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The results of recent macroeconomic studies have consistently reflected economic convergence among the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) countries. In this paper, we propose to analyse financial measures to discover whether or not the business structures of the EMU countries have grown any closer together. The study is based on a non‐linear principal components analysis in order to achieve a double objective. In the first place, the aim is to find out which factors have been significant for the joint evolution of financial variables over a ten‐year period (1990 to 1999). In the second place, it is to examine the performance of firms in each of the EMU countries in order to assess business convergence between them. The results of the study indicate high levels of convergence in the profitability vs. leverage dimension, while structural differences between countries in the labour productivity vs. sales efficiency dimension have hindered convergence in business practices.

While the passage of Statement No. 34 by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB, 1999) created a more robust financial reporting model, local officials continue to struggle with defining financial condition, interpreting it from annual financial statements, and communicating it in a systematic way. This review presents a framework for analyzing, interpreting, and communicating financial condition within the fund and government-wide reporting structure. It specifically responds to the void in the public administration literature for a manageable, yet comprehensive, approach to financial condition analysis. The goal is to help local officials conceptualize financial condition from the interpretation of resource flow and stock as presented in annual financial statements.

In the present study, laminar steady flow of nanofluid through a trapezoidal channel is studied by using of finite volume method. The main aim of this paper is to study the effect of changes in geometric parameters, including internal and external dimensions on the behavior of heat transfer and fluid flow. For each parameter, an optimum ratio will be presented.

The results showed that in a channel cell, changing any geometric parameter may affect the temperature and flow field, even though the volume of the channel is kept constant. For a relatively small hydraulic diameter, microchannels with different angles have a similar dimensionless heat flux, while channels with bigger dimensions show various values of dimensionless heat flux. By increasing the angles of trapezoidal microchannels, dimensionless heat flux per unit of volume increases. As a result, the maximum and minimum heat transfer rate occurs in a trapezoidal microchannel with 75° and 30 internal’s, respectively. In the study of dimensionless heat flux rate with hydraulic diameter variations, an optimum hydraulic diameter (Dh) was observed in which the heat transfer rate per unit volume attains maximum value.

This optimum state is predicted to happen at a side angle of 75° and hydraulic diameter of 290 µm. In addition, in trapezoidal microchannel with higher aspect ratio, dimensionless heat flux rate is lower. Changing side angles of the channels and pressure drop have the same effect on pressure drop. For a constant pressure drop, if changing the side angles causes an increase in the rectangular area of the channel cross-section and the effect of the sides are not felt by the fluid, then the dimensionless heat flux will increase. By increasing the internal aspect ratio (t_2/t_3), the amount of t_3 decreases, and consequently, the conduction resistance of the hot surface decreases.

The effects of geometry of the microchannel, including internal and external dimensions on the behavior of heat transfer and fluid flow for pressure ranges between 2 and 8 kPa.

This study aims to introduce a new theoretical approach to blend spherical and non‐spherical particles in a coating to improve its viscosity characteristics.

Theoretical analysis has been used to modify an existing model developed by this author to apply to a broad range of particle configurations.

Non‐spherical particles like fibres or discs in a suspension or coating have been found to have three different viscosity response regions. Consequently, the viscosity of suspensions or coatings with these types of particles appears to have two apparent maximums as a function of concentration. Improved viscosity control of coatings have been found to be directly achievable by blending particles with different shapes based on the concentration relative to this first maximum. This optimisation process has been found to be better understood using a new variable which has been described as the “sphericity”, s. The “sphericity”, s, as described in this study has been defined as the relative ratio of the surface to volume fraction for a non‐spherical particle to that of a sphere of equivalent volume.

Experimental data involving monodisperse particles of different configurations is often extremely difficult to obtain. However, the theoretical general concepts can still be applicable.

The model presented in this paper provides practical guidelines to blending pigments with different particle shapes to control the viscosity of coatings and suspensions.

The model presented in this paper provides the first apparent guidelines to control the blending of pigments in coatings and composites with different particle shapes using the “sphericity” of the pigment particle.

This study aims to explore the impact of retail facilities’ (RF) characteristics on customers' spatial cognition and accessibility to products, which inherently affect the facility's performance. Namely, the ratios of the facilities’ dimensions and the shelving configurations are investigated.

The visual attributes of RF are used as the method of assessment, relying on the principles of the Space Syntax theories; several design alternatives of RF are generated which represent different characteristics and compared using computer software (Depthmap X). The perceived variance in performance sheds light on the influence of the investigated characteristics.

The results have pointed out that dimension ratios can affect the facilities’ performance, especially with the shelving configuration considered. Furthermore, certain shelving layouts are more advantageous compared to other layouts. Other design features have been concluded, shedding light on measures for optimizing performance.

Due to the endless number of possibilities of retail facility designs, the study has focused on simplified designs only, excluding intricate designs which can possibly offer an additional important perspective on design influences.

The findings benefit the RF sector by producing customer-centered designs through optimizing layouts and configurations, improving product visibility and enhancing accessibility. This potentially enhances costumers' experiences and promotes satisfaction, thus attracting more consumers and increasing sales.

Although the Space Syntax principles are long-established, their application to RF is novel. This is also true for the findings which can represent a guide for retail facility designs.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of the height and diameter of the dies as well as work‐piece dimensions, on stresses and strains on dies in the forging process. This helps in developing a better understanding of the effect of process parameters. As a result, the manufacturing task could be accomplished with minimal number of trials.

After determining the most influencing parameters on the forging process, the mechanical part is drawn, size of initial billet and shape of punch and die are also determined to build a finite‐element model to represent the process. Several outputs are taken as an indication for die wear and process performance. Finally, a computer numerical control (CNC) code to manufacture the selected die is generated.

It was found that when the die diameter increases, the effective stress decreases. On other hand, it was found that the work required to finish the forging process is highly affected by the dimensions of work‐piece. Therefore, it is possible to save power if work‐piece dimensions are adjusted.

This paper was meant to be a universal step or guide in developing a computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) system to design, simulate, and manufacture molds for the forging process using a statistical method.

The purpose of this paper is to propose distributed learning-based three different metaheuristic algorithms for the identification of nonlinear systems. The proposed algorithms are experimented in this study to address problems for which input data are available at different geographic locations. In addition, the models are tested for nonlinear systems with different noise conditions. In a nutshell, the suggested model aims to handle voluminous data with low communication overhead compared to traditional centralized processing methodologies.

Population-based evolutionary algorithms such as genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and cat swarm optimization (CSO) are implemented in a distributed form to address the system identification problem having distributed input data. Out of different distributed approaches mentioned in the literature, the study has considered incremental and diffusion strategies.

Performances of the proposed distributed learning-based algorithms are compared for different noise conditions. The experimental results indicate that CSO performs better compared to GA and PSO at all noise strengths with respect to accuracy and error convergence rate, but incremental CSO is slightly superior to diffusion CSO.

This paper employs evolutionary algorithms using distributed learning strategies and applies these algorithms for the identification of unknown systems. Very few existing studies have been reported in which these distributed learning strategies are experimented for the parameter estimation task.

Usually, an optimal topology is obtained by optimizing the material distribution within a prescribed domain; for example, a rectangular domain with a specified length and width for a plane problem. However, the dimensions (i.e. aspect ratio) of a rectangular design domain have significant influence on the resultant optimal topology. In this paper, a minimum Averaged Compliance Density (ACD) based method for topology optimization of structures is proposed. Unlike the conventional topology optimization method, the ACD is taken as the objective function, and the topology and domain dimensions of the structure are optimized simultaneously. As an example, the topology of a cantilever beam with large aspect ratio will be optimized, which is often difficult for traditional topology optimization algorithms. Through optimizing the topology and the dimensions of the design domain, a base structure is obtained, which is repeated to yield the whole, assembled beam. The influence of the relative values of shear force and moment is analyzed numerically. Results show that as the value of the bending moment increases relative to the shear force, the optimal topology changes from a truss‐like structure to a vertically stiffened box‐like structure.