Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society

How does foreign aid affect recipient countries’ labor institutions? Extant empirical evidence is sparse due to ambiguous theoretical predictions and potential endogeneity issues. This study uses data detailing aid flow and institutional functions to mitigate such inconclusiveness and displays originality by constructing a concise theoretical framework in which foreign aid contributes to the improvement of the labor institutions in recipient countries through two mechanisms—economic growth purpose and expected aid attraction. The findings indicate that only aid to enhance local economic growth provides incentives to change domestic labor markets. Such effects have a more crucial influence on labor institutions of minimum wage, collective bargaining rights, and working hours than those related to hiring and firing regulations, mandated costs for worker dismissal, and conscription. For comparison with the actual aid level, we construct forecasted proxies to capture exogenous fluctuations in aid, determining that domestic labor markets can also change via a novel mechanism, as the recipient voluntarily mimics the funder’s labor policies in anticipation of receiving future aid, with exact amounts derived from the noninstitutional characteristics of pairs of bilateral recipient and giver economies. Therefore, we provide policy implications for the aid giver on how to secure a continued and increased aid flow and for the aid receivers on which aspects of reforming measures are most effective in enhancing the labor market regulations.

Pulmonary tuberculosis is among the leading infectious diseases causing mortality worldwide. Therefore, scaling up intervention strategies to reduce the spread of infections in the population is imperative. In this paper, a population-based compartmental approach has been employed to formulate a mathematical model of pulmonary tuberculosis that incorporates an asymptomatic infectious population. The model includes asymptomatic infectious individuals since they spread infections incessantly to susceptible populations without being noticed, thus contributing to the high rate of infection transmission. Qualitative and numerical analyses were performed to determine the impact of various intervention strategies on controlling infection transmission in the population. Sensitivity and numerical results indicate that increasing screening of latently infected and asymptomatic infectious individuals reduces infection transmission to the susceptible population. Numerical results demonstrate that the combination of vaccination, screening, and treatment of all forms of pulmonary tuberculosis is the most effective intervention in decreasing infection transmission. Furthermore, a combination of screening and treatment of all forms of pulmonary tuberculosis proves more effective than a combination of vaccination and treatment of symptomatic infectious individuals alone. Treating the symptomatic infectious population alone is identified as the least effective intervention for curtailing infection transmission in the susceptible population. These study findings will guide healthcare officials in making decisions regarding the screening of latently infected and asymptomatic infectious pulmonary tuberculosis patients, thereby aiding in the fight against epidemics of this disease.

Bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are recent innovations in cryptocurrency investment. This article studies the price-volume relationship in this market from an information perspective. We first propose effective mutual information which has better estimation accuracy to analyze the contemporaneous relationship. Using half-hourly trading data of the world’s largest Bitcoin futures ETF, we find that trading volume changes and returns contain information about each other and are contemporaneously dependent. Then, we employ effective transfer entropy to examine the intertemporal relationship. The results show that there exists information transfer from volume changes to returns in most of our sample period, suggesting the presence of return predictability and market inefficiency. However, information transfer in the opposite direction occurs much less frequently, and the amount is typically smaller.

The discussion models the IRI-2012 TEC map over a moderate geomagnetic storm period (5 days) in February 2015 and compares the yield of the models. The models are constructed with the help of cubic Bézier curves and machine learning. In a sense, the comparison of a classical and mechanical approach with a modern and computer-based one is a considerable experience for the paper. The parametric curve approach governs models of piecewise continuous Bézier cubics, while the models employ only the TEC map. The design is separated into curve components at every five-hour curvature point, and each component is handled independently. Instead of the traditional least squares method for finding control points of cubics, it utilizes the mean of every five-hour of the piecewise curves of the TEC data. Accordingly, the prediction error can be controlled at a rate that can compete with the modern network approach. In the network model, 120 hours of the solar wind parameters and the TEC map of the storm are processed. The reliability of the network model is assessed by the (R) correlation coefficient and mean square error. In modeling the TEC map with the classical approach, the mean absolute error is 0.0901% and the correlation coefficient (R) score is 99.9%. The R score of the network model is 99.6%, and the mean square error is 0.71958 (TECU) (at epoch 47). The results agree with the literature.

The paper is organized to study some mathematical properties and dynamics of a simple Cournot duopoly game based on a computed quadratic cost. The time evolution of this game is described by a two-dimensional noninvertible discrete time map using the bounded rationality mechanism. For this map, some dynamic characteristics such as multistability and synchronization are investigated. Its equilibrium points are obtained for the asymmetric case, and their conditions of stability are obtained. Our results investigate that the Nash equilibrium point may be unstable due to flip bifurcation and under certain parameter values, and Neimark–Sacker bifurcation is born after the period-4 cycle. Through some restrictions, the coordinate axes of the map construct an invariant manifold, and therefore, their dynamics can be analyzed by using a one-dimensional map. In the symmetric case, both firms behave identically, and this implies that the diagonal set forms an invariant manifold, and hence the synchronization phenomena take place. Furthermore, the global bifurcation of the map is confirmed through contact between critical curves and the boundaries of infeasible domains.

Multiattribute decision making (MADM) approach is a well-known decision-making process utilized in a variety of fields such as solid waste management, renewable energy resources, air quality assurance, hotel location decision, sustainable supplier selection, partner recognition, green supplier enterprises, game theory, construction development authority, and weapon group target estimation. The aggregation operators (AOs) are essential components of the decision-making process and have a great capability to deal with ambiguous and unpredictable information in the different fields of fuzzy environments. In this article, we expressed the theory concepts of single-valued neutrosophic (SVN) sets (SVNS) and also characterized their basic operations. The power aggregation tools are allowed to input arguments to support each other among different arguments. Recently, Aczel–Alisna aggregation tools conquered great attention from several research scholars. We also exposed some reliable operations of Aczel–Alsina aggregation models under the consideration of SVN information. We established a series of new approaches, including the “single-valued neutrosophic Aczel–Alsina power weighted average” (SVNAAPWA) operator and “single-valued neutrosophic Aczel–Alsina power weighted geometric” (SVNAAPWG) operators. To show the effectiveness and compatibility of derived approaches, some prominent characteristics are also established. We constructed a MADM technique to solve an application of engineering and construction materials under consideration of our derived methodologies. An experimental case study is also presented to determine a suitable optimal option from a group of options. To find the flexibility of our proposed work, we provided a comparative study that compares the results of existing AOs with our proposed work. A comprehensive overview is also presented here.