Zero Value (zero + value)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Liquefaction and cyclic mobility model for saturated granular media

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 5 2006
S. López-Querol
Abstract A new constitutive law for the behaviour of undrained sand subjected to dynamic loading is presented. The proposed model works for small and large strain ranges and incorporates contractive and dilative properties of the sand into the unified numerical scheme. These features allow to correctly predict liquefaction and cyclic mobility phenomena for different initial relative densities of the soil. The model has been calibrated as an element test, by using cyclic simple shear data reported in the literature. For the contractive sand behaviour a well-known endochronic densification model has been used, whereas a plastic model with a new non-associative flow rule is applied when the sand tends to dilate. Both dilatancy and flow rule are based on a new state parameter, associated to the stiffness degradation of the material as the shaking goes on. Also, the function that represents the rearrangement memory of the soil takes a zero value when the material dilates, in order to easily model the change in the internal structure. Proceeding along this kind of approach, liquefaction and cyclic mobility are modelled with the same constitutive law, within the framework of a bi-dimensional FEM coupled algorithm developed in the paper. For calibration purposes, the behaviour of the soil in a cyclic simple shear test has been simulated, in order to estimate the influence of permeability, frequency of loading, and homogeneity of the shear stress field on the laboratory data. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


The application of Taguchi method to determine the optimum blend of unifloral honeys to most closely match thyme honey quality

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2009
Maria Dimou
Summary This study was conducted to investigate the effect of four blossom honey types (orange, chestnut, heather and cotton) on a group of quality characteristics of thyme-type based mixture preparations. Mixture ratios were prepared at 0%, 50% and 100% per blossom honey-type and then were blended with thyme honey in parts 1:1. The melissopalynological, sensory and physicochemical quality characteristics for each blend were monitored. A three-level, four-factor orthogonal array according to the Taguchi method was utilised to plan the experiments maintaining the thyme component as a ,slack-variable' to contain the number of performed trials. Subsequent anova treatment revealed that only a pure orange-type blend favours the simultaneous maximisation of aroma (P < 0.05) and the minimisation of electrical conductivity (P < 0.05). Finally, there was a significant effect of chestnut-type blend content on microscopical and physicochemical characteristics (P < 0.05), nevertheless, their corresponding signal-to-noise ratios are maximised only at a concentration of zero value. [source]


Spectrophotometric determination of the transition system for interactions involving model hydrogen bonds in acetonitrile

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2002
Józef Mago
Abstract The bonds formed by interactions of picric acid (HA) with each of 12 (un)substituted pyridines (B) in acetonitrile (AN) were studied by UV,vis spectrophotometry to determine the corresponding to the transition system. The choice of both model system and experimental technique enabled the effect of heteroconjugation to be observed and the effects of formation of two theoretically possible homoconjugates (AHA, and BHB+) to be eliminated. The relationship between the wavelength at the absorbance maximum (,max) for 10,4,M solutions of complexes of picric acid with (un)substituted pyridines in acetonitrile and was found to have a sigmoidal shape with an inflection point at of ca ,0.3. On the basis of this relationship and UV,vis spectra, the picric acid,3-acetylpyridine system was recognized as that being the nearest to the transition system. The fact that the transition was lower than zero has been explained by the remarkable effect of species having the average structures A,···+HB on the established ,max values. The general results of this work and our previous results based on IR and 1H NMR studies, and also the lack of any experimental counterexamples, indicate that the zero value of constitutes a fundamental basis for predicting which one, among the given family of protonic hetero systems, is the most likely to show transitional properties in acetonitrile. Finally, it is postulated that the protonic hetero systems which are the most likely to show transitional properties in a given solvent S are those for which is close to zero, the eventual shift arising from peculiarity of the technique applied. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Low magnetic fields behavior of photon echo in LuLiF4:Er3+

LASER PHYSICS LETTERS, Issue 9 2006
V. N. Lisin
Abstract It is reported about the first observation and studying of the photon echo in LuLiF4:Er3+. The energy transition is 4I15/2 , 4F9/2 (, = 6536 Å). The density of ErF3 is 0.025 wt%. The operation temperature is 1.9 K. Measurements were spent at low (up to 1200 Oe) and even zero external magnetic fields. It was studied a behavior of the photon echo intensity versus the magnetic field magnitude and direction about the crystal axis C and versus the laser pulse separation t12. It was observed an exponential growth and then, after some plateau, an exponential decreasing of the photon echo intensity as a function of magnetic field with increasing of the magnetic field from zero value. The parameters describing the exponential growth and decreasing are not depended on direction of magnetic field. Value of a magnetic field at which the echo intensity accepts the maximum, and quantity of this maximum decrease with increased the pulse separation t12 and the angle , between the magnetic field and crystal axis. The echo intensity exponentially decreases with increased , . The parameter describing the exponential decreasing is not depended on the magnitude of the field. The echo intensity as a function of pulse separation shows exponential decay. The phase relaxation time is depended on the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field. T2 is equal to 202 ± 16 ns at zero magnetic field. Phenomenological formula is suggested, which qualitatively presents the mentioned dependencies. Polarization properties of the backward photon echo in this crystal are studied also. (© 2006 by Astro, Ltd. Published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA) [source]


MGM Optimal convergence for certain (multilevel) structured linear systems

PROCEEDINGS IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS & MECHANICS, Issue 1 2003
Antonio Aricó Dr.
We present a multigrid algorithm to solve linear systems whose coefficient metrices belongs to circulant, Hartley or , multilevel algebras and are generated by a nonnegative multivariate polynomial f. It is known that these matrices are banded (with respect to their multilevel structure) and their eigenvalues are obtained by sampling f on uniform meshes, so they are ill-conditioned (or singular, and need some corrections) whenever f takes the zero value. We prove the proposed metod to be optimal even in presence of ill-conditioning: if the multilevel coefficient matrix has dimension ni at level i, i = 1, , , d, then only ni operations are required on each iteration, but the convergence rate keeps constant with respect to N(n) as it depends only on f. The algorithm can be extended to multilevel Toeplitz matrices too. [source]


A modified static hedging method for continuous barrier options,

THE JOURNAL OF FUTURES MARKETS, Issue 12 2010
San-Lin Chung
This study modifies the static replication approach of Derman, E., Ergener, D., and Kani, I. (1995, DEK) to hedge continuous barrier options under the Black, F. and Scholes, M. (1973) model. In the DEK method, the value of the static replication portfolio, consisting of standard options with varying maturities, matches the zero value of the barrier option at n evenly spaced time points when the stock price equals the barrier. In contrast, our modified DEK method constructs a portfolio of standard options and binary options with varying maturities to match not only the zero value but also zero theta on the barrier. Our numerical results indicate that the modified DEK approach improves performance of static hedges significantly for an up-and-out call option under the BS model even if the bid,ask spreads are considered. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark [source]


Zero tolerance ecology: improving ecological inference by modelling the source of zero observations

ECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 11 2005
Tara G. Martin
Abstract A common feature of ecological data sets is their tendency to contain many zero values. Statistical inference based on such data are likely to be inefficient or wrong unless careful thought is given to how these zeros arose and how best to model them. In this paper, we propose a framework for understanding how zero-inflated data sets originate and deciding how best to model them. We define and classify the different kinds of zeros that occur in ecological data and describe how they arise: either from ,true zero' or ,false zero' observations. After reviewing recent developments in modelling zero-inflated data sets, we use practical examples to demonstrate how failing to account for the source of zero inflation can reduce our ability to detect relationships in ecological data and at worst lead to incorrect inference. The adoption of methods that explicitly model the sources of zero observations will sharpen insights and improve the robustness of ecological analyses. [source]


Oceanic influence on the precipitation of the south-east of Venezuela

ENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 3 2002
Lelys Guenni
Abstract The Caroní catchment located in the south-east of Venezuela accounts for 70 per cent of the total hydropower energy of the country. On a year to year basis, it has been shown that low frequency large scale ocean-atmosphere phenomena are highly coupled to the hydroclimatology of the region, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) being a major forcing mechanism of climatic and hydrological anomalies. Regional differences in amplitude and timing are due to complex orographic interactions, land surface-atmosphere feedback mechanisms and the evolution of dominant synoptic meteorological conditions. A detailed analysis of the relationship between rainfall and several large scale ocean-atmospheric variables was carried out to determine the potential use of large scale climatic information as predictors of the rainfall anomalies over the region. The problem was tackled in two ways: (a) first a seasonal dynamic rainfall model was fitted to monthly rainfall for different locations. In this case rainfall is assumed as a normal variate w which has been transformed to account for its departure from normality and truncated to account for the positive probability mass of zero values, which corresponds to negative values of the normal variable. The time series of the model parameters and the macroclimatic variables are inspected for their potential relationship with local rainfall via the stochastic model. (b) Second, dynamic linear regression models between the macroclimatic variables as predictors and the rainfall anomalies as predictant were fitted to evaluate and quantify the significance of these dependencies. Consistent patterns are observed with the Tropical Atlantic and Pacific ocean temperature anomalies, in which a significant negative relationship has been present since 1976, indicating an overall decrease (increase) in rainfall when the Pacific and the Tropical Atlantic are warmer (colder) than normal. In all cases the results suggest that the relationships between rainfall anomalies and the macroclimatic variables are not constant with time. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Three-parameter discontinuous distributions for hydrological samples with zero values

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 15 2005
Stanislaw Weglarczyk
Abstract A consistent approach to the frequency analysis of hydrologic data in arid and semiarid regions, i.e. the data series containing several zero values (e.g. monthly precipitation in dry seasons, annual peak flow discharges, etc.), requires using discontinuous probability distribution functions. Such an approach has received relatively limited attention. Along the lines of physically based models, the extensions of the Muskingum-based models to three parameter forms are considered. Using 44 peak flow series from the USGS data bank, the fitting ability of four three-parameter models was investigated: (1) the Dirac delta combined with Gamma distribution; (2) the Dirac delta combined with two-parameter generalized Pareto distribution; (3) the Dirac delta combined with two-parameter Weibull (DWe) distribution; (4) the kinematic diffusion with one additional parameter that controls the probability of the zero event (KD3). The goodness of fit of the models was assessed and compared both by evaluation of discrepancies between the results of both estimation methods (i.e. the method of moments (MOM) and the maximum likelihood method (MLM)) and using the log of likelihood function as a criterion. In most cases, the DWe distribution with MLM-estimated parameters showed the best fit of all the three-parameter models. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


A latent Gaussian model for compositional data with zeros

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 5 2008
Adam Butler
Summary., Compositional data record the relative proportions of different components within a mixture and arise frequently in many fields. Standard statistical techniques for the analysis of such data assume the absence of proportions which are genuinely zero. However, real data can contain a substantial number of zero values. We present a latent Gaussian model for the analysis of compositional data which contain zero values, which is based on assuming that the data arise from a (deterministic) Euclidean projection of a multivariate Gaussian random variable onto the unit simplex. We propose an iterative algorithm to simulate values from this model and apply the model to data on the proportions of fat, protein and carbohydrate in different groups of food products. Finally, evaluation of the likelihood involves the calculation of difficult integrals if the number of components is more than 3, so we present a hybrid Gibbs rejection sampling scheme that can be used to draw inferences about the parameters of the model when the number of components is arbitrarily large. [source]


13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance of methyl-substituted acetophenones and methyl benzoates: steric hindrance and inhibited conjugation

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2004
ínský
Abstract The 1H and 13C NMR spectra of 14 methyl-substituted acetophenones and 14 methyl-substituted methyl benzoates were assigned and interpreted with respect to the conformation of the Car,C(O) bond. The substituent effects are proportional in the two series and can be divided into polar and steric: each has different effects on the 13C SCS of the individual atoms. In the case of C atoms C(O), C(1) and CH3(CO), the steric effects were quantitatively separated by comparing SCS in the ortho and para positions. The steric effects are proportional for the individual C atoms and also to steric effects estimated from other physical quantities. However, they do not depend simply on the angle of torsion , of the functional group as anticipated hitherto. A better description distinguishes two classes of compounds: sterically not hindered or slightly hindered planar molecules and strongly sterically hindered, markedly non-planar. In order to confirm this reasoning without empirical correlations, the J(C,C) coupling constants were measured for three acetophenone derivatives labeled with 13C in the acetyl methyl group. The constants confirm unambiguously the conformation of 2-methylacetophenone; their zero values are in accord with the conformation of 2,6-dimethylacetophenone. The zero values in the unsubstituted acetophenone are at variance with previous erroneous report but all J(C,C) values are in accord with calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6,311+G(d,p) level. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]