7,033 research outputs found
Investment-Linked Takaful Plan Patronage: Evidence From Malaysia
Investment-linked Takaful is a recent innovation introduced in Malaysia. This study focuses on Investment-linked takaful plan selection in Malaysia. We have used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from 143 respondents from the Klang Valley area. Data collected through the survey was analyzed through descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. Results indicate that fee payment and benefits play a significant role in Takaful operator selection while coverage and benefits affect the investment-linked product selection in Malaysia. This study is unique as it provides empirical evidence on the investment-linked takaful investment which is limited in supply. Results provided by this study can be useful for takaful operators in designing the most appropriate investment-linked product for attracting customers
Crossover from a pseudogap state to a superconducting state
On the basis of our calculation we deduce that the particular electronic
structure of cuprate superconductors confines Cooper pairs to be firstly formed
in the antinodal region which is far from the Fermi surface, and these pairs
are incoherent and result in the pseudogap state. With the change of doping or
temperature, some pairs are formed in the nodal region which locates the Fermi
surface, and these pairs are coherent and lead to superconductivity. Thus the
coexistence of the pseudogap and the superconducting gap is explained when the
two kinds of gaps are not all on the Fermi surface. It is also shown that the
symmetry of the pseudogap and the superconducting gap are determined by the
electronic structure, and non-s wave symmetry gap favors the high-temperature
superconductivity. Why the high-temperature superconductivity occurs in the
metal region near the Mott metal-insulator transition is also explained.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Quantifying the Effect of Non-Larmor Motion of Electrons on the Pressure Tensor
In space plasma, various effects of magnetic reconnection and turbulence
cause the electron motion to significantly deviate from their Larmor orbits.
Collectively these orbits affect the electron velocity distribution function
and lead to the appearance of the "non-gyrotropic" elements in the pressure
tensor. Quantification of this effect has important applications in space and
laboratory plasma, one of which is tracing the electron diffusion region (EDR)
of magnetic reconnection in space observations. Three different measures of
agyrotropy of pressure tensor have previously been proposed, namely,
, and . The multitude of contradictory measures has
caused confusion within the community. We revisit the problem by considering
the basic properties an agyrotropy measure should have. We show that
, and are all defined based on the sum of the
principle minors (i.e. the rotation invariant ) of the pressure tensor. We
discuss in detail the problems of -based measures and explain why they may
produce ambiguous and biased results. We introduce a new measure
constructed based on the determinant of the pressure tensor (i.e. the rotation
invariant ) which does not suffer from the problems of -based
measures. We compare with other measures in 2 and 3-dimension
particle-in-cell magnetic reconnection simulations, and show that can
effectively trace the EDR of reconnection in both Harris and force-free current
sheets. On the other hand, does not show prominent peaks in
the EDR and part of the separatrix in the force-free reconnection simulations,
demonstrating that does not measure all the non-gyrotropic
effects in this case, and is not suitable for studying magnetic reconnection in
more general situations other than Harris sheet reconnection.Comment: accepted by Phys. of Plasm
Jet Fragmentation via Recombination of Parton Showers
We study hadron production in jets by applying quark recombination to jet
shower partons. With the jet showers obtained from PYTHIA and augmented by
additional non-perturbative effects, we compute hadron spectra in e+ +
e-collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV. Including contributions from resonance decays,
we find that the resulting transverse momentum spectra for pions, kaons, and
protons reproduce reasonably those from the string fragmentation as implemented
in PYTHIA.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, contribution to Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions 201
A Novel Cable-Driven Robotic Training Improves Locomotor Function in Individuals Post-Stroke
A novel cable-driven robotic gait training system has been tested to improve the locomotor function in individuals post stroke. Seven subjects with chronic stroke were recruited to participate in this 6 weeks robot-assisted treadmill training paradigm. A controlled assistance force was applied to the paretic leg at the ankle through a cable-driven robotic system. The force was applied from late stance to mid-swing during treadmill training. Body weight support was provided as necessary to prevent knee buckling or toe drag. Subjects were trained 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Overground gait speed, 6 minute walking distance, and balance were evaluated at pre, post 6 weeks robotic training, and at 8 weeks follow up. Significant improvements in gait speed and 6 minute walking distance were obtained following robotic treadmill training through a cable-driven robotic system. Results from this study indicate that it is feasible to improve the locomotor function in individuals post stroke through a flexible cable-driven robot
Analysis of chaotic mixing in plugs moving in meandering microchannels
Droplets moving in meandering microchannels can serve as a passive and robust strategy to produce chaotic mixing of species in droplet-based microfluidics. In this paper, a simplified theoretical model is proposed for plug-shaped droplets moving in meandering microchannels at Stokes flow. With this model to provide the velocity field, particle tracking, which requires a large computation time, is performed directly and easily without interpolation. With this convenience, a broad survey of the parameter space is carried out to investigate chaotic mixing in plugs, including the channel curvature, the Peclet number, the viscosity ratio, and the plug length. The results show that in order to achieve rapid mixing in plugs in meandering microchannels, a large curvature, a small Peclet number, a moderate viscosity ratio, and a moderate plug length are preferred. © 2011 American Physical Society
Properties of Hadrons in the Nuclear Medium
This review is devoted to the discussion of hadron properties in the nuclear
medium and its relation to the partial restoration of chiral symmetry. Special
attention is given to disentangle in-medium effects due to conventional
many-body interactions from those due to the change of the chiral condensate.
In particular, we shall discuss medium effects on the Goldstone bosons (pion,
kaon and eta), the vector mesons (rho, omega, phi), and the nucleon. Also, for
each proposed in-medium effect the experimental consequence and results will be
reviewed.Comment: 43 pages, 8 figures, uses epsf-style file. To appear in Ann. Rev.
Nucl. Part. Sci. Vol 4
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