2,070 research outputs found
The Evolution of the Insurance Sector in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
This paper provides a detailed profile of the development of the insurance industry between 1989-98 in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. In doing so, the author utilizes various sources of data to describe the nature of the insurance market in the region. On an individual host country basis, attention is given to data on premium income with respect to both life and non-life coverage, an analysis of average annual growth rates, as well as insurance density and penetration rates by type of coverage. The paper also addresses a number of issues pertaining to the competitive environment, including the legal conditions for insurance operators, a profile of the key players, and the role of foreign insurers operating within the region. The paper concludes by identifying the three main trends of the insurance industry in the region, the associated policy implications of each, as well as the need for future research.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39720/3/wp336.pd
XMM-Newton First Observation in the Pleiades
We present the first results from a 40 ks Guaranteed Time XMM-Newton pointing
in the Pleiades. We detect almost all early-mid dM members in the field and
several very low mass (VLM) stars - including the brown dwarf (BD) candidate
Roque 9 - and investigate the variation of X-ray activity levels, hardness
ratios and flare frequency with spectral type down to the BD regime.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, to be published in proceedings of `Stellar
Coronae in the Chandra and XMM-Newton Era
An XMM-Newton observation of the young open cluster NGC 2547: coronal activity at 30 Myr
We report XMM-Newton observations of the young open cluster NGC 2547 which
allow us to characterise coronal activity in solar-type stars at an age of 30
Myr. X-ray emission peaks among G-stars at luminosities (0.3-3keV) of
Lx~10^{30.5} erg/s and declines to Lx<=10^{29.0} erg/s among M-stars. Coronal
spectra show evidence for multi-temperature differential emission measures and
low coronal metal abundances (Z~0.3). The G- and K-type stars follow the same
relationship between X-ray activity and Rossby number established in older
clusters and field stars, although most solar-type stars in NGC 2547 exhibit
saturated/super-saturated X-ray activity levels. Median levels of Lx and
Lx/Lbol in the solar-type stars of NGC 2547 are similar to T-Tauri stars of the
Orion Nebula cluster (ONC), but an order of magnitude higher than in the older
Pleiades. The spread in X-ray activity levels among solar-type stars in NGC
2547 is much smaller than in older or younger clusters. Coronal temperatures
increase with Lx, Lx/Lbol and surface X-ray flux. Active solar-type stars in
NGC 2547 have coronal temperatures between those in the ONC and the most active
older ZAMS stars. A flaring rate (for total flare energies [0.3-3keV] >10^{34}
erg) of 1 every 350^{+350}_{-120} ks was found for solar-type stars, similar to
rates found in the ONC and Pleiades. Comparison with ROSAT HRI data taken 7
years previously reveals that only 10-15 percent of solar-type stars or stars
with Lx>3x10^{29} erg/s exhibit X-ray variability by more than a factor of two.
The similar levels of X-ray activity and rate of occurrence for large flares in
NGC 2547 and the ONC demonstrate that the X-ray radiation environment around
young solar-type stars remains relatively constant over their first 30 Myr
(abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Electronic tables available from
the autho
XMM-Newton and the Pleiades - I. Bright coronal sources and the X-ray emission from intermediate-type stars
We present results of X-ray spectral and timing analyses of solar-like (spectral types F5-K8) and intermediate-type (B4-F4) Pleiads observed in a 40-ks XMM-Newton EPIC exposure, probing X-ray luminosities (LX) up to a factor 10 fainter than previous studies using the ROSAT PSPC. All eight solar-like members have âquasi-steady'LXâł 1029erg sâ1, consistent with the known rotation-activity relation and four exhibit flares. Using a hydrodynamic modelling technique, we derive loop half-lengths for the two strongest flares, on H ii 1032 and H ii 1100. Near the beginning of its flare, the light curve of H ii 1100 shows a feature with a profile suggestive of a total occultation of the flaring loop. Eclipse by a substellar companion in a close orbit is possible but would seem an extraordinarily fortuitous event; absorption by a fast-moving cloud of cool material requires NH at least two orders of magnitude greater than any solar or stellar prominence. An occultation may have been mimicked by the coincidence of two flares, though the first, with its decay time being shorter than its rise time and suggestive of , would be unusual. Spectral modelling of the quasi-steady emission shows a rising trend in coronal temperature from F and slowly rotating G stars to K stars to fast-rotating G stars, and a preference for low coronal metallicity. These features are consistent with those of nearby solar-like stars, although none of the three stars showing âsaturated' emission bears the significant component at 2 keV seen in the saturated coronae of AB Dor and 47 Cas. Of five intermediate-type stars, two are undetected (LX < 4 Ă 1027erg sâ1) and three show X-ray emission with a spectrum and LX consistent with origin from an active solar-like companio
Family functioning differences across the deployment cycle in British Army families: the perceptions of wives and children
Introduction
Military deployment can have an adverse effect on a soldierâs family, though little research has looked at these effects in a British sample. We investigated wivesâ of UK serving soldiers perceptions of marital and family functioning, across three stages of the deployment cycle: currently deployed, post-deployment and pre-deployed, plus a non-military comparison group. Uniquely, young (aged 3.5 â 11 years) childrenâs perceptions of their family were also investigated, using the Parent-Child Alliance (PCA) coding scheme of drawings of the family.
Materials and Methods
Two hundred and twenty British military families of regular service personnel from the British Armyâs Royal Armoured Corps (RAC), were sent survey packs distributed with a monthly welfare office newsletter. Wives were asked to complete a series of self-report items, and the youngest child in the family between the ages of 3.5 and 11 years was asked to draw a picture of their family. Complete data were available for 78 military families, and an additional 34 non-military families were recruited via opportunity sampling.
Results
Results indicated wives of currently deployed and recently returned personnel were less satisfied with their family and its communication, and childrenâs pictures indicated higher levels of dysfunctional PCA, whilst pre-deployed families responded similarly to non-military families. Marital satisfaction was similar across all groups except pre-deployed families who were significantly more satisfied. Non-military and pre-deployed families showed balanced family functioning, and currently and recently deployed families demonstrated poor family functioning. In comparison to non-military families, pre-deployed families showed a large âspikeâ in the rigidity subscale of the FACES IV.
Conclusion
Wivesâ perceptions of family functioning, but not marital satisfaction, differed between the deployment groups. The results from the coded childrenâs drawings correlated with the self-report measures from the wife/mother, indicating that childrenâs drawings could be a useful approach when working with younger children in this area.
It is tentatively suggested that the differences across deployment stage on family functioning could be mediated not only by communication difficulties between deployed personnel and their families, but also by its effect on the children in the family. Larger-scale longitudinal research is needed to investigate this further
X-ray emission from a brown dwarf in the Pleiades
We report on the first detection of X-ray emission from a brown dwarf in the Pleiades, the M7-type Roque 14, obtained using the EPIC detectors on XMM-Newton. This is the first X-ray detection of a brown dwarf intermediate in age between â12 and â320 Myr. The emission appears persistent, although we cannot rule out flare-like behaviour with a decay time-scale >4 ks. The time-averaged X-ray luminosity of LXâ 3.3 ± 0.8 Ă 1027 erg sâ1 and its ratios with the bolometric (LX/Lbolâ 10â3.05) and Hα (LX/LHαâ 4.0) luminosities suggest magnetic activity similar to that of active main-sequence M dwarfs, such as the M7 old-disc star VB 8, although the suspected binary nature of Roque 14 merits further attention. No emission is detected from four proposed later-type Pleiades brown dwarfs, with upper limits to LX in the range 2.1-3.8 Ă 1027 erg sâ1 and to log (LX/Lbol) in the range â3.10 to â2.9
Audio-based event detection for sports video
In this paper, we present an audio-based event detection approach shown to be effective when applied to the Sports broadcast data. The main benefit of this approach is the ability to recognise patterns that indicate high levels of crowd response which can be correlated to key events. By applying Hidden Markov Model-based classifiers, where the predefined content classes are parameterised using Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients, we were able to eliminate the need for defining a heuristic set of rules to determine event detection, thus avoiding a two-class approach shown not to be suitable for this problem. Experimentation indicated that this is an effective method for classifying crowd response in Soccer matches, thus providing a basis for automatic indexing and summarisation
Suzaku Discovery of the Strong Radiative Recombination Continuum of Iron from the Supernova Remnant W49B
We present a hard X-ray spectrum of unprecedented quality of the Galactic
supernova remnant W49B obtained with the Suzaku satellite. The spectrum
exhibits an unusual structure consisting of a saw-edged bump above 8 keV. This
bump cannot be explained by any combination of high-temperature plasmas in
ionization equilibrium. We firmly conclude that this bump is caused by the
strong radiative recombination continuum (RRC) of iron, detected for the first
time in a supernova remnant. The electron temperature derived from the
bremsstrahlung continuum shape and the slope of the RRC is 1.5 keV. On the
other hand, the ionization temperature derived from the observed intensity
ratios between the RRC and K-alpha lines of iron is 2.7 keV. These results
indicate that the plasma is in a highly overionized state. Volume emission
measures independently determined from the fluxes of the thermal and RRC
components are consistent with each other, suggesting the same origin of these
components.Comment: 5 pages,4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Lette
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