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1 – 10 of 268
Article
Publication date: 1 February 1992

Carl B. McGowan, Henry W. Collier and Colin M. Young

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how to use the Elton, Gruber, and Padberg [1978] model to construct optimal portfolios and to facilitate the use of this paradigm by…

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how to use the Elton, Gruber, and Padberg [1978] model to construct optimal portfolios and to facilitate the use of this paradigm by providing an example of how the technique is used. The EGP model uses the risk‐adjusted, excess return for an asset to determine the optimal portfolio for a given risk‐free rate of return. This paper shows exactly how to calculate the optimal portfolio and provides a True Basic@ program to do so. The data used are constructed from Capital International Indexes taken from various issues of Barrons from March 1978 to December 1986.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2009

Hamidreza Arabshahi and Vahid Lotfi

The purpose of this paper is to obtain an insight into the effects of sliding and/or joint opening at the contraction, perimeter and concrete lift joints on the nonlinear seismic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to obtain an insight into the effects of sliding and/or joint opening at the contraction, perimeter and concrete lift joints on the nonlinear seismic response of arch dams.

Design/methodology/approach

The seismic behavior of a typical thin double curvature arch dam is studied by a nonlinear finite element program developed by the authors. Joints are modeled with the use of zero thickness interface elements. Various constitutive relationships are implemented to account for sliding and opening along the joints. Effects of joint sliding parameters and foundation rock flexibility are also considered in the analyses.

Findings

The findings provide information about dynamic stress distribution through the dam body and stability of the dam as a whole and also the local stability of the most critical concrete blocks in the dam body.

Practical implications

Useful information for designing new arch dams or seismic evaluation of constructed dams.

Originality/value

This paper takes into account the stability of concrete blocks in the dam body as well as stability of the structure as a whole. Except for contraction joints, perimeter and concrete lift joints are also modeled. Practical as well as detailed models of sliding are provided for the analyses. The paper offers practical help to design and dam engineers.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2007

Christine Connolly

To report on developments in robotic vision by a particular robot manufacturer.

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Abstract

Purpose

To report on developments in robotic vision by a particular robot manufacturer.

Design/methodology/approach

Examines FANUC Robotics' philosophy and history of integrated vision, describes its latest offering, and looks at the specification of the new robot controller.

Findings

The new robot controller incorporates image processing hardware and software, including calibration procedures. The intelligent robot responds to changes in its surroundings, eliminating the need for jigs and part‐alignment devices and broadening its capabilities.

Originality/value

Presents the intelligent robot as a practical tool in factory automation.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2003

Jeanne K. Nel

Considers how the rights of children, protected under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and its Bill of Rights, can be reconciled with the effects of heavy fines…

Abstract

Considers how the rights of children, protected under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and its Bill of Rights, can be reconciled with the effects of heavy fines, asset forfeiture and confiscation orders on economic offenders. Clarifies the concepts of forfeiture and confiscation. Outlines the 1998 Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) and considers its provisions in relation to the position of children and young people as innocent third parties in cases of civil and criminal asset forfeiture. Includes a short discussion of corresponding provisions in US law. Suggests that, as legislation currently does not specifically provide for children, the POCA should be amended by incorporating, mutatis mutandis, provisions from the Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters Act.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 January 2007

Chi Zhu

To develop an in‐pipe robot to be used for inspecting pipes that are laid underneath a waste disposal site and for sampling sewage water leaking from holes around the pipe.

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Abstract

Purpose

To develop an in‐pipe robot to be used for inspecting pipes that are laid underneath a waste disposal site and for sampling sewage water leaking from holes around the pipe.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a compact design of the robot's mechanical and electronic systems, and develops a simple and practical method for determining the hole position using some characteristics of this in‐pipe robot.

Findings

Development of a multi‐functional in‐pipe robot with elaborate design is feasible, and multiple trapezoidal‐shaped wheels have good capabilities of providing the robot large traction force and keeping the robot horizontal in pipeline. A good mechanical structure design can greatly reduce control and computation cost by using some specific features of the object system.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides guidance for future design of multi‐functional in‐pipe robots.

Practical implications

The combination of a vision system and a manipulator can perform in‐pipe inspection and other different tasks. The developed robot has already been used practically by a large Japanese construction company for pipe inspection and sewage sampling.

Originality/value

An in‐pipe robot is developed that cannot only implement pipe inspection, but which can also take sewage water samples. Most of such multiple‐functional small robots are still in development and rarely reported.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2002

R. E. Bell

Explains why and how lawyers become involved in money laundering schemes. Describes three recent cases of UK solicitors convicted for money laundering ‐ Denis Jebb, Louis Glatt…

1425

Abstract

Explains why and how lawyers become involved in money laundering schemes. Describes three recent cases of UK solicitors convicted for money laundering ‐ Denis Jebb, Louis Glatt and Noel Horner ‐ and notes that US lawyers are convicted more often than in the UK; this is possibly because in the USA there are more sting operations, phone intercepts, use of accomplice evidence, and a different exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Moves on to the services that lawyers provide launderers: advice, use of client accounts, purchase or sale of property, creation of corporate vehicles and trusts, lawyer ‐ client privilege, guarantees, introductions, powers of attorney, and false legal documentation. Discusses next the low level of disclosures by solicitors in the UK of suspicious transactions; reasons may be the general culture of non‐suspicion, the duty of client confidentiality, and confusion over laundering and tax evasion. Outlines new UK money laundering offences, which are likely to lead to an increase in the numbers of solicitor prosecutions.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1945

W.J. Duncan

The Concept of Stability and Types of Instability THE term stable or unstable is applied to a body or system in accordance with the nature of the ultimate consequence of applying…

Abstract

The Concept of Stability and Types of Instability THE term stable or unstable is applied to a body or system in accordance with the nature of the ultimate consequence of applying a disturbance. If the body or system is at rest and in equilibrium in a certain configuration, that configuration is said to be completely stable if the system ultimately comes to rest in the same configuration after the imposition of any disturbance. Frequently interest is confined to small disturbances; the term small is vague but must be interpreted as meaning that the motions of disturbance (or deviations) are so bounded that they can be described by linear differential equations. When this is so, the investigation of the stability becomes relatively easy and the actual magnitudes of the initial disturbances are not required in the discussion of the stability. The same concept of stability for small disturbances can obviously be applied to any steady motion and indeed to any regular motion. The criterion for stability is that the deviations from the basic motion consequent upon a small disturbance shall ultimately become vanishingly small.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2018

Myriam Michaud and Luc K. Audebrand

The purpose of this paper is to examine multi-stakeholder cooperatives (MSCs), a relatively new and understudied type of cooperative, by focusing on the impact of a new member…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine multi-stakeholder cooperatives (MSCs), a relatively new and understudied type of cooperative, by focusing on the impact of a new member status: the “supporting member.” Supporting members are included in the ownership structure, participate in the decision-making process and contribute to the share capital without being formally defined as users of the cooperative’s services, an important disruption to the traditional cooperative venture.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 30 members (i.e. founders, managers, board members and employees) of 14 MSCs located in the Canadian province of Québec.

Findings

This study suggests that including supporting members in the cooperative venture impacts the three core features of cooperatives, which are traditionally user-owned, user-controlled and user-benefiting. Despite supporting members’ positive contributions to an MSC’s development and success, the inclusion of such members generates management challenges and organizational paradoxes.

Social implications

The inclusion of supporting members allows MSCs to become an experiment in “stakeholder democracy” and a space of negotiation between organizations, citizens and institutions, as MSCs represent and embody some of the community’s needs and desires.

Originality/value

This study constitutes an original contribution to paradox literature, as it describes the specific upward and downward spirals related to the inclusion of supporting members, highlights innovative responses to these paradoxes and extends understandings of cooperatives as hybrid organizations entangled in bundles of paradoxes.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 57 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1997

Jaroslav Mackerle

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the…

6041

Abstract

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1937

Variable‐pitch airscrews driven through multiple speed gear boxes are controlled by a single lever to provide in one position high speed and fine pitch and in another position a…

Abstract

Variable‐pitch airscrews driven through multiple speed gear boxes are controlled by a single lever to provide in one position high speed and fine pitch and in another position a lower speed and coarser pitch. The epicyclic gearing includes an annulus wheel B1 driven from the crankshaft and a series of double planet wheels B2 carried in a frame B3 rigid with an axial extension B4 of the airscrew hub A1. The series of planet gears mesh with sun wheels C, C2 respectively on sleeves C1 and C3 which are adapted to be clutched to the fixed casing D by clutches D1, D2 movable into position by a ring D3 which is actuated by a ring E, which through pivots and levers is movable by a piston K in a cylinder K1 which is coupled by pipes J3, G4 through a control valve H1 with a pressure supply. Branch pipes G3, J2 pass to compartments in the hollow shaft and thence to a cylinder F3 coupled to the blade roots for varying the pitch. The valve H1 is controlled from the cockpit through levers H2, H3.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 9 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

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