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Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) have been considered as primarily responsible for many serious environmental problems. Removing NO is the key task to remove NO_x hazards. To clarify, NO removal process for pitch-based spherical-activated carbons (PSACs), an online prediction and optimization technique in real-time based on support vector machine algorithm in regression (support vector regression [SVR]) is discussed. The purpose of this paper is to develop a predictor and optimizer system on selective catalytic reduction of NO (SCRN) using experimental data and data-driven SVR intelligence methods.

Predictor and optimizer using developed SVR have been proposed. To modify the training efficiency of SVR, the authors especially customize batch normalization and k-fold cross-validation techniques according to the unique characteristics of PSACs model.

The results present that SVR provides a property regression model since it can linkage linear and non-linear process and property relationships in few experimental data sets. Also, the integrated normalization and k-fold cross-validation show a satisfying improvement and results for SVR optimization. The predicted results of predictor and optimizer in single and double factor systems are in excellent agreement with the experimental data.

SCRN-PO for predicting and optimization SCRN problems is developed by data-driven methods. The outperformed SCRN-PO system is used to predict multiple-factors property parameters and obtain optimum technological parameters in real-time. Also, experiment duration is greatly shortened.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of ethical climate types on trust in management using Victor and Cullen’s framework, which is based on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and Gouldner’s sociocultural theory of organizations.

A sample of 270 employees from 10 organizations in India was used to investigate the specific relationships between ethical climate types and trust in management. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the different types of ethical climates existing in the organizations. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between ethical climates and trust in management.

It was found that ethical climates characterized by caring, laws and codes, and rules and procedures are significant predictors of trust in management. However, no support was obtained for any impact of ethical climates emphasizing company profit, self-interest or independence on trust in management.

Future research should examine trust in management as a mediating or moderating variable in the relationship between ethical climates and other organizational variables such as commitment, citizenship behaviour or productivity. Additionally, research could also examine different cultural and organizational contexts in testing out these relationships. The role of other constructs such as personality of supervisors and ethical sensitivity in developing trust in management may also been investigated.

Organizations should try to develop climates based on caring and also emphasize adherence to laws and codes as well as rules and procedures to enhance trust in the management.

The findings of the study are unique and original because literature examining ethical climates and trust is scarce, and this is the first study to explore how ethical climates can impact trust in management in the Indian context. In particular, the results are unique for. Contrary to expectations, no negative impact of climates of self-interest, company interest and independence on trust in management could be seen in this study. The results throw open new directions to theory building on ethical climates and trust in the Indian context.

Many everyday situations involve the performance of a task and the inference of competence from the results. Here, we focus on situations in which two or more persons who differ on status (e.g., sex category, skin tone) perform a valued task with equivalent, objectively judged results, and yet are not granted equal competence. We examine the conditions under which such a conclusion derives from the use of different standards for each status level.

We review and assess the findings of all the 17 social psychological experiments completed to date and designed to investigate the hypothesis that the lower a person’s social status is perceived to be, the stricter the competence standard applied to him or her.

We find substantial support for this hypothesis, but there are also factors that either moderate (e.g., qualifications level) or even reverse (e.g., participant’s sex category) such link. Of particular interest among those factors is whether competence is measured directly or indirectly. For example, we found overall that the specific question about competence often restrains the use of double standards, whereas the wider questions (e.g., about suitability) are more likely to allow that practice to emerge.

We also identify and expand interventions from three different research traditions designed to deter bias, and propose ways of applying them to block double standards in the assessment of equivalent performances. The interventions involve (1) increasing assessor’s accountability, (2) increasing similarity across the performers, and (3) disrupting the often taken-for-granted association between higher status and good performance – as well as the corresponding link between lower status and poor performance.

The ability to measure and assess “quality” is essential in building and maintaining a safe and effective transportation system. Attaining acceptable quality outcomes in transportation projects has been a reoccurring problem at both the federal and state levels, at least partially, as a result of poorly developed, inefficient or nonexistent quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) processes. The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement a new QA/QC process that focuses on a novel double-bounded performance-related specification (PRS) and corresponding pay factor policy that includes both lower and upper quality acceptance and payment reward boundaries for bridge concrete.

The authors use historical data to design different payment scenarios illustrating likely industry responses to the new PRS, and select the single scenario that best balances risk between the agency and industry. The authors then convert that payment scenario to a pay factor schedule using a search heuristic and determine statistical compliance with the PRS using percent-within-limits (PWL).

The methodology offers an innovative approach for developing an initial set of pay factors when lifecycle cost data are lacking and the PRS are new or modified. An important finding is that, with a double-bounded PRS, it is not possible to represent pay factors using the simplified table PWL currently employed in practice because each PWL value occupies two separate positions in the payment structure – one above the design target and one below it. Therefore, a more detailed set of pay factors must be employed which explicitly specify the mean sample value and the design target. The approach is demonstrated in practice for the Agency of Transportation in state of Vermont.

The authors demonstrate a novel approach for developing a double-bounded PRS and introduce a payment incentive/disincentive policy with the goal of improving total product quality. The new pay factor policy includes both a payment penalty below the contracted price for failing to meet a specified performance criterion as well as a payment premium above the contracted price that increases as the sample product specification approaches an “ideal” design value. The PRS includes both an upper and lower acceptance boundary for the finished product as opposed to only a lower tail acceptance boundary, which is the traditional approach.

The authors illustrate a research collaboration between academia and a state agency that highlights the role academic research can play in advancing quality management practices. The study involves the use of actual product performance data and is operational as opposed to conceptual in nature. Finally, the authors offer important practical insights and guidance by demonstrating how a new PRS and pay factor policy can be developed without the use of site-specific historical lifecycle cost (LCC) data that include detailed manufacturing, producing and placement cost data, as data related to product performance over time. This is an important contribution, as the development and implementation of pay factor policies typically involve the use of historical LCC data. However, in many cases, these data are not available or may be incomplete.

With the new PRS and pay factor schedule, the Agency expects shrinkage and cracking on bridge decks to decrease along with overall maintenance and rehabilitation costs. A major focus the new PRS is to actively involve industry partners in quality improvement efforts.

The authors focus on a major modification to an existing QA/QC process that involves the development of a new PRS and an associated pay factor policy undertaken by the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The authors use empirical data to develop a novel double bounded PRS and payment schedule for concrete and offer unique operational/practical insight and guidance by demonstrating how a new PRS and pay factor policy can be developed without the use of site-specific historical LCC. Typically, PRS for in-place concrete have only a lower tail acceptance boundary.

Recently, the double joint photographic experts group (JPEG) compression detection tasks have been paid much more attention in the field of Web image forensics. Although there are several useful methods proposed for double JPEG compression detection when the quantization matrices are different in the primary and secondary compression processes, it is still a difficult problem when the quantization matrices are the same. Moreover, those methods for the different or the same quantization matrices are implemented in independent ways. The paper aims to build a new unified framework for detecting the doubly JPEG compression.

First, the Y channel of JPEG images is cut into 8 × 8 nonoverlapping blocks, and two groups of features that characterize the artifacts caused by doubly JPEG compression with the same and the different quantization matrices are extracted on those blocks. Then, the Riemannian manifold learning is applied for dimensionality reduction while preserving the local intrinsic structure of the features. Finally, a deep stack autoencoder network with seven layers is designed to detect the doubly JPEG compression.

Experimental results with different quality factors have shown that the proposed approach performs much better than the state-of-the-art approaches.

To verify the integrity and authenticity of Web images, the research of double JPEG compression detection is increasingly paid more attentions.

This paper aims to propose a unified framework to detect the double JPEG compression in the scenario whether the quantization matrix is different or not, which means this approach can be applied in more practical Web forensics tasks.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a double mechanism model to separate two foreign direct investment (FDI) intra-industry spillovers mechanisms: spillovers by FDI intensity and by FDI efficiency. This paper seeks to illustrate the potential use of the double mechanism model rather than provide precise estimates of spillovers. The evidence on the links between technology and the nature, size and mechanisms of FDI spillovers effects in economically developing countries is mixed.

A model is developed and tested, in principle. Empirical testing was conducted in two steps. In the first step, the authors examined the effect of each influencing factor to FDI spillovers separately. To complete this step, the authors divided the whole sample industry into sub-groups and tested them with the double-mechanism using ordinary least squares regression. This study applies Chinese National Bureau of Statistics manufacturing industry level data, for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, including the food industry, beverage industry, textile industry, textiles and garments, chemicals and chemical products industry, overall manufacturing equipment, special equipment, computer and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries.

The analysis suggests significant differences between types of spillovers: export orientation of domestic firms mainly influences FDI spillovers by intensity; the capability gap between local and foreign firms influences spillovers by efficiency; and the growth of local firms influences both types of spillovers. This paper develops existing models of FDI and suggests that disaggregating spillovers types may provide important theoretical and policy insights.

This study has found, first, that compared with the classic single mechanism model, the double mechanism model is more appropriate for testing FDI intra-industry spillovers, as it is able to separate spillovers by intensity and spillovers by efficiency, which are shown as two distinct mechanisms for FDI spillovers. This allows a deeper analysis into each mechanism and the identification of relevant influencing factors.

The purpose of this paper is to consider a discrete‐time, Markov, regime‐switching, affine term‐structure model for valuing bonds and other interest rate securities. The proposed model incorporates the impact of structural changes in (macro)‐economic conditions on interest‐rate dynamics. The market in the proposed model is, in general, incomplete. A modified version of the Esscher transform, namely, a double Esscher transform, is used to specify a price kernel so that both market and economic risks are taken into account.

The market in the proposed model is, in general, incomplete. A modified version of the Esscher transform, namely, a double Esscher transform, is used to specify a price kernel so that both market and economic risks are taken into account.

The authors derive a simple way to give exponential affine forms of bond prices using backward induction. The authors also consider a continuous‐time extension of the model and derive exponential affine forms of bond prices using the concept of stochastic flows.

The methods and results presented in the paper are new.

The paper published below was prepared by Taylor Ostrander for Frank Knight’s course, Economic Theory, Economics 301, during the Fall 1933 quarter.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.