Search results for: the economic behavior of households.
1894 A Model for the Characterization and Selection of Beeswaxes for use as base Substitute Tissue in Photon Teletherapy
Authors: R.M.V. Silva, D.N. Souza
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This paper presents a model for the characterization and selection of beeswaxes for use as base substitute tissue for the manufacture of objects suitable for external radiotherapy using megavoltage photon beams. The model of characterization was divided into three distinct stages: 1) verification of aspects related to the origin of the beeswax, the bee species, the flora in the vicinity of the beehives and procedures to detect adulterations; 2) evaluation of physical and chemical properties; and 3) evaluation of beam attenuation capacity. The chemical composition of the beeswax evaluated in this study was similar to other simulators commonly used in radiotherapy. The behavior of the mass attenuation coefficient in the radiotherapy energy range was comparable to other simulators. The proposed model is efficient and enables convenient assessment of the use of any particular beeswax as a base substitute tissue for radiotherapy.Keywords: Beeswaxes, characterization, model, radiotherapy
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15131893 The Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a Lightpipe using a Simulation Software
Authors: M. Paroncini, F. Corvaro, G. Nardini, S. Pistolesi
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A lightpipe is an about 99 percent specular reflective mirror pipe or duct that is used for the transmission of the daylight from the outside into a building. The lightpipes are usually used in the daylighting buildings, in the residential, industrial and commercial sectors. This paper is about the performances of a lightpipe installed in a laboratory (3 m x 2.6 m x 3 m) without windows. The aim is to analyse the luminous intensity distribution for several sky/sun conditions. The lightpipe was monitored during the year 2006. The lightpipe is 1 m long and the diameter of the top collector and of the internal diffuser device is 0.25 m. In the laboratory there are seven illuminance sensors: one external is located on the roof of the laboratory and six internal sensors are connected to a data acquisition system. The internal sensors are positioned under the internal diffusive device at an height of 0.85 m from the floor to simulate a working plane. The numerical data are obtained through a simulation software. This paper shows the comparison between the experimental and numerical results concerning the behavior of the lightpipe.Keywords: Daylighting, Desktop Radiance, Lightpipe.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15571892 Fatigue Crack Initiation and Propagation through Residual Stress Field
Authors: M. Benachour, N. Benachour, M. Benguediab
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In this paper fatigue crack initiation and propagation in notched plate under constant amplitude loading through tensile residual stress field of 2024 T351 Al-alloy plate were investigated. Residual stress field was generated by plastic deformation using finite element method (FEM) where isotropic hardening in Von Mises model was applied. Simulation of fatigue behavior was made on AFGROW code. It was shown that the fatigue crack initiation and propagation were affected by level of residual stress filed. In this investigation, the presence of tensile residual stresses at notch (hole) reduces considerably the total fatigue life. It was shown that the decreasing in stress reduces the fatigue crack growth rates.
Keywords: Residual stress, fatigue crack initiation, fatigue crack growth, Al-alloy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27101891 The Study on Mechanical Properties of Graphene Using Molecular Mechanics
Authors: I-Ling Chang, Jer-An Chen
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The elastic properties and fracture of two-dimensional graphene were calculated purely from the atomic bonding (stretching and bending) based on molecular mechanics method. Considering the representative unit cell of graphene under various loading conditions, the deformations of carbon bonds and the variations of the interlayer distance could be realized numerically under the geometry constraints and minimum energy assumption. In elastic region, it was found that graphene was in-plane isotropic. Meanwhile, the in-plane deformation of the representative unit cell is not uniform along armchair direction due to the discrete and non-uniform distributions of the atoms. The fracture of graphene could be predicted using fracture criteria based on the critical bond length, over which the bond would break. It was noticed that the fracture behavior were directional dependent, which was consistent with molecular dynamics simulation results.Keywords: Energy minimization, fracture, graphene, molecular mechanics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18511890 Corporate Governance in Network Marketing Organizations: The Role of Ethics and CSR
Authors: Venugopal Kummamuru
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Corporate Governance (CG) is of utmost importance for running a company ethically. It is essential for the growth and success of the corporation. It is intended to increase the accountability of an organization to the larger context of the business environment. The general principles of CG include and are related to Shareholder recognition, Stakeholder interests, and focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Clear Board responsibilities, Ethical behavior, and Business transparency. Network Marketing Organizations (NMOs) focus on marketing through direct-sales using people who are associated with the organization but are not their employees. This paper tries to study the importance of Ethics and CSR in an NMO and suggest a basic guideline for CG in NMO(s). This paper could be used as a basis or starting point for conducting an in-depth research to understand the difference in CG practices between NMO(s) and other organizations and define a standard set of guidelines for CG practice.
Keywords: Corporate governance, corporate responsibility, direct selling, network marketing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20661889 Numerical Analysis of End Plate Bolted Connection with Corrugated Beam
Authors: M. A. Sadeghian, J. Yang, Q. F. Liu
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Steel extended end plate bolted connections are recommended to be widely utilized in special moment-resisting frame subjected to monotonic loading. Improper design of steel beam to column connection can lead to the collapse and fatality of structures. Therefore comprehensive research studies of beam to column connection design should be carried out. Also the performance and effect of corrugated on the strength of beam column end plate connection up to failure under monotonic loading in horizontal direction is presented in this paper. The non-linear elastic–plastic behavior has been considered through a finite element analysis using the multi-purpose software package LUSAS. The effect of vertically and horizontally types of corrugated web was also investigated.
Keywords: Corrugated beam, monotonic loading, finite element analysis, end plate connection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24671888 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to Treat Social Anxiety Disorder: A Psychology Case
Authors: Yasmin Binti Othman Mydin, Mohd. Fadzillah Abdul Razak
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Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy is the first cognitive behavior therapy which was introduced by Albert Ellis. This is a systematic and structured psychotherapy which is effective in treating various psychological problems. A patient, 25 years old male, experienced intense fear and situational panic attack to return to his faculty and to face his class-mates after a long absence (2 years). This social anxiety disorder was a major factor that impeded the progress of his study. He was treated with the use of behavioural technique such as relaxation breathing technique and cognitive techniques such as imagery, cognitive restructuring, rationalization technique and systematic desensitization. The patient reported positive improvement in the anxiety disorder, able to progress well in studies and lead a better quality of life as a student.Keywords: Anxiety, behaviour, cognitive, therapy
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21731887 On the Oil Repellency of Nanotextured Aluminum Surface
Authors: G. Momen, R. Jafari, M. Farzaneh
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Two different superhydrophobic surfaces were elaborated and their oil repellency behavior was evaluated using several liquid with different surface tension. A silicone rubber/SiO2 nanocomposite coated (A) on aluminum substrate by “spin-coating" and the sample B was an anodized aluminum surface covered by Teflon-like coating. A high static contact angle about ∼162° was measured for two prepared surfaces on which the water droplet rolloff. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the presence of micro/nanostructures for both sample A and B similar to that of lotus leaf. However the sample A presented significantly different behaviour of wettability against the low surface tension liquid. Sample A has been wetted totally by oil (dodecan) droplet while sample B showed oleophobic behaviour. Oleophobic property of Teflon like coating can be contributed to the presence of CF2 and CF3 functional group which was shown by XPS analysis.Keywords: Oleophobic, Superhydrophobic, Aluminum surface, Nano-texture.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22391886 Violent Videogame Playing and Its Relations to Antisocial Behaviors
Authors: Martin Jelínek, Petr Květon
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The presented study focuses on relations between violent videogames playing and various types of antisocial behavior, namely bullying (verbal, indirect, and physical), physical aggression and delinquency. Relevant relationships were also examined with respect to gender. Violent videogames exposure (VGV) was measured by respondents’ most favored games and self-evaluation of its level of violence and frequency of playing. Antisocial behaviors were assessed by self-report questionnaires. The research sample consisted of 333 (166 males, 167 females) primary and secondary school students at the age between 10 and 19 years (m=14.98, sd=1.77). It was found that violent videogames playing is associated with physical aggression (rho=0.288, 95% CI [0.169;0.400]) and bullying (rho=0.369, 95% CI [0.254;0.476]). By means of gender, these relations were slightly weaker in males (VGV - physical aggression: rho=0.104, 95% CI [-0.061;0.264], VGV – bullying: rho=.200, 95% CI [0.032;0.356]) than in females (VGV - physical aggression: rho=0.257, 95% CI [0.089;0.411], VGV – bullying: rho=0.279, 95% CI [0.110;0.432]).Keywords: Aggression, bullying, gender, violent videogames.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32431885 Variable Structure Model Reference Adaptive Control for Vehicle Steering System
Authors: Ardeshir Karami Mohammadi, Mohammadreza Saee
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A variable structure model reference adaptive control (VS-MRAC) strategy for active steering assistance of a two wheel steering car is proposed. An ideal steering system with fixed properties and moving on an ideal road is used as the reference model, and the active steering assistance system is forced to attain the same behavior as the reference model. The proposed system can treat the nonlinear relationships between the side slip angles and lateral forces on tire, and the uncertainties on friction of the road surface, whose compensation are very important under critical situations. Simulation results show improvements on yaw rate and side slip.Keywords: Variable Structure, Adaptive Control, Model reference, Active steering assistance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14821884 A Parametric Study on Deoiling Hydrocyclones Flow Field
Authors: Maysam Saidi, Reza Maddahian, Bijan Farhanieh
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Hydrocyclones flow field study is conducted by performing a parametric study. Effect of cone angle on deoiling hydrocyclones flow behaviour is studied in this research. Flow field of hydrocyclone is obtained by three-dimensional simulations with OpenFOAM code. Because of anisotropic behaviour of flow inside hydrocyclones LES is a suitable method to predict the flow field since it resolves large scales and model isotropic small scales. Large eddy simulation is used to predict the flow behavior of three different cone angles. Differences in tangential velocity and pressure distribution are reported in some figures.
Keywords: Deoiling hydrocyclones, Flow field, Hydrocyclone cone angle, Large Eddy Simulation, Pressure distribution
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24051883 Personality of Military Professionals (Commanders) and Their Way of Leading and Commanding Today and in Historical Context
Authors: Petra Hurbišová, Monika Davidová
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The article deals with the personality of military professionals (commanders) and their way of leading and commanding today and in historical context. The first part focuses on the leadership skills of Alexander the Great, who introduced strategic innovations and even from today's perspective; he excelled in efficient work with people. This paper focuses on the way which he achieved his goals. Further attention is paid to approaches to commander´s personality by other great generals. The paper is also focused on personality traits of military professionals necessary for successful management and leadership in today's variable and challenging environment. Finally, attention is paid to the effective and ineffective ways of behavior of commanders and determining what styles of leadership is appropriate for a given situation, whether in peacetime or on deployment.Keywords: Authority, commander, leader, leadership, military professional, personality.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23031882 Using a Trust-Based Environment Key for Mobile Agent Code Protection
Authors: Salima Hacini, Zahia Guessoum, Zizette Boufaïda
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Human activities are increasingly based on the use of remote resources and services, and on the interaction between remotely located parties that may know little about each other. Mobile agents must be prepared to execute on different hosts with various environmental security conditions. The aim of this paper is to propose a trust based mechanism to improve the security of mobile agents and allow their execution in various environments. Thus, an adaptive trust mechanism is proposed. It is based on the dynamic interaction between the agent and the environment. Information collected during the interaction enables generation of an environment key. This key informs on the host-s trust degree and permits the mobile agent to adapt its execution. Trust estimation is based on concrete parameters values. Thus, in case of distrust, the source of problem can be located and a mobile agent appropriate behavior can be selected.Keywords: Internet security, malicious host, mobile agent security, trust management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13991881 Statistical Computational of Volatility in Financial Time Series Data
Authors: S. Al Wadi, Mohd Tahir Ismail, Samsul Ariffin Abdul Karim
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It is well known that during the developments in the economic sector and through the financial crises occur everywhere in the whole world, volatility measurement is the most important concept in financial time series. Therefore in this paper we discuss the volatility for Amman stocks market (Jordan) for certain period of time. Since wavelet transform is one of the most famous filtering methods and grows up very quickly in the last decade, we compare this method with the traditional technique, Fast Fourier transform to decide the best method for analyzing the volatility. The comparison will be done on some of the statistical properties by using Matlab program.Keywords: Fast Fourier transforms, Haar wavelet transform, Matlab (Wavelet tools), stocks market, Volatility.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23021880 The Fluid Limit of the Critical Processor Sharing Tandem Queue
Authors: Amal Ezzidani, Abdelghani Ben Tahar, Mohamed Hanini
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A sequence of finite tandem queue is considered for this study. Each one has a single server, which operates under the egalitarian processor sharing discipline. External customers arrive at each queue according to a renewal input process and having a general service times distribution. Upon completing service, customers leave the current queue and enter to the next. Under mild assumptions, including critical data, we prove the existence and the uniqueness of the fluid solution. For asymptotic behavior, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the invariant state and the convergence to this invariant state. In the end, we establish the convergence of a correctly normalized state process to a fluid limit characterized by a system of algebraic and integral equations.Keywords: Fluid Limit, fluid model, measure valued process, processor sharing, tandem queue.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4681879 A Meta-Analytic Path Analysis of e-Learning Acceptance Model
Authors: David W.S. Tai, Ren-Cheng Zhang, Sheng-Hung Chang, Chin-Pin Chen, Jia-Ling Chen
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This study reports results of a meta-analytic path analysis e-learning Acceptance Model with k = 27 studies, Databases searched included Information Sciences Institute (ISI) website. Variables recorded included perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward behavior, and behavioral intention to use e-learning. A correlation matrix of these variables was derived from meta-analytic data and then analyzed by using structural path analysis to test the fitness of the e-learning acceptance model to the observed aggregated data. Results showed the revised hypothesized model to be a reasonable, good fit to aggregated data. Furthermore, discussions and implications are given in this article.
Keywords: E-learning, Meta Analytic Path Analysis, Technology Acceptance Model
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24351878 Comparison of Different PWM Switching Modes of BLDC Motor as Drive Train of Electric Vehicles
Authors: A. Tashakori, M. Ektesabi
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Electric vehicle (EV) is one of the effective solutions to control emission of greenhouses gases in the world. It is of interest for future transportation due to its sustainability and efficiency by automotive manufacturers. Various electrical motors have been used for propulsion system of electric vehicles in last decades. In this paper brushed DC motor, Induction motor (IM), switched reluctance motor (SRM) and brushless DC motor (BLDC) are simulated and compared. BLDC motor is recommended for high performance electric vehicles. PWM switching technique is implemented for speed control of BLDC motor. Behavior of different modes of PWM speed controller of BLDC motor are simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK. BLDC motor characteristics are compared and discussed for various PWM switching modes under normal and inverter fault conditions. Comparisons and discussions are verified through simulation results.Keywords: BLDC motor, PWM switching technique, in-wheel technology, electric vehicle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 48291877 Effect of Iterative Algorithm on the Performance of MC-CDMA System with Nonlinear Models of HPA
Authors: R. Blicha
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High Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of the transmitted signal is a serious problem in multicarrier systems (MC), such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), or in Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) systems, due to large number of subcarriers. This effect is possible reduce with some PAPR reduction techniques. Spreading sequences at the presence of Saleh and Rapp models of high power amplifier (HPA) have big influence on the behavior of system. In this paper we investigate the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of MC-CDMA systems. Basically we can see from simulations that the MC-CDMA system with Iterative algorithm can be providing significantly better results than the MC-CDMA system. The results of our analyses are verified via simulation.
Keywords: MC-CDMA, Iterative algorithm, PAPR, BER, Saleh, Rapp, Spreading Sequences.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23671876 Ethical Finance and Islamic Finance: Particularities, Possible Convergence and Potential Development
Authors: Safa Ougoujil, Sidi Mohamed Rigar
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Economics is not an exact science. It cannot be from the moment it is a social science that concerns society organization, a human science that depends on the behavior of the men and women who make a part of this society. Therefore, it cannot ignore morality, the instinctive sense of good and evil, the natural order which place us between certain values, and which religion often sheds light on. In terms of finance, the reference to ethics is becoming more popular than ever. This is naturally due to the growing financial crises. Finance is less and less ethical, but some financial practices have continued to do so. This is the case of ethical finance and Islamic finance. After attempting to define the concepts of ethical finance and Islamic finance, in a period when financial innovation seeks to encourage differentiation in order to create more profit margins, this article attempts to expose the particularities, the convergences and the potentialities of development of these two sensibilities.
Keywords: Convergences, ethical finance, Islamic finance, potential development.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10961875 A Feasibility and Implementation Model of Small-Scale Hydropower Development for Rural Electrification in South Africa: Design Chart Development
Authors: Gideon J. Bonthuys, Marco van Dijk, Jay N. Bhagwan
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Small scale hydropower used to play a very important role in the provision of energy to urban and rural areas of South Africa. The national electricity grid, however, expanded and offered cheap, coal generated electricity and a large number of hydropower systems were decommissioned. Unfortunately, large numbers of households and communities will not be connected to the national electricity grid for the foreseeable future due to high cost of transmission and distribution systems to remote communities due to the relatively low electricity demand within rural communities and the allocation of current expenditure on upgrading and constructing of new coal fired power stations. This necessitates the development of feasible alternative power generation technologies. A feasibility and implementation model was developed to assist in designing and financially evaluating small-scale hydropower (SSHP) plants. Several sites were identified using the model. The SSHP plants were designed for the selected sites and the designs for the different selected sites were priced using pricing models (civil, mechanical and electrical aspects). Following feasibility studies done on the designed and priced SSHP plants, a feasibility analysis was done and a design chart developed for future similar potential SSHP plant projects. The methodology followed in conducting the feasibility analysis for other potential sites consisted of developing cost and income/saving formulae, developing net present value (NPV) formulae, Capital Cost Comparison Ratio (CCCR) and levelised cost formulae for SSHP projects for the different types of plant installations. It included setting up a model for the development of a design chart for a SSHP, calculating the NPV, CCCR and levelised cost for the different scenarios within the model by varying different parameters within the developed formulae, setting up the design chart for the different scenarios within the model and analyzing and interpreting results. From the interpretation of the develop design charts for feasible SSHP in can be seen that turbine and distribution line cost are the major influences on the cost and feasibility of SSHP. High head, short transmission line and islanded mini-grid SSHP installations are the most feasible and that the levelised cost of SSHP is high for low power generation sites. The main conclusion from the study is that the levelised cost of SSHP projects indicate that the cost of SSHP for low energy generation is high compared to the levelised cost of grid connected electricity supply; however, the remoteness of SSHP for rural electrification and the cost of infrastructure to connect remote rural communities to the local or national electricity grid provides a low CCCR and renders SSHP for rural electrification feasible on this basis.Keywords: Feasibility, cost, rural electrification, small-scale hydropower.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10721874 Application of Fourier Series Based Learning Control on Mechatronic Systems
Authors: Sandra Baßler, Peter Dünow, Mathias Marquardt
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A Fourier series based learning control (FSBLC) algorithm for tracking trajectories of mechanical systems with unknown nonlinearities is presented. Two processes are introduced to which the FSBLC with PD controller is applied. One is a simplified service robot capable of climbing stairs due to special wheels and the other is a propeller driven pendulum with nearly the same requirements on control. Additionally to the investigation of learning the feed forward for the desired trajectories some considerations on the implementation of such an algorithm on low cost microcontroller hardware are made. Simulations of the service robot as well as practical experiments on the pendulum show the capability of the used FSBLC algorithm to perform the task of improving control behavior for repetitive task of such mechanical systems.Keywords: Climbing stairs, FSBLC, ILC, Service robot.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13641873 Populism and the Democratic Crisis: Comparative Study of Four Countries
Authors: Hyein Ko
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In 2017, many signs of populism occurred around the world. This paper suggests that populism is not a sudden phenomenon, but a manifestation of common people’s will. By analyzing previous research, this paper proposes three factors related to populism: Inequality, experience of economic crisis, and rapid cultural change. With these three elements, four cases will be investigated in this article; two countries experienced populism, and the other two countries did not experience it. Comparing four cases by using three elements will give a fruitful foundation for further analysis regarding populism. In sum, aforementioned three elements are highly related to the occurrence of populism. However, there is one hidden factor: dissatisfaction with established politics. Thus, populism is not a temporal phenomenon. It is a red alert for democratic crisis.
Keywords: Common people, democratic crisis, populism, Trump phenomenon.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15871872 Evolution of Autonomous Vehicles and Advanced Automated Car Parking Development
Authors: Kwok Tak Kit
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The trend of autonomous vehicles is the future solution to road networks congestion in terms of their advanced ability to drive closer together and at higher speeds than humans can do safely. Infrastructure sector can drive the economic prosperity and provide a balance and inclusive growth of sustainable economy development. In this paper, the road infrastructure and the future development of electric car, self-driving of autonomous vehicles and the increasing demand of automated car parking system are critically revised and this paper aims to provide the insight and achieve better sustainable infrastructure and community in smart city.
Keywords: Autonomous vehicles, sustainable infrastructure, real time parking, automated car parking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4551871 5iD Viewer - Observation of Fish School Behaviour in Labyrinths and Use of Semantic and Syntactic Entropy for School Structure Definition
Authors: Dalibor Štys, Dalibor Štys Jr., Jana Pečenková, Kryštof M. Štys, Maryia Chkalova, Petr Kouba, Aliaksandr Pautsina, Denis Durniev, Tomáš Náhlík, Petr Císař
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In this article is reported a construction and some properties of the 5iD viewer, the system recording simultaneously 5 views of a given experimental object. Properties of the system are demonstrated on the analysis of fish schooling behaviour. It is demonstrated the method of instrument calibration which allows inclusion of image distortion and it is proposed and partly tested also the method of distance assessment in the case that only two opposite cameras are available. Finally, we demonstrate how the state trajectory of the behaviour of the fish school may be constructed from the entropy of the system.
Keywords: 3D positioning, school behavior, distance calibration, space vision, space distortion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19261870 2D Numerical Analysis of Sao Paulo Tunnel
Authors: A.H. Akhaveissy
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Nonlinear finite element method and Serendipity eight nodes element are used for determining of ground surface settlement due to tunneling. Linear element with elastic behavior is used for modeling of lining. Modified Generalized plasticity model with nonassociated flow rule is applied for analysis of a tunnel in Sao Paulo – Brazil. The tunnel had analyzed by Lades- model with 16 parameters. In this work modified Generalized Plasticity is used with 10 parameters, also Mohr-Coulomb model is used to analysis the tunnel. The results show good agreement with observed results of field data by modified Generalized Plasticity model than other models. The obtained result by Mohr-Coulomb model shows less settlement than other model due to excavation.Keywords: Non-associated flow rule, Generalized plasticity, tunnel excavation, Excavation method.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26111869 Key Success Factors for Managing Projects
Authors: Nader Sh. Kandelousi, Ooi. J., Abdollahi. A
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The use and management of projects has risen to a new prominence, with projects seen as critical to economic in both the private and public sectors due challenging and dynamic business environment. However, failure in managing project is encountered regularly, which cause the waste of company resources. The impacts of projects that failed to meet stakeholders expectations have left behind long lasting negative consequences in organization. Therefore, this research aims to investigate on key success factors of project management in an organization. It is believed that recognizing important factors that contribute to successful project will help companies to increase the overall profitability. 150 questionnaires were distributed to respondents and 110 questionnaires were collected and used in performing the data analysis. The result has strongly supported the relationship between independent variables and project performance.Keywords: Project Performance, Leadership, TopManagement Involvement
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 56041868 Overview of Operational Risk Management Methods
Authors: Milan Rippel, Pert Teplý
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Operational risk has become one of the most discussed topics in the financial industry in the recent years. The reasons for this attention can be attributed to higher investments in information systems and technology, the increasing wave of mergers and acquisitions and emergence of new financial instruments. In addition, the New Basel Capital Accord (known as Basel II) demands a capital requirement for operational risk and further motivates financial institutions to more precisely measure and manage this type of risk. The aim of this paper is to shed light on main characteristics of operational risk management and common applied methods: scenario analysis, key risk indicators, risk control self assessment and loss distribution approach.
Keywords: Operational risk, economic capital, key risk indicators, loss distribution approach.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 39501867 Comparative Optical Analysis of Offset Reflector Antenna in GRASP
Authors: Ghulam Ahmad
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In this paper comparison of Reflector Antenna analyzing techniques based on wave and ray nature of optics is presented for an offset reflector antenna using GRASP (General Reflector antenna Analysis Software Package) software. The results obtained using PO (Physical Optics), PTD (Physical theory of Diffraction), and GTD (Geometrical Theory of Diffraction) are compared. The validity of PO and GTD techniques in regions around the antenna, caustic behavior of GTD in main beam, and deviation of GTD in case of near-in sidelobes of radiation pattern are discussed. The comparison for far-out sidelobes predicted by PO, PO + PTD and GTD is described. The effect of Direct Radiations from feed which results in feed selection for the system is addressed.Keywords: Geometrical optics & geometrical theory of diffraction, offset reflector antenna, physical optics & physical theory of diffraction, PO & GO comaprison.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21111866 Preparation and Characterization of Organic Silver Precursors for Conductive Ink
Authors: Wendong Yang, Changhai Wang, Valeria Arrighi
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Low ink sintering temperature is desired for flexible electronics, as it would widen the application of the ink on temperature-sensitive substrates where the selection of silver precursor is very critical. In this paper, four types of organic silver precursors, silver carbonate, silver oxalate, silver tartrate and silver itaconate, were synthesized using an ion exchange method, firstly. Various characterization methods were employed to investigate their physical phase, chemical composition, morphologies and thermal decomposition behavior. It was found that silver oxalate had the ideal thermal property and showed the lowest decomposition temperature. An ink was then formulated by complexing the as-prepared silver oxalate with ethylenediamine in organic solvents. Results show that a favorable conductive film with a uniform surface structure consisting of silver nanoparticles and few voids could be produced from the ink at a sintering temperature of 150 °C.Keywords: Conductive ink, electrical property, film, organic silver.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10741865 The Attitude towards Sustainable Development Issues among Malaysian Engineering Undergraduates
Authors: Balamuralithara Balakrishnan
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This paper reports the findings of the perception and attitude towards Sustainable Development among Malaysian undergraduates. The study was carried out involving 86 engineering undergraduates from three universities in Malaysia. This research was conducted based on a survey whereby the respondents were given a questionnaire to gauge their attitude towards sustainable development. The output of the analyses showed that the respondents have an appropriate attitude towards the sustainability issues expect for economic and social equality aspects. These findings suggest that the engineering educators involved in sustainable development education need to educate undergraduate students on this important issue. This investigation serves as a cornerstone to which the current paradigm of sustainable development education can be examined for further improvement by related stakeholders.
Keywords: Sustainable development, engineering education, Malaysia, attitude.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 956