Abstract: This paper has as its main aim to analyse how
corporate web pages can become an essential tool in order to detect
strategic trends by firms or sectors, and even a primary source for
benchmarking. This technique has made it possible to identify the key
issues in the strategic management of the most excellent large Spanish
firms and also to describe trends in their long-range planning, a way of
working that can be generalised to any country or firm group. More
precisely, two objectives were sought. The first one consisted in showing
the way in which corporate websites make it possible to obtain direct
information about the strategic variables which can define firms. This
tool is dynamic (since web pages are constantly updated) as well as
direct and reliable, since the information comes from the firm itself, not
from comments of third parties (such as journalists, academicians,
consultants...). When this information is analysed for a group of firms,
one can observe their characteristics in terms of both managerial tasks
and business management. As for the second objective, the methodology
proposed served to describe the corporate profile of the large Spanish
enterprises included in the Ibex35 (the Ibex35 or Iberia Index is the
reference index in the Spanish Stock Exchange and gathers periodically
the 35 most outstanding Spanish firms). An attempt is therefore made to
define the long-range planning that would be characteristic of the largest
Spanish firms.
Abstract: One of the approaches to democratization is the fostering of civil society organizations. In Africa, civil society organizations did not fully play their role in the continent-s democratization process due to many factors including the repressive regulations imposed on them by governing parties. In Ethiopia, for the first time in the country-s political history, the civil society played a very active role in the 2005 multi-party election. The involvement of the civil society in this election has far-reaching consequences. One of the objectives of this paper is to assess the consequences of such involvement for both the civil society and the political society in the country. The paper also examines the peculiarities of civil society formation in Africa in general, and in Ethiopia in particular by assessing both the “traditional" and “modern" civil society organizations.
Abstract: Widespread use of asbestos over the last century has left a terrible legacy of lung disease. Doctors knew of the health risks long ago, but almost nothing was done to protect workers and the public. Some aspects of nanotechnology may have risks similar to asbestos.
Abstract: In pressure vessels contain hydrogen, the role of
hydrogen will be important because of hydrogen cracking problem. It
is difficult to predict what is happened in metallurgical field spite of a
lot of studies have been searched. The main role in controlling the
mass diffusion as driving force is related to stress. In this study, finite
element analysis is implemented to estimate material-s behavior
associated with hydrogen embrittlement. For this purpose, one model
of a pressure vessel is introduced that it has definite boundary and
initial conditions. In fact, finite element is employed to solve the
sequentially coupled mass diffusion with stress near a crack front in a
pressure vessel. Modeling simulation intergrarnular fracture of AISI
4135 steel due to hydrogen is investigated. So, distribution of
hydrogen and stress are obtained and they indicate that their
maximum amounts occur near the crack front. This phenomenon is
happened exactly the region between elastic and plastic field.
Therefore, hydrogen is highly mobile and can diffuse through crystal
lattice so that this zone is potential to trap high volume of hydrogen.
Consequently, crack growth and fast fracture will be happened.
Abstract: The effects of upflow liquid velocity (ULV) on
performance of expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) system were
investigated. The EGSB reactor, made from galvanized steel pipe
0.10 m diameter and 5 m height, had been used to treat piggery
wastewater, after passing through acidification tank. It consisted of
39.3 l working volume in reaction zone and 122 l working volume in
sedimentation zone, at the upper part. The reactor was seeded with
anaerobically digested sludge and operated at the ULVs of 4, 8, 12
and 16 m/h, consecutively, corresponding to organic loading rates of
9.6 – 13.0 kg COD/ (m3.d). The average COD concentrations in the
influent were 9,601 – 13,050 mg/l. The COD removal was not
significantly different, i.e. 93.0% - 94.0%, except at ULV 12 m/h where
SS in the influent was exceptionally high so that VSS washout had
occurred, leading to low COD removal. The FCOD and VFA
concentrations in the effluent of all experiments were not much
different, indicating the same range of treatment performance. The
biogas production decreased at higher ULV and ULV of 4 m/h is
suggested as design criterion for EGSB system.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying
causes of late payment from the contractors- perspective in the
Malaysian construction industry and to recommend effective solutions
to mitigate late payment problems. The target groups of respondents in
this study were Grades G3, G5, G6 and G7 contractors with
specialization in building works and civil engineering works registered
with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
Malaysia. Results from this study were analyzed with Statistical
Package for the Social Science (SPSS 15.0). From this study, it was
found that respondents have highest ranked five significant variables
out of a total of forty-one variables which can caused late payment
problems: a) cash flow problems due to deficiencies in client-s
management capacity (mean = 3.96); b) client-s ineffective utilization
of funds (mean = 3.88); c) scarcity of capital to finance the project
(mean = 3.81); d) clients failure to generate income from bank when
sales of houses do not hit the targeted amount (mean=3.72); and e)
poor cash flow because of lack of proper process implementation,
delay in releasing of the retention monies to contractor and delay in the
evaluation and certification of interim and final payment (mean =
3.66).
Abstract: III-nitride quaternary InxAlyGa1-x-yN alloys have experienced considerable interest as potential materials for optoelectronic applications. Despite these interesting applications and the extensive efforts to understand their fundamental properties, research on its fundamental surface property, i.e., surface phonon polariton (SPP) has not yet been reported. In fact, the SPP properties have been shown to provide application for some photonic devices. Hence, there is an absolute need for thorough studies on the SPP properties of this material. In this work, theoretical study on the SPP modes in InAlGaN quaternary alloys are reported. Attention is focus on the wurtzite (α-) structure InxAlyGa1-x-yN semi-crystal with different In composition, x ranging from 0 to 0.10 and constant Al composition, y = 0.06. The SPP modes are obtained through the theoretical simulation by means of anisotropy model. The characteristics of SP dispersion curves are discussed. Accessible results in terms of the experimental point of view are also given. Finally, the results revealed that the SPP mode of α-InxAlyGa1-x-yN semiconductors exhibits two-mode behavior.
Abstract: The pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of seven marine biomass, which are fixed Enteromorpha clathrata, floating Enteromorpha clathrata, Ulva lactuca L., Zosterae Marinae L., Thallus Laminariae, Asparagus schoberioides kunth and Undaria pinnatifida (Harv.), were studied with thermogravimetric analysis method. Simultaneously, cornstalk, which is a grass biomass, and sawdust, which is a lignocellulosic biomass, were references. The basic pyrolysis characteristics were studied by using TG- DTG-DTA curves. The results showed that there were three stages (dehydration, dramatic weight loss and slow weight loss) during the whole pyrolysis process of samples. The Tmax of marine biomass was significantly lower than two kinds of terrestrial biomass. Zosterae Marinae L. had a relatively high stability of pyrolysis, but floating Enteromorpha clathrata had lowest stability of pyrolysis and a good combustion characteristics. The corresponding activation energy E and frequency factor A were obtained by Coats-Redfern method. It was found that the pyrolysis reaction mechanism functions of three kinds of biomass are different.
Abstract: This paper presents a new type of mechanism and trajectory planning strategy for bipedal walking robot. The newly designed mechanism is able to improve the performance of bipedal walking robot in terms of energy efficiency and weight reduction by utilizing minimum number of actuators. The usage of parallelogram mechanism eliminates the needs of having an extra actuator at the knee joint. This mechanism works together with the joint space trajectory planning in order to realize straight legged walking which cannot be achieved by conventional inverse kinematics trajectory planning due to the singularity. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is confirmed by computer simulation results.
Abstract: The paper presents a comparative performance of the
models developed to predict 28 days compressive strengths using
neural network techniques for data taken from literature (ANN-I) and
data developed experimentally for SCC containing bottom ash as
partial replacement of fine aggregates (ANN-II). The data used in the
models are arranged in the format of six and eight input parameters
that cover the contents of cement, sand, coarse aggregate, fly ash as
partial replacement of cement, bottom ash as partial replacement of
sand, water and water/powder ratio, superplasticizer dosage and an
output parameter that is 28-days compressive strength and
compressive strengths at 7 days, 28 days, 90 days and 365 days,
respectively for ANN-I and ANN-II. The importance of different
input parameters is also given for predicting the strengths at various
ages using neural network. The model developed from literature data
could be easily extended to the experimental data, with bottom ash as
partial replacement of sand with some modifications.
Abstract: The Cluster Dimension of a network is defined as, which is the minimum cardinality of a subset S of the set of nodes having the property that for any two distinct nodes x and y, there exist the node Si, s2 (need not be distinct) in S such that ld(x,s1) — d(y, s1)1 > 1 and d(x,s2) < d(x,$) for all s E S — {s2}. In this paper, strictly non overlap¬ping clusters are constructed. The concept of LandMarks for Unique Addressing and Clustering (LMUAC) routing scheme is developed. With the help of LMUAC routing scheme, It is shown that path length (upper bound)PLN,d < PLD, Maximum memory space requirement for the networkMSLmuAc(Az) < MSEmuAc < MSH3L < MSric and Maximum Link utilization factor MLLMUAC(i=3) < MLLMUAC(z03) < M Lc
Abstract: Foodborne Salmonella infections have become a
major problem world wide. Salmonellosis transmitted from fish are
quite common. Established quality control measures exist for export
oriented fish, none exists for fish consumed locally. This study aimed
at characterization of Salmonella isolated from Nile tilapia . The
study was carried out in selected beaches along L. Victoria in
Western Kenya between March and June 2007. One hundred and
twenty fish specimens were collected. Salmonella isolates were
confirmed using serotyping, biochemical testing in addition to malic
acid dehydrogenase (mdh) and fliC gene sequencing. Twenty
Salmonella isolates were confirmed by mdh gene sequencing. Nine
(9) were S. enterica serotype typhimurium, four (4) were S. enterica
Serotype, enteritidis and seven (7) were S. enterica serotype typhi.
Nile tilapia have a role in transmission of Salmonellosis in the study
area, poor sanitation was a major cause of pollution at the beach
inshore waters.
Abstract: Most of the collision warning systems currently
available in the automotive market are mainly designed to warn
against imminent rear-end and lane-changing collisions. No collision
warning system is commercially available to warn against imminent
turning collisions at intersections, especially for left-turn collisions
when a driver attempts to make a left-turn at either a signalized or
non-signalized intersection, conflicting with the path of other
approaching vehicles traveling on the opposite-direction traffic
stream. One of the major factors that lead to left-turn collisions is the
human error and misjudgment of the driver of the turning vehicle
when perceiving the speed and acceleration of other vehicles
traveling on the opposite-direction traffic stream; therefore, using a
properly-designed collision warning system will likely reduce, or
even eliminate, this type of collisions by reducing human error. This
paper introduces perceptual framework for a proposed collision
warning system that can detect imminent left-turn collisions at
intersections. The system utilizes a commercially-available detection
sensor (either a radar sensor or a laser detector) to detect approaching
vehicles traveling on the opposite-direction traffic stream and
calculate their speeds and acceleration rates to estimate the time-tocollision
and compare that time to the time required for the turning
vehicle to clear the intersection. When calculating the time required
for the turning vehicle to clear the intersection, consideration is given
to the perception-reaction time of the driver of the turning vehicle,
which is the time required by the driver to perceive the message
given by the warning system and react to it by engaging the throttle.
A regression model was developed to estimate perception-reaction
time based on age and gender of the driver of the host vehicle.
Desired acceleration rate selected by the driver of the turning vehicle,
when making the left-turn movement, is another human factor that is
considered by the system. Another regression model was developed
to estimate the acceleration rate selected by the driver of the turning
vehicle based on driver-s age and gender as well as on the location
and speed of the nearest approaching vehicle along with the
maximum acceleration rate provided by the mechanical
characteristics of the turning vehicle. By comparing time-to-collision
with the time required for the turning vehicle to clear the intersection,
the system displays a message to the driver of the turning vehicle
when departure is safe. An application example is provided to
illustrate the logic algorithm of the proposed system.
Abstract: Three batches of yogurts were made with soy protein
isolate (SPI) supplemented with 2% (S2), 4% (S4) or 6% (S6) of
skim milk powder (SMP). The fourth batch (control; S0) was
prepared from SPI without SMP supplementation. Lactobacillus
delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus ATCC 11842 (Lb 11842) and
Streptococcus thermophilus ST 1342 (ST 1342) were used as the
starter culture. Biotransformation of the inactive forms, isoflavone
glycosides (IG) to biologically active forms, isoflavone aglycones
(IA), was determined during 28 d storage. The viability of both
microorganisms was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in S2, S4, and S6
than that in S0. The ratio of lactic acid/acetic acid in S0 was in the
range of 15.53 – 22.31 compared to 7.24 – 12.81 in S2, S4 and S6.
The biotransformation of IG to IA in S2, S4 and S6 was also
enhanced by 9.9 -13.3% compared to S0.
Abstract: This paper, a simple continuous conduction mode (CCM) pulse-width-modulated (PWM) controller for high power factor boost converters is introduced. The duty ratios were obtained by the comparison of a sensed signal from inductor current or switch current and a negative slope ramp carrier waveform in each switching period. Due to the proposed control requires only the inductor current or switch current sensor and the output voltage sensor, its circuit implementation was very simple. To verify the proposed control, the circuit experimentation of a 350 W boost converter with the proposed control was applied. From the results, the input current waveform was shaped to be closely sinusoidal, implying high power factor and low harmonics.
Abstract: A handful of propagation textbooks that discuss radio frequency (RF) propagation models merely list out the models and perhaps discuss them rather briefly; this may well be frustrating for the potential first time modeller who's got no idea on how these models could have been derived. This paper fundamentally provides an overture in modelling the radio channel. Explicitly, for the modelling practice discussed here, signal strength field measurements had to be conducted beforehand (this was done at 469 MHz); to be precise, this paper primarily concerns empirically/statistically modelling the radio channel, and thus provides results obtained from empirically modelling the environments in question. This paper, on the whole, proposes three propagation models, corresponding to three experimented environments. Perceptibly, the models have been derived by way of making the most use of statistical measures. Generally speaking, the first two models were derived via simple linear regression analysis, whereas the third have been originated using multiple regression analysis (with five various predictors). Additionally, as implied by the title of this paper, both indoor and outdoor environments have been experimented; however, (somewhat) two of the environments are neither entirely indoor nor entirely outdoor. The other environment, however, is completely indoor.
Abstract: Transient Stability is an important issue in power systems planning, operation and extension. The objective of transient stability analysis problem is not satisfied with mere transient instability detection or evaluation and it is most important to complement it by defining fast and efficient control measures in order to ensure system security. This paper presents a new Fuzzy Support Vector Machines (FSVM) to investigate the stability status of power systems and a modified generation rescheduling scheme to bring back the identified unstable cases to a more economical and stable operating point. FSVM improves the traditional SVM (Support Vector Machines) by adding fuzzy membership to each training sample to indicate the degree of membership of this sample to different classes. The preventive control based on economic generator rescheduling avoids the instability of the power systems with minimum change in operating cost under disturbed conditions. Numerical results on the New England 39 bus test system show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Abstract: By analyzing the sources of energy and power
loss in PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controlled drivers of
water electrolysis cells, it is possible to reduce the power
dissipation and enhance the efficiency of such hydrogen
production units. A PWM controlled power driver is based on
a semiconductor switching element where its power
dissipation might be a remarkable fraction of the total power
demand of an electrolysis system. Power dissipation in a
semiconductor switching element is related to many different
parameters which could be fitted into two main categories:
switching losses and conduction losses. Conduction losses are
directly related to the built, structure and capabilities of a
switching device itself and indeed the conditions in which the
element is handling the switching application such as voltage,
current, temperature and of course the fabrication technology.
On the other hand, switching losses have some other
influencing variables other than the mentioned such as control
system, switching method and power electronics circuitry of
the PWM power driver. By analyzings the characteristics of
recently developed power switching transistors from different
families of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT), Metal Oxide
Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFET) and
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT), some
recommendations are made in this paper which are able to
lead to achieve higher hydrogen production efficiency by
utilizing PWM controlled water electrolysis cells.
Abstract: In this paper, perceptions of actors on changes in
crop productivity, quantity and quality of water, and determinants of
their perception are analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordered
logit model. Data collected from 297 Ethiopian farmers and 103
agricultural professionals from December 2009 to January 2010 are
employed. Results show that the majority of the farmers and
professionals recognized decline in water resources, reasoning
climate changes and soil erosion as some of the causes. However,
there is a variation in views on changes in productivity. The
household asset, education level, age and geographical positions are
found to affect farmers- perception on changes in crop productivity.
But, the study underlines that there is no evidence that farmers-
economic status, age, or education level affects recognition of
degradation of water resources. Thus, more focus shall be given on
providing them different coping mechanisms and alternative
resource conserving technologies than educating about the
problems.
Abstract: The current situation in the eurozone raises a number of topics for discussion and to help in finding an answer to the question of whether a common currency is a more suitable means of coping with the impact of the financial crisis or whether national currencies are better suited to this. The economic situation in the EU is now considerably volatile and, due to problems with the fulfilment of the Maastricht convergence criteria, it is now being considered whether, in their further development, new member states will decide to distance themselves from the euro or will, in an attempt to overcome the crisis, speed up the adoption of the euro. The Czech Republic is one country with little interest in adopting the euro, justified by the fact that a better alternative to dealing with this crisis is an independent monetary policy and its ability to respond flexibly to the economic situation not only in Europe, but around the world. One attribute of the crisis in the Czech Republic and its mitigation is the freely floating exchange rate of the national currency. It is not only the Czech Republic that is attempting to alleviate the impact of the crisis, but also new EU member countries facing fresh questions to which theory have yet to provide wholly satisfactory answers. These questions undoubtedly include the problem of inflation targeting and the choice of appropriate instruments for achieving financial stability. The difficulty lies in the fact that these objectives may be contradictory and may require more than one means of achieving them. In this respect we may assume that membership of the euro zone might not in itself mitigate the development of the recession or protect the nation from future crises. We are of the opinion that the decisive factor in the development of any economy will continue to be the domestic economic policy and the operability of market economic mechanisms. We attempt to document this fact using selected countries as examples, these being the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.