Undrained stability of active and passive trapdoors

The recent growth in the number of sinkhole occurrences due to human activities has highlighted the need for better understanding and prediction of the problem. This paper investigates the use of Broms and Bennermark’s original stability number for trapdoor problems in cohesive soil. The shear-strength-reduction method built in a finite-difference method software program (FLAC) is used to obtain the factor of safety (FOS) under different combinations of pressures for collapse and blowout. Unlike previous research on the use of critical pressure ratios, the FOS results are now functions of the original stability number and depth ratio. The obtained numerical results are compared and validated by using rigorous upper- and lower-bound finite-element limit analysis, as well as other existing solutions available in the literature. Surface failure extents are also examined in the paper. The dimensionless ratios employed in this study are useful for preparing design charts with a broad range of trapdoor geometries and soil parameters

Politics of decentralization : the case of Upazila reform in Bangladesh

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1993.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-70).by Mirza Masood Hassan.M.S

Numerical investigation of sinkhole stability in undrained clay

The stability of the soil that overlies a cavity is often of concern when it comes to the risk of sinkhole occurrence. Current sinkhole studies have been centred on the use of geophysical techniques to detect underground cavity sizes and associated depths. With measured information, it is possible to theoretically predict the extent of ground surface collapse. The aim of the research is to numerically study the soil stability and its associated ground surface failure extent of an undrained cohesive cover over a collapsible sinkhole. The shear strength reduction method is utilised to explore two- and three dimensional failure mechanisms of a trapdoor by using the finite difference programs. The problem solution is formulated by using two popular methods in geotechnical engineering i.e. Taylor’s stability chart method and Broms and Bennerrmark’s stability number. Stability results are compared with those using finite element limit analysis and other published literatures. Several practical examples are provided to demonstrate the use of design charts and tables. Current study of soil arching development and ground surface failure extent in three-dimensional spaces provide useful engineering information, which may assist in decision making by practical engineers. Together with the use of geophysical tools, an early warning system shall be developed in the future to save lives and prevent billions in property losses

Tram-tastic Cloud Computing

This master’s thesis evaluates the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the AWS cloud platform used to collect and utilize data generated by the 87 digitally equipped trams. The SL-18 Cloud Platform was developed before the trams arrived, and resource configuration estimates were made to handle the data generated by the trams. However, with a few trams currently operational, it is crucial to evaluate the allocation of resources to the services based on actual data. Thus, the thesis's objective is to estimate the data generated by all 87 trams and evaluate the current resource provisioning on the AWS Cloud Platform in terms of scalability and cost. By doing so, this study will provide insights into the optimal resource allocation required for the AWS Cloud Platform to accommodate the data generated by the trams. In this study, we use an existing Digital Twin tool for the trams to evaluate the scalability of the platform, ensuring that it can handle the load while keeping the cost low. To achieve this, the existing Digital Twin is modified to run 87 or more instances concurrently. Using this modified tool, the SL-18 IT platform, which processes real-time data from all 87 trams simultaneously, is evaluated. We monitored the metrics of AWS services to identify any issues. Then based on measurements, we make recommendations for each service's upgrading, downgrading, or keeping the current configuration. Most services are recommended to scale down to reduce costs, while three services require scaling up to be operational. Although our process is well-defined and could be replicated by other studies, it is crucial to have in-depth discussions with the relevant teams for each service and perform repeated validations and evaluations. This is also a necessary protocol in Sporveien to present the results to the various stakeholders and implement the recommended changes. With these changes, Sporveien can save costs and most importantly have a platform capable of handling the data load of 87 SL-18 trams

Mobile Learning: An Approach to Improve the Quantity of Educational Attainment in Conflict Hit Areas Like J&K

Mobile Learning: An Approach to Improve the Quantity of Educational Attainment in Conflict Hit Areas Like J&K The days are gone when mobile was considered a big distraction in the study. We can make best use of mobile in achieving educational attributes by improving both quantity and quality of education and this approach is simply called mobile learning. This paper presents an outlook of making best use of mobile learning to increase the educational attainment, especially in conflict hit areas, where strikes, curfew and processions, demonstrations become the hurdle in the normal working hours in the educational system. Here we have taken an example of Jammu and Kashmir, where the security climate is vulnerable from last more than thirty years and peace is a major concern at present. In this situation a fear among the student community to go schools has risen to a level, which ultimately affects the education system badly. In most of the cases, the syllabus is not completed in the schools due to shortage of effective class hours. To tackle this situation, the mobile learning could be the best remedial measure to address this issue

Stock Market Returns and Weather Anomaly: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Financial economists believe that the arbitrage forces in the market are the main reason of market efficiency and these forces are the fundamental concept of efficient market hypothesis (EMH). During last few years, various theoretical and empirical evidences have been presented to support the work of financial modeling for the markets with less than rational investors whose trading strategies are based on psychological factors like mood and emotions. Weather condition is among the substantial factors affecting investors’ mood and emotions. Present study investigates the impact of temperature on stock market returns in emerging economy of Pakistan. Using the daily temperature records and stock market indices of Karachi and Islamabad, the study has employed auto regressive (AR) – generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model from 2006 to 2010. Based on AR (1)-GARCH (1, 1) estimation the study has found that weather temperatures of both Karachi and Islamabad are negatively related with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) index returns, respectively

Right-sided infective endocarditis complicating central venous line insertion: a case report

Abstract Infective endocarditis is a serious and potentially fatal complication of central venous line (CVL) placement in patients with diseased hearts. A man of 59 was admitted because of fever and dyspnea of 5 days duration. He was a known case of ischemic cardiomyopathy with frequent admissions to a local hospital. Two months earlier, a CVL was placed in right subclavian vein for drug administration. On examination, he was febrile and hypotensive with a systolic murmur in tricuspid and mitral areas. CVL- guide wire was radiographically visible. White blood cells and C-reactive protein were elevated. Echocardiography showed big vegetation on tricuspid valve (TV), severe mitral and tricuspid regurgitation and dilated left ventricle whilst coronary angiography revealed 3-vessel disease. Antibiotic therapy was followed by an open heart surgery during which the guide wire and valve vegetation were removed, TV was repaired, mitral valve was replaced and coronary artery bypass grafting was performed. Culture of blood, valve tissue and guide wire grew Staphylococcus Epidermidis. Despite intensive medical and surgical therapy, the patient succumbed on the 4th postoperative day

Gender Diversity and Firm Performance: Evidence from Pakistan

Gender diversity and firm performance, is among the new but challenging topics of research in management sciences. Many researchers have studied the role of gender diversity in enhancing firms’ performance in developed economies (see for example, Dwyer et. al, 2003; and Kang et al, 2010). Existing literature on this subject is rare in emerging economies and to the best of author’s knowledge; this is the first study on relationship of gender diversity and firm’s performance in Pakistani context. Present study focuses on the impact of presence of female directors on corporate performance using a sample of 395 listed nonfinancial companies of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Pakistan from 2004 to 2009. Estimated results indicate that ratio of female directors is negatively related with firm performance

Examining the patient's satisfaction from Hospital Service Quality using the CRM (Cus-tomer Relationship Management) Model

This research aims to examine the patient's satisfaction from service quality in Bahrami Hospital considering the CRM model. Generally, six variables of "Physician-Patient Relation", "Nurse-Patient Relation", "Staff-Patient Relation", "Hospital Accountability", "Meeting Patient's Requirements", and "Specialized Performance of the Physicians" have been analyzed in order to measure the impacts of the variables on patient's satisfaction in Bahrami Hospital of Tehran. The statistical population of the research contained the patients (children) who were hospitalized in the Bahrami Children Hospital and/or the parents who were the children's companies. Also, sample size was calculated 196 people based on the Cochran's Formula. This study is an applicable research with a descriptive survey methodology so that the main tool for data gathering is questionnaire. In addition, the Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient for the questionnaire was calculated 0.812 based upon SPSS software. Analyzing the data by SPSS software revealed that all variables except "specialized performance of the physi-cians" had a significant relation with patient's satisfaction. Since the hospital was a training-based medical center, the Pearson correlation coefficient for the variable "specialized performance of the physicians" was calculated 0.137; meanwhile, the meaningfulness amount was obtained 0.056 which is more than the standard limit. Therefore, the aforesaid variable does not have a significant relation with patient's satisfaction. Research paper Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Hossieni, M. H., Meymand, M. M., Heidarvand, S. (2015). “Examining the patient's satisfaction from Hospital Service Quality using the CRM (Cus-tomer Relationship Management) Model: a case study in Bahrami Hospital of Tehran”, Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 16–40