Modeling and simulation of drying operation in PVC powder production line: a pneumatic dryer model

A one-dimensional steady-state model is developed to simulate drying of PVC powder in a pneumatic dryer. In this model, a two-phase continuum model was used to describe the steady-state flow of a dilute dispersed phase (wet PVC powder) and a continuous phase (humid air) through dryer. The particle scale kinetics was obtained by immersion of a fixed mass of wet PVC’s particles (cake) in a batch dense fluidized bed containing inert hot particles (glass bead). The drying kinetics was described by a shrinking core type model and integrated in pneumatic dryer model. The results show that the inlet temperature is the most important parameter in the operation. The drying rate is controlled by a two-stage process. The first stage corresponds to the surface water evaporation, and the second to the pore water evaporation

Impacts of Political Majorities on French Firms: Electoral Promises or Friendship Connections?

This paper analyzes the impact of changes in the winning chances of candidates running for the 2007 French presidential election on abnormal stock returns of firms that could benefit from a candidate's victory. We use prices formed by transactions on a political prediction market to reveal the probabilities of victory of S. Royal and N. Sarkozy. We find that changes in S. Royal's probability of victory have no impact on firms that should benefit from her party platform. On the opposite, abnormal returns of firms that should benefit from reforms announced by N. Sarkozy or that are directed or owned by his friends are positively correlated with changes in his probability of victory. Both effects appear to be independent and the network effect is fifty percents larger than the other one. All these results persist when we take into account specific characteristics of firms.Ce papier analyse l'impact des variations des probabilités de victoire des candidats à l'élection présidentielle de 2007 sur les rendements anormaux des entreprises cotées sur le marché boursier français. Nous examinons trois groupes d'entreprises pouvant bénéficier de l'élection d'un candidat sur la base des réformes annoncées par celui-ci ou de ses liens d'amitié avec des personnalités du monde des affaires. Nous utilisons les prix des paris échangés sur un marché prédictif donnant un candidat gagnant pour révéler les anticipations relatives à sa victoire. Nous montrons que les variations de probabilité de victoire de S. Royal n'ont pas d'impact particulier sur les rendements des entreprises censées bénéficier des réformes annoncées dans son programme. A l'inverse, les entreprises détenues ou dirigées par des proches de N. Sarkozy ou censées tirer parti de ses engagements électoraux voient leurs rendements anormaux croître avec l'augmentation de ses chances de victoire. Ces deux effets sont indépendants l'un de l'autre. Mais celui transitant par le réseau social est 50% plus important. Les résultats sont robustes à la prise en compte des spécificités des entreprises (taille, actionnariat public et activité)

Les Québécois devant les services sociaux. Un univers de transition?

Ce texte présente les résultats d'un vaste sondage d'opinions concernant des attitudes générales en matière de problèmes sociaux ou sociosanitaires et plus particulièrement par rapport à deux situations problèmes : devoir prendre en charge un parent âgé en perte d'autonomie ou devoir assumer les responsabilités de chef de famille monoparentale. Mais en plus de l'analyse de ces deux problèmes spécifiques, cette enquête nous fournit de précieuses informations sur les types de solutions concrètes qu'une population se donne pour faire face aux divers problèmes sociaux qui la confrontent

Scoping the ethical principles of cybersecurity fear appeals

Fear appeals are used in many domains. Cybersecurity researchers are also starting to experiment with fear appeals, many reporting positive outcomes. Yet there are ethical concerns related to the use of fear to motivate action. In this paper, we explore this aspect from the perspectives of cybersecurity fear appeal deployers and recipients. We commenced our investigation by considering fear appeals from three foundational ethical perspectives. We then consulted the two stakeholder groups to gain insights into the ethical concerns they consider to be pertinent. We first consulted deployers: (a) fear appeal researchers and (b) Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), and then potential cybersecurity fear appeal recipients: members of a crowdsourcing platform. We used their responses to develop an effects-reasoning matrix, identifying the potential benefits and detriments of cybersecurity fear appeals for all stakeholders. Using these insights, we derived six ethical principles to guide cybersecurity fear appeal deployment. We then evaluated a snapshot of cybersecurity studies using the ethical principle lens. Our contribution is, first, a list of potential detriments that could result from the deployment of cybersecurity fear appeals and second, the set of six ethical principles to inform the deployment of such appeals. Both of these are intended to inform cybersecurity fear appeal design and deployment

Cybersecurity insights gleaned from world religions

Organisations craft and disseminate security policies, encoding the actions they want employees to take to preserve and protect organisational information resources. They engage in regular cybersecurity awareness and training drives to ensure that employees know what to do, and how to do it. Despite these efforts, employees make mistakes or do not comply with policy dictates, triggering cybersecurity incidents. The reality is that whereas cyber professionals propose, human nature disposes.In addressing this kind of conundrum, researchers suggest that it could be beneficial to learn from the established practices of other domains that also grapple with erratic human behaviours. This seems reasonable, given that cybersecurity is a relatively young field, and not yet particularly successful in accommodating human nature and fallibility, whereas other fields have years of experience coping with these kinds of problems. Here, we consider learning from religions, which have been around for millennia. The one aspect that all understand is human nature, and the tendency of humans to make mistakes and behave ill-advisedly, sometimes despite knowing better. Religions have developed a number of practices to accommodate human frailties, and to care for their adherents. This might well be a fruitful domain for cybersecurity professionals to learn from, in terms of harnessing effective mechanisms to encourage secure behaviours.To this end, we explored the literature on religions, and interviewed a number of religious leaders to produce a ‘vision for cybersecurity’. The vision was evaluated by cybersecurity professionals, its target audience. We provide our vision here, in the hope that it will launch a debate into a more equitable new era of ‘best practice’ in the cybersecurity domain

Conducting "in-person" research during a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions across the world; universities have not been exempt. This has included disruptions in not only the delivery of traditional in-person classes, but also research. In this paper, we detail the efforts undertaken to modify the research protocols originally developed for a longitudinal experiment design with two in-person components to it. In particular, we address the challenges and benefits of this conversion, including issues related to compensation, scheduling, technical issues, and attempts to replace the in-person component of the original design

Impacts of Political Majorities on French Firms: Electoral Promises or Friendship Connections?

This paper analyzes the impact of changes in the winning chances of candidates running for the 2007 French presidential election on abnormal stock returns of firms that could benefit from a candidate's victory. We use prices formed by transactions on a political prediction market to reveal the probabilities of victory of S. Royal and N. Sarkozy. We find that changes in S. Royal's probability of victory have no impact on firms that should benefit from her party platform. On the opposite, abnormal returns of firms that should benefit from reforms announced by N. Sarkozy or that are directed or owned by his friends are positively correlated with changes in his probability of victory. Both effects appear to be independent and the network effect is fifty percents larger than the other one. All these results persist when we take into account specific characteristics of firms.Political Majority ; Prediction Markets ; Firms Value ; Abnormal Returns ; Social Network ; Political Connections