bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Queueing Loss Model with Heterogeneous Skill Based Servers Under Idle Time Ordering Policies
Authors: Haji Babak , Ross Sheldon M.
Published: March 2016

We consider a queueing loss system with heterogeneous skill based servers with arbitrary service distributions. We assume Poisson arrivals, with each arrival having a vector indicating which of the servers are eligible to serve it. An arrival can only be assigned to a server that is both idle and eligible. Assuming exchangeable eligibility vectors and an idle time ordering assignment policy, the limiting distribution of the system is derived. It is shown that the limiting probabilities of the set of idle servers depend on the service time distributions only through their means. Moreover, conditional on the set of idle servers, the remaining service times of the busy servers are independent and have their respective equilibrium service distributions.
Asymptotic Properties of Protected Nodes in Random Recursive Trees
Authors: Mahmoud Hosam M. , Ward Mark D.
Published: March 2016

We investigate protected nodes in random recursive trees. The exact mean of the number of such nodes is obtained by recurrence, and a linear asymptotic equivalent follows. A nonlinear recurrence for the variance shows that the variance grows linearly, too. It follows that the number of protected nodes in a random recursive tree, upon proper scaling, converges in probability to a constant.
Optimal Design of Dynamic Default Risk Measures
Authors: Shen Leo , Elliott Robert
Published: March 2016

We consider the question of an optimal transaction between two investors to minimize their risks. We define a dynamic entropic risk measure using backward stochastic differential equations related to a continuous-time single jump process. The inf-convolution of dynamic entropic risk measures is a key transformation in solving the optimization problem.
On a new Class of Tempered Stable Distributions: Moments and Regular Variation
Authors: Grabchak Michael
Published: March 2016

We extend the class of tempered stable distributions, which were first introduced in Rosiński (2007). Our new class allows for more structure and more variety of the tail behaviors. We discuss various subclasses and the relations between them. To characterize the possible tails, we give detailed results about finiteness of various moments. We also give necessary and sufficient conditions for the tails to be regularly varying. This last part allows us to characterize the domain of attraction to which a particular tempered stable distribution belongs.
On the Value Function of the M/G/1 FCFS and LCFS Queues
Authors: Hyytiä Esa , Aalto Samuli , Penttinen Aleksi , Virtamo Jorma
Published: March 2016

We consider a single-server queue with Poisson input operating under first-come–first-served (FCFS) or last-come–first-served (LCFS) disciplines. The service times of the customers are independent and obey a general distribution. The system is subject to costs for holding a customer per unit of time, which can be customer specific or customer class specific. We give general expressions for the corresponding value functions, which have elementary compact forms, similar to the Pollaczek–Khinchine mean value formulae. The results generalize earlier work where similar expressions have been obtained for specific service time distributions. The obtained value functions can be readily applied to develop nearly optimal dispatching policies for a broad range of systems with parallel queues, including multiclass scenarios and the cases where service time estimates are available.
Discounted Continuous-Time Controlled Markov Chains: Convergence of Control Models
Authors: Prieto-Rumeau Tomás , Hernández-Lerma Onésimo
Published: March 2016

We are interested in continuous-time, denumerable state controlled Markov chains (CMCs), with compact Borel action sets, and possibly unbounded transition and reward rates, under the discounted reward optimality criterion. For such CMCs, we propose a definition of a sequence of control models {ℳ
n
} converging to a given control model ℳ, which ensures that the discount optimal reward and policies of ℳ
n
converge to those of ℳ. As an application, we propose a finite-state and finite-action truncation technique of the original control model ℳ, which is illustrated by approximating numerically the optimal reward and policy of a controlled population system with catastrophes. We study the corresponding convergence rates.
On the Functional Central Limit Theorem for Reversible Markov Chains with Nonlinear Growth of the Variance
Authors: Longla Martial , Peligrad Costel , Peligrad Magda
Published: March 2016

In this paper we study the functional central limit theorem (CLT) for stationary Markov chains with a self-adjoint operator and general state space. We investigate the case when the variance of the partial sum is not asymptotically linear in n, and establish that conditional convergence in distribution of partial sums implies the functional CLT. The main tools are maximal inequalities that are further exploited to derive conditions for tightness and convergence to the Brownian motion.
First Passage Times of Constant-Elasticity-of-Variance Processes with Two-Sided Reflecting Barriers
Authors: Bo Lijun , Hao Chen
Published: March 2016

In this paper we explore the first passage times of constant-elasticity-of-variance (CEV) processes with two-sided reflecting barriers. The explicit Laplace transforms of the first passage times are derived. Our results can include analytic formulae concerning Laplace transforms of first passage times of reflected Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes, reflected geometric Brownian motions, and reflected square-root processes.
Upper Deviations for Split Times of Branching Processes
Authors: Amini Hamed , Lelarge Marc
Published: March 2016

Upper deviation results are obtained for the split time of a supercritical continuous-time Markov branching process. More precisely, we establish the existence of logarithmic limits for the likelihood that the split times of the process are greater than an identified value and determine an expression for the limiting quantity. We also give an estimation for the lower deviation probability of the split times, which shows that the scaling is completely different from the upper deviations.
Maximizing the Size of the Giant
Authors: Britton Tom , Trapman Pieter
Published: March 2016

Consider a random graph where the mean degree is given and fixed. In this paper we derive the maximal size of the largest connected component in the graph. We also study the related question of the largest possible outbreak size of an epidemic occurring ‘on’ the random graph (the graph describing the social structure in the community). More precisely, we look at two different classes of random graphs. First, the Poissonian random graph in which each node i is given an independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random weight X

i
with E(X
i
)=µ, and where there is an edge between i and j with probability 1-e-X
i
X
j
/(µ n), independently of other edges. The second model is the thinned configuration model in which the n vertices of the ground graph have i.i.d. ground degrees, distributed as D, with E(D) = µ. The graph of interest is obtained by deleting edges independently with probability 1-p. In both models the fraction of vertices in the largest connected component converges in probability to a constant 1-q, where q depends on X or D and p. We investigate for which distributions X and D with given µ and p, 1-q is maximized. We show that in the class of Poissonian random graphs, X should have all its mass at 0 and one other real, which can be explicitly determined. For the thinned configuration model, D should have all its mass at 0 and two subsequent positive integers.
Improving the Asmussen–Kroese-Type Simulation Estimators
Authors: Ghamami Samim , Ross Sheldon M.
Published: March 2016

The Asmussen–Kroese Monte Carlo estimators of P(S

n
> u) and P(S

N
> u) are known to work well in rare event settings, where S

N
is the sum of independent, identically distributed heavy-tailed random variables X
1,…,X

N
and N is a nonnegative, integer-valued random variable independent of the X

i
. In this paper we show how to improve the Asmussen–Kroese estimators of both probabilities when the X

i
are nonnegative. We also apply our ideas to estimate the quantity E[(S

N
-u)+].
Asymptotics of Hybrid Fluid Queues with Lévy Input
Authors: Dębicki Krzysztof , Sierpińska Iwona , Zwart Bert
Published: March 2016

Let {X(t):t∈ℝ} be the integrated on–off process with regularly varying on-periods, and let {Y(t):t∈ℝ} be a centered Lévy process with regularly varying positive jumps (independent of X(·)). We study the exact asymptotics of ℙ(sup
t≥0{X(t)+Y(t)-ct}>u) as u→∞, with special attention to the case r=c, where r is the increase rate of the on–off process during the on-periods.
Heavy Tails in Queueing Systems: Impact of Parallelism on Tail Performance
Authors: Jiang Bo , Tan Jian , Wei Wei , Shroff Ness , Towsley Don
Published: March 2016

In this paper we quantify the efficiency of parallelism in systems that are prone to failures and exhibit power law processing delays. We characterize the performance of two prototype schemes of parallelism, redundant and split, in terms of both the power law exponent and exact asymptotics of the delay distribution tail. We also develop the optimal splitting scheme which ensures that split always outperforms redundant.
Optimal Closing of a Momentum Trade
Authors: Ekström Erik , Lindberg Carl
Published: March 2016

There is an extensive academic literature that documents that stocks which have performed well in the past often continue to perform well over some holding period - so-called momentum. We study the optimal timing for an asset sale for an agent with a long position in a momentum trade. The asset price is modelled as a geometric Brownian motion with a drift that initially exceeds the discount rate, but with the opposite relation after an unobservable and exponentially distributed time. The problem of optimal selling of the asset is then formulated as an optimal stopping problem under incomplete information. Based on the observations of the asset, the agent wants to detect the unobservable change point as accurately as possible. Using filtering techniques and stochastic analysis, we reduce the problem to a one-dimensional optimal stopping problem, which we solve explicitly. We also show that the optimal boundary at which the investor should liquidate the trade depends monotonically on the model parameters.
Generalized Bomber and Fighter Problems: Offline Optimal Allocation of a Discrete Asset
Authors: Krieger Abba M. , Samuel-Cahn Ester
Published: March 2016

The classical bomber problem concerns properties of the optimal allocation policy of a given number, n, of anti-aircraft missiles, with which an airplane is equipped. The airplane begins at a distance t >0 from its destination and uses some of the anti-aircraft missiles when intercepted by enemy planes that appear according to a homogeneous Poisson process. The goal is to maximize the probability of reaching its destination. The fighter problem deals with a similar situation, but the goal is to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible. The optimal allocation policies are dynamic, depending upon both the number of missiles and the time which remains to reach the destination when the enemy is met. The present paper generalizes these problems by allowing the number of enemy planes to have any distribution, not just Poisson. This implies that the optimal strategies can no longer be dynamic, and are, in our terminology, offline. We show that properties similar to those holding for the classical problems hold also in the present case. Whether certain properties hold that remain open questions in the dynamic version are resolved in the offline version. Since ‘time’ is no longer a meaningful way to parametrize the distributions for the number of encounters, other more general orderings of distributions are needed. Numerical comparisons between the dynamic and offline approaches are given.
Useful Martingales for Stochastic Storage Processes with Lévy-Type Input
Authors: Kella Offer , Boxma Onno
Published: March 2016

In this paper we generalize the martingale of Kella and Whitt to the setting of Lévy-type processes and show that the (local) martingales obtained are in fact square-integrable martingales which upon dividing by the time index converge to zero almost surely and in L
2. The reflected Lévy-type process is considered as an example.
Consistency of Sample Estimates of Risk Averse Stochastic Programs
Authors: Shapiro Alexander
Published: March 2016

In this paper we study asymptotic consistency of law invariant convex risk measures and the corresponding risk averse stochastic programming problems for independent, identically distributed data. Under mild regularity conditions, we prove a law of large numbers and epiconvergence of the corresponding statistical estimators. This can be applied in a straightforward way to establish convergence with probability 1 of sample-based estimators of risk averse stochastic programming problems.
Coalescence in Subcritical Bellman-Harris Age-Dependent Branching Processes
Authors: Hong Jyy-I
Published: March 2016

We consider a continuous-time, single-type, age-dependent Bellman-Harris branching process. We investigate the limit distribution of the point process A(t)={a

t,i
: 1≤ i≤ Z(t)}, where a

t,i
is the age of the ith individual alive at time t, 1≤ i≤ Z(t), and Z(t) is the population size of individuals alive at time t. Also, if Z(t)≥ k, k≥2, is a positive integer, we pick k individuals from those who are alive at time t by simple random sampling without replacement and trace their lines of descent backward in time until they meet for the first time. Let D

k(t)
be the coalescence time (the death time of the last common ancestor) of these k random chosen individuals. We study the distribution of D

k(t)
and its limit distribution as t→∞.
Geometric ρ-Mixing Property of the Interarrival Times of a Stationary Markovian Arrival Process
Authors: Hervé Loïc , Ledoux James
Published: March 2016

In this note, the sequence of the interarrivals of a stationary Markovian arrival process is shown to be ρ-mixing with a geometric rate of convergence when the driving process is ρ-mixing. This provides an answer to an issue raised in the recent work of Ramirez-Cobo and Carrizosa (2012) on the geometric convergence of the autocorrelation function of the stationary Markovian arrival process.
Nondecreasing Lower Bound on the Poisson Cumulative Distribution Function for z Standard Deviations Above the Mean
Authors: Bondareva M.
Published: March 2016

In this paper we discuss a nondecreasing lower bound for the Poisson cumulative distribution function (CDF) at z standard deviations above the mean λ, where z and λ are parameters. This is important because the normal distribution as an approximation for the Poisson CDF may overestimate or underestimate its value. A sharp nondecreasing lower bound in the form of a step function is constructed. As a corollary of the bound's properties, for a given percent α and parameter λ, the minimal z is obtained such that, for any Poisson random variable with the mean greater or equal to λ, its αth percentile is at most z standard deviations above its mean. For Poisson distributed control parameters, the corollary allows simple policies measuring performance in terms of standard deviations from a benchmark.
On the Embedding Problem for Discrete-Time Markov Chains
Authors: Guerry Marie-Anne
Published: March 2016

When a discrete-time homogenous Markov chain is observed at time intervals that correspond to its time unit, then the transition probabilities of the chain can be estimated using known maximum likelihood estimators. In this paper we consider a situation when a Markov chain is observed on time intervals with length equal to twice the time unit of the Markov chain. The issue then arises of characterizing probability matrices whose square root(s) are also probability matrices. This characterization is referred to in the literature as the embedding problem for discrete time Markov chains. The probability matrix which has probability root(s) is called embeddable.

In this paper for two-state Markov chains, necessary and sufficient conditions for embeddability are formulated and the probability square roots of the transition matrix are presented in analytic form. In finding conditions for the existence of probability square roots for (k x k) transition matrices, properties of row-normalized matrices are examined. Besides the existence of probability square roots, the uniqueness of these solutions is discussed: In the case of nonuniqueness, a procedure is introduced to identify a transition matrix that takes into account the specificity of the concrete context. In the case of nonexistence of a probability root, the concept of an approximate probability root is introduced as a solution of an optimization problem related to approximate nonnegative matrix factorization.
Markov Processes with Restart
Authors: Avrachenkov Konstantin , Piunovskiy Alexey , Zhang Yi
Published: March 2016

We consider a general homogeneous continuous-time Markov process with restarts. The process is forced to restart from a given distribution at time moments generated by an independent Poisson process. The motivation to study such processes comes from modeling human and animal mobility patterns, restart processes in communication protocols, and from application of restarting random walks in information retrieval. We provide a connection between the transition probability functions of the original Markov process and the modified process with restarts. We give closed-form expressions for the invariant probability measure of the modified process. When the process evolves on the Euclidean space, there is also a closed-form expression for the moments of the modified process. We show that the modified process is always positive Harris recurrent and exponentially ergodic with the index equal to (or greater than) the rate of restarts. Finally, we illustrate the general results by the standard and geometric Brownian motions.
Conditional Characteristic Functions of Molchan-Golosov Fractional Lévy Processes with Application to Credit Risk
Authors: Fink Holger
Published: March 2016

Molchan-Golosov fractional Lévy processes (MG-FLPs) are introduced by way of a multivariate componentwise Molchan-Golosov transformation based on ann-dimensional driving Lévy process. Using results of fractional calculus and infinitely divisible distributions, we are able to calculate the conditional characteristic function of integrals driven by MG-FLPs. This leads to important predictions concerning multivariate fractional Brownian motion, fractional subordinators, and general fractional stochastic differential equations. Examples are the fractional Lévy Ornstein-Uhlenbeck and Cox-Ingersoll-Ross models. As an application we present a fractional credit model with a long range dependent hazard rate and calculate bond prices.
Optimal Portfolios for Financial Markets with Wishart Volatility
Authors: Bäuerle Nicole , Li Zejing
Published: March 2016

We consider a multi asset financial market with stochastic volatility modeled by a Wishart process. This is an extension of the one-dimensional Heston model. Within this framework we study the problem of maximizing the expected utility of terminal wealth for power and logarithmic utility. We apply the usual stochastic control approach and obtain, explicitly, the optimal portfolio strategy and the value function in some parameter settings. In particular, we do this when the drift of the assets is a linear function of the volatility matrix. In this case the affine structure of the model can be exploited. In some cases we obtain a Feynman-Kac representation of the candidate value function. Though the approach we use is quite standard, the hard part is to identify when the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation is finite. This involves a couple of matrix analytic arguments. In a numerical study we discuss the influence of the investors' risk aversion on the hedging demand.
Sojourn Time Estimation in an M/G/∞ Queue with Partial Information
Authors: Blanghaps Nafna , Nov Yuval , Weiss Gideon
Published: March 2016

We propose an estimator for the cumulative distribution functionGof the sojourn time in a steady-state M/G/∞ queueing system, when the available data consists of the arrival and departure epochs alone, without knowing which arrival corresponds to which departure. The estimator generalizes an estimator proposed in Brown (1970), and is based on a functional relationship betweenGand the distribution function of the time between a departure and therth latest arrival preceding it. The estimator is shown to outperform Brown's estimator, especially when the system is heavily loaded.
Analysis of the Discrete Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process Caused by the Tick Size Effect
Authors: Miao Daniel Wei-Chung
Published: March 2016

This paper provides an analysis on a discrete version of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process which reflects the small discrete movements caused by the tick size effect. This discrete OU process is derived from matching the first two moments to those of the standard OU process in an infinitesimal sense. We discuss the distributional convergence from the discrete to the continuous processes, and show that the convergence speed is in the second order of the step (tick) size. We also provide some analytical results for the proposed discrete OU process itself, including the closed-form formula of the moment generating function and a full characterisation of the steady state distribution. These results enable us to examine the convergence order explicitly.
Acquaintance Vaccination in an Epidemic on a Random Graph with Specified Degree Distribution
Authors: Ball Frank , Sirl David
Published: March 2016

We consider a stochastic SIR (susceptible → infective → removed) epidemic on a random graph with specified degree distribution, constructed using the configuration model, and investigate the ‘acquaintance vaccination’ method for targeting individuals of high degree for vaccination. Branching process approximations are developed which yield a post-vaccination threshold parameter, and the asymptotic (large population) probability and final size of a major outbreak. We find that introducing an imperfect vaccine response into the present model for acquaintance vaccination leads to sibling dependence in the approximating branching processes, which may then require infinite type spaces for their analysis and are generally not amenable to numerical calculation. Thus, we propose and analyse an alternative model for acquaintance vaccination, which avoids these difficulties. The theory is illustrated by a brief numerical study, which suggests that the two models for acquaintance vaccination yield quantitatively very similar disease properties.
Probabilistic Proofs of Euler Identities
Authors: Holst Lars
Published: March 2016

Formulae for ζ(2n) andLχ4(2n+ 1) involving Euler and tangent numbers are derived using the hyperbolic secant probability distribution and its moment generating function. In particular, the Basel problem, where ζ(2) = π2/ 6, is considered. Euler's infinite product for the sine is also proved using the distribution of sums of independent hyperbolic secant random variables and a local limit theorem.
Socioeconomic and demographic drivers of red and processed meat consumption: implications for health and environmental sustainability
Authors: Clonan Angie , Roberts Katharine E. , Holdsworth Michelle
Published: March 2016

Red and processed meat (RPM) intake varies widely globally. In some high-income countries (HIC) the last decade has witnessed an overall decline or stabilisation in the consumption of RPM, in contrast to emerging economies where its consumption continues to increase with rising income and rapid urbanisation. The production and consumption of RPM have become major concerns regarding the environmental impacts of livestock in particular, but also because of associations between high RPM consumption and diet-related non-communicable disease. Therefore, it is important to identify socioeconomic and demographic drivers of the consumption of RPM. This paper explores how consumption of RPM differs with age, gender, socioeconomic status and in different global contexts. There are some key socioeconomic and demographic patterns in RPM consumption. Men tend to consume RPM more often and in higher quantities, and there is evidence of a social gradient in HIC, with lower socioeconomic groups consuming RPM more often and in larger quantities. Patterns for consumption with age are less clear cut. It is apparent that consumers in HIC are still consuming high levels of RPM, although the downward shifts in some socioeconomic and demographic groups is encouraging and suggests that strategies could be developed to engage those consumers identified as high RPM consumers. In low- and middle-income countries, RPM consumption is rising, especially in China and Brazil, and in urban areas. Ways of encouraging populations to maintain their traditional healthy eating patterns need to be found in low- and middle-income countries, which will have health, environmental and economic co-benefits.
Syntactic complexity in the comprehension ofwh-questions and relative clauses in typical language development and autism
Authors: DURRLEMAN STEPHANIE , MARINIS THEODOROS , FRANCK JULIE
Published: March 2016

This study investigates effects of syntactic complexity operationalized in terms of movement, intervention, and noun phrase (NP) feature similarity in the development of Aʹ-dependencies in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old typically developing (TD) French children and children with autism spectrum disorder. Children completed an offline comprehension task testing eight syntactic structures classified in four levels of complexity: Level 0: no movement; Level 1: movement without (configurational) intervention; Level 2: movement with intervention from an element that is maximally different or featurally “disjoint” (mismatched in both lexical NP restriction and number); and Level 3: movement with intervention from an element similar in one feature or featurally “intersecting” (matched in lexical NP restriction, mismatched in number). The results show that syntactic complexity affects TD children across the three age groups, but also indicate developmental differences between these groups. Movement affected all three groups in a similar way, but intervention effects in intersection cases were stronger in younger than in older children, with NP feature similarity affecting only 4-year-olds. Complexity effects created by the similarity in lexical restriction of an intervener thus appear to be overcome early in development, arguably thanks to other differences of this intervener (which was mismatched in number). Children with autism spectrum disorder performed less well than the TD children although they were matched on nonverbal reasoning. Overall, syntactic complexity affected their performance in a similar way as in their TD controls, but their performance correlated with nonverbal abilities rather than age, suggesting that their grammatical development does not follow the smooth relation to age that is found in TD children.
Early productive vocabulary predicts academic achievement 10 years later
Authors: BLESES DORTHE , MAKRANSKY GUIDO , DALE PHILIP S. , HØJEN ANDERS , ARI BURCAK AKTÜRK
Published: March 2016

We use a longitudinal design to examine associations for a diverse sample of 2,120 Danish 16- to 30-month-old children between early expressive vocabulary and later reading and math outcomes in the sixth grade. Educational outcomes, in particular decoding and reading comprehension, can be predicted from an early vocabulary measure as early as 16 months with effect sizes (in proportion of variance accounted for) comparable to 1 year's mean growth in reading scores. The findings confirm in a relatively large population-based study that late talkers are at risk for low educational attainment because the majority of children experiencing early language delay obtain scores below average in measures of reading in the sixth grade. Low scores have the greatest predictive power, indicating that children with early delays have elevated risk for later reading problems.
Exploratory research on second language practice distribution: An Aptitude × Treatment interaction
Authors: SUZUKI YUICHI , DEKEYSER ROBERT
Published: March 2016

The current exploratory study aimed at investigating the role of cognitive aptitudes in determining the effect of practice distribution on second language learning. The study investigated to what extent language-analytic ability and working-memory capacity predicted the acquisition of grammar under two learning conditions that differ in the interval between the two training sessions. Learners of Japanese as a second language were trained on an element of Japanese morphosyntax under either distributed practice (7-day interval) or massed practice (1-day interval). The results revealed that language-analytic ability was only related to performance after distributed practice, whereas working-memory capacity was only related to performance after massed practice. These Aptitude × Treatment interaction findings can help establish the learning processes operating under distributed/massed practice conditions.
Europeans and Americans in Korea, 1882–1910: A Bourgeois and Translocal Community
Authors: Dittrich Klaus
Published: March 2016

This article deals with the European and American community in Korea between the conclusion of Korea’s first international treaties in the early 1880s and the country’s annexation by the Japanese Empire in 1910. It begins by presenting an overview of the community. Concentrated in Seoul and Chemulp’o, the Anglo-Saxon element dominated a community made up of diplomats, foreign experts in the service of the Korean government, merchants and missionaries. Next, the article describes two key characteristics of the European and American residents in Korea. First, they were individuals who defined themselves as bourgeois, or middle-class; second, the term “translocality” serves to bring together the multiple layers of border-crossing these individuals were involved in—as long-distance migrants between Europe or North America and East Asia, as migrants within East Asia, and as representatives of different European and American nationalities living together in Korea.
From Colonial Agro-Industrialism to Agro-Industrialism: game changing evolution of the Dutch transoceanic cinchona-quinine enterprise (1940s–1960s)
Authors: Roersch van der Hoogte Arjo , Pieters Toine
Published: March 2016

By the turn of the twentieth century, the Dutch colony of the Netherlands Indies dominated the worldwide supply of antifebrifuge (to reduce fever) cinchona bark, the raw material for quinine, an antimalarial medicine. Over the next four decades, the high-quality and laboratory-conditioned cultivation of cinchona became the backbone of a Dutch transoceanic cinchona-quinine enterprise that dominated the international quinine markets. However, in the two decades after the Second World War, the Netherlands Indies’ cinchona bark dominance ended, and the Dutch transoceanic cinchona-quinine production and trade network collapsed. How can we explain this shift? In this study, we argue that this change was part of a process of globalization of cinchona bark production that created new sources and transoceanic production and distribution chains and hence new networks of control that were increasingly less associated with a specific nation than with multinational companies. Colonial networks of control were replaced by new industrial networks of control, and the colonial agro-industrial system was reconfigured into a global agro-industrial system. At the same time, this study also shows that the economic decolonization of Indonesia forced a process of deglobalization that resulted in a translocation of the cinchona-quinine trade networks. As such, this study shows a mix of globalization and deglobalization happening in tandem with Indonesian decolonization and agricultural globalization.
Scientific Knowledge Engineering: a conceptual delineation and overview of the state of the art
Authors: Dos Santos Paulo Sérgio M. , Travassos Guilherme H.
Published: March 2016

As a community work, scientific contributions are usually built incrementally, involving some transformation, expansion or refutation of existing conceptual and propositional networks. As the body of knowledge increases, scientists concentrate more effort on ensuring that new hypotheses and observations are needed and consistent with previous findings. In this paper, we will characterize Knowledge Engineering as an important groundwork for structuring scientific knowledge. We argue that knowledge-based computational infrastructures can support researchers in organizing and making explicit the main aspects needed to make inferences or extract conclusions from an existing body of knowledge. This view is also comparatively built, contrasting it with alternatives for manipulating scientific knowledge, namely data-intensive approaches and the computational discovery of scientific knowledge. The current state of the art is presented with 22 knowledge representations and computational infrastructure implementations, with their main relevant properties analyzed and compared. Based on this review and on the theoretical foundations of Knowledge Engineering, a high level step-by-step approach for specifying and constructing scientific computational environments is described. The paper concludes by indicating paths for further development of the view initiated here, especially related to the technical specificities that originates from applying Knowledge Engineering to scientific knowledge.
In situ foraminifera in grounding zone diamict: a working hypothesis
Authors: Bart Philip J. , Coquereau Laura , Warny Sophie , Majewski Wojciech
Published: March 2016

The ice-proximal diamict sediment deposited on the foreset of a grounding zone wedge in Glomar Challenger Basin on the eastern Ross Sea continental shelf yielded a low abundance assemblage of foraminifera at two piston core sites. We found 302 small well-preserved specimens representing 18 species of benthic foraminifera from 825 ml of sediment. Only three poorly preserved specimens of the planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) were found. Our combined analyses of preservation state, assemblage composition and stable isotopes suggest that the benthic foraminifera may be in situ. This possibility is of interest to palaeoclimatologists who use ice-proximal sediments on the Antarctic continental shelves to radiocarbon date the post-glacial retreat history.
Understanding the unfolding of stress regulation in infants
Authors: Laurent Heidemarie K. , Harold Gordon T. , Leve Leslie , Shelton Katherine H. , Van Goozen Stephanie H. M.
Published: March 2016

Early identification of problems with psychosocial stress regulation is important for supporting mental and physical health. However, we currently lack knowledge about when reliable individual differences in stress-responsive physiology emerge and which aspects of maternal behavior determine the unfolding of infants' stress responses. Knowledge of these processes is further limited by analytic approaches that do not account for multiple levels of within- and between-family effects. In a low-risk sample (n= 100 dyads), we observed infant cortisol and mother/infant behavior during regular play and stress sessions longitudinally from age 1 to 3, and used a three-level model to separately examine variability in infant cortisol trajectories within sessions, across years, and across infants. Stable individual differences in hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis regulation were observed in the first 3 years of life. Infants of less sensitive and more intrusive mothers manifested stress sensitization, that is, elevated cortisol levels during and following stress exposure, a profile related to behavioral distress. These findings have important practical implications, suggesting that children at risk for long-term stress dysregulation may be identified in the earliest years of life.
Reduced arterial stiffness in very fit boys and girls
Authors: Weberruß Heidi , Pirzer Raphael , Schulz Thorsten , Böhm Birgit , Dalla Pozza Robert , Netz Heinrich , Oberhoffer Renate
Published: March 2016

Low cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with higher cardiovascular risk, whereas high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness protect the cardiovascular system. Carotid intima-media thickness and arterial distensibility are well-established parameters to identify subclinical cardiovascular disease. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength on carotid intima-media thickness and arterial distensibility in 697 children and adolescents (376 girls), aged 7–17 years. Cardiorespiratory fitness and strength were measured with the test battery FITNESSGRAM; carotid intima-media thickness, arterial compliance, elastic modulus, stiffness index β, and pulse wave velocity β were assessed by B- and M-mode ultrasound at the common carotid artery. In bivariate correlation, cardiorespiratory fitness was significantly associated with all cardiovascular parameters and was an independent predictor in multivariate regression analysis. No significant associations were obtained for muscular strength. In a one-way variance analysis, very fit boys and girls (58 boys and 74 girls>80th percentile for cardiorespiratory fitness) had significantly decreased stiffness parameters (expressed in standard deviation scores) compared with low fit subjects (71 boys and 77 girls<20th percentile for cardiorespiratory fitness): elastic modulus −0.16±1.02 versus 0.19±1.17, p=0.009; stiffness index β −0.15±1.08 versus 0.16±1.1, p=0.03; and pulse wave velocity β −0.19±1.02 versus 0.19±1.14, p=0.005. Cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with healthier arteries in children and adolescents. Comparison of very fit with unfit subjects revealed better distensibility parameters in very fit boys and girls.
EQUALITY AND TENNIS
Authors: Farrant Anthony
Published: March 2016

Men, it is sometimes alleged, deserve more prize money than women for winning tennis Grand Slams such as Wimbledon because they are required to play more tennis than women. Such an argument has two flaws. First, it is empirically unsound: the nature of tennis means women can and often do play more tennis than men; and second, the argument rests on a category mistake by confusing prize money with financial remuneration. Moreover, the focus on prize money neglects more fundamental issues of sexual inequality, in particular, why women do not face the same challenges as men at the Grand Slams.
ALL TOO HUMAN? SPECIESISM, RACISM, AND SEXISM
Authors: Oberg Andrew
Published: March 2016

The issue of how we ought to treat the nonhuman animals in our lives is one that has been growing in importance over the past forty years. A common charge is that discriminatory behavior based only on differences of species membership is just as wrong morally as are acts of racism or sexism. Is such a charge sustainable? It is argued that such reasoning confuses real differences with false ones, may have negative ethical consequences, and could tempt us to abandon our responsibilities to the natural world. Finally, some benefits to human animal treatment that more humane nonhuman animal treatment may bring are considered.
MORALITY, OBJECTIVE VALUE AND LIVING A MEANINGFUL LIFE: A REPLY TO STEVEN M. CAHN AND CHRISTINE VITRANO'S ESSAY ‘LIVING WELL’
Authors: Loxterkamp Max
Published: March 2016

In their essay ‘Living Well’, Steven M. Cahn and Christine Vitrano argue that to live a meaningful life all we must do is find personal satisfaction and enjoyment. They argue against other philosophers who claim that ‘objectively valuable’ activities are what make a life meaningful. There are two problems with what they argue in the essay. The first relates to a particular criticism they make of some of those philosophers taking the contrary view, in regards to the difficulty those philosophers have in deeming what is and is not of objective value. The second is more specifically to do with Cahn's and Vitrano's rejection of the idea that objectively valuable activities are what make a life meaningful, worthwhile. But both problems result from their introducing morality as relevant to what makes a life meaningful or not.
Bitter Taste of Paradise: North Korean Refugees in South Korea
Authors: Lankov Andrei
Published: March 2016

This article deals with the problems of North Korean defectors currently living in South Korea. In the past, most such defectors came from privileged groups in the North Korean population, and their adjustment to the new environment did not pose a significant problem. However, from the mid-1990s, defectors began to come from the far less privileged groups. They experience serious problems related to jobs, education, crime, and social adjustment. Recent years have seen a dramatic but not always openly stated change in the official South Korean attitude toward defectors: from a policy explicitly aimed at encouraging defection, Seoul has moved to the policy of quietly discouraging it. There are fears that encouraging defection will undermine the policy of peaceful engagement with the North. There is also the perception that refugees are outsiders, not quite adjustable to the conditions of South Korean society and thus a social and budgetary burden.
‘Crony Capitalism’ in South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan: Myth and Reality
Authors: Kim Byung-Kook , Im Hyug-Baeg
Published: March 2016

A new myth is in the making. Once held as a model of development by practitioners and theorists alike, East Asia's Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs) are now identified as an epitome of ‘crony capitalism,’ a perversely deformed system of political and economic exchange driven by rent seekers. The privileged few have allegedly captured the state to pillage banks and sabotage market forces in pursuit of rents. But imbued with Confucian norms, which Francis Fukuyama (1995) once characterized as limiting the ‘radius’ of trust to familial ties, society cannot weed out rent seekers. The emphasis on personal loyalty is held as breeding clientelistic networks, which easily degenerate into a collusion for monopoly profits. Hiding behind a profoundly opaque corporate governance structure and protected by dense political patronage networks, business firms engage in shady deals to share rents with party politicians and state bureaucrats. From this perspective, the 1997 financial crisis was a logical outcome of East Asia's exclusionary cultural proclivities, opaque institutional arrangements, and shady business practices.
Back to the Future: The Politics of Economic Reform under the Kim Dae-Jung Presidency
Authors: Leem Kyung Hoon
Published: March 2016

On the eve of the tenth anniversary of its democratization, Korea was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis marked by massive capital outflows, a sharp depreciation of the won and severe distress in the corporate and financial sectors. Korea's anniversary gift from the interntional community was an IMF conditionality program that imposed a comprehensive package of neoliberal economic reforms. Compared with the South American and East European experiences, economic reform in Korea has been implemented without significant policy obstructions, political instability or social disruptions. Despite much skepticism, the backbreaking reforms quickly began to pay off. The reforms created a V-shaped (rather than U-shaped) pattern of recovery, though more determined financial and corporate restructuring is needed in order for the nation to achieve sustainable growth. And, the quality of democracy has not deteriorated because of conflicts resulting from the economic reform program (neither, however, has it improved).
Mao's War Against Nature: Legacy and Lessons
Authors: Shapiro Judith
Published: March 2016

This article, adapted from the author's new book, Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China (Cambridge University Press, 2001), argues that Mao and the Chinese Communist Party's “war” to bend the physical world to human will often had disastrous consequences both for human beings and the natural environment. The Chinese ideal of “harmony between heaven and humans” was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that “Man Must Conquer Nature,” and the link between the abuse of people and the abuse of nature became unusually stark and transparent. Shapiro argues that the Mao years offer a cautionary tale with wide-ranging implications for societies struggling to achieve a more harmonious relationship with nature.
Politics, Economy, and Dynamics of Presidential Popularity in the Kim Dae Jung Government in South Korea
Authors: Jaung Hoon
Published: March 2016

What determines the public evaluation of South Korean president? Is it a temporal cycle of presidential tenure, the economy or political events? This paper explores these questions by examining the case of President Kim Dae Jung who enjoyed high popularity in the early phase of his tenure but experienced consistent decline of popularity after 18 months in office, much like his predecessors did. The paper argues that the high and low of public support for the president is not simply a function of the temporal cycle and that the fluctuation of public rating is strongly influenced by the public's consideration of economic matters and corruption scandals. In the case of the current South Korean president, one's performance in resuscitating the economy could not rescue a president besieged by one corruption scandal after another. Also, the improved economic conditions did not save Kim Dae Jung's public approval rate from tumbling, because reforms failed to alleviate the economic hardship felt by the lower class. All of this demonstrates that the public does separate economic and political issues and weigh them disproportionately in evaluating presidential performance.
Redefining Security Roles: Japan's Response to the September 11 Terrorism
Authors: Ito Go
Published: March 2016

This paper examines Japan's security policy after the September 11 terrorism, arguing that its response has been part of a larger process of redefining its security role in the Asia-Pacific region for the last decade. The passage of the 1992 Peacekeeping Law and the 1999 US-Japan security guidelines were an important part of the drastic changes. The paper also discusses the Japanese government's response to the September 11 terrorism, looking into the question of how the government sought to maintain a balance between military contributions to US-Japan security alliance and the restriction on the “threat and use of force” prescribed in the Constitution. Japan's recent pro-activeness toward Asia and entry into regional politics is also examined. The paper concludes by arguing that the combination of continued Japan's security relationship with the US and its strenuous efforts to enter Asian regional politics will be the first step toward real “normalcy” of Japan.