A Generalized Jarque-Bera Test of Conditional Normality

We consider testing normality in a general class of models that admits nonlinear conditional mean and conditional variance functions. We derive the asymptotic distribution of the skewness and kurtosis coefficients of the model’s standardized residuals and propose an asymptotic x2 test of normality. This test simplifies to the Jarque-Bera test only when: (i) the conditional mean function contains an intercept term but does not depend on past errors, and (ii) the errors are conditionally homoskedastic. Beyond this context, it is shown that the Jarque-Bera test has size distortion but the proposed test does not.conditional heteroskedsaticity, conditional normality, Jarque-Bera test

Submillisecond-response Blue Phase Liquid Crystals For Display Applications

With exploding growth of information exchanges between people, display has become indispensable in our daily lives. After decades of intensive research and development in materials and devices, and massive investment in manufacturing technologies, liquid crystal display (LCD) has overcome various obstacles and achieved the performance we need, such as wide viewing angle, high contrast ratio, and high resolution, etc. These excellent performances make LCD prevailed in every perspective. Recently, with the demands of energy conservation, a greener LCD with lower power consumption is desired. In order to achieve this goal, new energy-effective driving methods, such as field sequential color display, have been proposed. However, in order to suppress color breakup the LC response time should be faster than 1 ms. To overcome this challenge, various fast-response liquid crystal modes, such as thin cell gap, low viscosity materials, overdrive and undershoot voltages, polymer stabilization, and ferroelectric liquid crystal, are under active investigations. Among these approaches, blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) shows a greater potential with less fabrication limitations. In this dissertation, the feasibility of polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal for display applications is explored starting from the building blocks of the material system, polymer-stabilization processes, test cell preparations, electro-optical (EO) properties, to suggested approaches for further improvements. iv Because of the nature of blue phase liquid crystals, delicate balance among system components is critically important. Besides the properties of each composition, the preparation process also dictates the EO performance of the self-assembled nano-structured BPLC composite. After the preparation of test cells, EO properties for display applications are investigated and results described. Approaches for further improvements of the EO properties are also suggested in the final part of this dissertation

Algebraic Quantum Error-Correction Codes

Based on the group structure of a unitary Lie algebra, a scheme is provided to systematically and exhaustively generate quantum error correction codes, including the additive and nonadditive codes. The syndromes in the process of error-correction distinguished by different orthogonal vector subspaces, the coset subspaces. Moreover, the generated codes can be classified into four types with respect to the spinors in the unitary Lie algebra and a chosen initial quantum state

A hybrid MCDM framework combined with DEMATEL-based ANP to evaluate enterprise technological innovation capabilities assessment

The efficient evaluation of technological innovation capabilities of enterprises is an important factor to enhance competitiveness. This paper aims to assess and to rank technological innovation evaluation criteria in order to provide a practical insight of systematic analysis by gathering the qualified experts’ opinions combined with three methods of multi-criteria decision making approach. A framework is proposed and uses a novel hybrid multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model to address the dependence relationships of criteria with the aid of the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), analytical network process (ANP) and VIKOR (VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje). The study reports that the interaction between criteria is essential and influences technological innovation capabilities; furthermore, this ranking development of technological innovation capabilities assessment is also one of key management tools for managements of other related high- tech enterprises. Managers can then judge the need to improve and determine which criteria provide the most effective direction towards improvement

Operational efficiency in Taiwan banks with consideration of nonperforming loans: A dynamic network DEA

Workshop 2013 on Dynamic and Network DEA (January 29-30, 2013)This paper applies a slacks-based measure dynamic data envelopment analysis (SBM-DNDEA) model to simultaneously evaluate overall, deposit, lending, period, deposit-period and lending-period efficiencies for 22 Taiwanese banks over the period from 1999 to 2011. We treat deposit as the intermediate output, and use non-performing loan as undesirable output capturing the effect of carry-over activity. The results indicate that the improvement in individual process has positive effect on banks’ performance, while efficiency in the deposit process may not guarantee efficiency in the lending process, and vice versa. The period efficiency for all banks has the stable variance. Besides, the efficiencies based on operational characteristics are further compared.This workshop is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 22310092 under the title “Theory and Applications of Dynamic DEA with Network Structure.

Analysis of Semi-Rigid Connections Subject to Fire Loads in a Steel Framework

The purpose of this study is to develop an approach that considers fire as a load in the design of structures. Recent studies of the full-scale fire tests in Cardington, UK and the World Trade Centre collapse have shown that the behaviour of steel structures in fire when assembled into a frame differs from that measured or predicted by fire testing of individual structural elements, revealing the importance of accounting for realistic fire loads in the design of structures and the potential inadequacy of fire testing individual elements as employed by current building codes. Yet, there has been limited basic research and development to allow consideration of fire as a load in the analysis and design of structures. In response to this much needed work, this thesis develops an approach to include fire as a load in the analysis of a 2-bay by 2-storey structure when a semi-rigid connection is exposed to thermal loads typical of those that might be encountered during a real fire. The structural fire analysis is principally based on incorporating moment-rotation-temperature data for the connection, as found in archival literature, into a structural analysis software package developed at the University of Waterloo. The software employs a modified Displacement Method for analyzing structures, which involves the computation of stiffness reduction factors that represent the deterioration of strength of the structural elements as they are subjected to various loads. By modifying the moment-rotation-temperature data for a semi-rigid connection into a form recognized by the software, a fire load is simulated by incrementally elevating the temperature of the affected steel connection. In this way, a fragility analysis of the entire structure under fire load is conducted. A series of example calculations are presented for cases in which the semi-rigid connection is exposed to increasing temperatures of 20°C, 200°C, 400°C and 600°C. The analysis showed that as the connection is heated, it is weakened, and the steel structure undergoes a redistribution of moments from the heated connection to other non-heated elements within the framework, which is essentially a form of fire-resistance of the assembled structure that unassembled members in isolation do not have. The study also demonstrated that the experimental moment-rotation-temperature data reported in archival literature can be incorporated into the structural analysis, and that additional force-deformation data obtained from further experimental work or through finite-element analyses would allow the study to be extended to analyze the effects of fire loading on other structural elements of an assembled framework. To demonstrate the link between the predicted structural response at different temperatures and the development of a compartment fire, a fire modelling analysis is also performed

Virological investigation of four outbreaks of influenza B reassortants in the northern region of Taiwan from October 2006 to February 2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>From October 2006 to February 2007, clinical specimens from 452 patients with symptoms related to respiratory tract infection in the northern region of Taiwan were collected. Real-time PCR and direct immunofluorescent antibody tests showed that 145 (32%) patients had influenza B virus infections. Subsequently, nucleotide sequence analyses of both hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of 39 isolates were performed. Isolated viruses were antigenically characterized using hemagglutinin inhibition (HI) test.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that all the isolates belonged to the B reassortant lineage with HA gene belonged to the B/Victoria/2/87 lineage and the NA gene belonged to the B/Yamagata/16/88 lineage. In addition, a group of children aged between 6 to 8 years old resided in Yilan county were infected with a variant strain. Hemagglutinin inhibition (HI) tests confirmed that all the reassortant influenza B viruses were B/Malaysia/2506/04-like viruses. Pre- and post-immunized serum samples from 4 normal volunteers inoculated with 2007 influenza vaccine were evaluated for their HI activity on 6 reassortant B isolates including two variants that we found in the Yilan county. The results demonstrated that after vaccination, all four vaccinees had at least 4-fold increases of their HI titers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results indicate that the 2006–2007 seasonal influenza vaccine was effective in stimulating protective immunity against the influenza B variants identified in Yilan county. Continuous surveillance of emerging influenza B variants in the northern region of Taiwan is important for the selection of proper vaccine candidate in the future.</p