Simplified Finite-State Predictive Torque Control Strategies for Induction Motor Drives

This thesis develops a simplified finite-state predictive torque control (FS-PTC) algorithm based on selected prediction vectors (SPVs). This reduces the number of voltage vectors required to be predicted and the objectives to be controlled. The sign of torque or stator flux deviation and the position of stator flux are used to select the prediction vectors. The proposed SPVs strategy also assists reducing the average switching frequency for a two-level voltage source inverter fed induction motor (IM) drive. As a result, the cost function is simplified, as the frequency term is not required. The proposed SPVs based FS-PTC is also applied to a three-level neutral-point clamped inverter driven IM drive. Using the SPVs strategy reduces the computational burden for the proposed three-level inverter fed drive without affecting the system performance. However, an appropriate weighting factor is required for torque and flux errors in the cost function. This leads to the development of a second simplified FS-PTC which does not require complex torque calculations in the prediction loop and hence tuning effort on the weighting factor. A new reference stator flux vector calculator (RSFVC) with an inner proportional-integral torque regulator is employed to convert the torque and flux amplitude references into an equivalent stator flux reference vector. This stator flux reference is used in the cost function for the flux error calculation. The required processing power for the RSFVC-based FS-PTC is further reduced by combining it with the SPVs strategy. Finally, a speed-sensorless simplified FS-PTC of IM supplied from a 3L-NPC inverter is proposed. The sensorless simplified FS-PTC yields improved torque, flux and speed responses, especially at low-speed. The proposed simplified FS-PTC strategies in terms of computational efficiency, cost function design, torque and flux responses, robustness and average switching frequency are validated through experimental results

Topological Tropology of V.S. Naipaul’s Islamic Travelogues and Daniel Pipes’ Islamic History: Ahistorical Historicism

Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul’s (1932-2018) first Islamic travelogue Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey (1981) contains his experience of a visit from August 1979 to February 1980 to the four non-Arab Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Similarly, his last Islamic travelogue Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples (1998) has a description of another visit to the same countries for five-month in 1995. Concurrently, Daniel Pipes (1949-), an American historian, published his doctoral dissertation, Slave Soldiers and Islam: The Genesis of a Military System (1981), which represents Islamic culture as the first instigator of military slavery in the world. Then, he wrote an analysis of modern Islamic history In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power (1983), which historicizes Islam as a politically failed force all over the world. These travelogues and history are generically different. But a common topological relationality can be mapped in the anecdotes of Naipaul’s travelogues and the historiography of Pipes’ history, as they use identical tropological configurations to historicize Islamic cultures. This similar tropological historiography, this article argues, is covertly an offshoot of the contemporary spatiotemporal context in which they were produced. The context was networked by certain ideological implications, ethnocentrism, and some cultural misapprehensions regarding Islamic/Muslim culture, making the historicism of both Naipaul and Pipes seem ahistorical

Bangladesh-India Diplomatic Relations (1975-1996): Transitions, Bilateral Disputes and Legacies

Bangladesh, born in 1971, endured her very first setback in 1975 when a bloody military coup took place, which killed the father of the nation, and subsequently, the army seized power. From then to 1990, two military dictators ruled the country for a short time as a military dictator and the rest of the time under the veil of the democratically elected President. With the fall of the Mujib government, a new diplomatic stance had taken up; from a socialist, liberal, secular, and democratic state, Bangladesh crawled down to a capitalist, conservative, Islamist and authoritarian form of state. It appears from the policy of the dictators that they had tried to satiate the people through the amendments in the constitution to shape it as an Islamist country and to satisfy the capitalist class, they replaced the moderate socialist economy into a capitalist one. An identical procedure that was implemented by the Pakistani military ruler in the pre-independence era, had been ensued by the military dictators in independent Bangladesh. The two military dictators and an elected government of the time discussed in this study tried to draw the attention of world leaders who were holding the same ideologies and interests that ran here by them. Consequently, the friendly and warm diplomatic relations with India came to an end and the foreign dependency of Bangladesh became dependent on Pakistan and pro-Pakistan friendly nations for the protection and support of the military government. China and the USA, who vigorously opposed our liberation war, became the key friends of Bangladesh in the diplomatic arena and our largest neighbor country without her help; we couldn't possibly have our independence, became an ultimate scapegoat of our newly adopted foreign policy. A new trait in politics had been intentionally indoctrinated that was the anti-Indian sentiment. From then to now, this trait has been nurtured by most of the political parties who are now out of mainstream politics. In this study, we will try to investigate the transitions, bilateral disputes, and legacies of Bangladesh's diplomatic relations with India from 1975 to 1996

Islamic Transformation Centre and the Quadruple Helix Model (QHM) collaboration: empowering disabled students through inclusive education

Inclusive education emerged by insisting that children with special need to be included in the traditional classroom. The purpose of this paper is to propose the Islamic Transformation Centre (ITC), for inclusive education. This paper reviews the literature and adopts the Business Model Canvas (BMC) to propose the conceptual solution for inclusive education. The conceptual solution will be implemented through the use of Islamic Transformation Centre (ITC) with the collaboration of Ministry of Education (MoE) and other Quintuple Helix Model actors i.e. University, Industry, and Citizen/NGOs. It is hoped that this paper will not only generate discussion but also interest that will lead to the development of the right spirit for the promotion of effective inclusive education

Risk and Return Analysis of Closed-End Mutual Fund in Bangladesh

This study attempts to conduct a five-year performance assessment by analyzing all 24 closed-end mutual funds that had been trading at Dhaka Stock Exchange from December 2011 to January 2017. While analyzing the risk-return profile, the research incorporated both market price and net asset value (NAV) of the mutual funds.NAV depends on the price of securities included in a fund's portfolio whereas, the market price is determined by demand and supply forces. Thus, the market price of a fund is not always equal to its NAV. The study uses market price as a basis for analyzing the risk-return profile of the funds for evaluating the performance of the funds in the market. With the purpose of assessing the performance of asset managers, the study uses NAV as a basis for computing Jensen's α and M squared measure. While assessing performance the study focuses on Jensen’s α and M squared measure as other measures like Sharpe and Treynor do not work with negative numerators and do not provide information on whether the mutual fund outperformed the market portfolio. Both Jensen’s α and M squared measure can independently describe whether a fund beat the market or not. A positive value of Jensen’s α and M squared measure indicates that the fund outperformed the market considering respectively β and σ as a measure of risk. SEBL1STMF, POPULAR1MF, and IFILISLMF1 were among top four funds considering both M2 and Jensen’s alpha measures based on both market price and NAV. The M2 measure, a coefficient of variation, Sharpe ratio, and Treynor ranked SEBL1STMF as the best performer in the market. This fund also topped while assessing performance by M2 measure on the basis of NAV. On the basis of market price and NAV, 21 funds and 22 funds could produce positive M2 respectively. In the year 2012, 2013 and 2014 mutual funds provided negative annualized return on an average (On the basis of market price). The average annualized return rebounded on 2015 and further increased on 2016. All mutual funds provided a positive return in 2016. A different picture was found while calculating annualized return on the basis of NAV, asset managers could generate positive annualized returns on an average in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016

Knowledge management behavior among academicians: the case of a Malaysian higher learning institution

Proper knowledge management (KM) is vital for any organization to perform to the expectation including higher learning institutions (HLIs). Hence, struggling to perform is an indication of lack of KM initiatives. Though many facets of KM have been investigated in HLIs, more studies are needed as the previous empirical works have focused only on knowledge sharing behavior among academicians. An intensive literature review exposes that nonexistence of works employing KM-related theories. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate academicians’ perceived intention (KM Intention) and involvement in KM initiatives (KM Behavior) and its predictors in a Malaysian HLI, which is struggling to perform, by relating theory of knowledge creation. KM intention explains the perception and the attitudes towards KM while the KM behavior illustrates the real behavior. Both these variables were operationalized based on knowledge creation theory through the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI) process. A conceptual framework was developed based on the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior. Six independent variables representative of the socio-cultural nature of KM - trust, management support, decentralization, IT support, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy - were considered as the predictors of KM intention, which in turn, predict KM behavior. Data were collected from 156 academicians from an HLI in Malaysia using questionnaires. The questionnaire items were adapted from previous studies. The structural model analysis confirmed that out of seven proposed hypotheses, four are supported: Trust, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy influence KM Intention, while KM Intention influences KM Behavior. Even though further research works are needed to generalize the findings, the current research and the findings can enrich the KM literature and provide some insights to the decision makers of the selected HLI on the appropriate KM implementation strategies

Power Loss Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Integrated Model Predictive Control Based On-Grid Inverter

This paper presents a finite control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) based technique to reduce the switching loss and frequency of the on-grid PV inverter by incorporating a switching frequency term in the cost function of the model predictive control (MPC). In the proposed MPC, the control objectives (current and switching frequency) select an optimal switching state for the inverter by minimizing a predefined cost function. The two control objectives are combined with a weighting factor. A trade-off between the switching frequency (average) and total harmonic distortion (THD) of the current was utilized to determine the value of the weighting factor. The switching, conduction, and harmonic losses were determined at the selected value of the weighting factor for both the proposed and conventional FCS-MPC and compared. The system was simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, and a small-scale hardware prototype was built to realize the system and verify the proposal. Considering only 0.25% more current THD, the switching frequency and loss per phase were reduced by 20.62% and 19.78%, respectively. The instantaneous overall power loss was also reduced by 2% due to the addition of a switching frequency term in the cost function which ensures a satisfactory empirical result for an on-grid PV inverter

The function of macroprudential policy on loan growth and risk-taking in Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions: evidence from Islamic countries

Abstract The recent Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has emphasized the importance of the implementation of Macroprudential Policy (MPP) to promote financial stability in the banking and financial institutions. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate loan growth and bank risk-taking tendency by Islamic banks during crisis and normal periods and how MPP moderate the relationship between loan growth and risk-taking to promote financial stability in the Islamic financial institutions. This paper will use a dynamic panel dataset to regress the analysis from the year 2005-2020. The paper will apply Z-score to measure bank risk and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) will be used to measure the impact of MPP on the relationship between loan growth and bank risk-taking. However, the empirical findings will suggest which particular MPP are more suitable and effective in controlling abnormal loan growth and risk-taking appetite to enhance financial stability in the Islamic banking and financial institutions. Though, Islamic banking and financial institutions are still in the infancy stage of implementing macroprudential policy, hence, it is important to investigate how macroprudential tools are effective in Islamic financial institutions as compared to conventional financial system. Keywords: Macroprudential policy, Islamic bank, Loan growth, Risk-taking, Financial stabilit

The practice of good governance in Zakat management: a holistic and comprehensive approach towards Zakat collection and distribution

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide a general exposition on the concept of good governance of zakat, applying its management as an important panacea in today’s prevalent situation of financial calamity. The objective of this paper is to analyze the implication of good governance on zakat management as it is a pre-requisite for a well-organized society. Good governance dictates a set of policies to promote broad based economic growth, a dynamic private sector and social policies that will be directed towards zakat management. Seen from the Islamic point of view, careful application of good governance is vital to maximize economic and social advancement. Islam is a comprehensive code of life, and it provides guidelines for social, political, and economic systems. Hence, Islam concerns itself for collecting zakat and providing a decent life to its entire people through a prolonged welfare scheme that is essential for all Muslims. Subsequently, Islam needs rulers to prevent a drop in the standard of living of their subjects, thus they must concern themselves with stabilizing their economy and assuring constant economic growth. Therefore, good governance is to deliver and apply the regulation and duties in the best manner. The goal of Islamic good governance system is to eliminate corruption from the society and implementations of social justice as well as welfare of the people as the Shari’ah emphasizes the fair dealings in every aspect of life and observe justice to the masses. The methods of data collection are involved library research through reading and content analysis of primary and secondary sources. Keywords: Good governance, Zakat management, Economic growth, Social advancemen