Higher-order risk vulnerability

We add an independent unfair background risk to higher-order risk-taking models in the current literature and examine its interaction with the main risk under consideration. Parallel to the well-known concept of risk vulnerability, which is defined by Gollier and Pratt (Econometrica 64:1109–1123, 1996), an agent is said to have a type of higher-order risk vulnerability if adding an independent unfair background risk to wealth raises his level of this type of higher-order risk aversion. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for all types of higher-order risk vulnerabilities and explain their behavioral implications. We find that as in the case of risk vulnerability, all familiar HARA utility functions have all types of higher-order risk vulnerabilities except for a type of third-order risk vulnerability corresponding to a downside risk aversion measure called the Schwarzian derivative

Stability analysis of bank slope under conditions of reservoir impounding and rapid drawdown

AbstractStability of an ancient landslide in a reservoir area is analyzed by using centrifugal model tests, soil laboratory tests and numerical analysis. Special attention is paid to variation in water level, simulation of large-scale heterogeneous prototype slope, and strength reduction of sliding zone soils after slope sliding. The results of centrifugal model test show that reservoir impounding can reduce sliding resistance at the slope toe, followed by toe collapsing and front cracking of slope. Rapid drawdown can produce hydrodynamic pressure towards reservoir at the front of slope. Deformation is observed in the middle and upper slope, which reduces the slope stability further and forms the pull-typed landslide trend. Reinforcement of slope toe is effective for preventing the progressive failure. The results of laboratory test show that slope toe sliding will lead to the redistribution of soil density and moisture content, which will reduce the shear strength of soil in sliding zone, and the cohesion of immersed soil is reduced gradually and finally vanishes with time. The numerical results show that the strength reduction method used in finite element method (FEM) is very effective in capturing the progressive failure induced by reservoir water level fluctuations, and the evolution of failure surface derived from numerical simulation is very similar to that observed in centrifugal model test

Combined effect of dydrogesterone and letrozole on humoral immune function, sex hormone levels and serology-related indices in patients with endometriosis

Purpose: To investigate the combined effect of dydrogesterone and letrozole on humoral immunity, and levels of sex hormones and serology-related indices in patients with endometriosis.Methods: Patients with endometriosis (98 cases) were randomly assigned to two groups of 49 patients each: control group and study group. The control group received dydrogesterone (10 mg/kg) orally from the fifth day to the twenty-fifth day of the patient's menstrual cycle, twice daily; while the study group, in addition to dydrogesterone (10 mg/kg), received letrozole (2.5 mg/kg). Treatment in both groups lasted one month, and changes in the levels of humoral immunity, sex hormones and serology-related indices were evaluated before and after treatment. Clinical effectiveness and adverse reactions in both groups were also assessed.Results: After treatment, total effectiveness was markedly higher in the study group (91.84 %) than in control group (77.55 %, p < 0.05). Post-treatment, humoral immunity (IgM, IgG and C3) levels were significantly higher in the study group than in control group (p < 0.05) while estradiol (E2) level in both groups were significantly reduced; however, E2 level was markedly lower in the study group than in control group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: These results suggest that the combination of dydrogesterone with letrozole alleviates clinical symptoms of endometriosis, improves humoral immune function, and maintains sex hormone levels.Keywords: Endometriosis, Dydrogesterone, Letrozole, Humoral immunity, Sex hormones, Serologicalrelated indice

Effects of truffle inoculation on a nursery culture substrate environment and seedling of Carya illinoinensis

We inoculated Tuber aestivum and Tuber sinoaestivum on Carya illinoinensis to explore the effects of inoculation on host plant growth, enzyme activities, the physicochemical properties of rhizosphere soil, the denitrifying bacterial community in the rhizosphere, and the distribution of mating type genes in the rhizosphere. We found that the Tuber spp. inoculation increased the height of the host plant and that the stem circumference of the host was greater two months after inoculation. Six months after inoculation, the peroxidase activity of the seedlings inoculated with T. sinoaestivum was higher than that of the control. At four and six months after inoculation, the superoxidase dismutase activities of the seedlings inoculated with T. aestivum were higher than those of the seedlings inoculated with T. sinoaestivum. Six months after inoculation, nitrate nitrogen content was lowest in the control and highest in the T. sinoaestivum treatment. Among the nirS-type denitrifying bacteria community, the relative abundances of Proteobacteria were high. T. aestivum and T. sinoaestivum inoculation did not affect the diversity of denitrifying bacteria. The mating type genes MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1 were detected in the rhizosphere of C. illinoinensis inoculated with T. sinoaestivum and T. aestivum, and MAT1-1-1 dominated over MAT1-21. (c) 2021 British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Design, Construction and Monitoring for the Excavation of Shanghai World Plaza

The Shanghai World Plaza is a multi-function building located in Shanghai Pudong New Development Area. It is a steel structure with thirty eight stories (199m) above the ground and three stories of basement. The excavation area of this building is 75m by 100m. The depth of the excavation is 16m to 18m (kernel part). The construction site is covered with soft soils up to a depth of 25m. Main streets, pipelines and existing buildings surround the site. The retaining structure employs a diaphragm with 1m in thickness, 30m in depth and 340m in total length. Three levels of H shaped steel supports are placed on 163 steel columns. De-watering of groundwater was applied during the excavation in order to decrease the hydraulic gradient and to improve the soils at the bottom of the excavation. Field monitoring includes 40 settlement/displacement points to cover main street pavements, pipelines and diaphragm units. Other items of monitoring include the excessive pore water pressure within the soils, multi-layer settlement, inclination of the retaining walls, lateral soil pressure, axial supporting force and, stresses within the diaphragm