Dynamics of a bounded rational Cournot duopoly model with cooperation

In this paper, a description of a Cournot duopoly model based on a general inverse demand function and a quadratic cost function is investigated. Existence and stability of equilibrium points are investigated analytically and numerically. Cooperation in duopoly is considered with “tit-for tat” strategy

Optimal route of a moving service vehicle on the plane with stochastic demands

 In this paper, I examine the problem of finding the optimal route that minimizes the sum of the weighted expected distances between the moving service vehicle and the stochastic demand points. The problem is investigated using a quadratic function for the route. Different distance measures and probability distributions of the stochastic demand points are considered

Optimal path of a moving service vehicle on network with probabilistic demands

In this paper, I examine twofold problem. The first one is concerned with finding the optimal location of a single facility in a network with demands randomly distributed over the edges. The second problem is about determining the optimal path between two specified nodes of the network of a moving vehicle that continuously interacts with randomly distributed requests for service over the edges. The problems are investigated using different performance measures and probability distributions of the demands

Physical-Chemical Treatment Of Stabilized Leachate Using Limestone, Activated Carbon And Zeolite [TD795.7. A286 2007 f rb].

Pencirian larutlesapan dari tapak kambus tanah Larut Matang Taiping telah dijalankan. Warna, COD, ferum dan nitrogen ammonia hadir pada kepekatan yang tinggi di tapak ini. Leachate generated from Larut Matang landfill in Taiping was characterized. Colour, COD, iron and ammoniacal nitrogen were found to be high. The potential use of activated carbon, limestone and zeolite and their possible mixtures as an adsorbent was investigated in this research

The Financial Consequences of Servitization in Manufacturing Firms: An Empirical Analysis

Prior body of servitization research falls short to fully capture the financial consequences of servitization. This paper aims at investigating the financial consequences of servitization in listed manufacturing companies in four countries, namely UK, USA, Germany and China. By means of secondary data obtained from Worldscope database, regression models will be developed to compare servitized and non-servitized manufacturing firms in the aforementioned countries. This study contributes to the current understanding of the financial consequences in the transition towards service provision and aims to enhance managerial decision-making processes regarding servitization by comparing different contexts and countries

Minisum and minimax transfer point location problem with random demands points

This paper is concerned with analyzing some models of the weighted transfer point location problem under the minisum and minimax criterions when demand points are randomly distributed over regions of the plane and the location of the service facility is known. In case of minisum objective with rectilinear distance, an iterative procedure was constructed for estimating the optimal transfer point location using the hyperbolic application procedure. Exact analytic solution was obtained when the random demand points follow uniform distributions. A unified analytic optimal solution was provided for all types of probability distributions of the random demand points when the distance is the squared Euclidean distance. For minimax objective with squared Euclidean distance, an iterative procedure based on Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions was developed to produce an approximate solution to the optimal solution. Illustrative numerical examples were provided

Le Conseil de sécurité à l'ombre de l'hégémonie américaine

Cette recherche tente de démontrer d'une part, l'incidence négative de la désertion des États-Unis dans son rôle de leader parmi « la communauté internationale » sur l'efficacité du régime de sécurité collective de l'ONU et, d'autre part, sur la manière dont les décisions unilatéralistes de politique étrangère américaine nuisent à la crédibilité et l'action du Conseil de sécurité. Elle se base sur la théorie de la stabilité hégémonique de Charles Kindleberger qui affirme qu'en absence de soutien fort de la puissance hégémonique le régime international s'affaiblit. Notre hypothèse de recherche qui se rapporte à cette théorie est que la faiblesse du Conseil de sécurité dans l'après-guerre froide est imputable à la démission des États-Unis de la fonction de leadership bienveillant. Cette défection se traduit dans la pratique par une politique étrangère de plus en plus unilatéraliste, axée sur la sécurité nationale des États-Unis aux dépens du régime de la sécurité collective et de son institution. La recherche abordera la genèse du Conseil de sécurité en soulignant le rôle central des Etats-Unis dans la création et le maintien du régime de sécurité. Elle soulignera leur réticence, dans l'après-guerre froide, à concéder au Conseil de sécurité la prérogative du maintien de la paix et la sécurité. Une position qui se radicalisera suite aux attentats du 11 septembre 2001. À cet égard, l'évolution des orientations de la politique étrangère américaine et leur perception du multilatéralisme sont exploitées pour démontrer leur incidence sur l'efficacité, voire, la crédibilité du Conseil de sécurité d'une part et la stabilité du système international, d'autre part. Les répercussions de la politique étrangère américaine sur la pertinence du Conseil de sécurité dans le domaine du maintien de la paix sont illustrées à travers trois études de cas : la crise de Yougoslavie (1991), l'invasion de l'Irak (2003) et les positions américaines vis-à-vis de la réforme de l'ONU. Au terme de cet exercice, il apparaît qu'en l'absence de soutien effectif de la part des États-Unis au régime de sécurité collective de l'ONU, le Conseil de sécurité ne peut prétendre jouer un rôle important dans le maintien de la paix et de la sécurité internationale. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Conseil de sécurité, États-Unis, Leadership, Sécurité collective, Stabilité hégémonique

Moisture transport through pores in porous asphalt pavement materials

Using a porous pavement system is the most feasible alternative to the traditional impervious asphalt and concrete pavement. The ability of porous asphalt (PA) to allow infiltration of storm water runoff make its installation very successful in the pathway, shopping areas, parking areas and driveways as well as areas with moderate traffic use. The benefits of the porous asphalt system are not only its capacity to reduce water runoff but also in its abilities to cool the surface temperature to avoid the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect caused by a high pavement temperature and to reduce pollutant load and noise. However, there are critical challenges associated with porous asphalt related to its durability and functionality as PA tends to clog with time and loses its resistance to damage. This research was mainly aimed at investigating the moisture transport properties of asphalt materials. Moreover, the thesis proposes a novel methodology for the study of water permeability and water evaporation of porous asphalt (PA) materials. The inspirations behind this work are related to the critical challenges associated with porous asphalt in regard to its durability and functionality. The research was undertaken to study the effect of the porous asphalt pore space properties on the hydraulic conductivity of a wide range asphalt porosities. X-ray computed tomography was used to identify the 3D pore space of porous asphalt samples and a statistical model for the hydraulic conductivity of asphalt mixtures in the range of porosities studied is proposed. Results show that the hydraulic conductivity is related mostly to the air void content. The study also investigated the water evaporation process from an asphalt mixture under laboratory conditions to understand the effect of the porous asphalt air void space structure on evaporation dynamic from asphalt materials. It was observed that the evaporation rate is related predominantly to the air void content, pore size distribution and tortuosity. Moreover, in order to be able to track the moisture distribution and transport inside the pore space of porous asphalt materials, the 3D pore structure was printed in transparent resin blocks, then, a water evaporation test was performed on the 3D printed samples using dyed water. The macro-porosity, pore size distribution, air void tortuosity, water conductivity and water retention curves of the 3D printed porous asphalt samples were quantified by means of image analysis. Furthermore, a model estimates the evaporation rates from porous asphalt materials for a wide range of porosities was developed and tested experimentally. Within the range of asphalt mixtures studied in the present work, the evaporation rate was found to be related predominantly to the porosity, pore size distribution and tortuosity. It was found that the period during which water evaporation occurs at the surface is relatively short during the drying of porous asphalt materials due to their relatively large pores that weaken the capillary forces. The results also illustrate that the beginning of stage-2 evaporation depends on the porosity and tortuosity of the porous asphalt material, among other parameters. This study results and analysis provide new insights into the dynamics of water evaporation from asphalt materials. The present work was also aimed at exploring the effect of the average void diameter on the hydraulic conductivity of a porous asphalt mixture, with porosities ranging from 14% to 31%. The pore spaces of asphalt were generated using a novel virtual air pore generator tool optimized by a Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm and 3D printed in transparent resin blocks. The permeability tests were conducted using the 3D printed transparent resin samples to understand the effect of pore topology on the hydraulic conductivity. Moreover, the virtual air void space was compared to that of real asphalt sample pore systems quantified using X-ray Computed Tomography scans. In addition, the new air pore generator tool can generate a realistic 3D pore space for asphalt materials in terms of visual, topological, statistical and air void shape properties. It was found that, in the range of porous asphalt materials investigated in this research, the high dispersion in hydraulic conductivity at the same air void content is due the effect of the average void diameter. Finally, the relationship between average void diameter and the maximum aggregate size and gradation in porous asphalt materials was investigated