Design Patterns Barriers to Social Entrepreneurship: An Application of Grounded Theory

Social entrepreneurship involves social value creation activities and like many change-oriented activities does not take place in a vacuum. Rather, it develops within a complex context of political, economic, and social changes and on the local and global levels. Although, some countries have introduced laws for social supports, they are inefficient and unpractical and there are still many obstacles in the path of social entrepreneurs that need to be dealt with.Therefore, the present research seeks to answer the following question: what are the barriers to entrepreneurship in Iran? For this purpose, the qualitative research method has been employed using the Grounded Theory method. Moreover, explorative interviews were conducted with 15 key experts who had biological and practical experiences related to the research subject.The pattern derived from the current research shows that the main obstacle that hinders the development of social entrepreneurship is the attenuation of individuals’ active participation in altruistic social responsibilities which is due to contextual factors and causative relationships. However, social responsibility can be fostered in individuals by implementing a series of initiatives and strategies, as a result of which, entrepreneurial activities begin to develop. Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship, Social Capital, Grounded Theory, Barriers, Iran

The reaction of O-propylphenyl azide with di-n-propylamine

Nitration of n-propylbenzene resulted in O-nitro-n-propylbenzene. Reduction of this compound gave o-n-Propylphenyl azide was prepared by diazotization of o-n-propylaniline followed by treatment with sodium azide. Photolysis of o-n-propylphenyl azide in di-n-propyl-amine yielded two new azepines, 2-di-n-propylamino-3n-propyl-3H azepine and 2-di-n-propylamino-7-n-propy1-7H-azepine. Their structures were assigned on the basis of their physical properties (i.e. I.R., U.V., N.M.R., N.S. and elemental analysis). Photolysis of the azide at room temperature gave 26.9% o-n-propylaniline and 4.3% 2-di-n-propylamino-3-n-propy1-3H azepine, but when the photolysis was carried out in the presence of the triplet photosensitizer (xanthen-9-one) the yield of o-n-propylaniline was increased to 34.6% and the yield of 2-di-n-propylamino-3n-propy1-3H-azepine was decreased to 1.4%. Photolysis at the reflux temperature of di-n-propylamine (110c0) resulted in the formation of 42% o-n-propylaniline, 19.9% 2-di-n-propylamino-3n-propy1-3H azepine, 3.7% 2-di-n-propyl-amino 7n-propy1-7H azepine and 4.5% 2-methylindoline. Based on these results, arguments are presented which suggest that singlet n-propylphenyl nitrene, which is in equilibrium with azabicyclic intermediates, is responsible for the formation of these two new asepines, 2-di-n-propylamino 3n-propyl-3H azepines and 2-di-n-propylamino-7n-propyl-7H azepine. Also, a mechanistic scheme is proposed to explain the formation of all products obtained from the photoysis of O-n-propylphenyl azide

APPLICATIONS OF ENVIRONMENT-BASED DESIGN (EBD) METHODOLOGY

A product’s environments play a significant role in its development. In other words, any alteration in the environment surrounding a product leads to changes in its features. Hence, having a systematic procedure to analyze the product’s environments is a crucial need for industries. Environment-Based Design (EBD) methodology describes the environment of the product (excluding the product itself) and presents a rational approach to analyze it. In order to achieve an efficient product design and development process, EBD utilizes different tools. Recursive Object Model (ROM) diagram, Cause and Effect Analysis, Life Cycle Analysis, Asking Right Question and Answering are EBD’s major tools and technics. In this research, we aim to represent EBD’s capabilities for product evolution analysis, complex products development and human-centered products development. In order to demonstrate EBD’s competences for product evolution analysis, we conduct a case study of braking systems evolution analysis through analyzing the environments around them. Afterward, we perform environment analysis for aerospace design methodology in order to propose a novel design methodology for the aerospace industries. Finally, we propose a course scheduling model based on environment analysis of the academic schedules and we verify our model using Concordia University’s courses

Symmetry Method for Limit Cycle Walking of Legged Robots.

Dynamic steady-state walking or running gaits for legged robots correspond to periodic orbits in the dynamic model. The common method for obtaining such periodic orbits is conducting a numerical search for fixed points of a Poincare map. However, as the number of degrees of freedom of the robot grows, such numerical search becomes computationally expensive because in each search trial the dynamic equations need to be integrated. Moreover, the numerical search for periodic orbits is in general sensitive to model errors, and it remains to be seen if the periodic orbit which is the outcome of the search in the domain of the dynamic model corresponds to a periodic gait in the actual robot. To overcome these issues, we have presented the Symmetry Method for Limit Cycle Walking, which relaxes the need to search for periodic orbits, and at the same time, the limit cycles obtained with this method are robust to model errors. Mathematically, we describe the symmetry method in the context of so-called Symmetric Hybrid Systems, whose properties are discussed. In particular, it is shown that a symmetric hybrid system can have an infinite number of periodic orbits that can be identified easily. In addition, it is shown how control strategies need to be selected so that the resulting reduced order system still possesses the properties of a symmetric hybrid system. The method of symmetry for limit cycle walking is successfully tested on a 12-DOF 3D model of the humanoid robot Romeo.PhDApplied and Interdisciplinary MathematicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133356/1/razavi_1.pd

Innovative System for Seismic Control Strategies

Among various alternative approaches, installing auxiliary damping devices such as tuned mass dampers (TMDs) is a very reliable solution to mitigate wind-induced vibration of tall buildings. However, regardless of the different distribution strategies, installing TMD systems means adding additional masses to tall buildings. A valuable space on top of tall buildings is sacrificed to contain a large bulky mass, which is not aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, increasing the mass of tall buildings by installing extra mass systems is not time and cost effective process. In order to address the issues, this paper investigates the utilization of feasible alternative for the purpose of damping through system integration. An emphasis is placed on ingredient design of Double Skin Façade which produces a damping mechanism. Double Skin Façade is studied to mitigate the design limitation of the first scheme and to resolve other passive control related design issues, which is namely DSFD. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a new method for more effective damping control system and develop of further study

Generation of Large-Volume Diffuse Plasma by an External Ionization Wave From a Single-Electrode Plasma Jet

A non-thermal transient diffuse plasma can be generated remotely in a nonconductive reduced pressure chamber by an external guided fast ionization wave (FIW). We found that an atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma jet (APPJ) can be a source of FIW which transfers an enhanced electric field at the wave front across a reduced pressure Pyrex glass chamber with no electrical connection to the chamber. Here, we studied the formation and propagation of the APPJ plasma, the interaction of atmospheric-pressure guided FIW with a dielectric surface which forms the wall of the reduced-pressure system, and the formation and propagation of the reduce-pressure FIW inside a chamber. In this study, key characteristics of the transient diffuse plasma are discussed. The reduced pressure plasma parameters were measured by Langmuir probe and APPJ electrical measurements were carried out to elucidate the operational mechanisms of the guided FIW as an igniter of the reduced-pressure transient diffuse plasma. It was shown that the transient discharge in the reduced-pressure chamber was generated by an enhanced electric field (18.5 kV/cm when the APPJ applied voltage was 8.5 kV) inside the chamber that generated a bulk plasma with negative potential due to the nonconductive boundary. We used fast imaging of both APPJ plasma plume and the transient reduced-pressure FIW inside the Pyrex chamber. Fast images were taken by an intensified CCD to study the launching and propagation phases of both APPJ plasma and the transient reduced-pressure diffuse plasma as well as the incidence of the guided FIW on a dielectric surface. The APPJ plasma plume images revealed that the plasma plume created by guided FIW was in fact made of two discrete volumetric discharges (known as plasma bullet) per applied high-voltage pulse traveling at supersonic velocities up to 170 km/s. Since such a volumetric discharge was initiated by a surface discharge inside the APPJ hollow tube, it had a donut-shaped structure. We also used Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the APPJ plasma and the transient diffuse plasma. It was shown that the diffuse plasma was capable of producing first and second ionized nitrogen (N+ and N++), atomic oxygen (O), ionized nitrogen molecule (N2+), and OH• radicals in helium diffuse plasma (with air impurities) and in air diffuse plasma. The present research shows that this type of electrodeless non-thermal, large-volume diffuse plasma resembles a fast-growing transient glow discharge that lasts for several hundreds of nanoseconds. The electron density in such a plasma with the admixture of helium and air can reach up to 1012 cm-3 at a pressure around 1 Torr. A promising application of the large-volume diffuse plasma is in surface processing such as plasma-aided coating and etching processes with minimal contamination due to the clean environment inside the reduced-pressure system

Bandwidth Enhancement Techniques

In this chapter, a variety of procedures proposed in the literature to increase the impedance bandwidth of microstrip patch antennas are presented and discussed. Intrinsic techniques, proximity coupled and aperture-coupled patches, applying horizontally coupled patches to driven patch on a single layer and stacked patches are discussed. Beside the linear polarised solutions, some techniques for designing wideband circular polarised patch antennas are also presented. Furthermore, some other techniques proposed in the literature including log-periodic array of patches, E-shaped patch, L-shaped feeding, microstrip monopole slotted antenna, defected ground/patch technique and the latest works during the recent years are introduced and investigated. It is tried to make a comparison between different methods giving a typical bandwidth that can be obtained using each method, beside discussing about the benefits or limitations that each method has

Economic Sanctions and Protection of Fundamental Human Rights: A Review of the ICJ\u27s Ruling on Alleged Violations of the Iran-U.S. Treaty of Amity

This article studies the unilateral regime of sanctions and their impact on two fundamental human rights: the right to food and the right to health. This article argues that international tribunals will set the level of obligation required to protect these human rights by observing the empirical correlation between economic sanctions and the deterioration of these rights in target states. By reviewing the elements that contribute to the strength of punitive economic measures, this article shows how sanctions have a greater impact on a population. This article concludes that the more powerful the economic sanctions, the higher the level of obligation of the imposing state will be to ensure that the sanctioned state’s population’s fundamental rights are protected