3,279 research outputs found
AN ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE NET PRESENT VALUE CAPITAL INVESTMENT DECISION MODELS
We have found that the disagreement between Returns-to-Assets (RTA) and Returns-to-Equity (RTE) proponents is not confined to agricultural economics. Depending on the course they are taking and the accompanying text, students are likely to learn that there is a "right" way to calculate Net Present Values (NPVs), either by the RTA method or the RTE method. In most cases, only one of the two methods is discussed and illustrated with numerical examples. Less common are texts that compare the two methods, discuss their underlying assumptions, or show how the NPVs from the two methods can be reconciled. The paper is organized as follows. The first section of the main body of the paper provides a comparative overview of the RTA and RTE methods; the second section discusses our textbook survey; the final section offers our conclusions. Appendix A contains a brief history of the theoretical development of discounted cash flow (DCF) concepts. Appendix B contains additional details on defining components of NPV models. Finally, Appendix C is a listing of some additional references.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,
HANDLING DURABLE AND NONDURABLE FARM INPUT DECISIONS USING A SINGLE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Students in economics are taught that the optimal usage of a nundurable input occurs when the value of its marginal product (VMP) equals its marginal cost (MC). However, this fundamental condition has rarely been extended to durable inputs. Even advanced textbooks have done little to compare and contrast the optimality conditions for durables versus nondurables. This paper outlines and compares a common VMP-MC decision for (1) nondurables in a single-period time horizon, (2) durables in a finite planning horizon, and (3) durables in an infinite planning horizon.Agricultural Finance,
UTILIZATION OF MACHINE LEARNING TO OPTIMIZE RADIO-FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE IDENTIFICATION FOR U.S. NAVAL COMMUNICATIONS
The proliferation of electronic devices emitting radio waves has led to Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum congestion. This poses a significant threat to Department of Defense (DOD) environments, especially naval communications heavily reliant on satellite systems, which are susceptible to electromagnetic interference. The lack of sufficient interference identification and characterization capabilities further compounds the operational risks faced by naval units. This thesis investigates the utilization of machine learning (ML) techniques for interference detection in RF transmissions. With their advanced data analysis and pattern-recognition capabilities, ML algorithms can enhance interference detection and mitigation. Two architectures, a basic autoencoder and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) autoencoder, were evaluated for their ability to identify anomalous RF data within a dataset. The research methodology involved generating RF data with varying Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) levels in a basic transmission pathway. The ML models were trained using normal RF data and evaluated on their ability to detect and classify signals with and without interference. The results demonstrate that both the basic autoencoder and LSTM autoencoder models could effectively identify interference. The LSTM autoencoders achieved a success rate of about 99%, indicating their potential use as a solution to the capabilities gap for interference identification.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.Lieutenant, United States Nav
Chemical Kinship: Interdisciplinary Experiments with Pollution
This is the final version. Available from catalystjournal.org via the DOI in this record. Feminist technoscientific research with chemicals is proliferating. This critical commentary considers how this scholarship extends environmental justice research on pollution. We are concerned with two key questions: How can we do/design ethical research with chemicals? And, what methods allow for researching chemicals without resorting to an imagined space of purity? We consider unfolding projects which reorient relations with chemicals from villainous objects with violent effects, to chemical kin. We imagine chemical kinship as a concept, an analytical tool, and a mode of relating. Emerging through feminist and anticolonial work with chemicals, it involves a tentativeness towards making normative claims about chemicals because, like kin, these materials are never entirely good nor bad, at once they can both be enabling and harmful. This commentary considers what the unfolding research with chemicals generates, and consolidates conceptualisations of chemical kinship; we ultimately articulate an agenda for ethical research with chemicals as an experimental process of invention.Economic and Social Research Counci
Computability of simple games: A characterization and application to the core
The class of algorithmically computable simple games (i) includes the class
of games that have finite carriers and (ii) is included in the class of games
that have finite winning coalitions. This paper characterizes computable games,
strengthens the earlier result that computable games violate anonymity, and
gives examples showing that the above inclusions are strict. It also extends
Nakamura's theorem about the nonemptyness of the core and shows that computable
games have a finite Nakamura number, implying that the number of alternatives
that the players can deal with rationally is restricted.Comment: 35 pages; To appear in Journal of Mathematical Economics; Appendix
added, Propositions, Remarks, etc. are renumbere
Semiconductor-metal nanoparticle molecules: hybrid excitons and non-linear Fano effect
Modern nanotechnology opens the possibility of combining nanocrystals of
various materials with very different characteristics in one superstructure.
The resultant superstructure may provide new physical properties not
encountered in homogeneous systems. Here we study theoretically the optical
properties of hybrid molecules composed of semiconductor and metal
nanoparticles. Excitons and plasmons in such a hybrid molecule become strongly
coupled and demonstrate novel properties. At low incident light intensity, the
exciton peak in the absorption spectrum is broadened and shifted due to
incoherent and coherent interactions between metal and semiconductor
nanoparticles. At high light intensity, the absorption spectrum demonstrates a
surprising, strongly asymmetric shape. This shape originates from the coherent
inter-nanoparticle Coulomb interaction and can be viewed as a non-linear Fano
effect which is quite different from the usual linear Fano resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Tunneling mechanism of light transmission through metallic films
A mechanism of light transmission through metallic films is proposed,
assisted by tunnelling between resonating buried dielectric inclusions. This is
illustrated by arrays of Si spheres embedded in Ag. Strong transmission peaks
are observed near the Mie resonances of the spheres. The interaction among
various planes of spheres and interference effects between these resonances and
the surface plasmons of Ag lead to mixing and splitting of the resonances.
Transmission is proved to be limited only by absorption. For small spheres, the
effective dielectric constant can be tuned to values close to unity and a
method is proposed to turn the resulting materials invisible.Comment: 4 papges, 5 figure
Advancing Expert Human-Computer Interaction Through Music
One of the most important challenges for computing over the next decade is discovering ways to augment and extend human control over ever more powerful, complex, and numerous devices and software systems. New high-dimensional input devices and control systems provide these affordances, but require extensive practice and learning on the part of the user. This paper describes a system created to leverage existing human expertise with a complex, highly dimensional interface, in the form of a trained violinist and violin. A machine listening model is employed to provide the musician and user with direct control over a complex simulation running on a high-performance computing system
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