Actuarial evaluation of government of Punjab pension fund liabilities

Mestrado em Actuarial ScienceO Governo de Punjab (GoPb) organizou um plano de pensões de benefícios definidos para os seus funcionários permanentes. Além de atender aos pagamentos anuais dos benefícios de pensão, o GoPb contribui igualmente para um fundo de reserva designado Punjab Pension Fund (PPF). O Punjab Pension Fund foi estabelecido ao abrigo da lei designada Punjab Pension Fund Act 2007. A principal função do PPF é gerir os fundos disponibilizados pelo GoPb para atender às responsabilidades com pensões dos seus funcionários. Este trabalho tem por finalidade essencial fazer uma análise dos aspetos mais significativos do PPF, dada a importância que este fundo tem para o Governo da província, atualmente e no futuro. Detalhando um pouco mais, pode dizer-se que o trabalho foi desenvolvido com base nos seguintes objetivos: i. Realizar uma avaliação atuarial do Fundo de Pensões do Governo de Punjab; ii. Realizar projeções de fluxo de caixa do Fundo de Pensões do Governo de Punjab nos próximos cinco anos; iii. Fazer recomendações relativamente aos requisitos de financiamento para o Fundo de Pensões, com base nos resultados obtidos em i. e ii.; iv. Realizar uma análise de sensibilidade das principais premissas com efeitos sobre as projeções das responsabilidades com pensões e demais fluxos financeiros; v. Identificar as medidas reformadoras que permitam colocar a taxa de contribuição do plano de pensão existente a um nível aceitável; vi. Propor a estrutura de um novo plano de pensão, destinado aos futuros contratados.This actuarial investigation carried out of the Government of Punjab Pension Scheme liabilities as at the valuation date. To summarize, the work was developed with the following main objectives: i. Conduct an actuarial valuation of Punjab Government Pension Fund; ii. Carry out cash flow projections of Punjab Pension Fund over the next 5 years; iii. Make recommendations for funding requirements for Pension Fund based upon above findings; iv. Carry out sensitivity analysis of key assumptions on pension liability and cash flow projections; v. Identifying reform contours to bring contribution rate of the existing pension scheme at a manageable level; vi. Propose a structure for a new pension scheme for new hires.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Equivalent Binary Quadratic Form and the Extended Modular Group

Extended modular group $\bar{\Pi}=$, where R:z\rightarrow -\bar{z}, \sim T:z\rightarrow\frac{-1}{z},\simU:z\rightarrow\frac{-1}{z +1} , has been used to study some properties of the binary quadratic forms whose base points lie in the point set fundamental region $F_{\bar{\Pi}}$ (See \cite{Tekcan1, Flath}). In this paper we look at how base points have been used in the study of equivalent binary quadratic forms, and we prove that two positive definite forms are equivalent if and only if the base point of one form is mapped onto the base point of the other form under the action of the extended modular group and any positive definite integral form can be transformed into the reduced form of the same discriminant under the action of the extended modular group and extend these results for the subset \QQ^*(\sqrt{-n}) of the imaginary quadratic field \QQ(\sqrt{-m}).Comment: Paper contains two figures and twelve page

Antecedents of job satisfaction: A study of telecom sector

This study is based on the assumption that “a happy worker is a productive workerâ€. The research was conducted to identify the significance of those factors that lead towards job satisfaction and commitment of employees working in the telecom sector of Pakistan. The associations among pay and benefits, performance appraisal system, career development and management, supervision and collegiality and open communication (independent variables) were investigated with job satisfaction (dependent variable). The relationship between job satisfaction (dependent variable) and job commitment (outcome) was also hypothesized. Through questionnaire survey responses from 221 employees working at managerial and non-managerial positions were collected, which showed the significant association of supervision and collegiality and open communication on job satisfaction. Furthermore, job satisfaction was also found highly correlated and dependent upon job commitment. Managerial implications and conclusions are presented based upon these results.Labor and Human Capital,

Integrated Use of Rational and Intuitive Decision Making Style: Modern Trends in Organizational Decision Making

The present study reviewed the literature based on a centuryof the theoretical and empirical work on decision making styles.Both in theory and research, the traditional trends limited thedecision makers to either rational or intuitive strategies in decisionmaking. Limited amount of literature emphasized on both rationalityand intuition in decision making until in the recent decades whensome researchers emphasized the use of mixed strategies in decisionmaking. Thus the present study illustrates the importance ofcombining the rational and intuitive style and using a mixed-stylein decisional scenarios. Thus the rational-intuitive and the intuitiverationalstyle double the benefits as both styles have some sharedand some other unique qualities which maximize the outcomes whenused in connection. Finally, the present study suggests a transitionfrom uni-style tradition to mixed style decision making

Helping children to understand particulate nature of matter

Whenever I taught about the particulate nature of matter in solids, liquids and gases, I often had difficulty explaining this abstract concept to my students. The students, in turn, had much difficulty conceptualizing the structure and behavior of the particles, which ultimately led to difficulties in understanding the complex configuration of particles in matter at various levels. This article focuses on studies that reveal students’ alternative frameworks for the particulate nature of matter in solids, liquids and gases. Also, I suggest factors that contribute to these alternative frameworks, incorporating my own experiences in developing an understanding of this concept. Finally, in light of these alternative conceptions and difficulties, I consider strategies for effectively teaching this abstract concept

Current and future perceived needs and concerns for older adults aging in place in Mississippi: Intergenerational perspectives

The study\u27s purpose was to identify the perceived needs and concerns of three generations in a family with an older adult aging in place in Mississippi. This mixed-methods study used snowball sampling in addition to recruitment by community leaders such as Extension agents to collect data through semi-structured interviews and structured questionnaires that asked about current and future problems among aging adults in rural communities in Mississippi. Three generations of Mississippians participated in the study, including older adults (G1; n = 22), adult children (G2; n = 23), and young adult grandchildren (G3; n = 19). Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics, while qualitative data were managed with MaxQDA. Physical and mental health concerns were identified across all three generations. Financial concerns, including paying for basics such as food, medical and health care costs, and transportation issues, were most often reported by the two younger generations rather than the older adults. Services that assist with caregiving of older adults, including respite care, home health, and adult daycare options, were identified as services G2 and G3 family members reported as families currently needed or anticipated to need soon. Implications of the findings for families, community leaders, policymakers, non-profit organizations, and for-profit businesses are provided

Novel miniature microwave quasi-elliptical function bandpass filters with wideband harmonic suppression

Filters are integral components in all wireless communication systems, and their function is to permit predefined band of frequencies into the system and reject all other signals. The ever-growing demand in the use of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum for new applications has resulted in the need for high performance microwave filters with strict requirements on both inband and out-of-band characteristics. High selectivity, high rejection, low loss and extremely wide spurious-free performance are required for both transmitter and receiver channels. In addition, these devices need to be highly compact, easy to integrate within transceivers and should be amenable to low cost manufacturing. High selectivity is essential to enable the guard band between adjacent channels to be reduced thus improving the efficiency of the RF spectrum and hence increasing the capacity of the system. A low insertion-loss, high return-loss and small group-delay in the passband are necessary to minimize signal degradation. A wide stopband is necessary to suppress spurious passbands outside the filter’s bandwidth that may allow spurious emissions from modulation process (harmonic, parasitic, intermodulation and frequency conversion products) and interfere with other systems. The EMC Directive 89/336/EEC mandates that all electronic equipment must comply with the applicable EN specification for EMI. This thesis presents the research work that has resulted in the development of innovative and compact microstrip bandpass filters that fulfil the above stringent requirements for wireless communication systems. In fact, the proposed highly compact planar microstrip filters provide an alternative solution for existing and next generation of wireless communications systems. In particular, the proposed filters exhibit a low-loss and quasi-elliptic function response that is normally only possible with filter designs using waveguides and high temperature superconductors. The selectivity of the filters has been improved by inserting a pair of transmission zeros between the passband edges, and implementing notched rejection bands in the filter’s frequency response to widen its stopband performance. The filter structures have been analysed theoretically and modelled by using Keysight Technologies’ Advanced Design System (ADS™) and Momentum® software. The dissertation is essentially composed of four main sections. In the first section, several compact and quasi-elliptic function bandpass filter structures are proposed and theoretically analysed. Selectivity and stopband performance of these filters is enhanced by loading the input and output feed-lines with inductive stubs that introduce transmission zeros at specified frequencies in the filter’s frequency response. This technique is shown to provide a sharp 3-dB roll-off and steep selectivity skirt with high out-of-band rejection over a wide frequency span. In addition, the 3-dB fractional bandwidth of the filters is shown to be controllable by manipulating the filter’s geometric parameters. Traditional microwave bandpass filters are designed using quarter-wavelength distributed transmission-line resonators that are either end-coupled or side-coupled. The sharpness of the filter response is determined by the number of resonators employed which degrades the filter’s passband loss performance. This results in a filter with a significantly larger footprint which precludes miniaturization. To circumvent these drawbacks the second section describes the development of a novel and compact wideband bandpass filter with the desired characteristics. The quasi-elliptic function filter comprises open-loop resonators that are coupled to each other using a stub loaded resonator. The proposed filter is shown to achieve a wideband 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 23% with much better loss performance, sharp skirt selectivity and very wide rejection bandwidth. The third section describes the investigation of novel ultra-wideband (UWB) microstrip bandpass filter designs. Parametric study enabled the optimization of the filter’s performance which was verified through practical measurements. The proposed filters meet the stringent characteristics required by modern communications systems, i.e. the filters are highly compact and miniature even when fabricated on a low dielectric constant substrate, possess a sharp quasi-elliptic function bandpass response with low passband insertion-loss, and ultra-wide stopband performance. With the rapid development of multi-band operation in modern and next generation wireless communication systems, there is a great demand for single frequency discriminating devices that can operate over multiple frequency bands to facilitate miniaturization. These multi-band bandpass filters need to be physically small, have low insertion-loss, high return-loss, and excellent selectivity. In the fourth section two miniature microstrip dual-band and triple-band bandpass filter designs are explored. A detailed parametric study was conducted to fully understand how the geometric parameters of the filters affected their performance. The optimized filters were fabricated and measured to validate their performance