Is Earnings Uncertainty Relevant for Educational Choice? An Empirical Analysis for China

We use the method of Dominitz and Manski (1996) to solicit anticipated wage distributions for continuing to a Master degree or going to work after completing the Bachelor degree. The means of the distributions have an effect on intention to continue as predicted by theory. The dispersions in these individual distributions have no effect on intention to continue, suggesting that anticipated earnings risk does not play a role in the decision.educational choice, wage expectations

Impact of Equipment Failures and Wind Correlation on Generation Expansion Planning

Generation expansion planning has become a complex problem within a deregulated electricity market environment due to all the uncertainties affecting the profitability of a given investment. Current expansion models usually overlook some of these uncertainties in order to reduce the computational burden. In this paper, we raise a flag on the importance of both equipment failures (units and lines) and wind power correlation on generation expansion decisions. For this purpose, we use a bilevel stochastic optimization problem, which models the sequential and noncooperative game between the generating company (GENCO) and the system operator. The upper-level problem maximizes the GENCO's expected profit, while the lower-level problem simulates an hourly market-clearing procedure, through which LMPs are determined. The uncertainty pertaining to failures and wind power correlation are characterized by a scenario set, and their impact on generation expansion decisions are quantified and discussed for a 24-bus power system

Climate Benefits Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon

A new report offers evidence that the modest investments needed to secure land rights for indigenous communities will generate billions in returns—economically, socially and environmentally—for local communities and the world's changing climate. The report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights, quantifies for the first time the economic value of securing land rights for the communities who live in and protect forests, with a focus on Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia

Controllability of nonlinear fractional delay dynamical systems with prescribed controls

In this paper, we consider controllability of nonlinear fractional delay dynamical systems with prescribed controls. We firstly give the solution representation of the fractional delay dynamical systems using Laplace transform and Mittag–Leffler functions. Then we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the controllability criteria of linear fractional delay dynamical systems with prescribed controls. Further, we use a fixed point theorem to establish the sufficient condition for the controllability of nonlinear fractional delay dynamical systems with prescribed controls. In particular, we determine several sufficient conditions on the nonlinear function term so that if the linear system is controllable, then the nonlinear system is controllable. Finally, we give two examples to demonstrate the applicability of our obtained results

Analysis of Down syndrome failed to be diagnosed after prenatal screening: A multicenter study.

To analyze the characters of Down syndrome (DS) who failed to be diagnosed after prenatal screening and hope to be able to improve the programs of prenatal screening and reduce the missed diagnosis of DS. In this multicenter study, we collected the missed cases from 3 prenatal diagnosis centers and analyzed their characters. A total of 126 DS babies failed to be diagnosed after prenatal screening. Their mothers accepted the prenatal screening in second trimester. We collected the mothers' blood and detected the levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and the free beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (fβhCG) by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay. The values were also presented as multiples of the median (MoM) and determined the risk of carrying a fetus with DS by Wallace LifeCycle Elipse analysis software. Compared with normal control group, the level of fβhCG and hCG MoM were dramatically increased, while AFP and AFP MoM were decreased. The area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve of trisomy 21 was 0.8387 for hCG-MoM and AFP-MoM testing. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 84.6%, 74.8%, 75.4%, and 83.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, the prediction mode was "0.39957 + 1.90897HCG-MOM -3.32713AFP-MOM". It was worthwhile noting that the risk of 65.9% DS missed diagnosis group were higher than 1/1000, 92.9% higher than 1/3000. However, 72.5% cases in normal control group were lower than 1/3000. Only 9.2% mothers would be higher than the value of risk in 1/1000. The prediction mode of hCG MoM and AFP MoM might be able to help us reduce the missed diagnosis. It is also necessary to adjust more reasonable range of noninvasive prenatal testing with further clinical researches

Stability analysis of fractional-order systems with randomly time-varying parameters

This paper is concerned with the stability of fractional-order systems with randomly timevarying parameters. Two approaches are provided to check the stability of such systems in mean sense. The first approach is based on suitable Lyapunov functionals to assess the stability, which is of vital importance in the theory of stability. By an example one finds that the stability conditions obtained by the first approach can be tabulated for some special cases. For some complicated linear and nonlinear systems, the stability conditions present computational difficulties. The second alternative approach is based on integral inequalities and ingenious mathematical method. Finally, we also give two examples to demonstrate the feasibility and advantage of the second approach. Compared with the stability conditions obtained by the first approach, the stability conditions obtained by the second one are easily verified by simple computation rather than complicated functional construction. The derived criteria improve the existing related results