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On the Application of the Auxiliary Problem Principle

The auxiliary problem principle (APP) derives from a general theory on decomposition-coordination methods establishing a comprehensive framework for both one-level and two-level methods. In this paper, the results of the two-level methods of APP are specialized for an efficient application to some engineering problems.     

Investigating buyer and seller strategies in online auctions

The annual turnover of online auctions is already in tens of billions of dollars and this amount is predicted to grow substantially over the next few years. Hence, it is important to know how buyers and sellers can influence their chances of success. Therefore, data were collected from eBay auctions for three different categories of collectible items, namely those with a published guide price, those with a rough guide price and those having no easily obtainable guide price. The options available to buyers and sellers of items were then analysed. It was found that it was hard for the seller to influence an item's achieved price significantly, apart from items with no guide price where the starting price could have an effect. Most bidders bid close to the current value and so there were insufficient data to determine the consequences of timing on the placing of high bids. For low bids, delaying a bid was found to improve significantly the chances of winning for one of the data sets.     

Measurement of the differential cross section and of the tensor and vector analyzing powers for the fragmentation of 4.5-GeV/c deuterons on beryllium in the reaction involving proton emission at an angle of 80 mrad

The invariant differential cross section, the tensor analyzing power A _yy , and the vector analyzing power A _y for the reaction ⁹Be(d, p)X are measured at an initial deuteron momentum of 4.5 GeV/c and a proton detection angle of about 80 mrad. The data obtained for the differential cross section are consistent with the results of measurements at 3.5 and 5.78 GeV/c and a proton emission angle of 2.5°. The values found for the tensor analyzing power A _yy are compared with similar data obtained previously for the deuteron-fragmentation process occurring on a carbon target at various values of the initial deuteron momentum and leading to proton emission at zero angle. The data on the differential cross section for the reaction ⁹Be(d, p)X can be satisfactorily described within the relativistic impulse approximation by using standard deuteron wave functions; however, the approach based on this conceptual framework proves to be inadequate in dealing with data on the tensor analyzing power. These results indicate that it is necessary either to change the method for describing the relativistic deuteron or to take into account additional mechanisms.     

Smoothing estimation of rate function for recurrent event data with informative censoring

This paper proposes kernel estimation of the occurrence rate function for recurrent event data with informative censoring. An informative censoring model is considered with assumptions made on the joint distribution of the recurrent event process and the censoring time without modeling the censoring distribution. Under the validity of the informative censoring model, we also show that an estimator based on the assumption of independent censoring becomes inappropriate and is generally asymptotically biased. To investigate the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator, the explicit form of its asymptotic mean squared risk and the asymptotic normality are derived. Meanwhile, the empirical consistent smoothing estimator for the variance function of the estimator is suggested. The performance of the estimators are also studied through Monte Carlo simulations. An epidemiological example of intravenous drug user data is used to show the influence of informative censoring in the estimation of the occurrence rate functions for inpatient cares over time.     

Stability and Nonlinear Deformation of Cylindrical Grids

The general stability of single-layer cylindrical grids is studied in linear and nonlinear formulations. Dependence of the general buckling load on the geometry and stiffness parameters of a grid is established in an analytical form. Such grids are numerically analyzed for stability. It is established that the general buckling load is much less than the local buckling load. Typical general buckling modes are found. It is shown that such grids are weakly sensitive to imperfections     

Unforeseen formation of 2-bromo-3-hydroxybenzaldehyde by bromination of 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde

Contrary to literature reports, bromination of 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde can afford both 2-bromo-5-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 2-bromo-3-hydroxybenzaldehyde, but 4-bromo-3-hydroxybenzaldehyde was not detected. 2-Bromo-3-hydroxybenzaldehyde was converted into 2-(benzyloxy)-1-bromo-5-methoxy-7-methylnaphthalene. X-ray crystallographic analysis supports the identity of 2-bromo-3-hydroxybenzaldehyde.     

An algorithm to locate perinatal facilities in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro

In order to reduce infant mortality in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro it is desired to encourage all mothers-to-be to attend the appropriate health care facilities. A 3-level hierarchical prenatal–neonatal health care system is described together with a basic model for optimising accessibility to facilities. A genetic algorithm to solve the basic model is developed and some numerical experience reported. Extensions to the basic model and planned future research are briefly indicated.