On compact Ricci solitons in Finsler geometry

Ricci solitons on Finsler spaces, previously developed by the present authors, are a generalization of Einstein spaces, which can be considered as a solution to the Ricci flow on compact Finsler manifolds. In the present work it is shown that on a Finslerian space, a forward complete shrinking Ricci soliton is compact if and only if it is bounded. Moreover, it is proved that a compact shrinking Finslerian Ricci soliton has finite fundamental group and hence the first de Rham cohomology group vanishes.Comment: 9 page

Impact of Board Gender Diversity on The Financial Performance of Conventional and Islamic Banks – An Evidence from Pakistan

This study has been conducted to determine the impact of board gender diversity on the financial performance of the Pakistani Conventional and Islamic Banks. The overall objective is to quantify the impact of gender diversity and the performance of banks. The study included a panel of 12 banks and data from 2008 to 2018 was obtained and using the multiple regression approach the results of the study indicates that performance of banks is not predicted by the measures of gender diversity. The study also indicates a lower level of female presence on the boards of conventional and Islamic banks. It has been recommended to increase the level of female presence on bank boards of Pakistan to increase the board independence, reduce the diversity gap and to resolve the ethical issues

CREATIVITY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

This paper uses social cognitive theory to investigate entrepreneurial intent among participants in graduate entrepreneurship programs. To the best of our knowledge, the paper is the first to investigate the importance of creativity in entrepreneurship education and theoretical models of entrepreneurial intentions. Specifically, we test whether students creative potential is related to their intention to engage in entrepreneurship. Theoretically derived hypotheses are tested using multiple and ordinal regression analyses. We find that high scores on a creativity test and prior entrepreneurial experiences were positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions, whereas perception of risks had a negative influence. Our theoretical predictors of entreprenurial intention received strong support, indicating that creativity should be considered in models of entrepreneurial intentions. Yet, the use of intentions as dependent variable has its know weaknesses in that we might not distinguish between 'dreamers' and 'doers'. The findings indicate that exercises in creativity can be used to raise entrepreneurial intentions of students in entrepreneurship education. Heterogeneity in creative styles among students also points to the problems of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to entrepreneurship education.Entrepreneurship education; intentions; creativity

Modeling the interaction between TCP and Rate Adaptation

In this paper, we model and investigate the interaction between the TCP protocol and rate adaptation at intermediate routers. Rate adaptation aims at saving energy by controlling the offered capacity of links and adapting it to the amount of traffic. However, when TCP is used at the transport layer, the control loop of rate adaptation and one of the TCP congestion control mechanism might interact and disturb each other, compromising throughput and Quality of Service (QoS). Our investigation is lead through mathematical modeling consisting in depicting the behavior of TCP and of rate adaption through a set of Delay Differential Equations (DDEs). The model is validated against simulation results and it is shown to be accurate. The results of the sensitivity analysis of the system performance to control parameters show that rate adaptation can be effective but a careful parameter setting is needed to avoid undesired disruptive interaction among controllers at different levels, that impair QoS

From the 'governance of security' to 'governance failure' : refining the criminological agenda

Over the past three decades, an on-going debate has developed around the ways and extent to which the hierarchical, state-led provision of security and policing has been displaced by a move toward a polycentric, network-oriented mode of governance. This paper, firstly, analytically reconstructs the debate, suggesting that it is characterised by descriptive concordance, explanatory confluence, and normative dissonance. In other words, the major area of contention has been around the social and political implications of the State’s decentring by a networked provision of security, a transition that is accepted as having actually taken place. It is argued, secondly, that the debate has neglected to some considerable extent the inherent functional (as opposed to normative) limitations of networked governance, and that all parties to the debate may have been somewhat precipitous in accepting that such modes for delivering security can be functionally efficacious. Drawing on social theoretical explorations of ‘governance failure’, I identify three distinctive failure tendencies inherent in nodal networks, and evaluate their implications for the wider debate on the future of security provision

A Failure to Regulate? The Demands and Dilemmas of Tackling Illegal Content and Behaviour on Social Media

The proliferation and user uptake of social media applications has brought in its wake a growing problem of illegal and harmful interactions and content online. Recent controversy has arisen around issues ranging from the alleged online manipulation of the 2016 US presidential election by Russian hackers and ‘trolls’, to the misuse of users’ Facebook data by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica (Hall 2018; Swaine & Bennetts 2018). These recent issues notwithstanding, in the UK context, ongoing concern has focused in particular upon (a) sexually-oriented and abusive content about or directed at children, and (b) content that is racially or religiously hateful, incites violence and promotes or celebrates terrorist violence. Legal innovation has sought to make specific provision for such online offences, and offenders have been subject to prosecution in some widely-publicised cases. Nevertheless, as a whole, the business of regulating (identifying, blocking, removing and reporting) offending content has been left largely to social media providers themselves. This has been sustained by concerns both practical (the amount of public resource that would be required to police social media) and political (concerns about excessive state surveillance and curtailment of free speech in liberal democracies). However, growing evidence about providers’ unwillingness and/or inability to effectively stem the flow of illegal and harmful content has created a crisis for the existing self-regulatory model. Consequently, we now see a range of proposals that would take a much more coercive and punitive stance toward media platforms, so as to compel them into taking more concerted action. Taking the UK as a primary focus, these proposals are considered and assessed, with a view to charting possible future configurations for tackling illegal social media content

Brownian dynamics of Dirac fermions in twisted bilayer graphene

Brownian dynamics of Dirac fermions in twisted bilayer graphene is investigated within the framework of semiclassical relativistic Langevin equations. We find that under the influence of orthogonal, commensurate ac drives in the periodic ratchet potential of a substrate, the charge carriers in the system exhibit pronounced random dynamics, tuned by the twist angle, making twisted bilayer graphene distinguishable from monolayer graphene. It is shown that as threshold twist angle matches the optimal angle, deterministic running states appear in the limit of weak thermal noise where the diffusion rate is enhanced significantly compared to bare thermal diffusion. Analysis of the real space trajectories and diffusion coefficient illustrates the significant role of thermal noise in the random motion of Dirac fermions. In addition, we find that the Brownian particle shows remarkable ratchet effect as a net current

Panoptic Power and the Pathologisation of Vision: Critical Reflections on the Foucauldian Thesis.

This article attempts to evaluate theoretically the applicability of Foucault’s Panopticon to the practices of public surveillance utilising CCTV technology. The first part maps out three “strands” in the reception of panopticism in surveillance studies, suggesting that it tends to fall into one of three broad kinds: its wholesale appropriation and application; its wholesale rejection as inadequate with respect to a supposedly “post-disciplinary” society; and its qualified acceptance subject to some empirically-dependent limitations. I then attempt in a preliminary way to supplement these three positions. In particular, I question the logical adequacy of equating visual surveillance with effective subjectification and self-discipline by drawing upon a range of philosophical and sociological perspectives. Philosophically, it is suggested that the Foucauldian thesis may well “pathologise” the relationship between subjectivity and visibility, and thereby overlook other dimensions of our experience of vision. Sociologically, it is suggested that the precise relation between surveillance and self-discipline requires us to attend, in ethnomethodological fashion, to the situated sense-making activities of subjects as the go about everyday practical activities in public settings

IDENTIFIKASI JENIS SAMPAH LAUT (MARINE DEBRIS) PANTAI LENTERA MERAH KOTA BENGKULU PROVINSI BENGKULU

Sampah laut (marine debris) merupakan bahan padat yang sangaja atau tidak sengaja di tinggalkan dalam laut yang memiliki dampak mengancam kelangsungan dan keberlanjutan hidup biota laut. Penelitian mengenai sampah laut dilakukan pada daerah pesisir Pantai Lentera Merah. Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk mengidentifikasi sampah laut berdasarkan jenis dan ukuran, selain itu massa sampah laut juga diukur. Pengumpulan sampah laut dilakukan dalam sebuah transek yang dibentangkan mengikuti garis pantai pada saat surut terendah lalu dibagi menjadi 3 plot dengan ukuran 5 × 2 meter dengan pembagian 5 meter kearah laut 5 meter ke arah darat. Sampah dikumpulkan pada periode sebagai data pendukung dalam faktor penyebaran sampah laut. Pengamatan vegetasi dilakukan guna melihat implikasi sampah laut terhadap tumbuhan pantai. Dari hasil penelitian menunjukkan Pantai Lentera Merah merupakan daerah yang paling banyak sampah dengan total item 956,666 gr. Jenis plastik juga merupakan sampah yang paling dominan didapatkan dari lokasi penelitian yang. Berdasarkan jenis ukuran sampah yang paling banyak ditemukan pada 2 stasiun berdasarkan ukuran adalah macro-debris (2.5 cm – 1 m).Sampah laut (marine debris) merupakan bahan padat yang sangaja atau tidak sengaja di tinggalkan dalam laut yang memiliki dampak mengancam kelangsungan dan keberlanjutan hidup biota laut. Penelitian mengenai sampah laut dilakukan pada daerah pesisir Pantai Lentera Merah. Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk mengidentifikasi sampah laut berdasarkan jenis dan ukuran, selain itu massa sampah laut juga diukur. Pengumpulan sampah laut dilakukan dalam sebuah transek yang dibentangkan mengikuti garis pantai pada saat surut terendah lalu dibagi menjadi 3 plot dengan ukuran 5 × 2 meter dengan pembagian 5 meter kearah laut 5 meter ke arah darat. Sampah dikumpulkan pada periode sebagai data pendukung dalam faktor penyebaran sampah laut. Pengamatan vegetasi dilakukan guna melihat implikasi sampah laut terhadap tumbuhan pantai. Dari hasil penelitian menunjukkan Pantai Lentera Merah merupakan daerah yang paling banyak sampah dengan total item 956,666 gr. Jenis plastik juga merupakan sampah yang paling dominan didapatkan dari lokasi penelitian yang. Berdasarkan jenis ukuran sampah yang paling banyak ditemukan pada 2 stasiun berdasarkan ukuran adalah macro-debris (2.5 cm – 1 m)