Search results for: direction of trade

Authors: Kamen Kirov

Abstract:

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Britain dominated global trade and finance in large part due to its maritime superiority. Germany, a land power, sought to undermine Britain’s position as the primary hegemon but ultimately could not challenge Britain’s maritime position or capabilities. This drove Germany to seek alternative strategies to weaken Britain’s position. Notably, it pushed Germany to create a reliable overland link through the Balkans to the Middle East via railroad. This article will seek to draw parallels between the German-British hegemonic conflict of the early 20th century and the Chinese-American hegemonic conflict taking place today using both secondary historical sources and current scholarly discussions of the changing international sphere. In doing so, it will provide useful insights into how China might attempt to outflank American power. The article will demonstrate that in many ways, the strategic positions and approaches of the early-20th century Germany and modern China are similar. Both countries were faced with a vastly superior foe with respect to maritime and economic power, and in both cases, their response was to undermine their rival hegemon by creating new overland infrastructure. Furthermore, in both cases, a major goal of creating new overland links was to gain further access to and control over Middle Eastern energy markets. It seems that in the modern day, China is conducting such a policy on a much grander scale than Germany did in the early 20th century—which may result in negative consequences for the US strategic position.

Keywords: belt and road Initiative, hegemonic conflict, maritime power, realism

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Authors: Teo Yen Nee, Tham Siew Yean, Andrew Kam Jia Yi

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There are growing concerns about the effect of increasing outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from Malaysia. These concerns emerged when OFDI surpassed inward FDI for the first time in 2007 and in the subsequent years as well. From a theoretical point of view, the effect of OFDI on exports remains inconclusive depending on the types and/or motivations of investment. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of Malaysia’s OFDI on manufacturing exports, using a reduced form exports model. The manufacturing data used in this study covered 24 manufacturing industries for the period 2003-2010. The manufacturing sector is the fourth largest sector invested by Malaysia’s OFDI abroad. However, this sector is chosen for this study because total manufacturing trade contributed significantly to Malaysia’s economy growth as reflected by its significant share in the country’s gross domestic product (138.7%) in 2013. Furthermore, Malaysia’s exports are dominated by manufacturing goods. Consequently, the drastic increase in OFDI added concerns about its impact on the country’s exports. Since OFDI activities are still relatively new in Malaysia, this study is exploratory in nature due to a lack of firm level data. Using industry level panel data, the value added of this paper is to meet the research gap by examining the effect of Malaysia’s outward FDI on manufacturing exports. Overall, the findings show that lagged inward FDI, technology development, and industry size are found to positive and significantly influence manufacturing exports as compared to other factors. The insignificant impact of OFDI on manufacturing exports suggests market seeking investment is the main form of OFDI from Malaysia and the destination markets are not served by exports before so that there are no new exports created or displacement of exports. While the results show that there is no need to worry about OFDI’s negative impact on exports, policies should be undertaken to encourage OFDI from Malaysia to create new exports for the country.

Keywords: OFDI, manufacturing industries, exports, Malaysia

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Authors: Nurtati Soewarno, Dian Duhita

Abstract:

The existence of civilization from the past is recognized by the left objects such as monuments, buildings or even a town. The relics were designed and made well, using the good quality material so it could persist a long period of time. At this moment, those relics are cultural heritage that must be preserved and the authenticity maintained. Indonesia, a country consist of various tribes with many cultural heritages, one of them is the city of Lasem. Lasem city lies in the northern part of Central Java since the Majapahit kingdom era (13th century) poses as a busy harbor city and a trading center. Lasem is one of the residences of Chinese immigrants in Java, seen by the domination of Chinese architectural building styles. The residential was built since the 15th century and the building has the courtyard which is different from other China’s building in another part of Java. This city loses ground since the trade activity experience difficulties during the Japanese colonial era and continues after the Indonesian independence time. Many Chinese people left Lasem city and let the buildings empty not maintained. This paper will present the result of observation to Chinese architectural style buildings in Lasem city which still hold out until this moment. Using typo morphology method, the case study is chosen based on the transformation type. The occurring transformation is parallel with adaptive reuse concept as an effort to revitalize the existence of the buildings. With this concept, it is expected that the buildings could be re functioned and the glory of the foretime Lasem city could be experienced again. Intervention from the local government is expected, issuing regulations, hoping the new building functions won’t ruin the cultural heritage but instead beautifies it.

Keywords: adaptive re-use, brown field area, building transformation, Lasem city

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Authors: Zeinab Sayed Abdel Rehim, M. A. Ziada, H. Salwa El-Deeb

Abstract:

Numerical study of fluid flow, heat transfer and thermal energy storing or released in/from spongy-porous media to predict the thermal performance and characteristics of the porous media as packed bed system is presented in this work. This system is cylindrical channel filled with porous media (carbon foam). The system consists of working fluid (air) and spongy-porous medium; they act as the heat exchanger (heating or cooling modes) where thermal interaction occurs between the working fluid and the porous medium. The spongy-porous media are defined by the different type of porous medium employed in the storing or cooling modes. Two different porous media are considered in this study: Carbon foam, and Silicon rubber. The flow of the working fluid (air) is one dimensional in the axial direction from the top to downward and steady state conditions. The numerical results of transient temperature distribution for both working fluid and the spongy-porous medium phases and the amount of stored/realized heat inside/from the porous medium for each case with respect to the operating parameters and the spongy-porous media characteristics are illustrated.

Keywords: fluid flow, heat transfer, numerical analysis, spongy-porous media, thermal performance, transient conditions

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Authors: Ayan Chakraborty, BV. Rathish Kumar

Abstract:

Off-late many models in viscoelasticity, signal processing or anomalous diffusion equations are formulated in fractional calculus. Tempered fractional calculus is the generalization of fractional calculus and in the last few years several important partial differential equations occurring in the different field of science have been reconsidered in this term like diffusion wave equations, Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger equation and so on. In the present paper, a time-dependent tempered fractional diffusion equation of order $\gamma \in (0,1)$ with forcing function is considered. Existence, uniqueness, stability, and regularity of the solution has been proved. Crank-Nicolson discretization is used in the time direction. B spline finite element approximation is implemented. Generally, B-splines basis are useful for representing the geometry of a finite element model, interfacing a finite element analysis program. By utilizing this technique a priori space-time estimate in finite element analysis has been derived and we proved that the convergent order is $\mathcal{O}(h²+T²)$ where $h$ is the space step size and $T$ is the time. A couple of numerical examples have been presented to confirm the accuracy of theoretical results. Finally, we conclude that the studied method is useful for solving tempered fractional diffusion equations.

Keywords: B-spline finite element, error estimates, Gronwall's lemma, stability, tempered fractional

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Authors: Feby Zaki Raouf Fawzy

Abstract:

Nowadays, design and architecture are being affected and undergoing change with the rapid advancements in technology, economics, politics, society, and culture. Architecture has been transforming with the latest developments after the inclusion of computers in design. Integration of design into the computational environment has revolutionized architecture and unique perspectives in architecture have been gained. The history of architecture shows the various technological developments and changes in which architecture has transformed with time. Therefore, the analysis of integration between technology and the history of the architectural process makes it possible to build a consensus on the idea of how architecture is to proceed. In this study, each period that occurs with the integration of technology into architecture is addressed within the historical process. At the same time, changes in architecture via technology are identified as important milestones and predictions with regards to the future of architecture have been determined. Developments and changes in technology and the use of technology in architecture within years are analyzed in charts and graphs comparatively. The historical process of architecture and its transformation via technology is supported by a detailed literature review, and they are consolidated with the examination of focal points of 20th-century architecture under the titles parametric design, genetic architecture, simulation, and biomimicry. It is concluded that with the historical research between past and present, the developments in architecture cannot keep up with the advancements in technology, and recent developments in technology overshadow architecture; even technology decides the direction of architecture. As a result, a scenario is presented with regard to the reach of technology in the future of architecture and the role of the architect.

Keywords: design and development the information technology architecture, enterprise architecture, enterprise architecture design result, TOGAF architecture development method (ADM)

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Authors: Elsayed A. Issawy, Anwar H. Radwan

Abstract:

Recent crustal deformations studies in Egypt are applied on the most active areas with relation to seismic activity. Temporal gravity variations in parallel with the geodetic technique (GPS) were used to monitor recent crustal movements in Egypt since 1997. The non-tidal gravity changes were constrained by the vertical component of surface movements derived from the GPS observations. The gravity changes were used to understand the surface tectonics and geodynamic modelling of the Greater Cairo region after the occurrence of an earthquake of 1992. It was found that there is a certain relation showed by increasing of gravity values before the main seismic activity. As example, relative considerable increase of gravity values was noticed for the network between the epochs of 2000 and 2004. Otherwise, the temporal gravity variations were reported a considerable decrease in gravity values between the two campaigns of 2004 and 2007 for the same stations. This behaviour could explain by compressive deformation and strain build-up stage before the South western Cairo earthquake (July 31, 2005 with magnitude of 4.3) and the stress release stage occurred after the main event. The geodetic measurements showed that, the estimated horizontal velocities for almost of points are 5.5 mm/year in approximately NW direction.

Keywords: temporal gravity variations, geodynamics, greater Cairo, recent crustal movements, earthquakes

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Authors: Kyu-Jeoung Lee, Jae-Uk Choo

Abstract:

This paper focuses on investigating The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from Utterson’s point of view, referring to: Gabriel John Utterson, a central character in the book. Utterson is no different from a forensic investigator, as he tries to collect evidence on the mysterious Mr. Hyde’s relationship to Dr. Jekyll. From Utterson's perspective, Jekyll is the 'victim' of a potential scandal and blackmail, and Hyde is the 'suspect' of a possible 'crime'. Utterson intends to figure out Hyde's identity, connect his motive with his actions, and gather witness accounts. During Utterson’s quest, the outside materials available to him along with the social backgrounds of Hyde and Jekyll will be analyzed. The archives left from Jekyll’s chamber will also play a part providing evidence. Utterson will investigate, based on what he already knows about Jekyll his whole life, and how Jekyll had acted in his eyes until he was gone, and finding out possible explanations for Jekyll's actions. The relationship between Jekyll and Hyde becomes the major question, as the social background offers clues pointing in the direction of illegitimacy and prostitution. There is still a possibility that Jekyll and Hyde were, in fact, completely different people. Utterson received a full statement and confession from Jekyll himself at the end of the story, which gives the reader the possible truth on what happened. Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde led readers, as it did Utterson, to find the connection between Hyde and Jekyll using methods of history, culture, and science. Utterson's quest to uncover Hyde shows an example of applying the various fields to in his act to see if Hyde's inheritance was legal. All of this taken together could technically be considered forensic investigation.

Keywords: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, forensic investigation, illegitimacy, prostitution, Robert Louis Stevenson

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Authors: Y. H. Mugahed Amran, Raizal S. M. Rashid, Farzad Hejazi, Nor Azizi Safiee, A. A. Abang Ali

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Experimental and analytical studies were carried out to investigate the structural behavior of precast foamed concrete sandwich panels (PFCSP) of total number (6) as one-way action slab tested under lateral load. The details of the test setup and procedures were illustrated. The results obtained from the experimental tests were discussed which include the observation of cracking patterns and influence of aspect ratio (L/b). Analytical study of finite element analysis was implemented and degree of composite action of the test panels was also examined in both experimental and analytical studies. Result shows that crack patterns appeared in only one-direction, similar to reports on solid slabs, particularly when both concrete wythes act in a composite manner. Foamed concrete was briefly reviewed and experimental results were compared with the finite element analyses data which gives a reasonable degree of accuracy. Therefore, based on the results obtained, PFCSP slab can be used as an alternative to conventional flooring system.

Keywords: aspect ratio (L/b), finite element analyses (FEA), foamed concrete (FC), precast foamed concrete sandwich panel (PFCSP), ultimate flexural strength capacity

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Authors: Fatemeh Nejati, Farah Habib, Sayeh Goudarzi

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Architecture and structure have always been closely interrelated so that they should be integrated into a unified, coherent and beautiful universe, while in the contemporary era, both structures and architecture proceed separately. The purpose of architecture is the art of creating form and space and order for human service, and the goal of the structural engineer is the transfer of loads to the structure, too. This research seeks to achieve the goal by looking at the relationship between the form of architecture and structure from its inception to the present day to the Global Identification and Management Plan. Finally, by identifying the main components of the design of the structure in interaction with the architectural form, an effective step is conducted in the Professional training direction and solutions to professionals. Therefore, after reviewing the evolution of structural and architectural coordination in various historical periods as well as how to reach the form of the structure in different times and places, components are required to test the components and present the final theory that one hundred to be tested in this regard. Finally, this research indicates the fact that the form of architecture and structure has an aesthetic link, which is influenced by a number of components that could be edited and has a regular order throughout history that could be regular. The research methodology is analytic, and it is comparative using analytical and matrix diagrams and diagrams and tools for conducting library research and interviewing.

Keywords: architecture, structural form, structural and architectural coordination, effective components, aesthetics

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Authors: Mohammad Borhani, Afshin Danehkar

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With the increase in population and the upward trend of energy demand, mankind has thought of using suppliers that guarantee a stable supply of energy, unlike fossil fuels, which, in addition to the widespread emission of greenhouse gases that one of the main factors in the destruction of the ozone layer and it will be finished in a short time in the not-so-distant future. In this regard, one of the sustainable ways of energy supply is the use of wind converters. That convert wind energy into electricity. For this reason, this research focused on wind turbines and their installation conditions. The main classification of wind turbines is based on the axis of rotation, which is divided into two groups: horizontal axis and vertical axis; each of these two types, with the advancement of technology in man-made environments such as cities, villages, airports, and other human environments can be installed and operated. The main difference between offshore and onshore wind turbines is their installation and foundation. Which are usually divided into five types; including of Monopile Wind Turbines, Jacket Wind Turbines, Tripile Wind Turbines, Gravity-Based Wind Turbines, and Floating Offshore Wind Turbines. For installation in a wind power plant requires an arrangement that produces electric power, the distance between the turbines is usually between 5 or 7 times the diameter of the rotor and if perpendicular to the wind direction be If they are 3 to 5 times the diameter of the rotor, they will be more efficient.

Keywords: wind farms, Savonius, Darrieus, offshore wind turbine, renewable energy

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Authors: Shengbiao Wu, Weihua Cao, Min Wu, Can Liu

Abstract:

This paper presents an intelligent tuning method of microwave filter based on complex neural network and improved space mapping. The tuning process consists of two stages: the initial tuning and the fine tuning. At the beginning of the tuning, the return loss of the filter is transferred to the passband via the error of phase. During the fine tuning, the phase shift caused by the transmission line and the higher order mode is removed by the curve fitting. Then, an Cauchy method based on the admittance parameter (Y-parameter) is used to extract the coupling matrix. The influence of the resonant cavity loss is eliminated during the parameter extraction process. By using processed data pairs (the amount of screw variation and the variation of the coupling matrix), a tuning model is established by the complex neural network. In view of the improved space mapping algorithm, the mapping relationship between the actual model and the ideal model is established, and the amplitude and direction of the tuning is constantly updated. Finally, the tuning experiment of the eight order coaxial cavity filter shows that the proposed method has a good effect in tuning time and tuning precision.

Keywords: microwave filter, scattering parameter, coupling matrix, intelligent tuning

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Authors: Hua Chai, Qiangling Duan, Huiqi Cao, Mi Li, Jinhua Sun

Abstract:

Nitrocellulose (NC), a kind of energetic material, has been widely used in the industrial and military fields. However, this material can also cause serious social disasters due to storage conditions. Thermal hazard of nitrocellulose (NC) was experimentally investigated using the CALVET heat flux calorimeter C80, and three kinds of storage conditions were considered in the experiments: (1) drying time, (2) moisture content, (3) cycles. The results showed that the heat flow curves of NC moved to the low-temperature direction firstly and then slightly moved back by increasing the drying hours. Moisture that was responsible for the appearance of small exothermic peaks was proven to be the unfavorable safety factor yet it could increase the onset temperature of the main peak to some extent. And cycles could both lower the onset temperature and the maximum heat flow but enlarged the peak temperature. Besides, relevant kinetic parameters such as the heat of reaction (ΔH) and the activation energy (Ea) were obtained and compared. It was found that all the three conditions could reduce the values of Ea and most of them produced larger reaction heat. In addition, the critical explosion temperature (Tb) of the NC samples were derived. It was clear that not only the drying time but also the cycles would increase the thermal hazard of the NC. Yet, the right amount of water helped to reduce the thermal hazard.

Keywords: C80, nitrocellulose, storage conditions, the critical explosion temperature, thermal hazard

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Authors: Anasuya Ghosh, Subhramoy Chaudhury

Abstract:

During routine cadaveric dissection at gross anatomy lab of our institution, a radial artery was found with unusual origin and superficial course. Normally the radial artery takes its origin as one of the terminal branches of brachial artery at the level of the neck of radius. It usually lies along the lateral border of fore arm deep to the brachioradialis muscle. While dissecting a 72-year-old Caucasian female cadaver, it was found that the right sided radial artery originated from the upper part of brachial artery of arm, 2 cm below the lower border of teres major muscle, from the lateral aspect of brachial artery. Then the radial artery superficially crossed the brachial artery and median nerve from lateral to medial direction and rested superficially at the cubital fossa. Embryologically, it can be explained as a failure of disappearance, or abnormal persistence of some insignificant embryonic vessels may give rise to this kind of vascular anomalies. As radial artery is one of the most important upper limb arteries, its variation and related complications are clinically significant. This unusual origin and course of radial artery should be kept in mind by all healthcare providers including surgeons and radiologists during routine venipuncture, orthopedic and plastic surgeries of arm, coronary angiographic procedures in radial approach etc. to prevent unwanted complications.

Keywords: brachial artery anomalies, brachio-radial artery, high origin radial artery, superficial radial artery

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Authors: Amleset Haile

Abstract:

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are harvested for both subsistence and commercial use and play a key role in the livelihoods of millions of rural people. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are important in rural southwest Ethiopia, Kaffa as a source of household income. market players at various levels in marketing chains are interviewed to getther information on elements of marketing system–products, product differentiation, value addition, pricing, promotion, distribution, and marketing chains. The study, therefore, was conducted in Kaffa Biosphere reserve of southwest Ethiopia with the main objective of assessing and analyzing the contribution of NTFPs to rural livelihood and to the conservation of the biosphere reserve and to identify factors influencing in the marketing of the NTFP. Five villages were selected based on their proximity gradient from Bonga town and availability of NTFP. Formal survey was carried out on rural households selected using stratified random sampling. The results indicate that Local people practice diverse livelihood activities mainly crops cultivation (cereals and cash crops) and livestock husbandry, gather forest products and off-farm/off-forest activities for surviva. NTFP trade is not a common phenomenon in southwest Ethiopia. The greatest opportunity exists for local level marketing of spices and other non timber forest products. Very little local value addition takes place within the region,and as a result local market players have little control. Policy interventions arc required to enhance the returns to local collectors, which will also contribute to sustainable management of forest resources in Kaffa biosphere reserve.

Keywords: forest management, biosphere reserve, marketing, local people

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Authors: Yangwon Hyun

Abstract:

Nowadays, business settings are becoming increasingly multilingual and multicultural under the conditions of globalization. When people from different linguistic and cultural background interact, their divergent cultural conceptualizations may result in communicative problems. Even though intercultural business communication between Thais and South Koreans has become increasingly significant along with the development of international trade relations, there have been very few attempts to conduct research on interactional problems in that context. Based on a Cultural Linguistics perspective, this study analyzes Thai cultural conceptualizations that underly interactional problems with Koreans at Korean business organizations where were located in Thailand. The data was gathered through in-depth interviews with ten Korean and ten Thai employees as well as through six months of field observations. The results indicate that there are three cultural pragmatic schemas that underly problems of interaction between the two groups; (1) the schema of kreng-jai as a communicative strategy of withholding one’s intentions in order to not hurt another’s emotion, (2) the schema of mai-pen-rai as a linguistic strategy of inducing interlocutors to not be concerned about substantial matters so as to avoid confrontations, and (3) the schema of jai-yen as a linguistic expression used for persuading interlocutors to maintain a calm state of mind in order to avoid conflicts. The linguistic behaviors of Thai employees in relation to these three cultural schemas had led to misunderstandings and interpersonal conflicts with Korean supervisors and co-workers. These interactional problems were caused not only because Koreans were unfamiliar with Thai cultural conceptualizations, but also because these conceptualizations were incompatible with goal-oriented Korean business discourse. The findings of this study can enhance mutual understandings between Thai and Korean employees. Thus, it contributes to the promotion of smooth intercultural communication in the workplace.

Keywords: business context, cultural conceptualizations, cultural linguistics, intercultural communication, thai culture

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Authors: Duygu Alptekin

Abstract:

Patriarchal social structure is based on a gender-based discrimination. Due to confrontational nature of discrimination; in a patriarchal society men and women exists in a based on contrasts and inequalities interaction patterns and this situation continues as socio-cultural with dominant gender perception in society. In this context gender perception of youth is a required vision tool for multidimensional understanding and resolving of gender discrimination problem and making projections about future. The aim of the study is explaining the gender discrimination by helping of Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and hostile benevolent sexism which are subdimensions of (ASI). Additionally the sexism perception of youth will be try to analyse ın the context of conflict of conventionalism and modernism. For that purpose survey have carried aout with the participation of students at the Selcuk University and the conclusions revealed that reached ampirically Young people's perceptions about the hierarchy of power revealed between men and women; sexual, economic and occupational segregation by pointing to statements about male-female relationships commitment, guardianship, gratitude, expressions containing highlights the superiority of socio-psychological (ASI) where results are determined by the application. The results of the factor analysis performed in this direction with the detection of the previous studies were evaluated by blending.

Keywords: ambivalent sexism inventory, gender discrimination, youth, conventionalism

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Authors: Nisha James, Shubha Ranganathan

Abstract:

One of the most poignant forms of organized crime against women, which has rarely made it to the world of Indian cinema, is that of sex trafficking, i.e. the forcible involvement of women in the sex trade through fraud or coercion (Hughes, 2005). In the space of Indian cinema, much of the spotlight has been on the sensational drug trafficking and gang mafia of Bombay. During our research on sex trafficking, the rehabilitated women interviewed often expressed strong criticism about mass media’s naive portrayal of prostitutes as money-minting, happy and sexually driven women. They argued that this unrealistic portrayal ignored the fact that this was not a reality for the majority of trafficked women. Given the gravity of sex trafficking as a human rights issue, it is, therefore, refreshing to see three recent films on sex trafficking in Indian Languages – Naa Bangaaru Talli (2014, Telugu), Mardaani (2014, Hindi) and Lakshmi (2014, Hindi). This paper reviews these three films to explore the portrayal of the everyday reality of trafficking for women. Film analysis was used to understand the representation of psychological issues in the media. The strength of these movies starts with their inspirations which are of true stories and that they are all aimed at bringing awareness about the issue of sex trafficking, which is a rising social evil in Indian society though none of the three films move to portray the next phase of rehabilitation and reintegration of victims, which is a very complex and important process in the life of a survivor. According to findings, survivors of sex trafficking find the rehabilitation and reintegration into society to be a slow and tough part of their life as they continuously face stigma and social exclusion and have to strive to live against all odds of non-acceptance starting from their family.

Keywords: film review, Indian films, sex trafficking, survivors

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Authors: Jun Wang, Ge Zhang

Abstract:

Machine learning has been used in many areas today. It thrives at reviewing large volumes of data and identifying patterns and trends that might not be apparent to a human. Given the huge potential benefit and the amount of data available in the financial market, it is not surprising to see machine learning applied to various financial products. While future prices of financial securities are extremely difficult to forecast, we study them from a different angle. Instead of trying to forecast future prices, we apply machine learning algorithms to predict the direction of future price movement, in particular, whether a sector Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) would outperform or underperform the market in the next week or in the next month. We apply several machine learning algorithms for this prediction. The algorithms are Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Decision Tree (DT), Gaussian Naive Bayes (GNB), and Neural Networks (NN). We show that these machine learning algorithms, most notably GNB and NN, have some predictive power in forecasting out-performance and under-performance out of sample. We also try to explore whether it is possible to utilize the predictions from these algorithms to outperform the buy-and-hold strategy of the S&P 500 index. The trading strategy to explore out-performance predictions does not perform very well, but the trading strategy to explore under-performance predictions can earn higher returns than simply holding the S&P 500 index out of sample.

Keywords: machine learning, ETF prediction, dynamic trading, asset allocation

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Authors: Khadija Mushtaq, Muhammad Umar

Abstract:

The research aims to study the association between job satisfaction, motivation and the five factors of organizational citizenship behavior (i.e. Altruism, Conscientiousness, Sportsmanship, Courtesy and Civic virtue) among Public Sector Employees in Pakistan.In this research Structure Equation Modeling with confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the relationship between two independent and five dependent variables. Data was collected through questionnaire survey from 152 Public Servants Working in Gujrat District-Pakistan in different capacities. Stratified Random Sampling Technique was used to conduct this survey. The results of the study indicate that five factors of OCB have positive significant relation with both motivation and job satisfaction except the relationship of Civic Virtue with Motivation.The research findings implicate that factors other than motivation and job satisfaction may also affect OCB. Likewise, all the five factors of OCB may not be present in all populations. Thus, Managers must concentrate on increasing motivation and job satisfaction to increase OCB. Furthermore, the present research gives a direction to future researchers to use more independent variables (e.g. Culture, leadership, workplace environment, various job attitudes, types of motivation, etc.) on different types of populations with larger sample size in order to find the reasons behind insignificant relationship of civic virtue with Motivation in the research in hand and to generalize the tested model.

Keywords: five factors of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), motivation, job satisfaction, public sector employees in Pakistan

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Authors: Abanoub Rady Shaker Saleb

Abstract:

Nowadays, design and architecture are being affected and underwent change with the rapid advancements in technology, economics, politics, society and culture. Architecture has been transforming with the latest developments after the inclusion of computers into design. Integration of design into the computational environment has revolutionized the architecture and new perspectives in architecture have been gained. The history of architecture shows the various technological developments and changes in which the architecture has transformed with time. Therefore, the analysis of integration between technology and the history of the architectural process makes it possible to build a consensus on the idea of how architecture is to proceed. In this study, each period that occurs with the integration of technology into architecture is addressed within historical process. At the same time, changes in architecture via technology are identified as important milestones and predictions with regards to the future of architecture have been determined. Developments and changes in technology and the use of technology in architecture within years are analyzed in charts and graphs comparatively. The historical process of architecture and its transformation via technology are supported with detailed literature review and they are consolidated with the examination of focal points of 20th-century architecture under the titles; parametric design, genetic architecture, simulation, and biomimicry. It is concluded that with the historical research between past and present; the developments in architecture cannot keep up with the advancements in technology and recent developments in technology overshadow the architecture, even the technology decides the direction of architecture. As a result, a scenario is presented with regards to the reach of technology in the future of architecture and the role of the architect.

Keywords: design and development the information technology architecture, enterprise architecture, enterprise architecture design result, TOGAF architecture development method (ADM)

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Surajit Chakrabarty, Piyush Chauhan, Subhasis Panda, Sujoy Bhattacharya

Abstract:

A large proportion of roads in India are not well maintained as per the laid down public safety guidelines leading to loss of direction control and fatal accidents. We propose a technique to detect speed breakers and potholes using mobile sensor data captured from multiple vehicles and provide a profile of the road. This would, in turn, help in monitoring roads and revolutionize digital maps. Incorporating randomness in the model formulation for detection of speed breakers and potholes is crucial due to substantial heterogeneity observed in data obtained using a mobile application from multiple vehicles driven by different drivers. This is accomplished with Hidden Markov Models, whose hidden state sequence is found for each time step given the observables sequence, and are then fed as input to LSTM network with peephole connections. A precision score of 0.96 and 0.63 is obtained for classifying bumps and potholes, respectively, a significant improvement from the machine learning based models. Further visualization of bumps/potholes is done by converting time series to images using Markov Transition Fields where a significant demarcation among bump/potholes is observed.

Keywords: deep learning, hidden Markov model, pothole, speed breaker

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Authors: Hanan A. Abdulhameed, Huda Y. Alyami

Abstract:

The study presents a new international direction to conduct collaborative educational research. It follows a qualitative and quantitative methodology in investigating the main requirements to build an e-platform for Virtual Research Teams (VRTs). The e-platform considers three main components: First, the human and cultural structure, second, the institutional/organizational structure, and third, the technological structure. The study mainly focuses on the third component, the technological structure (the e-platform), and studies how to incorporate the other components: The human/cultural structure and the institutional/organizational structure in order to build an effective e-platform. The importance of the study is that it presents a comprehensive study about VRTs in terms of definition, types, structure, and main challenges. In addition, it suggests a practical way that benefits from the information and communication technology to conduct collaborative educational research by building and managing virtual research teams through an effective e-platform. The study draws the main framework to build an e-platform for collaborative educational research teams in Arab World. Thus, it tackles mainly the theoretical aspects, the framework of an effective e-platform. Then, it presents the evaluation of 18 Arab educational experts' to the proposed e-platform.

Keywords: collaborative research, educational science, E-platform, social research networks sites (SRNS), virtual research teams (VRTs)

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Authors: Shota Nagata, Kazuya Okubo, Toru Fujii

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the proper condition in extracting carbon fibers as the reinforcement of composite molded by injection method. Recycled carbon fibers were extracted from wasted CFRP by pyrolyzing epoxy matrix of CFRP under air atmosphere at different temperature conditions 400, 600 and 800°C in this study. Recycled carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene (RCF/PP) pellets were prepared using twin screw extruder. The RCF/PP specimens were molded into dumbbell shaped specimens using injection molding machine. The tensile strength of recycled carbon fiber was decreased with rising pyrolysis temperature from 400 to 800°C. However, superior mechanical properties of tensile strength, tensile modulus and fracture strain of RCF/PP specimen were obtained when the extracting temperature was 600°C. Almost fibers in RCF/PP specimens were aligned in the mold filling direction in this study when the extracting temperature was 600°C. To discuss the results, the failure mechanisms of RCF/PP specimens was shown schematically. Finally, it was concluded that the temperature condition at 600°C should be selected in extracting carbon fibers as the reinforcement of RCF/PP composite molded by injection method.

Keywords: CFRP, recycled carbon fiber, injection molding, mechanical properties, fiber orientation, failure mechanism

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Authors: Fatiha Aouabed, Abdelhafid Bayadi, Rabah Boudissa

Abstract:

Nowadays, silicone rubber insulation materials are widely used in high voltage outdoor insulation systems as they can combat pollution flashover problems. The difference in pollution flashover performance of silicone rubber and other insulating materials is due to the way that water wets their surfaces. It resides as discrete drops on silicone rubber, and the mechanism of flashover is due to the breakdown of the air between the water drops and the distortion of these drops in the direction of the electric field which brings the insulation to degradation and failure. The main objective of this work is to quantify the effect of different types of water drops arrangements, their position and dry bands width on the flashover voltage of the silicone insulating surface with non-uniform electric field systems. The tests were carried out on a rectangular sample under AC voltage. A rod-rod electrode system is used. The findings of this work indicate that the performance of the samples decreases with the presence of water drops on their surfaces. Further, these experimental findings show that there is a limiting number of rows from which the flashover voltage of the insulation is minimal and constant. This minimum is a function of the distance between two successive rows. Finally, it is concluded that the system withstand voltage increases when the row of droplets on the electrode axis is removed.

Keywords: contamination, flashover, testing, silicone rubber insulators, surface wettability, water droplets

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Authors: H. S. S. Abou El-Mal, H. E. M. Sallam

Abstract:

This paper presents experimental and analytical study on the behavior of repaired and strengthened shear critical RC beams using externally bonded CFRP bi-directional fabrics. The use of CFRP sheets to repair or strengthen RC beams has been repetitively studied and proven feasible. However, the use of combined repair techniques and applying that method to both plain and FRC beams can maximize the shear capacity of RC shear deficient beams. A total of twelve slender beams were tested under four-point bending. The test parameters included CFRP layout, number of layers and fiber direction, injecting cracks before applying repairing sheets, enhancing the flexural capacity to differentiate between shear repair and strengthening techniques, and concrete matrix types. The findings revealed that applying CFRP sheets increased the overall shear capacity, the amount and orientation of wrapping is of prime importance in both repairing and strengthening, CFRP wrapping could change the failure mode from shear to flexural shear, the use of crack injection combined to CFRP wrapping further improved the shear capacity while, applying the previous method to FRC beams enhanced both shear capacity and failure ductility. Acceptable agreement was found between predicted shear capacities using the Canadian code and the experimental results of the current study.

Keywords: CFRP, FRC, repair, shear strengthening

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Authors: Sami Ibrahim Jafar, Israa Abud Alkadir, Samah Abdul Kareem Khashin

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to assess the influence of tensile pre-stresses on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of the AISI304 stainless steel in 1N H2SO4 austenitic stainless steel. Samples of this stainless steel either with pre-stresses, corresponding to [255, 305, 355, 405, 455, 505, 555, 605 and σf] MPa induced by tensile tests, or without pre-stresses (as received), were characterized regarding their microstructure to investigate the pre-tensile stress effects on the corrosion behavior. The results showed that the corrosion rate of elastic pre-stresses 304 stainless steel was very little increased compared with that of as received specimens. The corrosion rate increases after applying pre-stress between (σ255 - σ 455) MPa. The microstructure showed that the austenitic grains begin to deform in the direction of applied pre-stresses. The maximum hardness at this region was (229.2) Hv, but at higher pre-stress (σ455 – σ 605) MPa unanticipated occurrence, the corrosion rate decreases. The microstructure inspection shows the deformed austenitic grain and ά-martensitic phase needle are appeared inside austenitic grains and the hardness reached the maximum value (332.433) Hv. The results showed that the corrosion rate increases at the values of pre-stresses between (σ605 – σf) MPa., which is inspected the result. The necking of gauge length of specimens occurs in specimens and this leads to deterioration in original properties and the corrosion rate reaches the maximum value.

Keywords: tensile pre-stresses, corrosion rate, austenitic stainless steel, hardness

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Authors: Norazah Mohd Suki, Norbayah Mohd Suki

Abstract:

This research aims to examine the influence of mediating effect of corporate social responsibility on the relationship between consumer awareness of green marketing and purchase intentions in the retail setting. Data from 200 valid questionnaires was analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach for the analysis of structural equation models with SmartPLS computer program version 2.0 as research data does not necessarily have a multivariate normal distribution and is less sensitive to sample size than other covariance approaches. PLS results revealed that corporate social responsibility partially mediated the link between consumer awareness of green marketing and purchase intentions of the product in the retail setting. Marketing managers should allocate a sufficient portion of their budget to appropriate corporate social responsibility activities by engaging in voluntary programs for positive return on investment leading to increased business profitability and long run business sustainability. The outcomes of the mediating effects of corporate social responsibility add a new impetus to the growing literature and preceding discoveries on consumer green marketing awareness, which is inadequately researched in the Malaysian setting. Direction for future research is also presented.

Keywords: green marketing awareness, social responsibility, partial least squares, purchase intention

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Authors: Cherifi Mehdi, Lahdir Mourad, Ameur Soltane

Abstract:

Image compression is used to reduce the number of bits required to represent an image. The Meteosat Second Generation satellite (MSG) allows the acquisition of 12 image files every 15 minutes. Which results a large databases sizes. The transform selected in the images compression should contribute to reduce the data representing the images. The Radon transform retrieves the Radon points that represent the sum of the pixels in a given angle for each direction. Linear predictive coding (LPC) with filtering provides a good decorrelation of Radon points using a Predictor constitute by the Symmetric Nearest Neighbor filter (SNN) coefficients, which result losses during decompression. Finally, Run Length Coding (RLC) gives us a high and fixed compression ratio regardless of the input image. In this paper, a novel image compression method based on the Radon transform and linear predictive coding (LPC) for MSG images is proposed. MSG image compression based on the Radon transform and the LPC provides a good compromise between compression and quality of reconstruction. A comparison of our method with other whose two based on DCT and one on DWT bi-orthogonal filtering is evaluated to show the power of the Radon transform in its resistibility against the quantization noise and to evaluate the performance of our method. Evaluation criteria like PSNR and the compression ratio allows showing the efficiency of our method of compression.

Keywords: image compression, radon transform, linear predictive coding (LPC), run lengthcoding (RLC), meteosat second generation (MSG)

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Authors: Sultan Alharby, Nick Harris, Alex Weddell, Jeff Reeve

Abstract:

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has received much attention over the last five years. It is predicted that the IoT will influence every aspect of our lifestyles in the near future. Wireless Sensor Networks are one of the key enablers of the operation of IoTs, allowing data to be collected from the surrounding environment. However, due to limited resources, nature of deployment and unattended operation, a WSN is vulnerable to various types of attack. Security is paramount for reliable and safe communication between IoT embedded devices, but it does, however, come at a cost to resources. Nodes are usually equipped with small batteries, which makes energy conservation crucial to IoT devices. Nevertheless, security cost in terms of energy consumption has not been studied sufficiently. Previous research has used a security specification of 802.15.4 for IoT applications, but the energy cost of each security level and the impact on quality of services (QoS) parameters remain unknown. This research focuses on the cost of security at the IoT media access control (MAC) layer. It begins by studying the energy consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 security levels, which is followed by an evaluation for the impact of security on data latency and throughput, and then presents the impact of transmission power on security overhead, and finally shows the effects of security on memory footprint. The results show that security overhead in terms of energy consumption with a payload of 24 bytes fluctuates between 31.5% at minimum level over non-secure packets and 60.4% at the top security level of 802.15.4 security specification. Also, it shows that security cost has less impact at longer packet lengths, and more with smaller packet size. In addition, the results depicts a significant impact on data latency and throughput. Overall, maximum authentication length decreases throughput by almost 53%, and encryption and authentication together by almost 62%.

Keywords: energy consumption, IEEE 802.15.4, IoT security, security cost evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 168