Excess Rate Research Articles

Similarities yet Divergence in South Asian Macroeconomic Performance


 Stylized business cycle facts for South Asia are both similar and different from other regions. They show the dominance of supply shocks, often amplified by macroeconomic policies and procyclical current accounts. Interest and exchange rate volatility rose initially on liberalization, but fell as markets deepened. A gradual approach to openness and market development, with flexible exchange rates, that avoided complete liberalization, worked well initially. But a combination of excessive government/foreign borrowing and inadequate reserves made it difficult for smaller countries to withstand the multiple external shocks that began with the global pandemic. Domestic ability to smooth shocks and global safety nets are both essential. India benefitted from growing diversity, evolution to countercyclical macroeconomic policy better suited to structure and a good coordination of monetary and fiscal policies, with balance between demand stimulus and continuing supply-side reforms. Reserves and capital flow management policies helped insulate from global shocks. Intervention damped excess exchange rate volatility, reducing risk premiums.

Financialization and rural development: comparing credit systems in Thailand and Cambodia

ABSTRACT This article compares rural credit systems in Thailand and Cambodia in order to advance studies on financialization and rural development in South East Asia. In Thailand, the state remains a large provider of credit to farmers. In Cambodia, most farmers access credit from a globalized, private microfinance industry. Based on qualitative research carried out in 2021 and 2022, we argue that farmer debt has led to divergent outcomes in Thailand and Cambodia due to their opposing systems of rural credit developed over the past half-century. These systems were forged within historically specific conjunctures of international development policies, state–capital relations and domestic politics of debt. Consequently, Thailand’s farmers access credit from the state at significantly lower costs and with more support in various forms. Over-indebtedness is a problem for some farmers, but not because state-controlled financial institutions charge excessive interest rates. In contrast, the cost of private credit is higher in Cambodia, with many farmers facing over-indebtedness with little to no support from the government. This article contributes to scholarship on financialization within South East Asia by demonstrating how the legacies and geopolitics of development, alongside the contentious politics of farmer debt, together shape the outcomes of rural credit systems.

Public Health Relevance of US EPA Air Quality Index Activity Recommendations

Reducing exposure to fine particulate matter (<2.5 μm [PM2.5]) air pollution improves cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. However, the public health relevance of air quality index (AQI) activity guidelines under present-day environmental conditions in the US has not been critically assessed. To evaluate the public health relevance of following PM2.5 AQI activity guidance in preventing serious atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and pulmonary events among adults in the US. This cross-sectional modeling study involved the general adult population and sensitive individuals as designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including adults with preexisting ASCVD or lung disease (asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The study was conducted between August 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024. Daily AQI strata for PM2.5 and the corresponding activity recommendations. The main outcome was the number needed to treat (NNT) per day by following activity guidance across daily AQI strata to prevent 1 serious ASCVD or pulmonary event among relevant populations. To calculate PM2.5-induced excess disease event rates per day, estimated baseline disease-specific daily event rates for each group were multiplied by the increase in risks due to PM2.5 levels at each AQI stratum. The number of events prevented per day was calculated by multiplying each excess disease event rate by the percentage in exposure reduction plausibly incurred by following population-specific activity guidance at each AQI level. The NNT is the reciprocal of the number of events prevented. The NNT to prevent ASCVD events was high for the general population and for patients with ASCVD across all AQI strata. The range of values was comparatively lower to prevent pulmonary events among adults with lung disease. During most days (96%) when activity recommendations were promulgated due to elevated PM2.5 (AQI, 101-200), the NNT to prevent a serious disease event remained very high for the general population (>18 million), patients with ASCVD (approximately 1.6-5 million), and adults with lung disease (approximately 66 000-202 000). These findings suggest that existing PM2.5 AQI activity recommendations are of questionable public health relevance in present-day conditions and merit consideration for updating to improve their potential effectiveness.

Improving new energy subsidy efficiency considering learning effect: A case study on wind power

Subsidy policies are instrumental in driving the development of new energy. However, the effective allocation of new energy subsidies over time is challenging given fiscal constraints. This study addresses this challenge by considering the learning effect associated with the new energy industry. A two-stage dynamic programming model is proposed to capture the investment decision-making process of companies under new energy subsidy policies and government subsidy setups. Theoretical findings suggest that company investment decisions in new energy are influenced by a guiding principle: The subsidy rate should be negatively correlated with the variation rate of production scale increment (VRPSI). We calibrate this investment decision principle using wind power data from 14 countries. According to this principle, excessive subsidy rates may result in a low VRPSI, thereby diminishing future investment profitability in the new energy industry and leading to subsidy inefficiency. Upon investigating the efficiency of annual subsidy allocation, we find that the subsidy rates were potentially set too high in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Furthermore, the government should exercise caution regarding an inefficient subsidy pattern whereby companies invest in new energy only when the subsidy rate exceeds a certain threshold, neglecting traditional power sources. It is crucial to note that although this study uses wind power industry data for calibration and simulation, the theoretical model can be broadly applied to other new energy industries and emerging industries with increasing marginal net profit.

Exploring tool geometry influence on EDD of Waspaloy

ABSTRACT Electric discharge drilling (EDD) is a competent method for drilling hard-to-cut materials despite its drawbacks, including minimum material removal rate (MRR), excess tool wear rate (TWR), high surface roughness (R a ), and power consumption (PC). To address these issues, EDD’s performance was explored by varying factors like tool electrode geometry (TEG), current (I), pulse-on-time (TON ), and tool electrode speed (TES) to investigate the effect on MRR, TWR, R a , and PC. Cu-6 produced the highest MRR of 36.26 mm³/min, surpassing Cu-7, Cu-8, and Cu-solid by 28.309%, 44.866%, and 51.843% respectively. Cu-solid revealed the lowest TWR of 4.397%, significantly lower than Cu-6, Cu-7, and Cu-8. R a followed the trend: Cu-solid < Cu-8 < Cu-7 < Cu-6. Cu-solid consumed more power than hollow electrodes. Microscopic analysis attributed rough surfaces to high currents. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis exhibits material migration from a workpiece and tool electrode on the machined surface. .

Influence of the last (de)glaciation on a complex cave system: Grønli-Seter cave system, Northern Norway

Cave studies enable us to unravel valuable information on landscape evolution. In glacial settings, the glacial cycles induced fluctuations in the underground hydraulic regime, sediment availability and base level in adjacent caves. Here, we present our work on the Grønli-Seter cave system in Northern Norway, which comprises >8 km of passage length at an elevation between 250 m and present sea level. By linking cave morphology and deposits to shifting glacier configurations and external base level changes during the last deglaciation and the Early Holocene, we establish how the hydraulic conditions in the cave system shifted in pace with glacier fluctuations. Maze sections and phreatic loops appear in a hydraulic confined setting close to the interface between the calcite marble and the overlying mica schist. Scallops in the cave walls demonstrate slow, ascending water flow, evidence of subglacial speleogenesis under wet-based, topographically constrained glaciers with a gentle surface slope. Moreover, cave morphology and clastic deposits indicate various hydrological phases of descending water flow, stagnant conditions, and excessive flow rates. Our work establishes that the last glaciation and deglaciation had an insignificant effect on the cave system's solutional development. In contrast, the cave sediments reveal diverse hydraulic conditions that may be related to shifting glacier configurations. This research offers valuable insights into glacier ice-contact speleogenesis and landscape development in glacial terrains.

GI-FI Technology using UWB Modulation

Abstract: Gi-Fi or Gigabit Wireless refers to wireless with data transfer rates in excess of a billion bits (Gigabit) per second. Ten times faster than other technologies. Its chip offers multi-gigabit transfer rates in a local environment up to 5 Gbit/s at a distance of 10 meters. It is the world's first transmitter integrated on a single CMOS chip and operates in the currently largely unused 60 GHz frequency band. It uses a 5mm square chip with a 1mm antenna that uses less than times to transmit data at high speed over short distances, just like Bluetooth. The exciting features and\advantages of this new technology can influence the most anticipated technologies in the huge global market\to transform large file transfers\in seconds. It should be the key wireless technology enabling the digital economy of the future. Gi-Fi speeds up wireless communication.

Review Article: Early Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

Recurrent pregnancy loss, which affects 2%–5% of individuals, is just a significant concern for women's health. Uterine malformations, antiphospholipid syndrome, metabolic or endocrine diseases, as well as chromosomal abnormalities are among the often reported established reasons. Alternative aetiologies, like chronic uterine infections, hereditary thrombophilias, luteal stage insufficiency, or excessive male DNA disintegration rates, have been put forward yet remain regarded as debatable. The results for individuals who experience recurrent miscarriage had increased throughout time because to evidence-based therapies including surgical repair of chromosomal abnormalities, aspirin as well as anticoagulation in anticardiolipin disorder. About 50% of the instances, though, are still unsolved, so they are managed effectively with estrogen augmentation, anticoagulation, and/or immunostimulatory therapies. Regardless of the reason, couples who experience recurrent fetal death have a favourable long-term outlook and also the majority ultimately has a safe live delivery. Several miscarriages, though, may have a major psychological impact just on afflicted people, and numerous attempts are now being undertaken to enhance therapies or shorten the time it takes to conceive successfully. With an emphasis on inexplicable repeated fetal loss as well as the current usage of empiric therapies, this article reviews the recognised or contentious aetiologies as well as the suggested therapeutic approaches. As well, it covers the present use of pre - implantation genetic screening inside the treatment of repeated miscarriages.

Characterization of hydrogen refueling temperature rise of the on-board hydrogen system under different failure modes

Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) have the advantages of pollution-free, and excellent fuel economy. However, rapid hydrogen filling will cause the temperature inside the hydrogen cylinder to rise rapidly. The failure of some components of the on-board hydrogen system (OBHS) will increase the accident rate of FCVs during rapid refueling. Valves and pipelines are ignored during the hydrogen filling mode establishment, thereinto the automatic tank valve and hydrogen dispenser are prone to failure due to loose parts, sensor failure, and other problems. In this paper, a two-dimensional (2D) planar computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is established to simulate and analyze three kinds of failures, such as hydrogen filling blockage, excessive hydrogen filling, and excessive hydrogen flow, to study the temperature rise characteristics of the OBHS. The results show that the failures of excessive hydrogen filling and excessive hydrogen flow are more likely to cause the final temperature of the hydrogen cylinders to exceed 358 K. The maximum temperature of the OBHS caused by excessive hydrogen flow rate is 5.7 % (21 K) and 0.8 % (3 K) higher than hydrogen filling blockage and excessive hydrogen filling, respectively. This indicates that, contrary to what other studies have not found, the hydrogen filling flow has a greater impact on the temperature rise of the hydrogen cylinder than the hydrogen filling pressure and inlet pipe diameter.

Differentially private stochastic gradient descent with low-noise

Modern machine learning algorithms aim to extract fine-grained information from data to provide accurate predictions, which often conflicts with the goal of privacy protection. This paper addresses the practical and theoretical importance of developing privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms that ensure good performance while preserving privacy. In this paper, we focus on the privacy and utility (measured by excess risk bounds) performances of differentially private stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms in the setting of stochastic convex optimization. Specifically, we examine the pointwise problem in the low-noise setting for which we derive sharper excess risk bounds for the differentially private SGD algorithm. In the pairwise learning setting, we propose a simple differentially private SGD algorithm based on gradient perturbation. Furthermore, we develop novel utility bounds for the proposed algorithm, proving that it achieves optimal excess risk rates even for non-smooth losses. Notably, we establish fast learning rates for privacy-preserving pairwise learning under the low-noise condition, which is the first of its kind.

Speckle noise reduction on aligned consecutive ultrasound frames via deep neural network

Despite the benefits of ultrasound (US) imaging systems for medical diagnosis and treatment, US images are prone to low resolution and contrast due to US’s inherent attributes, as well as affected by speckle noise that directly influences their quality. In retrospective studies, diverse filters have been applied to minimize the effects of speckle noise and enhance the quality of US images. In this article, we propose a method of enhancing US images inspired by synthetic aperture imaging, which provides high-resolution images by adding low-resolution images and measuring the probe’s movement. Our proposed method does not involve synthetic aperture imaging but compensates for the motion effect in the temporal dimension, aligns consecutive images, and stacks aligned images to suppress speckle noise and consequently enhance the resolution of US images. We exploited deep neural network (DNN) models to estimate motion parameters between consecutive US images. In a new database of US images, we also collected the images’ position-related information implicitly measured in inertial measurement units, which was exploited as a ground truth for motion parameters between consecutive images. Compared with other image-enhancing techniques involving conventional filters and DNN modalities, our method demonstrated superiority in enhancing the quality of US images. We also found that estimating motion parameters directly influenced the success of the image-stacking process. As in ablation studies in DNNs, we additionally investigated the effect of dropping some images in the temporal dimension, which revealed that contextual differences and excessive rates of movement in successive US images weakens the image-stacking process and thus the potential enhancement of US images.

Securing SDN: Hybrid autoencoder-random forest for intrusion detection and attack mitigation

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has revolutionized network administration by providing centralized management through software, enabling traffic adjustment independent of the data plane. Despite the benefits, SDN networks are prone to security threats from external sources, thus necessitating the implementation of security measures. Unfortunately, most existing efforts have been just a simple mapping of earlier solutions into the SDN environments. This paper addresses the problem of SDN security based on deep learning in a purely native SDN environment, where a Deep Learning intrusion detection module is tailored to a native SDN environment. In particular, we propose a hybrid Deep AutoEncoder with a Random Forest classifier model (DAERF) to enhance intrusion detection performance in a native SDN environment. The proposed model is incorporated into a novel adaptive framework for attack mitigation in SDN environments. The proposed framework consists of a three-layer protection mechanism for detecting and preventing attacks. It is based on entropy-based detection, hybrid machine learning in the control layer and proactive services monitoring in the application layer. Experimental results have shown that our DEARF proposed autoencoder model achieved anomaly detection rates in excess of 98% in stand-alone mode as well as when incorporated within the framework, making it highly solution for next generation SDN networks.

Urban green infrastructure and pandemic response: how urban parks were used to support the COVID-19 response and the relationship between parkland acreage and excess mortality in large cities in the USA

ABSTRACT The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was an unprecedented public health emergency, and relatively little research has investigated the relationship between urban green infrastructure, such as parks, and pandemic-related health outcomes. This study describes how urban parks were used to support the pandemic response and examines the associations between urban park acreage and excess mortality in 2020 in the 50 most populous cities in the USA. The descriptive portion of the study revealed that all cities temporarily closed at least some parks during the first year of the pandemic, and most reported collaborations between parks and public health authorities. Further, urban parks were used to support the pandemic response by serving as venues for meal distributions, diagnostic testing, education and childcare, housing shelters, vaccination clinics, personal protective equipment distributions and other services. A series of linear regression models were used to investigate the association between park acreage and excess mortality. Univariable regression revealed a negative, statistically significant relationship between total urban park acreage and excess mortality rates. However, the relationship weakened and was no longer significant when additional demographic and socioeconomic variables were added in multiple linear regressions. In combination, these results may inform efforts to optimize the design of urban parks and strengthen urban resilience against future infectious disease outbreaks, especially if they consider and address aspects such as park accessibility and equity.

Financial Risk Analysis - Case study Guri I Zi in the Municipality of Shkodër in Albania

Vegetable farmers operating in Guri I Zi, located in the Shkodra district, meet 42% of the vegetable market demand in the region. To identify the most important financing risks faced by these farmers when searching for financial resources, a study was conducted to analyze the financing risks related to their activity. The study used descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis techniques to determine the main factors influencing the financing risks of these farmers. The study found that farmers perceived low profits, excessive debt, and high-interest rates as critical financing risks. However, the multifactorial analysis revealed that low earnings were statistically insignificant, while excessive debt and high interest rates were statistically significant. Regression analysis showed a strong correlation between financial risk, excessive debt, and high interest rates at 86%. The main objective of the study was to make farmers aware of the importance of financial risks.

High‐Quality Nonpolar a‐Plane AlGaN Film Grown on Si‐Doped AlN Template by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

High crystalline quality and flat a‐plane aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) films are obtained on Si‐doped AlN templates with a moderate silane (SiH4) flow rate by metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The effects of the SiH4 flow rate on the surface morphology, crystalline quality, stress state, and optical property of a‐plane AlN templates and AlGaN films are comprehensively investigated. As the SiH4 flow rate increases from 0 to 7.0 nmol min−1, the full width at half maximum of X‐ray rocking curve values along [0001]/[1–100] directions for the AlGaN films are monotonically reduced to 1124/1143 arcsec. Meanwhile, the surface root mean square roughness value is decreased to 0.88 nm. These achievements are attributed to the suppression of the anisotropy degrees and in‐plane stress of AlN templates. In addition, an excess SiH4 flow rate leads to deteriorated surface morphologies and increased basal plane stacking fault (BPSF) densities for both AlN and AlGaN films. This work suggests that doping AlN layers with an appropriate SiH4 flow rate is a promising route to obtain high‐quality a‐plane AlGaN films for efficient nonpolar deep ultraviolet (DUV) devices.

A proposed analytical approach to estimate excess daily mortality rates in Ecuador.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved deadly all over the globe; however, one of the most lethal outbreaks occurred in Ecuador. This study aims to highlight the pandemic's impact on the most affected countries worldwide in terms of excess deaths per capita and per day. An ecological study of all-cause mortality recorded in Ecuador was performed. To calculate the excess deaths relative to the historical average for the same dates in 2017, 2018, and 2019, we developed a bootstrap method based on the central tendency measure of mean. A Poisson fitting analysis was used to identify trends on officially recorded all-cause deaths and COVID-19 deaths. A bootstrapping technique was used to emulate the sampling distribution of our expected deaths estimator by simulating the data generation and model fitting processes daily since the first confirmed case. In Ecuador, during 2020, 115,070 deaths were reported and 42,453 were cataloged as excess mortality when compared to 2017-2019 period. Ecuador is the country with the highest recorded excess mortality in the world within the shortest timespan. In one single day, Ecuador recorded 1,120 deaths (6/100,000), which represents an additional 408% of the expected fatalities. Adjusting for population size and time, the hardest-hit country due to the COVID-19 pandemic was Ecuador. The mortality excess rate shows that the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread rapidly in Ecuador, especially in the coastal region. Our results and the proposed new methodology could help to address the real situation of the number of deaths during the initial phase of pandemics.

[Provincial-scale Soil As Migration and Transformation and Rice Safe Planting Zoning: A Case Study of Guizhou Province].

To explore the distribution characteristics of paddy soil and rice AS content, as well as the health risks of rice consumption, and to evaluate the safe planting ability of rice, 209 paddy soil samples and 1 567 groups of paddy soil-rice samples were collected, their As content and basic soil physical and chemical properties were determined, and the single-factor pollution index method was used to evaluate the pollution degree of the samples. The results showed that:① the soil of paddy fields in Guizhou Province was mainly neutral, and its fertilizer retention capacity and organic matter content were above the medium level, and the soil was relatively fertile. The range of ω(As) in paddy soil was 0.042-91.75 mg·kg-1, the geometric mean was 10.03 mg·kg-1, and the cumulative effect of paddy soil As was lower than that of natural soil As (P<0.05) by independent sample T. Compared with the screening value (0.2 mg·kg-1) of the Soil Pollution Risk Management and Control Standard for Agricultural Land (GB 15618-2018), the excess rate of soil samples was 15.37%. ② The ω (As) range of rice grain samples was 0.001-0.937 mg·kg-1, the geometric average value was 0.108 mg·kg-1, 10.21% of the rice grain samples exceeded the limit value of "Limit of Contaminants in Food (trial)" (GB 2762-2022), and the locations where the exceedances are mainly found are in the central and northern parts of Qiannan Prefecture, as well as around industrial and mining activity zones in the southern counties and districts of Zunyi. ③ As ingested through rice posed non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk for adults and children, and the impact on children was greater than that of adults. There is no strict control area for safe rice planting in Guizhou Province, and rice can be safely planted.

Joint effects of heat-humidity compound events on drowning mortality in Southern China

BackgroundSeveral previous studies have examined the association of ambient temperature with drowning. However, no study has investigated the effects of heat-humidity compound events on drowning mortality.MethodsThe drowning mortality data and...

Exergetic Analyses of Detonation Engine Cogeneration Plants

Efficiency improvements are very important in all research and technology. Detonation engines are high technology devices. In the last decades they attracted attention by many researchers. However, detonation engines for cogeneration are not researched efficiently. This article is about the detonation engines cogeneration cycles which analysed by using 1. and 2. law of thermodynamics and exergy analyses methods by the authors. The exergetic performance analyses, their advantage and disadvantages of the ZND-HRSG detonation engine cogeneration cycles were obtained. The exergetic performance analyses were done for various excess air rates to obtain the variations of the combustion exit pressures and temperatures, exergy efficiencies, electric heat rates, SFC and other parameters of their performance. Also, an optimization analysis was done for the ZND-HRSG by searching the optimum values for different excess air rates. The results showed that, the ZND-HRSG cycle have the optimum values of the performance at 1.6-1.8 of the excess air rates.

Lipidomic profiling of cervical mucus reveals the potential role of pro-inflammatory derived metabolites on sperm transport across the ovine cervix

Internationally, cervical artificial insemination (AI) in sheep yields low pregnancy rates when frozen-thawed semen is used. An exception to this is in Norway where vaginal AI of frozen-thawed semen to a natural oestrus yields non-return rates in excess of 60%, which has been attributed to the ewe breed used in Norway. This study used both metabolomics and an RNA-sequencing approach to assess the lipid production and composition from cervical mucus and tissue of four European ewe breeds (n = 28–30 ewes per breed) with previously reported differences in pregnancy rates following cervical AI with frozen-thawed semen. These breeds included Suffolk (exhibiting low fertility), Belclare (medium fertility) as well as Norwegian White Sheep and Fur (both with high fertility and pregnancy rates >60%) at both a synchronised and natural oestrous cycle. The aim was to explore the differences between ewe breeds in the lipidomic profile and to identify candidate biomarkers associated with an optimal environment for cervical sperm transport. The results revealed the identification of 255 lipids, of which 170, 102 and 83 were different between ewe breeds, types of cycle and affected by their interaction, respectively (P < 0.05). Reduced levels of lipids involved in the resolution of inflammation (i.e. 14-HDoHE,17-HDoHE, 15-HETE) were identified in the low-fertility Suffolk breed compared to high-fertility ewe breeds. However, there was an up-regulation of the COX pathway accompanied by increased levels of prostaglandins in the Suffolk breed. These findings indicated a sub-optimal and pro-inflammatory environment that could have a negative effect on cervical sperm transport.