Search results for: Deregulated energy market
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3724

Search results for: Deregulated energy market

1354 Endeavoring Innovation via Research and Development Management: A Case of Iranian Industrial Sector

Authors: Reihaneh Montazeri Shatouri, Rosmini Omar, Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail

Abstract:

This study aims at investigating factors in research and development (R&D) growth and exploring the role of R&D management in enhancing social innovation and productivity improvement in Iran-s industrial sector. It basically explores the common types of R&D activities and the industries which benefited the most from active R&D units in Iran. The researchers generated qualitative analyses obtained from primary and secondary data. The primary data have been retrieved through interviews with five key players (Managing Director, Internal Manager, General Manager, Executive Manager, and Project Manager) in the industrial sector. The secondary data acquired from an investigation on Mazandaran, a province of northern Iran. The findings highlight Iran-s focuses of R & D on cost reduction and upgrading productivity. Industries that have benefited the most from active R&D units are metallic, machinery and equipment design, and automotive. We rank order the primary effects of R&D on productivity improvement as follows, industry improvement, economic growth, using professional human resources, generating productivity and creativity culture, creating a competitive and innovative environment, and increasing people-s knowledge. Generally, low budget dedication and insufficient supply of highly skilled scientists and engineers are two important obstacles for R&D in Iran. Whereas, R&D has resulted in improvement in Iranian society, transfer of contemporary knowledge into the international market is still lacking.

Keywords: Productivity, R&D, Transfer of Knowledge

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1353 Numerical Study on Improving Indoor Thermal Comfort Using a PCM Wall

Authors: M. Faraji, F. Berroug

Abstract:

A one-dimensional mathematical model was developed in order to analyze and optimize the latent heat storage wall. The governing equations for energy transport were developed by using the enthalpy method and discretized with volume control scheme. The resulting algebraic equations were next solved iteratively by using TDMA algorithm. A series of numerical investigations were conducted in order to examine the effects of the thickness of the PCM layer on the thermal behavior of the proposed heating system. Results are obtained for thermal gain and temperature fluctuation. The charging discharging process was also presented and analyzed.

Keywords: Phase change material, Building, Concrete, Latent heat, Thermal control.

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1352 Innovation in Information Technology Services: Framework to Improve the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Information Technology Service Management Processes, Projects and Decision Support Management

Authors: Pablo Cardozo Herrera

Abstract:

In a dynamic market of Information Technology (IT) Service and with high quality demands and high performance requirements in decreasing costs, it is imperative that IT companies invest organizational effort in order to increase the effectiveness of their Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) processes through the improvement of ITSM project management and through solid support to the strategic decision-making process of IT directors. In this article, the author presents an analysis of common issues of IT companies around the world, with strategic needs of information unmet that provoke their ITSM processes and projects management that do not achieve the effectiveness and efficiency expected of their results. In response to the issues raised, the author proposes a framework consisting of an innovative theoretical framework model of ITSM management and a technological solution aligned to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) good practices guidance and ISO/IEC 20000-1 requirements. The article describes a research that proves the proposed framework is able to integrate, manage and coordinate in a holistic way, measurable and auditable, all ITSM processes and projects of IT organization and utilize the effectiveness assessment achieved for their strategic decision-making process increasing the process maturity level and improving the capacity of an efficient management.

Keywords: Innovation in IT services, ITSM processes, ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000-1, IT service management, IT service excellence.

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1351 The Application of Homotopy Method In Solving Electrical Circuit Design Problem

Authors: Talib Hashim Hasan

Abstract:

This paper describes simple implementation of homotopy (also called continuation) algorithm for determining the proper resistance of the resistor to dissipate energy at a specified rate of an electric circuit. Homotopy algorithm can be considered as a developing of the classical methods in numerical computing such as Newton-Raphson and fixed point methods. In homoptopy methods, an embedding parameter is used to control the convergence. The method purposed in this work utilizes a special homotopy called Newton homotopy. Numerical example solved in MATLAB is given to show the effectiveness of the purposed method

Keywords: electrical circuit homotopy, methods, MATLAB, Newton homotopy

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1350 Electron Density Discrepancy Analysis of Energy Metabolism Coenzymes

Authors: Alan Luo, Hunter N. B. Moseley

Abstract:

Many macromolecular structure entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) have a range of regional (localized) quality issues, be it derived from X-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, or other experimental approaches. However, most PDB entries are judged by global quality metrics like R-factor, R-free, and resolution for X-ray crystallography or backbone phi-psi distribution statistics and average restraint violations for NMR. Regional quality is often ignored when PDB entries are re-used for a variety of structurally based analyses. The binding of ligands, especially ligands involved in energy metabolism, is of particular interest in many structurally focused protein studies. Using a regional quality metric that provides chemically interpretable information from electron density maps, a significant number of outliers in regional structural quality was detected across X-ray crystallographic PDB entries for proteins bound to biochemically critical ligands. In this study, a series of analyses was performed to evaluate both specific and general potential factors that could promote these outliers. In particular, these potential factors were the minimum distance to a metal ion, the minimum distance to a crystal contact, and the isotropic atomic b-factor. To evaluate these potential factors, Fisher’s exact tests were performed, using regional quality criteria of outlier (top 1%, 2.5%, 5%, or 10%) versus non-outlier compared to a potential factor metric above versus below a certain outlier cutoff. The results revealed a consistent general effect from region-specific normalized b-factors but no specific effect from metal ion contact distances and only a very weak effect from crystal contact distance as compared to the b-factor results. These findings indicate that no single specific potential factor explains a majority of the outlier ligand-bound regions, implying that human error is likely as important as these other factors. Thus, all factors, including human error, should be considered when regions of low structural quality are detected. Also, the downstream re-use of protein structures for studying ligand-bound conformations should screen the regional quality of the binding sites. Doing so prevents misinterpretation due to the presence of structural uncertainty or flaws in regions of interest.

Keywords: Biomacromolecular structure, coenzyme, electron density discrepancy analysis, X-ray crystallography.

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1349 Interface Location in Single Phase Stirred Tanks

Authors: I. Mahdavi, R. Janamiri, A. Sinkakarimi, M. Safdari, M. H. Sedaghat, A. Zamani, A. Hoseini, M. Karimi

Abstract:

In this work, study the location of interface in a stirred vessel with Rushton impeller by computational fluid dynamic was presented. To modeling rotating the impeller, sliding mesh (SM) technique was used and standard k-ε model was selected for turbulence closure. Mean tangential, radial and axial velocities and also turbulent kinetic energy (k) and turbulent dissipation rate (ε) in various points of tank was investigated. Results show sensitivity of system to location of interface and radius of 7 to 10cm for interface in the vessel with existence characteristics cause to increase the accuracy of simulation.

Keywords: CFD, Interface, Rushton impeller, Turbulence model.

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1348 Trends in Competitiveness of the Thai Printing Industry

Authors: Amon Lasomboon

Abstract:

Since the world printing industry has to confront globalization with a constant change, the Thai printing industry, as a small but increasingly significant part of the world printing industry, cannot inevitably escape but has to encounter with the similar change and also the need to revamp its production processes, designs and technology to make them more appealing to both international and domestic market. The essential question is what is the Thai competitive edge in the printing industry in changing environment? This research is aimed to study the Thai level of competitive edge in terms of marketing, technology, environment friendly, and the level of satisfaction of the process of using printing machines. To access the extent to which is the trends in competitiveness of Thai printing industry, both quantitative and qualitative study were conducted. The quantitative analysis was restricted to 100 respondents. The qualitative analysis was restricted to a focus group of 10 individuals from various backgrounds in the Thai printing industry. The findings from the quantitative analysis revealed that the overall mean scores are 4.53, 4.10, and 3.50 for the competitiveness of marketing, the competitiveness of technology, and the competitiveness of being environment friendly respectively. However, the level of satisfaction for the process of using machines has a mean score only 3.20. The findings from the qualitative analysis have revealed that target customers have increasingly reordered due to their contentment in both low prices and the acceptable quality of the products. Moreover, the Thai printing industry has a tendency to convert to ambient green technology which is friendly to the environment. The Thai printing industry is choosing to produce or substitute with products that are less damaging to the environment. It is also found that the Thai printing industry has been transformed into a very competitive industry which bargaining power rests on consumers who have a variety of choices.

Keywords: Competitiveness, Printing Industry

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1347 Stability of Electrical Drives Supplied by a Three Level Inverter

Authors: M. S. Kelaiaia, H. Labar, S. Kelaiaia, T. Mesbah

Abstract:

The development of the power electronics has allowed increasing the precision and reliability of the electrical devices, thanks to the adjustable inverters, as the Pulse Wide Modulation (PWM) applied to the three level inverters, which is the object of this study. The authors treat the relation between the law order adopted for a given system and the oscillations of the electrical and mechanical parameters of which the tolerance depends on the process with which they are integrated (paper factory, lifting of the heavy loads, etc.).Thus, the best choice of the regulation indexes allows us to achieve stability and safety training without investment (management of existing equipment). The optimal behavior of any electric device can be achieved by the minimization of the stored electrical and mechanical energy.

Keywords: Multi level inverter, PWM, Harmonics, oscillation, control.

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1346 Bearing Condition Monitoring with Acoustic Emission Techniques

Authors: Faisal AlShammari, Abdulmajid Addali

Abstract:

Monitoring the conditions of rotating machinery, such as bearings, is important in order to improve the stability of work. Acoustic Emission (AE) and vibration analysis are some of the most accomplished techniques used for this purpose. Acoustic emission has the ability to detect the initial phase of component degradation. Moreover, it has been observed that vibration analysis is not as successful at low rotational speeds (below 100 rpm). This because the energy generated within this speed region is not detectable using conventional vibration. From this perspective, this paper has presented a brief review of using acoustic emission techniques for monitoring bearing conditions.

Keywords: Condition monitoring, stress wave analysis, low-speed bearings, bearing defect diagnosis.

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1345 Calculation of Heating Load for an Apartment Complex with Unit Building Method

Authors: Ju-Seok Kim, Sun-Ae Moon, Tae-Gu Lee, Seung-Jae Moon, Jae-Heon Lee

Abstract:

As a simple to method estimate the plant heating energy capacity of an apartment complex, a new load calculation method has been proposed. The method which can be called as unit building method, predicts the heating load of the entire complex instead of summing up that of each apartment belonging to complex. Comparison of the unit heating load for various floor sizes between the present method and conventional approach shows a close agreement with dynamic load calculation code. Some additional calculations are performed to demonstrate it-s application examples.

Keywords: Unit Building Method, Unit Heating Load, TFMLoad.

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1344 Numerical Simulation of High Pressure Hydrogen Emerges to Air

Authors: Mohamed H. Elhsnawi, Mesbah M. Salem, Saleh B. Mohamed

Abstract:

Numerical simulation performed to investigate the behavior of the high pressure hydrogen jetting of air. High pressure hydrogen (30–40 MPa) was injected to air at atmospheric pressure through 2mm orifice. Numerical simulations were performed with Kiva3V code with 2D axisymmetric geometry. Numerical simulations showed that auto ignition of high pressure hydrogen to air are possible due to molecular diffusion. Auto ignition was predicted at hydrogen-air contact surface due to mass and energy exchange between high temperature hydrogen and air heated by shock wave.

Keywords: Spontaneous Ignition, Diffusion Ignition, Hydrogen ignition, Hydrogen Jet.

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1343 Pioneer Synthesis and Characterization of Boron Containing Hard Materials

Authors: G. Çelik Gül, F. Kurtuluş

Abstract:

The first laboratory synthesis of hard materials such as diamond proceeded to attack of developing materials with high hardness to compete diamond. Boron rich solids are good candidates owing to their short interatomic bond lengths and strong covalent character. Boron containing hard material was synthesized by modifiedmicrowave method under nitrogen atmosphere by using a fuel (glycine or urea), amorphous boron and/or boric acid in appropriate molar ratio. Characterizations were done by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive analyze (SEM/EDS), thermo gravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA).

Keywords: Boron containing materials, hard materials, microwave synthesis, powder X-ray diffraction.

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1342 High-Production Laser and Plasma Welding Technologies for High-Speed Vessels Production

Authors: V. M. Levshakov, N. A. Steshenkova, N. A. Nosyrev

Abstract:

Application of hulls processing technologies, based on high-concentrated energy sources (laser and plasma technologies), allow improve shipbuilding production. It is typical for high-speed vessels construction using steel and aluminum alloys with high precision hulls required. Report describes high-performance technologies for plasma welding (using direct current of reversed polarity), laser, and hybrid laser-arc welding of hulls structures developed by JSC “SSTC”

Keywords: Flat sections, hybrid laser-arc welding, plasma welding, plasmatron.

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1341 Wear and Mechanical Properties of Nodular Iron Modified with Copper

Authors: J. Ramos, V. Gil, A. F. Torres

Abstract:

In this research (using induction furnace process) nodular iron with three different percentages of copper (residual, 0.5% and 1,2%) was obtained. Chemical analysis was performed by mass spectrometry and microstructures were characterized by Optical Microscopy (ASTM E3) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The study of mechanical behavior was carried out in a mechanical test machine (ASTM E8) and a Pin on disk tribometer (ASTM G99) was used to assess wear resistance. It is observed that the dissolution of copper in crystal lattice increases the pearlite structure improving the wear and hardness behavior, but producing a contrary effect on the energy absorption.

Keywords: Ferritic and perlite structure, mechanical properties, nodular iron, wear.

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1340 Initiative Strategies on How to Increasing Value Add of the Recycling Business

Authors: Yananda Siraphatthada

Abstract:

The current study was the succession of a previous study on value added of recycling business management. Its aims are to 1) explore conditions on how to increasing value add of Thai recycling business, and 2) exam the implementation of the 3-staged plan (short, medium, and long term), suggested by the former study, to increase value added of the recycling business as immediate mechanisms to accelerate government operation. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this research. A qualitative research consisted of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Responses were obtained from owners of the waste separation plants, and recycle shops, as well as officers in relevant governmental agencies. They were randomly selected via Quota Sampling. Data was analyzed via content analysis. The sample used for quantitative method consisted of 1,274 licensed recycling operators in eight provinces. The operators were randomly stratified via sampling method. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics frequency, percentage, average (Mean) and standard deviation.The study recommended three-staged plan: short, medium, and long terms. The plan included the development of logistics, the provision of quality market/plants, the amendment of recycling rules/regulation, the restructuring recycling business, the establishment of green-purchasing recycling center, support for the campaigns run by the International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN), conferences/workshops as a public forum to share insights among experts/concern people.

Keywords: Strategies, Value Added, Recycle Business.

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1339 Factors Influencing Bank Profitability of Czech Banks and Their International Parent Companies

Authors: Libena Cernohorska

Abstract:

The goal of this paper is to specify factors influencing the profitability of selected banks. Next, a model will be created to help establish variables that have a demonstrable influence on the development of the selected banks' profitability ratios. Czech banks and their international parent companies were selected for analyzing profitability. Banks categorized as large banks (according to the Czech National Bank's system, which ranks banks according to balance sheet total) were selected to represent the Czech banks. Two ratios, the return on assets ratio (ROA) and the return on equity ratio (ROE) are used to assess bank profitability. Six endogenous and four external indicators were selected from among other factors that influence bank profitability. The data analyzed were for 2001–2013. First, correlation analysis, which was supposed to eliminate correlated values, was conducted. A large number of correlated values were established on the basis of this analysis. The strongly correlated values were omitted. Despite this, the subsequent regression analysis of profitability for the individual banks that were selected did not confirm that the selected variables influenced their profitability. The studied factors' influence on bank profitability was demonstrated only for Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka and Société Générale using regression analysis. For Československa Obchodni Banka, it was demonstrated that inflation level and the amount of the central bank's interest rate influenced the return on assets ratio and that capital adequacy and market concentration influenced the return on equity ratio for Société Générale.

Keywords: Banks, profitability, regression analysis, ROA, ROE.

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1338 TACS : Thermo Acoustic Cooling System

Authors: Z. Zarid, C. Gamba, A. Brusseaux, C. Laborie, K. Briens

Abstract:

Cooling with sound is a physical phenomenon allowed by Thermo-Acoustics in which acoustic energy is transformed into a negative heat transfer, in other words: into cooling! Without needing any harmful gas, the transformation is environmentally friendly and can respond to many needs in terms of air conditioning, food refrigeration for domestic use, and cooling medical samples for example. To explore the possibilities of this cooling solution on a small scale, the TACS prototype has been designed, consisting of a low cost thermoacoustic refrigerant “pipe” able to lower the temperature by a few degrees. The obtained results are providing an interesting element for possible future of thermo-acoustic refrigeration.

Keywords: Domestic Scale Cooling System, Thermoacoustic, Environmental Friendly Refrigeration.

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1337 Design the Bowtie Antenna for the Detection of the Tumor in Microwave Tomography

Authors: Muhammd Hassan Khalil, Xu Jiadong

Abstract:

Early breast cancer detection is an emerging field of research as it can save the women infected by malignant tumors. Microwave breast imaging is based on the electrical property contrast between healthy and malignant tumor. This contrast can be detected by use of microwave energy with an array of antennas that illuminate the breast through coupling medium and by measuring the scattered fields. In this paper, author has been presented the design and simulation results of the bowtie antenna. This bowtie antenna is designed for the detection of breast cancer detection.

Keywords: Breast cancer detection, Microwave Imaging, Tomography.

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1336 The Effects of Logistical Centers Realization on Society and Economy

Authors: Anna Dolinayova, Juraj Camaj, Martin Loch

Abstract:

Presently, it is necessary to ensure the sustainable development of passenger and freight transport. Increasing performance of road freight has had a negative impact to environment and society. It is therefore necessary to increase the competitiveness of intermodal transport, which is more environmentally friendly. The study describes the effectiveness of logistical centers realization for companies and society and research how the partial internalization of external costs reflected in the efficient use of these centers and increase the competitiveness of intermodal transport to road freight. In our research, we use the method of comparative analysis and market research to describe the advantages of logistic centers for their users as well as for society as a whole. Method normal costing is used for calculation infrastructure and total costs, method of conversion costing for determine the external costs. We modelled total society costs for road freight transport and inter modal transport chain (we assumed that most of the traffic is carried by rail) with different loading schemes for condition in the Slovak Republic. Our research has shown that higher utilization of inter modal transport chain do good not only for society, but for companies providing freight services too. Increase in use of inter modal transport chain can bring many benefits to society that do not bring direct immediate financial return. They often bring the multiplier effects, such as greater use of environmentally friendly transport mode and reduce the total society costs.

Keywords: Delivery time, economy effectiveness, logistical centers, ecological efficiency, optimization, society.

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1335 Optimal Selling Prices for Small Sized Poultry Farmers

Authors: Hidefumi Kawakatsu, Dong Li, Kosuke Kato

Abstract:

In Japan, meat-type chickens are mainly classified into three categories: (1) Broilers, (2) Branded chickens, and (3) Jidori (Free-range local traditional pedigree chickens). The Jidori chickens are certified by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, whilst, for the Branded chickens, there is no regulation with respect to their breed (genotype) or methods for rearing them. It is, therefore, relatively easy for poultry farmers to introduce Branded than Jidori chickens. The Branded chickens are normally fed a low-calorie diet with ingredients such as herbs, which lengthens their breeding period (compared with that of the Broilers) and increases their market value. In the field of inventory management, fast-growing animals such as broilers are categorised as ameliorating items. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous studies that have explicitly considered smaller sized poultry farmers with limited breeding areas. This study develops an inventory model for a small sized poultry farmer that produces both the Broilers (Product 1) and the Branded chickens (Product 2) with different amelioration rates. The poultry farmer’s total profit per unit of time is formulated as a function of selling prices by using a price-dependent demand function. The existence of a unique optimal selling price for each product, which maximises the total profit, established. It has also been confirmed through numerical examples that, when the breeding area is fixed, the total profit could increase if the poultry farmer reduced the product quantity of Product 1 to introduce Product 2.

Keywords: Amelioration, deterioration, small sized poultry farmers, optimal price.

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1334 Description of Kinetics of Propane Fragmentation with a Support of Ab Initio Simulation

Authors: Amer Al Mahmoud Alsheikh, Jan Žídek, František Krčma

Abstract:

Using ab initio theoretical calculations, we present analysis of fragmentation process. The analysis is performed in two steps. The first step is calculation of fragmentation energies by ab initio calculations. The second step is application of the energies to kinetic description of process. The energies of fragments are presented in this paper. The kinetics of fragmentation process can be described by numerical models. The method for kinetic analysis is described in this paper. The result - composition of fragmentation products - will be calculated in future. The results from model can be compared to the concentrations of fragments from mass spectrum.

Keywords: Ab initio, Density functional theory, Fragmentation energy, Geometry optimization.

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1333 Stimulating Policy for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment in Georgia

Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, N. Damenia

Abstract:

Current state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia is analyzed and evaluated in the paper, the existing legislative background for regulating investments and stimulating policies to attract investments are shown. It is noted that in developing countries encouragement of investment activity, support and implementation are of the most important tasks, implying a consistent investment policy, investor-friendly tax regime and the legal system, reducing administrative barriers and restrictions, fare competitive conditions and business development infrastructure. The work deals with the determining factor of FDIs and the main directions of stimulation, as well as prospective industries where new investments are needed. Contributing and hindering factors and stimulating measures are analyzed. As a result of the research, the direct and indirect factors attracting FDI have been identified. Facilitating factors to FDI inflow are as follows: simplicity of starting business, geopolitical location, low taxes, access to credit, ease of ownership registration, natural resources, low burden of regulations, low level of corruption and low crime rates. Hindering factors to FDI inflow are as follows: small market, lack of policy for attracting investments, low qualification of the workforce (despite the large number of unemployed people it is difficult to find workers with necessary special skills and qualifications), high interest rates, instability of national currency exchange rate, presence of conflict zones within the country and so forth.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, investment attracting policies, investor, reinvestment.

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1332 The Effect of Foreign Owned Firms and Licensed Manufacturing Agreements on Innovation: Case of Pharmaceutical Firms in Developing Countries

Authors: Ilham Benali, Nasser Hajji, Nawfal Acha

Abstract:

Given the fact that the pharmaceutical industry is a commonly studied sector in the context of innovation, the majority of innovation research is devoted to the developed markets known by high research and development (R&D) assets and intensive innovation. In contrast, in developing countries where R&D assets are very low, there is relatively little research to mention in the area of pharmaceutical sector innovation, characterized mainly by two principal elements which are the presence of foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals. With the scarcity of research in this field, this paper attempts to study the effect of these two elements on the firms’ innovation tendencies. Other traditional factors that influence innovation, which are the age and the size of the firm, the R&D activities and the market structure, revealed in the literature review, will be included in the study in order to try to make this work more exhaustive. The study starts by examining innovation tendency in pharmaceutical firms located in developing countries before analyzing the effect of foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals on technological, organizational and marketing innovation. Based on the related work and on the theoretical framework developed, there is a probability that foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals have a negative influence on technological innovation. The opposite effect is possible in the case of organizational and marketing innovation.

Keywords: Developing countries, foreign owned firms, innovation, licensed manufacturing agreements, pharmaceutical industry.

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1331 Blockchain for Decentralized Finance: Impact, Challenges and Remediation

Authors: Rishabh Garg

Abstract:

Blockchain technology can allow remote, untrusted parties in the banking and financial sector to reach consensus on the state of databases without the involvement of gatekeepers. Like a bookkeeper, it can manage all financial transactions including payments, settlements, fundraising, securities management, loans, credits and trade finance. It can outperform existing systems in terms of identity verification, asset transfers, peer-to-peer transfers, hedge funds, security and auditability. Blockchain-based decentralized finance (DeFi) is a new financial protocol. Being open and programmable, it enables various DeFi use-cases, including asset management, tokenization, tokenized derivatives, decentralized autonomous organizations, data analysis and valuation, payments, lending and borrowing, insurance, margin trading, prediction market, gambling and yield-farming, etc. In addition, it can ease financial transactions, cash-flow, use of programmable currency, no-loss lotteries, etc. This paper aims to assess the potential of decentralized finance by leveraging the blockchain-enabled Ethereum platform as an alternative to traditional finance. The study also aims to find out the impact of decentralized finance on prediction markets, quadratic funding and crowd-funding, together with the potential challenges and solutions associated with its implementation.

Keywords: Advance trading, crowd funding, exchange tokens, fund aggregation, margin trading, quadratic funding, smart contracts, streaming money, token derivatives.

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1330 Analysis of a Novel Strained Silicon RF LDMOS

Authors: V.Fathipour, M. A. Malakootian, S. Fathipour, M. Fathipour

Abstract:

In this paper we propose a novel RF LDMOS structure which employs a thin strained silicon layer at the top of the channel and the N-Drift region. The strain is induced by a relaxed Si0.8 Ge0.2 layer which is on top of a compositionally graded SiGe buffer. We explain the underlying physics of the device and compare the proposed device with a conventional LDMOS in terms of energy band diagram and carrier concentration. Numerical simulations of the proposed strained silicon laterally diffused MOS using a 2 dimensional device simulator indicate improvements in saturation and linear transconductance, current drivability, cut off frequency and on resistance. These improvements are however accompanied with a suppression in the break down voltage.

Keywords: High Frequency MOSFET, Design of RF LDMOS, Strained-Silicon, LDMOS.

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1329 CFD Investigation of Interface Location in Stirred Tanks with a Concave Impeller

Authors: P. Parvasi, R. Janamiri, A. Sinkakarimi, I. Mahdavi, M. Safdari, M. H. Sedaghat, A. Hosseini, M. Karimi

Abstract:

In this work study the location of interface in a stirred vessel with a Concave impeller by computational fluid dynamic was presented. To modeling rotating the impeller, sliding mesh (SM) technique was used and standard k-ε model was selected for turbulence closure. Mean tangential, radial and axial velocities and also turbulent kinetic energy (k) and turbulent dissipation rate (ε) in various points of tank was investigated. Results show sensitivity of system to location of interface and radius of 7 to 10cm for interface in the vessel with existence characteristics cause to increase the accuracy of simulation.

Keywords: CFD, Interface, Concave impeller, turbulence model.

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1328 Hybrid Equity Warrants Pricing Formulation under Stochastic Dynamics

Authors: Teh Raihana Nazirah Roslan, Siti Zulaiha Ibrahim, Sharmila Karim

Abstract:

A warrant is a financial contract that confers the right but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security at a certain price before expiration. The standard procedure to value equity warrants using call option pricing models such as the Black–Scholes model had been proven to contain many flaws, such as the assumption of constant interest rate and constant volatility. In fact, existing alternative models were found focusing more on demonstrating techniques for pricing, rather than empirical testing. Therefore, a mathematical model for pricing and analyzing equity warrants which comprises stochastic interest rate and stochastic volatility is essential to incorporate the dynamic relationships between the identified variables and illustrate the real market. Here, the aim is to develop dynamic pricing formulations for hybrid equity warrants by incorporating stochastic interest rates from the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) model, along with stochastic volatility from the Heston model. The development of the model involves the derivations of stochastic differential equations that govern the model dynamics. The resulting equations which involve Cauchy problem and heat equations are then solved using partial differential equation approaches. The analytical pricing formulas obtained in this study comply with the form of analytical expressions embedded in the Black-Scholes model and other existing pricing models for equity warrants. This facilitates the practicality of this proposed formula for comparison purposes and further empirical study.

Keywords: Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model, equity warrants, Heston model, hybrid models, stochastic.

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1327 A Preliminary Literature Review of Digital Transformation Case Studies

Authors: Vesna Bosilj Vukšić, Lucija Ivančić, Dalia Suša Vugec

Abstract:

While struggling to succeed in today’s complex market environment and provide better customer experience and services, enterprises encompass digital transformation as a means for reaching competitiveness and foster value creation. A digital transformation process consists of information technology implementation projects, as well as organizational factors such as top management support, digital transformation strategy, and organizational changes. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is little evidence about digital transformation endeavors in organizations and how they perceive it – is it only about digital technologies adoption or a true organizational shift is needed? In order to address this issue and as the first step in our research project, a literature review is conducted. The analysis included case study papers from Scopus and Web of Science databases. The following attributes are considered for classification and analysis of papers: time component; country of case origin; case industry and; digital transformation concept comprehension, i.e. focus. Research showed that organizations – public, as well as private ones, are aware of change necessity and employ digital transformation projects. Also, the changes concerning digital transformation affect both manufacturing and service-based industries. Furthermore, we discovered that organizations understand that besides technologies implementation, organizational changes must also be adopted. However, with only 29 relevant papers identified, research positioned digital transformation as an unexplored and emerging phenomenon in information systems research. The scarcity of evidence-based papers calls for further examination of this topic on cases from practice.

Keywords: Digital strategy, digital technologies, digital transformation, literature review.

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1326 To Cloudify or Not to Cloudify

Authors: Laila Yasir Al-Harthy, Ali H. Al-Badi

Abstract:

As an emerging business model, cloud computing has been initiated to satisfy the need of organizations and to push Information Technology as a utility. The shift to the cloud has changed the way Information Technology departments are managed traditionally and has raised many concerns for both, public and private sectors.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of cloud computing services replacing services provided traditionally by IT departments. Therefore, it aims to 1) explore whether organizations in Oman are ready to move to the cloud; 2) identify the deciding factors leading to the adoption or rejection of cloud computing services in Oman; and 3) provide two case studies, one for a successful Cloud provider and another for a successful adopter.

This paper is based on multiple research methods including conducting a set of interviews with cloud service providers and current cloud users in Oman; and collecting data using questionnaires from experts in the field and potential users of cloud services.

Despite the limitation of bandwidth capacity and Internet coverage offered in Oman that create a challenge in adopting the cloud, it was found that many information technology professionals are encouraged to move to the cloud while few are resistant to change.

The recent launch of a new Omani cloud service provider and the entrance of other international cloud service providers in the Omani market make this research extremely valuable as it aims to provide real-life experience as well as two case studies on the successful provision of cloud services and the successful adoption of these services.

Keywords: Cloud computing, cloud deployment models, cloud service models and deciding factors.

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1325 An Evaluation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Trading among Enterprises -The Tokyo Cap and Trade Program-

Authors: Hiroki Satou, Kayoko Yamamoto

Abstract:

This study aims to propose three evaluation methods to evaluate the Tokyo Cap and Trade Program when emissions trading is performed virtually among enterprises, focusing on carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the only emitted greenhouse gas that tends to increase. The first method clarifies the optimum reduction rate for the highest cost benefit, the second discusses emissions trading among enterprises through market trading, and the third verifies long-term emissions trading during the term of the plan (2010-2019), checking the validity of emissions trading partly using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The findings of this study can be summarized in the following three points. 1. Since the total cost benefit is the greatest at a 44% reduction rate, it is possible to set it more highly than that of the Tokyo Cap and Trade Program to get more total cost benefit. 2. At a 44% reduction rate, among 320 enterprises, 8 purchasing enterprises and 245 sales enterprises gain profits from emissions trading, and 67 enterprises perform voluntary reduction without conducting emissions trading. Therefore, to further promote emissions trading, it is necessary to increase the sales volumes of emissions trading in addition to sales enterprises by increasing the number of purchasing enterprises. 3. Compared to short-term emissions trading, there are few enterprises which benefit in each year through the long-term emissions trading of the Tokyo Cap and Trade Program. Only 81 enterprises at the most can gain profits from emissions trading in FY 2019. Therefore, by setting the reduction rate more highly, it is necessary to increase the number of enterprises that participate in emissions trading and benefit from the restraint of CO2 emissions.

Keywords: Emissions Trading, Tokyo Cap and Trade Program, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Global Warming, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

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