This paper compares the UK and Dutch occupational defined-benefit pension policies using the holistic balance sheet (HBS) framework. The UK DB pension system differs from the Dutch one in terms of the steering tools and adjustment mechanisms. In addition to the sponsor guarantee, the UK system...

This paper compares the UK and Dutch occupational defined-benefit pension policies using the holistic balance sheet (HBS) framework. The UK DB pension system differs from the Dutch one in terms of the steering tools and adjustment mechanisms. In addition to the sponsor guarantee, the UK system...

In this article, it is proved that the median is a minimax bias functional (with respect to many distances including the Kolmogorov distance) among all location equivariant functionals if the distribution of interest is symmetric and unimodal. This is a parallel result of Huber's well-known...

The Schuster-Narvarte's (Ann. Statist. 1 (1973) 1096-1104) location parameter of a distribution F, the center of a symmetric distribution closest to F, is an appealing definition for the center of distributions. It is noticed that this parameter is a special case of Donoho and Liu's (Ann....

The long-term stable operation of the mixed culture polyhydroxyalkanoate(PHA)enrichment stage is the guarantee for the continuous synthesis of PHA, however extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) sludge bulking occurred from time to time may cause the operation fail. In order to solve this...

The aim of the present study was to comparatively assess the estrogenic effects using Chinese rare minnows Gobiocypris rarus, exposed to the effluents from four secondary wastewater treatment plants (SWTP A-D) and a tertiary wastewater treatment plant (TTP E) in north China. The final effluents...