Survey data often contain measurements for variables that are semicontinuous in nature, i.e. they either take a single fixed value (we assume this is zero) or they have a continuous, often skewed, distribution on the positive real line. Standard methods for small area estimation (SAE) based on the use of linear mixed models can be inefficient for such variables. We discuss SAE techniques for se...

Cocultivation of cellulolytic and saccharolytic microbial populations is a promising strategy to improve bioethanol production from the fermentation of recalcitrant cellulosic materials. Earlier studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cocultivation in enhancing ethanolic fermentation of cellulose in batch fermentation. To further enhance process efficiency, a semicontinuous cyclic fed-ba...

The concept of upper and lower semicontinuity of fuzzy mappings introduced by Bao and Wu [Y.E. Bao, C.X. Wu, Convexity and semicontinuity of fuzzy mappings, Comput. Math. Appl., 51 (2006) 1809–1816] is redefined by using the concept of parameterized triples of fuzzy numbers. On the basis of the linear ordering of fuzzy numbers proposed by Goetschel and Voxman [R. Goetschel, W. Voxman, Elementar...

Optimization of a semicontinuous emulsion polymerization reaction is carried out using a mathematical model derived from first principles to represent the process. Iterative Dynamic Programming (IDP), being a straightforward procedure that allows the implementation of optimization constraints, is an attractive tool to optimize highly complex and nonlinear equation systems such as those that are...

Statistical models that involve a two-part mixture distribution are applicable in a variety of situations. Frequently, the two parts are a model for the binary response variable and a model for the outcome variable that is conditioned on the binary response. Two common examples are zero-inflated or hurdle models for count data and two-part models for semicontinuous data. Recently, there has bee...

When the dual of a normed space X is endowed with the weak∗ topology, the biconjugates of the proper convex lower semicontinuous functions defined on X coincide with the functions themselves. This is not the case when X∗ is endowed with the strong topology. Working in the latter framework, we give formulae for the biconjugates of some functions that appear often in convex optimization, which ho...

We study whether we can weaken the conditions given in Reny [4] and still obtain existence of pure strategy Nash equilibria in quasiconcave normal form games, or, at least, existence of pure strategy ε−equilibria for all ε > 0. We show by examples that there are: 1. quasiconcave, payoff secure games without pure strategy ε−equilibria for small enough ε > 0 (and hence, without pure strategy Nash...

In this paper, we consider a discrete delay problem with negative feedback _ x(t) = f(x(t); x(t?1)) along with a certain family of time discretizations with stepsize 1=n. In the original problem, the attractor admits a Morse decomposition. We proved in G,H] that the discretized problems have global attractors. It was proved in G,M] that such attractors also admit Morse decompositions. In G,H] w...

Let X be a convex subset of a locally convex topological vector space, let U ⊂ X be open with U compact, let F : U → X be an upper semicontinuous convex valued correspondence with no fixed points in U \U , let P be a compact absolute neighborhood retract, and let ρ : U → P be a continuous function. We show that if the fixed point index of F is not zero, then there is a neighborhood V of F in th...

By using parameterized representation of fuzzy numbers, criteria for a lower semicontinuous fuzzy mapping defined on a non-empty convex subset of Rn to be a convex fuzzy mapping are obtained. c © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.