This article investigates the impact of information and communication technology (ICT), financial development and economic growth on electricity consumption for Malaysian economy, utilizing quarter ...frequency data for the period of 1990-2015. In order to examine the long-run relationship, a cointegration approach that provides for structural break is applied. The causal relationship between the variables is investigated by employing Toda-Yamamoto Granger causality approach, and robustness of causality results is confirmed by the innovative accounting method. The results provide evidence for the presence of cointegration between the variables. ICT has positive effect on electricity consumption. Financial development increases electricity consumption. Economic growth is positively associated with electricity consumption. The causality analysis indicates the feedback effect between ICT and electricity consumption. The bidirectional causality is found between economic growth and electricity consumption. Financial development causes electricity consumption and electricity consumption in turn causes financial development in Granger sense. This article opens fresh insights for policymakers to utilize ICT, financial development and economic growth as economic tools for sustainable economic development.
A mathematical model for the reaction-diffusion equation is developed to describe the nutrient release profiles and degradation of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-coated controlled-release fertilizer. A ...multi-diffusion model that consists of coupled partial differential equations is used to study the diffusion and chemical reaction (autocatalytic degradation) simultaneously. The model is solved using an analytical-numerical method. Firstly, the model equation is transformed using the Laplace transformation as the Laplace transform cannot be inverted analytically. Numerical inversion of the Laplace transform is used by employing the Zakian method. The solution is useful in predicting the nutrient release profiles at various diffusivity, concentration of extraction medium, and reaction rates. It also helps in explaining the transformation of autocatalytic concentration in the coating material for various reaction rates, times of reaction, and reaction-multi diffusion. The solution is also applicable to the other biodegradable polymer-coated controlled-release fertilizers.
This paper is a conceptual study that introduces the role of collaborative regulation into the supply chain resilience debate. The manufacturing supply chain of
halal
pharmaceuticals in Malaysia ...forms the context of the paper. In this paper, a critical review of previous studies on supply chain resilience, joint working relationships between supply chain actors, and collaborative involvement of regulatory authorities in supply chain relationships was carried out. Collaborative regulation for improved supply chain resilience is the coordinated, consistent, and strategic activities that includes: effective, as well as regular coordination and interactions; knowledge and information sharing, verification, and periodical monitoring, as well as enforcement of collaborative approaches to policy and regulatory control mechanisms via coercive force of isomorphism. The arguments put forward, contribute to improving knowledge, by specifying the conditions in which supply chain resilience is stronger in highly regulated contexts. This is an aspect that is ill reflected in the supply chain management literature.
Spin-off maneuver of a flexible satellite using constant-amplitude thrusters is studied in this paper. The satellite consists of a rigid main body and two symmetrical solar panels. The panels are ...having structural flexibility and their motions are discretized following the finite element method. Under constant-amplitude thrusts, steady-state attitude angle oscillations may occur in large amplitude after the maneuvers. Since in operation the satellite should point to certain area on the earth precisely, these oscillations of course are not acceptable. To reduce the oscillations, proportional derivative (PD) based constant-amplitude input shaping logic is proposed to determine time locations of thruster switching. Then, under such inputs, spin-downs of the satellite are simulated numerically. Results of simulations indicate that the precise orientation of the satellite can be achieved.
This study examines the impact of Halal logistics on supply chain resilience. The study is underpinned by the Agency theory. Halal logistics was studied as an Agent of governance and control in the ...multiple Principal-Agent model that exists in a typical supply chain. A field survey has been conducted and the research population is the Malaysian pharmaceutical industry. 10 organizations were surveyed. The survey instrument is a structured self-administered questionnaire. The responses were quantified using Fuzzy AHP approach. A fuzzy logic method was used to measure the resilience of each organization. Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analysis were then carried out on SPSS to test the research hypothesis. The results have found that Halal logistics which acts as a governing mechanism for regulation and control in the supply chain, mediates the relationship between each of capabilities and vulnerabilities (predictors) and supply chain resilience (outcome)
Background
In the past few decades, a significant volume of work has been carried out on various aspects of the state estimation problem to estimate an optimum state vector of the power system. This ...problem has been focused on, in previous studies regarding the computational efficiency and numerical robustness in view to find point estimates for system state parameters. This current investigation, constructed confidence intervals for the unknown state parameters of the system. The research indicates that confidence intervals can yield addition useful information about the estimated parameters.
Methods
The feasible interval estimates for the system state parameters have been modelled in this study by considering the random uncertainty in the processing measurements. The statistical assumptions of the measurement errors have been utilized to characterize the probabilistic behavior of the estimated parameters in terms of confidence intervals. The Gauss–Newton algorithm has been adopted for maximizing the likelihood function of the processing measurements and obtaining the confidence intervals.
Results
The usage of the confidence intervals was demonstrated through Monte Carlo experiments on a real dataset of the 6-bus and IEEE 14-bus power systems for both small and large sample sizes. The confidence intervals were constructed for the test networks for the sample of measurements 18, 28, 44 and 68 based on the redundancy ratio R. The proposed interval estimates outperformed for the sample sizes of 28 in the 6 bus and 68 in the IEEE 14-bus systems, respectively. The poor performance for the constructed interval estimates have been reported even for the large sample sizes in the existence of contaminated measurements.
Conclusions
The results of the study show that the method is effective and practically applicable in the state estimation of a power system. The constructed confidence intervals for the system state parameters adequately perform for the lager sample size. However, the existence of the gross errors in the processing measurements had severe effect on the performance of the proposed interval estimates.
Nutrients released into soils from uncoated fertilizer granules are lost continuously due to volatilization, leaching, denitrification, and surface run-off. These issues have caused economic loss due ...to low nutrient absorption efficiency and environmental pollution due to hazardous emissions and water eutrophication. Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) can change the release kinetics of the fertilizer nutrients through an abatement strategy to offset these issues by providing the fertilizer content in synchrony with the metabolic needs of the plants. Parametric analysis of release characteristics of CRFs is of paramount importance for the design and development of new CRFs. However, the experimental approaches are not only time consuming, but they are also cumbersome and expensive. Scientists have introduced mathematical modeling techniques to predict the release of nutrients from the CRFs to elucidate fundamental understanding of the dynamics of the release processes and to design new CRFs in a shorter time and with relatively lower cost. This paper reviews and critically analyzes the latest developments in the mathematical modeling and simulation techniques that have been reported for the characteristics and mechanisms of nutrient release from CRFs. The scope of this review includes the modeling and simulations techniques used for coated, controlled-release fertilizers.
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