"Housing Prices and Fundamentals: The Role of a Supply Shifter."

The present paper empirically investigates the cointegrating relation between housing prices and economic fundamental variables in the US housing market. Employing simple yet rigorous econometric techniques, the present paper finds strong evidence in favor of cointegrating relations in most US states when both demand and supply side fundamental variables are included in the cointegrating regression. This result casts doubt on previous empirical work that reports a lack of cointegrating relations of housing prices with mostly demand-side fundamental variables. The previous literature may suffer a misspecification problem. Further, the present cointegrating vector estimates seem consistent with economic theory only when both demand and supply variables are included.Housing prices, cointegration

Characterization of multi-channel interference

Multi-channel communication protocols in wireless networks usually assume perfect orthogonality between wireless channels or consider only the use of interference-free channels. The first approach may overestimate the performance whereas the second approach may fail to utilize the spectrum efficiently. Therefore, a more realistic approach would be the careful use of interfering channels by controlling the interference at an acceptable level. We present a methodology to estimate the packet error rate (PER) due to inter-channel interference in a wireless network. The methodology experimentally characterizes the multi-channel interference and analytically estimates it based on the observations from the experiments. Furthermore, the analytical estimation is used in simulations to derive estimates of the capacity in larger networks. Simulation results show that the achievable network capacity, which is defined as the number of simultaneous transmissions, significantly increases with realistic interfering channels compared with the use of only orthogonal channels. When we consider the same number of channels, the achievable capacity with realistic interfering channels can be close to the capacity of idealistic orthogonal channels. This shows that overlapping channels which constitute a much smaller band, provides more efficient use of the spectrum. Finally, we explore the correctness of channel orthogonality and show why this assumption may fail in a practical setting

Bias Correction and Out-of-Sample Forecast Accuracy

The least squares (LS) estimator suffers from signicant downward bias in autoregressive models that include an intercept. By construction, the LS estimator yields the best in-sample fit among a class of linear estimators notwithstanding its bias. Then, why do we need to correct for the bias? To answer this question, we evaluate the usefulness of the two popular bias correction methods, proposed by Hansen (1999) and So and Shin (1999), by comparing their out-of-sample forecast performances with that of the LS estimator. We find that bias-corrected estimators overall outperform the LS estimator. Especially, Hansen's grid bootstrap estimator combined with a rolling window method performs the best.Small-Sample Bias; Grid Bootstrap; Recursive Mean Adjustment; Out-of-Sample Forecast; Diebold-Mariano Test

Profitability of Interest-free vs. Interest-based Banks in Turkey

Islamic banking is consistent with Islamic law and guided by Islamic economics. They are prohibited from charging or paying interest, and can operate only on the basis of the profit-sharing arrangements. Islamic banking has been gaining momentum on a global scale for the last 30 years. It is estimated that the assets of Islamic banks in Turkey will exceed US$25 billion in the next decade and will make up 10% of the total banking system. Therefore, this study compares Islamic banks with interest-based banks to measure their profitability. It also investigates how Islamic financing techniques are used by Islamic Banks.Turkish banks, interest-based banking, interest-free banking, Islamic banking

A Theoritical Approach To The Strength Of Motivation In Customer Behavior

The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy target customers needs and wants The field of consumer behavior studies how individuals groups and organizations select buy use and dispose of goods services ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires Understanding consumer behavior is never simple because customers behaviors are changeable They may not be in touch with their deeper motivations and they may respond to influences and change their minds at the last minute All marketers can profit from understanding how and why consumers buy If you do not understand your customer s motivations needs and preferences you will fall into some major mistakes The need to predict consumer behavior outcomes is considered to be a very important issue for marketers Isolated individual psychological constructs such as attitudes motives personality traits and learning styles have been used to identify their predictive capacity for actual consumer behavior with varying degrees of success In this study the strength of motivation in customer behavior was investigated in a theoretic manne

Multi-Channel Scheduling for Fast Convergecast in Wireless Sensor Networks

We explore the following fundamental question - how fast can information be collected from a wireless sensor network? We consider a number of design parameters such as, power control, time and frequency scheduling, and routing. There are essentially two factors that hinder efficient data collection - interference and the half-duplex single-transceiver radios. We show that while power control helps in reducing the number of transmission slots to complete a convergecast under a single frequency channel, scheduling transmissions on different frequency channels is more efficient in mitigating the effects of interference (empirically, 6 channels suffice for most 100-node networks). With these observations, we define a receiver-based channel assignment problem, and prove it to be NP-complete on general graphs. We then introduce a greedy channel assignment algorithm that efficiently eliminates interference, and compare its performance with other existing schemes via simulations. Once the interference is completely eliminated, we show that with half-duplex single-transceiver radios the achievable schedule length is lower-bounded by max(2nk − 1,N), where nk is the maximum number of nodes on any subtree and N is the number of nodes in the network. We modify an existing distributed time slot assignment algorithm to achieve this bound when a suitable balanced routing scheme is employed. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that convergecast can be completed within up to 50% less time slots, in 100-node networks, using multiple channels as compared to that with single-channel communication. Finally, we also demonstrate further improvements that are possible when the sink is equipped with multiple transceivers or when there are multiple sinks to collect data

Experimental and numerical analysis of heat transfer performance of off-set strip fins

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Energy Engineering, Izmir, 2009Includes bibliographical referencesText in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxiii, 122 leavesThe aim of this study is to computationally and experimentally investigate the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of an offset-strip fin. In the present study, experiments are conducted at the range of Reynolds number from 150 to 3500 and a 3-D numerical domain, which is investigated as a conjugate problem, is created for finite volume computations. The computations are conducted by assuming that the flow in the offset-strip fin channels is steady and laminar at the range of Reynolds numbers from 200 to 5000. In this thesis, the effects of the flow behaviors in the offset strip fin channels on Colbourn j factor, which is the non-dimensional form of heat transfer coefficient, and fanning friction f factor, which is the non-dimensional form of pressure drop, are investigated. Also, the heat transfer boundary conditions and the Prandtl numbers of the fluids are kept different for these fins in order to see the effect of those.The effect of Prandtl number is investigated by using air, 0.707 < Pr < 0.71 and water, 2 < Pr < 4.35 and ethylene glycol, 94 < Pr < 138. The effect of the thermal boundary conditions is investigated by using constant heat flux and uniform temperature. Moreover, all results are compared with Kays and London.s experiments (1964) and also the results of Manglik and Bergles.s correlations (1995). The results show a very good agreement between the results of Kays and London (1964) and of Manglik and Bergles.s correlations (1995). It is also observed that results obtained from the two alternatives for the thermal boundary condition are very close to each other. According to obtained results, it is concluded that our computational results from laminar flow assumption and experiments are reliable at almost all the range of Reynolds numbers studied

Terahertz and mid-infrared photodetectors based on intersubband transitions in novel materials systems

The terahertz (THz) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectral regions have many potential applications in the industrial, biomedical, and military sectors. Yet, a wide portion of this region of the electromagnetic spectrum (particularly the THz range) is still relatively unexplored, due mainly to the absence of suitable sources and photodetectors, related to the lack of practical semiconductor materials with adequately small band gap energies. Intersubband transitions (ISBTs) between quantized energy states in quantum heterostructures provide tunable wavelengths over a broad spectral range including the THz region, by choosing appropriate layer thicknesses and compositions. This work focuses on the development of THz and MIR Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors (QWIPs) based on ISBTs in GaN/AlGaN and Si/SiGe heterostructures. Due to their large optical phonon energies, GaN materials allow extending the spectral reach of existing far-infrared photodetectors based on GaAs, and may enable higher-temperature operation. In the area of MIR optoelectronic devices, I have focused on developing QWIPs based on ISBTs in Si/SiGe heterostructures in the form of on strain-engineered nanomembranes. Due to their non-polar nature, these materials are free from reststrahlen absorption and ultrafast resonant electron/phonon scattering, unlike traditional III-V semiconductors. Therefore, Si/SiGe quantum wells (QWs) are also promising candidates for high-temperature high-performance ISB device operation (particularly in the THz region), with the additional advantage of direct integration with CMOS technology. In this thesis work, numerical modeling is used to design the active region of the proposed devices, followed by sample fabrication and characterization based on lock-in step-scan Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Three specific QWIP devices have been developed. The first is a III-nitride THz QWIP based on a novel double-step QW design in order to alleviate the material limitations provided by the intrinsic electric fields of GaN/AlGaN heterostructures. Next, I have developed a THz GaN/AlGaN QWIP grown on semi-polar (202 ̅1 ̅) GaN, where the detrimental effects of the internal fields are almost completely eliminated. Finally, I have demonstrated a Si/SiGe MIR QWIP based on a novel fabrication approach, where nanomembrane strain engineering is used to address the materials quality issues normally found in SiGe QWs. Promising photodetector performance is obtained in all cases.2017-06-21T00:00:00

Theoretical Modeling of Radiation-driven Atomic Kinetics of a Neon Photoionized Plasma

We report on a theoretical study on atomic kinetics modeling of a photoionized neon plasma at conditions relevant to laboratory experiments performed at the Z-machine in Sandia National Laboratories. We describe an atomic kinetics model and code, ATOKIN, that was developed and used to compute the atomic level population distribution. The study includes atomic level sensitivity with respect to energy level structure, radiation and transient effects, electron temperature and x-ray drive sensitivity and an idea for electron temperature extraction from a level population ratio. The neon atomic model considers several ionization stages of highly-charged neon ions as well as a detailed structure of non-autoionizing and autoionizing energy levels in each ion. In the energy level sensitivity study, the atomic model was changed by adding certain types of energy levels such as singly-excited, auto-ionizing doubly-excited states. Furthermore, these levels were added ion by ion for the most populated ions. Atomic processes populating and de-populating the energy levels consider photoexcitation and photoionization due to the external radiation flux, and spontaneous and collisional atomic processes including plasma radiation trapping. Relevant atomic cross sections and rates were computed with the atomic structure and scattering FAC code. The calculations were performed at constant particle number density and driven by the time-histories of temperature and external radiation flux. These conditions were selected in order to resemble those achieved in photoionized plasma experiments at the Z facility of Sandia National Laboratories. For the same set of time histories, calculations were done in a full time-dependent mode and also as a sequence of instantaneous, steady states. Differences between both calculations are useful to identify transient effects in the ionization and atomic kinetics of the photoionized plasma, and its dependence on the atomic model and plasma environmental conditions. We also calculated transmission spectra in an effort to identify time-dependent effects in observed spectral features. Furthermore, all the steady state and time-dependent calculations were performed for different electron temperature histories to investigate electron temperature effects in the same way transient effects were examined. The idea for electron temperature extraction based on the population ratio of two energy levels close in energy was investigated after preliminary estimations revealed evidence of dominant electron collisional excitation and de-excitation over photo-excitation and spontaneous radiative decay between the ground state, $1s^{2}2s$, and the first excited state, $1s^{2}2p$, levels of Li-like Ne. Since the populations of these levels were determined from the analysis of transmission spectra, it was then possible to estimate the temperature via a Boltzmann factor. Further studies were performed for various plasma conditions such as temperature and density in order to confirm the reliability of the method. Calculations were performed for a sequence of steady states and in a full time-dependent mode. Finally, the instantaneous spectra was integrated over several time intervals in order to test the method on conditions similar to those of laboratory experiments

The Role of Social Media in the Fashion Industry: How Fashion Blogging Encourages Two-Way Symmetrical Communication

Over the past few years, social media and digital media have drastically changed how people consume content, especially in the fashion industry. People are no longer picking up magazines as often as they have in the past. Today, content is consumed online and people are not only reading content, but they are offering their feedback through comments and social media. Multiple types of fashion blogs managed by everyday people are giving consumers an inside look into what used to be an exclusive, fashion-experts-only industry. This study looks at fashion blogging and social media within the fashion industry and how it has transformed an elitist industry into a consumer-friendly industry