Local risk proneness in analytically approximated utility functions under monotonically decreasing preferences

We discuss an analytical arctan form to approximate decreasing utilitiesbased on several nodes of its graphics elicited in interval form. We demonstratethe process on two types of nodes originating from different subjective elicitation approaches. Our focus is also on the local risk attitude estimator, whichin the case of decreasing preferences gets interpreted as local risk proneness vsthe local risk aversion for increasing preferences

Pulsed laser deposition of Ga-La-S chalcogenide glass thin film optical waveguides

Thin film optical waveguides of the chalcogenide glass Ga-La-S have been deposited on substrates of CaF2 and microscope glass by the technique of pulsed laser deposition. The chalcogenide properties of photobleaching, photodoping, and photoinduced refractive index changes have been observed and preliminary experiments carried out. The refractive index and thickness of the layer were verified using a waveguide "dark mode" analysis technique

Conceptual Model of Port Security Simulating Complex (Bulgarian Standpoint)

Using modeling and simulations has established itself as the most effective approach of preparing personnel engaged with crisis management, including the training of port security responsible personnel. On the background of presenting the overall methodology of transforming Bulgarian Harbour Protection System, the paper formulates a set of requirements for port security related education and training and proposes a general model of a simulating complex supporting the education and training process

Domains and Solutions of the Braess Paradox

The Braess paradox in road planning presents a case, where adding a new connection in a road network may lead to delayed arrival because of violation of the balance in the traffic flow. The paper discusses a generalization of this paradox. The initial, the asymmetrical, and the Pareto optimal domain are identified. Administrative solution with the participation of a controller is introduced, which aims to minimize the time of arrival, and thus has an environmental aspect. The preferences of the groups of passengers in the vehicles are modeled by an analytical arctan-approximated utility. Nash arbitration is employed to find an optimal solution that maximizes the Nash utility criterion. It is performed over the optimal Pareto domain that is outlined in four stages. A numerical example with 40 vehicles and five types of preferences of the passengers demonstrates the ideas

Structure and properties of nanosized electron beam deposited zirconia thin films

Thin films of amorphous zirconium oxide are deposited in high vacuum via the electron gun evaporation of pure ZrO2 within a large scale of vapour incidence angles. A nanosized grain surface structure and columnar growth morphology are revealed by electron optical methods. It is demonstrated that the oblique deposition results in both column inclination and anisotropy of the column cross section that are related to the vapour beam incidence. The revealed structure is found to influence the Knoop microhardness, DC conductivity and the effective refractive index by inducing in-plane anisotropy, which is most pronounced at high vapour incidence angles. The dependence of these properties on the vapour incidence is explained with the nanodimensionality of the film morphological features. Finally, it is shown how an excimer laser processing modifies both the structure and properties of the zirconia films. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved