Growing up in the Iran-Iraq war and preferences for strong defense

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between individuals’ experiences of the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988) during early adulthood (18–25 years) and their preference for strong national defense forces and their willingness to fight for Iran (in the event of another war). Using the World Values Survey data, we provide evidence that Iranians who experienced the war during their early adulthood give top priority to strong defense forces. However, we find that there is no significant association between individuals’ experiences of the war during early adulthood and their willingness to fight for Iran. The results are robust to controlling for a set of individuals’ socioeconomic and political characteristics as well as different age cohorts. Finally, we show that our results are not influenced by age cohort effect

Globalization and the outbreak of COVID-19 : an empirical analysis

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the extension of globalization and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case fatality rate (CFR) calculated on 28 July 2020 in more than 150 countries. Our regression analyses show that countries with higher levels of socio-economic globalization are exposed to higher levels of CFR. The positive association between the level of globalization of countries and their COVID-19 fatality rate remains robust, controlling for cross-country differences in economic development and demographics, health care costs, health care capacity, quality of governance and continental dummies

Optimal Adaptive Output Regulation of Uncertain Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems using Lifelong Concurrent Learning

This Paper Addresses Neural Network (NN) based Optimal Adaptive Regulation of Uncertain Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems in Affine Form using Output Feedback Via Lifelong Concurrent Learning. First, an Adaptive NN Observer is Introduced to Estimate Both the State Vector and Control Coefficient Matrix, and its NN Weights Are Adjusted using Both Output Error and Concurrent Learning Term to Relax the Persistency Excitation (PE) Condition. Next, by Utilizing an Actor-Critic Framework for Estimating the Value Functional and Control Policy, the Critic Network Weights Are Tuned Via Both Temporal Different Error and Concurrent Learning Schemes through a Replay Buffer. the Actor NN Weights Are Tuned using Control Policy Errors. to Attain Lifelong Learning for Performing Effectively during Multiple Tasks, an Elastic Weight Consolidation Term is Added to the Critic NN Weight Tuning Law. the State Estimation, Regulation, and the Weight Estimation Errors of the Observer, Actor and Critic NNs Are Demonstrated to Be Bounded When Performing Tasks by using Lyapunov Analysis. Simulation Results Are Carried Out to Verify the Effectiveness of the Proposed Approach on a Vander Pol Oscillator. Finally, Extension to Optimal Tracking is Given Briefly

Comparison of non-invasive to invasive oxygenation ratios for diagnosing acute respiratory distress syndrome following coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a prospective derivation-validation cohort study

Objective: To determine if non-invasive oxygenation indices, namely peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2)/ fraction of inspired oxygen (Fi O2) and partial pressure of alveolar oxygen (PAO2)/Fi O2 may be used as effective surrogates for the partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2)/Fi O2. Also, to determine the SpO2/Fi O2 and PAO2/Fi O2 values that correspond to PaO2/Fi O2 thresholds for identifying acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Methods: A prospective derivation-validation cohort study in the Open-Heart ICU of an academic teaching hospital. Recorded variables included patient demographics, ventilator settings, chest radiograph results, and SPO2, PaO2, PAO2, SaO2, and Fi O2. Linear regression modeling was used to quantify the relationship between indices. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the threshold values. Results: One-hundred seventy-five patients were enrolled in the derivation cohort, and 358 in the validation cohort. The SPO2/Fi O2 and PAO2/Fi O2 ratios could be predicted well from PaO2/Fi O2, described by the linear regression models SPO2/Fi O2 = 71.149 + 0.8PF and PAO2/Fi O2 = 38.098 + 2.312PF, respectively. According to the linear regression equation, a PaO2/Fi O2 ratio of 300 equaled an SPO2/Fi O2 ratio of 311 (R2 0.857, F 1035.742, < 0.0001) and a PAO2/Fi O2 ratio of 732 (R2 0.576, F 234.887, < 0.0001). The SPO2/Fi O2 threshold of 311 had 90% sensitivity, 80% specificity, LR+ 4.50, LR- 0.13, PPV 98, and NPV 42.1 for the diagnosis of mild ARDS. The PAO2/Fi O2 threshold of 732 had 86% sensitivity, 90% specificity, LR+ 8.45, LR- 0.16, PPV 98.9, and NPV 36 for the diagnosis of mild ARDS. SPO2/ Fi O2 had excellent discrimination ability for mild ARDS (AUC ± SE = 0.92 ± 0.017; 95% CI 0.889 to 0.947) as did PAO2/ Fi O2 (AUC ± SE = 0.915 ± 0.018; 95% CI 0.881 to0.942). Conclusions: PaO2 and SaO2 correlated in the diagnosis of ARDS, with a PaO2/Fi O2 of 300 correlating to an SPO2/ Fi O2 of 311 (Sensitivity 90%, Specificity 80%). The SPO2/ Fi O2 ratio may allow for early real-time rapid identification of ARDS, while decreasing the cost, phlebotomy, blood loss, pain, skin breaks, and vascular punctures associated with serial arterial blood gas measurements

Fiscal Federalism and Foreign Transfers: Does Inter-Jurisdictional Competition Increase Foreign Aid Effectiveness?

This paper empirically studies the impact of decentralization and inter-jurisdictional competition on foreign aid effectiveness. For this purpose we examine a commonly used empirical growth model, considering different measures of fiscal decentralization. Our panel estimations reveal that expenditure decentralization and inter-jurisdictional competition - reflected by the degree of tax revenue decentralization - negatively impact aid effectiveness. We therefore conclude that donor countries should carefully consider how both anti-poverty instruments - foreign assistance and decentralization - work together

Efficiency Effects of Cross-Border Medical Demand

There is a growing interest in cross-border medical care and its comparative advantages. In addition, medical care can be defined as a local assurance good. Little research is being carried out in this field. This paper discusses the individual considerations for medical treatment offered at home and abroad within a micro-economical framework. Specific assumptions as mistrust, monetary and non-monetary transaction-costs, a price and cost gradient, illness severity as well as a lump-sum insurance are discussed. We show that a demand abroad can be utility maximizing, however, only second best. There are inefficiencies in the dimensions of ex-post demand and income risk either on the side of gross-income or of costs. Furthermore, the foreign demand is restricted for low health stages driven by mistrust and restrictions in quality. Higher stages are more capable if fixed costs are low. To demand abroad the marginal treatment costs abroad must fall short of a threshold level. Finally, an out-of-pocket payment can reduce the moral hazard when treatment takes place abroad

The Firm Under Uncertainty: Capital Structure and Background Risk

This paper examines the interplay between the real and financial decisions of the competitive firm under output price uncertainty. The firm faces additional sources of uncertainty that are aggregated into a background risk. We show that the firm always chooses its optimal debt-equity ratio to minimize the weighted average cost of capital, irrespective of the risk attitude of the firm and the incidence of the underlying uncertainty. We further show that the firm's optimal input mix depends on its optimal debt-equity ratio, thereby rendering the interdependence of the real and financial decisions of the firm. When the background risk is either additive or multiplicative, we provide reasonable restrictions on the firm's preferences so as to ensure that the firm's optimal output is adversely affected upon the introduction of the background risk