a r t i c l e i n f o In this study, the advanced panel threshold regression model was used to test whether a marginal threshold value representing optimal financial decisions exists respective to the holding ratio of free cash flow, the debt ratio, and the dividend payout ratio determined by the U.S. life and property–casualty insurance industry. The results indicated that an optimal financial...

Organic conductors exhibit unusual physical properties due to the critical nature of valence electrons fluctuating under localizing and delocalizing regime. Recently, we discovered that an organic superconductor, α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 [BEDTTTF: bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene], induces optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) along with charge-ordering driven by the repulsive electron-electron ...

A new noninvasive method for determining the surface electrostatic potential and surface charge density of microscopic particles using second harmonic generation (SHG) is described. The surface electrostatic properties of 1.05 μm polystyrene sulfate spheres in aqueous solution and that of 0.22 μm oil droplets in aqueous emulsions are obtained. Comparisons of the surface potentials obtained from...

Predictive models are able to predict edX student grades with an accuracy error of 0.1 (10%, about one letter grade standard deviation), based on participation data. Student background variables are not useful for predicting grades. By using a combination of segmentation, random forest regression, linear transformation and application beyond the segmented data, it is possible to determine the p...

We study the effective second-harmonic generation (SHG) susceptibility in graded metallic films by invoking the local field effects exactly, and further numerically demonstrate that the graded metallic films can serve as a novel optical material for producing a broad structure in both the linear and SHG response and an enhancement in the SHG signal. ocis: 160.4330, 310.6860, 160.4670, 160.4760.

Microfinance is gathering momentum to become a major force in India. The self-help group (SHG) model with bank lending to groups of (often) poor women without collateral has become an accepted part of rural finance. The paper discusses the state of SHG-based microfinance in India. With traditionally loss-making rural banks shifting their portfolio away from the rural poor in the post-reform per...

BACKGROUND The utility of admission CT perfusion (CTP) to that of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) as a predictor of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in acute stroke was compared. METHODS We analyzed the admission CTP and DWI scans of 96 consecutive stroke patients. HT was present in 22 patients (23%). Infarct core was manually segmented on the admission DWI. We determined the: (1) hypoperfuse...

the ultimate goal of power system operation and planning is to increase power system reliability which enforces interconnected operation of power system. as a result of power system interconnection, the inter-area oscillation under different disturbances may cause power system partial or total blackout. dc-segmentation of interconnected power systems is a solution in which the topology of the n...