India: A mini- review
Apart from being used as food, seed oils have also been used traditionally as medicinal products by several communities. However, the full medicinal potential of many seed oil plants is yet to be properly
reviewed, particularly for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. North-East India has rich resources of seed oil plants. The availability of detailed information on these plants is quite limited. This review aims to explore and evaluate these seed oil plants of the North-East India with particular emphasis on their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities as well as chemical compositions. A comprehensive literature search on seed oil plants of this region has been performed. Seed oil yielding plants of this region can be categorized into two categories: plants that are used traditionally as sources of edible or medicinal oils and plants that are used for purposes other than as sources of oils. Many seed oil plants of this region have been reported to possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, and to produce various types of compounds. This review also highlights the importance of these plants in contributing to the local as well as the national economy of India
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