Estimating the Impacts of Climate Change on Mortality in OECD Countries

The major contribution of this study is to combines both climatic and macroeconomic factors simultaneously in the estimation of mortality using the capital city of 22 OECD countries from the period 1990 to 2008. The empirical results provide strong evidences that higher income and a lower unemployment rate could reduce mortality rates, while the increases in precipitation and temperature variation have significantly positive impacts on the mortality rates. The effects of changing average temperature on mortality rates in summer and winter are asymmetrical and also depend on the location. Combining the future climate change scenarios with the estimation outcomes show that mortality rates in OECD countries in 2100 will be increased by 3.77% to 5.89%.Climate change; mortality; panel data model

Modeling the Effect of Oil Price on Global Fertilizer Prices

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of crude oil price on global fertilizer prices in both the mean and volatility. The endogenous structural breakpoint unit root test, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, and alternative volatility models, including the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model, Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) model, and GJR model, are used to investigate the relationship between crude oil price and six global fertilizer prices. Weekly data for 2003-2008 for the seven price series are analyzed. The empirical results from ARDL show that most fertilizer prices are significantly affected by the crude oil price, which explains why global fertilizer prices reached a peak in 2008. We also find that that the volatility of global fertilizer prices and crude oil price from March to December 2008 are higher than in other periods, and that the peak crude oil price caused greater volatility in the crude oil price and global fertilizer prices. As volatility invokes financial risk, the relationship between oil price and global fertilizer prices and their associated volatility is important for public policy relating to the development of optimal energy use, global agricultural production, and financial integration.Volatility; Global fertilizer price; Crude oil price; Non-renewable fertilizers; Structural breakpoint unit root test

A Statistical analysis of the Printing Standards Audit (PSA) press sheet database

Not Include

Seismic Performance and Application of Sandwiched Buckling-Restrained Braces and Dual-Core Self-Centering Braces

This paper first presents cyclic test results  and  the  application  of  the proposed sandwiched buckling-restrained brace (BRB).  The proposed BRB can be easily  disassembled  in the field.  This  provides  an opportunity for inspection of  the  core  after  a  large  earthquake.  The  mechanics  and  cyclic  behavior  of  a novel  steel  dual-core  self-centering  brace  (SCB)  are  then  proposed  and introduced, followed by  the  testing of  a  dual-core SCB  in order  to evaluate  its cyclic  performance.  Both  braces  achieve  an  excellent  target  lateral  drift performance  of  up to 2.5%,  thus  satisfying  the seismic requirement by  the  AISC Seismic Provisions 2010

Statistics and decision making as applied to printing conformity assessment

Conformity assessment, a relatively new activity in the printing industry, is an attestation that specified requirements relating to a product or process have been fulfilled. Printing certification bodies assess printing conformity according to sampling, aim points, tolerances, and decision-making rules that are stipulated by printing standards. However, do we know if: sampling is too large or too small; normative requirements are too many or too few; tolerances are set too tightly or too loosely; and the pass/fail criterion is too stringent or too relaxed? Moreover, how do these factors impact the passing probability of a sample, a job, and the database as a whole? To study inter-dependencies of these factors in production variation conformity, this research assumes that the number of jobs to be assessed for printing conformity is very large and that samples selected from a job are random. Statistical theory is used to study the relation between the passing probabilities of a printing job, a single sheet within each job, and each normative requirement. In our theoretical frame, given the tolerance levels of certain normative requirements, we can determine the passing probabilities of the criteria, the passing probability of a single sheet, and the overall passing probability of a printing job. Given the passing probability of a printing job, we can also determine the tolerance level of each normative requirement by reversing the procedure. This research uses a real-life printing dataset and simulation techniques to determine the passing probabilities of a job as a function of sampling, tolerances, and the pass/fail criterion of a job. This research offers two meaningful inferences: (1) the printing standards development community, i.e., ISO/TC 130, needs to be aware that sampling requirements, the number of normative requirements and their associated tolerances, and the pass/fail criteria impact the passing probability of a job; and (2) printers who are seeking printing certification need to know that, although sampling is random, the passing probability of a job ultimately depends on the process calibration and the effectiveness of local process control

Quantum Criticality from in-situ Density Imaging

We perform large-scale Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations for strongly interacting bosons in a 2D optical lattice trap, and confirm an excellent agreement with the benchmarking in-situ density measurements by the Chicago group [1]. We further present a general finite temperature phase diagram both for the uniform and the trapped systems, and demonstrate how the universal scaling properties near the superfluid(SF)-to-Mott insulator(MI) transition can be observed by analysing the in-situ density profile. The characteristic temperature to find such quantum criticality is estimated to be of the order of the single-particle bandwidth, which should be achievable in the present or near future experiments. Finally, we examine the validity regime of the local fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT), which can be a used as a thermometry in the strongly interacting regime.Comment: 4 page

Chern dartboard insulator: sub-Brillouin zone topology and skyrmion multipoles

Topology plays a crucial role in many physical systems, leading to interesting states at the surface. The paradigmatic example is the Chern number defined in the Brillouin zone that leads to the robust gapless edge states. Here we introduce the reduced Chern number, defined in subregions of the Brillouin zone (BZ), and construct a family of Chern dartboard insulators (CDIs) with quantized reduced Chern numbers in the sub-BZ (sBZ) but with trivial bulk topology. CDIs are protected by mirror symmetries and exhibit distinct pseudospin textures, including (anti)skyrmions, inside the sBZ. These CDIs host exotic gapless edge states, such as M\"{o}bius fermions and midgap corner states, and can be realized in photonic crystals. Our work opens up new possibilities for exploring sBZ topology and nontrivial surface responses in topological systems

Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma

AbstractBronchioloalveolar carcinoma is a subtype of adenocarcinoma of the lung with a relatively better prognosis. We reviewed the cases of 50 consecutive patients with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma treated during a 10-year period and attempted to analyze factors related to prognosis. During the 10-year study period, the prevalence of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma relative to adenocarcinoma of the lung remained steady. The subjects included 32 male and 18 female patients with mean ages of 64.7 years and 55.1 years, respectively (p = 0.0030). The preoperative radiographic findings included 40 cases of localized and 10 cases of diffuse bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. The clinicopathologic TNM staging included 20 patients with stage I cancer, 4 with stage II cancer, 11 with stage IIIa cancer, 3 with stage IIIb cancer, and 12 with stage IV cancer. Forty patients with clinical stage I, II, or III disease underwent operation (operability 80%). The resectability rate was 90% (36 of 40). Thirty-four procedures were considered as curative. The overall cumulative survival at 5 years was 22.2% (46.4% for stage I). Different TNM stages showed significant differences in survival time (p = 0.0001). The median survival times were 64.6 months for stage I, 48.0 months for stage II, 24.7 months for stage IIIa, 9.0 months for stage IIIb, and 4.5 months for stage IV disease. The median survival time for localized bronchioloalveolar carcinoma was 27.5 months, and the median survival time for diffuse bronchioloalveolar carcinoma was 4.3 months (p = 0.0002). The median survival time for the curative resection group was 30.6 months, and the median survival time for the noncurative resection or nonresection group was 5.8 months (p = 0.0001). On the basis of this study we conclude that (1) the prevalence of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma is quite steady, (2) bronchioloalveolar carcinoma presents at an earlier age in women, (3) bronchioloalveolar carcinoma frequently presents with lymphatic spread or systemic metastasis at diagnosis, (4) most localized bronchioloalveolar carcinomas are resectable and the prognosis with this type is better than that of the diffuse type, and (5) long-term survival correlates closely with initial roentgenographic appearance, TNM stage, and completeness of surgical resection. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1995;110:374-81