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Russia is one of the few countries where surrogacy is both legal and regulated. Still, volatile legislation and the lack of public acceptance of the practice make surrogacy an experience that is hard to navigate. This chapter presents an exploration of the meanings Russian surrogates attach to their work, remuneration for it, and their relationships with intended parents. Drawing on 23 semi-structured interviews with surrogates, we find that while Russian surrogates frame surrogacy as a job and engage in calculations of a fair price for their services, they provide unrequited care for intended parents and their children and embed surrogacy in the context of their motherhood as a way to provide and care for their own children. In this, Russian surrogates occupy the typical position of a post-Soviet ‘mother-worker’.

The resistance of steel plate shear walls (SPSW) under explosive loads is evaluated using nonlinear FE analysis and surrogate methods. This study uses the conventional weapons effect program (CONWEP) model for the explosive load and the Johnson-Cook model for the steel plate. Based on the Taguchi method, 25 samples out of 100 samples are selected for a parametric study where we predict the damaged zones and the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads. Then, this study uses a multiple linear regression (MLR), multiple Ln equation regression (MLnER), gene expression programming (GEP), adaptive network-based fuzzy inference (ANFIS) and an ensemble model to predict the maximum detection of SPSWs. Several statistical parameters and error terms are used to evaluate the accuracy of the different surrogate models. The results show that the cross-section in the y-direction and the plate thickness have the most significant effects on the maximum deflection of SPSWs. The results also show that the maximum deflection is related to the scaled distance, i.e. for a value of 0.383. The ensemble model performs better than all other models for predicting the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads.

The SPSW under explosive loads is evaluated using nonlinear FE analysis and surrogate methods. This study uses the CONWEP model for the explosive load and the Johnson-Cook model for the steel plate. Based on the Taguchi method, 25 samples out of 100 samples are selected for a parametric study where we predict the damaged zones and the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads. Then, this study uses a MLR, MLnER, GEP, ANFIS and an ensemble model to predict the maximum detection of SPSWs. Several statistical parameters and error terms are used to evaluate the accuracy of the different surrogate models. The results show that the cross-section in the y-direction and the plate thickness have the most significant effects on the maximum deflection of SPSWs. The results also show that the maximum deflection is related to the scaled distance, i.e. for a value of 0.383. The ensemble model performs better than all other models for predicting the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads.

The resistance of SPSW under explosive loads is evaluated using nonlinear FE analysis and surrogate methods. This study uses the CONWEP model for the explosive load and the Johnson-Cook model for the steel plate. Based on the Taguchi method, 25 samples out of 100 samples are selected for a parametric study where we predict the damaged zones and the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads. Then, this study uses a MLR, MLnER, GEP, ANFIS and an ensemble model to predict the maximum detection of SPSWs. Several statistical parameters and error terms are used to evaluate the accuracy of the different surrogate models. The results show that the cross-section in the y-direction and the plate thickness have the most significant effects on the maximum deflection of SPSWs. The results also show that the maximum deflection is related to the scaled distance, i.e. for a value of 0.383. The ensemble model performs better than all other models for predicting the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads.

The resistance of SPSW under explosive loads is evaluated using nonlinear FE analysis and surrogate methods. This study uses the CONWEP model for the explosive load and the Johnson-Cook model for the steel plate. Based on the Taguchi method, 25 samples out of 100 samples are selected for a parametric study where we predict the damaged zones and the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads. Then, this study uses a MLR, MLnER, GEP, ANFIS and an ensemble model to predict the maximum detection of SPSWs. Several statistical parameters and error terms are used to evaluate the accuracy of the different surrogate models. The results show that the cross-section in the y-direction and the plate thickness have the most significant effects on the maximum deflection of SPSWs. The results also show that the maximum deflection is related to the scaled distance, i.e. for a value of 0.383. The ensemble model performs better than all other models for predicting the maximum deflection of SPSWs under explosive loads.

Should we produce a product not produced before? With trade occupying as much as 94.8% of GNP in some ASEAN countries, their entry into the domestic market to displace a foreign import is a vital issue‐which is seldom, if ever, discussed in the literature. Our innovative use of Monte Carlo simulation estimates the market share of a FUTURE Malaysian product, enabling a preliminary decision on market entry to displace imports.

This study seeks to explore the nature of a data‐generating process for four dollar exchange rates.

Using a discrete parametric modeling approach, an efficient test statistic was computed for nonlinearity in terms of variance of the residuals of the linear and nonlinear autoregressive models by Akaike Information Criterion, and a surrogate data analysis was conducted.

It shows that a nonlinear autoregressive model outperforms a linear stochastic model in certain subsamples of baht, pound, ringgit, and yen dollar exchange rates. However, when the test statistics using different model orders and the data for the entire samples are estimated, it appears that the nonlinear model has a better performance than the linear model in fitting Thai and Malaysian currencies. The nonlinear model performs better than the linear model in the case of the UK pound in two thirds of the models, but the linear models completely outperform the nonlinear models for the yen data.

More financial and economic time series will be explored to employ the methodology used in the study, and tests for possible presence of nonlinear deterministic dynamics (chaos) in the exchange rates series will be conducted based on the present findings in further study.

These findings suggest that the assumption of linear stochastic process as the underlying dynamics for all currencies examined in this study may not be justifiable.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first attempt to use the test statistic based on the information‐theoretical method in testing nonlinearity in financial and economic time series.

The purpose of this paper is to set a relation through adaptive multi-level optimization between two physical models with different accuracies; a fast coarse model and a fine time consuming model. The use case is the optimization of a permanent magnet axial flux electrical machine.

The paper opted to set the relation between the two models through radial basis function (RBF). The optimization is held on the coarse model. The deduced solutions are used to evaluate the fine model. Thus, through an iterative process a residue RBF between models responses is built to endorse an adaptive correction.

The paper shows how the use of a residue function permits, to diminish optimization time, to reduce the misalignment between the two models in a structured strategy and to find optimum solution of the fine model based on the optimization of the coarse one. The paper also provides comparison between the proposed methodology and the traditional approach (output space mapping (OSM)) and shows that in case of large misalignment between models the OSM fails.

This paper proposes an original methodology in electromechanical design based on building a surrogate model by means of RBF on the bulk of existing physical model.

Surrogacy is a practice that requires the participation of multiple social actors: sperm and/or egg donors, intended parents (IPs) and gestational carriers (GCs). The data were collected during a research on US surrogacy conducted in Southern California between September 2017 and January 2020. The study involved IPs, GCs and the clinical and hospital staffs of a fertility clinic and six hospitals. In this contribution, I will read surrogacy as a sophisticated interweaving of relationships (Berend, 2016a) that is activated thanks to the support of artificial reproductive technologies (ARTs). I will analyze the surrogacy pregnancy not exclusively as an organic process, but, following Elly Teman (2009) and Zsuzsa Berend (2016a) insights, I will read it as a choral project shaped by all the actors directly or indirectly involved in it. I will show which rituals are practiced during the surrogacy pathway, and in particular, I will pay attention to some specific aspects that are invested by particular meaning such as ultrasounds, rooming-in, breastfeeding and the ‘skin-to-skin’ practice.

This study aims to propose a computationally efficient framework for multi-objective optimization (MO) of antennas involving nested kriging modeling technology. The technique is demonstrated through a two-objective optimization of a planar Yagi antenna and three-objective design of a compact wideband antenna.

The keystone of the proposed approach is the usage of recently introduced nested kriging modeling for identifying the design space region containing the Pareto front and constructing fast surrogate model for the MO algorithm. Surrogate-assisted design refinement is applied to improve the accuracy of Pareto set determination. Consequently, the Pareto set is obtained cost-efficiently, even though the optimization process uses solely high-fidelity electromagnetic (EM) analysis.

The optimization cost is dramatically reduced for the proposed framework as compared to other state-of-the-art frameworks. The initial Pareto set is identified more precisely (its span is wider and of better quality), which is a result of a considerably smaller domain of the nested kriging model and better predictive power of the surrogate.

The proposed technique can be generalized to accommodate low- and high-fidelity EM simulations in a straightforward manner. The future work will incorporate variable-fidelity simulations to further reduce the cost of the training data acquisition.

The fast MO optimization procedure with the use of the nested kriging modeling technology for approximation of the Pareto set has been proposed and its superiority over state-of-the-art surrogate-assisted procedures has been proved. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this approach to multi-objective antenna optimization is novel and enables obtaining optimal designs cost-effectively even in relatively high-dimensional spaces (considering typical antenna design setups) within wide parameter ranges.

In this chapter we address the problematic nature of altruistic motivation, commonly required of surrogate mothers, live organ donors, clinical research participants and health professionals. Altruism, understood as involving a desire to help others, often to a self-sacrificing degree, gives rise to various conceptual and ethical difficulties. We argue that encouraging the virtue of generosity is preferable to requiring altruistic motivation, because generosity is consistent with reciprocation as well as legitimate concern for self. A correct understanding of generosity also alleviates concerns about exploitation and commodification. Our focus in this chapter is on surrogacy, but our arguments apply to other domains as well.