Search results for: alternative strategy

Authors: Dianxun Zheng, Wuxing Jing, Lin Hetong

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Optical remote sensing satellite, always running on the Sun-synchronous orbit, equipped laser warning equipment to alert CCD camera from laser attack. There have three ways to protect the CCD camera, closing the camera cover satellite attitude maneuver and satellite orbit avoidance. In order to enhance the safety of optical remote sensing satellite in orbit, this paper explores the strategy of satellite avoidance. The avoidance strategy is expressed as the evasion of pre-determined target points in the orbital coordinates of virtual satellite. The so-called virtual satellite is a passive vehicle which superposes a satellite at the initial stage of avoidance. The target points share the consistent cycle time and the same semi-major axis with the virtual satellite, which ensures the properties of the Sun-synchronous orbit remain unchanged. Moreover, to further strengthen the avoidance capability of satellite, it can perform multi-object avoid maneuvers. On occasions of fulfilling the orbit tasks of the satellite, the orbit can be restored back to virtual satellite through orbit maneuvers. There into, the avoid maneuvers adopts pulse guidance. and the fuel consumption is also optimized. The avoidance strategy discussed in this article is applicable to avoidance for optical remote sensing satellite when encounter the laser hostile attacks.

Keywords: optical remote sensing satellite, always running on the sun-synchronous

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Authors: Dereje Regasa

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The global food system is at a crossroads, which requires prompt action to minimize the effects of the crises. Agroecology is gaining prominence due to its contributions to sustainable food systems. To support efforts in mitigating the crises, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established alternative approaches for sustainable agri-food systems. Agroecological elements and principles were developed to guide and support measures that countries need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs require the systemic integration of practices for a smart intensification or adaptation of traditional or industrial agriculture. As one of the countries working towards SDGs, the agricultural practices in Ethiopia need to be guided by these agroecological elements and principles. Aiming at the identification of challenging aspects of a sustainable agri-food system and the characterization of an enabling environment for agroecology, as well as exploring to what extent the existing policies and strategies support the agroecological transition process, five policy and strategy documents were reviewed. These documents are the Rural Development Policy and Strategy, the Environment Policy, the Biodiversity Policy, and the Soil Strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Using the Agroecology Criteria Tool (ACT), the contents were reviewed, focusing on agroecological requirements and the inclusion of sustainable practices. ACT is designed to support a self-assessment of elements supporting agroecology. For each element, binary values were assigned based on the inclusion of the minimum requirements index and then validated through discussion with the document owners. The results showed that the documents were well below the requirements for an agroecological transition of the agri-food system. The Rural Development Policy and Strategy only suffice to 83% in Human and Social Value. It does not support the transition concerning the other elements. The Biodiversity Policy and Soil Strategy suffice regarding the inclusion of Co-creation and Sharing of knowledge (100%), while the remaining elements were not considered sufficiently. In contrast, the Environment Policy supports the transition with three elements accounting for 100%. These are Resilience, Recycling, and Human and Social Care. However, when the four documents were combined, elements such as Synergies, Diversity, Efficiency, Human and Social value, Responsible governance, and Co-creation and Sharing of knowledge were identified as fully supportive (100%). This showed that the policies and strategies complemented one another to a certain extent. However, the evaluation results call for improvements concerning elements like Culture and food traditions, Circular and solidarity economy, Resilience, Recycling, and Regulation and balance since the majority of the elements were not sufficiently observed. Consequently, guidance for the smart intensification of local practices is needed, as well as traditional knowledge enriched with advanced technologies. Ethiopian agricultural and environmental policies and strategies should provide sufficient support and guidance for the intensification of sustainable practices and should provide a framework for an agroecological transition towards a sustainable agri-food system.

Keywords: agroecology, diversity, recycling, sustainable food system, transition

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Authors: Mariela Edith Arboit

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The main goal of the project is to explore the evolution possibilities of the morphological indicators of the built environment, including those resulting from progressive soil occupation, due to the relentless growth of the city’s population and subsequent increase in building density and solar access reduction per built unit. Two alternative normative proposals, Conventional Proposal (CP) and Alternative Proposal (AP), are compared. In addition, temporal scenarios of the city’s evolution process are analyzed, starting from the reference situation of existing, high-density built-up areas, and simulating their possible morphological outcomes on theoretical medium (30 yr.) and long (60 yr.) terms, as a result of the massive implementation of either regulation in the long run. The results obtained demonstrate that the Alternative Proposal (AP) presents higher mean values of predicted solar potential expressed by the Volumetric Insolation Factor total (VIFtot) for both time periods and services. Regarding environmental aspects, the different impacts of either alternative on the urban landscape quality seem to favor the AP proposal. Its deserved detailed assessment is also presently being developed through a quanti-qualitative methodology.

Keywords: building morphology, environmental quality, solar energy, urban sustainability

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Authors: Leizhang Wang, Baocang Wang

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General Sieve Kernel (G6K) is considered as currently the fastest algorithm for the shortest vector problem (SVP) and record holder of open SVP challenge. We study the lattice basis quality improvement effects of the Workout proposed in G6K, which is composed of a series of pumps to solve SVP. Firstly, we use a low-dimensional pump output basis to propose a predictor to predict the quality of high-dimensional Pumps output basis. Both theoretical analysis and experimental tests are performed to illustrate that it is more computationally expensive to solve the LWE problems by using a G6K default SVP solving strategy (Workout) than these lattice reduction algorithms (e.g. BKZ 2.0, Progressive BKZ, Pump, and Jump BKZ) with sieving as their SVP oracle. Secondly, the default Workout in G6K is optimized to achieve a stronger reduction and lower computational cost. Thirdly, we combine the optimized Workout and the Pump output basis quality predictor to further reduce the computational cost by optimizing LWE instances selection strategy. In fact, we can solve the TU LWE challenge (n = 65, q = 4225, = 0:005) 13.6 times faster than the G6K default Workout. Fourthly, we consider a combined two-stage (Preprocessing by BKZ- and a big Pump) LWE solving strategy. Both stages use dimension for free technology to give new theoretical security estimations of several LWE-based cryptographic schemes. The security estimations show that the securities of these schemes with the conservative Newhope’s core-SVP model are somewhat overestimated. In addition, in the case of LAC scheme, LWE instances selection strategy can be optimized to further improve the LWE-solving efficiency even by 15% and 57%. Finally, some experiments are implemented to examine the effects of our strategies on the Normal Form LWE problems, and the results demonstrate that the combined strategy is four times faster than that of Newhope.

Keywords: LWE, G6K, pump estimator, LWE instances selection strategy, dimension for free

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Authors: C. Hipp

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The EU Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 under which air passengers can claim compensation in the event of denied boarding, cancellation or long delay of flights has to be regarded as a substantial progress for the consumer protection in the field of air transport since it went into force in February 2005. Nevertheless, different reviews of its effective functioning demonstrate that most passengers affected by service disruptions do not enforce their complaints and claims towards the airline. The main cause of this is not only the unclear legal situation due to the fact that the regulation itself suffers from many undetermined terms and loopholes it is also attributable to the strategy of the airlines which do not handle the complaints of the passengers or exclude their duty to compensate them. Economically contemplated, reasons like the long duration of a trial and the cost risk in relation to the amount of compensation make it comprehensible that passengers are deterred from enforcing their rights by filing a lawsuit. The paper focusses on the alternative dispute resolution namely the recently established conciliation bodies which deal with air passenger rights. In this paper, the Conciliation Body for Public Transport in Germany (Schlichtungsstelle für den öffentlichen Personenverkehr – SÖP) is examined as a successful example of independent consumer arbitration service. It was founded in 2009 and deals with complaints in the field of air passenger rights since November 2013. According to the current situation one has to admit that due to its structure and operation it meets on the one hand the needs of the airlines by giving them an efficient tool of their customer relation management and on the other hand that it contributes to the enforcement of air passenger rights effectively.

Keywords: air passenger rights, alternative dispute resolution, consumer protection, EU law regulation (EC) 261/2004

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Authors: Kruti Dave

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Social media marketing is an essential component of 21st-century business. Social media platforms enable small and medium-sized businesses to enhance brand recognition, generate leads and sales. However, the research on social media marketing is still fragmented and focuses on specific topics, such as effective communication techniques. Since the various ways in which social media impacts individuals and companies alike, the authors of this article focus on the origin, impacts, and current state of Social Media, emphasizing their significance as customer empowerment agents. It illustrates their potential and current responsibilities as part of the corporate business strategy and also suggests several methods to engage them as marketing tools. The focus of social media marketing ranges from defenders to explorers, the culture of Social media marketing encompasses the poles of conservatism and modernity, social media marketing frameworks lie between hierarchies and networks, and its management goes from autocracy to anarchy. This research proposes an integrative framework for small and medium-sized businesses through social media, and the influence of the same will be measured. This strategy will help industry experts to understand this new era. We propose an axiom: Social Media is always a function of marketing as a revenue generator.

Keywords: social media, marketing strategy, media marketing, brand awareness, customer engagement, revenue generator, brand recognition

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Authors: Geeta Gahlawat, Ashok Kumar Srivastava

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In the present study, a simple drain and fill protocol strategy of repeated batch was adopted for enhancement in polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production using alcaligenes latus DSM 1124. Repeated batch strategy helped in increasing the longevity of otherwise decaying culture in the bioreactor by supplementing fresh substrates during each cycle of repeated-batch. The main advantages of repeated batch are its ease of operation, enhancement of culture stability towards contamination, minimization of pre-culture effects and maintenance of organism at high growth rates. The cultivation of A. latus was carried out in 7 L bioreactor containing 4 L optimized nutrient medium and a comparison with the batch mode fermentation was done to evaluate the performance of repeated batch in terms of PHAs accumulation and productivity. The statistically optimized medium recipe consisted of: 25 g/L Sucrose, 2.8 g/L (NH4)2SO4, 3.25 g/L KH2PO4, 3.25 g/L Na2HPO4, 0.2 g/L MgSO4, 1.5 mL/L trace element solution. In this strategy, 20% (v/v) of the culture broth was removed from the reactor and supplemented with an equal volume of fresh medium when sucrose concentration inside the reactor decreased below 8 g/L. The fermenter was operated for three repeated batch cycles and fresh nutrient feeding was done at 27 h, 48 h, and 60 h. Repeated batch operation resulted in a total biomass of 27.89 g/L and PHAs concentration 20.55 g/L at the end of 69 h which was a marked improvement as compared to batch cultivation (8.71 g/L biomass and 6.24 g/L PHAs). This strategy demonstrated 3.3 fold and 1.8 fold increase in PHAs concentration and volumetric productivity, respectively as compared to batch cultivation. Repeated batch cultivation strategy had also the benefit of avoiding non-productive time period required for cleaning, refilling and sterilization of bioreactor, thereby increasing the overall volumetric productivity and making the entire process cost-effective too.

Keywords: alcaligenes, biodegradation, polyhydroxyalkanoates, repeated batch

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Authors: Haixu Yu, Wenhui Cao

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Tailoring Large Language Models (LLMs) to perform legal reasoning has been a popular trend in the study of AI and law. Researchers have mainly employed two methods to unlock the potential of LLMs, namely by finetuning the LLMs to expand their knowledge of law and by restructuring the prompts (In-Context Learning) to optimize the LLMs’ understanding of the legal questions. Although claiming the finetuning and renovated prompting can make LLMs more competent in legal reasoning, most state-of-the-art studies show quite limited improvements of practicability. In this paper, drawing on the study of the complexity and low interpretability of legal texts, we propose a prompting strategy based on the Chain of Thought (CoT) method. Instead of merely instructing the LLM to reason “step by step”, the prompting strategy requires the tested LLM to identify the ambiguity in the questions as the first step and then allows the LLM to generate corresponding answers in line with different understandings of the identified terms as the following step. The proposed prompting strategy attempts to encourage LLMs to "interpret" the given text from various aspects. Experiments that require the LLMs to answer “case analysis” questions of bar examination with general LLMs such as GPT 4 and legal LLMs such as LawGPT show that the prompting strategy can improve LLMs’ ability to better understand complex legal texts.

Keywords: ambiguity-identification, prompt, large language model, legal text understanding

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Authors: Vidya Nimkar Tayade

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Introduction: Intellectual capital of an organization is a key factor to success. Many companies invest a huge amount in their Research and development activities. Any innovation is helpful not only to that particular company but also to many other companies, industry and mankind as a whole. Companies undertake innovative changes for increasing their capital profitability and indirectly increase in pay packages of their employees. The quality of human capital can also improve due to such positive changes. Employees become more skilled and experienced due to such innovations and inventions. For increasing intangible capital, the author has referred to a couple of books and referred case studies to come to a conclusion. Different charts and tables are also referred to by the author. Case studies are more important because they are proven and established techniques. They enable students to apply theoretical concepts in real-world situations. It gives solutions to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. There are three different strategies for undertaking intellectual capital increase. They are: Research push strategy/ Technology pushed approach, Market pull strategy/ approach and Open innovation strategy/approach. Research push strategy, In this strategy, research is undertaken and innovation is achieved on its own. After invention inventor company protects such invention and finds buyers for such invention. In this way, the invention is pushed into the market. In this method, research and development are undertaken first and the outcome of this research is commercialized. Market pull strategy, In this strategy, commercial opportunities are identified first and our research is concentrated in that particular area. For solving a particular problem, research is undertaken. It becomes easier to commercialize this type of invention. Because what is the problem is identified first and in that direction, research and development activities are carried on. Open invention strategy, In this type of research, more than one company enters into an agreement of research. The benefits of the outcome of this research will be shared by both companies. Internal and external ideas and technologies are involved. These ideas are coordinated and then they are commercialized. Due to globalization, people from the outside company are also invited to undertake research and development activities. Remuneration of employees of both the companies can increase and the benefit of commercialization of such invention is also shared by both the companies. Conclusion: In modern days, not only can tangible assets be commercialized, but also intangible assets can also be commercialized. The benefits of such an invention can be shared by more than one company. Competition can become more meaningful. Pay packages of employees can improve. It Is a need for time to adopt such strategies to benefit employees, competitors, stakeholders.

Keywords: innovation, protection, management, commercialization

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Authors: Kherbache Mehdi

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Within the framework of the validation of the Master in business administration marketing and sales in INSIM institute international in management Blida, we get the opportunity to do a professional internship in Sonelgaz Enterprise and a thesis. The thesis deals with the integration of social networking in the communication strategy of a company. The problematic is: How communicate with social network can be a solution for companies? The challenges stressed by this thesis were to suggest limits and recommendations to Sonelgaz Enterprise concerning social networks. The whole social networks represent more than a billion people as a potential target for the companies. Thanks to research and a qualitative approach, we have identified tree valid hypothesis. The first hypothesis allows confirming that using social networks cannot be ignored by any company in its communication strategy. However, the second hypothesis demonstrates that it’s necessary to prepare a strategy that integrates social networks in the communication plan of the company. The risk of this strategy is very limited because failure on social networks is not a restraint for the enterprise, social networking is not expensive and, a bad image which could result from it is not as important in the long-term. Furthermore, the return on investment is difficult to evaluate. Finally, the last hypothesis shows that firms establish a new relation between consumers and brands thanks to the proximity allowed by social networks. After the validation of the hypothesis, we suggested some recommendations to Sonelgaz Enterprise regarding the communication through social networks. Firstly, the company must use the interactivity of social network in order to have fruitful exchanges with the community. We also recommended having a strategy to treat negative comments. The company must also suggest delivering resources to the community thanks to a community manager, in order to have a good relation with the community. Furthermore, we advised using social networks to do business intelligence. Sonelgaz Enterprise can have some creative and interactive contents with some amazing applications on Facebook for example. Finally, we recommended to the company to be not intrusive with “fans” or “followers” and to be open to all the platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In for example.

Keywords: social network, buzz, communication, consumer, return on investment, internet users, web 2.0, Facebook, Twitter, interaction

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Authors: Elmo Thiago Lins Cöuras Ford, Valentina Alessandra Carvalho do Vale

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A swimming pool heating system is presented, composed of two alternative collectors with serial PVC absorber tubes that work in regimen of forced stream that is gotten through a bomb. A 500 liters reservoir was used, simulating the swimming pool, being raised some data that show the viability of the considered system. The chosen outflow was corresponding to 100 l/h. In function of the low outflow it was necessary the use of a not popular bomb, choosing the use of a low outflow alternative pumping system, using an air conditioner engine with three different rotations for the desired end. The thermal data related to each collector and their developed system will be presented. The UV and thermal degradations of the PVC exposed to solar radiation will be also boarded, demonstrating the viability of using tubes of this material as absorber elements of radiation in water heating solar collectors.

Keywords: solar energy, solar swimming pool, water heating, PVC tubes, alternative system

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Authors: Yibo Shao, Jiajie Liu

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This article uncovers the practice of pragmatism of Singaporean foreign policy by analyzing its foreign diplomatic behavior. It also points out the Singapore’s hedging strategy on the relations between China and American and how to balance these two greater powers in Southeast Asian. This paper used qualitative approach by reviewing literature and policy documents intensively to find out the responses to our research questions.

Keywords: hedging, pragmatism, Sino-Singapore relations, South China Sea

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Authors: Salvatore Pinna

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The growth of organic farming practices in the last few decades is continuing to stimulate the international debate about this alternative food market. As a part of a PhD project research about embeddedness in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), this paper focuses on the promotional aspects of organic farms websites from the Madrid region. As a theoretical tool, some knowledge categories drawn on the geographic studies literature are used to classify the many ideas expressed in the web pages. By analysing texts and pictures of 30 websites, the study aims to question how and to what extent actors from organic world communicate to the potential customers their personal beliefs about farming practices, products qualities, and ecological and social benefits. Moreover, the paper raises the question of whether organic farming laws and regulations lack of completeness about the social and cultural aspects of food.

Keywords: alternative food networks, de-commoditisation, organic farming, madrid, reconnection of food

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Authors: Ma. Eliza Jijeth V. dela Cruz

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Technology is a recent prodigy in people’s everyday life that has taken off. It infiltrated almost every aspect of one’s lives, changing how people work, how people learn and how people perceive things. Academic Institutions, just like other organizations, have deeply modified its strategies to integrate technology into the institutional vision and corporate strategy that has never been greater. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) continues to be recognized as a major factor in organizations realizing its aims and objectives. Consequently, ICT has an important role in the mobilization of an academic institution’s strategy to support the delivery of operational, strategic or transformational objectives. This ICT strategy should align the institution with the radical changes of the ICT world through the use of Enterprise Architecture (EA). Hence, EA’s objective is to optimize the islands of legacy processes to be integrated that is receptive to change and supportive of the delivery of the strategy. In this paper, the focus is to explore the motivational antecedents during the adoption of EA in a Higher Education Institution in the Philippines for its ICT strategic plan. The seven antecedents (viewpoint, stakeholders, human traits, vision, revolutionary innovation, techniques and change components) provide understanding into EA adoption and the antecedents that influences the process of EA adoption.

Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, Adoption, Antecedents, Higher Educational Institutions

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Authors: Olivia Borgue, Massimo Panarotto, Ola Isaksson

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This article presents a neural networks-based strategy for reducing the need for support structures when designing for additive manufacturing (AM). Additive manufacturing is a relatively new and immature industrial technology, and the information to make confident decisions when designing for AM is limited. This lack of information impacts especially the early stages of engineering design, for instance, it is difficult to actively consider the support structures needed for manufacturing a part. This difficulty is related to the challenge of designing a product geometry accounting for customer requirements, manufacturing constraints and minimization of support structure. The approach presented in this article proposes an automatized geometry modification technique for reducing the use of the support structures while designing for AM. This strategy starts with a neural network-based strategy for shape recognition to achieve product classification, using an STL file of the product as input. Based on the classification, an automatic part geometry modification based on MATLAB© is implemented. At the end of the process, the strategy presents different geometry modification alternatives depending on the type of product to be designed. The geometry alternatives are then evaluated adopting a QFD-like decision support tool.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, engineering design, geometry modification optimization, neural networks

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Authors: Emmanuel U. Ohaegbulem, Felix N. Nwobi

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Alternative and simple computational arrangements in carrying out multivariate profile analysis when more than two groups (populations) are involved are presented. These arrangements have been demonstrated to not only yield equivalent results for the test statistics (the Wilks lambdas), but they have less computational efforts relative to other arrangements so far presented in the literature; in addition to being quite simple and easy to apply.

Keywords: coincident profiles, g-group profile analysis, level profiles, parallel profiles, repeated measures MANOVA

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Authors: Hannah S. Waldron

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Background: The government has proposed sugar reduction targets in an effort to tackle childhood obesity, focussing on those of low socioeconomic status (SES). Supermarkets are a key location for reducing the amount of sugar purchased, but success so far in this environment has been limited. Building on previous research, this study will assess the impact of restricting the availability of higher sugar biscuits as a strategy to encourage lower sugar biscuit purchasing, and whether the effects vary by customer SES. Method: 14 supermarket convenience stores were divided between control (n=7) and intervention (n=7) groups. In the intervention stores, biscuits with sugar above the government’s target (26.2g/100g) were removed from sale and replaced with lower sugar ( < 26.2g sugar/100g) alternatives. Sales and customer demographic information were collected using loyalty card data and point-of-sale transaction data for 8-weeks pre and post the intervention for lower sugar biscuits, total biscuits, alternative higher sugar products, and all products. Results were analysed using three-way and two-way mixed ANOVAs. Results: The intervention resulted in a significant increase in lower sugar biscuit purchasing (p < 0.001) and a significant decline in overall biscuit sales (p < 0.001) between the time periods compared to control stores. Sales of higher sugar products and all products increased significantly between the two time periods in both the intervention and control stores (p < 0.05). SES showed no significant effect on any of the reported outcomes (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Restricting the availability of higher sugar products may be a successful strategy for encouraging lower sugar purchasing across all SES groups. However, larger-scale interventions are required in additional categories to assess the long term implications for both consumers and retailers.

Keywords: biscuits, nudging, sugar, supermarket

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Authors: Olusegun Omoluwa, Kolawole Israel Anthony

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Pupils with learning disabilities are found in every classroom, but because learning disabilities cannot be seen, the condition is often too neglected. Unless these pupils are recognised and treated, they are likely to become educational discards. This study consequently attempted to determine effects of self-monitoring strategy on homework completion among pupils with learning disabilities. Ninety (90) participants were engaged in the study. Pre-test, post-test, control group quasi experimental design was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used to select pupils with evidence of learning disabilities from three primary schools in Ondo State. Findings showed that self-monitoring strategy was significant in enhancing homework completion among pupils with learning disabilities. However, gender and self-esteem did not significantly contribute to homework completion. The study therefore recommended that measures such that would uncover unsettling academic, psychological and emotional deficiencies of these pupils through appropriate diagnosis should be undertaken by the parents and teachers, in order for them to have a sense of belonging in the society.

Keywords: self monitoring, home work completion, learning dissabilities, learning

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Authors: Djehich Mohamed Yousri

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Nowadays, migration has become a phenomenon that attracts the attention of researchers, countries, agencies, and national and international bodies. Wars and climate change, demographics, poverty, natural disasters, and epidemics are all threats that are contributing daily to forcing more people to migrate. There are those who resort to emigration because of the deteriorating political conditions in their country, others resort to emigration to improve their financial situation, and others emigrate from their country for fear of some penalties and judgments issued against them. In the field of migration, becoming a member of the United Nations as a "relevant organization" gives the United Nations a clear mandate on migration. Its primary goal is to facilitate the management of international migration in an orderly and humane manner. In order to achieve this goal, the organization adopts an international policy to meet the challenges posed in the field of migration. This paper attempts to study the structure of this international organization and its strategy in dealing with the phenomenon of international migration.

Keywords: international organization for migration, immigrants, immigrant rights, resettlement, migration organization strategy

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Authors: Meysam Naeimi, Zili Li, Rolf Dollevoet

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A new small–scale test rig developed for rolling contact fatigue (RCF) investigations in wheel–rail material. This paper presents the scaling strategy of the rig based on dimensional analysis and mechanical modelling. The new experimental rig is indeed a spinning frame structure with multiple wheel components over a fixed rail-track ring, capable of simulating continuous wheel-rail contact in a laboratory scale. This paper describes the dimensional design of the rig, to derive its overall scaling strategy and to determine the key elements’ specifications. Finite element (FE) modelling is used to simulate the mechanical behavior of the rig with two sample scale factors of 1/5 and 1/7. The results of FE models are compared with the actual railway system to observe the effectiveness of the chosen scales. The mechanical properties of the components and variables of the system are finally determined through the design process.

Keywords: new test rig, rolling contact fatigue, rail, small scale

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Authors: Maria Belen C. Costa, Liza C. Costa

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Teachers have an important influence on students’ academic achievement. Teachers play a crucial role in educational attainment because they stand in the interface of the transmission of knowledge, values, and skills in the learning process through the instructional strategies they employ in the classroom. The level of achievement of students in school depends on the degree of effectiveness of instructional strategies used by the teacher. Thus, this study was conceptualized and conducted to examine the instructional strategies preferred and used by the Science and Mathematics teachers and the impact of those strategies in their teaching performance and students’ academic achievement in Science and Mathematics. The participants of the study comprised a total enumeration of 61 teachers who were chosen through total enumeration and 610 students who were selected using two-stage random sampling technique. The descriptive correlation design was used in this study with a self-made questionnaire as the main tool in the data gathering procedure. Relationship among variables was tested and analyzed using Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient and Wilcoxon Signed Rank statistics. The teacher participants under study mainly belonged to the age group of ‘young’ (35 years and below) and most were females having ‘very much experienced’ (16 years and above) in teaching. Teaching performance was found to be ‘very satisfactory’ while academic achievement in Science and Mathematics was found to be ‘satisfactory’. Demographic profile and teaching performance of teacher participants were found to be ‘not significant’ to their instructional strategy preferences. Results implied that age, sex, level of education and length of service of the teachers does not affect their preference on a particular instructional strategy. However, the teacher participants’ extent of use of the different instructional strategies was found to be ‘significant’ to their teaching performance. The instructional strategies being used by the teachers were found to have a direct effect on their teaching performance. Academic achievement of student participants was found to be ‘significant’ to the teacher participants’ instructional strategy preferences. The preference of the teachers on instructional strategies had a significant effect on the students’ academic performance. On the other hand, teacher participants’ extent of use of instructional strategies was showed to be ‘not significant’ to the academic achievement of students in Science and Mathematics. The instructional strategy being used by the teachers did not affect the level of performance of students in Science and Mathematics. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant difference between the teacher participants’ preference of instructional strategy and the student participants’ instructional strategy preference as well as between teacher participants’ extent of use and student participants’ perceived level of use of the different instructional strategies. Findings found a discrepancy between the teaching strategy preferences of students and strategies implemented by teachers.

Keywords: academic achievement, extent of use, instructional strategy, preferences

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Authors: Satya P. Dubey, Hrushikesh A Abhyankar, Veronica Marchante, James L. Brighton, Björn Bergmann

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Aims: To develop a mathematical model that simulates the ROP of PLA taking into account the effect of alternative energy to be implemented in a continuous reactive extrusion production process of PLA. Introduction: The production of large amount of waste is one of the major challenges at the present time, and polymers represent 70% of global waste. PLA has emerged as a promising polymer as it is compostable, biodegradable thermoplastic polymer made from renewable sources. However, the main limitation for the application of PLA is the traces of toxic metal catalyst in the final product. Thus, a safe and efficient production process needs to be developed to avoid the potential hazards and toxicity. It has been found that alternative energy sources (LASER, ultrasounds, microwaves) could be a prominent option to facilitate the ROP of PLA via continuous reactive extrusion. This process may result in complete extraction of the metal catalysts and facilitate less active organic catalysts. Methodology: Initial investigation were performed using the data available in literature for the reaction mechanism of ROP of PLA based on conventional metal catalyst stannous octoate. A mathematical model has been developed by considering significant parameters such as different initial concentration ratio of catalyst, co-catalyst and impurity. Effects of temperature variation and alternative energies have been implemented in the model. Results: The validation of the mathematical model has been made by using data from literature as well as actual experiments. Validation of the model including alternative energies is in progress based on experimental data for partners of the InnoREX project consortium. Conclusion: The model developed reproduces accurately the polymerisation reaction when applying alternative energy. Alternative energies have a great positive effect to increase the conversion and molecular weight of the PLA. This model could be very useful tool to complement Ludovic® software to predict the large scale production process when using reactive extrusion.

Keywords: polymer, poly-lactic acid (PLA), ring opening polymerization (ROP), metal-catalyst, bio-degradable, renewable source, alternative energy (AE)

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Authors: Y. Chiang, J. R. Wang, J. H. Yang, Y. S. Tseng, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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Kuosheng nuclear power plant (NPP) is a BWR/6 plant in Taiwan. There is more concern for the safety of Spent Fuel Pools (SFPs) in Taiwan after Fukushima event. In order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP SFP, by using MELCOR2.1 and SNAP, the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP SFP was performed combined with the mitigation strategy of NEI 06-12 report. There were several steps in this research. First, the Kuosheng NPP SFP models were established by MELCOR2.1/SNAP. Second, the Station Blackout (SBO) analysis of Kuosheng SFP was done by TRACE and MELCOR under the cooling system failure condition. The results showed that the calculations of MELCOR and TRACE were very similar in this case. Second, the mitigation strategy analysis was done with the MELCOR model by following the NEI 06-12 report. The results showed the effectiveness of NEI 06-12 strategy in Kuosheng NPP SFP. Finally, a sensitivity study of SFP quenching was done to check the differences of different water injection time and the phenomena during the quenching. The results showed that if the cladding temperature was over 1600 K, the water injection may have chance to cause the accident more severe with more hydrogen generation. It was because of the oxidation heat and the “Breakaway” effect of the zirconium-water reaction. An animation model built by SNAP was also shown in this study.

Keywords: MELCOR, SNAP, spent fuel pool, quenching

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Authors: Jai Heui Kim, Sotheara Veng

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This paper studies the portfolio optimization problem for a pension fund under a hybrid model of stochastic volatility and constant elasticity of variance (CEV) using asymptotic analysis method. When the volatility component is fast mean-reverting, it is able to derive asymptotic approximations for the value function and the optimal strategy for general utility functions. Explicit solutions are given for the exponential and hyperbolic absolute risk aversion (HARA) utility functions. The study also shows that using the leading order optimal strategy results in the value function, not only up to the leading order, but also up to first order correction term. A practical strategy that does not depend on the unobservable volatility level is suggested. The result is an extension of the Merton's solution when stochastic volatility and elasticity of variance are considered simultaneously.

Keywords: asymptotic analysis, constant elasticity of variance, portfolio optimization, stochastic optimal control, stochastic volatility

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Authors: Majid Etaati, Hamid Majedi

Abstract:

Relational planning approach proposed by Patsy Healey goes beyond the physical proximity and emphasizes social proximity. This approach stresses the importance of nodes and flows between nodes. Current plans in European cities have incrementally incorporated this approach, but urban plans in Iran have still stayed very detailed and rigid. In response to the weak evaluation results of the comprehensive planning approach in Qazvin, the local authorities applied the City Development Strategy (CDS) to cope with new urban challenges. The paper begins with an explanation of relational planning and suggests that Healey gives urban planners about spatial strategies and then it surveys relational factors in CDS of Qazvin. This study analyzes the extent which CDS of Qazvin have highlighted nodes, flows, and dynamics. In the end, the study concludes that there is a relational understanding of urban dynamics in the plan, but it is weak.

Keywords: relational, dynamics, city development strategy, urban planning, Qazvin

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Authors: Huang Gui

Abstract:

There can be little doubt that our world is inexorably moving towards being execution-free. However, China is still on the way until now, in other words, China is still a retentionist state in the term of capital punishment but it is developing domestic criminal law toward that goal (eventual abolition of the capital punishment). The alternative sanction to capital punishment, which would be imposed on a criminal who should have been sentenced to death by law, is a substitute for execution and it should be provided with the basis of the present criminal punishment structure and with the premise of abolishing capital punishment or limiting its use. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore a substitute for capital punishment in China. For the criminal sanction system in China, the death penalty with suspension, naturally, is an execution, so it wouldn’t be the substitute; life sentences without parole is out of the tune with punishment policy that promoting correction and rehabilitation; life-imprisonment, which is one of the most severe punishment measure in the sanction system, should be a suitable substitute for executing but it needs to be improved, including the term of imprisonment, the commutation and parole conditions.

Keywords: alternative sanctions, capital punishment, life imprisonment, life imprisonment without parole, China

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Authors: Mohamed Basheer Abdul Atti Hassan

Abstract:

This research paper will follow the main outlines of the Italian colonization in Libya in a historical geopolitical approach; before we reach the contemporary map. In this study, we are also concerned with following the chain's links, not as drama in time, but as a strategy in place, so that it draws to us a map of power and the distribution of political formations throughout this period within and around Libya. From the sum of these variable distributions and successive balances, we can come up with the basic principles that determined the Italian history in Libya and formed its political entity, which is a compass of guidance and an indication of the future.

Keywords: conflict, Mediterranean, colonization, political history

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Authors: Damian Winczewski

Abstract:

Carl von Clausewitz’s political theory of war was criticized in the 20th century in several ways. It was also the source of many disagreements over readings of its most popular theses. Among them, the reflections of thinkers categorized as part of the broader postmodern current stand out, such as Michael Foucault and his successors, who presented a nuanced and critical approach to strategy theory. Foucault viewed it as part of a broader political–legal discourse of sovereignty rooted in the Middle Ages, which underlies modern biopower. Clausewitz’s theory of strategy underpinned a new humanist discourse rationalizing the phenomenon of war while, in a methodological sense, becoming an epistemic model of how Foucault conceived power strategy. Foucault’s contemporary commentators try to develop his position by arguing the analogy between the discourse prevailing in Clausewitz’s time and the contemporary neoliberal discourse and technological revolution on the battlefield, which create a new order of power. Meanwhile, they recognize that the modern development of strategy was to make Clausewitz’s understanding of war obsolete. However, postmodernists focusing on showy stylistics in their assessments rely on a mythologized narrative about Clausewitz, reducing his theories to a discourse of war as a way for nation-states to conduct foreign policy. In this article, Clausewitz shows that his theory goes much deeper and provides a critical perspective on the relationship between war and politics. The dialectical structure makes it possible to understand war as a historically variable but constantly policy-dependent phenomenon.

Keywords: Clausewitz, Foucault, Virilio, postmodernism, war and politics, power

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Authors: Jana Gutierez Chvalkovska, Michal Mejstrik, Matej Urban

Abstract:

There are pending discussions over the mapping of country export potential in order to refocus export strategy of firms and its evidence-based promotion by the Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and other permitted vehicles of governments. In this paper we develop our version of an applied model that offers “stepwise” elimination of unattractive markets. We modify and calibrate the model for the particular features of the Czech Republic and specific pilot cases where we apply an individual approach to each sector.

Keywords: export strategy, modeling export, calibration, export promotion

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Authors: Amir Farouk Ahmed Ali Hussin

Abstract:

Social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Ex-Twitter have experienced exponential growth and a remarkable adoption rate in recent years. They give fantastic means of online social interactions and communications with family, friends, and colleagues from around the corner or across the globe, and they have become an important part of daily digital interactions for more than one and a half billion users around the world. The personal information sharing practices that social network providers encourage have led to their success as innovative social interaction platforms. Moreover, these practices have outcome in concerns with respect to privacy and security from different stakeholders. Guiding these privacy and security concerns in social networks is a must for these networks to be sustainable. Real security and privacy tools may not be enough to address existing concerns. Some points should be followed to protect users from the existing risks. In this research, we have checked the various privacy and security issues and concerns pertaining to social media. However, we have classified these privacy and security issues and presented a thorough discussion of the effects of these issues and concerns on the future of the social networks. In addition, we have presented a set of points as precaution measures that users can consider to address these issues.

Keywords: international legal, consultation mix, legal research, small and medium-sized enterprises, strategic International law, strategy alignment, house of laws, deployment, production strategy, legal strategy, business strategy

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