Cumulative Process Research Articles

Influence of Thermo-Oxidative Aging on the Properties of SBS-Modified Asphalt Binders

The superior performance of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) modified asphalt makes it widely used in asphalt pavement construction. However, SBS-modified asphalt pavement still faces an aging problem. Aging causes the performance of asphalt materials to decline and many pavement diseases. The dosage of SBS commonly used in industry is generally between 3% and 4.5%, and the performance of SBS with a high dosage needs to be explored. Therefore, in this paper, 12 modified binders were prepared with blending amounts of 3%, 5%, and 7% and the type of modifiers as linear and star. The softening point increment (SPI), viscosity aging index (VAI), rutting factor index (RFI), complex modulus aging index (CMAI), and phase angle aging index (PAAI) were used to study the antiaging performance of SBS-modified asphalt. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were used to study the microscopic and structural changes that occur during the aging process of modified asphalt. The result shows that when the amount of the same type of modifier is 3%–7%, the higher the amount of modifier, the better the performance of the modified asphalt. At the same content, a star modifier is not necessarily better than a linear modifier. For the same type of modifier, the larger the amount, the better the antiaging performance of the modified asphalt. Given an increase in aging time, the deterioration of the asphalt performance will deepen. Aging leads to the enhanced high-temperature performance of asphalt. The macroscopic performance of asphalt aging can be explained by the microscopic view. The aging process of modified asphalt is the cumulative process of oxidation products.

International trade and technological competition in markets with dynamic increasing returns

We build a simple international trade model to study how the interaction between imperfect market selection and technological learning jointly shapes trade patterns as well as firm and industry dynamics. The model features two countries populated by firms heterogeneous in their productivity and size. Market selection is driven by a finite pairwise Pólya urn process, while a geometric random walk characterizes the idiosyncratic cumulative firm learning process. We show that the model is able to jointly reproduce a wide ensemble of stylized facts concerning intra-industry trade, industry and firm dynamics as well as realistic dynamics of export and productivity leadership at the country level. A series of sensitivity exercises on the degree of trade openness and the tightness of the market selection process allow us to draw interesting policy insights on concentration, volatility and the dynamics of international leadership in both export shares and aggregate productivity.

A Critical Research of Spotify’s Business Model—The Case of Discover Weekly

Over the past few decades, the Internet and digital technologies have radically transformed the way in which music is distributed, sold, licensed, and consumed. Against this context, one of the most prominent industry players, Spotify, has received increasing attention from scholars. Despite its multifaceted role as a cultural intermediary and a gatekeeper, this study primarily frames Spotify as a DSP (Digital Service Provider). The purpose is to explore the dynamics of its business model innovation from a value perspective. Building on a systematic literature review, therefore, it argues that Spotify constructs its value streams mainly around the personalized curation of users’ listening experiences. Specific attention is paid to its freemium subscription model and its algorithmically filtered playlist called "Discover Weekly." Finally, the findings demonstrate that Spotify's business model innovation is an iterative, cumulative and incremental process through which its focus on the personalization strategies could be conceived as a core competency.

Convergence in a multi-method study between Rorschach and self-report data of traumatized refugees assessed before and after psychotherapy.

To examine possible convergences between Rorschach trauma-related personality variables and self-reported variables. Before and after psychotherapy 22 traumatized adult refugee patients were assessed with the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS), symptom checklists of posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression, and a quality of life questionnaire. Correlational analyses between eight R-PAS variables and 10 self-reported variables were performed. The findings showed inconsistent and nonsignificant correlations pretherapy. Posttherapy, however, all R-PAS variables except Complexity correlated positively with symptoms of mental disorder, and negatively with the quality of life variables, as predicted. The R-PAS variables Mutuality of Autonomy-Pathology, Poor Human Representation, Critical Content, and Form Quality-minus%, converged significantly with most of the self-reported variables, with medium to large correlations. The finding of convergence only after psychotherapy, may tentatively suggest greater self-knowledge and internal consistency through the therapy experience, and increased trust and self-disclosure through the repeated meetings with the researchers. The findings represent a promising contribution to a cumulative validation process of convergence between Rorschach and self-report data.

Performance improvement of MF-DFA on feature extraction of skin lesion images

In this paper, we propose an improved algorithm based on the original two-dimensional (2D) multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (2D MF-DFA) that involves increasing the number of cumulative summations in the computational steps of 2D MF-DFA. The proposed method aims to modify the distribution of the generalized Hurst exponent to ensure that skin lesion image features are extracted based on enhanced multifractal features. We calculate the generalized Hurst exponent using 0, 1, or 2 cumulative summation processes. A support vector machine (SVM) is adopted to examine the classification performance under these three conditions. Computation shows that the process involving two cumulative summations achieves an accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], respectively, which indicates that its performance is much better than with 0 and 1 cumulative summations.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP, SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND ENDOGENOUS GROWTH

This paper develops a model highlighting the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth through social environment (forced mutual help and mimetic dynamics) compatible to an African context. The mimetic dynamics arise when the presence of foreign entrepreneurship inspires local entrepreneurship to develop endogenously through a cumulative process. By using an endogenous growth model (AK model), we show that economic growth is related to usual variables (entrepreneurial rate, productivity of capital, fraction of the economic surplus, rate of depreciation of the capital, fraction of the variation of the investment coming from the economic surplus). Importantly, economic growth is positively related to entrepreneurship through mimetic dynamics depending on some values of an indicator of forced mutual help. For some of these values, the ones compatible with too much community-based transfers, reducing those transfers induce a reinforcement of the impact of mimetic dynamics in entrepreneurship on economic growth. So that, in the context of an economy where the investible surplus is strongly dissolved into the universe of social obligations, governmental policies can reinforce the positive impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth by reducing those community-based transfers.

Банківський сектор у просторі впливу VUCA-середовища на стабільність

The article is aimed at studying the peculiarities of maintaining financial stability of the banking sector under the influence of destructive factors of the VUCA environment. The analysis of publications allowed us to identify the essence of the concept of the VUCA environment and systematize its main components. It is substantiated that the VUCA environment causes a cumulative process as a source and material carrier of economic development, responsible for its undulating nature. As a result of the study, it was proved that the VUCA environment is characterized by chaotic changes that are not associated with economic cycles. At this, the latter are able to accelerate as a result of the impact of digital technologies and the VUCA environment on GDP. It is revealed that the use of digital technologies ensures the timeliness of information, helps to identify new problems in terms of risk and control, improves understanding of what may go wrong, sharpens foresight regarding the appropriate response strategy. The article systematizes the views of the main economic schools on the factors of financial instability. It is proposed to consider the factors of instability of the banking sector and systemic risks through the prism of VUCA in order to assess the capabilities of banks to withstand systemic risks. The essence banking risks is determined and the structure of these risks is systematized in the form of a matrix on the basis of taking into account the features of quantitative or qualitative assessment and sources of their production. The systemic risks in the composition of external financial risks as the most dangerous for the functioning of the banking sector have been allocated. Prospects for further research in this direction are to identify the peculiarities of ensuring financial stability of the banking sector under the influence of digital transformations on this process.

STRESS-TRANS-COMMUNICATIVE POTENTIAL OF THE PHYSICIAN’S PERSONALITY, WHICH IS SELF-FULFILLING IN EXTREME CONDITIONS

The article presents the results of understanding the extremes of professional communication of physicians and argues the relevance of the problem of stress-trans-communicative potential of the individual, which is self-fulfilling in a pandemic, globalization crisis and information chaos. The possibility of applying the methodological and methodological tools of the Psychological Philosophy of Transfessionalism (author N. Kryvtsova) is considered. It’s proven that the audio technique of de-suggestion «Is everything for the better?» (author N. Kryvtsova) is a valid tool for rapid diagnosis of psychological features of stress-trans-communicative potential of self-realization of the researcher of information resources. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated for predicting the types-levels of deep psychological determinants of self-harmonization of cumulative and dissipative processes of self-fulfilling of an educated person in extreme conditions; for the development of skills of active listening and self-reflection, increasing the critical thinking and adequate potential of the life of an educated human, who is capable of self-actualization of the stress-trans-communicative potential of self-realization of the transferor’s personality and strengthening of mental health, in particular physicians; to increase the readiness for co-creation and conscious productive self-change in extreme conditions while preserving the authenticity of own life as a whole. Key words: extremity, deep psychological determinants of self-fulfilling, stress-trans-communicative potential, Psychological philosophy of transfessionalism, de-suggestion.

Complex process of restorative-reconstructive transformations in the sustainable development of historical small towns

The complex process of restorative-reconstructive transformations is proposed in order to simultaneously preserve, restore and improve the historical and architectural value and integrity of the urban environment in historical small towns and the quality of life in them, thereby reviving them, and ensuring their activity, attractiveness, and sustainable development. A definition of the ?restorative-reconstructive transformation? (RRT) concept is given. The problems that need to be solved during restorative-reconstructive transformations in the historical small towns of Ukraine in terms of their post-war revival are identified and characterized. The causes of these problems are identified. Their proposed systematization makes it possible to single out five components of the complex process of restorative-reconstructive transformations, namely: ecological, historical-cultural, infrastructural, social, and economic. For each one, the tasks are identified, the solution to which will enable the revival and sustainable development of historical small towns. The process of restorative-reconstructive transformations of the historical center of Medzhybizh in the Khmelnytskyi region of Ukraine, is shown as an example of solving destructive problems in its existing development, increasing its historical, architectural, utilitarian, and socio-economic attractiveness, and the quality of living in it, as well as increasing the interest for visiting it and attracting investment. Altogether, this will contribute to the revival of Medzhybizh, launching the cumulative process of its sustainable development as a cultural, tourist, and recreational center.

Assimilation and extensive metasomatism of agpaitic rocks from the transitional layered kakortokite, Ilímaussaq Intrusion, South Greenland

AbstractThe peralkaline Ilímaussaq Intrusion of the Gardar Province in South Greenland consists of several intrusive phases that have been related to different magmatic pulses and igneous cumulate processes. The lowermost exposed part of the intrusion is kakortokite, a eudialyte‐nepheline syenite, with distinctive sub‐horizontal layering which passes upwards into lujavrite, a fine‐grained melanocratic eudialyte‐nepheline syenite. Along the contact between kakortokite and lujavrite lies a transitional layered kakortokite, which has been defined previously based on textural and mineralogical criteria. However, published literature presents conflicting descriptions of this sequence in terms of thickness, layering, contacts, and mode of origin. Our own and previous field and petrographic investigations suggest that parts of the eudialyte‐rich zones in the transitional layered kakortokite comprise metasomatized and partially assimilated naujaite autoliths, a sodalite‐rich eudialyte nepheline syenite, detached probably from the roof of the intrusion. Here, we focus on the nature of the transitional layered kakortokite and conclude, in contrast to the conventional model, that it was formed by metasomatic transformation and assimilation of naujaite autoliths. We propose that the breakdown and replacement of sodalite locally increased chlorine and sodium concentrations, which may have catalyzed the precipitation of eudialyte. In detail, we suggest that the uppermost four eudialyte‐rich horizons were strongly influenced by metasomatic processes caused by mineral‐melt reaction, and were not simply the result of conventional igneous magmatic cumulate formation, as has been inferred for the underlying kakortokite layered units. Recognition of a significant metasomatic process has important bearing on the distribution of minerals with specific elements, like REE in eudialyte, both from a petrological and an economic perspective.

Pricing cumulative loss derivatives under additive models via Malliavin calculus

We show that integration by parts formulas based on Malliavin-Skorohod calculus techniques for additive processes help us to compute quantities like ${\E}(L_T h(L_T))$ for different suitable functions $h$ and different models for the cumulative loss process $L_T$. These quantities are important in Insurance and Finance. For example they appear in computing expected shortfall risk measures or stop-loss contracts. The formulas given in the present paper, obtained by simple proofs, generalize the formulas given in a recent paper by Hillairet, Jiao and Réveillac using Malliavin calculus techniques for the standard Poisson process, a particular case of additive process.

Exchangeable min-id sequences: Characterization, exponent measures and non-decreasing id-processes

We establish a one-to-one correspondence between (i) exchangeable sequences of random variables whose finite-dimensional distributions are minimum (or maximum) infinitely divisible and (ii) non-negative, non-decreasing, infinitely divisible stochastic processes. The exponent measure of an exchangeable minimum infinitely divisible sequence is shown to be the sum of a very simple “drift measure” and a mixture of product probability measures, which uniquely corresponds to the Lévy measure of a non-negative and non-decreasing infinitely divisible process. The latter is shown to be supported on non-negative and non-decreasing functions. In probabilistic terms, the aforementioned infinitely divisible process is equal to the conditional cumulative hazard process associated with the exchangeable sequence of random variables with minimum (or maximum) infinitely divisible marginals. Our results provide an analytic umbrella which embeds the de Finetti subfamilies of many interesting classes of multivariate distributions, such as exogenous shock models, exponential and geometric laws with lack-of-memory property, min-stable multivariate exponential and extreme-value distributions, as well as reciprocal Archimedean copulas with completely monotone generator and Archimedean copulas with log-completely monotone generator.

Tu beoð gemæccan: The Key Concept ofMaxims IRepresenting One of the Fundamental Principles of the World Order

AbstractThe Old English poemMaxims Ihas generally been regarded as a wisdom/catalogue poem listing miscellaneous gnomes without any major structural or thematic unity. It has also been suggested that it actually consists of three separate works, as it is divided into three in the manuscript. Against these views, this article will argue that the poet has a design and purpose in mind, and intends to produce a unified work. In listing gnomes, the poet focusses on good matches of beings or concepts, since well-matched pairs represent one of the fundamental principles in the order of the world in Biblical tradition as well as in the ‘scientific’ tradition of the time that ultimately went back to the ancient Greek theory of quaternity. Near the beginning of the work, the poet actually refers to the principle by the gnometu beoð gemæccan‘two are companions’ (l. 23b), with several clear-cut examples of well-matched pairs of beings or concepts. Various pairings of this type are dealt with throughout the work, and in order to remind the readers of this key concept, the poet inserts multiple series of short and simple gnomes listing good matches in all three parts. By this cumulative process, the poet presents truths, norms, and patterns in the Anglo-Saxon world and locates them in a wider context of the world order established by God the Creator. The thematic unity, as well as lexical, dialectal, and metrical affinities demonstrated in all three parts suggest thatMaxims Iis intended as a unified work. In fact, the three parts seem to have circulated together for a long time even before they were copied into the Exeter Book in the latter half of the tenth century.

Meminimasi Reject Produk Dengan Kapabilitas Proses Menggunakan Pendekatan Lean Six Sigma

The challenges for manufacturing companies are currently getting bigger, now they are not only facing competition but companies are required to be able to survive the pandemic situation that has occurred throughout the world, including Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to minimize the number of rejects and increase the sigma value of 1 Kg cans of paint in accordance with the Straight Pass Ratio Increase (SPRI) standard of 99.3% with an acceptable percentage of 0.7% Reject. The actual condition of the reject percentage of 1kg paint cans is 6.4%, this is still far from the SPRI standard. Therefore, this research will make improvements, using the Lean Six Sigma concept using the DMAIC method in the repair process stage. The results of the study, obtained 5 types of reject that occur in the production process. In this process there are 4 factors that cause rejects, namely human factors, machines, methods and materials. The sigma value before repair was 3.7 and the cumulative process capability value was 0.062, this is still far from the specification limits that consumers expect. The improvements that have been made in this research are: implementing 5S on the production floor, 5S training and dissemination of SOPs for workers and implementing 5S as a standard operating procedure. After implementing the improvements, there was a decrease in rejects of 88.6%, an increase in the sigma value of 4.5 with a reject percentage of 0.69%. These results have reached the SPRI standards set by the company

Joint parametric specification checking of conditional mean and volatility in time series models with martingale difference innovations

Using cumulative residual processes, we introduce powerful joint specification tests for conditional mean and variance functions in the context of nonlinear time series with martingale difference innovations. The main challenge comes from the fact that, the cumulative residual process no longer admits a distribution-free limit. To obtain a practical solution one either transforms the process to achieve a distribution-free limit or approximates the non-distribution free limit using numerical or re-sampling techniques. In this paper, the three solutions are considered and compared. The proposed tests have nontrivial power against a class of root-n local alternatives and are suitable when the conditioning set is infinite-dimensional, which allows including more general models such as ARMAX-GARCH with dependent innovations. Numerical results based on simulated and real data show that the powers of tests based on re-sampling or numerical approximation are in general slightly better than those based on martingale transformation.

Investigation of oxidized triglyceride monomer (oxTGM) produced in deteriorated soybean oil at frying temperatures: A kinetic study

This work evaluated the feasibility of total polar compound (TPC) and its five components to monitor the deterioration of soybean oil at frying temperatures, and traditional indicators were used as a reference. The preliminary correlation analysis showed that polar compounds accumulated earlier than classical oxidation products like the peroxide value (PV). Equations for two types of characteristic kinetic time, the induction time (turning point of sigmoid curve) and intersection time (intersection point of two tangent lines representing the initiation and propagation reaction), were also derived. Their mathematical difference and relationship were then evaluated. Based on the kinetic analysis, the overall cumulative process of oxidation products of triglycerides (oxTGM) was found to be 2.35%-12.35% earlier than that of fatty acids (PV). Our results supported the index of oxTGM in TPC to be a better indicator to monitor the deterioration of heated edible oil.

What is ‘business as usual’? Towards a theory of cumulative sociomaterial change

ABSTRACT This essay focuses on the commonly used term ‘business as usual’ and theorizes the change it entails. Business as usual refers to the continuation ad infinitum of established social practices, the current socio-material structures, whatever they might be. Yet, business as usual also entails change. It refers to a general type of social change; cumulative socio-material change inherently linked to the reproduction of established practices. Cumulative change should be seen as distinct from both evolutionary and revolutionary types of change. Uneventfully unfolding cumulative processes have significant impacts on our societies and their ‘built’ and ‘natural’ environments. They are typically non-disruptive, but they ordinarily exhibit nonlinearities and sometimes disruptions. Transforming business-as-usual changes from an ordinary ‘state of affairs’ to pressing political-economic problems may be see as general and global grand challenge that requires transformative agency targeting apex social practices, such as neoliberalism, that define the framework of action for most life-worlds.

Post-assessment of the eco-environmental impact of highway construction– A case study of Changbai Mountain Ring Road

The eco-environmental impact of highway construction is a long-term and cumulative process. Most of the existing studies pay attention to the environmental impact assessment technology of highway construction period and completion acceptance period, which can not fully explain the eco-environmental impact of highway operation period. At the same time, most of the previous studies have a single index and less consideration of the impact on species. Aiming at the highway located in the forest ecosystem in the middle temperate zone, considering the four aspects of species, land use, landscape pattern and ecological function, this paper establishes the post-evaluation index system of the eco-environmental impact of highway construction projects. This paper puts forward the quantitative assessment technology and spatio-temporal scale identification method of the long-term evolution of the impact of highway construction on the ecological environment, and uses the analytic hierarchy process to construct a comprehensive post-assessment system of ecological environmental impact of highway construction projects. Relying on the Changbai Mountain Ring Road, a 10-year comprehensive ecological impact assessment was carried out. Mammals tend to accumulate within 200 m of the road, and highway corridors attract bird activities; the animal mortality coverage rates of amphibians and reptiles are 100%, mammals 66.7%, and birds 50.9%. The utilization rate of bridges and culverts is 88% and 42%, and the total utilization rate is 49.3%. The landscape is changing to the dominant type of coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, with lower evenness, less diversity and higher degree of natural connection, but the ability of the ecological environment to resist external changes is reduced. The closer the landscape fragmentation is to the highway, the more serious it is, and the lower the diversity is. The time and space scale of post-assessment of eco-environmental impact of highway construction project is in the range of 4–7 years and 200-300 m on the road side, and with the increase of operation time, the change of ecosystem along the line decreases year by year and tends to be stable gradually. The research results can provide a method of reference for the follow-up study of highway ecological environment in mid-temperate forest ecological areas.

A semi-supervised adaptive Markov Gaussian embedding process (SAMGEP) for prediction of phenotype event times using the electronic health record

While there exist numerous methods to identify binary phenotypes (i.e. COPD) using electronic health record (EHR) data, few exist to ascertain the timings of phenotype events (i.e. COPD onset or exacerbations). Estimating event times could enable more powerful use of EHR data for longitudinal risk modeling, including survival analysis. Here we introduce Semi-supervised Adaptive Markov Gaussian Embedding Process (SAMGEP), a semi-supervised machine learning algorithm to estimate phenotype event times using EHR data with limited observed labels, which require resource-intensive chart review to obtain. SAMGEP models latent phenotype states as a binary Markov process, and it employs an adaptive weighting strategy to map timestamped EHR features to an embedding function that it models as a state-dependent Gaussian process. SAMGEP’s feature weighting achieves meaningful feature selection, and its predictions significantly improve AUCs and F1 scores over existing approaches in diverse simulations and real-world settings. It is particularly adept at predicting cumulative risk and event counting process functions, and is robust to diverse generative model parameters. Moreover, it achieves high accuracy with few (50–100) labels, efficiently leveraging unlabeled EHR data to maximize information gain from costly-to-obtain event time labels. SAMGEP can be used to estimate accurate phenotype state functions for risk modeling research.

How organizational socialization occurring in virtual setting unique: A longitudinal study of socialization

Based on organizational socialization frameworks used to study newcomers' journey of adaptation from outsiders to insiders, this study develops an evolutionary model to examine their socialization in virtual settings. Extending the existing literature, the proposed model views organizational socialization as a cumulative process that allows the impact of pre-entry variables on accommodation and outcomes. Longitudinal design is used to measure the impact of key socialization factors on newcomers' productivity and commitment by controlling for entry-level perceptions. The virtual setting chosen for this study is the academic units at a premium Business school with multiple campuses in India. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) hierarchical linear regression modeling is used to analyze time-lagged study data of 373 Master of Business Administration (MBA) students. The study reports some unique aspects of newcomers' socialization in a virtual environment, and explains how and why some influential socialization factors might show varying effects if traditional physical settings are missing. Contesting the findings of previous studies, results of this study reveal that in virtual socialization process, pre-entry experience emerges as a strong predictor of accommodation for newcomers. However, dissemination of pre-entry information solely through advanced communication technologies might not produce desired results, unless complemented by face-to-face contact with peers and other stakeholders. Overall, this study offers a cumulative view of socialization in virtual settings in which early stages exert influence over later stages even after intervening variables are controlled.