Search results for: political behaviour

Authors: Diana Isabel Torres Silva

Abstract:

Doris Salcedo is the most prominent sculptor from Colombia ever and currently, one of the most prestigious Latin-American artists in the world. Her artwork, intended as political art, has war as a background, in particular the Colombian civil conflict, and it addresses the way that its violence affects victims’ lives irreparably. While Salcedo is internationally recognized as a talented and a politically committed artist, some Colombian critics consider her artwork as the propagandist and influenced by the interest of multinational companies and the organizations that fund it. This paper, as part of a more extended research project, attempts to demonstrate that Doris Salcedo’s artwork makes visible the victims suffering and mourning and compels the viewers’ sympathy, although its approach is superficial. It does not achieve a complete or complex understanding of the social and historical causes underneath the war and maybe because of that has become a successful commodity for the international arts market. The paper considers, firstly, the influence that Colombian Nuevo Teatro, from the sixties, had on Salcedo’s early political perspective and, secondly, analyzes in detail the first series of her artwork (1992-1998) and how those works address grieving. The focus point of this analysis will be the domestic furniture sculptures, which are the main symbolic element of Salcedo’s oeuvre.

Keywords: Arts and politics, Doris Salcedo, Colombian art, Political Art

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Lynndee Kemmet

Abstract:

The U.S. military plays an increasing role in supporting political stability efforts, and this includes efforts to prevent the food insecurity that can trigger political and social instability. This paper presents a model that assists military commanders in identifying variables that impact food production and distribution in their areas of operation (AO), in identifying connections between variables and in assessing the impacts of those variables on food production and distribution. Through use of the model, military units can better target their data collection efforts and can categorize and analyze data within the data categorization framework most widely-used by military forces—PMESII-PT (Political, Military, Economic, Infrastructure, Information, Physical Environment and Time). The model provides flexibility of analysis in that commanders can target analysis to be highly focused on a specific PMESII-PT domain or variable or conduct analysis across multiple PMESII-PT domains. The model is also designed to assist commanders in mapping food systems in their AOs and then identifying components of those systems that must be strengthened or protected.

Keywords: food security, food system model, political stability, US Military

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Rana Zeina

Abstract:

Cognitive and behavioral symptoms may, in fact, overlap and be related to the level of the general cognitive function. We measured the behavioral aspects of autism and its correlation to the cognitive ability in 30 children with ASD. We used a neuropsychological battery CANTAB eclipse to evaluate the ASD children's cognitive ability. Individuals with ASDs and challenging behaviors showed significant correlation between some cognitive abilities and motor behavior aspects. Based on these findings we can conclude that the motor behavioral problems in autism affect specific cognitive abilities in ASDs such as comprehension, learning, reversal, acquisition, attention set shifting, and speed of reaction to one stimulus. Future research should also focus on the relationship between motor stereotypes and other subtypes of repetitive behaviors, such as verbal stereotypes, and ritual and routine adherence and use different types of CANTAB tests.

Keywords: cognitive ability, CANTAB test, behaviour motor aspects, autism spectrum disorders

Procedia PDF Downloads 480

Authors: Noor Azlina Mohamed Yunus, Noorlaila Yunus, Kadulliah Ghazali

Abstract:

In this an era of intense competition, Malaysia aspires to be a fully developed country by 2020 and desires its citizens to perform and execute excellent work behaviors. For that reason, organizations are focusing on employees’ positive and constructive behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). They expect employees to not only complete their required duties by providing excellent performance but also keenly go beyond their roles that are not specifying in their formal job descriptions to ensure organizational success. The role and duty to acquire employees to engage and connect in OCB is the responsibility of a leader. Thus, leaders can utilize their sources of power to enable subordinates to accomplish organizational objective including OCB. Therefore, this paper formulates a framework postulating leader’s sources of power as an antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The discussion on implications for future theory development is discussed.

Keywords: organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), leader’s sources of power, call centre industry, conceptual paper

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Sophia Francesca D. Lu

Abstract:

This research tried to produce evidence that formal institutions, such as electoral and internal party quotas, can advance women’s active roles in the public sphere using the cases of four European countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The quantitative dataset was provided by the University of Chicago and the Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research based on a two-year study (2008-2010) of political parties. Belgium engages in constitutionally mandated electoral quotas. Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, on the other hand, have internal party quotas, which are voluntarily adopted by political parties. In analyzing each country’s chi-square and Pearson’s r correlation, Belgium, having an electoral quota, is the only country that was analyzed for electoral quotas. Germany, Italy and the Netherlands’ internal voluntary party quotas were correlated with women’s descriptive representations. Using chi-square analysis, this study showed that the presence of electoral quotas is correlated with an increase in the percentage of women in decision-making bodies as well as with an increase in the percentage of women in decision-making bodies. Likewise, using correlational analysis, a higher number of political parties employing internal party voluntary quotas is correlated with an increase in the percentage of women occupying seats in parliament as well as an increase in the percentage of women nominees in electoral lists of political parties. In conclusion, gender quotas, such as electoral quotas or internal party quotas, are an effective policy tool for greater women’s representation in political bodies. Political parties and governments should opt to have gender quotas, whether electoral or internal party quotas, to address the underrepresentation of women in parliament, decision-making bodies, and policy-formulation.

Keywords: electoral quota, Europe, formal institutions, institutional feminism, internal party quota, women’s electoral participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Reza Sedaghati

Abstract:

The use of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices in a power system can potentially overcome limitations of the present mechanically controlled transmission system. Also, the advance of technology makes possible to include new energy storage devices in the electrical power system. The integration of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) into Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) can lead to increase their flexibility in improvement of power system dynamic behaviour by exchanging both active and reactive powers with power grids. This paper describes structure and behaviour of SMES, specifications and performance principles of the STATCOM/SMES compensator. Moreover, the benefits and effectiveness of integrated SMES with STATCOM in power systems is presented. Also, the performance of the STATCOM/SMES compensator is evaluated using an IEEE 3-bus system through the dynamic simulation by PSCAD/EMTDC software.

Keywords: STATCOM/SMES compensator, chopper, converter, energy storage system, power systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 547

Authors: Olajumoke Tolulope Esan, Odunayo Stephen Faluse

Abstract:

Nigeria’s electoral politics from independence has been tumultuous. Violence has continued to damage the conduct of almost all general elections in Nigeria, Thereby making free and fair elections an event that seems to be unachievable in the history of the nation’s politics. Apparently, electoral violence has subjected the Nation into stereotyped electoral procedures that are always dictated through powerful political Godfathers. However, the shameful act of riotous and tumultuous election processes has led to a political, national instability festering irregularities that manifest at different stages of the election, thus subjecting almost all elections carried out in Nigeria below the minimum democracy standard. Hence the fact that an average Nigerian is being deprived of his or her individual electoral rights should be enough to attract Global political interventions from the western world as Nigeria is part of the commonwealth countries and every Nigerians have the right to demand for posterity to be ensured by protecting individual rightful votes. Basically for elections to be termed democratic, it must be free and fair. In view of this, A deep understanding of this paper is a reflection on the tides of electoral violence and the alarming precipitating factors that make free and fair election almost unreachable in Nigeria.

Keywords: democracy, election, electoral violence, political violence

Procedia PDF Downloads 410

Authors: Michael Ruiz

Abstract:

Many scholars view the French Revolution as the origins of ‘modern nationalism,’ citing the unprecedented rhetorical power of ‘the nation’ and the emergence of a centralized, modern nation-state during this time. They have also stressed the role of public education in promoting a national language and creating a sense of shared national identity among the masses. Yet as many cultural historians have shown, revolutionary leaders undertook an unprecedented campaign to overhaul French culture in the 1790s in order to cultivate these national ideals and inspire Republican virtues, in what has been called ‘political pedagogy.’ In contrast to scholars of nationalism, who emphasize formal education, revolutionaries attempted to translate abstract ideas of equality and liberty into palpable representations that would inundate everyday life, thereby serving as pedagogical tools. Material culture and everyday life became state apparatuses not just for winning over citizens’ hearts and minds, but for influencing the very formation of the citizen and their innermost ‘self.’ This paper argues that nationalism began in 1789, when ‘the self’ became a political concern and its formation a state project for cultivating political legitimacy. By broadening the meaning of ‘political pedagogy,’ this study brings together scholarship on nationalism with cultural history, thereby highlighting nations and nationalism as banal, palpable, quotidian phenomena and historicizing the complex emergence of ‘modern nationalism.’ Moreover, because the contemporary view of material culture and pedagogy was highly gendered, this study shows the role of culture in the development of a homosocial, male-dominated public sphere in the 19th century. The legacy of the French Revolution’s concern with culture thus persists as much in our vocabulary for political expression as it does in the material world, remaining deeply embedded in everyday day life as a crucial, nearly-invisible, component of nationalism.

Keywords: French Revolution, nationalism, political culture, material culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Edward Y. W. Chu

Abstract:

This paper exemplifies how the political and educational considerations have shaped the heavy-handed MOI policy in Hong Kong after its handover to China in 1997. Its result, a significant degeneration of English standard among the non-elite students, will be reported based on a detailed analysis of the public exam statistics available and other empirical studies. The remedial action taken by the Education Bureau out of the economic and educational considerations will be reported with reference to the official documents. The political, economic and educational considerations exemplified in different stages of Mother-tongue MOI policy in Hong Kong are found to be influential in the MOI policy in other Asian countries as well. For example, out of rapid internationalization and marketization, there has been increasing adoption of English as the MOI in post-secondary institutions in China, Japan & South Korea. On the other hand, while colonial languages were firmly made as the MOI in former colonies such as Vietnam and India, they were greatly retrieved upon independence for political and educational reasons. Malaysia also followed the same pattern upon independence but re-introduced partial English MOI policy in late 90s hoping to capitalize favourable globalization benefits. The short-lived policy was abandoned in 2009 because of the perceived political threat of national identity as well as the lack of educational effectiveness. Based on the great majority of Asian countries studied, this paper argues that MOI policy in Asia is much more than an educational issue, and that there is a clear pattern of how decisions of MOI matters are made. Studying the history and development of MOI in Hong Kong and other Asian countries provides a unique angle to view of how Asian countries prepare for the political, economic and educational challenges nowadays.

Keywords: economics, Hong Kong, medium of instruction, politics

Procedia PDF Downloads 480

Authors: Abdul Walid Ali

Abstract:

The trend of publishing political musicals in Istana Budaya has been popular since 2007 when Malaysia celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence. Istana Budaya has at least one musical of any politician since then. Normally, the politicians are former Prime Ministers and renowned ministers prior to Malaysia's independence in 1957. The first performance in Istana Budaya which represented a politician as a theme was Muzikal Cheng Lock (2007) followed by Muzikal Tun Abdul Razak (2009), Muzikal Tun Mahathir (2010), and Muzikal Tun Mahathir 2 (2011). In 2012, Lawak Ke Der has changed the trend with comic performance and put an end to politician musical. Tun Siti Hasmah the Musical (2012) is not listed in the research because she did not hold any position as a minister. This qualitative research focuses on musicals of political figures as a theme. Some factors of making this type of performance are analyzed based on Istana Budaya’s decisions during that time in Malaysia between 2007 and 2011. This research aims to document these musical themed performances in Istana Budaya for further research in the future. Political performances are listed and analyzed from 2007 to 2012 based on reports and previous research. The declination of audiences in 2012 and a new theme in theatre performances in Istana Budaya are important factors for the downfall of the political theatres' theme.

Keywords: musical, politician, Istana Budaya, theatre

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: K. Harrat, M. Hidjeb, M. T’kint

Abstract:

The aim of the present research work is to characterize a cement palm date fiber composite in order to be used in isolation and in the manufacture of new structural materials. This technique may possibly participate seriously in the preservation of the environment and develop a growing need for plant products. On one hand, It has been shown that the presence of natural fiber in the composite materials manufacture, based on hydraulic binder, has improved the mechanical behaviour of the material. On the Other hand, It has been proven that the durability of composite materials reinforced with untreated fibers was largely affected by the presence of organic matter. In order to extract the organic material, the fibers were treated with boiling water and then coated with different types of products. A considerable improvement in the sensitivity to water of the fibers, as well as in the mechanical strength and in the ductility of the composite material was observed. The fiber being sensitive to water, the study put the emphasis on its dimensional stability.

Keywords: cement composite, durability, heat treatment, mechanical behaviour, vegetal fiber

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Tugba Ayas Onol

Abstract:

The paper revisits Jean-François Lyotard’s interpretation of the Kantian Sublime as a tool for understanding politics after modernity. In 1985 Lyotard announces the end of rational politics based on consensus and claims that new strategies are urged to recognize the political imperatives of marginalized groups. The charm of the sublime as a reflective judgment is grounded on the fact that the judgment of sublime is free from any notion of consensus or common sense in particular. Lyotard interprets this feature of the sublime as a respect for heterogeneity and for him aesthetic judgments can be a model for understanding justice in postmodern times, in which it seems hard to follow a single universal law among different phrase regimes. More importantly, the Kantian sublime speaks to what Lyotard addresses as the incommensurability of phase genres. The present paper shall try to evaluate Lyotard’s employment of the Kantian notion of the sublime in relation to its possible political import.

Keywords: Kant, Lyotard, sublime, politics

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Ankit Kumar Yadav, Nagendra R. Velaga

Abstract:

Driving under the influence of alcohol impairs the driving performance and increases the crash risks worldwide. The present study investigated the effect of different Blood Alcohol Concentrations (BAC) on the accelerating and braking behaviour of drivers with the help of driving simulator experiments. Eighty-two licensed Indian drivers drove on the rural road environment designed in the driving simulator at BAC levels of 0.00%, 0.03%, 0.05%, and 0.08% respectively. Driving performance was analysed with the help of vehicle control performance indicators such as mean acceleration and mean brake pedal force of the participants. Preliminary analysis reported an increase in mean acceleration and mean brake pedal force with increasing BAC levels. Generalized linear mixed models were developed to quantify the effect of different alcohol levels and explanatory variables such as driver’s age, gender and other driver characteristic variables on the driving performance indicators. Alcohol use was reported as a significant factor affecting the accelerating and braking performance of the drivers. The acceleration model results indicated that mean acceleration of the drivers increased by 0.013 m/s², 0.026 m/s² and 0.027 m/s² for the BAC levels of 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.08% respectively. Results of the brake pedal force model reported that mean brake pedal force of the drivers increased by 1.09 N, 1.32 N and 1.44 N for the BAC levels of 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.08% respectively. Age was a significant factor in both the models where one year increase in drivers’ age resulted in 0.2% reduction in mean acceleration and 19% reduction in mean brake pedal force of the drivers. It shows that driving experience could compensate for the negative effects of alcohol to some extent while driving. Female drivers were found to accelerate slower and brake harder as compared to the male drivers which confirmed that female drivers are more conscious about their safety while driving. It was observed that drivers who were regular exercisers had better control on their accelerator pedal as compared to the non-regular exercisers during drunken driving. The findings of the present study revealed that drivers tend to be more aggressive and impulsive under the influence of alcohol which deteriorates their driving performance. Drunk driving state can be differentiated from sober driving state by observing the accelerating and braking behaviour of the drivers. The conclusions may provide reference in making countermeasures against drinking and driving and contribute to traffic safety.

Keywords: alcohol, acceleration, braking behaviour, driving simulator

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Sourina Bej

Abstract:

Since the process of decolonization in 1940, several countries in South Asia have witnessed intra-state conflicts owing to ineffective political governance. The conflicts have remained protracted as the countries have failed to make a holistic transition to a democratic state. Nepal is one such South Asian country facing a turmultous journey from monarchy to republicanism. The paper aims to focus on the democratic transition in the context of Nepal’s political, legal and economic institutions. The presence of autocratic feudalistic and centralised state structure with entrenched socio-economic inequalities has resulted in mass uprising only to see the country slip back to the old order. Even a violent civil war led by the Maoists could not overhaul the political relations or stabilize the democratic space. The paper aims to analyse the multiple political, institutional and operational challenges in the implementation of the peace agreement with the Maoist. Looking at the historical background, the paper will examine the problematic nation-building that lies at the heart of fragile peace process in Nepal. Regional dynamics have played a big role in convoluting the peace-building. The new constitution aimed at conflict resolution brought to the open, deep seated hatred among different ethnic groups in Nepal. Apart from studying the challenges to the peace process and the role of external players like India and China in the political reconstruction, the paper will debate on a viable federal solution to the ethnic conflict in Nepal. If the current government fails to pass a constitution accepted by most ethnic groups, Nepal will remain on the brink of new conflict outbreaks.

Keywords: democratisation, ethnic conflict, Nepal, peace process

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: X. S. Wu, H. Jia, P. H. Qian, Z. Zhang, H. L. Cai, F. M. Zhang

Abstract:

A bipolar resistance switching behaviour is detected for a Ti/TiO2-x/Au memristor device, which is fabricated by a masked designed magnetic sputtering. The current dependence of voltage indicates the curve changes slowly and continuously. When voltage pulses are applied to the device, the set and reset processes maintains linearity, which is used to simulate the synapses. We argue that the conduction mechanism of the device is from the oxygen vacancy channel model, and the resistance of the device change slowly due to the reaction between the titanium electrode and the intermediate layer and the existence of a large number of oxygen vacancies in the intermediate layer. Then, Hopfield neural network is constructed to simulate the behaviour of neural network in image processing, and the accuracy rate is more than 98%. This shows that titanium dioxide memristor has a broad application prospect in high performance neural network simulation.

Keywords: memristor fabrication, neuromorphic computing, bionic synaptic application, TiO₂-based

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Tayebeh Saghapour, Sara Moridpour, Russell George Thompson

Abstract:

One of the common aims of transport policy makers is to switch people’s travel to active transport. For this purpose, a variety of transport goals and investments should be programmed to increase the propensity towards active transport mode choice. This paper aims to investigate whether built environment features in neighbourhoods could enhance the odds of active transportation. The present study introduces an index measuring public transport accessibility (PTAI), and a walkability index along with socioeconomic variables to investigate mode choice behaviour. Using travel behaviour data, an ordered logit regression model is applied to examine the impacts of explanatory variables on walking trips. The findings indicated that high rates of active travel are consistently associated with higher levels of walking and public transport accessibility.

Keywords: active transport, public transport accessibility, walkability, ordered logit model

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Duncan K. Espenshade

Abstract:

Scholars have established expectations regarding how the political and economic interests of a country's people and elites can influence its migration policies. Most of the scholarship exploring the adoption of migration policies focuses on the developed world, focusing on the cultural, political, and economic influences that drive restrictive policies in developed countries. However, despite the scholarly focus on migration policies in developed countries, most internationally displaced people reside in developing countries. Furthermore, while the political and economic factors that influence migration policy in developed countries are likely at play in developing states, developing states also face unique hurdles to policy formation not present in developed states. Namely, this article explores how state capacity, or in this context, a state's de facto ability to restrict or absorb migration inflows, influences the adoption of migration policies in developing countries. Using Cox-Proportional hazard models and recently introduced data on asylum policies in developing countries, this research finds that having a greater ability to restrict migration flows is associated with a reduced likelihood of adopting liberal asylum policies. Future extensions of this project will explore the adoption of asylum policies as a two-stage process, in which the available decision set of political actors is first constrained by a state's restrictive and absorptive capacity in the first stage, with the political, economic, and cultural factors influencing the policy adopted in the second stage.

Keywords: state capacity, international relations, foreign policy, migration

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Tunde Ope-Davies

Abstract:

Transmediality and platformization as online content-sharing protocols have continued to accentuate the growing impact of the unprecedented digital revolution across the world. The rapid transformation across all sectors as a result of this revolution has continued to spotlight the increasing importance of new media technologies in redefining and reshaping the rhythm and dynamics of our private and public discursive practices. Equally, social and political activities are being impacted daily through the creation and transmission of political discourse content through multi-channel platforms such as mobile telephone communication, social media networks and the internet. It has been observed that digital platforms have become central to the production, processing, and distribution of multimodal social data and cultural content. The platformization paradigm thus underpins our understanding of how digital platforms enhance the production and heterogenous distribution of media and cultural content through these platforms and how this process facilitates socioeconomic and political activities. The use of multiple digital platforms to share and transmit political discourse material synchronously and asynchronously has gained some exciting momentum in the last few years. Nigeria’s 2023 general elections amplified the usage of social media and other online platforms as tools for electioneering campaigns, socio-political mobilizations and civic engagement. The study, therefore, focuses on transmedia and platformed political discourse as a new strategy to promote political candidates and their manifesto in order to mobilize support and woo voters. This innovative transmedia digital discourse model involves a constellation of online texts and images transmitted through different online platforms almost simultaneously. The data for the study was extracted from the 2023 general elections campaigns in Nigeria between January- March 2023 through media monitoring, manual download and the use of software to harvest the online electioneering campaign material. I adopted a discursive-analytic qualitative technique with toolkits drawn from a computer-mediated multimodal discourse paradigm. The study maps the progressive development of digital political discourse in this young democracy. The findings also demonstrate the inevitable transformation of modern democratic practice through platform-dependent and transmedia political discourse. Political actors and media practitioners now deploy layers of social media network platforms to convey messages and mobilize supporters in order to aggregate and maximize the impact of their media campaign projects and audience reach.

Keywords: social media, digital humanities, political discourse, platformized discourse, multimodal discourse

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Shreemoyee Sarkar, Vikhyat Chadha

Abstract:

In this paper, the local fractal properties and chaotic properties of financial time series are investigated by calculating two exponents, the Local Hurst Exponent: LHE and Lyapunov Exponent in a moving time window of a financial series.y. For the purpose of this paper, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIJA) and S&P 500, two of the major indices of United States have been considered. The behaviour of the above-mentioned exponents prior to some major crashes (1998 and 2008 crashes in S&P 500 and 2002 and 2008 crashes in DIJA) is discussed. Also, the optimal length of the window for obtaining the best possible results is decided. Based on the outcomes of the above, an attempt is made to predict the crashes and accuracy of such an algorithm is decided.

Keywords: local hurst exponent, lyapunov exponent, market crash prediction, time series chaos, time series local fractal properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Haitham A. Haloush

Abstract:

Debtors' imprisonment in Jordan is a problematic issue since it impinges upon required financial guarantees that are presumably offered by debtors on the one hand, and infringes flagrantly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the other hand. Jordan lacks regulatory provisions in this respect and debtors' imprisonment is indirectly exercised in Jordan without giving a special legal attention to this concern. From this perspective, this research reviews the available regulations, standard laws and codes of conduct that might guide the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Jordanian context. Furthermore, this article will examine the suitability of the Jordanian legal system in providing sufficient protection for debtors. The author argues that there are serious obstacles in this aspect.

Keywords: the Jordanian civil code, the Jordanian execution law, imprisonment for debt, good faith, the Jordanian constitution, the international covenant on civil and political rights

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: A. Mudau, T. R. Stacey, R. A. Govender

Abstract:

This paper reports for the first time the findings on the dynamic compressive strength data of Bushveld Complex brittle rock materials. These rocks were subjected to both quasi-static and impact loading tests to help understand their behaviour both under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. Unlike quasi-static tests, characterization of dynamic behaviour of materials is challenging, in particularly brittle rock materials. The split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) results reported for anorthosite and norite showed relatively low values for dynamic compressive strength compared to the quasi-static uniaxial compressive strength data. It was noticed that the dynamic stress conditions were not fully attained during testing, as well as constant strain rate.

Keywords: Bushveld Complex, dynamic comperession, rock brittleness, stress equilibrium

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Lee Da Hyun

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to explore the relation between the internal dynamics of standing committees and legislative productivity of the Korean National Assembly using statistical methods. Studies on legislation in South Korea have been largely revolved around political parties due to the uniqueness of its political context including strong party cohesion and party’s nomination right. However, as standing committees have been at the center of legislatures since the 6th National Assembly, there is a growing need for studying the operation and effectiveness of standing committees in legislation process. Thus, through panel data analysis for the sixteen standing committees across the four terms of the Korean National Assembly-from the 16th to the 19th-this article attempts to reveal that legislators’ bill passing rate is not a sole function of factors pertaining to political party as the existing studies have believed. By measuring the ideological distribution within a committee and the bill passing rate, this article provides differentiated interpretation from established theories of standing committees and presents compelling evidence describing complex interactions and independent operation of the standing committees with the subsequent legislative results.

Keywords: collective decision-making, lawmaking, legislation, political polarization, standing committees

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Kaviyarasan D., Satish Kumar S. R.

Abstract:

India being vast in area and population with great scope of international business, roadways and railways network connection within the country is expected to have a big growth. There are numerous rail-cum-road bridges constructed across many major rivers in India and few are getting very old. So there is more possibility of repairing or coming up with such new bridges in India. Analysis and design of such bridges are practiced through conventional procedure and end up with heavy and uneconomical sections. Such heavy class steel bridges when subjected to high seismic shaking has more chance to fail by stability because the members are too much rigid and stocky rather than being flexible to dissipate the energy. This work is the collective study of the researches done in the truss bridge and steel concrete composite truss bridges presenting the method of analysis, tools for numerical and analytical modeling which evaluates its seismic behaviour and collapse mechanisms. To ascertain the inelastic and nonlinear behaviour of the structure, generally at research level static pushover analysis is adopted. Though the static pushover analysis is now extensively used for the framed steel and concrete buildings to study its lateral action behaviour, those findings by pushover analysis done for the buildings cannot directly be used for the bridges as such, because the bridges have completely a different performance requirement, behaviour and typology as compared to that of the buildings. Long span steel bridges are mostly the truss bridges. Truss bridges being formed by many members and connections, the failure of the system does not happen suddenly with single event or failure of one member. Failure usually initiates from one member and progresses gradually to the next member and so on when subjected to further loading. This kind of progressive collapse of the truss bridge structure is dependent on many factors, in which the live load distribution and span to length ratio are most significant. The ultimate collapse is anyhow by the buckling of the compression members only. For regular bridges, single step pushover analysis gives results closer to that of the non-linear dynamic analysis. But for a complicated bridge like heavy class steel bridge or the skewed bridges or complicated dynamic behaviour bridges, nonlinear analysis capturing the progressive yielding and collapse pattern is mandatory. With the knowledge of the postelastic behaviour of the bridge and advancements in the computational facility, the current level of analysis and design of bridges has moved to state of ascertaining the performance levels of the bridges based on the damage caused by seismic shaking. This is because the buildings performance levels deals much with the life safety and collapse prevention levels, whereas the bridges mostly deal with the extent damages and how quick it can be repaired with or without disturbing the traffic after a strong earthquake event. The paper would compile the wide spectrum of modeling to analysis of the steel concrete composite truss bridges in general.

Keywords: bridge engineering, performance based design of steel truss bridge, seismic design of composite bridge, steel-concrete composite bridge

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Abdelsalam Gomaa, Mahjabeen Ramzan, Tooba Ali Akbar, Huma Nadeem

Abstract:

The use of tobacco and the health risks linked to it are well known in this day and age due to the presence of easily available information through the internet. The media is a powerful platform that is used by many anti-smoking awareness campaigns to reach their target audience; yet, it has been found that adolescents are taking up smoking every passing day. Half of this smoking population of youngsters resides in Asia alone, which includes Qatar, the focus country of this study. As smoking happens to be one of the largest avoidable causes of serious diseases like cancers and heart problems, children are taking up smoking at an alarming rate everywhere including Qatar. Importance of the health of the citizens of Qatar is one of the pillars of the Qatar vision 2030, which is to ensure a healthy population, both physically and mentally. Since the youth makes up a significant percentage of the population and in order to achieve the health objectives of the Qatar vision 2030, it is essential to ensure the health and well-being of this part of the population of the country as they are the future of Qatar. Children, especially boys who tend to be more aggressive by nature, are highly likely to develop behavioral and health issues due to smoking at an early age. Research conducted around the world has also emphasized on this association between the smokers developing a bad behaviour as well as poor social communication skills. However, due to lack of research into this association, very little is known about the extent to which smoking impacts the children’s academics, health and behaviour. Moreover, a study of this nature has not yet been conducted in Qatar previously as most of the studies focus on adult smokers and ways to minimize the number of smoking habits in universities and workplaces. This study solely focuses on identifying a relationship between smoking and its impacts on the adolescents by conducting a research on different schools across Qatar.

Keywords: adolescents, modelling techniques, Qatar, smoking

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Mohammad M. Khan, Gajendra Dixit

Abstract:

Partially lubricated sliding wear behaviour of a zinc-based alloy reinforced with 10wt% SiC particles has been studied as a function of applied load and solid lubricant particle size and has been compared with that of matrix alloy and conventionally used grey cast iron. The wear tests were conducted at the sliding velocities of 2.1m/sec in various partial lubricated conditions using pin on disc machine as per ASTM G-99-05. Base oil (SAE 20W-40) or mixture of the base oil with 5wt% graphite of particle sizes (7-10 µm) and (100 µm) were used for creating lubricated conditions. The matrix alloy revealed primary dendrites of a and eutectoid a + h and Î phases in the Inter dendritic regions. Similar microstructure has been depicted by the composite with an additional presence of the dispersoid SiC particles. In the case of cast iron, flakes of graphite were observed in the matrix; the latter comprised of (majority of) pearlite and (limited quantity of) ferrite. Results show a large improvement in wear resistance of the zinc-based alloy after reinforcement with SiC particles. The cast iron shows intermediate response between the matrix alloy and composite. The solid lubrication improved the wear resistance and friction behaviour of both the reinforced and base alloy. Moreover, minimum wear rate is obtained in oil+ 5wt % graphite (7-10 µm) lubricated environment for the matrix alloy and composite while for cast iron addition of solid lubricant increases the wear rate and minimum wear rate is obtained in case of oil lubricated environment. The cast iron experienced higher frictional heating than the matrix alloy and composite in all the cases especially at higher load condition. As far as friction coefficient is concerned, a mixed trend of behaviour was noted. The wear rate and frictional heating increased with load while friction coefficient was affected in an opposite manner. Test duration influenced the frictional heating and friction coefficient of the samples in a mixed manner.

Keywords: solid lubricant, sliding wear, grey cast iron, zinc based metal matrix composites

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: A. T. Al-Isawi, P. E. F. Collins

Abstract:

The behaviour of structures exposed to fire after an earthquake is not a new area of engineering research, but there remain a number of areas where further work is required. Such areas relate to the way in which seismic excitation is applied to a structure, taking into account the effect of soil-structure interaction (SSI) and the method of analysis, in addition to identifying the excitation load properties. The selection of earthquake data input for use in nonlinear analysis and the method of analysis are still challenging issues. Thus, realistic artificial ground motion input data must be developed to certify that site properties parameters adequately describe the effects of the nonlinear inelastic behaviour of the system and that the characteristics of these parameters are coherent with the characteristics of the target parameters. Conversely, ignoring the significance of some attributes, such as frequency content, soil site properties and earthquake parameters may lead to misleading results, due to the misinterpretation of required input data and the incorrect synthesise of analysis hypothesis. This paper presents a study of the post-earthquake fire (PEF) performance of a multi-storey steel-framed building resting on soft clay, taking into account the effects of the nonlinear inelastic behaviour of the structure and soil, and the soil-structure interaction (SSI). Structures subjected to an earthquake may experience various levels of damage; the geometrical damage, which indicates the change in the initial structure’s geometry due to the residual deformation as a result of plastic behaviour, and the mechanical damage which identifies the degradation of the mechanical properties of the structural elements involved in the plastic range of deformation. Consequently, the structure presumably experiences partial structural damage but is then exposed to fire under its new residual material properties, which may result in building failure caused by a decrease in fire resistance. This scenario would be more complicated if SSI was also considered. Indeed, most earthquake design codes ignore the probability of PEF as well as the effect that SSI has on the behaviour of structures, in order to simplify the analysis procedure. Therefore, the design of structures based on existing codes which neglect the importance of PEF and SSI can create a significant risk of structural failure. In order to examine the criteria for the behaviour of a structure under PEF conditions, a two-dimensional nonlinear elasto-plastic model is developed using ABAQUS software; the effects of SSI are included. Both geometrical and mechanical damages have been taken into account after the earthquake analysis step. For comparison, an identical model is also created, which does not include the effects of soil-structure interaction. It is shown that damage to structural elements is underestimated if SSI is not included in the analysis, and the maximum percentage reduction in fire resistance is detected in the case when SSI is included in the scenario. The results are validated using the literature.

Keywords: Abaqus Software, Finite Element Analysis, post-earthquake fire, seismic analysis, soil-structure interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Merve Ak Efe

Abstract:

Youth branches in Turkey are one of the sub-fields where political ideologies are intersected with daily life practices. When the youth branches are examined within the framework of daily life practices, a social area can be defined where many types of capital turn into gains. The relationship between politics and capital is not only financial but can also be observed in the form of social, cultural, or emotional capital. This paper examines the political mobilization of young people who are members of the Youth Branch of the Justice and Development Party. The reason why JDP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) was chosen is that they have been the ruling party for twenty years, and there is a considerable number of young members within the party. Since Bayrampaşa is a district where JDP is politically active, This study is based on Bayrampaşa youth branches. The study examines how young people who are members of the party are mobilized and the everyday life practices and emotions underlying this mobilization. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with 13 young people, and the participant observation method was applied at the weekly meetings of the Justice and Development Party Bayrampaşa Youth Branch. Youth Branches represent a political space in which emotions turn into action for the young people who are involved in the party. During the field study at the micro level, it has been observed that the Bayrampaşa JDP Youth Branch hosted a transformation that incorporates political and social practices into modern tactics. One of the other results shows that being a member of youth branches causes a significant rise in social capital for young people. On the other hand, for the members with low cultural capital, there is an increase in social capital; however, an increase in cultural capital is not prominent.

Keywords: political mobilization, everyday practices, emotional capital, social capital, cultural capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Zouhir Gabsi

Abstract:

The Arab Spring has had noticeable effects on Tunisia in socio-economic, political, and cultural terms. Few have predicted that the music of hip-hop and rap could engage with the socio-political situation in Tunisia, especially after the downfall of Ben Ali’s regime. Having survived as underground music since the year 2000, the genre of hip-hop and rap remains an aberration from the folkloric tradition. By adhering to the socio-economic reality of the Tunisian street, rappers attempt to claim authenticity mainly in both thematic and language uses, and by usurping the power of ‘space’ from the regime’s control. With the songs’ fast-paced rhythms, catchy phrases, puns, vulgarisms, and linguistic innovations using metaphors, hip-hop, and rap have struck a chord with Tunisia’s youth. Tunisia’s new social reality has allowed Tunisian rappers to express dissent and voice people’s despair over the socio-economic and political situation. This paper argues that rap artists use language as a vehicle to claim the authenticity of their message. It also explores how the performative nature of the language of hip-hop and rap interacts with the Tunisian culture and argues the power of music in the context of political and socio-economic grievances in post-Arab Spring Tunisia.

Keywords: Arab Spring, hip-hop, eevolution, Tunisia, Tunisian Arabic

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Saeid Mehvari, Yolanda Sanchez-Vicente, Sergio González Sánchez, Khalid Lafdi

Abstract:

Abstract- Materials with a combination of transparency, electrical conductivity, and flexibility are required in the ‎growing electronic sector. In this research, electrically conductive and flexible films have been prepared. These ‎composite films consist of dispersing micro-copper particles into polyurethane (PU) matrix. Two sets of samples were ‎made using both spin coating technique (sample thickness lower than 30 μm) and materials casting (sample thickness ‎lower than 100 μm). Copper concentrations in the PU matrix varied from 0.5 to 20% by volume. The dispersion of ‎micro-copper particles into polyurethane (PU) matrix were characterised using optical microscope and scanning electron ‎microscope. The electrical conductivity measurement was carried out using home-made multimeter set up under ‎pressures from 1 to 20 kPa through thickness and in plane direction. It seems that samples made by casting were not ‎conductive. However, the sample made by spin coating shows through-thickness conductivity when they are under ‎pressure. The results showed that spin-coated films with higher concentration of 2 vol. % of copper displayed a ‎significant increase in the conductivity value, known as percolation threshold. The maximum conductivity of 7.2 × 10-1 ‎S∙m-1 was reached at concentrations of filler with 20 vol. % at 20kPa. A semi-empirical model with adjustable ‎coefficients was used to fit and predict the electrical behaviour of composites. For the first time, the finite element ‎method based on the representative volume element (FE-RVE) was successfully used to predict their electrical ‎behaviour under applied pressures. ‎

Keywords: electrical conductivity, micro copper, numerical simulation, percolation threshold, polyurethane, RVE model

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Ismail Seckin Cardakli, Mustafa Engin Kocadagistan, Ersin Arslan

Abstract:

In this study, mechanochemical behaviour of aluminium - boron oxide - melamine ternary system was investigated by high energy ball milling. According to the reaction Al + B₂O₃ = Al₂O₃ + B, stochiometric amount of aluminium and boron oxide with melamine up to ten percent of total weight was used in the experiments. The powder characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) after leaching of product by 1M HCl acid. Results show that mechanically induced self-sustaining reaction (MSR) between aluminium and boron oxide takes place after four hours high energy ball milling. Al₂O₃/h-BN composite powder is obtained as the product of aluminium - boron oxide - melamine ternary system.

Keywords: high energy ball milling, hexagonal boron nitride, mechanically induced self-sustaining reaction, melamine

Procedia PDF Downloads 133