Understanding adolescents' intentions to commute by car or bicycle as adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sigurdardottir, Sigrun Birna; Kaplan, Sigal; Møller, Mette

2013-01-01

This study focuses on the intentions of adolescents to commute by car or bicycle as adults. The behavioral model is based on intrapersonal and interpersonal constructs from the theory of planned behavior extended to include constructs from the institutional, community and policy domains. Data from...... a survey among Danish adolescents is analyzed. It is found that car use intentions are related to positive car passenger experience, general interest in cars, and car ownership norms, and are negatively related to willingness to accept car restrictions and perceived lack of behavioral control. Cycling...

Longitudinal correlations of car ownership with socio-economics, urban form, and transport infrastructure in Latin America: Example from Ensenada, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roque Daniela

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Car-orientated modal splits represent problems for the city in economic, environmental and social terms. The implementation of policies and other measures can fail if the causes are not well recognized. Mid-sized cities in Mexico are not well-represented in studies where only the capital and other bigger cities are studied. This research aims to recognize those causes focusing on northern midsized cities in Mexico. The approach involves numerical work (linear regression complemented with a descriptive analysis of the city. The analysis takes on such areas of consideration as socio-economic factors, land-use variables and the street network of the city. Of the 16 variables, almost all presented a relationship with car ownership levels, but not all behaved as expected. The final part of the research is a reaction to the previous studies and recommendations to change the city from car-orientated to one with a sustainable modal split.

Preferences for Alternative Fuel Vehicles of Company Car Drivers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koetse, M.J.; Hoen, A.

2014-01-01

Costs of car ownership for company cars drivers and private car owners are very different. Car use, car choice decisions and preferences for car characteristics may therefore differ substantially between these two markets. In this paper, we present results of a study on the preferences of company

A Privacy Model for RFID Tag Ownership Transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingchun Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The ownership of RFID tag is often transferred from one owner to another in its life cycle. To address the privacy problem caused by tag ownership transfer, we propose a tag privacy model which captures the adversary’s abilities to get secret information inside readers, to corrupt tags, to authenticate tags, and to observe tag ownership transfer processes. This model gives formal definitions for tag forward privacy and backward privacy and can be used to measure the privacy property of tag ownership transfer scheme. We also present a tag ownership transfer scheme, which is privacy-preserving under the proposed model and satisfies the other common security requirements, in addition to achieving better performance.

An improved car-following model accounting for the preceding car's taillight

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jian; Tang, Tie-Qiao; Yu, Shao-Wei

2018-02-01

During the deceleration process, the preceding car's taillight may have influences on its following car's driving behavior. In this paper, we propose an extended car-following model with consideration of the preceding car's taillight. Two typical situations are used to simulate each car's movement and study the effects of the preceding car's taillight on the driving behavior. Meanwhile, sensitivity analysis of the model parameter is in detail discussed. The numerical results show that the proposed model can improve the stability of traffic flow and the traffic safety can be enhanced without a decrease of efficiency especially when cars pass through a signalized intersection.

NREL Model Car Competitions | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

work together building cars with guidance from a parent, teacher, or coach to compete in race and Solar and Lithium Ion model car races in Colorado. Building solar- and battery-powered cars requires listPDF for Junior Solar Sprint and Lithium-Ion Battery model cars. Junior Solar Sprint Solar Made Pitsco

Fiscal Measures to Reduce CO2 Emissions from New Passenger Cars

OpenAIRE

Cowi A/S

2002-01-01

Model based calculations constitute the core output of this study. The calculations assess the extent to which vehicle related taxes (mainly acquisition taxes and ownership taxes) can be effective means to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars. More specifically, the model calculations have assessed the ability of vehicle taxes to support the target to reduce average CO2 emissions from new cars down to a level of 120 g/km. This is the agreed target of the Community Strategy to reduce CO2 emissio...

‘We are the future’: understanding adolescents’ intentions to commute by car or bicycle as adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sigurdardottir, Sigrun Birna; Kaplan, Sigal; Møller, Mette

This study focuses on the intentions of adolescents to commute by car or bicycle as adults, as key elements towards promoting societal transition towards sustainable modes. The behavioral model is based on the theory of planned behavior combined with positive current travel experience, willingness...... passenger experience, general interest in cars, and car-ownership norms, and are negatively related to willingness to accept car restrictions and perceived lack of behavioral control; (ii) cycling intentions are positively related to positive cycling experience, willingness to accept car restrictions...

Car ownership and use taxes as pollution correcting instruments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mabit, Stefan Lindhard; Mulalic, Ismir

There have been many attempts to alter the taxation of private vehicles to obtain more energy-efficient car transport. The last significant reform in Denmark was completed in 2007. The most important objective was to improve fuel efficiency and consequently to reduce emissions related to car tran...... a change in car taxes. Based on a simple theoretical framework we use a large sample of detailed Danish data to estimate the joint demand for vehicles and kilometres. The empirical results point at effects that have important implications....

Adaptation Model for Corporate Car Sharing in the Car Rental Industry

OpenAIRE

Matthes, Martin

2016-01-01

The focus of this thesis was on developing an adaption model for implementing a corporate car sharing service within the existing infrastructure of a car rental company. The investigated case companies were a leading Finnish car rental franchisee and an international car sharing subsidiary, largely owned by the car rental franchisor, which offers corporate car sharing solutions in major European countries. Adapting this new service in Finland will help the car rental franchisee to assert its ...

The linkage between car-related fringe benefits and the travel behavior of knowledge workers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendit, Eduard; Frenkel, Amnon; Kaplan, Sigal

2011-01-01

This study focuses on the linkage between car-related fringe benefits and the travel behavior of knowledge workers in commute and leisure trips. Specifically, this study compares the commuting and leisure travel behavior of knowledge workers who receive either a company-car or car allowance...... with the travel behavior of workers who do not receive car-related fringe benefits. Data are based on a revealed-preferences survey among knowledge workers in Israel. Results show that car-related fringe benefits are associated with (i) high car ownership and car use intensity, (ii) long commute distances...... and travel times and non-sustainable transport modes, and (iii) high frequency of long-distance leisure trips. Policy implications include (i) directing policies towards reducing car ownership induced by car-related fringe benefits, (ii) encouraging company-car holders to ‘pay their way’, and (iii...

The Impact of Tax Reform on New Car Purchases in Ireland

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hennessy, H.; Tol, R.S.J.

2011-01-01

We examine the impact of recent tax reforms in Ireland on private car transport and its greenhouse gas emissions. A carbon tax was introduced on fuels, and purchase (vehicle registration) and ownership (motor) taxes were switched from engine size to potential emissions. We use a demographic model of

A neural model of border-ownership from kinetic occlusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Layton, Oliver W; Yazdanbakhsh, Arash

2015-01-01

Camouflaged animals that have very similar textures to their surroundings are difficult to detect when stationary. However, when an animal moves, humans readily see a figure at a different depth than the background. How do humans perceive a figure breaking camouflage, even though the texture of the figure and its background may be statistically identical in luminance? We present a model that demonstrates how the primate visual system performs figure-ground segregation in extreme cases of breaking camouflage based on motion alone. Border-ownership signals develop as an emergent property in model V2 units whose receptive fields are nearby kinetically defined borders that separate the figure and background. Model simulations support border-ownership as a general mechanism by which the visual system performs figure-ground segregation, despite whether figure-ground boundaries are defined by luminance or motion contrast. The gradient of motion- and luminance-related border-ownership signals explains the perceived depth ordering of the foreground and background surfaces. Our model predicts that V2 neurons, which are sensitive to kinetic edges, are selective to border-ownership (magnocellular B cells). A distinct population of model V2 neurons is selective to border-ownership in figures defined by luminance contrast (parvocellular B cells). B cells in model V2 receive feedback from neurons in V4 and MT with larger receptive fields to bias border-ownership signals toward the figure. We predict that neurons in V4 and MT sensitive to kinetically defined figures play a crucial role in determining whether the foreground surface accretes, deletes, or produces a shearing motion with respect to the background. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consumer demand for cars in the USA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, R P

1975-01-01

Since the Second World War the American public has bought almost two hundred million cars, and the abrupt year to year variations in the number of new cars sold have had a substantial impact on the level of activity of the U.S. economy. This book examines the factors that determine the demand for cars and suggests an explanation for the large fluctuations in their sales. A wide variety of information, including data from market research, surveys of industry and consumer opinion, cross section studies and aggregate time series, is used to construct and estimate econometric models that will explain consumer decisions about the ownership, purchase and replacement of cars. This quantitative analysis is supplemented by information of a more qualitative nature on the significance for the car market of such factors as model changes, the oil crisis, and the prevailing social climate. One of the main conclusions of the book is that traditional neo-classical models of consumer behavior do not provide a satisfactory explanation of observed market behavior, and that account has to be taken of the role of variations in consumer confidence and expectations in determining demand. The study will be of interest to students and teachers of economics and business studies as well as to those concerned with the motor industry. (50 references) (from publisher's description)

A comparative study to identify a suitable model of ownership for Iran football pro league clubs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Amirnejad

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Today the government ownership of the professional football clubs is absolutely illogical view point. Most of sports clubs are conducted by private sector using different models of ownership all over the world. In Iran, government credits benefit was main reason that the professional sport was firstly developed by government firms and organizations. Therefore, the sports team ownership is without the professionalization standards. The present comparative study was to examine the different football club ownership structures of the top leagues and the current condition of Iran football pro league ownership and then present a suitable ownership structure of Iran football clubs to leave behind the government club ownership. Among the initial 120 scientific texts, the thirty two cases including papers, books and reports were found relevant to this study. We studied the ownership prominence and several football club models of ownership focused on stock listing model of ownership, private investor model of ownership, supporter trust model of ownership and Japan partnership model of ownership; theoretical concepts, empirical studies, main findings, strengths and weaknesses were covered in analysis procedure. According to various models of ownership in leagues and the models’ productivity in football clubs, each model of ownership considering national environmental, economic, social conditions has strengths and weaknesses. So, we cannot present a definite model of ownership for Iran football pro league clubs due to different micro-environments of Iran clubs. We need a big planning to provide a supporter-investor mixed model of ownership to Iranian clubs. Considering strengths and weaknesses in the models of ownership as well as the micro and macro environment of Iran football clubs, German model and Japan partnership model are offered as suitable ones to probable new model of ownership in Iran pro league clubs. Consequently, more studies are required

Comparative analysis of used car price evaluation models

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chuancan; Hao, Lulu; Xu, Cong

2017-05-01

An accurate used car price evaluation is a catalyst for the healthy development of used car market. Data mining has been applied to predict used car price in several articles. However, little is studied on the comparison of using different algorithms in used car price estimation. This paper collects more than 100,000 used car dealing records throughout China to do empirical analysis on a thorough comparison of two algorithms: linear regression and random forest. These two algorithms are used to predict used car price in three different models: model for a certain car make, model for a certain car series and universal model. Results show that random forest has a stable but not ideal effect in price evaluation model for a certain car make, but it shows great advantage in the universal model compared with linear regression. This indicates that random forest is an optimal algorithm when handling complex models with a large number of variables and samples, yet it shows no obvious advantage when coping with simple models with less variables.

Development, Problems and Countermeasures of Chinese Racing Car Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, J. J.

2018-05-01

In recent years, motor car racing has developed rapidly in China. However, under the background of maximum vehicle production and car ownership in China, the racing car industry has a long way compared with that of the developed countries. The paper analyzes the current situation and summarizes the problems of Chinese racing car industry with supporting documentation and review of the literature. The future trend of the development of car industry in China is discussed. On the basis of the analysis and prediction, the strategies to respond to the future racing car industry in China are presented.

A forecast of household ownership and use of alternative fuel vehicles: A multiple discrete-continuous choice approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Jiwoon [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Naeson 2-dong, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 437-713 (Korea); Jeong, Gicheol [Technology Management, Economics and Policy Program, 37-402, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1, Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-744 (Korea); Kim, Yeonbae [Technology Management, Economics and Policy Program, 37-318, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1, Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, South Seoul, 151-744 (Korea)

2008-09-15

The paper analyzes how adding alternative fuel passenger cars to the market will affect patterns in demand for passenger cars. We use conjoint analysis and a multiple discrete-continuous choice model to estimate consumer preferences regarding alternative fuel vehicles, and based on the estimates we conduct a simulation to analyze changing rates of ownership and use of variously fueled passenger cars under the effect of the introduction of alternative fuel passenger cars. In addition, we estimate changes in overall fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants. The results show that gasoline-fueled cars will still be most consumers' first choice, but alternative fuel passenger cars will nevertheless compete and offer a substitute for the purchase and use of gasoline-fueled or diesel-fueled cars. Finally, results show that adding alternative fuel cars to the market would effectively lower gasoline and diesel fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants. (author)

A forecast of household ownership and use of alternative fuel vehicles: A multiple discrete-continuous choice approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Jiwoon; Jeong, Gicheol; Kim, Yeonbae

2008-01-01

The paper analyzes how adding alternative fuel passenger cars to the market will affect patterns in demand for passenger cars. We use conjoint analysis and a multiple discrete-continuous choice model to estimate consumer preferences regarding alternative fuel vehicles, and based on the estimates we conduct a simulation to analyze changing rates of ownership and use of variously fueled passenger cars under the effect of the introduction of alternative fuel passenger cars. In addition, we estimate changes in overall fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants. The results show that gasoline-fueled cars will still be most consumers' first choice, but alternative fuel passenger cars will nevertheless compete and offer a substitute for the purchase and use of gasoline-fueled or diesel-fueled cars. Finally, results show that adding alternative fuel cars to the market would effectively lower gasoline and diesel fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants. (author)

Using the Theory of Games to Modelling the Equipment and Prices of Car Parking

Science.gov (United States)

Parkitny, Waldemar

2017-10-01

center. There were assumed that from the city’s point of view it is one rival, independently on the actual ownership of private car parks on whose strategy of acting the city do not have an influence. It is consistent with the basic foundations of the game theory. Both players compete for consumers - drivers using car parks, with such parameters like: price, distance from the destination, car parks’ equipment. The built model allows to indicate the best strategy. Knowing that strategy, one can form prices and equipment of car parks. That model may be used by municipal governments and companies which administer car parks. However, one should remember about limitations, which occur in reality, e.g. law restrictions referring to maximum prices for parking. The increasing pressure of cities’ authorities in Poland for changing those regulations, and examples of such solutions received, e.g. in USA, which concern varying prices for parking according to the demand on different car parks, and different hours, permit to have hopes, that the proposed model will be possible to use practically, soon.

Ownership concentration and bank risk (A study on banking sectors in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Etikah Karyani

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to test empirically the relationship between ownership concentration and risk taking by banks which are proxied by the CAR and LDR (li-quidity ratio. The study was motivated by the limited previous studies that analyze the structure of ownership in financial institutions and the weaknesses in sampling. Our analysis focused on Indonesia because this country has implemented the Basel Accord II standards successfully. This regulatory compliance is expected can control banking risk. Using data from 2009 until 2013 and panel data. We found that the ownership concentration become important determinants of bank liquidity. These findings are expected to provide policy guidance for regulators, especially relating to the ownership structure of the bank. However, the ownership concentration proved to be involved in the management decision to risk taking in banks.

Firewall Mechanism in a User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model

OpenAIRE

Akram , Raja Naeem; Markantonakis , Konstantinos; Mayes , Keith

2010-01-01

International audience; Multi-application smart card technology facilitates applications to securely share their data and functionality. The security enforcement and assurance in application sharing is provided by the smart card firewall. The firewall mechanism is well defined and studied in the Issuer Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (ICOM), in which a smart card is under total control of its issuer. However, it is not analysed in the User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (UCOM) that del...

Modelling strategic responses to car and fuel taxation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijnen, P.; Kooreman, P.

We develop a model to analyse the interactions between actors involved in car and fuel taxation: consumers, car producers, fuel producers and the government. Heterogeneous consumers choose between two versions of a car that differ in engine type (diesel or gasoline). Car manufacturers and fuel

Validation of the CAR II model for Flanders, Belgium; Validatie van het model CAR II voor Vlaanderen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marien, S.; Celis, D.; Roekens, E.

2013-04-15

In Flanders, Belgium, the CAR model (Calculation of Air pollution from Road traffic) for air quality along urban roads was recently extensively validated for NO2. More clarity has been gained about the quality and accuracy of this model [Dutch] In Vlaanderen is het CAR-model (Calculation of Air pollution from Road traffic) voor de luchtkwaliteit langs binnenstedelijke wegen onlangs uitvoerig gevalideerd voor NO2. Er is nu meer duidelijkheid over de kwaliteit en nauwkeurigheid van dit model.

Long term fuel price elasticity: effects on mobility tool ownership and residential location choice - Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erath, A.; Axhausen, K. W.

2010-04-15

This comprehensive final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) examines the long-term effects of fuel price elasticity. The study analyses how mobility tool usage and ownership as well as residence location choice are affected by rising fuel costs. Based on econometric models, long-term fuel price elasticity is derived. The authors quote that the demand reactions to higher fuel prices mainly observed are the reduction of mileage and the consideration of smaller-engined and diesel-driven cars. As cars with natural gas powered engines and electric drives were hardly considered in the survey, the results of the natural gas model can, according to the authors, only serve as a trend. No stable model could be estimated for the demand and usage of electric cars. A literature overview is presented and the design of the survey is discussed, whereby socio-demographical variables and the effects of price and residence changes are discussed. Modelling of mobility tool factors and results obtained are looked at. Finally, residence choice factors are modelled and discussed. Several appendices complete the report.

Modelling future private car energy demand in Ireland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daly, Hannah E.; Ó Gallachóir, Brian P.

2011-01-01

Targeted measures influencing vehicle technology are increasingly a tool of energy policy makers within the EU as a means of meeting energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change and energy security goals. This paper develops the modelling capacity for analysing and evaluating such legislation, with a focus on private car energy demand. We populate a baseline car stock and car activity model for Ireland to 2025 using historical car stock data. The model takes account of the lifetime survival profile of different car types, the trends in vehicle activity over the fleet and the fuel price and income elasticities of new car sales and total fleet activity. The impacts of many policy alternatives may only be simulated by such a bottom-up approach, which can aid policy development and evaluation. The level of detail achieved provides specific insights into the technological drivers of energy consumption, thus aiding planning for meeting climate targets. This paper focuses on the methodology and baseline scenario. Baseline results for Ireland forecast a decline in private car energy demand growth (0.2%, compared with 4% in the period 2000–2008), caused by the relative growth in fleet efficiency compared with activity. - Highlights: ► Bottom-up private car energy forecasting model developed. ► The demographic and technological distribution of vehicle activity is a key veriable. ► Irish car energy demand growth predicted to slow steadily. ► Change in vehicle taxation forecast to save 10% energy.

Analyzing the Effects of Car Sharing Services on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG Emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiyeon Jung

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This study examines the environmental impacts of roundtrip car sharing services by investigating transportation behavior. Car sharing should contribute to reduced greenhouse gas GHG emissions; however, such schemes include both positive and negative environmental effects, including: (1 reduced CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent from substituting private vehicle use for more fuel-efficient car sharing vehicles, (2 increased CO2e as car-less individuals switch from public transit to car sharing vehicles and (3 reduced CO2e due to fewer vehicles. This study examines the impacts of this modal shift on greenhouse gas (GHG emissions using three types of models: a mixed logit model to analyze car sharing service preferences; a binary logit model to analyze whether individuals are willing to forgo vehicle ownership or planned purchases to use car sharing services; and a linear regression to determine how much private vehicle or public transportation use would be replaced by car sharing and the resulting effects on mobility. Total emissions from the current car sharing market equal 1,025,589.36 t CO2e/year. However, an increase in electric vehicle (EV charging stations to 50% of the number of gasoline-fuel stations would increase the probability of electric car sharing vehicle use, thereby reducing emissions by 655,773 t CO2e. This study shows that forgoing vehicle purchases does not offset the increased GHG emissions caused by the shift from public transportation or private vehicle use to car sharing.

The Impact of Employer Attitude to Green Commuting Plans on Reducing Car Driving: A Mixed Method Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuan Ding

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Reducing car trips and promoting green commuting modes are generally considered important solutions to reduce the increase of energy consumption and transportation CO2 emissions. One potential solution for alleviating transportation CO2 emissions has been to identify a role for the employer through green commuter programs. This paper offers an approach to assess the effects of employer attitudes towards green commuting plans on commuter mode choice and the intermediary role car ownership plays in the mode choice decision process. A mixed method which extends the traditional discrete choice model by incorporating latent variables and mediating variables with a structure equation model was used to better understand the commuter mode choice behaviour. The empirical data were selected from Washington-Baltimore Regional Household Travel Survey in 2007-2008, including all the trips from home to workplace during the morning hours. The model parameters were estimated using the simultaneous estimation approach and the integrated model turns out to be superior to the traditional multinomial logit (MNL model accounting for the impact of employer attitudes towards green commuting. The direct and indirect effects of socio-demographic attributes and employer attitudes towards green commuting were estimated. Through the structural equation modelling with mediating variable, this approach confirmed the intermediary nature of car ownership in the choice process. The results found in this paper provide helpful information for transportation and planning policymakers to test the transportation and planning policies effects and encourage green commuting reducing transportation CO2 emissions.

Modeling human learning involved in car driving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wewerinke, P.H.

1994-01-01

In this paper, car driving is considered at the level of human tracking and maneuvering in the context of other traffic. A model analysis revealed the most salient features determining driving performance and safety. Learning car driving is modelled based on a system theoretical approach and based

Students to Race Solar-Powered Model Cars

Science.gov (United States)

race model solar cars on Saturday, May 12. The cars, designed to tap into energy from the sun, are than 12 inches wide, 24 inches long and 12 inches high. The 20-meter race is a double elimination competition with awards going to the five fastest cars. Five design awards also will be given out for

Modelling and optimization of car-to-car compatibility - Modellierung und optimierung von pkw-pkw-kompatibilität

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooi, H.G.; Nastic, T.; Huibers, J.H.A.M.

1999-01-01

In this paper simple and more detailed MADYMO multibody models were used to simulate the car structure for improving the car-to-car compatibility of the whole car fleet. As a first step, survey studies were performed to develop a method for the optimization of car design with respect to frontal and

A dynamic analysis of motorcycle ownership and usage: a panel data modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Chieh-Hua; Chiou, Yu-Chiun; Huang, Wan-Ling

2012-11-01

This study aims to develop motorcycle ownership and usage models with consideration of the state dependence and heterogeneity effects based on a large-scale questionnaire panel survey on vehicle owners. To account for the independence among alternatives and heterogeneity among individuals, the modeling structure of motorcycle ownership adopts disaggregate choice models considering the multinomial, nested, and mixed logit formulations. Three types of panel data regression models--ordinary, fixed, and random effects--are developed and compared for motorcycle usage. The estimation results show that motorcycle ownership in the previous year does exercise a significantly positive effect on the number of motorcycles owned by households in the current year, suggesting that the state dependence effect does exist in motorcycle ownership decisions. In addition, the fixed effects model is the preferred specification for modeling motorcycle usage, indicating strong evidence for existence of heterogeneity. Among various management strategies evaluated under different scenarios, increasing gas prices and parking fees will lead to larger reductions in total kilometers traveled. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mathematical model of optimal empty rail car distribution at railway transport nodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandr RAKHMANGULOV

2014-09-01

Full Text Available At present there are two trends in the market of rail freight transportation in Russia: freight owners put forward higher demands to the transportation quality (promptness of delivery in an effort to reduce storage costs by means of reducing the size of freight shipment; the structure of railcar traffic volume of the railways of Russia is getting more complex due to the reduction of the average shipment size and due to the transfer of railcar fleet ownership to a large number of operating companies. These trends significantly complicate operational management supervision of railway stations and transport nodes. Application of typical data from the information system about the railcar location at the transportation node is not enough for the dispatchers to make the best decision concerning the car traffic management. The dispatcher traffic control service needs some software-based models of efficient railcar distribution. The article is concerned with the description and development of the mathematical model of empty railcar distribution for loading at the railway transport node; this model will take into account the requirements of railcar owners in terms of their cars application, the operating work level of railroad stations of the transportation node and the possibility of adding the groups of empty railcars to the transfer trains, clean-up trains and industrial railway trains operating on a tight schedule. The developed model and the software package were implemented in the information system of the industrial railway of the major metallurgical enterprise - OJSC «Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Works», which processes up to two thousand of railcars belonging to different owners. This model made it possible to reduce the labour intensity of dispatcher operation planning the empty railcar distribution for loading and reduce the total time the railcars spend in the enterprise railway system.

Car Deceleration Considering Its Own Velocity in Cellular Automata Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Keping

2006-01-01

In this paper, we propose a new cellular automaton model, which is based on NaSch traffic model. In our method, when a car has a larger velocity, if the gap between the car and its leading car is not enough large, it will decrease. The aim is that the following car has a buffer space to decrease its velocity at the next time, and then avoid to decelerate too high. The simulation results show that using our model, the car deceleration is realistic, and is closer to the field measure than that of NaSch model.

Analysis of a model race car

Science.gov (United States)

Coletta, Vincent P.; Evans, Jonathan

2008-10-01

We analyze the motion of a gravity powered model race car on a downhill track of variable slope. Using a simple algebraic function to approximate the height of the track as a function of the distance along the track, and taking account of the rotational energy of the wheels, rolling friction, and air resistance, we obtain analytic expressions for the velocity and time of the car as functions of the distance traveled along the track. Photogates are used to measure the time at selected points along the track, and the measured values are in excellent agreement with the values predicted from theory. The design and analysis of model race cars provides a good application of principles of mechanics and suggests interesting projects for classes in introductory and intermediate mechanics.

Car-following Behavior Model Learning Using Timed Automata

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, Yihuan; Lin, Q.; Wang, Jun; Verwer, S.E.; Dochain, D.; Henrion, D.; Peaucelle, D.

Learning driving behavior is fundamental for autonomous vehicles to “understand” traffic situations. This paper proposes a novel method for learning a behavioral model of car-following using automata learning algorithms. The model is interpretable for car-following behavior analysis. Frequent common

Coefficient of restitution of model repaired car body parts

OpenAIRE

D. Hadryś; M. Miros

2008-01-01

Purpose: The qualification of influence of model repaired car body parts on the value of coefficient of restitution and evaluation of impact energy absorption of model repaired car body parts.Design/methodology/approach: Investigation of plastic strain and coefficient of restitution of new and repaired model car body parts with using impact test machine for different impact energy.Findings: The results of investigations show that the value of coefficient of restitution changes with speed (ene...

MODEL CAR TRANSPORT SYSTEM - MODERN ITS EDUCATION TOOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karel Bouchner

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The model car transport system is a laboratory intended for a practical development in the area of the motor traffic. It is also an important education tool for students’ hands-on training, enabling students to test the results of their own studies. The main part of the model car transportation network is a model in a ratio 1:87 (HO, based on component units of FALLER Car system, e.g. cars, traffic lights, carriage way, parking spaces, stop sections, branch-off junctions, sensors and control sections. The model enables to simulate real traffic situations. It includes a motor traffic in a city, in a small village, on a carriageway between a city and a village including a railway crossing. The traffic infrastructure includes different kinds of intersections, such as T-junctions, a classic four-way crossroad and four-way traffic circle, with and without traffic lights control. Another important part of the model is a segment of a highway which includes an elevated crossing with highway approaches and exits.

A FPGA Implementation of the CAR-FAC Cochlear Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying Xu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a digital implementation of the Cascade of Asymmetric Resonators with Fast-Acting Compression (CAR-FAC cochlear model. The CAR part simulates the basilar membrane's (BM response to sound. The FAC part models the outer hair cell (OHC, the inner hair cell (IHC, and the medial olivocochlear efferent system functions. The FAC feeds back to the CAR by moving the poles and zeros of the CAR resonators automatically. We have implemented a 70-section, 44.1 kHz sampling rate CAR-FAC system on an Altera Cyclone V Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA with 18% ALM utilization by using time-multiplexing and pipeline parallelizing techniques and present measurement results here. The fully digital reconfigurable CAR-FAC system is stable, scalable, easy to use, and provides an excellent input stage to more complex machine hearing tasks such as sound localization, sound segregation, speech recognition, and so on.

A FPGA Implementation of the CAR-FAC Cochlear Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ying; Thakur, Chetan S; Singh, Ram K; Hamilton, Tara Julia; Wang, Runchun M; van Schaik, André

2018-01-01

This paper presents a digital implementation of the Cascade of Asymmetric Resonators with Fast-Acting Compression (CAR-FAC) cochlear model. The CAR part simulates the basilar membrane's (BM) response to sound. The FAC part models the outer hair cell (OHC), the inner hair cell (IHC), and the medial olivocochlear efferent system functions. The FAC feeds back to the CAR by moving the poles and zeros of the CAR resonators automatically. We have implemented a 70-section, 44.1 kHz sampling rate CAR-FAC system on an Altera Cyclone V Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with 18% ALM utilization by using time-multiplexing and pipeline parallelizing techniques and present measurement results here. The fully digital reconfigurable CAR-FAC system is stable, scalable, easy to use, and provides an excellent input stage to more complex machine hearing tasks such as sound localization, sound segregation, speech recognition, and so on.

Students To Compete in Model Solar Car Race

Science.gov (United States)

cars in the 1998 Junior Solar Sprint. The race will be held at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE Compete in Model Solar Car Race For more information contact: e:mail: Public Affairs Golden, Colo ., May 8, 1998 — Middle school students from across Colorado will design, build and race model solar

Calibration of the heat balance model for prediction of car climate

Science.gov (United States)

Pokorný, Jan; Fišer, Jan; Jícha, Miroslav

2012-04-01

In the paper, the authors refer to development a heat balance model to predict car climate and power heat load. Model is developed in Modelica language using Dymola as interpreter. It is a dynamical system, which describes a heat exchange between car cabin and ambient. Inside a car cabin, there is considered heat exchange between air zone, interior and air-conditioning system. It is considered 1D heat transfer with a heat accumulation and a relative movement Sun respect to the car cabin, whilst car is moving. Measurements of the real operating conditions of gave us data for model calibration. The model was calibrated for Škoda Felicia parking-summer scenarios.

The motivation underlying adolescents׳ intended time-frame for driving licensure and car ownership: A socio-ecological approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sigurdardottir, Sigrun Birna; Kaplan, Sigal; Møller, Mette

2014-01-01

This study focuses on the adolescents׳ intended time-frame for obtaining a driving license and purchasing a car, as the delay of these decisions will likely affect the amount of travel and transport externalities. Semi-structured interviews with 50 Danish adolescents were analyzed by means...... are car enthusiasts who associate cars with high instrumental, affective, symbolic, and relational values, have car-oriented social networks, and imagine a car-oriented lifestyle. The second group are car pragmatists, who associate cars with high instrumental and relational values, perceive car expenses...... as a barrier, and imagine a car-oriented lifestyle only in the long-term. The third group are car skeptics, who have low interest in cars and imagine a cycling-oriented future. Policy implications concern (i) promoting shared-responsibility among individuals, public bodies, communities and policy makers...

Calibration of the heat balance model for prediction of car climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jícha Miroslav

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In the paper, the authors refer to development a heat balance model to predict car climate and power heat load. Model is developed in Modelica language using Dymola as interpreter. It is a dynamical system, which describes a heat exchange between car cabin and ambient. Inside a car cabin, there is considered heat exchange between air zone, interior and air-conditioning system. It is considered 1D heat transfer with a heat accumulation and a relative movement Sun respect to the car cabin, whilst car is moving. Measurements of the real operating conditions of gave us data for model calibration. The model was calibrated for Škoda Felicia parking-summer scenarios.

Transient Heat Transfer Model for Car Body Primer Curing

OpenAIRE

D. Zabala; N. Sánchez; J. Pinto

2010-01-01

A transient heat transfer mathematical model for the prediction of temperature distribution in the car body during primer baking has been developed by considering the thermal radiation and convection in the furnace chamber and transient heat conduction governing equations in the car framework. The car cockpit is considered like a structure with six flat plates, four vertical plates representing the car doors and the rear and front panels. The other two flat plates are the...

Modeling and simulation of cars in frontal collision

Science.gov (United States)

Deac, S. C.; Perescu, A.; Simoiu, D.; Nyaguly, E.; Crâştiu, I.; Bereteu, L.

2018-01-01

Protection of cars, mainly drivers and passengers in a collision are very important issues worldwide. Statistics given by “World Health Organization” are alarming rate of increase in the number of road accidents, most claiming with serious injury, human and material loss. For these reasons has been a continuous development of protection systems, especially car causing three quarters of all accidents. Mathematical modeling and simulation of a car behavior during a frontal collision leads to new solutions in the development of protective systems. This paper presents several structural models of a vehicle during a frontal collision and its behavior is analyzed by numerical simulation using Simulink.

Beyond “Peak Car”: A reflection on the evolution of public sentiment about the role of cars in cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin E.H. Lee-Gosselin

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this volume, Jones has made a persuasive case for considering recently observed reductions in car use (and sometimes car ownership in a number of major northern cities as part of an evolutionary process, rather than the consequence of transient conditions such as the economic downturn of 2008 and its relatively slow recovery. In an era bringing new service models for mobility and communications that have important implications for safety, security, the environment and well-being, he points to the role of public attitudes and sentiments that may underlie changing policy priorities and an associated culture change with respect to transport in cities and the reclamation of street space. This paper briefly explores the role of public sentiments and reflects on the apparent emergence of a popular subculture that favors living, if possible, without owning or using cars, in contrast to older subcultures embracing more extreme sentiments that are either Car-centered or emphatically anti-car.

An Investigation of the Factors Affecting the Purchase of Comprehensive Car Insurance Policies of Vehicle Owners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakan EYGÜ

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Comprehensive insurance is the coverage purchased by the individuals in exchange for the premiums paid for insuring their movable properties against the damages caused by either their or others’ faults. Comprehensive insurance is generally rooted in the automotive sector and its applications are generally designed for this sector. Vehicle owners buy their vehicles according to their tastes using a considerable part of their savings. Purchasing of a comprehensive car insurance policy means that the purchaser is transferring the costs borne by the risks to be occurred related to his or her vehicle to the insurance company. Thus, the vehicle is insured against any costs arise in case of any damage. This study were examined to investigate the comprehensive car insurance policy ownership ratio of vehicle owners, factors that may be affecting the ownership of such policies, opinions of policy owners on the insurance company providing the coverage and the factors affecting the decision of not purchasing comprehensive car insurance policies.

Calibration of the heat balance model for prediction of car climate

OpenAIRE

Jícha Miroslav; Fišer Jan; Pokorný Jan

2012-01-01

In the paper, the authors refer to development a heat balance model to predict car climate and power heat load. Model is developed in Modelica language using Dymola as interpreter. It is a dynamical system, which describes a heat exchange between car cabin and ambient. Inside a car cabin, there is considered heat exchange between air zone, interior and air-conditioning system. It is considered 1D heat transfer with a heat accumulation and a relative movement Sun respect to the car cabin, whil...

Self-Brand Personality Differences and Attitudes towards Electric Cars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Moons

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In two representative Belgian samples, by means of an online survey, we investigate the effect of self-brand personality differences on car brand evaluation, the evaluation of an eco-friendly branded electric car extension and the evaluation of car brands after electric extension. We show that self-brand personality differences influence the attitude towards car brands. The relative importance of personality dimensions that drive extension judgment and parent brand attitudes after electric extension is different from that of brand evaluation without extension. More particularly, perceptions of a brand being more responsible than one’s self is a much more important driver of brand evaluation after electric extension than without extension. Car personality characteristics, such as activity and sophistication, drive brand evaluations before, as well as after electric extension. These effects are moderated by brand ownership in that the relative importance of brand personality dimensions is different for brand owners than for consumers who do not own a specific brand. Car manufacturers can fine-tune their marketing approach when launching eco-friendly extensions, taking into account that, in this context, partly different self-brand personality fit considerations are used by consumers than for car brands without electric extension.

CAR models: next-generation CAR modifications for enhanced T-cell function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Abate-Daga

2016-01-01

Full Text Available T cells genetically targeted with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR to B-cell malignancies have demonstrated tremendous clinical outcomes. With the proof in principle for CAR T cells as a therapy for B-cell malignancies being established, current and future research is being focused on adapting CAR technology to other cancers, as well as enhancing its efficacy and/or safety. The modular nature of the CAR, extracellular antigen-binding domain fused to a transmembrane domain and intracellular T-cell signaling domains, allows for optimization by replacement of the various components. These modifications are creating a whole new class of therapeutic CARs. In this review, we discuss the recent major advances in CAR design and how these modifications will impact its clinical application.

A small Maglev car model using YBCO bulk superconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, W M [Department of Physics, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Zhou, L [Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, PO Box 51, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Yong, Feng [Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, PO Box 51, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Zhang, P X [Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, PO Box 51, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Chao, X X [Department of Physics, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Bian, X B [Department of Physics, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Zhu, S H [Department of Physics, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Wu, X L [Department of Physics, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China); Liu, P [Department of Physics, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710016 (China)

2006-07-15

Models of two small Maglev cars have been made. The track was paved with NdFeB magnets. The arrangement of the magnets made it easy to get a uniform magnetic field distribution along the length of the track and a magnetic field gradient in the lateral direction. When the car with YBCO bulk superconductors was field cooled to LN{sub 2} temperature at a certain distance above the track, the car could be automatically levitated over the track and moved along the track without any obvious friction. The model can be used to demonstrate the Meissner effect and a fast transportation system to students and adults.

A small Maglev car model using YBCO bulk superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, W M; Zhou, L; Yong, Feng; Zhang, P X; Chao, X X; Bian, X B; Zhu, S H; Wu, X L; Liu, P

2006-01-01

Models of two small Maglev cars have been made. The track was paved with NdFeB magnets. The arrangement of the magnets made it easy to get a uniform magnetic field distribution along the length of the track and a magnetic field gradient in the lateral direction. When the car with YBCO bulk superconductors was field cooled to LN 2 temperature at a certain distance above the track, the car could be automatically levitated over the track and moved along the track without any obvious friction. The model can be used to demonstrate the Meissner effect and a fast transportation system to students and adults

Analysis of railroad tank car releases using a generalized binomial model.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiang; Hong, Yili

2015-11-01

The United States is experiencing an unprecedented boom in shale oil production, leading to a dramatic growth in petroleum crude oil traffic by rail. In 2014, U.S. railroads carried over 500,000 tank carloads of petroleum crude oil, up from 9500 in 2008 (a 5300% increase). In light of continual growth in crude oil by rail, there is an urgent national need to manage this emerging risk. This need has been underscored in the wake of several recent crude oil release incidents. In contrast to highway transport, which usually involves a tank trailer, a crude oil train can carry a large number of tank cars, having the potential for a large, multiple-tank-car release incident. Previous studies exclusively assumed that railroad tank car releases in the same train accident are mutually independent, thereby estimating the number of tank cars releasing given the total number of tank cars derailed based on a binomial model. This paper specifically accounts for dependent tank car releases within a train accident. We estimate the number of tank cars releasing given the number of tank cars derailed based on a generalized binomial model. The generalized binomial model provides a significantly better description for the empirical tank car accident data through our numerical case study. This research aims to provide a new methodology and new insights regarding the further development of risk management strategies for improving railroad crude oil transportation safety. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Self-identity Based Model of Electric Car Adoption Intention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barbarossa, Camilla; Beckmann, Suzanne C.; de Pelsmacker, Patrick

2015-01-01

This study proposes a self-identity based eco-friendly intention formation model to assess the effects of green self-identity, care for the environmental consequences of consumption, and green moral obligation, on the attitude toward and the intention to adopt electric cars. The model...... between the countries. Results show that the independent variables influence consumer attitude toward the adoption of electric cars, which, in turn, determines the intention to adopt them. Significant differences emerge concerning the influence of the antecedents of consumer attitude toward electric car...

Concentrated Ownership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Caspar

2014-01-01

This entry summarizes the main theoretical contributions and empirical findings in relation to concentrated ownership from a law and economics perspective. The various forms of concentrated ownership are described as well as analyzed from the perspective of the legal protection of investors......, especially minority shareholders. Concentrated ownership is associated with benefits and costs. Concentrated ownership may reduce agency costs by increased monitoring of top management. However, concentrated ownership may also provide dominating owners with private benefits of control....

Thermal modelling of a torpedo-car

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verdeja-Gonzalez, L. F.; Barbes-Fernandez, M. F.; Gonzalez-Ojeda, R.; Castillo, G. A.; Colas, R.

2005-01-01

A two-dimensional finite element model for computing the temperature distribution in a torpedo-car holding pig iron is described in this work. The model determines the temperature gradients in steady and transient conditions whiting the different parts that constitute the systems, which are considered to be the steel casing, refractory lining, liquid iron, slag and air. Heat transfer within the main fluid phases (iron and air) is computed assuming an apparent thermal conductivity term incorporating the contribution from convention and radiation, and it is affected by the dimensions of the vessel. Thermal gradients within the constituents of the torpedo-car are used to calculate heat losses during operation. It was found that the model required the incorporate of a region within the iron-refractory interface to reproduce thermographic data recorded during operation; the heat transfer coefficient of this interface was found to be equal to 30 Wm''-2K''-1. (Author) 11 refs

Thermal modelling of a torpedo-car

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verdeja-Gonzalez, L. F.; Barbes-Fernandez, M. F.; Gonzalez-Ojeda, R.; Castillo, G. A.; Colas, R.

2005-07-01

A two-dimensional finite element model for computing the temperature distribution in a torpedo-car holding pig iron is described in this work. The model determines the temperature gradients in steady and transient conditions whiting the different parts that constitute the systems, which are considered to be the steel casing, refractory lining, liquid iron, slag and air. Heat transfer within the main fluid phases (iron and air) is computed assuming an apparent thermal conductivity term incorporating the contribution from convention and radiation, and it is affected by the dimensions of the vessel. Thermal gradients within the constituents of the torpedo-car are used to calculate heat losses during operation. It was found that the model required the incorporate of a region within the iron-refractory interface to reproduce thermographic data recorded during operation; the heat transfer coefficient of this interface was found to be equal to 30 Wm''-2K''-1. (Author) 11 refs.

Self-Ownership, World-Ownership, and Initial Acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tristan Rogers

2010-11-01

Full Text Available G.A. Cohen was perhaps libertarianism’s most formidable critic. In Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality he levels several strong criticisms against Robert Nozick’s theory put forth in Anarchy, State, and Utopia. In this paper, I counter several of Cohen’s criticisms. The debate operates at three stages: (1 self-ownership, (2 world-ownership, and (3 initial acquisition. At the first stage, Cohen does not attempt to refute self-ownership, but weaken its force in providing moral grounds for capitalism. Here I argue that Cohen’s attempt to overturn Nozick’s slavery argument is unsuccessful because partial-slavery, while normatively different from full-slavery, is still normatively wrong. At the second stage, Cohen argues for a joint-ownership view of the world’s resources. In particular, he claims that self-ownership is rendered merely formal in a jointly-owned world and in a capitalist world. To rebut this challenge I show that even if Cohen is right about this, libertarian self-ownership is only formal in Cohen’s peculiar case where only two people exist and one owns everything. In contrast, self-ownership in a jointly-owned world is formal in all cases. Lastly, at the third stage, Cohen argues against Nozick’s interpretation of the Lockean proviso, claiming that it is impossible to satisfy. Granting Cohen’s argument here, I go on to defend Jan Narveson’s no-proviso view of acquisition from Cohen’s thus far unanswered criticism. I show that significantly, in his critique, Cohen equivocates between positive and negative rights. Taken jointly, my responses at these three stages ground the anti-egalitarian conclusion that, in Cohen’s words, ‘[e]xtensive inequality of condition is unavoidable, or avoidable only on pain of violating people’s rights to themselves and to things.’ The sequence, then, is from self-ownership, to world-ownership, via initial acquisition.

The effects of motivational factors on car use: a multidisciplinary modelling approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steg, L.; Ras, M. [University of Groningen (Netherlands). Centre for Environmental and Traffic Psychology; Geurs, K. [National Institute of Public Health and Environment, Bilthoven (Netherlands)

2001-11-01

Current transport models usually do not take motivational factors into account, and if they do, it is only implicitly. This paper presents a modelling approach aimed at explicitly examining the effects of motivational factors on present and future car use in the Netherlands. A car-use forecasting model for the years 2010 and 2020 was constructed on the basis of (i) a multinominal regression analysis, which revealed the importance of a motivational variable (viz., problem awareness) in explaining current car-use behavior separate from socio-demographic and socio-economic variables, and (ii) a population model constructed to forecast the size and composition of the Dutch population. The results show that car use could be better explained by taking motivational factors explicitly into account, and that the level of car use forecast might change significantly if changes in motivations are assumed. The question on how motivational factors could be incorporated into current (Dutch) national transport models was also addressed. (author)

The disruptive impact of digitalization on the automotive ecosystem: a research agenda on business models, platforms and consumer issues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Athanasopoulou, A.; Bouwman, W.A.G.A.; Nikayin, F.A.; de Reuver, G.A.

2016-01-01

Digital technologies are transforming the automotive industry, and disrupting traditional business models based on ownership of cars. With the emergence of connected cars, mobility services and servitization, questions arise on how these enabling technologies affect the ecosystem. In this paper, we

Does Access Trump Ownership? Exploring Consumer Acceptance of Access-Based Consumption in the Case of Smartphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flora Poppelaars

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Value creation in a circular economy is based on products being returned after use. In the case of smartphones, most are never returned and tend to be kept in drawers. Smartphone access services (e.g., leasing or upgrade have been experimented with in the Netherlands but have been largely unsuccessful. This study explores the reasons why consumers rejected these access-based smartphone services and is one of the very few to address this topic. The findings are compared with the case of car access services, which are socially better accepted, to identify potential areas for improvement. The qualitative study consists of in-depth interviews with consumers (n = 18 who either adopted and used a smartphone or car access service, or had considered a new smartphone or car but did not choose access-based consumption. The findings of this small-scale study suggest that the main reasons for the rejection of smartphone access services are a lack of awareness, misunderstanding of terms and conditions, and unsatisfactory compensation for their sacrifice of not owning. Smartphone access providers could thus clearly communicate customers’ rights and responsibilities, offer an excellent service experience (especially during repair by taking over the burdens of ownership, and stimulate the societal logic shift from ownership to access.

BODY WORK MODELING AND GENERAL DESIGN FOR A RADIO CONTROLLED CAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DOROBANŢU Bogdan

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the general design of a small radio controlled car with its main systems and also the process and phases of modeling the body work for this kind of car. The modeling started from the sketch of a real car, a Porsche 997, shaping the clay to its final form looking like a mixture of Nissan GTR and Porsche Cayenne but keeping the proportions of the 997 to a scale of 1:14.

Psychological ownership and financial firm performance: The interplay of employee stock ownership and participative leadership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torp, Simon; Nielsen, Bo Bernhard

2018-01-01

Based on a survey among 295 of the top 500 Danish companies, we develop and test an integrated model of the simultaneous effects of employee stock ownership (ESO) and a participative leadership style (PLS) on the creation of psychological ownership (PO) and link this to financial firm performance...

Management Ownership and Risk-Shifting Investment

OpenAIRE

Nobuyuki Teshima

2012-01-01

This study analyzes the relationship between management ownership and its risk-shifting incentive. We first present a simple model showing that the risk-shifting incentive of management of financially distressed firms increases as the management ownership of the firm increases. Empirically, we test the hypothesis that under the former Japanese Corporate Reorganization Law, firms with higher management ownership are more likely to use legal rather than private reorganization. Since the reorgan...

Design of Wideband MIMO Car-to-Car Channel Models Based on the Geometrical Street Scattering Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurilla Avazov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO car-to-car (C2C channel model based on the geometrical street scattering model. Starting from the geometrical model, a MIMO reference channel model is derived under the assumption of single-bounce scattering in line-of-sight (LOS and non-LOS (NLOS propagation environments. The proposed channel model assumes an infinite number of scatterers, which are uniformly distributed in two rectangular areas located on both sides of the street. Analytical solutions are presented for the space-time-frequency cross-correlation function (STF-CCF, the two-dimensional (2D space CCF, the time-frequency CCF (TF-CCF, the temporal autocorrelation function (ACF, and the frequency correlation function (FCF. An efficient sum-of-cisoids (SOCs channel simulator is derived from the reference model. It is shown that the temporal ACF and the FCF of the SOC channel simulator fit very well to the corresponding correlation functions of the reference model. To validate the proposed channel model, the mean Doppler shift and the Doppler spread of the reference model have been matched to real-world measurement data. The comparison results demonstrate an excellent agreement between theory and measurements, which confirms the validity of the derived reference model. The proposed geometry-based channel simulator allows us to study the effect of nearby street scatterers on the performance of C2C communication systems.

Ownership transfer for non-federate object and time management in developing an hla compliant logistics model.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Z.

1998-01-12

A seaport simulation model, PORTSIM, has been developed for the Department of Defense (DOD) at Argonne National Laboratory. PORTSIM simulates the detailed processes of cargo loading and unloading in a seaport and provides throughput capability, resource utilization, and other important information on the bottlenecks in a seaport operation, which are crucial data in determining troop and equipment deployment capability. There are two key problems to solve in developing the HLA-compliant PORTSIM model. The first is the cargo object ownership transfer problem. In PORTSIM, cargo items, e.g. vehicles, containers, and pallets, are objects having asset attributes. Cargo comes to a seaport for loading or unloading. The ownership of a cargo object transfers from its carrier to the port and then from the port to a new carrier. Each owner of the cargo object is responsible for publishing and updating the attributes of the cargo object when it has the ownership. This creates a unique situation in developing the PORTSIM federate object model, that is, the ownership of the object instead of the attributes needs to be changed in handling the cargo object in the PORTSIM federate. The ownership management service provided by the current RTI does not directly address this issue. The second is the time management issue. PORTSIM is an event-driven simulation that models seaport operations over time. To make PORTSIM HLA compliant, time management must be addressed to allow for synchronization with other simulation models. This paper attempts to address these two issues and methodologies developed for solving these two problems.

Model analysis of adaptive car driving behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wewerinke, P.H.

1996-01-01

This paper deals with two modeling approaches to car driving. The first one is a system theoretic approach to describe adaptive human driving behavior. The second approach utilizes neural networks. As an illustrative example the overtaking task is considered and modeled in system theoretic terms.

Techno-economic comparison of series hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell and regular cars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Vliet, O.P.R.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/288519361; Kruithof, T.; Turkenburg, W.C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073416355; Faaij, A.P.C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/10685903X

2010-01-01

We examine the competitiveness of series hybrid compared to fuel cell, parallel hybrid, and regular cars. We use public domain data to determine efficiency, fuel consumption, total costs of ownership and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from drivetrain choices. The series hybrid drivetrain can be

MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF UNSTEADY HEAT EXCHANGE IN A PASSENGER CAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Yu. Khomenko

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose.Existing mathematicalmodelsofunsteadyheatexchangeinapassengercardonotsatisfytheneedofthedifferentconstructivedecisionsofthelifesupportsystemefficiencyestimation. They also don’t allow comparing new and old life support system constructions influence on the inner environment conditions. Moreoverquite frequently unsteady heat exchange processes were studied at the initial car motion stage. Due to the new competitive engineering decisionsof the lifesupportsystemthe need of a new mathematical instrument that would satisfy the mentioned features and their influence on the unsteadyheatexchangeprocesses during the whole time of the road appeared. The purpose of this work is creation of the mathematicalmodel ofunsteadyheatexchangeinapassengercarthatcan satisfythe above-listed requirements. Methodology. Fortheassigned task realizationsystemofdifferentialequationsthatcharacterizesunsteadyheatexchangeprocessesinapassengercarwascomposed; forthesystemof equationssolution elementary balance method was used. Findings. Computational algorithm was developed andcomputer program for modeling transitional heat processes in the car was designed. It allows comparing different life support system constructions influence on the inner environment conditionsand unsteady heat exchange processes can be studied at every car motion stage. Originality.Mathematicalmodelofunsteadyheatexchangeinapassengercarwasimproved. That is why it can be used for the heat engineering studying of the inner car state under various conditions and for the operation of the different life support systems of passenger cars comparison. Mathematicalmodelingofunsteadyheatexchangeinapassengercarwas made by the elementary balance method. Practical value. Created mathematical model gives the possibility to simulate temperature changes in passenger car on unsteady thermal conditions with enough accuracy and to introduce and remove additional elements to the designed model. Thus different

Do Methodological Choices in Environmental Modeling Bias Rebound Effects? A Case Study on Electric Cars.

Science.gov (United States)

Font Vivanco, David; Tukker, Arnold; Kemp, René

2016-10-18

Improvements in resource efficiency often underperform because of rebound effects. Calculations of the size of rebound effects are subject to various types of bias, among which methodological choices have received particular attention. Modellers have primarily focused on choices related to changes in demand, however, choices related to modeling the environmental burdens from such changes have received less attention. In this study, we analyze choices in the environmental assessment methods (life cycle assessment (LCA) and hybrid LCA) and environmental input-output databases (E3IOT, Exiobase and WIOD) used as a source of bias. The analysis is done for a case study on battery electric and hydrogen cars in Europe. The results describe moderate rebound effects for both technologies in the short term. Additionally, long-run scenarios are calculated by simulating the total cost of ownership, which describe notable rebound effect sizes-from 26 to 59% and from 18 to 28%, respectively, depending on the methodological choices-with favorable economic conditions. Relevant sources of bias are found to be related to incomplete background systems, technology assumptions and sectorial aggregation. These findings highlight the importance of the method setup and of sensitivity analyses of choices related to environmental modeling in rebound effect assessments.

Which Cooperative Ownership Model Performs Better? A Financial-Decision Aid Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kalogeras, N.; Pennings, J.M.E.; Benos, T.; Doumpos, M.

2013-01-01

In this article the financial/ownership structures of agribusiness cooperatives are analyzed to examine whether new cooperative models perform better than the more traditional ones. The assessment procedure introduces a new financial decision-aid approach, which is based on data-analysis techniques

Vehicles' Sample Generation and Realization in Car-Following Mathematical Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Algimantas Danilevičius

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The object of the article is the adjustment of car-following mathematical models according to collected traffic data. Here the problem of ineffectively burdened road section is solved by adjusting the speed of vehicles in order to reduce the distance between the cars to a safe distance. The paper analyzes the car-following models to measure the interaction between vehicles in the same lane. Experimental data processed in Matlab and traffic distribution histograms are created using the most appropriate distribution curve. Distribution curve is used to compile congestion scenario of road section. Applicable model uses fundamental diagrams, which are created from the kind of traffic flow measurements. The mathematical model allows to choose the optimal vehicle speed while maintaining safe distance between vehicles, and to make recommendations to improve the traffic as the process.

Modeling the number of car theft using Poisson regression

Science.gov (United States)

Zulkifli, Malina; Ling, Agnes Beh Yen; Kasim, Maznah Mat; Ismail, Noriszura

2016-10-01

Regression analysis is the most popular statistical methods used to express the relationship between the variables of response with the covariates. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the factors that influence the number of car theft using Poisson regression model. This paper will focus on the number of car thefts that occurred in districts in Peninsular Malaysia. There are two groups of factor that have been considered, namely district descriptive factors and socio and demographic factors. The result of the study showed that Bumiputera composition, Chinese composition, Other ethnic composition, foreign migration, number of residence with the age between 25 to 64, number of employed person and number of unemployed person are the most influence factors that affect the car theft cases. These information are very useful for the law enforcement department, insurance company and car owners in order to reduce and limiting the car theft cases in Peninsular Malaysia.

Microcomputers, Model Rockets, and Race Cars.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirus, Edward A., Jr.

1985-01-01

The industrial education orientation program at Wisconsin School for the Deaf (WSD) presents problem-solving situations to all seventh- and eighth-grade hearing-impaired students. WSD developed user-friendly microcomputer software to guide students individually through complex computations involving model race cars and rockets while freeing…

MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF UNSTEADY HEAT TRANSFER OF PASSENGER CAR WITH HEATING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Biloshytskyi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The existing mathematical models of unsteady heat processes in a passenger car do not fully reflect the thermal processes, occurring in the car wits a heating system. In addition, unsteady heat processes are often studied in steady regime, when the heat fluxes and the parameters of the thermal circuit are constant and do not depend on time. In connection with the emergence of more effective technical solutions to the life support system there is a need for creating a new mathematical apparatus, which would allow taking into account these features and their influence on the course of unsteady heat processes throughout the travel time. The purpose of this work is to create a mathematical model of the heat regime of a passenger car with a heating system that takes into account the unsteady heat processes. Methodology. To achieve this task the author composed a system of differential equations, describing unsteady heat processes during the heating of a passenger car. For the solution of the composed system of equations, the author used the method of elementary balances. Findings. The paper presents the developed numerical algorithm and computer program for simulation of transitional heat processes in a locomotive traction passenger car, which allows taking into account the various constructive solutions of the life support system of passenger cars and to simulate unsteady heat processes at any stage of the trip. Originality. For the first time the author developed a mathematical model of heat processes in a car with a heating system, that unlike existing models, allows to investigate the unsteady heat engineering performance in the cabin of the car under different operating conditions and compare the work of various life support systems from the point of view their constructive solutions. Practical value. The work presented the developed mathematical model of the unsteady heat regime of the passenger car with a heating system to estimate

Brain Inspired Cognitive Model with Attention for Self-Driving Cars

OpenAIRE

Chen, Shitao; Zhang, Songyi; Shang, Jinghao; Chen, Badong; Zheng, Nanning

2017-01-01

Perception-driven approach and end-to-end system are two major vision-based frameworks for self-driving cars. However, it is difficult to introduce attention and historical information of autonomous driving process, which are the essential factors for achieving human-like driving into these two methods. In this paper, we propose a novel model for self-driving cars named brain-inspired cognitive model with attention (CMA). This model consists of three parts: a convolutional neural network for ...

Car allocation between household heads in car deficient households : A decision model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anggraini, Renni; Arentze, Theo A.; Timmermans, Harry J P

2008-01-01

This paper considers car allocation choice behaviour in car-deficient households explicitly in the context of an activity-scheduling process, focusing on work activities. A decision tree induction method is applied to derive a decision tree for the car allocation decision in automobile deficient

The Effect of Private Benefits of Control on Minority Shareholders: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Evidence from State Ownership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerry Liu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of private benefits of control on minority shareholders. Design/methodology/approach: A theoretical model is established. The empirical analysis includes hand-collected data from a wide range of data sources. OLS and 2SLS regression analysis are applied with Huber-White standard errors. Findings: The theoretical model shows that, while private benefits are generally harmful to minority shareholders, the overall effect depends on the size of large shareholder ownership. The empirical evidence from government ownership is consistent with theoretical analysis. Research limitations/implications: The empirical evidence is based on a small number of hand-collected data sets of government ownership. Further studies can be expanded to other types of ownership, such as family ownership and financial institutional ownership. Originality/value: This study is the first to theoretically analyse and empirically test the effect of private benefits. In general, this study significantly contributes to the understanding of the effect of large shareholder and corporate governance.

Safe distance car-following model including backward-looking and its stability analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Da; Jin, Peter Jing; Pu, Yun; Ran, Bin

2013-03-01

The focus of this paper is the car-following behavior including backward-looking, simply called the bi-directional looking car-following behavior. This study is motivated by the potential changes of the physical properties of traffic flow caused by the fast developing intelligent transportation system (ITS), especially the new connected vehicle technology. Existing studies on this topic focused on general motors (GM) models and optimal velocity (OV) models. The safe distance car-following model, Gipps' model, which is more widely used in practice have not drawn too much attention in the bi-directional looking context. This paper explores the property of the bi-directional looking extension of Gipps' safe distance model. The stability condition of the proposed model is derived using the linear stability theory and is verified using numerical simulations. The impacts of the driver and vehicle characteristics appeared in the proposed model on the traffic flow stability are also investigated. It is found that taking into account the backward-looking effect in car-following has three types of effect on traffic flow: stabilizing, destabilizing and producing non-physical phenomenon. This conclusion is more sophisticated than the study results based on the OV bi-directional looking car-following models. Moreover, the drivers who have the smaller reaction time or the larger additional delay and think the other vehicles have larger maximum decelerations can stabilize traffic flow.

Cycling environmental perception in Beijing – A study of residents' attitudes towards future cycling and car purchasing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhao, Chunli; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Olafsson, Anton Stahl

2018-01-01

distances up to 2 km are positively linked to future cycling prospects. Non-car owners' attitude to future car ownership is strongly linked to socio-demographic status - low education and low income level groups seems to be most unlikely to take up driving in the future. To encourage people to cycle more...... and drive less, policy should direct efforts to promoting the clarity of cycling space on the street and strengthen pro-cycling policies. Attention should also be given to stabilizing the current travel modes of non-car users, including promoting the image of cycling, improving the service of walking...

Psychological ownership: Development of an instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chantal Olckers

2013-10-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure psychological ownership in a South African context. Motivation for the study: It was found that previous instruments for the measurement of psychological ownership lacked the ability to grasp the extensive reach of psychological ownership. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted on a non-probability convenience sample of 713 skilled, highly-skilled and professional employees from various organisations in both the private and public sectors in South Africa. Main findings: Although a 69-item measurement instrument was developed in order to capture the proposed seven-dimensional psychological ownership construct, it became evident when analysing the data that a four-factor model comprising 35 items was suitable. Practical/managerial implications: If a sense of psychological ownership toward an organisation could be established amongst its employees by addressing the factors as measured by the South African Psychological Ownership Questionnaire, organisations could become enhanced workplaces and, as a result, sustainable performance could be promoted and staff could be retained. Contribution/value-add: The instrument for measuring psychological ownership in a South African context could serve as a diagnostic tool that would allow human resource professionals and managers to determine employees’ sense of psychological ownership regarding their organisation and to focus specifically on weak dimensional areas that could be improved.

An Effective Surface Modeling Method for Car Styling from a Side-View Image

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIBao-jun; ZHANGXue-fang; LVZhang-quan; QIYi-chao

2014-01-01

We introduce an almost-automatic technique for generating 3D car styling surface models based on a single side-view image. Our approach combines the prior knowledge of car styling and deformable curve network model to obtain an automatic modeling process. Firstly, we define the consistent parameterized curve template for 2D and 3D case respectivelyby analyzingthe characteristic lines for car styling. Then, a semi-automatic extraction from a side-view car image is adopted. Thirdly, statistic morphable model of 3D curve network isused to get the initial solution with sparse point constraints.Withonly afew post-processing operations, the optimized curve network models for creating surfaces are obtained. Finally, the styling surfaces are automatically generated using template-based parametric surface modeling method. More than 50 3D curve network models are constructed as the morphable database. We show that this intelligent modeling toolsimplifiesthe exhausted modeling task, and also demonstratemeaningful results of our approach.

Analysis of mixed traffic flow with human-driving and autonomous cars based on car-following model

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wen-Xing; Zhang, H. M.

2018-04-01

We investigated the mixed traffic flow with human-driving and autonomous cars. A new mathematical model with adjustable sensitivity and smooth factor was proposed to describe the autonomous car's moving behavior in which smooth factor is used to balance the front and back headway in a flow. A lemma and a theorem were proved to support the stability criteria in traffic flow. A series of simulations were carried out to analyze the mixed traffic flow. The fundamental diagrams were obtained from the numerical simulation results. The varying sensitivity and smooth factor of autonomous cars affect traffic flux, which exhibits opposite varying tendency with increasing parameters before and after the critical density. Moreover, the sensitivity of sensors and smooth factors play an important role in stabilizing the mixed traffic flow and suppressing the traffic jam.

The effects of motivational factors on car use : a multidisciplinary modelling approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steg, L; Geurs, K; Ras, M

Current transport models usually do not take motivational factors into account, and if they do, it is only implicitly. This paper presents a modelling approach aimed at explicitly examining the effects of motivational factors on present and future car use in the Netherlands. A car-use forecasting

Optimal velocity difference model for a car-following theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, G.H.; Cai, X.H.; Liu, C.Q.; Cao, B.F.; Tuo, M.X.

2011-01-01

In this Letter, we present a new optimal velocity difference model for a car-following theory based on the full velocity difference model. The linear stability condition of the new model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The unrealistically high deceleration does not appear in OVDM. Numerical simulation of traffic dynamics shows that the new model can avoid the disadvantage of negative velocity occurred at small sensitivity coefficient λ in full velocity difference model by adjusting the coefficient of the optimal velocity difference, which shows that collision can disappear in the improved model. -- Highlights: → A new optimal velocity difference car-following model is proposed. → The effects of the optimal velocity difference on the stability of traffic flow have been explored. → The starting and braking process were carried out through simulation. → The effects of the optimal velocity difference can avoid the disadvantage of negative velocity.

Cars, Cars, Cars

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, Phyllis

2013-01-01

Cars are the focus of this feature article, which explores such topics as the history of cars in the United States, the national highway system, safety and pollution concerns, mobility and freedom for women, classic car shows, and the road trip in American literature and film. Also included are links to the websites of Automobile in American Life…

Boundary effects on car accidents in a cellular automaton model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Xianqing; Ma Yuqiang; Zhao Yuemin

2004-01-01

In this paper we numerically study the probability P ac of occurrence of car accidents in the Nagel-Schreckenberg (NS) model with open boundary condition. In the deterministic NS model, numerical results show that there exists a critical value of extinction rate β above which no car accidents occur, and below which the probability P ac is independent of the speed limit v max and the injection rate α, but only determined by the extinction rate β. In the non-deterministic NS model, the probability P ac is a non-monotonic function of β in the region of low β value, while it is independent of β in the region of high β value. The stochastic braking not only reduces the occurrence of car accidents, but splits degenerate effects of v max on the probability P ac . Theoretical analyses give an agreement with numerical results in the deterministic NS model and in the non-deterministic NS model with v max = 1 in the case of low β value region. Qualitative differences between open and periodic systems in the relations of P ac to the bulk density ρ imply that various correlations may exist between the two systems

Stability Analysis for Car Following Model Based on Control Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Xiang-Pei; Li Zhi-Peng; Ge Hong-Xia

2014-01-01

Stability analysis is one of the key issues in car-following theory. The stability analysis with Lyapunov function for the two velocity difference car-following model (for short, TVDM) is conducted and the control method to suppress traffic congestion is introduced. Numerical simulations are given and results are consistent with the theoretical analysis. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

The Research of Car-Following Model Based on Real-Time Maximum Deceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Longhai Yang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the effect of real-time maximum deceleration in car-following. The real-time maximum acceleration is estimated with vehicle dynamics. It is known that an intelligent driver model (IDM can control adaptive cruise control (ACC well. The disadvantages of IDM at high and constant speed are analyzed. A new car-following model which is applied to ACC is established accordingly to modify the desired minimum gap and structure of the IDM. We simulated the new car-following model and IDM under two different kinds of road conditions. In the first, the vehicles drive on a single road, taking dry asphalt road as the example in this paper. In the second, vehicles drive onto a different road, and this paper analyzed the situation in which vehicles drive from a dry asphalt road onto an icy road. From the simulation, we found that the new car-following model can not only ensure driving security and comfort but also control the steady driving of the vehicle with a smaller time headway than IDM.

Energy use and appliance ownership in Ireland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leahy, Eimear; Lyons, Sean

2010-01-01

This paper examines household energy use and appliance ownership in Ireland. Logit regression analyses on a large micro-dataset reveal how household characteristics can help explain the ownership of energy using appliances. Using OLS regression models, we explore the factors affecting residential energy demand conditional on appliance ownership. Results suggest that the methods of space and water heating employed by a household are even more important than electrical appliances in explaining domestic energy usage. However, the stock of appliances must be included in such models so that results will not be biased. The methods employed in this paper can be easily adopted for studies of household energy use in other countries where household expenditure survey data are available.

The association between ownership of common household devices and obesity and diabetes in high, middle and low income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Lear, Scott A; Teo, Koon; Gasevic, Danijela; Zhang, Xiaohe; Poirier, Paul P; Rangarajan, Sumathy; Seron, Pamela; Kelishadi, Roya; Tamil, Azmi Mohd; Kruger, Annamarie; Iqbal, Romaina; Swidan, Hani; Gómez-Arbeláez, Diego; Yusuf, Rita; Chifamba, Jephat; Kutty, V Raman; Karsıdag, Kubilay; Kumar, Rajesh; Li, Wei; Szuba, Andrzej; Avezum, Alvaro; Diaz, Rafael; Anand, Sonia S; Rosengren, Annika; Yusuf, Salim

2014-03-04

Household devices (e.g., television, car, computer) are common in high income countries, and their use has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We hypothesized that device ownership is associated with obesity and diabetes and that these effects are explained through reduced physical activity, increased sitting time and increased energy intake. We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study involving 153,996 adults from high, upper-middle, lower-middle and low income countries. We used multilevel regression models to account for clustering at the community and country levels. Ownership of a household device increased from low to high income countries (4% to 83% for all 3 devices) and was associated with decreased physical activity and increased sitting, dietary energy intake, body mass index and waist circumference. There was an increased odds of obesity and diabetes with the ownership of any 1 household device compared to no device ownership (obesity: odds ratio [OR] 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.32-1.55; diabetes: OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.28-1.50). Ownership of a second device increased the odds further but ownership of a third device did not. Subsequent adjustment for lifestyle factors modestly attenuated these associations. Of the 3 devices, ownership of a television had the strongest association with obesity (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.29-1.49) and diabetes (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.23-1.44). When stratified by country income level, the odds of obesity and diabetes when owning all 3 devices was greatest in low income countries (obesity: OR 3.15, 95% CI 2.33-4.25; diabetes: OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.53-2.53) and decreased through country income levels such that we did not detect an association in high income countries. The ownership of household devices increased the likelihood of obesity and diabetes, and this was mediated in part by effects on physical activity, sitting time and dietary energy intake. With

Steering Angle Control of Car for Dubins Path-tracking Using Model Predictive Control

Science.gov (United States)

Kusuma Rahma Putri, Dian; Subchan; Asfihani, Tahiyatul

2018-03-01

Car as one of transportation is inseparable from technological developments. About ten years, there are a lot of research and development on lane keeping system(LKS) which is a system that automaticaly controls the steering to keep the vehicle especially car always on track. This system can be developed for unmanned cars. Unmanned system car requires navigation, guidance and control which is able to direct the vehicle to move toward the desired path. The guidance system is represented by using Dubins-Path that will be controlled by using Model Predictive Control. The control objective is to keep the car’s movement that represented by dinamic lateral motion model so car can move according to the path appropriately. The simulation control on the four types of trajectories that generate the value for steering angle and steering angle changes are at the specified interval.

Social network predictors of latrine ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakya, Holly B; Christakis, Nicholas A; Fowler, James H

2015-01-01

Poor sanitation, including the lack of clean functioning toilets, is a major factor contributing to morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases in the developing world. We examine correlates of latrine ownership in rural India with a focus on social network predictors. Participants from 75 villages provided the names of their social contacts as well as their own relevant demographic and household characteristics. Using these measures, we test whether the latrine ownership of an individual's social contacts is a significant predictor of individual latrine ownership. We also investigate whether network centrality significantly predicts latrine ownership, and if so, whether it moderates the relationship between the latrine ownership of the individual and that of her social contacts. Our results show that, controlling for the standard predictors of latrine ownership such as caste, education, and income, individuals are more likely to own latrines if their social contacts own latrines. Interaction models suggest that this relationship is stronger among those of the same caste, the same education, and those with stronger social ties. We also find that more central individuals are more likely to own latrines, but the correlation in latrine ownership between social contacts is strongest among individuals on the periphery of the network. Although more data is needed to determine how much the clustering of latrine ownership may be caused by social influence, the results here suggest that interventions designed to promote latrine ownership should consider focusing on those at the periphery of the network. The reason is that they are 1) less likely to own latrines and 2) more likely to exhibit the same behavior as their social contacts, possibly as a result of the spread of latrine adoption from one person to another. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vehicle Weight in Gipps' Car-Following Model

OpenAIRE

Nerem, Sebastian

2013-01-01

Car-following models are mathematical models, which describe the situation where vehicles drive behind each other on a single lane road section with no overtaking possibilities. The purpose of the models is to estimate how a vehicle reacts to the behavior of the vehicle ahead. A weakness in these models is that they do not take the weight of each vehicle into account. It can however be shown that a vehicle?s weight affects its driving behavior.The purpose of this master?s thesis is to investi...

Own or share? - social science's analysis of car sharing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harms, S.

2003-01-01

This 339 page book examines the social aspects of car-sharing. Today's traffic system is not sustainable. In spite of its efforts not to restrict individual mobility, politics are showing first signs of ecological restructuring. Politics is, however, continuously trying to find the balance between acceptance and efficiency of the measures it proposes. The introduction of innovative mobility concepts can be very helpful here. These meet a wide range of consumers' wants and needs and can motivate them to change their patterns of behaviour towards a more environment-friendly direction at the same time. Car-sharing is chosen here as an example of such mobility technology. Because of its low entry costs and its fixed costs, this solution can be made use of by a large majority of the population and, according to experience already made, has a high potential for relieving the strain on the environment. It must be guaranteed, however, that a significant proportion of its users gives up ownership of their own cars and that not just 'car-less' people can be won over. The theoretical and empirical analyses of the factors that hinder or promote membership that are presented here show under which conditions this can be achieved

Tracking people and cars using 3D modeling and CCTV.

Science.gov (United States)

Edelman, Gerda; Bijhold, Jurrien

2010-10-10

The aim of this study was to find a method for the reconstruction of movements of people and cars using CCTV footage and a 3D model of the environment. A procedure is proposed, in which video streams are synchronized and displayed in a 3D model, by using virtual cameras. People and cars are represented by cylinders and boxes, which are moved in the 3D model, according to their movements as shown in the video streams. The procedure was developed and tested in an experimental setup with test persons who logged their GPS coordinates as a recording of the ground truth. Results showed that it is possible to implement this procedure and to reconstruct movements of people and cars from video recordings. The procedure was also applied to a forensic case. In this work we experienced that more situational awareness was created by the 3D model, which made it easier to track people on multiple video streams. Based on all experiences from the experimental set up and the case, recommendations are formulated for use in practice. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modelling mode choice in short trips - shifting from car to bicycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halldórsdóttir, Katrín; Christensen, Linda; Jensen, Thomas Christian

2011-01-01

-economic variables of a representative sample of the population. The investigated sample includes 11,072 observations. The model considers five alternatives (i.e., car driver, car passenger, public transport, walk and obviously bike), for which level of service variables are calculated through assignment procedures...... relevance of the cost for short trips. Expectedly, the selection of bicycle as mode for short trips is positively related to owning a bicycle and negatively linked to owning one or more cars. Urban density has also positive correlation with the selection of sustainable transport modes....

Modelling traffic flows with intelligent cars and intelligent roads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Arem, Bart; Tampere, Chris M.J.; Malone, Kerry

2003-01-01

This paper addresses the modeling of traffic flows with intelligent cars and intelligent roads. It will describe the modeling approach MIXIC and review the results for different ADA systems: Adaptive Cruise Control, a special lane for Intelligent Vehicles, cooperative following and external speed

A generalized quarter car modelling approach with frame flexibility ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

HUSAIN KANCHWALA

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India e-mail: ... Quarter-car model; laplace domain; other wheel effects; reduced order; wheel hop; frame flexibility. ..... simply involve adding some internal modelling details. ... scale simulation, analysis and control design, and has been.

Helmet Ownership and Use among Skateboarders: Utilisation of the Health Belief Model

Science.gov (United States)

Peachey, Andrew A.; Sutton, Debra L.; Cathorall, Michelle L.

2016-01-01

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of skateboarders who owned and who wore a helmet and which constructs from the Health Belief Model predicted helmet ownership and helmet use among undergraduate skateboarders. Methods: From March 2013 through March 2014, 83 skateboarders completed a helmet attitude and use…

Ownership concentration and bank profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peterson Kitakogelu Ozili

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We investigate whether ownership concentration influences bank profitability in a developing country context. We focus on bank ownership concentration measured as the amount of direct equity held by a majority shareholder categorised into: high ownership concentration, moderate ownership concentration and disperse ownership. We find that banks with high ownership concentration have higher return on assets, higher net interest margin and higher recurring earning power while banks with dispersed ownership have lower return on assets but have higher return on equity. Also, higher cost efficiency improves the return on assets of widely-held banks and the return on equity of banks with moderate ownership. The findings have implications. JEL: Code: G3, G34, G31, Keywords: Corporate governance, Ownership structure, Agency theory, Profitability, Firm performance, Banks, Return on asset, Return on equity

Pathways to Decarbonise the European Car Fleet: A Scenario Analysis Using the Backcasting Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arne Höltl

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses decarbonisation scenarios for the European passenger car fleet in 2050. The scenarios have been developed using the backcasting approach and aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG emissions of passenger cars to a level defined in the Transport White paper that is 60% below 1990 levels. Considering the emission levels of 2010, a yearly reduction of 1.7% is required in order to achieve the target. Car emissions were decomposed into the main emission factors of mobility, efficiency and carbon intensity. How these factors change over time depends on various external factors: the pace of technological improvements, the future role of cars in society’s mobility system and the priority given to decarbonising energy demand. The analysis showed that if car mobility and ownership continue to increase as expected in a ‘business as usual’ case, a share of 97% plug-in hybrid or battery electric vehicles might be required by 2050, together with a substantial decrease in greenhouse gas emission from electricity production. A transition to more advanced car technology such as automated driving, advanced batteries or lightweight materials in vehicle production would raise vehicle efficiency. Should car mobility continue at a high level, an early technology transition will be required.

The disruptive impact of digitalization on the automotive ecosystem: a research agenda on business models, platforms and consumer issues

OpenAIRE

Athanasopoulou, A.; Bouwman, W.A.G.A.; Nikayin, F.A.; de Reuver, G.A.

2016-01-01

Digital technologies are transforming the automotive industry, and disrupting traditional business models based on ownership of cars. With the emergence of connected cars, mobility services and servitization, questions arise on how these enabling technologies affect the ecosystem. In this paper, we propose a research agenda for the digitalized automotive ecosystem. In this research agenda we raise research questions on the impacts of digitalization on business models (i.e. how to move from tr...

Electric Car Special

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zoethout, T.; Belin, H.; Verwijs, H.; Nicola, S.; De Saint Jacob, Y.; Gatermann, R.

2009-09-15

In six articles, two columns and two interviews a part of this issue is dedicated to electric car developments: about winners and losers in the electric car race; a unique business model to rolling out the electric car by the electric battery company Better Place and the automobile industry Renault Nissan; interview with entrepreneur Shai Agassi of the Indian company Better Place; the development of electric cars in Germany; interview with Jean-Jacques Chanaron, an economist specialising in innovation management and a firm believer in electric cars; start of mass production of electric vehicles at the Japanese Nissan automobile industry; the constraints in Sweden in developing fuel-efficient automobiles; plans for 1 million electric or hybrid cars by 2025 in the Netherlands.

CONSTRUCTION OF MECHANICAL MODEL OF THE DIESEL-TRAIN DTKR-2 CAR AND ITS FEATURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Y. Kuzyshyn

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose.The article is aimed to construct the mechanical model of the diesel train DTKr-2 of the Kryukivsk Railway Car Building Works based on the analysis of undercarriage construction. This model will be used in the study of dynamic properties of the vehicle. When constructing the model the design features and its loading methods should be displayed as much as possible. Methodology. When constructing the mechanical model of the diesel train DTKr-2 car, the pneumatic spring, which is the main element of the central spring suspension, was modeled using Kelvin-Voigt node. This node includes elastic and viscous element. Hydraulic shock absorbers that are used both in the central and axle-box spring suspension were modeled as a viscous element. During research, the rigidity of the pneumatic spring, which is associated with the change in its effective area under deformation, was assumed to be zero. Findings. This article analyzed the design of car undercarriage of the diesel train DTKr-2. The mathematical models of its main units were presented, namely, in the central spring suspension – the model of pneumatic spring. Taking into account the peculiarities of design of the diesel train DTKr-2 undercarriage it was developed its mechanical model, which will be used in the future when studying dynamic properties. Originality.For the first time for the diesel train DTKr-2 car it was developed its mechanical model taking into account the features of the interaction of individual elements of its design. It has been proposed as a pneumatic spring to use the Kelvin-Voigt node, which includes parallel arranged elastic and viscous elements. Practical value. On the basis of the proposed mechanical model, a system of ordinary differential equations of car undercarriage movement of the diesel train DTKr-2 (mathematical model will be compiled. This model is further planned to be used when studying dynamic interaction of the diesel train car undercarriage wheel

Ownership Structure and Publicness of Firms: A Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wisnu Untoro

2017-11-01

Full Text Available There has been an extensive body of literature studying the link between ownership structure and firm performance. Some of them focus on the performance difference across ownership types (i.e. state vs foreign vs private domestic. On the other hand, some studies stress ownership structure on the fraction of ownership based on agency theory (i.e. majority versus minority and its derivatives (e.g. ultimate ownership, cross listing. However, an important element has not been explored while discussing ownership structure of firms which is the concept of publicness of firms. Publicness is important to explain to which extent an organization is related with governmental institutions. In fact, there are many engagements of firms with governmental bodies (e.g. deposit and lending from and to public organization. In this present paper, I provide a comprehensive literature review on the intersection between publicness level of firms and ownership structure. Going deeper, I also provide a literature review on the measurement of publicness and postulate a model to link between these two and firm performance as a venue for future studies.

An Improved Car-Following Model in Vehicle Networking Based on Network Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Y. Kong

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Vehicle networking is a system to realize information interoperability between vehicles and people, vehicles and roads, vehicles and vehicles, and cars and transport facilities, through the network information exchange, in order to achieve the effective monitoring of the vehicle and traffic flow. Realizing information interoperability between vehicles and vehicles, which can affect the traffic flow, is an important application of network control system (NCS. In this paper, a car-following model using vehicle networking theory is established, based on network control principle. The car-following model, which is an improvement of the traditional traffic model, describes the traffic in vehicle networking condition. The impact that vehicle networking has on the traffic flow is quantitatively assessed in a particular scene of one-way, no lane changing highway. The examples show that the capacity of the road is effectively enhanced by using vehicle networking.

A New Car-Following Model considering Driving Characteristics and Preceding Vehicle’s Acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the past decades, many improved car-following models based on the full velocity difference (FVD model have been developed. But these models do not consider the acceleration of leading vehicle. Some of them consider individual anticipation behavior of drivers, but they either do not quantitatively determine the types of driving or artificially divide the driving types rather than deriving them from actual traffic data. In this paper, driver’s driving styles are firstly categorized based on actual traffic data via data mining and clustering algorithm. Secondly, a new car-following model based on FVD model is developed, taking into account individual anticipation effects and the acceleration of leading vehicle. The effect of driving characteristics and leading vehicle’s acceleration on car-following behavior is further analyzed via numerical simulation. The results show that considering the acceleration of preceding vehicle in the model improves the stability of traffic flow and different driving characteristics have different influence on the stability of traffic flow.

Incorporating free-floating car-sharing into an activity-based dynamic user equilibrium model : a demand-side model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Li, Q.; Liao, F.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Huang, H-J; Zhou, J.

2018-01-01

Free-floating car-sharing (FFC) has recently received increasing attention due to the flexibility in mobility services. Existing studies related to FFC mainly focus on the analysis of operational management and user preferences. Efforts to model the dynamic choices of free-floating shared cars (SCs)

Modelling of Fire in an Open Car Park

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marton, Timea; Dederichs, Anne Simone; Giuliani, Luisa

2015-01-01

Steel car parks exhibit high vulnerability to fire, as a consequence of the degradation of the steel mechanical properties at high temperatures and of the combustible type and amount. Real fire accidents in open car parks demonstrated a much faster and extended fire spread than predictions......, assuming that a fire spread rate of 12 min and consider at most 3-4 vehicles on fire at the same time. Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) is applied in this current paper to study fire spread between cars. The outcomes of the investigations show that the fire spread is strongly influenced by the geometrical...... layout and that the distance between cars plays a determinant role on the fire spread rate and ignition of adjacent cars. In particular it was found that the fire spread can be faster than 12 minutes in the case of the cars parked 40 and 60 cm from each other....

Uji Model Keseimbangan Teori Keagenan: Pengaruh Kebijakan Utang dan Kebijakan Dividen Terhadap Kepemilikan Manajerial [Testing a Model of Balance Agency Theory: The Influence of Policy Liabilities and Dividend Policy towards Managerial Ownership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiela Liviani

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the balancing model of agency theory in the effect of debt policy and dividend policy to managerial ownership in manufacture sector companies, which are listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange. Companies in Indonesia tend to have concentrated ownership structure. This condition is contradictory to the previous studies which mostly done in the widely ownership-dispersed countries. Balancing model argues that there is a trade-off between each monitoring and controlling mechanism, i.e. the effect of debt policy to managerial ownership and dividend policy to managerial ownership. This study uses a quantitative approach with fixed effect logistic regression model to analyze the data. Total sample of this study is 1,060 observations of 106 listed Indonesian manufacture firms during the period of 2004-2014. This study found debt policy to be a significant and negative determinant of the level of managerial ownership, as predicted by balancing model of agency theory. This study also found dividend policy has an insignificant positive effect to the level of managerial ownership, which rejected the balancing model of agency theory in the effect of dividend policy to managerial ownership. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji model keseimbangan teori keagenan pada pengaruh kebijakan utang dan kebijakan dividen terhadap kepemilikan manajerial dalam perusahaan sektor manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia. Struktur kepemilikan dalam perusahaan-perusahaan di Indonesia cenderung terkonsentrasi. Kondisi ini berbeda dengan penelitian terdahulu yang banyak dilakukan di negara yang struktur kepemilikannya cenderung tersebar. Model keseimbangan menyatakan bahwa terdapat trade-off antar suatu mekanisme pengawasan dan pengendalian dengan mekanisme lainnya, yaitu pengaruh kebijakan utang terhadap kepemilikan manajerial dan kebijakan dividen terhadap kepemilikan manajerial. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan fixed

Block share ownership and corporate earning: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Somayye Adhami

2013-01-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been growing interests among researchers to study the effect of block share ownership on corporate earning especially in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of block ownership on performance of firms in terms of profitability. The proposed study develops two econometric models and applies them on selected firms from Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2002-2010. The primary objective of this survey is to find the relationship between return of assets and Tobin's Q as dependent variables with eight independent variables including company size, sales growth, block ownership, debt and liability ratios, etc. The results of implementation of ordinary least squares on two econometric models reveal that while there is no meaningful relationship between return of asset and block ownership there is a meaningful relationship between block ownership and Tobin's Q.

Simulating train movement in an urban railway based on an improved car-following model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Jing-Jing; Jin Xin-Min; Li Ke-Ping

2013-01-01

Based on the optimal velocity car-following model, in this paper, we propose an improved model for simulating train movement in an urban railway in which the regenerative energy of a train is considered. Here a new additional term is introduced into a traditional car-following model. Our aim is to analyze and discuss the dynamic characteristics of the train movement when the regenerative energy is utilized by the electric locomotive. The simulation results indicate that the improved car-following model is suitable for simulating the train movement. Further, some qualitative relationships between regenerative energy and dynamic characteristics of a train are investigated, such as the measurement data of regenerative energy presents a power-law distribution. Our results are useful for optimizing the design and plan of urban railway systems. (general)

Partially Overlapping Ownership and Contagion in Financial Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Micah Pollak

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Using historical banking data for the United States from the years 2000 to 2015 we characterize the probability and extent of a financial contagion using a calibrated network model of heterogeneous interbank exposures. Both the probability and the average extent of a contagion begin to rise in 2007 prior to the US financial crisis. Including a common asset in the model increases both the probability and extent of contagion, especially during the years of the financial crisis. Based on rising institutional ownership in the banking industry, we introduce a partially overlapping ownership asset that devalues endogenously. The addition of this asset increases the extent of a financial contagion. Our results show that trends in capital buffers and the distribution and type of assets have a significant effect on the predictions of financial network contagion models and that the rising trend in ownership of banks by banks amplifies shocks to the financial system.

Strategic Audit and Ownership Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mike Franz Wahl

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In the new global economy, ownership has become a central issue for organizational performance. Ownership strategy is where corporate governance meets strategic management. Highlighting a knowledge gap in the field of corporate governance, the author is asking the central research question: “how to develop an ownership strategy?” The main purpose of this paper is to answer this original question and develop a better understanding about ownership strategies. Theoretically there is evidence to indicate that there is a link between strategic audit and ownership strategy. Analyzing firm cases from Estonia allows concluding that the strategic audit is useful for developing systemically ownership strategies, which in turn could be a realistic alternative for complete contracts. The use of strategic audits gives the business owner an opportunity to analyze his own actions and behavior, learning, managing knowledge, and finally clearly expressing his will in the form of an ownership strategy.

Game Theory Models for the Verification of the Collective Behaviour of Autonomous Cars

OpenAIRE

Varga, László Z.

2017-01-01

The collective of autonomous cars is expected to generate almost optimal traffic. In this position paper we discuss the multi-agent models and the verification results of the collective behaviour of autonomous cars. We argue that non-cooperative autonomous adaptation cannot guarantee optimal behaviour. The conjecture is that intention aware adaptation with a constraint on simultaneous decision making has the potential to avoid unwanted behaviour. The online routing game model is expected to b...

Forest ownership in comparative law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Üstüner Birben

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Efficient and sustainable use of forest resources depend on various factors. However, one of the most emphasized and discussed topics among these factors is forest ownership. Comparative law is an important way of analyzing and understanding legal systems of different countries, and identifying different aspects of the current legal systems. This study tries to analyze forest ownership with regard to comparative law. France for the Continental-European legal system, Great Britain for the Anglo-Saxon legal system, and Russia Federation for the Socialist legal system are taken respectively as a base. Thus, how right to ownership is evaluated in different legal systems and what are the main features of that are indicated. As a result, private forest ownership is common in the Continental-European legal system and Anglo-Saxon legal system while state ownership is common in the Socialist legal system. Prevalence of private forest ownership in the Continental-European and the Anglo-Saxon legal systems is also closely related to the previous use rights transferred into right to ownership. In addition, it is concluded regarding the historical process that many changes occurred on forest ownership types without considering differences in legal systems.

Control designs and stability analyses for Helly’s car-following model

Science.gov (United States)

Rosas-Jaimes, Oscar A.; Quezada-Téllez, Luis A.; Fernández-Anaya, Guillermo

Car-following is an approach to understand traffic behavior restricted to pairs of cars, identifying a “leader” moving in front of a “follower”, which at the same time, it is assumed that it does not surpass to the first one. From the first attempts to formulate the way in which individual cars are affected in a road through these models, linear differential equations were suggested by author like Pipes or Helly. These expressions represent such phenomena quite well, even though they have been overcome by other more recent and accurate models. However, in this paper, we show that those early formulations have some properties that are not fully reported, presenting the different ways in which they can be expressed, and analyzing them in their stability behaviors. Pipes’ model can be extended to what it is known as Helly’s model, which is viewed as a more precise model to emulate this microscopic approach to traffic. Once established some convenient forms of expression, two control designs are suggested herein. These regulation schemes are also complemented with their respective stability analyses, which reflect some important properties with implications in real driving. It is significant that these linear designs can be very easy to understand and to implement, including those important features related to safety and comfort.

Healthy travel and the socio-economic structure of car commuting in Cambridge, UK: a mixed-methods analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Anna; Guell, Cornelia; Panter, Jenna; Jones, Natalia R; Ogilvie, David

2012-06-01

Car use is associated with substantial health and environmental costs but research in deprived populations indicates that car access may also promote psychosocial well-being within car-oriented environments. This mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) study examined this issue in a more affluent setting, investigating the socio-economic structure of car commuting in Cambridge, UK. Our analyses involved integrating self-reported questionnaire data from 1142 participants in the Commuting and Health in Cambridge study (collected in 2009) and in-depth interviews with 50 participants (collected 2009-2010). Even in Britain's leading 'cycling city', cars were a key resource in bridging the gap between individuals' desires and their circumstances. This applied both to long-term life goals such as home ownership and to shorter-term challenges such as illness. Yet car commuting was also subject to constraints, with rush hour traffic pushing drivers to start work earlier and with restrictions on, or charges for, workplace parking pushing drivers towards multimodal journeys (e.g. driving to a 'park-and-ride' site then walking). These patterns of car commuting were socio-economically structured in several ways. First, the gradient of housing costs made living near Cambridge more expensive, affecting who could 'afford' to cycle and perhaps making cycling the more salient local marker of Bourdieu's class distinction. Nevertheless, cars were generally affordable in this relatively affluent, highly-educated population, reducing the barrier which distance posed to labour-force participation. Finally, having the option of starting work early required flexible hours, a form of job control which in Britain is more common among higher occupational classes. Following a social model of disability, we conclude that socio-economic advantage can make car-oriented environments less disabling via both greater affluence and greater job control, and in ways manifested across the full socio

Corrected Statistical Energy Analysis Model for Car Interior Noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Putra

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Statistical energy analysis (SEA is a well-known method to analyze the flow of acoustic and vibration energy in a complex structure. For an acoustic space where significant absorptive materials are present, direct field component from the sound source dominates the total sound field rather than a reverberant field, where the latter becomes the basis in constructing the conventional SEA model. Such environment can be found in a car interior and thus a corrected SEA model is proposed here to counter this situation. The model is developed by eliminating the direct field component from the total sound field and only the power after the first reflection is considered. A test car cabin was divided into two subsystems and by using a loudspeaker as a sound source, the power injection method in SEA was employed to obtain the corrected coupling loss factor and the damping loss factor from the corrected SEA model. These parameters were then used to predict the sound pressure level in the interior cabin using the injected input power from the engine. The results show satisfactory agreement with the directly measured SPL.

Environmental effects of vintage cars; Milieueffecten van oldtimers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoen, A.; Traa, M.; Geilenkirchen, G.; Hilbers, H. [Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving PBL, Den Haag (Netherlands); Ligterink, N.; Kuiper, E. [TNO, Delft (Netherlands)

2012-08-15

A quick scan has been carried out on the emissions of vintage cars and the contribution that environmental zones for oldtimers can make to achieve European air quality standards. Also, an estimate is made of the impact of the current tax exemption for oldtimers on air quality. A brief overview is given of the current policy and recent policy changes for vintage cars, trends and developments with regard to ownership and use of oldtimers. Next, the approach to arrive at a forecast for 2015 is described, as well as the approach to assess the effect of an environmental zone for vintage cars [Dutch] Er is een quick scan uitgevoerd naar de uitstoot van oldtimers en de bijdrage die milieuzones voor oldtimers kunnen leveren voor het behalen van de Europese luchtkwaliteitsnormen. Ook is een inschatting gemaakt van het effect op de luchtkwaliteit van de huidige vrijstelling van de motorrijtuigenbelasting voor oldtimers. Deze notitie betreft een quickscan. Een kort overzicht wordt gegeven van het huidige beleid en de recente beleidswijzigingen voor oldtimers, trends en ontwikkelingen in het bezit en gebruik van oldtimers in de afgelopen jaren. Vervolgens wordt de aanpak beschreven om tot een prognose voor 2015 te komen, evenals de aanpak bij de inschatting van het effect van een milieuzone voor oldtimers. In hoofdstuk 5 volgen de resultaten.

The Ownership Barometer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

This case describes one of the Ownership Barometer’s (Korsager, 2016) three owner-types, namely the formal owner. The Ownership Barometer is an analytic tool to analyze an owner-manager’s feeling of ownership. The case exemplifies the formal owner-type by describing the character of KALK’s founder......, Mr Michael Jorgensen. His son, Mr Rasmus Jorgensen, explains how his father managed their family business, how he collaborated with the father when he joined the company, and how he eventually managed to take over the company after his father. The case draws on the author’s interviews of Mr Rasmus...

An extended car-following model to describe connected traffic dynamics under cyberattacks

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pengcheng; Yu, Guizhen; Wu, Xinkai; Qin, Hongmao; Wang, Yunpeng

2018-04-01

In this paper, the impacts of the potential cyberattacks on vehicles are modeled through an extended car-following model. To better understand the mechanism of traffic disturbance under cyberattacks, the linear and nonlinear stability analysis are conducted respectively. Particularly, linear stability analysis is performed to obtain different neutral stability conditions with various parameters; and nonlinear stability analysis is carried out by using reductive perturbation method to derive the soliton solution of the modified Korteweg de Vries equation (mKdV) near the critical point, which is used to draw coexisting stability lines. Furthermore, by applying linear and nonlinear stability analysis, traffic flow state can be divided into three states, i.e., stable, metastable and unstable states which are useful to describe shockwave dynamics and driving behaviors under cyberattacks. The theoretical results show that the proposed car-following model is capable of successfully describing the car-following behavior of connected vehicles with cyberattacks. Finally, numerical simulation using real values has confirmed the validity of theoretical analysis. The results further demonstrate our model can be used to help avoid collisions and relieve traffic congestion with cybersecurity threats.

Ownership structure and earnings management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farooq, Omar; El Jai, Hind

2012-01-01

Does poor legal protection of minority shareholders provide enough incentives for majority shareholders to expropriate minority shareholders and hide their unscrupulous behavior through accounting manipulations? This paper attempts to study the effect of ownership structure (ownership of the larg......Does poor legal protection of minority shareholders provide enough incentives for majority shareholders to expropriate minority shareholders and hide their unscrupulous behavior through accounting manipulations? This paper attempts to study the effect of ownership structure (ownership...

A dynamical model of car-following with the consideration of the multiple information of preceding cars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, G.H.; Sun, D.H.

2010-01-01

An improved multiple car-following (MCF) model is proposed, based on the full velocity difference (FVD) model, but taking into consideration multiple information inputs from preceding vehicles. The linear stability condition of the model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. Through nonlinear analysis, the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation is derived to describe the traffic behavior near the critical point. Numerical simulation shows that the proposed model is theoretically an improvement over others, while retaining many strong points in the previous ones by adjusting the information of the multiple leading vehicles.

"Asset Ownership Across Generations"

OpenAIRE

Ngina S. Chiteji; Frank P. Stafford

2000-01-01

This paper examines cross-generational connections in asset ownership. It begins by presenting a theoretical framework that develops the distinction between the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about financial assets and the direct transfer of dollars from parents to children. Its analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) reveals intergenerational correlations in asset ownership, and we find evidence to suggest that parental asset ownership or family-based exposur...

An automotive vehicle dynamics prototyping platform based on a remote control model car

OpenAIRE

SOLMAZ, Selim; COŞKUN, Türker

2013-01-01

The use of a modified remote control (RC) model car as a vehicle dynamics testing and development platform is detailed. Vehicle dynamics testing is an important aspect of automotive engineering and it plays a key role during the design and tuning of active safety control systems. Considering the fact that such tests are conductedi at great expense, scaled model cars can potentially be used to help with the process to reduce the costs. With this view, we instrument and develop a stand...

The mathematical model of dynamic stabilization system for autonomous car

Science.gov (United States)

Saikin, A. M.; Buznikov, S. E.; Shabanov, N. S.; Elkin, D. S.

2018-02-01

Leading foreign companies and domestic enterprises carry out extensive researches and developments in the field of control systems for autonomous cars and in the field of improving driver assistance systems. The search for technical solutions, as a rule, is based on heuristic methods and does not always lead to satisfactory results. The purpose of this research is to formalize the road safety problem in the terms of modern control theory, to construct the adequate mathematical model for solving it, including the choice of software and hardware environment. For automatic control of the object, it is necessary to solve the problem of dynamic stabilization in the most complete formulation. The solution quality of the problem on a finite time interval is estimated by the value of the quadratic functional. Car speed, turn angle and additional yaw rate (during car drift or skidding) measurements are performed programmatically by the original virtual sensors. The limit speeds at which drift, skidding or rollover begins are calculated programmatically taking into account the friction coefficient identified in motion. The analysis of the results confirms both the adequacy of the mathematical models and the algorithms and the possibility of implementing the system in the minimal technical configuration.

Car use within the household

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Borger, Bruno; Mulalic, Ismir; Rouwendal, Jan

2013-01-01

In this paper we study the demand for car kilometres in two-car households, focusing on the substitution between cars in response to fuel price changes. We use a large sample of detailed Danish data on two-car households to estimate—for each car owned by the household—own and cross-price effects...... of increases in fuel costs per kilometre. The empirical results show that failure to capture substitution between cars within the household can result in substantial misspecification biases. Ignoring substitution, we estimate fuel price elasticities of –0.81 and -0.65 for the primary and secondary cars...... efficient car, finding partial support for the underlying hypothesis. More importantly, the results of this extended model emphasize the importance of behavioural differences related to the position of the most fuel efficient car in the household, suggesting that households’ fuel efficiency choices...

Do tax incentives affect households' adoption of ‘green’ cars? A panel study of the Stockholm congestion tax

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mannberg, Andrea; Jansson, Johan; Pettersson, Thomas; Brännlund, Runar; Lindgren, Urban

2014-01-01

Policymakers have made several attempts to introduce local and national policies to reduce CO 2 emissions and stimulate the consumer adoption of alternative fuel vehicles (ethanol/E85 cars). The purpose of this paper is to analyze how a local policy measure impacts the composition of the car fleet over time. More specifically, we take advantage of the natural experiment setting caused by the introduction of the Stockholm congestion tax (2006) to analyze how the tax affected purchases of ethanol cars that were exempted from the tax. To estimate effects, we employ a Difference-in-differences methodology. By using a comprehensive database of the car fleet and car owners, sociodemographic and geographic factors are analyzed, which is unique in the existing literature. Our results suggest that the congestion tax had a significant impact on ethanol car purchases although the effect fades away over time. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between the level of education and ethanol car purchases. Previous adoption of an ethanol car is found to be the strongest predictor of ethanol car purchases. Finally, data indicate that Stockholmers substantially increased purchases of ethanol cars half a year before the introduction of the congestion tax, which we refer to as an anticipation effect. - Highlights: • Uses a database of car owners to analyze impacts of a congestion tax on car fleet. • Results show that the tax had a significant effect on ethanol car purchases. • Prior ownership of ethanol car and education correlates with ethanol car purchases

The effects of ownership and ownership change on nursing home industry costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, J S

1996-08-01

This study examines the effects of ownership type and ownership change on nursing home cost structures, differentiating patient care costs from plant costs. Administrative data from the Michigan Department of Social Services, Medical Services Administration (Medicaid), and the Michigan Department of Public Health are used. Cost data are based on audited cost reports for 393 nursing care facilities in Michigan in 1989. Other facility characteristics are based on data from the 1989 annual licensing and certification survey conducted by the Michigan Department of Public Health. A series of ordinary least squares regressions is estimated, in which the dependent variable is either per diem patient costs or per diem plant costs. Ownership types are defined as chain, proprietary non-chain, freestanding non-profit, government-owned, and hospital-based facilities. Pooled estimation techniques, as well as separate regressions by ownership type, are presented to test for interaction effects. Key variables include whether a facility changed ownership in the preceding five years and whether chain facilities are in-state- or out-of-state-owned, in addition to size, payer mix, and case mix. Behavioral differences among nursing home ownership types in respect to patient care costs tended to distinguish government-owned and hospital-based facilities from the freestanding homes rather than the usual distinction between for-profit and not-for-profit classes. Variables traditionally included in nursing home cost studies, such as size, occupancy, payer mix and case mix, were found to have similar effects on per diem patient care costs for freestanding non-profit homes as well as for chain proprietary facilities. With regard to the effects of ownership change on per diem plant and per diem patient costs, however, there are few differences among ownership types. Chain and non-chain for-profit facilities, non-profit homes, and hospital long-term care units that had changed ownership

Surface reconstruction, figure-ground modulation, and border-ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeurissen, Danique; Self, Matthew W; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2013-01-01

The Differentiation-Integration for Surface Completion (DISC) model aims to explain the reconstruction of visual surfaces. We find the model a valuable contribution to our understanding of figure-ground organization. We point out that, next to border-ownership, neurons in visual cortex code whether surface elements belong to a figure or the background and that this is influenced by attention. We furthermore suggest that there must be strong links between object recognition and figure-ground assignment in order to resolve the status of interior contours. Incorporation of these factors in neurocomputational models will further improve our understanding of surface reconstruction, figure-ground organization, and border-ownership.

Modeling the Turning Speed and Car Following Behaviors of Autonomous Vehicles in a Virtual World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carrillo-González José Gerardo

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article deals with mathematical models for controlling vehicles behavior in a virtual world, where two behaviors are considered: 1 curve turning and 2 car following situations, in this last is essential to provide a safety distance between the leader and the follower and at the same time keep the follower not delayed with respect to the leader, and in a curve turning the complexity is to provide a safety speed inside the curve and keep the car inside the lane. Using basic information as vehicles position, mathematical models can be developed for explaining the heading angle and the autonomous vehicles speed on curves, i.e. the controlled by the models. A model that predicts the autonomous vehicle speed on curves is developed considering previous data in other curves. Two models that control the acceleration/deceleration behavior of autonomous vehicles in a car following situation are proposed. In the first model, the parameters are calibrated with a proposed algorithm which enables accuracy in order to imitate the human behavior for accelerating and braking, and the second model provides a safety distance between the follower and the leader at sudden stops of the latter and employs the acceleration/deceleration top capabilities to follow the leader car similar to the human behavior.

Prediction of car cabin environment by means of 1D and 3D cabin model

Science.gov (United States)

Fišer, J.; Pokorný, J.; Jícha, M.

2012-04-01

Thermal comfort and also reduction of energy requirements of air-conditioning system in vehicle cabins are currently very intensively investigated and up-to-date issues. The article deals with two approaches of modelling of car cabin environment; the first model was created in simulation language Modelica (typical 1D approach without cabin geometry) and the second one was created in specialized software Theseus-FE (3D approach with cabin geometry). Performance and capabilities of this tools are demonstrated on the example of the car cabin and the results from simulations are compared with the results from the real car cabin climate chamber measurements.

Firearm Ownership and Violent Crime in the U.S.: An Ecologic Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Monuteaux, Michael C; Lee, Lois K; Hemenway, David; Mannix, Rebekah; Fleegler, Eric W

2015-08-01

Although some view the ownership of firearms as a deterrent to crime, the relationship between population-level firearm ownership rates and violent criminal perpetration is unclear. The purpose of this study is to test the association between state-level firearm ownership and violent crime. State-level rates of household firearm ownership and annual rates of criminal acts from 2001, 2002, and 2004 were analyzed in 2014. Firearm ownership rates were taken from a national survey and crime data were taken from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports. Rates of criminal behavior were estimated as a function of household gun ownership using negative binomial regression models, controlling for several demographic factors. Higher levels of firearm ownership were associated with higher levels of firearm assault and firearm robbery. There was also a significant association between firearm ownership and firearm homicide, as well as overall homicide. The findings do not support the hypothesis that higher population firearm ownership rates reduce firearm-associated criminal perpetration. On the contrary, evidence shows that states with higher levels of firearm ownership have an increased risk for violent crimes perpetrated with a firearm. Public health stakeholders should consider the outcomes associated with private firearm ownership. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nuclear energy center finance and ownership considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, J.A.; Wilder, R.P.

1980-09-01

Finance and ownership alternatives for a nuclear energy center (NEC) in South Carolina are analyzed in the context of the capital market and tax differences among alternatives. The ownership alternatives considered are (1) the private or private/public joint venture, (2) full public ownership and (3) a hybrid ownership form featuring federal involvement in the initial site development and permit phase, followed by a transition to private ownership. Public ownership is associated with considerably lower out-of-pocket costs than private ownership; the difference between the two, however, is related to subsidies from other parts of society to electricity customers of a publicly owned NEC. The attitudes of participating utilities on ownership forms are examined, with the finding of general strong opposition to increased federal involvement in the electric utility industry through NEC ownership. The conclusion is that the private-private/public joint venture is the preferable ownership form and that public ownership should be employed only if the private sector fails to respond to future energy demand

Car ownership motivations among undergraduate students in China, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Taiwan, and USA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belgiawan, P. F.; Schmöcker, J. -D; Abou-Zeid, M.; Walker, J.; Lee, T. -C; Ettema, D. F.; Fujii, S.

2014-01-01

‘‘Peak car’’ and related discussions suggest that especially younger people (age cohort until 30) have less desire to drive and purchase cars. This might though only be true for a limited range of developed countries. This study aims to understand the role of personal background and the country

Foreign ownership and its effects on employment and wages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brännlund, Runar; Nordström, Leif Jonas; Stage, Jesper

2016-01-01

In this paper, we study how foreign ownership of Swedish companies affects employment and wages. To study these effects, we specify a model based on the assumption that the Swedish labour market can be described as one where trade unions and employers bargain over employment and wages. Our...... hypothesis is that bargaining power is affected by institutional settings and the ownership of the firm. To test our hypothesis, we used a panel data set of 242 large Swedish manufacturing firms over the period 1980–2005. The results indicate no significant impact of foreign ownership on employment or wages...

Physical activity levels, ownership of goods promoting sedentary behaviour and risk of myocardial infarction: results of the INTERHEART study.

Science.gov (United States)

Held, Claes; Iqbal, Romaina; Lear, Scott A; Rosengren, Annika; Islam, Shofiqul; Mathew, James; Yusuf, Salim

2012-02-01

To evaluate the association between occupational and leisure-time physical activity (PA), ownership of goods promoting sedentary behaviour, and the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in different socio-economic populations of the world. Studies in developed countries have found low PA as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease; however, the protective effect of occupational PA is less certain. Moreover, ownership of goods promoting sedentary behaviour may be associated with an increased risk. In INTERHEART, a case-control study of 10 043 cases of first MI and 14 217 controls who did not report previous angina or physical disability completed a questionnaire on work and leisure-time PA. Subjects whose occupation involved either light [multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.78, confidence interval (CI) 0.71-0.86] or moderate (OR 0.89, CI 0.80-0.99) PA were at a lower risk of MI, whereas those who did heavy physical labour were not (OR 1.02, CI 0.88-1.19), compared with sedentary subjects. Mild exercise (OR 0.87, CI 0.81-0.93) as well as moderate or strenuous exercise (OR 0.76, CI 0.69-0.82) was protective. The effect of PA was observed across countries with low, middle, and high income. Subjects who owned both a car and a television (TV) (multivariable-adjusted OR 1.27, CI 1.05-1.54) were at higher risk of MI compared with those who owned neither. Leisure-time PA and mild-to-moderate occupational PA, but not heavy physical labour, were associated with a reduced risk, while ownership of a car and TV was associated with an increased risk of MI across all economic regions.

The tariff for fire and theft car insurance: analysis with a Cox model

OpenAIRE

Bruno Scarpa

2013-01-01

In this paper we analyze the problem of identification of a tariff for a Fire & Theft Car policy for Insurance Companies. Usually companies obtain this tariff by empirical estimate of the pure rate by evaluating the impact of some personalization variables. In this paper we propose the usage of a semi-parametric Cox model, where the response variable is not the waiting time until an event, but the degree of damage because of theft or fire of a car. The proposed model allows to easily tackle t...

Alcohol-Branded Merchandise Ownership and Drinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Sandra C

2016-05-01

Alcohol-branded merchandise (ABM) has a longer shelf-life than other forms of alcohol marketing and the potential to become integrated into children's self-identities. This review sought to explore the current literature on children's exposure to, and the impact of, ABM. PsycInfo, Proquest, Science Direct, and ABI-Inform databases were searched from the earliest available date to May 2015. Additional studies were identified by a manual review of the reference lists of retrieved articles and contacting the corresponding author of each included study. Articles that reported on child or adolescent ownership of ABM and/or the relationship between ABM ownership and drinking were included. Data on key measures were tabulated; where data of interest were not reported, requests for further information were sent to the articles' authors. Nine cross-sectional and 4 longitudinal studies were identified. ABM ownership ranged from 11% to 59% and was higher among older children and males. Seven cross-sectional studies reported associations between ABM ownership and drinking-related behaviors. All 4 longitudinal studies reported a significant relationship between ownership at baseline and drinking initiation at follow-up. The small number of available studies, with different measures of ABM ownership and of associations/effects. The few studies exploring ABM ownership are consistent in showing high rates of ownership and associations between ownership and current and future drinking. There is a need for further research into specific aspects of ABM ownership. However, there is also a need for policy interventions to reduce children's access to and ownership of ABM. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Study on the ownership balance and the efficiency of mixed ownership enterprises from the perspective of heterogeneous shareholders.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Zhujia; Liu, Lijuan; Wang, Haidong; Wen, Fengming

2018-01-01

Based on the database data of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2000 to 2007 and the LP method, this paper measures the total factor productivity of enterprises and investigates the effect of different mixed ownership forms on enterprises' efficiency and the effect of heterogeneous ownership balance on the mixed ownership enterprises' efficiency. The state-owned enterprise and mixed ownership enterprise are identified by the enterprise's paid-up capital. The results show that, on the whole, for the mixed ownership enterprise, the higher the diversification degree of the shareholders is, the higher the efficiency becomes, and in different types of industries, the mixed forms of shareholders have different effects on the efficiency of enterprises. The heterogeneous ownership balance and the enterprise efficiency show nonlinear U-type relationships. Both the higher and lower heterogeneous ownership balance degrees will promote the enterprise's efficiency. However, when the ownership balance degree is in the range of [0.2 0.5], the increase in ownership balance will lead to the decline of enterprise efficiency. Therefore, when introducing non-state-owned capital, state-owned enterprises should take full account of their own characteristics by rationally controlling the shareholding ratio of non-state-owned capital and play the positive role of a mixed ownership structure in corporate governance with appropriate ownership balances.

Modelling of fire spread in car parks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noordijk, L.M.; Lemaire, A.D.

2005-01-01

Currently, design codes assume that in a car park fire at most 3-4 vehicles are on fire at the same time. Recent incidents in car parks have drawn international attention to such assumptions and have raised questions as to the fire spreading mechanism and the resulting fire load on the structure.

Economics of human performance and systems total ownership cost.

Science.gov (United States)

Onkham, Wilawan; Karwowski, Waldemar; Ahram, Tareq Z

2012-01-01

Financial costs of investing in people is associated with training, acquisition, recruiting, and resolving human errors have a significant impact on increased total ownership costs. These costs can also affect the exaggerate budgets and delayed schedules. The study of human performance economical assessment in the system acquisition process enhances the visibility of hidden cost drivers which support program management informed decisions. This paper presents the literature review of human total ownership cost (HTOC) and cost impacts on overall system performance. Economic value assessment models such as cost benefit analysis, risk-cost tradeoff analysis, expected value of utility function analysis (EV), growth readiness matrix, multi-attribute utility technique, and multi-regressions model were introduced to reflect the HTOC and human performance-technology tradeoffs in terms of the dollar value. The human total ownership regression model introduces to address the influencing human performance cost component measurement. Results from this study will increase understanding of relevant cost drivers in the system acquisition process over the long term.

Cars, corporations, and commodities: Consequences for the social determinants of health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aldred Rachel

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Social epidemiologists have drawn attention to health inequalities as avoidable and inequitable, encouraging thinking beyond proximal risk factors to the causes of the causes. However, key debates remain unresolved including the contribution of material and psychosocial pathways to health inequalities. Tools to operationalise social factors have not developed in tandem with conceptual frameworks, and research has often remained focused on the disadvantaged rather than on forces shaping population health across the distribution. Using the example of transport, we argue that closer attention to social processes (capital accumulation and motorisation and social forms (commodity, corporation, and car offers a way forward. Corporations tied to the car, primarily oil and vehicle manufacturers, are central to the world economy. Key drivers in establishing this hegemony are the threat of violence from motor vehicles and the creation of distance through the restructuring of place. Transport matters for epidemiology because the growth of mass car ownership is environmentally unsustainable and affects population health through a myriad of pathways. Starting from social forms and processes, rather than their embodiment as individual health outcomes and inequalities, makes visible connections between road traffic injuries, obesity, climate change, underdevelopment of oil producing countries, and the huge opportunity cost of the car economy. Methodological implications include a movement-based understanding of how place affects health and a process-orientated integration of material and psychosocial explanations that, while materially based, contests assumptions of automatic benefits from economic growth. Finally, we identify car and oil corporations as anti-health forces and suggest collaboration with them creates conflicts of interest.

Modeling the Mousetrap Car

Science.gov (United States)

Jumper, William D.

2012-01-01

Many high school and introductory college physics courses make use of mousetrap car projects and competitions as a way of providing an engaging hands-on learning experience incorporating Newton's laws, conversion of potential to kinetic energy, dissipative forces, and rotational mechanics. Presented here is a simple analytical and finite element…

Modelling of Security Principles Within Car-to-Car Communications in Modern Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Durech

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Intelligent transportation systems (ITS bring advanced applications that provide innovative services for various transportation modes in the area of traffic control, and enable better awareness for different users. Communication connections between intelligent vehicles with the use of wireless communication standards, so called Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs, require ensuring verification of validity of provided services as well as services related to transmission confidentiality and integrity. The goal of this paper is to analyze secure mechanisms utilised in VANET communication within Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS with a focus on safety critical applications. The practical part of the contribution is dedicated to modelling of security properties of VANET networks via OPNET Modeler tool extended by the implementation of the OpenSSL library for authentication protocol realisation based on digital signature schemes. The designed models simulate a transmission of authorised alert messages in Car-to-Car communication for several traffic scenarios with recommended Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES. The obtained results of the throughput and delay in the simulated network are compared for secured and no-secured communications in dependence on the selected digital signature schemes and the number of mobile nodes. The OpenSSL library has also been utilised for the comparison of time demandingness of digital signature schemes based on RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman, DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm and ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm for different key-lengths suitable for real time VANET communications for safety-critical applications of C-ITS.

Family-Concentrated Ownership in Chinese PLCs: Does Ownership Concentration Always Enhance Corporate Value?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Hui Luo

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper we investigate the relationship between family ownership structure and corporate value across a sample of 1314 firm-year observations of China’s family publicly listed companies (PLCs, from 2004 to 2008. We find a significant inverse-U-shaped relationship between the controlling family’s ultimate cash-flow rights and corporate value; as measured by Tobin’s Q. That is, as family-ownership concentration increases, corporate value first increases and then decreases. This finding refreshes our understanding of the relationship between family-ownership concentration and corporate value in emerging economies such as found in China. We corroborate prior findings that when controlling families hold excess control over cash-flow rights, corporate value is significantly lowered, while multiple large shareholders structure is significantly associated with higher corporate value. In addition; board independence is found to significantly improve corporate value in the context of family-concentrated ownership. We also test for potential endogeneity between family ownership and corporate value and find our results to be robust.

Prediction of car cabin environment by means of 1D and 3D cabin model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jícha M.

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Thermal comfort and also reduction of energy requirements of air-conditioning system in vehicle cabins are currently very intensively investigated and up-to-date issues. The article deals with two approaches of modelling of car cabin environment; the first model was created in simulation language Modelica (typical 1D approach without cabin geometry and the second one was created in specialized software Theseus-FE (3D approach with cabin geometry. Performance and capabilities of this tools are demonstrated on the example of the car cabin and the results from simulations are compared with the results from the real car cabin climate chamber measurements.

A border-ownership model based on computational electromagnetism.

Science.gov (United States)

Zainal, Zaem Arif; Satoh, Shunji

2018-03-01

The mathematical relation between a vector electric field and its corresponding scalar potential field is useful to formulate computational problems of lower/middle-order visual processing, specifically related to the assignment of borders to the side of the object: so-called border ownership (BO). BO coding is a key process for extracting the objects from the background, allowing one to organize a cluttered scene. We propose that the problem is solvable simultaneously by application of a theorem of electromagnetism, i.e., "conservative vector fields have zero rotation, or "curl." We hypothesize that (i) the BO signal is definable as a vector electric field with arrowheads pointing to the inner side of perceived objects, and (ii) its corresponding scalar field carries information related to perceived order in depth of occluding/occluded objects. A simple model was developed based on this computational theory. Model results qualitatively agree with object-side selectivity of BO-coding neurons, and with perceptions of object order. The model update rule can be reproduced as a plausible neural network that presents new interpretations of existing physiological results. Results of this study also suggest that T-junction detectors are unnecessary to calculate depth order. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CuseCar--community car-sharing program : car sharing lessons learned.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-01

CuseCar of Syracuse launched services in December 2008 with 3 Toyota Prius Hybrids. CuseCar initially, due to : concerns about availability, limited membership to Origination Sponsor Locations, which in turn developed few : members. In 2009 CuseCar o...

International Students Take Up the Model Solar Car Challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellington, Paul

2000-01-01

Introduces an event in which two school teams from Argentina and Vietnam joined those from each Australian state in a race of model cars powered by the sun that provides a challenging and exciting approach for students to apply their scientific and technological knowledge to design and build the most efficient vehicles possible to gain hands-on…

MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF UNSTEADY HEAT TRANSFER OF PASSENGER CAR WITH HEATING SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

E. V. Biloshytskyi

2018-01-01

Purpose. The existing mathematical models of unsteady heat processes in a passenger car do not fully reflect the thermal processes, occurring in the car wits a heating system. In addition, unsteady heat processes are often studied in steady regime, when the heat fluxes and the parameters of the thermal circuit are constant and do not depend on time. In connection with the emergence of more effective technical solutions to the life support system there is a need for creating a new mathematical...

Essays on Employee Ownership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Faigen, Benjamin

This thesis examines ownership of the firm by its employees, of varying stakes. It begins by identifying the existence of employee ownership in a Chinese context, presented in the form of a general analytical discussion which is informed by a review of the available evidence on the subject...... of this phenomenon. Employee ownership is found to have played a role in Chinese economic transition as a transitory phase before non-state enterprises were afforded official recognition in a context of publicly-owned enterprise privatisation. Senior managers became the key beneficiaries in firm sales and most...

Managerial Ownership in Nursing Homes: Staffing, Quality, and Financial Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Sean Shenghsiu; Bowblis, John R

2017-06-20

Ownership of nursing homes (NHs) has primarily focused broadly on differences between for-profit (FP), nonprofit (NFP), and government-operated facilities. Yet, among FPs, the understanding of detailed ownership structures at individual NHs is rather limited. Particularly, NH administrators may hold significant equity interests in their facilities, leading to heterogeneous financial incentives and NH outcomes. Through the principal-agent theory, this article studies how managerial ownership of individual facilities affects NH outcomes. We use a unique panel dataset of Ohio NHs (2005-2010) to empirically examine the relationship between managerial equity ownership and NH staffing, quality, and financial performance. We identify facility administrators as owner-managers if they have more than 5% of the equity stakes or are relatives of the owners. The statistical analysis is based on the pooled ordinary least squares and NH-fixed effect models. We find that owner-managed NHs are associated with higher nursing staff levels compared to other FP NHs. Surprisingly, despite higher staffing levels, owner-managed NHs are not associated with better quality and we find no statistically significant difference in financial performance between owner-managed and nonowner-managed FP NHs. Our results do not support the principal-agent model and we offer alternative explanations for future research. Our findings provide empirical evidence that NH ownership structures are more nuanced than simply broadly categorizing facilities as FP or NFP, and our results do not fully align with the standard principal-agent model. The role of managerial ownership should be considered in future NH research and policy discussions. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin C.K. Lam

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate if dividend policy is influenced by ownership type. Within the dividend literature, dividends have a signaling role regarding agency costs, such that dividends may diminish insider conflicts (reduce free cash flow or may be used to extract cash from firms (tunneling effect – which could be predominant in emerging markets. We expect firms with foreign ownership and those that are listed in overseas markets to have different dividend policies and practices than those that are not, and firms with more state ownership and less individual ownership to be more likely to pay cash dividends and less likely to pay stock dividends. Using firms from an emerging economy (China, we examine whether these effects exist in corporate dividend policy and practice. We find that both foreign ownership and cross-listing have significant negative effects on cash dividends, consistent with the signaling effect and the notion of reduced tunneling activities for firms with the ability to raise capital from outside of China. Consistent with the tunneling effect, we find that firms with higher state ownership tend to pay higher cash dividends and lower stock dividends, while the opposite is true for public (individual ownership. Further analysis shows that foreign ownership mediates the effect of state ownership on dividend policy. Our results have significant implications for researchers, investors, policy makers and regulators in emerging markets.

Teaching Small Business Ownership and Management

Science.gov (United States)

Leach, James A.

1977-01-01

Topics discussed include integrating small business ownership with existing programs; establishing awareness, exploration, and orientation activities; and preparation for small business ownership. A curriculum guide developed for teaching small business ownership and management is also described. (TA)

Battery sizing for serial plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: A model-based economic analysis for Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ernst, Christian-Simon; Hackbarth, Andre; Madlener, Reinhard; Lunz, Benedikt; Uwe Sauer, Dirk; Eckstein, Lutz

2011-01-01

The battery size of a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is decisive for the electrical range of the vehicle and crucial for the cost-effectiveness of this particular vehicle concept. Based on the energy consumption of a conventional reference car and a PHEV, we introduce a comprehensive total cost of ownership model for the average car user in Germany for both vehicle types. The model takes into account the purchase price, fixed annual costs and variable operating costs. The amortization time of a PHEV also depends on the recharging strategy (once a day, once a night, after each trip), the battery size, and the battery costs. We find that PHEVs with a 4 kWh battery and at current lithium-ion battery prices reach the break-even point after about 6 years (5 years when using the lower night-time electricity tariffs). With higher battery capacities the amortization time becomes significantly longer. Even for the small battery size and assuming the EU-15 electricity mix, a PHEV is found to emit only around 60% of the CO 2 emissions of a comparable conventional car. Thus, with the PHEV concept a cost-effective introduction of electric mobility and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per vehicle can be reached. - Highlights: → Total cost of ownership of a PHEV and a conventional car are compared for the average German car user.→ PHEVs with a 4 kWh battery reach the break-even after 5-6 years at current Li-Ion battery prices.→ Even with a small battery, PHEVs emit about 40% less CO 2 emissions than the average conventional car.

Choice of Ownership Structure and Firm Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jones, Derek C; Kalmi, Panu; Mygind, Niels

2003-01-01

In this paper we use rich panel data for a representative sample of Estonian enterprises to analysediverse issues related to the determinants of ownership structures and ownership changes afterprivatisation. A key focus is to determine whether ownership changes are related to economicefficiency....... While employee owned firms are found to be much more prone than other firms toswitch ownership categories, often `employee owned' firms remain `insider-owned' as ownershippasses from current employees to managers and former employees. Logit analyses of thedeterminants of ownership structures...... and ownership changes provides mixed support for severalhypotheses. As predicted: (i) wealth and resource constraints play a crucial role in thedetermination of ownership, with foreigners buying firms with the highest equity levels andinsiders buying firms with the lowest equity valuations; (ii) risk aversion...

Competition, Ownership and Productivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baghdasaryan, Delia; la Cour, Lisbeth

2013-01-01

Theoretical results support two concurrent views regarding the mediating role that ownership structure might play on the effect of competition on firm performance. According to one stream of literature, competition has a high, positive impact in companies that have an effective ownership structur...

Flex cars and the alcohol price

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira, Alex Luiz; Da Silveira, Jaylson Jair; De Almeida Prado, Fernando Pigeard

2009-01-01

We build a model that incorporates the effect of the innovative 'flex' car, an automobile that is able to run with either gasoline or alcohol, on the dynamics of fuel prices in Brazil. Our model shows that differences regarding fuel prices will now depend on the proportions of alcohol, gasoline and flex cars in the total stock. Conversely, the demand for each type of car will also depend on the expected future prices of alcohol and gasoline (in addition to the car prices). The model reflects our findings that energy prices are tied in the long run and that causality runs stronger from gasoline to alcohol. The estimated error correction parameter is stable, implying that the speed of adjustment towards equilibrium remains unchanged. The latter result is probably due to a still small fraction of flex cars in the total stock (approx. 5%), despite the fact that its sales nearly reached 100% in 2006. (author)

Is the Ownership Structure Model a Decisive Determinant of Co-Operatives' Financial Success? A Financial Assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kalogeras, N.; Pennings, J.M.E.; Kuikman, J.; Doumpos, M.

2011-01-01

Abstract. In this paper, the financial/ownership structures of agribusiness co-operatives (co-ops) are analyzed in order to examine whether new co-op models perform better than the more traditional ones. The assessment procedure introduces a new financial decision-aid approach, which is based on

Substitution between Cars within the Household

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Borger, Bruno; Mulalic, Ismir; Rouwendal, Jan

In this paper we study the demand for car kilometres in two-car households, focusing on the substitution between cars in response to fuel price changes. We use a large sample of detailed Danish data on two-car households to estimate—for each car owned by the household—own and cross-price effects...... of increases in fuel costs per kilometre. The empirical results show that failure to capture substitution between cars within the household can result in substantial misspecification biases. Ignoring substitution, we estimate fuel price elasticities of –0.81 and -0.65 for the primary and secondary cars...... efficient car, finding partial support for the underlying hypothesis. More importantly, the results of this extended model emphasize the importance of behavioural differences related to the position of the most fuel efficient car in the household, suggesting that households’ fuel efficiency choices...

An Improved Car-Following Model Accounting for Impact of Strong Wind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawei Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In order to investigate the effect of strong wind on dynamic characteristic of traffic flow, an improved car-following model based on the full velocity difference model is developed in this paper. Wind force is introduced as the influence factor of car-following behavior. Among three components of wind force, lift force and side force are taken into account. The linear stability analysis is carried out and the stability condition of the newly developed model is derived. Numerical analysis is made to explore the effect of strong wind on spatial-time evolution of a small perturbation. The results show that the strong wind can significantly affect the stability of traffic flow. Driving safety in strong wind is also studied by comparing the lateral force under different wind speeds with the side friction of vehicles. Finally, the fuel consumption of vehicle in strong wind condition is explored and the results show that the fuel consumption decreased with the increase of wind speed.

The new car market for electric vehicles and the potential for fuel substitution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kihm, Alexander; Trommer, Stefan

2014-01-01

Electric vehicles are expected to significantly reduce road transport emissions, given an increasingly renewable power generation. While technological issues are more and more being overcome, the economic viability and thus possible adoption is still constrained, mainly by higher prices than for conventional vehicles. In our work we analyze possible market developments for electric vehicles with an application to Germany. We develop a drivetrain choice model with economical, technical and social constraints on the current vehicle registrations and inventory. It estimates the demand for electric vehicles until 2030 for private and commercially registered cars as well as light commercial vehicles. The results show a replacement potential of almost one third of the total German annual mileage for these vehicles. The result has a high granularity to allow for detailed emission calculation along different spatial areas as well as vehicle and engine types. Besides a baseline forecast, our method allows for calculating different scenarios regarding policy actions or the future development of important parameters such as energy prices. The results provide insights for policy measures as well as for transport and environmental modeling. - Highlights: • We model the potential German market for electric vehicles using total cost of ownership. • The results show a substitution potential of one third of the total German annual mileage. • Plug-in hybrid drivetrains outperform battery electric ones due to their cost advantages. • Suburbia around large cities is the largest market for EVs. • The first main vehicle categories for EVs are large and medium-sized company cars

Body ownership and experiential ownership in the self-touching illusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caleb eLiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate two issues about the subjective experience of one’s body: first, is the experience of owning a full-body fundamentally different from the experience of owning a body-part? Second, when I experience a bodily sensation, does it guarantee that I cannot be wrong about whether it is me who feels it? To address these issues, we conducted a series of experiments that combined the rubber hand illusion (RHI and the body swap illusion. The subject wore a head mounted display (HMD connected with a stereo camera set on the experimenter’s head. Sitting face to face, they used their right hand holding a paintbrush to brush each other’s left hand. Through the HMD, the subject adopted the experimenter’s first-person perspective (1PP as if it was his/her own 1PP: the subject watched either the experimenter’s hand from the adopted 1PP, and/or the subject’s own hand from the adopted third-person perspective (3PP in the opposite direction (180°, or the subject’s full body from the adopted 3PP (180°, with or without face. The synchronous full-body conditions generate a self-touching illusion: many participants felt that I was brushing my own hand! We found that (1 the sense of body-part ownership and the sense of full-body ownership are not fundamentally different from each other; and (2 our data present a strong case against the mainstream philosophical view called the immunity principle (IEM. We argue that it is possible for misrepresentation to occur in the subject’s sense of experiential ownership (the sense that I am the one who is having this bodily experience. We discuss these findings and conclude that not only the sense of body ownership but also the sense of experiential ownership call for further interdisciplinary studies.

Establishing Tenant Ownership on the Basis of Proportional Co-ownership Share of the Real Property

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davorin Pichler

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The survey of the Osijek District and County Courts procedures related to the motion to determine the usable values of flats and into procedures of establishing separate parts of real property by the means of apportioning plans as well as the tenant ownership study procedures resulted in different and inconsistent approaches in the process of creation of the study and establishing the usable surface area. The paper deals with the analysis of judicial decisions on determining usable surface and indicates the problems emerging in practice while establishing the tenant ownership based on proportional co-ownership share of the real property. It also gives suggestions to passing a by-law on the procedure of tenant ownership study creation i.e. calculation of usable values of particular real property shares and usable values of all flats and other independent premises of the entire real property. Its goals are equal interpretation and application of tenant ownership by all parties to the procedure as well as legal security, uniform application of law and harmonisation of judicial practice. As a possible approach to the solutions in Croatian legal system the paper also analyses the regulation of tenant ownership in the Republic of Slovenia. In conclusion, it establishes the need for professional training of judges, court counsellors, court appointed expert witnesses, civil servants through application of a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of tenant ownership procedure based on other scientific disciplines e.g. civil engineering and economics.

A Stochastic Route Choice Model for Car Travellers in the Copenhagen Region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Otto Anker; Frederiksen, Rasmus Dyhr; Daly, A.

2002-01-01

The paper presents a large-scale stochastic road traffic assignment model for the Copenhagen Region. The model considers several classes of passenger cars (different trip purposes), vans and trucks, each with its own utility function on which route choices are based. The utility functions include...

Coupling Mechanism and Decoupled Suspension Control Model of a Half Car

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hailong Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A structure decoupling control strategy of half-car suspension is proposed to fully decouple the system into independent front and rear quarter-car suspensions in this paper. The coupling mechanism of half-car suspension is firstly revealed and formulated with coupled damping force (CDF in a linear function. Moreover, a novel dual dampers-based controllable quarter-car suspension structure is proposed to realize the independent control of pitch and vertical motions of the half car, in which a newly added controllable damper is suggested to be installed between the lower control arm and connection rod in conventional quarter-car suspension structure. The suggested damper constantly regulates the half-car pitch motion posture in a smooth and steady operation condition meantime achieving the expected completely structure decoupled control of the half-car suspension, by compensating the evolved CDF.

Substitution between cars within the household

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Borger, Bruno; Mulalic, Ismir; Rouwendal, Jan

The purpose of this paper is to study to what extent two-car households substitute the use of their less fuel efficient car by the use of their more fuel efficient car after an increase in fuel prices. Based on a simple theoretical framework we use a large sample of detailed Danish data on two-car...... households to estimate, for each car owned by the household, own and cross-price effects of increases in fuel costs per kilometer. The empirical results point at important substitution effects, so that models that estimate responses to fuel prices on the implicit or explicit assumption of one car per...

Corporate ownership structure and risk-taking: evidence from Japan

OpenAIRE

SunEae Chun; MinHwan Lee

2017-01-01

We examine the relationship between ownership structure and corporate risk-taking in Japan over the sample periods of 2000 2010. Reflecting the ongoing changes in the ownership structure in Japan, we incorporate the various kinds of insider and outsider ownership in the analysis. Ownership such as concentrated ownership, ownership by closely related parties, financial institutions comprising banks and insurance companies and managers are categorized into inside ownership, while ownership by f...

Modeling mechanical restriction differences between car and heavy truck in two-lane cellular automata traffic flow model

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xin; Li, Xingang; Xiao, Yao; Jia, Bin

2016-06-01

Real traffic is heterogeneous with car and truck. Due to mechanical restrictions, the car and the truck have different limited deceleration capabilities, which are important factors in safety driving. This paper extends the single lane safety driving (SD) model with limited deceleration capability to two-lane SD model, in which car-truck heterogeneous traffic is considered. A car has a larger limited deceleration capability while a heavy truck has a smaller limited deceleration capability as a result of loaded goods. Then the safety driving conditions are different as the types of the following and the leading vehicles vary. In order to eliminate the well-known plug in heterogeneous two-lane traffic, it is assumed that heavy truck has active deceleration behavior when the heavy truck perceives the forming plug. The lane-changing decisions are also determined by the safety driving conditions. The fundamental diagram, spatiotemporal diagram, and lane-changing frequency were investigated to show the effect of mechanical restriction on heterogeneous traffic flow. It was shown that there would be still three traffic phases in heterogeneous traffic condition; the active deceleration of the heavy truck could well eliminate the plug; the lane-changing frequency was low in synchronized flow; the flow and velocity would decrease as the proportion of heavy truck grows or the limited deceleration capability of heavy truck drops; and the flow could be improved with lane control measures.

Pet Ownership and Cancer Risk in the Women's Health Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, David O; Lander, Eric M; Wertheim, Betsy C; Manson, JoAnn E; Volpe, Stella L; Chlebowski, Rowan T; Stefanick, Marcia L; Lessin, Lawrence S; Kuller, Lewis H; Thomson, Cynthia A

2016-09-01

Pet ownership and cancer are both highly prevalent in the United States. Evidence suggests that associations may exist between this potentially modifiable factor and cancer prevention, though studies are sparse. The present report examined whether pet ownership (dog, cat, or bird) is associated with lower risk for total cancer and site-specific obesity-related cancers. This was a prospective analysis of 123,560 participants (20,981 dog owners; 19,288 cat owners; 1,338 bird owners; and 81,953 non-pet owners) enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative observational study and clinical trials. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate HR and 95% confidence intervals for the association between pet ownership and cancer, adjusted for potential confounders. There were no significant relationships between ownership of a dog, cat, or bird and incidence of cancer overall. When site-specific cancers were examined, no associations were observed after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Pet ownership had no association with overall cancer incidence. This is the first large epidemiologic study to date to explore relationships between pet ownership and cancer risk, as well as associated risks for individual cancer types. This study requires replication in other sizable, diverse cohorts. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(9); 1311-6. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

The tariff for fire and theft car insurance: analysis with a Cox model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno Scarpa

2013-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we analyze the problem of identification of a tariff for a Fire & Theft Car policy for Insurance Companies. Usually companies obtain this tariff by empirical estimate of the pure rate by evaluating the impact of some personalization variables. In this paper we propose the usage of a semi-parametric Cox model, where the response variable is not the waiting time until an event, but the degree of damage because of theft or fire of a car. The proposed model allows to easily tackle typical problems in data available to the companies, like the presence of franchises, which are treated as censored data.

One-Quarter-Car Active SuspensionModel Verification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyniova Katerina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Suspension system influences both the comfort and safety of the passengers. In the paper, energy recuperation and management in automotive suspension systems with linear electric motors that are controlled by a designed H∞ controller to generate a variable mechanical force for a car damper is presented. Vehicle shock absorbers in which forces are generated in response to feedback signals by active elements obviously offer increased design flexibility compared to the conventional suspensions with passive elements (springs and dampers. The main advantage of the proposed solution that uses a linear AC motor is the possibility to generate desired forces acting between the unsprung (wheel and sprung (one-quarter of the car body mass masses of the car, providing good insulation of the car sprung mass from the road surface roughness and load disturbances. As shown in the paper, under certain circumstances linear motors as actuators enable to transform mechanical energy of the vertical car vibrations to electrical energy, accumulate it, and use it when needed. Energy flow control enables to reduce or even eliminate the demands on the external power source. In particular, the paper is focused on experiments with active shock absorber that has been taken on the designed test bed and the way we developed an appropriate input signal for the test bed that as real road disturbance acts upon the vibration absorber and the obtained results are evaluated at the end. Another important point the active suspension design should satisfy is energy supply control that is made via standard controller modification, and which allows changing amount of energy required by the system. Functionality of the designed controller modification was verified taking various experiments on the experiment stand as mentioned in the paper.

Expression of Human CAR Splicing Variants in BAC-Transgenic Mice

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Yu-Kun Jennifer; Lu, Hong; Klaassen, Curtis D.

2012-01-01

The nuclear receptor constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) is a key regulator for drug metabolism in liver. Human CAR (hCAR) transcripts are subjected to alternative splicing. Some hCAR splicing variants (SVs) have been shown to encode functional proteins by reporter assays. However, in vivo research on the activity of these hCAR SVs has been impeded by the absence of a valid model. This study engineered an hCAR-BAC-transgenic (hCAR-TG) mouse model by integrating the 8.5-kbp hCAR gene as wel...

How the ownership structures cause epidemics in financial markets: A network-based simulation model

Science.gov (United States)

Dastkhan, Hossein; Gharneh, Naser Shams

2018-02-01

Analysis of systemic risks and contagions is one of the main challenges of policy makers and researchers in the recent years. Network theory is introduced as a main approach in the modeling and simulation of financial and economic systems. In this paper, a simulation model is introduced based on the ownership network to analyze the contagion and systemic risk events. For this purpose, different network structures with different values for parameters are considered to investigate the stability of the financial system in the presence of different kinds of idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks. The considered network structures include Erdos-Renyi, core-periphery, segregated and power-law networks. Moreover, the results of the proposed model are also calculated for a real ownership network. The results show that the network structure has a significant effect on the probability and the extent of contagion in the financial systems. For each network structure, various values for the parameters results in remarkable differences in the systemic risk measures. The results of real case show that the proposed model is appropriate in the analysis of systemic risk and contagion in financial markets, identification of systemically important firms and estimation of market loss when the initial failures occur. This paper suggests a new direction in the modeling of contagion in the financial markets, in particular that the effects of new kinds of financial exposure are clarified. This paper's idea and analytical results may also be useful for the financial policy makers, portfolio managers and the firms to conduct their investment in the right direction.

Benefits of magnesium wheels for consumer cars

Science.gov (United States)

Frishfelds, Vilnis; Timuhins, Andrejs; Bethers, Uldis

2018-05-01

Advantages and disadvantages of magnesium wheels are considered based on a mechanical model of a car. Magnesium wheels are usually applied to racing cars as they provide slightly better strength/weight ratio than aluminum alloys. Do they provide notable benefits also for the everyday user when the car speeds do not exceed allowed speed limit? Distinct properties of magnesium rims are discussed. Apart from lighter weight of magnesium alloys, they are also good in dissipating the energy of vibrations. The role of energy dissipation in the rim of a wheel is estimated by a quarter car model. Improvements to safety by using the magnesium wheels are considered. Braking distance and responsiveness of the car is studied both with and without using an Anti Blocking System (ABS). Influence of rim weight on various handling parameters of the car is quantitatively tested.

MACRO MODEL OF SEAT BELT USE BY CAR DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazimierz JAMROZ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents some problems of seat belt use by car drivers and passengers. It looks in particular at seat belt use and effectiveness in selected countries. Next, factors of seat belt use are presented and methodology of model development. A macro model of seat belt use is presented based on data from around fifty countries from different continents.

The new math of ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, B

1998-01-01

In 1994, when the software maker Knowledge Adventure decided to spin out a new venture--Worlds, Incorporated--founder Bill Gross expected the worst. He had argued with the board that it was in KA's best interests to maintain a controlling ownership stake in Worlds, whose powerful new software technology had enormous revenue potential. But the board prevailed, and KA took only a 20% ownership in the new company, giving the rest to Worlds' employees. Within a year, the company's performance had surpassed all expectations, and instead of owning 80% of a $5 million business, KA owned 20% of a $77 million business. The arithmetic may have been counterintuitive, but the lesson was clear. When KA let go of Worlds and gave its employees near total ownership, the company unleashed a new level of employee performance. That, in turn, led to the creation of economic value that more than made up for the equity KA had surrendered. So compelling was this "new math of ownership" that Gross founded a new company, Idealab, on this principle. The company, which develops ideas for Internet-based businesses and seeds the most promising ones, takes no more than a 49% equity stake in the new ventures and gives at least 1% of ownership to each employee. For Gross, this radical approach to ownership is the key to inspiring stellar performances. In part, employee-owners are motivated by their potential to earn great financial reward. But the drama of ownership, he argues, is even more important. In that drama, employees become personally involved in the struggle to outdo the competition and emerge victorious.

A behavioral analysis of private car use by households

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rouwendal, J. [Department of Household and Consumer Studies, Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen (Netherlands)

1997-06-01

Various aspects of ownership and use of private cars by households are studied. The private car has been at the centre of discussions about environmental problems for many years. The study starts with a discussion of the effectiveness of environmental policy with respect to the private car and concludes that price and tax instruments still appear to be valuable instruments, despite some prima facie evidence against them. Technical aspects of automobile engines are discussed subsequently and it is noticed that potential environmental benefits caused by technical developments are not always realized because of changes in behaviour. A brief summary of the development of the prices of automobile fuel shows that the variable cost of automobile use for gasoline drivers has certainly not increased during the past thirty years. By focusing attention on years in which there were relatively large changes in these prices it was, nevertheless, possible to estimate behavioral reactions to price changes. Increases in the gasoline price lead to lower fuel use per kilometer, decreases in the price to higher fuel use. The number of kilometers driven could also be shown to be influenced by changes in the fuel price. There appear to be interesting differences between the reactions to the price decrease in early 1986 caused by the fall in crude oil prices and the tax increase of 1991. In the next part of the study choice of fuel type is explained by a trade off between disadvantages associated with the use of diesel and LPG and a monetary benefit for drivers of large numbers of kilometers caused by the lower variable cost of these fuels. These lower cost appear to induce additional demand for kilometers. Finally, the choice of commuting distance was analyzed by means of a search model. Although workers do not appear to be footloose, the monetary evaluation of the resistance against additional commuting kilometers appears to fall short of the generalized travel cost involved. 52 refs.

Energy use, cost and CO2 emissions of electric cars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

van Vliet, Oscar; Brouwer, Anne Sjoerd; Kuramochi, Takeshi; van den Broek, Machteld; Faaij, Andre

2011-01-01

We examine efficiency, costs and greenhouse gas emissions of current and future electric cars (EV), including the impact from charging EV on electricity demand and infrastructure for generation and distribution. Uncoordinated charging would increase national peak load by 7% at 30% penetration rate of EV and household peak load by 54%, which may exceed the capacity of existing electricity distribution infrastructure. At 30% penetration of EV, off-peak charging would result in a 20% higher, more stable base load and no additional peak load at the national level and up to 7% higher peak load at the household level. Therefore, if off-peak charging is successfully introduced, electric driving need not require additional generation capacity, even in case of 100% switch to electric vehicles. GHG emissions from electric driving depend most on the fuel type (coal or natural gas) used in the generation of electricity for charging, and range between 0 g km -1 (using renewables) and 155 g km -1 (using electricity from an old coal-based plant). Based on the generation capacity projected for the Netherlands in 2015, electricity for EV charging would largely be generated using natural gas, emitting 35-77 g CO 2 eq km -1 . We find that total cost of ownership (TCO) of current EV are uncompetitive with regular cars and series hybrid cars by more than 800 EUR year -1 . TCO of future wheel motor PHEV may become competitive when batteries cost 400 EUR kWh -1 , even without tax incentives, as long as one battery pack can last for the lifespan of the vehicle. However, TCO of future battery powered cars is at least 25% higher than of series hybrid or regular cars. This cost gap remains unless cost of batteries drops to 150 EUR kWh -1 in the future. Variations in driving cost from charging patterns have negligible influence on TCO. GHG abatement costs using plug-in hybrid cars are currently 400-1400 EUR tonne -1 CO 2eq and may come down to -100 to 300 EUR tonne -1 . Abatement cost using

Rural hospital ownership: medical service provision, market mix, and spillover effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Horwitz, Jill R; Nichols, Austin

2011-10-01

To test whether nonprofit, for-profit, or government hospital ownership affects medical service provision in rural hospital markets, either directly or through the spillover effects of ownership mix. Data are from the American Hospital Association, U.S. Census, CMS Healthcare Cost Report Information System and Prospective Payment System Minimum Data File, and primary data collection for geographic coordinates. The sample includes all nonfederal, general medical, and surgical hospitals located outside of metropolitan statistical areas and within the continental United States from 1988 to 2005. We estimate multivariate regression models to examine the effects of (1) hospital ownership and (2) hospital ownership mix within rural hospital markets on profitable versus unprofitable medical service offerings. Rural nonprofit hospitals are more likely than for-profit hospitals to offer unprofitable services, many of which are underprovided services. Nonprofits respond less than for-profits to changes in service profitability. Nonprofits with more for-profit competitors offer more profitable services and fewer unprofitable services than those with fewer for-profit competitors. Rural hospital ownership affects medical service provision at the hospital and market levels. Nonprofit hospital regulation should reflect both the direct and spillover effects of ownership. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Enhanced stability of car-following model upon incorporation of short-term driving memory

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Da-Wei; Shi, Zhong-Ke; Ai, Wen-Huan

2017-06-01

Based on the full velocity difference model, a new car-following model is developed to investigate the effect of short-term driving memory on traffic flow in this paper. Short-term driving memory is introduced as the influence factor of driver's anticipation behavior. The stability condition of the newly developed model is derived and the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation is constructed to describe the traffic behavior near the critical point. Via numerical method, evolution of a small perturbation is investigated firstly. The results show that the improvement of this new car-following model over the previous ones lies in the fact that the new model can improve the traffic stability. Starting and breaking processes of vehicles in the signalized intersection are also investigated. The numerical simulations illustrate that the new model can successfully describe the driver's anticipation behavior, and that the efficiency and safety of the vehicles passing through the signalized intersection are improved by considering short-term driving memory.

An extended car-following model considering the acceleration derivative in some typical traffic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Tong; Chen, Dong; Liu, Weining

2018-03-01

Based on the full velocity difference and acceleration car-following model, an extended car-following model is proposed by considering the vehicle’s acceleration derivative. The stability condition is given by applying the control theory. Considering some typical traffic environments, the results of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation show the extended model has a more actual acceleration of string vehicles than that of the previous models in starting process, stopping process and sudden brake. Meanwhile, the traffic jams more easily occur when the coefficient of vehicle’s acceleration derivative increases, which is presented by space-time evolution. The results confirm that the vehicle’s acceleration derivative plays an important role in the traffic jamming transition and the evolution of traffic congestion.

Integration of Theory of Planned Behavior and Norm Activation Model on Student Behavior Model Using Cars for Traveling to Campus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Setiawan, R.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Although there are clear environmental, economic, and social drawbacks in using private vehicles, students still choose cars to get to campus. This study reports an investigation of psychological factors influencing this behavior from the perspective of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Norm Activation Model. Students from three different university campuses in Surabaya, Indonesia, (n = 312 completed a survey on their car commuting behavior. Results indicated that perceived behavioral control and personal norm were the strongest factors that influence behavioral intention. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and personal norm explain 62.7% variance of the behavioral intention. In turn, behavioral intention explains 42.5% of the variance of the actual car use. Implications of these findings are that in order to alter the use of car, university should implement both structural and psychological interventions. Effective interventions should be designed to raise the awareness of negative aspects of car use.

Thermal modelling of a torpedo-car

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verdeja-González, L. F.

2005-12-01

Full Text Available A two-dimensional finite element model for computing the temperature distribution in a torpedo-car holding pig iron is described in this work. The model determines the temperature gradients in steady and transient conditions within the different parts that constitute the system, which are considered to be the steel casing, refractory lining, liquid iron, slag and air. Heat transfer within the main fluid phases (iron and air is computed assuming an apparent thermal conductivity term incorporating the contribution from convection and radiation, and it is affected by the dimensions of the vessel. Thermal gradients within the constituents of the torpedo-car are used to calculate heat losses during operation. It was found that the model required the incorporation of a region within the iron-refractory interface to reproduce thermographic data recorded during operation; the heat transfer coefficient of this interface was found to be equal to 30 Wm^-2K^-1.

En este trabajo se describe un modelo bidimensional basado en el método del elemento finito para calcular la distribución de temperaturas en un carro torpedo lleno de arrabio. El modelo determina los gradientes térmicos en condiciones estacionarias y transitorias dentro de las partes que constituyen el sistema considerado, como son cubierta de acero, recubrimientos refractarios, arrabio líquido, escoria y aire. La transferencia de calor en las fases fluidas (arrabio y aire se calcula suponiendo un coeficiente de conductividad térmica aparente que incorpora las contribuciones por convección y radiación y está afectado por las dimensiones del recipiente. El conocimiento de los gradientes térmicos permite calcular las pérdidas de calor durante la operación del carro. Se encontró que el modelo requiere de la incorporación de una región en la intercara hierro-refractario para reproducir la información termográfica recopilada durante pruebas en planta. El

RFID Ownership Transfer with Positive Secrecy Capacity Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Munilla

2016-12-01

Full Text Available RFID ownership transfer protocols (OTPs transfer tag ownership rights. Recently, there has been considerable interest in such protocols; however, guaranteeing privacy for symmetric-key settings without trusted third parties (TTPs is a challenge still unresolved. In this paper, we address this issue and show that it can be solved by using channels with positive secrecy capacity. We implement these channels with noisy tags and provide practical values, thus proving that perfect secrecy is theoretically possible. We then define a communication model that captures spatiotemporal events and describe a first example of symmetric-key based OTP that: (i is formally secure in the proposed communication model and (ii achieves privacy with a noisy tag wiretap channel without TTPs.

Surface reconstruction, figure-ground modulation, and border-ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeurissen, D.; Self, M.W.; Roelfsema, P.R.

2013-01-01

The Differentiation-Integration for Surface Completion (DISC) model aims to explain the reconstruction of visual surfaces. We find the model a valuable contribution to our understanding of figure-ground organization. We point out that, next to border-ownership, neurons in visual cortex code whether

Surface reconstruction, figure-ground modulation, and border-ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeurissen, Danique; Self, Matthew W.; Roelfsema, Pieter R.

2013-01-01

Abstract The Differentiation-Integration for Surface Completion (DISC) model aims to explain the reconstruction of visual surfaces. We find the model a valuable contribution to our understanding of figure-ground organization. We point out that, next to border-ownership, neurons in visual cortex code

Can innovative business models overcome resistance to electric vehicles? Better Place and battery electric cars in Denmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budde Christensen, Thomas; Wells, Peter; Cipcigan, Liana

2012-01-01

This paper explores the geographical and policy context for an emergent business model from Better Place to deliver battery electric car mobility in Denmark. It argues that the combination of radically different technologies and a highly complex multi-agency operating environment theoretically provide the conditions and requirements for such an emergent business model. While focused on battery electric cars, renewable energy generation and smart grids, the paper has wider applicability to an understanding of the interplay between place, innovation and sustainability which suggests that diverse solutions are likely to be the characteristic solution rather than ubiquity and standardization. The paper argues, however, that the innovative business model, the deployment of electric vehicles, and the use of renewable energy systems, in this case largely based on wind power, while mutually supportive and contributing to wider policy aims with respect to the reduction of carbon emissions, may still fail in the face of entrenched practices. At the theoretical level it is concluded that theorization of business models needs a broader perspective beyond the typical ‘value creation, value capture’ rubric to better understand the wider role such models have in meeting societal goals, and to understand the structural impediments to organizational and technical innovation. - Highlights: ► We explore the context for an innovative emergent business model to deliver battery electric car mobility in Denmark. ► We explore the interplay between battery electric cars, renewable energy generation and smart grids. ► We discuss the integration of electric cars in energy systems based on renewable energy sources. ► We discuss the likely success of the Better Place business model.

Performance assessment of Portuguese wind farms: Ownership and managerial efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pestana Barros, Carlos; Sequeira Antunes, Olinda

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes ownership and unobserved managerial ability as factors affecting the performance of a representative sample of Portuguese wind farms by means of frontier models. These farms are ranked according to their technical efficiency during the period 2004-2008 and homogenous and heterogeneous variables are disentangled in the cost function, which leads us to advise the implementation of common policies as well as policies by segments. Economic implications arising from the study are also considered. - Research highlights: → Wind farms are heterogeneous displaying distinct ownership and managerial characteristics that affect efficiency. → Managerial practices has a positive impact on the efficiency. → Ownership has a positive impact on the efficiency. Large wind farms are more efficient.

Employee Ownership and Perceptions of Work: The Effect of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, James; And Others

1989-01-01

A small company was studied before and after introduction of an employee stock ownership plan. Employees' commitment to the organization and job satisfaction were higher after plan implementation, while perceived worker influence levels did not change. Findings suggest that ownership changes employees' attitudes without changing employees'…

Collaborative Car Pooling System

OpenAIRE

João Ferreira; Paulo Trigo; Porfírio Filipe

2009-01-01

This paper describes the architecture for a collaborative Car Pooling System based on a credits mechanism to motivate the cooperation among users. Users can spend the accumulated credits on parking facilities. For this, we propose a business model to support the collaboration between a car pooling system and parking facilities. The Portuguese Lisbon-s Metropolitan area is used as application scenario.

Gun ownership and social gun culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalesan, Bindu; Villarreal, Marcos D; Keyes, Katherine M; Galea, Sandro

2016-06-01

We assessed gun ownership rates in 2013 across the USA and the association between exposure to a social gun culture and gun ownership. We used data from a nationally representative sample of 4000 US adults, from 50 states and District of Columbia, aged >18 years to assess gun ownership and social gun culture performed in October 2013. State-level firearm policy information was obtained from the Brady Law Center and Injury Prevention and Control Center. One-third of Americans reported owning a gun, ranging from 5.2% in Delaware to 61.7% in Alaska. Gun ownership was 2.25-times greater among those reporting social gun culture (PR=2.25, 95% CI 2.02 to 2.52) than those who did not. In conclusion, we found strong association between social gun culture and gun ownership. Gun cultures may need to be considered for public health strategies that aim to change gun ownership in the USA. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Analysis of the energy and environmental effects of green car deployment by an integrating energy system model with a forecasting model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Duk Hee; Park, Sang Yong; Hong, Jong Chul; Choi, Sang Jin; Kim, Jong Wook

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A new methodology for improving energy system analysis models was proposed. ► The MARKAL model was integrated with the diffusion model. ► The new methodology was applied to green car technology. ► The ripple effect of green car technology on the energy system can be analyzed. -- Abstract: By 2020, Korea has set itself the challenging target of reducing nationwide greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, more than the BAU (Business as Usual) scenario, as the implementation goal required to achieve the new national development paradigm of green growth. To achieve such a target, it is necessary to diffuse innovative technologies with the capacity to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To that end, the ripple effect of diffusing innovative technologies on the energy and environment must be quantitatively analyzed using an energy system analysis model such as the MARKAL (Market Allocation) model. However, energy system analysis models based on an optimization methodology have certain limitations in that a technology with superior cost competitiveness dominates the whole market and non-cost factors cannot be considered. Therefore, this study proposes a new methodology for overcoming problems associated with the use of MARKAL models, by interfacing with a forecasting model based on the discrete-choice model. The new methodology was applied to green car technology to verify its usefulness and to study the ripple effects of green car technology on greenhouse gas reduction. The results of this study can be used as a reference when establishing a strategy for effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, and could be of assistance to future studies using the energy system analysis model.

A new car-following model considering velocity anticipation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jun-Fang, Tian; Bin, Jia; Xin-Gang, Li; Zi-You, Gao

2010-01-01

The full velocity difference model proposed by Jiang et al. [2001 Phys. Rev. E 64 017101] has been improved by introducing velocity anticipation. Velocity anticipation means the follower estimates the future velocity of the leader. The stability condition of the new model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. Theoretical results show that the stability region increases when we increase the anticipation time interval. The mKdV equation is derived to describe the kink–antikink soliton wave and obtain the coexisting stability line. The delay time of car motion and kinematic wave speed at jam density are obtained in this model. Numerical simulations exhibit that when we increase the anticipation time interval enough, the new model could avoid accidents under urgent braking cases. Also, the traffic jam could be suppressed by considering the anticipation velocity. All results demonstrate that this model is an improvement on the full velocity difference model. (general)

Substitution between cars within the household

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Borger, Bruno; Mulalic, Ismir; Rouwendal, Jan

2016-01-01

In this paper we study the demand for car kilometres in two-car households, focusing on the substitution between cars of different fuel efficiency in response to fuel price changes. We use a large sample of detailed Danish data on two-car households to estimate – for each car owned by the household...... – own and cross-price effects of increases in fuel costs per kilometre. The empirical results show that failure to capture substitution between cars within the household can result in substantial misspecification biases. Ignoring substitution, the basic model yielded fuel price elasticities of 0.......98 and 1.41 for the primary and secondary cars, respectively. Accounting for substitution effects, these figures reduce to, respectively, 0.32 and 0.45. Consistent with substitution behaviour, we find that the fuel price elasticity of fuel demand exceeds the elasticity of kilometre demands with respect...

Is It a Dangerous World Out There? The Motivational Bases of American Gun Ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Stroebe, Wolfgang; Leander, N Pontus; Kruglanski, Arie W

2017-08-01

Americans are the world's best armed citizens and public polling suggests protection/self-defense is their main reason for gun ownership. However, there is virtually no psychological research on gun ownership. The present article develops the first psychological process model of defensive gun ownership-specifically, a two-component model that considers both the antecedents and consequences of owning a gun for protection/self-defense. We demonstrate that different levels of threat construal-the specific perceived threat of assault and a diffuse threat of a dangerous world-independently predict handgun ownership; we also show how utility judgments can explain the motivated reasoning that drives beliefs about gun rights. We tested our model in two independent samples of gun owners (total N = 899), from just before and after the Orlando mass shooting. This study illustrates how social-cognitive theories can help explain what motivates Americans to own handguns and advocate for broad rights to carry and use them.

Home ownership and fall-related outcomes among older adults in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Do, Young Kyung; Kim, Cheong-Seok

2013-10-01

Many of the previously identified environmental risk factors for fall-related outcomes (e.g. flooring, stairs and steps, kitchen, and bathrooms) are amenable to change, but the extent of the changes on these home-related risk factors are conditional on home ownership of the elderly. This study aims to test whether lack of home ownership is associated with a higher risk of falls, and a higher likelihood of reporting fear of falling and activity limitations due to fear of falling among older adults in South Korea. Using data from the first two waves (2006 and 2008) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, the associations between home ownership variables and three fall-related outcomes were examined in two regression models. A logistic regression model of any falls in the past 2 years was estimated to examine whether older adults living in short-term rental homes based on monthly rent have an increased risk of falls. A probit model accounting for sample selection was estimated to examine whether the two related outcomes, fear of falling and limiting activities due to fear of falling, are associated with home ownership status. Compared with owned home, short-term rental home predicted a higher likelihood of incident of falls and activity limitation due to fear of falling. The study findings suggest that the lack of home ownership with unstable housing tenure is an important risk factor for fall-related outcomes among older adults in South Korea. © 2012 Japan Geriatrics Society.

THE STUDY OF BRAKE SYSTEMS OF PASSENGER CARS MODEL 61-779 AND THEIR MODIFICATIONS PRODUCED BY OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY KRJUKIV CAR BUILDING PLANT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. Ya. Vodiannikov

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The results of research of brake system for the model 61-779 of a passenger car manufactured by JSC «KVBZ» for the period from 2001 to 2006 are presented. It is shown that at the existing gear ratio of a brake lever transmission the passenger car brake efficiency does not correspond to running speed of 140 km/h. The causes of the wheel pairs damage occurrence in exploitation of a passenger train «Kiev – Moscow» as well as the recommendations on their elimination and brake system perfection are considered.

Pet Ownership and Cancer Risk in the Women’s Health Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, David O.; Lander, Eric M.; Wertheim, Betsy C.; Manson, JoAnn E.; Volpe, Stella L.; Chlebowski, Rowan T.; Stefanick, Marcia L.; Lessin, Lawrence S.; Kuller, Lewis H.; Thomson, Cynthia A.

2016-01-01

Background Pet ownership and cancer are both highly prevalent in the U.S. Evidence suggest associations may exist between this potentially modifiable factor and cancer prevention, though studies are sparse. The present report examined whether pet ownership (dog, cat, or bird) is associated with lower risk for total cancer and site-specific obesity-related cancers. Methods A prospective analysis of 123,560 participants (20,981 dog owners; 19,288 cat owners; 1,338 bird owners; and 81,953 non-pet owners) enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) observational study and clinical trials. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between pet ownership and cancer, adjusted for potential confounders. Results There were no significant relationships between ownership of a dog, cat, or bird and incidence of cancer overall. When site-specific cancers were examined, no associations were observed after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Conclusion Pet ownership had no association with overall cancer incidence. Impact This is the first large epidemiological study to date to explore relationships between pet ownership and cancer risk, as well as associated risks for individual cancer types. This study requires replication in other sizable, diverse cohorts. PMID:27365150

Corporate ownership structure and risk-taking: evidence from Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SunEae Chun

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We examine the relationship between ownership structure and corporate risk-taking in Japan over the sample periods of 2000 2010. Reflecting the ongoing changes in the ownership structure in Japan, we incorporate the various kinds of insider and outsider ownership in the analysis. Ownership such as concentrated ownership, ownership by closely related parties, financial institutions comprising banks and insurance companies and managers are categorized into inside ownership, while ownership by foreigners or financial institution such as investment trusts or pension funds are categorized into outside ownership. The ownership structure is found to have a different impact on the firm’s risk-taking behavior. The study shows that concentrated ownership or ownership by closely related parties affect the firm risks in a convex manner and encourages the firm management to take more risk when the firms have growth opportunities. On the other hand, ownership by financial institutions such as bank and insurance companies, does not seem to affect the firm risk level. This implies that the financial institutions fail to play their role of a shareholder monitor. When managerial ownership is allowed, it is found that Japanese managers’ incentives are aligned with those of shareholders. Contrary to the conventional entrenchment hypothesis, however, managers seem to take more risk as the share of managerial ownership increases. Foreign investors are found to enhance corporate risk-taking in a monotonic manner and do not bias corporate investment in a conservative direction in pursuit of their short-term gains. Domestic institutions such as investment trusts or pension funds are found to neither affect the firm risk level nor enhance the firm value.

Assessment of RFID investment in the military logistics systems through the Cost of Ownership Model (COO)

OpenAIRE

Ozdemir, Ahmet; Bayrak, Mustafa Ali

2010-01-01

MBA Professional Report Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an emerging technology that has been recently used in numerous business and public fields. Most military applications of RFID have focused on logistics systems. Since RFID investment requires high initial cost and its benefits are hard to see in the short term, it needs an appropriate investment decision model. The purpose of this research is to propose a Cost of Ownership (COO) model for RFID integration into the Military ...

The kinematic advantage of electric cars

Science.gov (United States)

Meyn, Jan-Peter

2015-11-01

Acceleration of a common car with with a turbocharged diesel engine is compared to the same type with an electric motor in terms of kinematics. Starting from a state of rest, the electric car reaches a distant spot earlier than the diesel car, even though the latter has a better specification for engine power and average acceleration from 0 to 100 km h-1. A three phase model of acceleration as a function of time fits the data of the electric car accurately. The first phase is a quadratic growth of acceleration in time. It is shown that the tenfold higher coefficient for the first phase accounts for most of the kinematic advantage of the electric car.

Car ownership, car use and status. A consideration of policy aimed at efficient cars on the basis of happiness theories and the welfare economy; Autobezit, autogebruik en status. Een beschouwing van beleid gericht op zuiniger auto`s vanuit gelukstheorieen en de welvaartseconomie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Wee, G.P. [Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieuhygiene RIVM, Bilthoven (Netherlands); Verhoef, E.T. [Vakgroep Ruimtelijke Economie, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

1999-11-01

After a certain ceiling has been reached (i.e. around $ 10,000), an increase in average income in any one country will not lead to increased personal happiness. Such additional earnings are, in all probability, expended rather on satisfying relative needs. Cars with a low fuel efficiency (big cars, and cars with powerful engines) possibly satisfy more relative needs than absolute needs. This is why a general trend towards more economical vehicles does not or hardly leads to a reduction in contentment: relative needs satisfaction, coupled with the status aspect, does not need to suffer from this. lt is the satisfying of relative needs and the emergence of status effects in consumption that is responsible for inefficient market functioning because of the occurrence of consumption externalities. There is therefore a welfare economic argument for adhering to a regulatory policy in which the consumption of relatively low status goods is encouraged while the consumption of relatively high status goods is discouraged. In view of the sharp price increases required to make the national car volume substantially more economical and in order to survive the considerable resistance that will be put up to such price rises, it might be preferable to introduce policies like `fee-bates` or negotiable rights rather than to wield price policies directed at effecting a trend in the direction of more economical car usage. 24 refs.

PLC Based Automatic Multistoried Car Parking System

OpenAIRE

Swanand S .Vaze; Rohan S. Mithari

2014-01-01

This project work presents the study and design of PLC based Automatic Multistoried Car Parking System. Multistoried car parking is an arrangement which is used to park a large number of vehicles in least possible place. For making this arrangement in a real plan very high technological instruments are required. In this project a prototype of such a model is made. This prototype model is made for accommodating twelve cars at a time. Availability of the space for parking is detecte...

Gun ownership and firearm-related deaths.

Science.gov (United States)

Bangalore, Sripal; Messerli, Franz H

2013-10-01

A variety of claims about possible associations between gun ownership rates, mental illness burden, and the risk of firearm-related deaths have been put forward. However, systematic data on this issue among various countries remain scant. Our objective was to assess whether the popular notion "guns make a nation safer" has any merits. Data on gun ownership were obtained from the Small Arms Survey, and for firearm-related deaths from a European detailed mortality database (World Health Organization), the National Center for Health Statistics, and others. Crime rate was used as an indicator of safety of the nation and was obtained from the United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends. Age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year rates due to major depressive disorder per 100,000 inhabitants with data obtained from the World Health Organization database were used as a putative indicator for mental illness burden in a given country. Among the 27 developed countries, there was a significant positive correlation between guns per capita per country and the rate of firearm-related deaths (r = 0.80; P ownership and mental illness as independent covariates, gun ownership was a significant predictor (P <.0001) of firearm-related deaths, whereas mental illness was of borderline significance (P = .05) only. The number of guns per capita per country was a strong and independent predictor of firearm-related death in a given country, whereas the predictive power of the mental illness burden was of borderline significance in a multivariable model. Regardless of exact cause and effect, however, the current study debunks the widely quoted hypothesis that guns make a nation safer. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deep learning-based fine-grained car make/model classification for visual surveillance

Science.gov (United States)

Gundogdu, Erhan; Parıldı, Enes Sinan; Solmaz, Berkan; Yücesoy, Veysel; Koç, Aykut

2017-10-01

Fine-grained object recognition is a potential computer vision problem that has been recently addressed by utilizing deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Nevertheless, the main disadvantage of classification methods relying on deep CNN models is the need for considerably large amount of data. In addition, there exists relatively less amount of annotated data for a real world application, such as the recognition of car models in a traffic surveillance system. To this end, we mainly concentrate on the classification of fine-grained car make and/or models for visual scenarios by the help of two different domains. First, a large-scale dataset including approximately 900K images is constructed from a website which includes fine-grained car models. According to their labels, a state-of-the-art CNN model is trained on the constructed dataset. The second domain that is dealt with is the set of images collected from a camera integrated to a traffic surveillance system. These images, which are over 260K, are gathered by a special license plate detection method on top of a motion detection algorithm. An appropriately selected size of the image is cropped from the region of interest provided by the detected license plate location. These sets of images and their provided labels for more than 30 classes are employed to fine-tune the CNN model which is already trained on the large scale dataset described above. To fine-tune the network, the last two fully-connected layers are randomly initialized and the remaining layers are fine-tuned in the second dataset. In this work, the transfer of a learned model on a large dataset to a smaller one has been successfully performed by utilizing both the limited annotated data of the traffic field and a large scale dataset with available annotations. Our experimental results both in the validation dataset and the real field show that the proposed methodology performs favorably against the training of the CNN model from scratch.

Pet ownership and physical health.

Science.gov (United States)

Matchock, Robert L

2015-09-01

Pet ownership and brief human-animal interactions can serve as a form of social support and convey a host of beneficial psychological and physiological health benefits. This article critically examines recent relevant literature on the pet-health connection. Cross-sectional studies indicate correlations between pet ownership and numerous aspects of positive health outcomes, including improvements on cardiovascular measures and decreases in loneliness. Quasi-experimental studies and better controlled experimental studies corroborate these associations and suggest that owning and/or interacting with a pet may be causally related to some positive health outcomes. The value of pet ownership and animal-assisted therapy (AAT), as a nonpharmacological treatment modality, augmentation to traditional treatment, and healthy preventive behavior (in the case of pet ownership), is starting to be realized. However, more investigations that employ randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes and investigations that more closely examine the underlying mechanism of the pet-health effect, such as oxytocin, are needed.

Passenger vehicles that minimize the costs of ownership and environmental damages in the Indian market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilmore, Elisabeth A.; Patwardhan, Anand

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Full costs (private and social) are evaluated for Indian passenger cars. • Diesel has low ownership costs, but higher climate and health damages. • Compressed natural gas cars have lower costs and damages than petrol cars. • Electric cars have higher damages due to electricity generation emissions. • CNG and less carbon intensive electricity minimizes Indian cars’ full cost. - Abstract: Rapid expansion of population and income growth in developing countries, such as India, is increasing the demand for many goods and services, including four-wheeled passenger cars. Passenger cars provide personal mobility; however, they also have negative implications for human wellbeing from increased air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG). Here, we evaluate the range of passenger vehicles available in the Indian market to identify options that minimize costs, human health effects and climate damages. Our approach is to compare alternative fuel/powertrain vehicles with similar conventional gasoline fueled vehicles and assess the differences in full (private and societal) costs for each pair. Private costs are the combination of capital costs and the discounted expected future fuel costs over the vehicle lifetime. The costs to human health from air quality are calculated using intake fractions to estimate exposure and literature values for the damage costs adjusted by benefits transfer methods. We use the Social Cost of Carbon to estimate climate damages. We find that, on average, the net present value (NPV) of the full costs of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles are lower than comparable gasoline vehicles, while, diesel vehicles have higher costs. Presently, electric vehicles have higher private costs (due to high capital costs) and societal costs (due to electricity generation emissions). Either a less carbon intensive electricity grid or an increase in the CNG fleet would minimize total costs, human health effects and GHG emissions from the

Scenarios for regional passenger car fleets and their CO2 emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, Ina; Kaniovski, Serguei; Scheffran, Jürgen

2012-01-01

Passenger car traffic is among the main contributors to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are responsible for climate change. It is also an important indicator used to forecast these emissions in integrated climate-economic models. This paper develops scenarios for global passenger car stock until 2050. The study adopts a global regionalized approach, encompassing 11 world regions. Car stock projections are obtained using a multi-model approach, which includes a consumer demand model based on utility maximization, a non-linear Gompertz model and a panel estimate of the income elasticity of demand for cars. The main hypothesis underlying these projections is that preferences for purchasing cars are similar across cultures and nations and that the demand for cars is largely determined by disposable income. We apply scenarios for the average traffic volume and fuel efficiency developed in previous work together with the average carbon content of fuels to obtain the CO 2 emissions. - Research highlights: ► This study develops scenarios for global passenger car stock, CO 2 emissions and fuel efficiency until 2050. ► In a global regionalized approach car stock projections are obtained using a multi-model approach. ► Compared are utility maximization, a non-linear Gompertz model and a panel estimate. ► Preferences for purchasing cars are similar across cultures and nations. ► The demand for cars is largely determined by disposable income.

Task-Difficulty Homeostasis in Car Following Models: Experimental Validation Using Self-Paced Visual Occlusion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jami Pekkanen

Full Text Available Car following (CF models used in traffic engineering are often criticized for not incorporating "human factors" well known to affect driving. Some recent work has addressed this by augmenting the CF models with the Task-Capability Interface (TCI model, by dynamically changing driving parameters as function of driver capability. We examined assumptions of these models experimentally using a self-paced visual occlusion paradigm in a simulated car following task. The results show strong, approximately one-to-one, correspondence between occlusion duration and increase in time headway. The correspondence was found between subjects and within subjects, on aggregate and individual sample level. The long time scale aggregate results support TCI-CF models that assume a linear increase in time headway in response to increased distraction. The short time scale individual sample level results suggest that drivers also adapt their visual sampling in response to transient changes in time headway, a mechanism which isn't incorporated in the current models.

Bicycle and Car Share Schemes as Inclusive Modes of Travel? A Socio-Spatial Analysis in Glasgow, UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie Clark

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Public bicycle and car sharing schemes have proliferated in recent years and are increasingly part of the urban transport landscape. Shared transport options have the potential to support social inclusion by improving accessibility: these initiatives could remove some of the barriers to car ownership or bicycle usage such as upfront costs, maintenance and storage. However, the existing evidence base indicates that, in reality, users are most likely to be white, male and middle class. This paper argues that there is a need to consider the social inclusivity of sharing schemes and to develop appropriate evaluation frameworks accordingly. We therefore open by considering ways in which shared transport schemes might be inclusive or not, using a framework developed from accessibility planning. In the second part of the paper, we use the case study of Glasgow in Scotland to undertake a spatial equity analysis of such schemes. We examine how well they serve different population groups across the city, using the locations of bicycle stations and car club parking spaces in Glasgow, comparing and contrasting bike and car. An apparent failure to deliver benefits across the demographic spectrum raises important questions about the socially inclusive nature of public investment in similar schemes.

Rational-driver approximation in car-following theory

Science.gov (United States)

Lubashevsky, Ihor; Wagner, Peter; Mahnke, Reinhard

2003-11-01

The problem of a car following a lead car driven with constant velocity is considered. To derive the governing equations for the following car dynamics a cost functional is constructed. This functional ranks the outcomes of different driving strategies, which applies to fairly general properties of the driver behavior. Assuming rational-driver behavior, the existence of the Nash equilibrium is proved. Rational driving is defined by supposing that a driver corrects continuously the car motion to follow the optimal path minimizing the cost functional. The corresponding car-following dynamics is described quite generally by a boundary value problem based on the obtained extremal equations. Linearization of these equations around the stationary state results in a generalization of the widely used optimal velocity model. Under certain conditions (the “dense traffic” limit) the rational car dynamics comprises two stages, fast and slow. During the fast stage a driver eliminates the velocity difference between the cars, the subsequent slow stage optimizes the headway. In the dense traffic limit an effective Hamiltonian description is constructed. This allows a more detailed nonlinear analysis. Finally, the differences between rational and bounded rational driver behavior are discussed. The latter, in particular, justifies some basic assumptions used recently by the authors to construct a car-following model lying beyond the frameworks of rationality.

CarSim: Automatic 3D Scene Generation of a Car Accident Description

OpenAIRE

Egges, A.; Nijholt, A.; Nugues, P.

2001-01-01

The problem of generating a 3D simulation of a car accident from a written description can be divided into two subtasks: the linguistic analysis and the virtual scene generation. As a means of communication between these two system parts, we designed a template formalism to represent a written accident report. The CarSim system processes formal descriptions of accidents and creates corresponding 3D simulations. A planning component models the trajectories and temporal values of every vehicle ...

Company car study 2011. Reduction of environmental impacts by influencing the selection process of company cars; Tyoesuhdeautotutkimus 2011. Ympaeristoehaittojen vaehentaeminen autonvalinnan ohjauksella

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

The purpose of the study is to identify: What kinds of operational models directing towards eco-friendlier company car use there are and which are in use. What kinds of practical impacts these operational models have had. What is the demand for company car use and what changes have taken place from the viewpoint of companies and beneficiaries. What factors should the best company car taxation include in terms of directiveness (from the environmental point of view). The main objective is to find directive factors in company car use which would result in smaller environmental impacts and which company car users could commit themselves to. The main target groups of the study were the recipients of company car benefits, and enterprises using company cars. Company cars are mainly used for two reasons: in many organisations, work is carried out where the customer is, in which case company cars are used for reducing travel costs. On the other hand, a company car is a significant means for attracting and motivating employees, especially skilled experts and management staff. Company cars also play a significant role in the replacement rate of Finnish motor vehicles. The car selection rules of organisations determine the roles that entitle an employee to have a company car and how they can choose their car. Factors restricting the choice are usually CO{sub 2} and the price and make of the car. The CO{sub 2} limit is used by about 70% of organisations. According to this study, the average emission limit is 168 g/km, depending on the company and the position of the beneficiary. However, the average CO{sub 2} emissions of new company cars are currently about 140 g/km, and therefore the emission limits of organisations have not followed the development of motor technology. In entrepreneurship, environmental issues will be regarded as very important in the future, and there is also a notion for this to be reflected in the guidelines for selecting company cars. Emissions reduction

THE MODEL OF WORK IN PROCESS INVENTORY MANAGEMENT OF RAIL CARS BUILDING COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia BULGAKOVA

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The necessity of work-in-process management of rail-cars production by intelligent decision support software, which is based on JIT and Kanban principles, is identified. The scheme of one type cargo-flow movement between two workshops with control by electronic and traditional kanban-card is offered. For simulation of rail-cars production cargo flows Markov chain of M/M/1/1 type was applied. Simulation shows the dependence of the work-in-process on the in-flow and out-flow intensity. To determine the high level of the optimal work-in-process the stochastic inventory management model is applied.

A new car-following model with two delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Lei; Shi, Zhong-ke; Li, Tong

2014-01-01

A new car-following model is proposed by taking into account two different time delays in sensing headway and velocity. The effect of time delays on the stability analysis is studied. The theoretical and numerical results show that traffic jams are suppressed efficiently when the difference between two time delays decreases and those can be described by the solution of the modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation. Traffic flow is more stable with two delays in headway and velocity than in the case with only one delay in headway. The impact of local small disturbance to the system is also studied.

Behavioural Comparison of Driverswhen Driving a Motorcycle or a Car: A Structural Equation Modelling Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darja Topolšek

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of the study was to investigate if the drivers behave in the same way when they are driving a motorcycle or a car. For this purpose, the Motorcycle Rider Behaviour Questionnaire and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire were conducted among the same drivers population. Items of questionnaires were used to develop a structural equation model with two factors, one for the motorcyclist’s behaviour, and the other for the car driver’s behaviour. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also applied in this study. Results revealed a certain difference in driving behaviour. The principal reason lies probably in mental consciousness that the risk-taking driving of a motorbike can result in much more catastrophic consequences than when driving a car. The drivers also pointed out this kind of thinking and the developed model has statistically confirmed the behavioural differences. The implications of these findings are also argued in relation to the validation of the appropriateness of the existing traffic regulations.

Foreign Ownership and Skill-biased Technological Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Michael; Smolka, Marcel

Understanding the effects of foreign direct investment and the behavior of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is a core issue in the study of international economics. We exploit within-firm variation in ownership structure induced by foreign acquisitions in Spain to provide a new angle on the relat......Understanding the effects of foreign direct investment and the behavior of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is a core issue in the study of international economics. We exploit within-firm variation in ownership structure induced by foreign acquisitions in Spain to provide a new angle...... firms due to access to foreign markets through the foreign parent. This market size effect, coupled with a technology-skill complementarity, raises the demand for high-skilled workers as well as worker training upon acquisition. The largest productivity gains predicted by the model accrue to those firms...... empirical evidence that foreign-acquired firms, not only increase their technology level, but also engage in skill upgrading upon acquisition (through both hiring and training). Moreover, we show that these changes are driven by the market size effect, and not by changes in the ownership structure per se...

Does investor ownership of nursing homes compromise the quality of care?

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, C; Woolhandler, S; Mullan, J; Carrillo, H; Himmelstein, D U

2001-09-01

Two thirds of nursing homes are investor owned. This study examined whether investor ownership affects quality. We analyzed 1998 data from state inspections of 13,693 nursing facilities. We used a multivariate model and controlled for case mix, facility characteristics, and location. Investor-owned facilities averaged 5.89 deficiencies per home, 46.5% higher than nonprofit facilities and 43.0% higher than public facilities. In multivariate analysis, investor ownership predicted 0.679 additional deficiencies per home; chain ownership predicted an additional 0.633 deficiencies. Nurse staffing was lower at investor-owned nursing homes. Investor-owned nursing homes provide worse care and less nursing care than do not-for-profit or public homes.

Competent ownership in real estate business

OpenAIRE

Timo Sneck

2001-01-01

The real estate businessñproject Competent Ownership (Oskito)î focuses on the role of ownership within the real estate industry. Ownership acts as the core upon which , the competitive advantages of real estate industry are for the most based. The project studies specific real estate business issues, especially îentities of possessionî that are large enough to allow the development of specialised businesses. The project is of current interest as the next phase of growth of the Finnish informa...

Car-borne multichannel gamma-ray spectrometric system model CZD-6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Shili; Zhai Yugui; Ma Yanfang; Jiao Cangwen; Zhang Biao

1998-01-01

The car-borne multichannel gamma-ray spectrometric system Mode CZD-6 is composed of a HDY-256 of portable multichannel gamma-ray spectrometer developed by the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology and a large volume scintillation detector. the position for each measurement point is determined by the GPS instrument. Its latitude and longitude, as well as measured 256 channels of γ-spectrometric data are collected by a notebook computer, which can show the 256 channels of spectra for each point during measuring processes. The complete system can be loaded in a field car. This system has been used to environmental radioactive monitoring after calibration by airborne radiometric models in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. A lot of data confirm that the system works stably and reliably, and is a fast and advanced approach for environmental γ-spectrometric monitoring. It can be used not only to determination of contents of natural radioactive elements in environments, but also to monitoring nuclear pollution and emergency treatment in nuclear accidents significantly

Research of braking peculiarities of used cars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Mitunevičius

2002-06-01

Full Text Available This paper briefly describes some analysis of a car braking process - the peculiarities of car wheel-to-road adhesion, the influence of distribution of braking forces on car stability between front and rear axles. The requirements of EU Directive 71/320/EEC to braking force coefficients of car front and rear axles are exposed. Structural designs of braking systems are analyzed with respect to their meeting the EU standards. Experimental measurements of braking force coefficients for some models of cars which are used in Lithuania, are presented with the analysis how these coefficients meet the EU standards. The analysis of test results, suggestions for the ratio of braking forces of car front and rear axles are presented.

Employee Ownership and Democracy in the Workplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Toscano, David J.

1981-01-01

Explains three American forms of employee-owned companies. The Mock Conventional firm models its legal structure after conventional enterprises, with shares held primarily by employees. The Employee Stock Ownership Plan regulates the shareholding patterns of ESOP firms. The Producer Cooperative guarantees each member an equal voice in corporate…

Is it a dangerous world out there? The motivational bases of American gun ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stroebe, Wolfgang; Leander, N. Pontus; Kruglanski, Arie W.

2017-01-01

Americans are the world’s best armed citizens and public polling suggests protection/self-defense is their main reason for gun ownership. However, there is virtually no psychological research on gun ownership. The present article develops the first psychological process model of defensive gun

The Development of Employee Ownership in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mygind, Niels; Faigen, Benjamin

2017-01-01

Purpose: Little systematic work has been completed on the incidence of employee ownership in a Chinese context. Similar to the situation in Eastern Europe, this type of ownership was quite widespread in China, particularly during the 1990s. Based on the existing literature and available statistical...... data, the purpose of this paper is to identify drivers of, and barriers to, the development of employee ownership in China. Design/methodology/approach: The scattered evidence from the literature and official statistical sources are collected and structured in a systematic analysis where the drivers...... of the privatisation of small- and medium-sized state-owned enterprises as well as collectively owned enterprises. However, in most cases the dynamics of ownership resulted in dominant ownership by managers. This trend became more noticeable at later stages of the privatisation process. Research limitations...

Assets among low-income families in the Great Recession.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Duque

Full Text Available This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and real assets among families with young children. Real assets such as homes and cars are key indicators of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to low-income families. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,898, we investigate the association between the city unemployment rate and home and car ownership and how the relationship varies by family structure (married, cohabiting, and single parents and by race/ethnicity (White, Black, and Hispanic mothers. Using mother fixed-effects models, we find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a -0.5 percentage point decline in the probability of home ownership and a -0.7 percentage point decline in the probability of car ownership. We also find that the recession was associated with lower levels of home ownership for cohabiting families and for Hispanic families, as well as lower car ownership among single mothers and among Black mothers, whereas no change was observed among married families or White households. Considering that homes and cars are the most important assets among middle and low-income households in the U.S., these results suggest that the rise in the unemployment rate during the Great Recession may have increased household asset inequality across family structures and race/ethnicities, limiting economic mobility, and exacerbating the cycle of poverty.

Assets among low-income families in the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Duque, Valentina; Pilkauskas, Natasha V; Garfinkel, Irwin

2018-01-01

This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and real assets among families with young children. Real assets such as homes and cars are key indicators of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to low-income families. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,898), we investigate the association between the city unemployment rate and home and car ownership and how the relationship varies by family structure (married, cohabiting, and single parents) and by race/ethnicity (White, Black, and Hispanic mothers). Using mother fixed-effects models, we find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a -0.5 percentage point decline in the probability of home ownership and a -0.7 percentage point decline in the probability of car ownership. We also find that the recession was associated with lower levels of home ownership for cohabiting families and for Hispanic families, as well as lower car ownership among single mothers and among Black mothers, whereas no change was observed among married families or White households. Considering that homes and cars are the most important assets among middle and low-income households in the U.S., these results suggest that the rise in the unemployment rate during the Great Recession may have increased household asset inequality across family structures and race/ethnicities, limiting economic mobility, and exacerbating the cycle of poverty.

Assets among low-income families in the Great Recession

Science.gov (United States)

Garfinkel, Irwin

2018-01-01

This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and real assets among families with young children. Real assets such as homes and cars are key indicators of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to low-income families. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,898), we investigate the association between the city unemployment rate and home and car ownership and how the relationship varies by family structure (married, cohabiting, and single parents) and by race/ethnicity (White, Black, and Hispanic mothers). Using mother fixed-effects models, we find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a -0.5 percentage point decline in the probability of home ownership and a -0.7 percentage point decline in the probability of car ownership. We also find that the recession was associated with lower levels of home ownership for cohabiting families and for Hispanic families, as well as lower car ownership among single mothers and among Black mothers, whereas no change was observed among married families or White households. Considering that homes and cars are the most important assets among middle and low-income households in the U.S., these results suggest that the rise in the unemployment rate during the Great Recession may have increased household asset inequality across family structures and race/ethnicities, limiting economic mobility, and exacerbating the cycle of poverty. PMID:29401482

A spatial analysis of variations in health access: linking geography, socio-economic status and access perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background This paper analyses the relationship between public perceptions of access to general practitioners (GPs) surgeries and hospitals against health status, car ownership and geographic distance. In so doing it explores the different dimensions associated with facility access and accessibility. Methods Data on difficulties experienced in accessing health services, respondent health status and car ownership were collected through an attitudes survey. Road distances to the nearest service were calculated for each respondent using a GIS. Difficulty was related to geographic distance, health status and car ownership using logistic generalized linear models. A Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to explore the spatial non-stationarity in the results. Results Respondent long term illness, reported bad health and non-car ownership were found to be significant predictors of difficulty in accessing GPs and hospitals. Geographic distance was not a significant predictor of difficulty in accessing hospitals but was for GPs. GWR identified the spatial (local) variation in these global relationships indicating locations where the predictive strength of the independent variables was higher or lower than the global trend. The impacts of bad health and non-car ownership on the difficulties experienced in accessing health services varied spatially across the study area, whilst the impacts of geographic distance did not. Conclusions Difficulty in accessing different health facilities was found to be significantly related to health status and car ownership, whilst the impact of geographic distance depends on the service in question. GWR showed how these relationships were varied across the study area. This study demonstrates that the notion of access is a multi-dimensional concept, whose composition varies with location, according to the facility being considered and the health and socio-economic status of the individual concerned. PMID:21787394

Antecedents of hospital ownership conversions, mergers, and closures.

Science.gov (United States)

Sloan, Frank A; Ostermann, Jan; Conover, Christopher J

2003-01-01

This study assesses the determinants of conversions in hospital ownership from 1986 through 1996. To place such changes in context, we also analyze causes of hospital mergers and closures, which are often alternatives to hospital ownership conversion. A consistent result from our analysis is that an important antecedent of ownership conversions is a low profit margin. Conversions from private nonprofit or government ownership to for-profit status are preceded by chronically low margins and high debt-to-asset ratios. By contrast, conversions from for-profit ownership occur quickly following declines in margins. Many mergers seem motivated by a desire to increase market power--a consideration not evident for conversions.

Costs of Tractor Ownership under Different Management Systems in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Costs of Tractor Ownership under Different Management Systems in Nigeria. ... It requires high initial capital investment. ... making management plans and decisions especially in comparing different tractor types and models thereby assisting ...

GLYCAN-DIRECTED CAR-T CELLS.

Science.gov (United States)

Steentoft, Catharina; Migliorini, Denis; King, Tiffany R; Mandel, Ulla; June, Carl H; Posey, Avery D

2018-01-23

Cancer immunotherapy is rapidly advancing in the treatment of a variety of hematopoietic cancers, including pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and diffuse large B cell lymphoma, with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. CARs are genetically encoded artificial T cell receptors that combine the antigen specificity of an antibody with the machinery of T cell activation. However, implementation of CAR technology in the treatment of solid tumors has been progressing much slower. Solid tumors are characterized by a number of challenges that need to be overcome, including cellular heterogeneity, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), and, in particular, few known cancer-specific targets. Post-translational modifications that differentially occur in malignant cells generate valid cell surface, cancer-specific targets for CAR-T cells. We previously demonstrated that CAR-T cells targeting an aberrant O-glycosylation of MUC1, a common cancer marker associated with changes in cell adhesion, tumor growth, and poor prognosis, could control malignant growth in mouse models. Here, we discuss the field of glycan-directed CAR-T cells and review the different classes of antibodies specific for glycan-targeting, including the generation of high affinity O-glycopeptide antibodies. Finally, we discuss historic and recently investigated glycan targets for CAR-T cells and provide our perspective on how targeting the tumor glycoproteome and/or glycome will improve CAR-T immunotherapy. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

THEORETICAL BASIS OF PARAMETRIC SYNTHESIS FOR CARRYING SYSTEMS OF CARS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. V. Fomin

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article is aimed to systematize and structure representation of theoretical grounds for the optimization designing of railway car components and practical ways of its implementation. Methodology. The study is based on analysis of several well-known articles on the subject, as well as on authors' researches, some mathematical foundations and computer modeling. The rolling stock components structural analysis was made by applying modern and acknowledged methods. Findings. In the study the authors systematized the set of methodological approaches to the freight car design processes; they also analyzed every application phase of the designing process and its conditions. The article presents the developed mathematical model of the car component implementation. This model takes into account all the calculated cases of the car life cycle. Moreover, the model also can be applied to other transport modes accounting their specific operation modes. The possibility to generate different construction options for equally strong car component with minimum material intensity was also shown in the article. There were several methods developed for finding optimal solutions that make it possible to calculate the sought characteristics of construction elements with the reliable accuracy. The presented variety of different approaches significantly extends engineering apparatus by increasing the synthesis and analysis abilities of the car design. Originality. The authors proposed the methodological foundations of the car components design aimed at creating their optimal structural parameter execution and the operating features based on the results of the detailed research. Practical value. Expediency and effectiveness of the presented methods has been confirmed by positive experience of its application when constructing the general-purpose gondola cars, models 12-9904 and 12-9904-01, as well as when upgrading existing constructions of freight cars, model

Lightweight robotic mobility: template-based modeling for dynamics and controls using ADAMS/car and MATLAB

Science.gov (United States)

Adamczyk, Peter G.; Gorsich, David J.; Hudas, Greg R.; Overholt, James

2003-09-01

The U.S. Army is seeking to develop autonomous off-road mobile robots to perform tasks in the field such as supply delivery and reconnaissance in dangerous territory. A key problem to be solved with these robots is off-road mobility, to ensure that the robots can accomplish their tasks without loss or damage. We have developed a computer model of one such concept robot, the small-scale "T-1" omnidirectional vehicle (ODV), to study the effects of different control strategies on the robot's mobility in off-road settings. We built the dynamic model in ADAMS/Car and the control system in Matlab/Simulink. This paper presents the template-based method used to construct the ADAMS model of the T-1 ODV. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of ADAMS/Car software in such an application, and describes the benefits and challenges of the approach as a whole. The paper also addresses effective linking of ADAMS/Car and Matlab for complete control system development. Finally, this paper includes a section describing the extension of the T-1 templates to other similar ODV concepts for rapid development.

The market for gasoline cars and diesel cars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verboven, F.

1999-01-01

In Europe the tax tariff is much lower for diesel fuel than for gasoline. This benefit is used by manufacturers to increase the price of diesel-fueled cars, which limits the possibility to control the use of diesel cars by means of a fiscal policy (tax incidence). Attention is paid to the impact of fiscal advantages for diesel cars on the purchasing behavior of the consumer and the pricing policy (price discrimination) of the car manufacturers. 1 ref

A meta-analysis of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. A SUR approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brons, M.R.E.; Nijkamp, P.; Pels, E.; Rietveld, P.

2008-01-01

Automobile gasoline demand can be expressed as a multiplicative function of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. This implies a linear relationship between the price elasticity of total fuel demand and the price elasticities of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. In

A Meta-analysis of the Price Elasticity of Gasoline Demand. A System of Equations Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brons, Martijn; Nijkamp, Peter; Pels, Eric; Rietveld, Piet

2006-01-01

Automobile gasoline demand can be expressed as a multiplicative function of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. This implies a linear relationship between the price elasticity of total fuel demand and the price elasticities of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. In

The relationship between gun ownership and stranger and nonstranger firearm homicide rates in the United States, 1981-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Siegel, Michael; Negussie, Yamrot; Vanture, Sarah; Pleskunas, Jane; Ross, Craig S; King, Charles

2014-10-01

We examined the relationship between gun ownership and stranger versus nonstranger homicide rates. Using data from the Supplemental Homicide Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports for all 50 states for 1981 to 2010, we modeled stranger and nonstranger homicide rates as a function of state-level gun ownership, measured by a proxy, controlling for potential confounders. We used a negative binomial regression model with fixed effects for year, accounting for clustering of observations among states by using generalized estimating equations. We found no robust, statistically significant correlation between gun ownership and stranger firearm homicide rates. However, we found a positive and significant association between gun ownership and nonstranger firearm homicide rates. The incidence rate ratio for nonstranger firearm homicide rate associated with gun ownership was 1.014 (95% confidence interval=1.009, 1.019). Our findings challenge the argument that gun ownership deters violent crime, in particular, homicides.

Modeling and analysis of friction clutch at a driveline for suppressing car starting judder

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liping; Lu, Zhaijun; Liu, Xue-Lai; Sun, Tao; Jing, Xingjian; Shangguan, Wen-Bin

2018-06-01

Car judder is a kind of back-forth vibration during vehicle starting which caused by the torsional oscillation of the driveline. This paper presents a systematic study on the dynamic response characteristics of the clutch driven disc for suppression of the judder during vehicle starting. Self-excited vibration behavior of the clutch driven disc is analyzed based on the developed 4DOF non-linear multi-body dynamic model of the clutch driving process considering stick-slip characteristics and using Karnopp friction models. Physical parameters of a clutch determining the generations of the judder behaviors are discussed and the revised designs of the driven disc of a clutch for suppression of the judder are consequently investigated and validated with experiments for two real cars.

How does Euro NCAP results correlate to real life injury risks - a paired comparison study of car-to-car crashes in Sweden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lie, A. [Swedish National Road Administration, Borlaenge (Sweden)]|[ Karolinska Institutet (Sweden); Tingvall, C. [Monash University, Accident Research Centre (Australia)

2001-07-01

Euro NCAP is a resource for consumers regarding vehicle crash safety. The program also promotes safety developments, and credits car manufacturers focussing on safety. This study, based on real life car to car crashes, shows that the overall indication of the safety level, provided by the crash testing, is a valid prediction, at least when looking at the star rating and severe to fatal injuries. For minor injuries no significant injury risk differences are seen. The cars with three or four stars are approximately 30% safer, compared to two star cars or cars without an Euro NCAP score, in car to car collisions. The good general correlation between injury risk, and Euro NCAP scores is not necessarily similarly good for individual car models. Pedestrian safety and child occupant protection was not studied. (orig.)

Stability of the car-following model on two lanes

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Tie-Qiao; Huang, Hai-Jun; Gao, Zi-You

2005-12-01

In the case of two-lane traffic, vehicle drivers always worry about the lane changing actions from neighbor lane. This paper studies the stability of a car-following model on two lanes which incorporates the lateral effects in traffic. The stability condition of the model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The modified Korteweg-de Vries equation is constructed and solved, and three types of traffic flows in the headway-sensitivity space—stable, metastable, and unstable—are classified. Both analytical and simulation results show that the anxiousness about lane changing from neighbor lane indeed has influence upon people’s driving behavior and the consideration of lateral effects could stabilize the traffic flows on both lanes.

The impact of ownership structure on bank credit risk: Evidence from Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niluthpaul SARKER

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the impact of ownership structure of Commercial Banks on bank credit risk in an emerging market like Bangladesh. Prais Winten regression model is applied to a sample of 32 commercial banks from the year of 2000 to 2014 with 390 observations. The result reveals that National Commercial Banks, depositors’ influence, shareholders’ influence, liquidity and profitability are negatively associated with credit risk whereas lag risk has a significant positive impact on credit risk. The effect of banks ownership structure on credit risk divulges a delicate governance of the banking sector. The study conveys a momentous implication of research findings in the national economy. It also found that national commercial banks have the tendency of violating the rules and absorbing heavy risk. It suggests that policy maker should rethink about the government ownership of banks. Therefore the denationalization or reducing government ownership structure is highly recommended.

A behavioral choice model of the use of car-sharing and ride-sourcing services

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dias, Felipe F.; Lavieri, Patrícia S.; Garikapati, Venu M.; Astroza, Sebastian; Pendyala, Ram M.; Bhat, Chandra R.

2017-07-26

There are a number of disruptive mobility services that are increasingly finding their way into the marketplace. Two key examples of such services are car-sharing services and ride-sourcing services. In an effort to better understand the influence of various exogenous socio-economic and demographic variables on the frequency of use of ride-sourcing and car-sharing services, this paper presents a bivariate ordered probit model estimated on a survey data set derived from the 2014-2015 Puget Sound Regional Travel Study. Model estimation results show that users of these services tend to be young, well-educated, higher-income, working individuals residing in higher-density areas. There are significant interaction effects reflecting the influence of children and the built environment on disruptive mobility service usage. The model developed in this paper provides key insights into factors affecting market penetration of these services, and can be integrated in larger travel forecasting model systems to better predict the adoption and use of mobility-on-demand services.

Interdependensi Antara Insider Ownership, Keputusan Investasi, Dan Risiko Bisnis

OpenAIRE

Florentina, Indri Erkaningrum

2013-01-01

Asymmetric information and agency issues made stockholders need to control business activities throughoptimalization insider ownership and investment decision. Optimalization of insider ownership and investmentdecision were expected to make business risk controlled. This research aimed at verifying empirically theinfluencing factors of insider ownership, investment decision, business risk, and finding the interdependencyamong insider ownership, investment decision, and business risk. The samp...

Collective Psychological Ownership and Intergroup Relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Verkuyten, Maykel; Martinovic, Borja

2017-11-01

Whereas much social psychological research has studied the in-group and out-group implications of social categorization and collective identity ("we"), little research has examined the nature and relevance of collective psychological ownership ("ours") for intergroup relations. We make a case for considering collective psychological ownership as an important source of intergroup tensions. We do so by integrating theory and research from various social sciences, and we draw out implications for future social psychological research on intergroup relations. We discuss collective psychological ownership in relation to the psychology of possessions, marking behavior, intergroup threats, outgroup exclusion, and in-group responsibility. We suggest that the social psychological processes discussed apply to a range of ownership objects (territory, buildings, cultural artifacts) and various intergroup settings, including international, national, and local contexts, and in organizations and communities. We conclude by providing directions for future research in different intergroup contexts.

29 CFR 1904.34 - Change in business ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 5 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Change in business ownership. 1904.34 Section 1904.34 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR... Requirements § 1904.34 Change in business ownership. If your business changes ownership, you are responsible...

Ownership and Control in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, Abe; Kabir, Mohammed Rezaul; Marra, Teye; Röell, Ailsa

1999-01-01

This paper analyses ownership and control structures of Dutch listed companies. Legislation effective since 1992 mandates all shareholders with holdings of 5 percent or more in Dutch companies to disclose their holdings. Our analysis shows that the average ownership stakes of the largest and the

Business Ownership and Unemployment in Japan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. van Acht; J. Stam; A.R. Thurik (Roy); I. Verheul (Ingrid)

2004-01-01

textabstractThe influence of industrial structure, more specifically of business ownership, is investigated on the level of unemployment in Japan. The question is to what extent business ownership, i.e., entrepreneurship, can reduce the level of unemployment. It will be concluded that Japan is

Corporate ownership as a means to solve adverse selection problems in a model of asymmetric information and credit rationing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gangopadhyay, Shubashis; Lensink, Robert

2001-01-01

This paper analyzes an asymmetric information model where the financing needs of entrepreneurs are obtained from two sources. We show that adverse selection is only important if the credit constraint of banks is not too tight. Next, we show that banks can induce a pattern of corporate ownership,

INVESTIGATION OF DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF GONDOLA CARS ON PERSPECTIVE BOGIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Myamlin

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In this paper, it is necessary to examine the dynamic properties of the gondola car with bogies, model 18-1711 when it moves on straight and curved sections of a track. Methodology. The calculations were performed using the object-oriented programming on the program "Dynamics of Rail Vehicles" ("DYNRAIL" Myamlin S.V. registered 20.03.2003. Mathematical models of a gondola car and bogies 18-100 and 18-711 were created for the calculations. Findings. Dynamic performances comparison of the gondola car with bogies 18-1711 and the gondola car with bogies 18-100, obtained by calculation method was carried out. Originality. Firstly calculations in order to determine the dynamic properties of the gondola car with bogies 18-1711 when it moves on straight and curved sections of track were performed. At the same time an assessment of the dynamic characteristics of the gondola car was made. The following dynamic standards were determined: the coefficient of vertical dynamics (Cdv, the coefficient of horizontal dynamics (Cdh, and the safety factor against derailment (SFd. Track irregularities in vertical and horizontal transverse planes were assigned as perturbations. They should be so that the dynamic indexes of the widely used in operation gondola car on bogies model 18-100 keep in admissible range of speeds up to 80km / h for the empty gondola car and at speeds up to 90km / h for the loaded gondola cars. Practical value. As a result of the calculations and comparisons of their results, we have findings that the use of bogies with bilinear characteristic of the central suspension will improve the dynamic performances of gondola cars, currently operating on bogies, model 18-100. And by improving the dynamic performances it is possible to increase the permissible speeds of these cars motion.

Voluntary self-touch increases body ownership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masayuki eHara

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Experimental manipulations of body ownership have indicated that multisensory integration is central to forming bodily self-representation. Voluntary self-touch is a unique multisensory situation involving corresponding motor, tactile and proprioceptive signals. Yet, even though self-touch is frequent in everyday life, its contribution to the formation of body ownership is not well understood. Here we investigated the role of voluntary self-touch in body ownership using a novel adaptation of the rubber hand illusion (RHI, in which a robotic system and virtual reality allowed participants self-touch of real and virtual hands. In the first experiment, active and passive self-touch were applied in the absence of visual feedback. In the second experiment, we tested the role of visual feedback in this bodily illusion. Finally, in the third experiment, we compared active and passive self-touch to the classical RHI in which the touch is administered by the experimenter. We hypothesized that active self-touch would increase ownership over the virtual hand through the addition of motor signals strengthening the bodily illusion. The results indicated that active self-touch elicited stronger illusory ownership compared to passive self-touch and sensory only stimulation, and indicate an important role of active self-touch in the formation of bodily self.

Car sick.

Science.gov (United States)

Renner, M G

1988-01-01

The automobile is currently seen as the most desirable mode of transportation. However, this view needs to be changed since the proliferation of the automobile worldwide is leading to the poisoning of the environment and people. In the US the number of passenger cars grew 51% between 1971-86 and in the noncommunist industrialized community that figure is 71%. The gasoline and diesel fuel used to power the overwhelming majority of cars creates a variety of problems. The pollution is estimated to have a hidden cost of US $.80/gallon. Others estimate that the pollution causes 30,000 premature deaths annually just in the US. 75% of the carbon monoxide (CO), 48% of nitrogen oxides (NO2), 13% of particulates (P), and 3% of sulfur (S) emissions come from cars in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes the US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. 17% of all worldwide carbon dioxide (CO2) emission comes from the production and use of fossil fuels for cars. The single biggest problem associated with cars is the photochemical smog they create in urban areas. In 1986 75 million Americans lived in areas that failed to meet national air quality standards for CO, P, and ozone (03). The only area of major improvement has been the removal of lead from gasoline. It was known to cause problems from the beginning of its use in the 1920s, but remained for 50 years because of auto and oil company pressure. Ground 03 is estimated by the US government to cost US $4 billion in annual losses, just for corn, wheat, soybeans, and peanuts. Acid rain is the other major problem associated with cars, and its damage is estimated at US $5 billion annually. Both these problems are shortterm, their effects occur immediately; the longterm disadvantage is the build up of CO2 and its contribution to the greenhouse effect. While the US is at the forefront of regulation and many other countries are modeling their emission

Decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from passenger cars: The cases of Greece and Denmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papagiannaki, Katerina; Diakoulaki, Danae

2009-01-01

The paper presents a decomposition analysis of the changes in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from passenger cars in Denmark and Greece, for the period 1990-2005. A time series analysis has been applied based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index I (LMDI I) methodology, which belongs to the wider family of index decomposition approaches. The particularity in road transport that justifies a profound analysis is its remarkably rapid growth during the last decades, followed by a respective increase in emissions. Denmark and Greece have been selected based on the challenging differences of specific socio-economic characteristics of these two small EU countries, as well as on the availability of detailed data used in the frame of the analysis. In both countries, passenger cars are responsible for half of the emissions from road transport as well as for their upward trend, which provokes the implementation of a decomposition analysis focusing exactly on this segment of road transport. The factors examined in the present decomposition analysis are related to vehicles ownership, fuel mix, annual mileage, engine capacity and technology of cars. The comparison of the results discloses the differences in the transportation profiles of the two countries and reveals how they affect the trend of CO 2 emissions.

49 CFR 1247.1 - Annual Report of Cars Loaded and Cars Terminated.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Annual Report of Cars Loaded and Cars Terminated... TRANSPORTATION BOARD, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) ACCOUNTS, RECORDS AND REPORTS REPORT OF CARS LOADED AND CARS TERMINATED § 1247.1 Annual Report of Cars Loaded and Cars Terminated. Beginning with the...

The Internationalisation of Family Firms: the Role of the Ownership Structure and the Composition of Top Management Team

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Wąsowska

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of family firm internationalisation, focusing on the roles of ownership (i.e. concentration of ownership, foreign ownership and management (i.e. involvement of nonfamily managers, owner-CEO. Research Design & Methods: We test our hypothesis using linear regression models and logistic regression models, based on a sample of 6,957 family firms from seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, UK. Findings: The concentration of ownership within the family hinders the propensity to export, but it has no effect on export intensity and export scope. Foreign ownership contributes to firm performance and that the impact of minority foreign ownership is more pronounced than the controlling foreign ownership. The involvement of nonfamily managers enhances internationalisation, and that owner-CEO hinders internationalisation, but only in terms of global exporting. Implications & Recommendations: The inclusion of outsiders (both in terms of ownership and management enhances family firms’ internationalisation. This finding is particularly relevant to family business planning to expand abroad. We encourage further research investigating the relationships between different dimensions of ‘familiness’ and firm internationalisation, preferably in a multi-country context (e.g. advanced versus emerging economies. Contribution & Value Added: The originality of this work lies in treating family firms as a heterogeneous group and investigating the impact of different dimensions of ’familiness’ (i.e. ownership structure, composition of TMTs upon an internationalisation strategy.

The Relationship Between Gun Ownership and Stranger and Nonstranger Firearm Homicide Rates in the United States, 1981–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Negussie, Yamrot; Vanture, Sarah; Pleskunas, Jane; Ross, Craig S.; King, Charles

2014-01-01

Objectives. We examined the relationship between gun ownership and stranger versus nonstranger homicide rates. Methods. Using data from the Supplemental Homicide Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports for all 50 states for 1981 to 2010, we modeled stranger and nonstranger homicide rates as a function of state-level gun ownership, measured by a proxy, controlling for potential confounders. We used a negative binomial regression model with fixed effects for year, accounting for clustering of observations among states by using generalized estimating equations. Results. We found no robust, statistically significant correlation between gun ownership and stranger firearm homicide rates. However, we found a positive and significant association between gun ownership and nonstranger firearm homicide rates. The incidence rate ratio for nonstranger firearm homicide rate associated with gun ownership was 1.014 (95% confidence interval = 1.009, 1.019). Conclusions. Our findings challenge the argument that gun ownership deters violent crime, in particular, homicides. PMID:25121817

Aerodynamic Improvements to Cargo Carrying Rail Cars due to Roof Modifications

Science.gov (United States)

Condie, Robert; Maynes, Daniel

2012-11-01

The aerodynamic drag associated with the transport of commodities by rail is becoming increasingly important as the cost of diesel fuel increases. We provide an assessment of the influence of the roof structure on aerodynamic performance of two dissimilar rail cars, namely automobile carrying cars and coal carrying cars. Currently, the roof material for automobile carrying rail cars is corrugated steel, with the corrugation aligned perpendicular to the direction of travel. Coal cars are currently left uncovered for loading convenience and on the return leg from the power plant are empty. Aerodynamic drag data have been obtained through wind tunnel testing on 1/29 scale models to understand the savings that may be realized by judicious modification to the tops of both these car types. For the automobile-carrying cars, testing is performed for the corrugated and smooth roof configurations. This modification alone has the potential of reducing the car drag coefficient by nominally 25%. A broader study is performed for the coal cars, with data being acquired for coal filled models, empty models, and several cover prototype configurations. The results reveal that implementation of a cover may yield reductions in the aerodynamic drag for both coal filled (nominally 7%) and empty coal cars (nominally 30%).

Tunneling and propping : a justification for pyramidal ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riyanto, Y.E.; Toolsema-Veldman, Linda

2004-01-01

This paper presents a formal model of tunneling and propping in a pyramidal ownership structure. Tunneling refers to controlling shareholders shifting resources from one firm to another in the same pyramid. Propping is tunneling that is done to save the receiving firm from bankruptcy. We compare the

Interpreting cost of ownership for mix-and-match lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Alan L.; Bergendahl, Albert S.

1994-05-01

Cost of ownership modeling is a critical and emerging tool that provides significant insight into the ways to optimize device manufacturing costs. The development of a model to deal with a particular application, mix-and-match lithography, was performed in order to determine the level of cost savings and the optimum ways to create these savings. The use of sensitivity analysis with cost of ownership allows the user to make accurate trade-offs between technology and cost. The use and interpretation of the model results are described in this paper. Parameters analyzed include several manufacturing considerations -- depreciation, maintenance, engineering and operator labor, floorspace, resist, consumables and reticles. Inherent in this study is the ability to customize this analysis for a particular operating environment. Results demonstrate the clear advantages of a mix-and-match approach for three different operating environments. These case studies also demonstrate various methods to efficiently optimize cost savings strategies.

Linguistic analysis of project ownership for undergraduate research experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanauer, D I; Frederick, J; Fotinakes, B; Strobel, S A

2012-01-01

We used computational linguistic and content analyses to explore the concept of project ownership for undergraduate research. We used linguistic analysis of student interview data to develop a quantitative methodology for assessing project ownership and applied this method to measure degrees of project ownership expressed by students in relation to different types of educational research experiences. The results of the study suggest that the design of a research experience significantly influences the degree of project ownership expressed by students when they describe those experiences. The analysis identified both positive and negative aspects of project ownership and provided a working definition for how a student experiences his or her research opportunity. These elements suggest several features that could be incorporated into an undergraduate research experience to foster a student's sense of project ownership.

INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP LEVEL AND RISK-ADJUSTED RETURN

OpenAIRE

Isaiah, Chioma; Li, Meng (Emma)

2017-01-01

This paper examines the relationship between the level of institutional ownership andrisk-adjusted return on stocks. We find a significant positive relationship between the level ofinstitutional ownership on a stock and its risk-adjusted return. This result holds both in the longrun and in shorter time periods. Our findings suggest that all things being equal, it is possible toobtain risk-adjusted return by going short on the stocks with low institutional ownership andgoing long on those with...

47 CFR 76.501 - Cross-ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... franchise area served by that cable operator's cable system, either directly or indirectly through an... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Ownership of Cable Systems § 76.501 Cross-ownership. (a)-(c) [Reserved] (d) No... control with the cable operator, offer SMATV service within its franchise area if the cable operator's...

49 CFR 172.330 - Tank cars and multi-unit tank car tanks.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Tank cars and multi-unit tank car tanks. 172.330..., TRAINING REQUIREMENTS, AND SECURITY PLANS Marking § 172.330 Tank cars and multi-unit tank car tanks. (a... material— (1) In a tank car unless the following conditions are met: (i) The tank car must be marked on...

Corporate boards and ownership structure: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Munisi, Gibson; Hermes, Niels; Randoy, Trond

2014-01-01

This study examines the relationship between board structure and ownership structure for firms listed on the stock exchanges of twelve Sub-Saharan African countries, using data for the period 2006–2009. We find that ownership concentration, foreign ownership and managerial ownership are negatively

OWNERSHIP POLICY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Branovitskiy

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines the ownership policy in Ukraine. It makes a survey of the following: the current situation at state-run enterprises and their efficiency; the key criteria of the classification of state-run enterprises for the privatization for the period of 2017-2020. The article evaluates the institutional changes coming from a new law on the privatization of state-owned property in Ukraine. It reveals the stages of making the ownership policy as a state strategy. It describes the measures meant to raise efficiency in the area of the public property management. The article assesses the state of play of the stock market in Ukraine as a mechanism to attract money to the real economy. It recommends attracting foreign investment to the public sector of economy following the restructuring process via IPO or sale to a strategic investor (Private equity. It considers the positive aspects in the completion of active privatization and the scope of the main privatization risks.

Ownership unbundling in the energy economy - for and against; Pro und Contra Ownership Unbundling in der Energiewirtschaft

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buedenbender, U. [Lehrstuhl fuer Buergerliches Recht, Energiewirtschaftsrecht und Arbeitsrecht der Technischen Univ. Dresden (Germany); Rosin, P. [Clifford Chance, Duesseldorf (Germany)

2007-08-15

The European Commission intends to boost competition in the energy economy through the concept of ownership unbundling. Aside from the fact that even after a dissolution of ownership the electricity network would remain a monopolistic domain requiring governmental regulation it is also questionable whether now is the right time for such a move. In discussing the main arguments brought forward by the Commission the present contribution shows that there is no necessity in Germany to introduce ownership unbundling. Not only are network operators already under an obligation to expand their networks; the present concept is also more likely to hamper than promote market integration and transnational trade. As for improving transparency, this can be achieved more easily through additional disclosure obligations. Price formation mechanisms on the wholesale markets have only recently come under the control of new regulations and agreements. And not least, the European Union has no legal mandate to unbundle network ownership.

Relationship between bank ownership concentration on capital ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Relationship between bank ownership concentration on capital adequacy, liquidity, ... In this study we explore the effects of ownership concentration on the ... are material factors in explaining banks' behavior and their market performance.

Correlates of credit card ownership in men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bijou; Lester, David

2005-06-01

In a sample of 352 students, correlates of credit card ownership differed by sex. For both men and women, credit card ownership was predicted by their affective attitude toward credit cards. However, whereas for men concern with money as a tactic for gaining power predicted credit card ownership, for women feelings of insecurity about having sufficient money and having a conservative approach to money predicted credit card ownership.

Learner Ownership of Technology-Enhanced Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Dommett, Eleanor J.

2018-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the different ways in which learners may have ownership over technology-enhanced learning by reflecting on technical, legal and psychological ownership. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a variety of examples of technology-enhanced learning ranging from open-source software to cloud storage to discuss…

Home Ownership, Job Duration, and Wages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munch, Jakob Roland; Rosholm, Michael; Svarer, Michael

We investigate the impact of home ownership on individual job mobility and wages in Denmark. We find that home ownership has a negative impact on job-to-job mobilityboth in terms of transition into new local jobs and new jobs outside the local labourmarket. In addition, there is a clear negative...

Influence in the car taxation system. Henkiloeautojen vermuutosten vaikutukset

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alppivuori, K; Kallberg, H; Pekki, M

1986-06-01

In Finland the car prices are exeptionally high due to car taxes included in the new car prices. The gasoline price, which is at international leve, includes also taxes. The aim of this study was to calculate the effects of reducing the car taxes and correspondingly rising fuel taxes so that the state income car taxation does not change. The study was performed in two stages: an interview and a simulation study. The interview was aimed at the general public (postal poll) and at experts in car trade (personal interview). The aim was to reveal the parameters in the economic models explaining the behaviour of the public in car purchasing and car use. The simulation study was performed to calculate quantitative changes in, e.g. car park, traffic volumes and energy consumption caused by supposed changes in the taxation. One of the main results was that unchanged taxation is leading to rapidly increasing traffic volumes and total taxes for car use.

State ownership and efficiency characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Abramov

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study examines the influence of state participation in the ownership structure of companies on their financial efficiency using a sample of 114 largest companies in Russia. As an indirect indicator of efficiency, we used a variety of financial indicators: revenue per employee (gross margin, return on equity, profit margin and debt burden. The effects of direct and indirect state ownership are considered separately. Using econometric analysis, we conclude that the dominance of the block of shares owned by the state has a negative effect on the performance characteristics, and its increase is associated with an increase in the debt burden of the companies. According to our criteria, state-owned enterprises (SOEs perform worse on average than private companies. The mechanism of how changes in the “real sector” affect profitability is examined particularly closely. The study shows that a change in the profitability of private companies is characterized by a significant dependence on the movement of labor productivity characteristics. At the same time, for SOEs, a similar correlation was not revealed. These companies demonstrated no visible relationship between their profitability and performance characteristics. The study shows that increases in the size of direct government ownership lead to lower labor productivity and profitability; the impact of indirect ownership is, seemingly, more complicated.

Corporate ownership and control in Victorian Britain

OpenAIRE

Acheson, Graeme G.; Campbell, Gareth; Turner, John D.; Vanteeva, Nadia

2015-01-01

Using ownership and control data for 890 firm‐years, this article examines the concentration of capital and voting rights in British companies in the second half of the nineteenth century. We find that both capital and voting rights were diffuse by modern‐day standards. However, this does not necessarily mean that there was a modern‐style separation of ownership from control in Victorian Britain. One major implication of our findings is that diffuse ownership was present in the UK much earlie...

Ownership Concentration and Market Value of European Banks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Busta, Ildura; Sinani, Evis; Thomsen, Steen

2014-01-01

This paper investigates the relationship between ownership concentration and market value of European banks, and the role of the institutional environment in shaping this relationship. Using GMM dynamic estimator on a sample of European banks over a 13-year period (1993–2005) we find on average...... concentration is positive in Scandinavia. We propose that, besides the legal protection of small investors, the differences in the impact of ownership concentration across the countries could be due to the identity of the predominant owners, i.e. financial institutions in Germany and trusts and foundations...... a negative effect of ownership concentration on bank value, measured by Tobin's Q. However, this effect varies across different institutional settings; while higher ownership concentration results in a lower bank value particularly in the countries belonging to German legal family, the impact of ownership...

An extended car-following model at un-signalized intersections under V2V communication environment

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tao; Li, Peng

2018-01-01

An extended car-following model is proposed in this paper to analyze the impacts of V2V (vehicle to vehicle) communication on the micro driving behavior at the un-signalized intersection. A four-leg un-signalized intersection with twelve streams (left-turn, through movement, and right turn from each leg) is used. The effect of the guidance strategy on the reduction of the rate of stops and total delay is explored by comparing the proposed model and the traditional FVD car-following model. The numerical results illustrate that potential conflicts between vehicles can be predicted and some stops can be avoided by decelerating in advance. The driving comfort and traffic efficiency can be improved accordingly. More benefits could be obtained under the long communication range, low to medium traffic density, and simple traffic pattern conditions. PMID:29425243

Should Diesel cars in Europe be discouraged?

OpenAIRE

Mayeres, Inge; Proost, Stef

2001-01-01

This paper examines the rationale for the different tax treatment of gasoline and diesel cars currently observed in Europe. First, we analyse possible justifications for a different tax treatment: pure tax revenue considerations, externality cons0iderations and constraints on the tax instruments used for cars and trucks. Next, an applied general equilibrium model is used to assess the welfare effects of revenue neutral changes in the vehicle and fuel taxes on diesel and gasoline cars. The mod...

Support Schemes and Ownership Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ropenus, Stephanie; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten; Costa, Ana

, Denmark, France and Portugal. Another crucial aspect for the diffusion of the mCHP technology is possible ownership structures. These may range from full consumer ownership to ownership by utilities and energy service companies, which is discussed in Section 6. Finally, a conclusion (Section 7) wraps up......In recent years, fuel cell based micro‐combined heat and power has received increasing attention due to its potential contribution to energy savings, efficiency gains, customer proximity and flexibility in operation and capacity size. The FC4Home project assesses technical and economic aspects...... of support scheme simultaneously affects risk and technological development, which is the focus of Section 4. Subsequent to this conceptual overview, Section 5 takes a glance at the national application of support schemes for mCHP in practice, notably in the three country cases of the FC4Home project...

Choice of ownership structure and firm performance: Evidence from Estonia

OpenAIRE

Jones, Derek C.; Kalmi, Panu; Mygind, Niels

2003-01-01

In this paper we use rich panel data for a representative sample of Estonian enterprises to analyse diverse issues related to the determinants of ownership structures and ownership changes after privatisation. A key focus is to determine whether ownership changes are related to economic efficiency. While employee owned firms are found to be much more prone than other firms to switch ownership categories, often “employee owned” firms remain “insider-owned” as ownership passes from current empl...

The Relationship between Ownership Structure and Risk Management: Evidence from Iran

OpenAIRE

Sheyda Lotfi; Ataollah Mohammadi

2014-01-01

This research aims to study the relationship between the Ownership Structure and Risk Management in time period between 2007 to 2013 based on a sample including 642 Year_Firm among campanies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. In following for each of the variables related to the Ownership Structure such as Institutional Ownership, Management ownership, Family Ownership, and Ownership Concentration, a hypothesis is formulated and its impact upon the Risk Management is investigated. The simple li...

Home ownership, job duration, and wages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munch, Jakob Roland; Rosholm, Michael; Svarer, Michael

2008-01-01

We investigate the impact of home ownership on individual job mobility and wages in Denmark. We find that home ownership has a negative impact on job-to-job mobility both in terms of transition into new local jobs and new jobs outside the local labor market. In addition, there is a clear negative...

Home Ownership, Job Duration, and Wages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munch, Jakob Roland; Rosholm, Michael; Svarer, Michael

We investigate the impact of home ownership on individual job mobility and wages in Denmark. We find that home ownership has a negative impact on job-to-job mobility both in terms of transition into new local jobs and new jobs outside the local labour market. In addition, there is a clear negative...

Effects of Car Accidents on Three-Lane Traffic Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianzhong Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A three-lane traffic flow model is proposed to investigate the effect of car accidents on the traffic flow. The model is an extension of the full velocity difference (FVD model by taking into account the lane changing. The extended lane-changing rules are presented to model the lane-changing behaviour. The cases that the car accidents occupy the exterior or interior lane, the medium lane, and two lanes are studied by numerical simulations. The time-space diagrams and the current diagrams are presented, and the traffic jams are investigated. The results show that the car accident has a different effect on the traffic flow when it occupies different lanes. The car accidents have a more serious effect on the whole road when they occupy two lanes. The larger the density is, the greater the influence on the traffic flow becomes.

Simulating the impact of policy, energy prices and technological progress on the passenger car fleet in Austria-A model based analysis 2010-2050

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kloess, Maximilian; Mueller, Andreas

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the effects of policy, fuel prices and technological progress on the Austrian passenger car fleet in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To analyse these effects a simulation model is used. We model the car fleet from a bottom-up perspective, with a detailed coverage of vehicle specifications and propulsion technologies. The model focuses on the technological trend toward electrified propulsion systems and their potential effects on the fleet's energy consumption and GHG emissions. To represent the impact of prices and income on the development of the fleet, we combine the fleet model with top-down demand models. We developed two scenarios for the time frame 2010-2050, using two different sets of assumptions for regulatory development and conditions of increasing fossil fuel prices and continuous technological progress in vehicle propulsion technologies. The results indicate that material cuts in energy consumption and GHG emissions can be achieved with changes to the political framework for passenger cars. Appropriate taxation of fuels and cars can stabilise demand for individual motorised transport and lead to an improvement in vehicle efficiency by fostering the adoption of efficient vehicle propulsion technologies and low carbon fuels. - Highlights: → We present a simulation model for future energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in passenger car transport. → We develop scenarios up to 2050 assuming two different policy schemes. → Policy strongly affects energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in passenger car transport. → Policy can slow down growth in demand for passenger car transport. → Policy can promote the diffusion of more efficient propulsion technologies and low carbon fuels.

An extended two-lane car-following model accounting for inter-vehicle communication

Science.gov (United States)

Ou, Hui; Tang, Tie-Qiao

2018-04-01

In this paper, we develop a novel car-following model with inter-vehicle communication to explore each vehicle's movement in a two-lane traffic system when an incident occurs on a lane. The numerical results show that the proposed model can perfectly describe each vehicle's motion when an incident occurs, i.e., no collision occurs while the classical full velocity difference (FVD) model produces collision on each lane, which shows the proposed model is more reasonable. The above results can help drivers to reasonably adjust their driving behaviors when an incident occurs in a two-lane traffic system.

ADULTEROUS BEHAVIOUR WITHIN THE CAR-OWNER COUPLE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francis PAPON

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper was to analyse two activities: who rents a car and why? Which households share the driving of their cars? In order to do that, the Parc-Auto (Car-Fleet database, built from annual postal surveys conducted with a panel of 10,000 French households, has been processed. Among approximately one hundred questions in the survey, two key questions have been crossed against many social, economic, demographic, geographic or time variables. KQ1: “During the last 12 months, did you — or another person from your home — rent a car in France for personal purposes?” KQ2: “Is this car occasionally used by other persons?” Here are the main findings. Renting households are mainly working, high income households, living in the core of big cities, and in particular in Paris. Most of them have two wage-sheets and two cars, one of which is generally a recent, high power, high quality car. Car rental is mainly an occasional practice. Yet for a minority of renters, it is a sustained habit. Households with more licence holders than cars share the most: about three quarters of them share their cars. On the contrary, single driver-single car households have less opportunity to share: only 15% share. Household car sharing shed light on the gender role within households: while 58% of the main users of the shared cars are male, 55% of secondary users are female. Household car sharing is mainly a regular practice. Finally, without diminishing the merits of innovative transport solutions proposed here and there, it is not a waste of time to give some insight on self established behaviour within households. This reveals that complex patterns have been built over time by the people themselves, to cope with diverse situations that cannot be easily handled by straightforward classifications. The car cannot be reduced to a personal object. Household car sharing also carries strong links with the issue of car dependency. Sifting car

Knowledge sharing and affective commitment: the mediating role of psychological ownership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Jian; Yuan, Ling; Ning, Lutao

2015-01-01

and key knowledge sharing, while KPO exerted a negative impact on both; common knowledge sharing was positively related to key knowledge sharing; the relationship between affective commitment and key knowledge sharing was multi-mediated by OPO and common knowledge sharing. Originality/value – OPO and KPO....../methodology/approach – This paper is an empirical study based on structural equation modelling, with a sample of 293 employees from 31 high-technology firms in China. Findings – The result indicated that affective commitment had a significant positive effect on OPO but no effect on KPO; OPO was positively related to both common......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meditating role of psychological ownership which includes both organisation-based psychological ownership (OPO) and knowledge-based psychological ownership (KPO) on the relationship between affective commitment and knowledge sharing. Design...

Body ownership and embodiment: vestibular and multisensory mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, C; Halje, P; Blanke, O

2008-06-01

Body ownership and embodiment are two fundamental mechanisms of self-consciousness. The present article reviews neurological data about paroxysmal illusions during which body ownership and embodiment are affected differentially: autoscopic phenomena (out-of-body experience, heautoscopy, autoscopic hallucination, feeling-of-a-presence) and the room tilt illusion. We suggest that autoscopic phenomena and room tilt illusion are related to different types of failures to integrate body-related information (vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile cues) in addition to a mismatch between vestibular and visual references. In these patients, altered body ownership and embodiment has been shown to occur due to pathological activity at the temporoparietal junction and other vestibular-related areas arguing for a key importance of vestibular processing. We also review the possibilities of manipulating body ownership and embodiment in healthy subjects through exposition to weightlessness as well as caloric and galvanic stimulation of the peripheral vestibular apparatus. In healthy subjects, disturbed self-processing might be related to interference of vestibular stimulation with vestibular cortex leading to disintegration of bodily information and altered body ownership and embodiment. We finally propose a differential contribution of the vestibular cortical areas to the different forms of altered body ownership and embodiment.

The Formation of Usage Intention of Electric Cars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barbarossa, Camilla; de Pelsmacker, Patrick; Beckmann, Suzanne C.

2015-01-01

In this chapter we propose a model in which green self-identity (GSI) is an antecedent of both environmental concern (EC) and moral obligation (MO), which in turn influence the attitude towards electric cars (ATT). GSI is also assumed to have a direct effect on ATT. The attitude towards...... the electric car then determines the intention to adopt it. The model is empirically tested in three culturally different European countries: Denmark, Belgium and Italy. Results show that the three countries differ in the way they develop positive attitudes and intentions towards the electric car on the basis...

Is this car looking at you? How anthropomorphism predicts fusiform face area activation when seeing cars.

Science.gov (United States)

Kühn, Simone; Brick, Timothy R; Müller, Barbara C N; Gallinat, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Anthropomorphism encompasses the attribution of human characteristics to non-living objects. In particular the human tendency to see faces in cars has long been noticed, yet its neural correlates are unknown. We set out to investigate whether the fusiform face area (FFA) is associated with seeing human features in car fronts, or whether, the higher-level theory of mind network (ToM), namely temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) show a link to anthropomorphism. Twenty participants underwent fMRI scanning during a passive car-front viewing task. We extracted brain activity from FFA, TPJ and MPFC. After the fMRI session participants were asked to spontaneously list adjectives that characterize each car front. Five raters judged the degree to which each adjective can be applied as a characteristic of human beings. By means of linear mixed models we found that the implicit tendency to anthropomorphize individual car fronts predicts FFA, but not TPJ or MPFC activity. The results point to an important role of FFA in the phenomenon of ascribing human attributes to non-living objects. Interestingly, brain regions that have been associated with thinking about beliefs and mental states of others (TPJ, MPFC) do not seem to be related to anthropomorphism of car fronts.

Franchise ownership redirection: real options perspective

OpenAIRE

Nugroho, Lukito Adi

2016-01-01

Background: For over 40 years, the franchise ownership redirection hypothesis has attracted the attention of many scholars. This study, differing from previous ones, proposes an alternative approach for this hypothesis using a real options framework with the extension of agency theory. Method: The real options model is built using the least square Monte Carlo method, where the franchisor's decision to franchise is perceived as a deferred investment while maintaining the right of future acquis...

Family Pet Ownership during Childhood: Findings from a UK Birth Cohort and Implications for Public Health Research

Science.gov (United States)

Westgarth, Carri; Heron, Jon; Ness, Andy R.; Bundred, Peter; Gaskell, Rosalind M.; Coyne, Karen P.; German, Alexander J.; McCune, Sandra; Dawson, Susan

2010-01-01

In developed nations, approximately half of household environments contain pets. Studies of Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) have proposed that there are health benefits and risks associated with pet ownership. However, accurately demonstrating and understanding these relationships first requires a better knowledge of factors associated with ownership of different pet types. A UK birth cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), were used to collect pet ownership data from the mothers, from gestation to child age 10 years old. 14,663 children were included in the study, of which mothers of 13,557 reported pet information at gestation, and 7,800 by age 10. Pet types recorded include cat, dog, rabbit, rodent, bird, fish and tortoise/turtle. The dataset also contains a number of demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural variables relevant to human health behaviour. Logistic regression was used to build multivariable models for ownership of each pet type at age 7 years. Family pet ownership increased during childhood, in particular rabbits, rodents and fish. A number of socioeconomic and demographic factors were associated with ownership of different pet types and the effects differed depending on the pet type studied. Variables which require consideration by researchers include gender, presence of older siblings, ethnicity, maternal and paternal education, maternal and paternal social class, maternal age, number of people in the household, house type, and concurrent ownership of other pets. Whether the mother had pets during her childhood was a strong predictor of pet ownership in all models. In HAI studies, care should be taken to control for confounding factors, and to treat each pet type individually. ALSPAC and other similar birth cohorts can be considered a potential resource for research into the effects of pet ownership during childhood. PMID:21139856

Family Pet Ownership during Childhood: Findings from a UK Birth Cohort and Implications for Public Health Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon Heron

2010-10-01

Full Text Available In developed nations, approximately half of household environments contain pets. Studies of Human-Animal Interaction (HAI have proposed that there are health benefits and risks associated with pet ownership. However, accurately demonstrating and understanding these relationships first requires a better knowledge of factors associated with ownership of different pet types. A UK birth cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, were used to collect pet ownership data from the mothers, from gestation to child age 10 years old. 14,663 children were included in the study, of which mothers of 13,557 reported pet information at gestation, and 7,800 by age 10. Pet types recorded include cat, dog, rabbit, rodent, bird, fish and tortoise/turtle. The dataset also contains a number of demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural variables relevant to human health behaviour. Logistic regression was used to build multivariable models for ownership of each pet type at age 7 years. Family pet ownership increased during childhood, in particular rabbits, rodents and fish. A number of socioeconomic and demographic factors were associated with ownership of different pet types and the effects differed depending on the pet type studied. Variables which require consideration by researchers include gender, presence of older siblings, ethnicity, maternal and paternal education, maternal and paternal social class, maternal age, number of people in the household, house type, and concurrent ownership of other pets. Whether the mother had pets during her childhood was a strong predictor of pet ownership in all models. In HAI studies, care should be taken to control for confounding factors, and to treat each pet type individually. ALSPAC and other similar birth cohorts can be considered a potential resource for research into the effects of pet ownership during childhood.

Analysis and Prediction on Vehicle Ownership Based on an Improved Stochastic Gompertz Diffusion Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huapu Lu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at introducing a new improved stochastic differential equation related to Gompertz curve for the projection of vehicle ownership growth. This diffusion model explains the relationship between vehicle ownership and GDP per capita, which has been studied as a Gompertz-like function before. The main innovations of the process lie in two parts: by modifying the deterministic part of the original Gompertz equation, the model can present the remaining slow increase when the S-shaped curve has reached its saturation level; by introducing the stochastic differential equation, the model can better fit the real data when there are fluctuations. Such comparisons are carried out based on data from US, UK, Japan, and Korea with a time span of 1960–2008. It turns out that the new process behaves better in fitting curves and predicting short term growth. Finally, a prediction of Chinese vehicle ownership up to 2025 is presented with the new model, as China is on the initial stage of motorization with much fluctuations in growth.

Positive and negative spillover effects from electric car purchase to car use

OpenAIRE

Kløckner, Christian; Nayum, Alim; Mehmetoglu, Mehmet

2013-01-01

This study reports the results of two online surveys conducted on buyers of conventional combustion engine cars compared to those of electric vehicles in Norway. The results show that electric cars are generally purchased as additional cars, do not contribute to a decrease in annual mileage if the old car is not substituted, and that electric car buyers use the car more often for their everyday mobility. Psychological determinants derived from the theory of planned behavior and the norm-activ...

Ownership dynamics in local multi-stakeholder initiatives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K. Biekart (Kees); A.F. Fowler (Alan)

2018-01-01

textabstractThe nature and dynamics of ownership are often neglected features of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Seventeen cases in four countries illustrate characteristics of narrow government or broad societal ownership and forces for change over time. Refinements to the application of

The effect of fiscal incentives on market penetration of electric vehicles: A pairwise comparison of total cost of ownership

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lévay, Petra Zsuzsa; Drossinos, Yannis; Thiel, Christian

2017-01-01

An important barrier to electric vehicle (EV) sales is their high purchase price compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. We conducted total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations to study how costs and sales of EVs relate to each other and to examine the role of fiscal incentives in reducing TCO and increasing EV sales. We composed EV-ICE vehicle pairs that allowed cross-segment and cross-country comparison in eight European countries. Actual car prices were used to calculate the incentives for each model in each country. We found a negative TCO-sales relationship that differs across car segments. Compared to their ICE vehicle pair, big EVs have lower TCO, higher sales, and seem to be less price responsive than small EVs. Three country groups can be distinguished according to the level of fiscal incentives and their impact on TCO and EV sales. In Norway, incentives led to the lowest TCO for the EVs. In the Netherlands, France, and UK the TCO of EVs is close to the TCO of the ICE pairs. In the other countries the TCO of EVs exceeds that of the ICE vehicles. We found that exemptions from flat taxes favour big EVs, while lump-sum subsidies favour small EVs. - Highlights: • Pairwise comparison of EV and ICE vehicle TCO and sales in eight European countries. • In NO, EV TCO is lower than ICE TCO; in NL, FR, and UK, EV TCO is slightly higher. • Compared to ICE vehicles, big EVs have lower TCO and higher sales than small EVs. • Exemptions from flat taxes favour big EVs, lump-sum subsidies favour small EVs. • Most popular EV models: Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.

Analysis of Flexible Car Body of Straddle Monorail Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Yuanmu

2018-03-01

Based on the finite element model of straddle monorail vehicle, a rigid-flexible coupling dynamic model considering vehicle body’s flexibility is established. The influence of vertical stiffness and vertical damping of the running wheel on the modal parameters of the car body is analyzed. The effect of flexible car body on modal parameters and vehicle ride quality is also studied. The results show that when the vertical stiffness of running wheel is less than 1 MN / m, the car body bounce and pitch frequency increase with the increasing of the vertical stiffness of the running wheel, when the running wheel vertical stiffness is 1MN / m or more, car body bounce and pitch frequency remained unchanged; When the vertical stiffness of the running wheel is below 1.8 MN / m, the vehicle body bounce and pitch damping ratio increase with the increasing of the vertical stiffness of the running wheel; When the running wheel vertical stiffness is 1.8MN / m or more, the car body bounce and pitch damping ratio remained unchanged; The running wheel vertical damping on the car body bounce and pitch frequency has no effect; Car body bounce and pitch damping ratio increase with the increasing of the vertical damping of the running wheel. The flexibility of the car body has no effect on the modal parameters of the car, which will improve the vehicle ride quality index.

Ownership concentration, choice of auditors, and firm performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farooq, Omar; El Kacemi, Youssef

2011-01-01

of the agency problems embedded in their ownership structure, appoint one of big-four auditors as their external auditor to signal the market that they are disclosing reliable information. Our results also show a significantly positive relationship between ownership concentration and the choice of auditor. We......, further, show that for a given level of ownership concentration, appointing one of the big-four auditors lead to superior firm performance....

Relationship Between Vehicle Size and Fatality Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

Fatality rates per million exposure years are computed by make, model and model year, : based on the crash experience of model year 1985-93 passenger cars and light trucks (pickups) vans : and sport utility vehicles) in the United States during calen...

The Feedback Control Strategy of the Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Car-Following Model with Two Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cong Zhai

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the driver’s sensing the headway and velocity the different time-varying delays exist, respectively, and the sensitivity of drivers changes with headway and speed. Introducing the fuzzy control theory, a new fuzzy car-following model with two delays is presented, and the feedback control strategy of the new fuzzy car-following model is studied. Based on the Lyapunov function theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI approach, the sufficient condition that the existence of the fuzzy controller is given making the closed-loop system is asymptotic, stable; namely, traffic congestion phenomenon can effectively be suppressed, and the controller gain matrix can be obtained via solving linear matrix inequality. Finally, the simulation examples verify that the method which suppresses traffic congestion and reduces fuel consumption and exhaust emissions is effective.

Associations of Pet Ownership with Wheezing and Lung Function in Childhood: Findings from a UK Birth Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Collin, Simon M; Granell, Raquel; Westgarth, Carri; Murray, Jane; Paul, Elizabeth S; Sterne, Jonathan A C; Henderson, A John

2015-01-01

Asthma is a heterogeneous condition and differential effects of pet ownership on non-atopic versus atopic asthma have been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether pet ownership during pregnancy and early childhood was associated with wheezing from birth to age 7 years and with lung function at age 8 years in a UK population-based birth cohort. Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were used to investigate associations of pet ownership at six time-points from pregnancy to age 7 years with concurrent episodes of wheezing, wheezing trajectories (phenotypes) and lung function at age 8 years using logistic regression models adjusted for child's sex, maternal history of asthma/atopy, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and family adversity. 4,706 children had complete data on pet ownership and wheezing. From birth to age 7 years, cat ownership was associated with an overall 6% lower odds of wheezing (OR=0.94 (0.89-0.99)). Rabbit and rodent ownership was associated with 21% (OR=1.21 (1.12-1.31)) and 11% (OR=1.11 (1.02-1.21)) higher odds of wheezing, respectively, with strongest effects evident during infancy. Rabbit and rodent ownership was positively associated with a 'persistent wheeze' phenotype. Pet ownership was not associated with lung function at age 8 years, with the exception of positive associations of rodent and bird ownership with better lung function. Cat ownership was associated with reduced risk, and rabbit and rodent ownership with increased risk, of wheezing during childhood. The mechanisms behind these differential effects warrant further investigation.

Aerodynamic effects by cooling flows within engine room of a car model

Science.gov (United States)

Sawaguchi, T.; Takakura, Y.

2017-10-01

The purpose of this research is to clarify the change of characteristics of aerodynamic drag and lift of a car by the engine loading system (engine arrangement) and the air inlet system (opening area and position) with and without a radiator in wind-tunnel experiments. A simplified car model with 1/5 scale is generated with reproduction of the engine room covered with the transparent acryl externals for visualization. In the wind-tunnel experiments, the moving-belt ground board is adopted to include ground effects with force measurements by use of load cells. The flows are visualized by the smoke method. As results, with enlargement of the opening area, the drag increased overall although depending largely on the engine loading system and the inlet opening position, the front lift increased and the rear left decreased; the effect of the radiator was to relieve the change of the drag and lift.

Incarceration and Household Asset Ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Kristin; Schneider, Daniel

2016-12-01

A considerable literature documents the deleterious economic consequences of incarceration. However, little is known about the consequences of incarceration for household assets-a distinct indicator of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to the survival of low-income families-or about the spillover economic consequences of incarceration for families. In this article, we use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how incarceration is associated with asset ownership among formerly incarcerated men and their romantic partners. Results, which pay careful attention to the social forces that select individuals into incarceration, show that incarceration is negatively associated with ownership of a bank account, vehicle, and home among men and that these consequences for asset ownership extend to the romantic partners of these men. These associations are concentrated among men who previously held assets. Results also show that post-incarceration changes in romantic relationships are an important pathway by which even short-term incarceration depletes assets.

Parcels and Land Ownership - Volusia County Parcels (Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Local Govt | GIS Inventory — Parcel Ownership Polygon Layer: Polygons showing property ownership created from the "master" subdivision base map for Volusia County. Multiple lots and parcels...

A new coupled map car-following model considering drivers' steady desired speed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Tong; Sun Di-Hua; Li Hua-Min; Liu Wei-Ning

2014-01-01

Based on the pioneering work of Konishi et al., in consideration of the influence of drivers' steady desired speed effect on the traffic flow, we develop a new coupled map car-following model in the real world. By use of the control theory, the stability condition of our model is derived. The validity of the present theoretical scheme is verified via numerical simulation, confirming the correctness of our theoretical analysis. (general)

Auralization of Accelerating Passenger Cars Using Spectral Modeling Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reto Pieren

2015-12-01

Full Text Available While the technique of auralization has been in use for quite some time in architectural acoustics, the application to environmental noise has been discovered only recently. With road traffic noise being the dominant noise source in most countries, particular interest lies in the synthesis of realistic pass-by sounds. This article describes an auralizator for pass-bys of accelerating passenger cars. The key element is a synthesizer that simulates the acoustical emission of different vehicles, driving on different surfaces, under different operating conditions. Audio signals for the emitted tire noise, as well as the propulsion noise are generated using spectral modeling synthesis, which gives complete control of the signal characteristics. The sound of propulsion is synthesized as a function of instantaneous engine speed, engine load and emission angle, whereas the sound of tires is created in dependence of vehicle speed and emission angle. The sound propagation is simulated by applying a series of time-variant digital filters. To obtain the corresponding steering parameters of the synthesizer, controlled experiments were carried out. The tire noise parameters were determined from coast-by measurements of passenger cars with idling engines. To obtain the propulsion noise parameters, measurements at different engine speeds, engine loads and emission angles were performed using a chassis dynamometer. The article shows how, from the measured data, the synthesizer parameters are calculated using audio signal processing.

The development of CAR design for tumor CAR-T cell therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Dandan; Jin, Guoliang; Chai, Dafei; Zhou, Xiaowan; Gu, Weiyu; Chong, Yanyun; Song, Jingyuan; Zheng, Junnian

2018-03-02

In recent years, the chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (Chimeric antigen receptor T cells, CAR-T) immunotherapy has developed rapidly, which has been considered the most promising therapy. Efforts to enhance the efficacy of CAR-based anti-tumor therapy have been made, such as the improvement of structures of CAR-T cells, including the development of extracellular antigen recognition receptors, intracellular co-stimulatory molecules and the combination application of CARs and synthetic small molecules. In addition, effects on the function of the CAR-T cells that the space distance between the antigen binding domains and tumor targets and the length of the spacer domains have are also being investigated. Given the fast-moving nature of this field, it is necessary to make a summary of the development of CAR-T cells. In this review, we mainly focus on the present design strategies of CAR-T cells with the hope that they can provide insights to increase the anti-tumor efficacy and safety.

Transit Car Performance Comparison, State-of-the-Art Car vs. PATCO Transit Car, NYCTA R-46, MBTA Silverbirds

Science.gov (United States)

1978-02-01

The first phase of this contract authorized the design, development, and demonstration of two State-Of-The-Art Cars (SOAC). This document reports on the gathering of comparative test data on existing in-service transit cars. The three transit cars se...

Corporate Ownership by Industrial Foundations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Steen

1999-01-01

Industrial foundations are self-governing non profit institutions that own business companies. This ownership structure is found in a fair number of Northern European companies, some of them successful world class competitors. Standard agency theory would predict foundation-owned companies...... to be relatively inefficient since they lack monitoring by residual claimants and access to equity finance from the stock market. Nevertheless, empirical research (Thomsen 1996) has found that Danish foundation-owned companies do no worse in terms of profitability and growth than companies with dispersed ownership...

Evolution of the crashworthiness and aggressivity of the Spanish car fleet.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez Méndez, Alvaro; Aparicio Izquierdo, Francisco; Arenas Ramírez, Blanca

2010-11-01

This paper investigates the relationship between a passenger car's year of registration and its crashworthiness and aggressivity in real-world crashes. Crashworthiness is defined as the ability of a car to protect its own occupants, and has been evaluated in single and two-car crashes. Aggressivity is defined as the ability to protect users travelling in other vehicles, and has been evaluated only in two-car crashes. The dependent variable is defined as the proportion of injured drivers who are killed or seriously injured; following previous research, we refer to this magnitude as injury severity. A decrease in the injury severity of a driver is interpreted as an improvement in the crashworthiness of their car; similarly, a decrease in the injury severity of the opponent driver is regarded as an improvement in aggressivity. Data have been extracted from the Spanish Road Accident Database, which contains information on every accident registered by the police in which at least one person was injured. Two types of regression models have been used: logistic regression models in single-car crashes, and generalised estimating equations (GEE) models in two-car crashes. GEE allow to take account of the correlation between the injury severities of drivers involved in the same crash. The independent variables considered have been: year of registration of the subject car (crashworthiness component), year of registration of the opponent car (aggressivity component), and several factors related to road, driver and environment. Our models confirm that crashworthiness has largely improved in two-car crashes: when crashing into the average opponent car, drivers of cars registered before 1985 have a significantly higher probability of being killed or seriously injured than drivers of cars registered in 2000-2005 (odds ratio: 1.80; 95% confidence interval: 1.61; 2.01). In single-car crashes, the improvement in crashworthiness is very slight (odds ratio: 1.04; 95% confidence interval

A parametric study of influence of material properties on car cabin environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pokorny Jan

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Recently the author presented the paper describing a car cabin heat load model for the prediction of the car cabin environment. The model allowed to simulate a transient behavior of the car cabin, i.e. radiant temperature of surfaces, air temperature and relative humidity. The model was developed in Dymola and was built on the basic principles of thermodynamics and heat balance equations. The model was validated by experiments performed on the Škoda Felicia during various operational conditions. In this paper the authors present a parametric study investigating influence of material properties on a car cabin environment. The Matlab version of the car cabin heat load model has been developed and used. The model was extended by simple graphical user interface and it was deployed into the stand alone executable application. The aim of this parametric study is to identify most important material properties and its effect on the cabin environment during specific operational conditions of car. By means of a sensitive analysis it can identified which material parameters have to be defined precisely and which parameters are not so important for the prediction of the air temperature inside cabin.

OWNERSHIP AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE OF PAKISTANI NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS

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Khan Shoaib

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Existi ng literature has not yet defi ned a clear-cut relati onship between ownership structure and capital structure. This study aims to contribute to this controversial argument by examining the impact of internal (managerial ownership and external ownership on fi nancing preferences using the case of non-fi nancial fi rms listed on Karachi stock exchange during the period of 2008-2012. Our results suggest that the external ownership has a signifi cant eff ect on capital structure in accordance with the presence of blockholders. In contrast, the internal ownership has a complicated eff ect; it shows signifi cant positi ve and negati ve relati onship to leverage at lower and certain higher proporti on of managerial shareholding respecti vely. Besides, the combined analyses suggest that the presence of blockholders negates the impact of managerial ownership on capital structure. This implies that the presence of large and dominant shareholders in Pakistani fi rms may have caused a bias for debt fi nancing to protect their voti ng power and returns.

Fault diagnosis in hydraulic motor car brakes using model-based methods; Fehlerdiagnose von hydraulischen Kfz-Bremssystemen mit modellbasierten Methoden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Straky, H.; Boerner, M.; Isermann, R. [Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany). Inst. fuer Automatisierungstechnik

2002-07-01

The design and development of a model-supported monitoring and diagnosis sstem for motor car brakes is described. After a theoretical analysis of braking system dynamics, a model for calculating the brake liquid loss volume is established, and a model-supported monitoring system is developed on this basis. Early detection of small defects like leakages and air bubbles will make car brakes and motor car operation safer. [German] Am Beispiel der funktionellen Integration von analytischem Prozesswissen wurde in diesem Beitrag der Entwurf und die Entwicklung eines modellgestuetzten Ueberwachungs- und Diagnosesystems fuer Kfz-Bremssysteme beschrieben. Ueber die Analogie zwischen hydraulischen und elektrotechnischen Systemen mit konzentrierten Parametern, wurde eine theoretische Analyse der Bremssystemdynamik durchgefuehrt und ein Zustandsraummodell zur Bremsanlage erstellt, welches die Berechnung des im Fehlerfall entstehenden Bremsfluessigkeitsverlustvolumens ermoeglicht. Darauf aufbauend wurde ein modellgestuetztes Ueberwachungssystem entwickelt, welches durch eine fruehzeitige Erkennung kleiner Fehler wie Leckagen oder Luftblasen in Kfz-Bremssystemen einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Steigerung der Fahrsicherheit von Kraftfahrzeugen leisten kann. (orig.)

Car Seat Safety

Science.gov (United States)

... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Car Seat Safety KidsHealth / For Parents / Car Seat Safety ... certified child passenger safety technician.) Guidelines for Choosing Car Seats Choose a seat with a label that ...

Car Sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... Preventable Diseases Healthy Children > Health Issues > Conditions > Head Neck & Nervous System > Car Sickness Health Issues Listen Español Text Size Email Print Share Car Sickness Page Content ...

Mapping strategy, structure, ownership and performance in European corporations : Introduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Colli, A.; Iversen, M.J.; de Jong, A.

2011-01-01

This paper is the introduction to the Business History special issue on European Business Models. The volume presents results of the international project about mapping European corporations, within the strategy, structure, ownership and performance (SSOP) framework. The paper describes the

Does investor-ownership of nursing homes compromise the quality of care?

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Charlene; Woolhandler, Steffie; Mullan, Joseph; Carrillo, Helen; Himmelstein, David U

2002-01-01

Quality problems have long plagued the nursing home industry. While two-thirds of U.S. nursing homes are investor-owned, few studies have examined the impact of investor-ownership on the quality of care. The authors analyzed 1998 data from inspections of 13,693 nursing facilities representing virtually all U.S. nursing homes. They grouped deficiency citations issued by inspectors into three categories ("quality of care," "quality of life," and "other") and compared deficiency rates in investor-owned, nonprofit, and public nursing homes. A multivariate model was used to control for case mix, percentage of residents covered by Medicaid, whether the facility was hospital-based, whether it was a skilled nursing facility for Medicare only, chain ownership, and location by state. The study also assessed nurse staffing. The authors found that investor-owned nursing homes provide worse care and less nursing care than nonprofit or public homes. Investor-owned facilities averaged 5.89 deficiencies per home, 46.5 percent higher than nonprofit and 43.0 percent higher than public facilities, and also had more of each category of deficiency. In the multivariate analysis, investor-ownership predicted 0.679 additional deficiencies per home; chain-ownership predicted an additional 0.633 deficiencies per home. Nurse staffing ratios were markedly lower at investor-owned homes.

Is ownership the decisive factor in collaborations between occupational health services and client companies?

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Lisa; Sjöström, John; Antonsson, Ann-Beth

2017-01-01

Swedish employers are required to use external resources such as Occupational Health Services (OHS providers) if their own knowledge of occupational health and safety is insufficient. Some large employers have their own in-house OHS units but it is more common to engage the services of an external provider. However, no studies have been carried out from a critical perspective regarding how ownership of the OHS provider is related to a successful collaboration with client companies. This study explores the extent to which the six key factors for a successful collaboration are related to ownership and seeks to identify the challenges that the different models of ownership pose. Interviews with 15 client companies and their OHS providers were conducted in order to identify key factors in achieving a successful collaboration with an OHS provider. This study utilizes existing data to identify challenges related to ownership. Two key factors were identified with challenges related to ownership of the OHS provider: The importance of having a long-term perspective when building a relationship; and ensuring that collaboration extends beyond the client's HR Department to the various organisational levels of the company. Whatever form the ownership of an OHS provider may take, each comes with its own specific set of challenges that must be managed in order to achieve a successful collaboration with the client company.

The risk of airborne influenza transmission in passenger cars.

Science.gov (United States)

Knibbs, L D; Morawska, L; Bell, S C

2012-03-01

Travel in passenger cars is a ubiquitous aspect of the daily activities of many people. During the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic a case of probable transmission during car travel was reported in Australia, to which spread via the airborne route may have contributed. However, there are no data to indicate the likely risks of such events, and how they may vary and be mitigated. To address this knowledge gap, we estimated the risk of airborne influenza transmission in two cars (1989 model and 2005 model) by employing ventilation measurements and a variation of the Wells-Riley model. Results suggested that infection risk can be reduced by not recirculating air; however, estimated risk ranged from 59% to 99·9% for a 90-min trip when air was recirculated in the newer vehicle. These results have implications for interrupting in-car transmission of other illnesses spread by the airborne route.

Perancangan dan Implementasi Kontroler PID untuk Pengaturan Autonomous Car-Following Car

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Parluhutan Bonor Sinaga

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Pengiriman logistik ke daerah-daerah rawan bencana merupakan hal yang sangat sulit dilakukan, tentunya diperlukan pengetahuan mengenai kondisi medan jalan. Salah satu dampak yang utama adalah sulitnya melakukan manuver dalam pengendalian performansi  truk logistik yang pada umumnya berupa truk-truk gandeng. Untuk membantu pengemudi truk dalam berkendara pada kondisi tersebut, dirancang sebuah prototype mobil mandiri (Autonomous Car yang mampu melakukan manuver-manuver pergerakan secara sendirinya, salah satu manuver tersebut ialah Following Car.  Dalam Tugas Akhir ini perancangan sistem yang akan dilakukan dengan  memodelkan  dua buah kendaraan mobil RC (remote control yang bertindak sebagai  follower dan leader car. Pengoperasian dari  following car dilakukan dengan memodifikasi dari kendaraan RC-1, sedangkan RC-2 bertindak sebagai leader car yang dikondisikan secara manual. Dengan penerapan kontroler PID pada implementasi sistem didapatkan penurunan time settling menjadi 2,7 Detik dan peningkatan error steady state sebesar 2,44%. Pada implementasi diberikan kecepatan leader secara acak, dengan implementasi kontroler PID, kondisi jarak antara autonomous car dengan leader car masih dalam range keadaan ideal pada set point.

Evaluating the effect of neighbourhood weight matrices on smoothing properties of Conditional Autoregressive (CAR models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan Louise

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Conditional Autoregressive (CAR model is widely used in many small-area ecological studies to analyse outcomes measured at an areal level. There has been little evaluation of the influence of different neighbourhood weight matrix structures on the amount of smoothing performed by the CAR model. We examined this issue in detail. Methods We created several neighbourhood weight matrices and applied them to a large dataset of births and birth defects in New South Wales (NSW, Australia within 198 Statistical Local Areas. Between the years 1995–2003, there were 17,595 geocoded birth defects and 770,638 geocoded birth records with available data. Spatio-temporal models were developed with data from 1995–2000 and their fit evaluated within the following time period: 2001–2003. Results We were able to create four adjacency-based weight matrices, seven distance-based weight matrices and one matrix based on similarity in terms of a key covariate (i.e. maternal age. In terms of agreement between observed and predicted relative risks, categorised in epidemiologically relevant groups, generally the distance-based matrices performed better than the adjacency-based neighbourhoods. In terms of recovering the underlying risk structure, the weight-7 model (smoothing by maternal-age 'Covariate model' was able to correctly classify 35/47 high-risk areas (sensitivity 74% with a specificity of 47%, and the 'Gravity' model had sensitivity and specificity values of 74% and 39% respectively. Conclusion We found considerable differences in the smoothing properties of the CAR model, depending on the type of neighbours specified. This in turn had an effect on the models' ability to recover the observed risk in an area. Prior to risk mapping or ecological modelling, an exploratory analysis of the neighbourhood weight matrix to guide the choice of a suitable weight matrix is recommended. Alternatively, the weight matrix can be chosen a priori

Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans Supèr

Full Text Available Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Supèr, Hans; Romeo, August; Keil, Matthias

2010-05-19

Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

Foreign Banking in Ukraine: Development Trends and Ownership Structure Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serhij Reverchuk

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to research the theoretical and practical aspects of foreign participation ownership structure of banks in Ukraine; to analyze the tendencies and challenges of structure regulation of bank ownership; to provide recommendations related to the role of enhancing the transparency of banking business. This research was conducted by way of review of the data on bank ownership and the regulation of the ownership structure of the banking sector in Ukraine.

Improving the Management Systems of the Ownership Risks in Conditions of Transformation of the Russian Economy

OpenAIRE

Mikhail V. Khachaturyan

2016-01-01

The article analyzes problems of improving the management systems of the ownership risks in the conditions of the transformation of the Russian economy. Among the main sources of threats business owners should highlight is the inefficiency of the implementation of business models and interaction with hired managers. In this context, it is particularly important to analyze the relationship of business models and ownership risks. The analysis of this problem appears to be relevant for a number ...

Nursing home ownership trends and their impacts on quality of care: a study using detailed ownership data from Texas.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, David G; Bramson, Jeffrey S; Grabowski, David C

2013-01-01

The role of ownership in the provision of nursing home care has long been a challenging issue for policy makers and researchers. Although much of the focus historically has been on differences between for-profit and not-for-profit facilities, this simple distinction has become less useful in recent years as companies have employed more complicated ownership and management structures. Using detailed ownership data from the state of Texas, we describe the evolution of nursing home corporate structures from 2000 to 2007, analyze the effect of these structures on quality of care and staffing in nursing homes, and discuss the policy implications of these changes.

A historical perspective on the economics of the ownership of mineral rights ownership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cawood, F.T.; Minnitt, R.C.A. [Technikon SA, Florida (South Africa). Dept. of Engineering

1998-11-01

Inauguration of the new political dispensation in South Africa, initiated a dynamic period in the historical development of its minerals policy. The process of substituting the current South African mineral policy framework with an acceptable `post apartheid` system, started soon after the 1994 election of the African National Congress (ANC) government. The Green Paper on a Minerals and Mining Policy for South Africa released for public discussion in February 1998, calls for radical transformation in mineral rights ownership. A shift towards exclusive state ownership of mineral rights, away from the present dual system of private and state ownership, is the most significant proposal. The current holders of mineral rights, or their nominees, who lawfully enjoyed security of tenure under past and present mineral laws are opposed to this transformation because mineral rights were often acquired at considerable cost. The situation is compounded by poor public record-keeping and passive mineral rights administration over a very long period. This paper represents a summary of the historical developments leading to the current legislative environment and forms the basis for any discussion on which future sculpturing of South Africa`s policy regarding mineral rights can take place. One cannot plan for the future without considering the past. 21 refs.

The Relationship Between Gun Ownership and Firearm Homicide Rates in the United States, 1981–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Craig S.

2013-01-01

Objectives. We examined the relationship between levels of household firearm ownership, as measured directly and by a proxy—the percentage of suicides committed with a firearm—and age-adjusted firearm homicide rates at the state level. Methods. We conducted a negative binomial regression analysis of panel data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting Systems database on gun ownership and firearm homicide rates across all 50 states during 1981 to 2010. We determined fixed effects for year, accounted for clustering within states with generalized estimating equations, and controlled for potential state-level confounders. Results. Gun ownership was a significant predictor of firearm homicide rates (incidence rate ratio = 1.009; 95% confidence interval = 1.004, 1.014). This model indicated that for each percentage point increase in gun ownership, the firearm homicide rate increased by 0.9%. Conclusions. We observed a robust correlation between higher levels of gun ownership and higher firearm homicide rates. Although we could not determine causation, we found that states with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides. PMID:24028252

Integration of car-body flexibility into train-track coupling system dynamics analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Liang; Zhang, Qing; Xiao, Xinbiao; Wen, Zefeng; Jin, Xuesong

2018-04-01

The resonance vibration of flexible car-bodies greatly affects the dynamics performances of high-speed trains. In this paper, we report a three-dimensional train-track model to capture the flexible vibration features of high-speed train carriages based on the flexible multi-body dynamics approach. The flexible car-body is modelled using both the finite element method (FEM) and the multi-body dynamics (MBD) approach, in which the rigid motions are obtained by using the MBD theory and the structure deformation is calculated by the FEM and the modal superposition method. The proposed model is applied to investigate the influence of the flexible vibration of car-bodies on the dynamics performances of train-track systems. The dynamics performances of a high-speed train running on a slab track, including the car-body vibration behaviour, the ride comfort, and the running safety, calculated by the numerical models with rigid and flexible car-bodies are compared in detail. The results show that the car-body flexibility not only significantly affects the vibration behaviour and ride comfort of rail carriages, but also can has an important influence on the running safety of trains. The rigid car-body model underestimates the vibration level and ride comfort of rail vehicles, and ignoring carriage torsional flexibility in the curving safety evaluation of trains is conservative.

Prediction of energy balance and utilization for solar electric cars

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, K.; Guo, L. M.; Wang, Y. K.; Zafar, M. T.

2017-11-01

Solar irradiation and ambient temperature are characterized by region, season and time-domain, which directly affects the performance of solar energy based car system. In this paper, the model of solar electric cars used was based in Xi’an. Firstly, the meteorological data are modelled to simulate the change of solar irradiation and ambient temperature, and then the temperature change of solar cell is calculated using the thermal equilibrium relation. The above work is based on the driving resistance and solar cell power generation model, which is simulated under the varying radiation conditions in a day. The daily power generation and solar electric car cruise mileage can be predicted by calculating solar cell efficiency and power. The above theoretical approach and research results can be used in the future for solar electric car program design and optimization for the future developments.

Gun Control, Gun Ownership, and Suicide Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, David

1988-01-01

Explored relationship between the extent of gun ownership and the strictness of gun control laws to suicide and homicide rates in the nine major geographic regions of the United States. Found gun ownership, rather than the strictness of gun control laws, was the strongest correlate of the rates of suicide and homicide by guns. (Author)

Relationships between dog ownership and physical activity in postmenopausal women.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, David O; Wertheim, Betsy C; Manson, JoAnn E; Chlebowski, Rowan T; Volpe, Stella L; Howard, Barbara V; Stefanick, Marcia L; Thomson, Cynthia A

2015-01-01

Positive associations between dog ownership and physical activity in older adults have been previously reported. The objective of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations between dog ownership and physical activity measures in a well-characterized, diverse sample of postmenopausal women. Analyses included 36,984 dog owners (mean age: 61.5years), and 115,645 non-dog owners (mean age: 63.9years) enrolled in a clinical trial or the observational study of the Women's Health Initiative between 1993 and 1998. Logistic regression models were used to test for associations between dog ownership and physical activity, adjusted for potential confounders. Owning a dog was associated with a higher likelihood of walking ≥150min/wk (Odds Ratio, 1.14; 95% Confidence Interval, 1.10-1.17) and a lower likelihood of being sedentary ≥8h/day (Odds Ratio, 0.86; 95% Confidence Interval, 0.83-0.89) as compared to not owning a dog. However, dog owners were less likely to meet ≥7.5MET-h/wk of total physical activity as compared to non-dog owners (Odds Ratio, 1.03; 95% Confidence Interval, 1.00-1.07). Dog ownership is associated with increased physical activity in older women, particularly among women living alone. Health promotion efforts aimed at older adults should highlight the benefits of regular dog walking for both dog owners and non-dog owners. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Identity of Ownership on Firm Internationalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strandskov, Jesper; Madsen, Tage Koed; Pedersen, Bent

2016-01-01

The paper develops an integrative ownership-internationalization model that explores the influences of various owner types (i.e. investor-owned firms, family-owned firms, employee-owned firms, cooperative–owned firms, and state-owned firms) on firm internationalization. Based on a comparative...... analysis of the various owner types, we discuss how each owner group’s main objectives, risk behavior and provision of resources influence their internationalization strategies and decisions (i.e. scale, scope and speed decisions)....

24 CFR 904.115 - Achievement of ownership by subsequent homebuyers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... of the LHA's debt, if there are any subsequent homebuyers who have not acquired ownership of their... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Achievement of ownership by... Description § 904.115 Achievement of ownership by subsequent homebuyers. (a) Definition. In the event the...

Managerial ownership and corporate performance in Slovenian post-privatisation period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Simoneti

2004-12-01

Full Text Available The Slovenian post-privatisation period has been characterised by a decline in the ownership by non-managerial owners (employees and state-controlled funds. On the other hand, domestic and foreign non-financial firms, Privatisation Investment Funds and managers have been increasing their holdings. The latter, namely the growing managerial ownership, is likely to feature in future ownership dynamics in Slovenia. In fact, in 2002 the desired (optimal ownership stakes estimated by Slovenian managers were 10.8 percentage points higher than their actual stakes. The aim of our paper is to describe the main trends in the ownership of Slovenian corporations in the post-privatisation period and to provide an answer to the basic economic question: what is the influence of the ongoing consolidation of managerial ownership on the performance of Slovenian firms. The empirical analysis testing this relationship is based on a panel of 182 Slovenian firms in the 1995-99 period and does not provide relevant evidence of any positive effects of the increasing managerial control on Slovenian firms’ performance. If any, a positive incentive effect is only observed in those firms whose managers’ holdings exceed 10-percent, only with regards to firms’ financial performance (but not total factor productivity and only in firms that are not listed on the capital market. Further, the negative effect of the current gap between the desired and actual managerial ownership seems to exceed any positive incentive effect arising out of managerial ownership

CAR2 - Czech Database of Car Speech

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Sovka

1999-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents new Czech language two-channel (stereo speech database recorded in car environment. The created database was designed for experiments with speech enhancement for communication purposes and for the study and the design of a robust speech recognition systems. Tools for automated phoneme labelling based on Baum-Welch re-estimation were realised. The noise analysis of the car background environment was done.

CAR2 - Czech Database of Car Speech

OpenAIRE

Pollak, P.; Vopicka, J.; Hanzl, V.; Sovka, Pavel

1999-01-01

This paper presents new Czech language two-channel (stereo) speech database recorded in car environment. The created database was designed for experiments with speech enhancement for communication purposes and for the study and the design of a robust speech recognition systems. Tools for automated phoneme labelling based on Baum-Welch re-estimation were realised. The noise analysis of the car background environment was done.

The Trade-Off Between Risk and Control in Corporate Ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manjon, M.C.

2003-01-01

This paper analyses the risk control trade o$ in corporate ownership. It presents a simple model in which large shareholders decide their share depending on their risk aversion, risk-neutral effects attached to rm size and the e$ectiveness of di$erent (external and internal) mechanisms for

Research on external flow field of a car based on reverse engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shushan; Liu, Ronge

2018-05-01

In this paper, the point cloud data of FAW-VOLKSWAGEN car body shape is obtained by three coordinate measuring instrument and laser scanning method. The accurate three dimensional model of the car is obtained using CATIA software reverse modelling technology. The car body is gridded, the calculation field and boundary condition type of the car flow field are determined, and the numerical simulation is carried out in Hyper Mesh software. The pressure cloud diagram, velocity vector diagram, air resistance coefficient and lift coefficient of the car are obtained. The calculation results reflect the aerodynamic characteristics of the car's external flow field. The motion of the separation flow on the surface of the vehicle body is well simulated, and the area where the vortex motion is relatively intense has been determined. The results provide a theoretical basis for improving and optimizing the body shape.

The Green City Car. A holistic approach for NVH abatement of city cars

OpenAIRE

Bein, Thilo; Mayer, Dirk; Elliott, Steve; Ferrali, Leonardo; Casella, Mauro; Saemann, Ernst-Ulrich; Kropp, Wolfgang; Nielsen, Finn Kryger; Meschke, Jens; Pisano, Emanuel

2014-01-01

Pursuing the different passive and active concepts in a holistic approach, the FP7 project Green City Car demonstrates the feasibility of applying active systems to NVH-related problems light city cars from a system point-of view. During the project, a city car equipped with a small engine has been considered equipped with the latest technology in terms of safety aspects related to pedestrian’s impact and car-to-car compatibility, which are of major importance in an urban environment. The noi...

The effects of activity-travel context and individual attitudes on car-sharing decisions under travel time uncertainty : a hybrid choice modeling approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kim, J.; Rasouli, S.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2017-01-01

People's daily decision to use car-sharing rather than other transport modes for conducting a specific activity has been investigated recently in assessing the market potential of car-sharing systems. Most studies have estimated transport mode choice models with an extended choice set using

Thermal behavior of kiln cars while traveling through a tunnel kiln

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Zhang

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The kiln car is widely used as a kind of transport equipment in the current ceramic industry, and it is heated to the firing temperature and cooled down to the ambient temperature with products in the tunnel kiln. And the burning of the ceramics requires a lot of energy, and the efficiency is relatively low within 30% or even less. In addition, the mass ratio between car and ware can be more than 50%. So the energy loss of car also occupies a great part in total energy consumption. In this work, a mathematical model will be created to describe the temperature distribution inside the kiln car while it travels through the tunnel kiln. All the used parameters are from real ceramic industry. The operative process is assumed as a countercurrent heat exchanger. Both the convection and radiation are considered as boundary condition in the model. Furthermore, the thermal results of car and the specific energy consumption of car in the standard case will be demonstrated. Finally, the influences of different thermal physical parameters on the energy consumption of car will be investigated, and the possible optimization measures of car are proposed through comparing the different specific energy losses.

75 FR 54801 - Account Ownership and Control Report

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-09

... Report AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission''). ACTION: Extension of comment period... Report'' must be in the subject field of responses submitted via e-mail, and clearly indicated on written... certain ownership and control information via an account ``Ownership and Control Report'' submitted weekly...

Ownership dynamics with large shareholders : An empirical analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donelli, M.; Urzua Infante, F.; Larrain, B.

2013-01-01

We study the empirical determinants of corporate ownership dynamics in a market where large shareholders are prevalent. We use a unique, hand-collected 20-year dataset on the ownership structure of Chilean companies. Controllers’ blockholdings are on average high -as in continental Europe, for

UV exposure in cars.

Science.gov (United States)

Moehrle, Matthias; Soballa, Martin; Korn, Manfred

2003-08-01

There is increasing knowledge about the hazards of solar and ultraviolet (UV) radiation to humans. Although people spend a significant time in cars, data on UV exposure during traveling are lacking. The aim of this study was to obtain basic information on personal UV exposure in cars. UV transmission of car glass samples, windscreen, side and back windows and sunroof, was determined. UV exposure of passengers was evaluated in seven German middle-class cars, fitted with three different types of car windows. UV doses were measured with open or closed windows/sunroof of Mercedes-Benz E 220 T, E 320, and S 500, and in an open convertible car (Mercedes-Benz CLK). Bacillus subtilis spore film dosimeters (Viospor) were attached to the front, vertex, cheeks, upper arms, forearms and thighs of 'adult' and 'child' dummies. UV wavelengths longer than >335 nm were transmitted through car windows, and UV irradiation >380 nm was transmitted through compound glass windscreens. There was some variation in the spectral transmission of side windows according to the type of glass. On the arms, UV exposure was 3-4% of ambient radiation when the car windows were shut, and 25-31% of ambient radiation when the windows were open. In the open convertible car, the relative personal doses reached 62% of ambient radiation. The car glass types examined offer substantial protection against short-wave UV radiation. Professional drivers should keep car windows closed on sunny days to reduce occupational UV exposure. In individuals with polymorphic light eruption, produced by long-wave UVA, additional protection by plastic films, clothes or sunscreens appears necessary.

Motorcycle helmets in Vietnam: ownership, quality, purchase price, and affordability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Dang Viet; Stevenson, Mark R; Ivers, Rebecca Q

2008-06-01

This study investigated motorcycle helmet ownership, quality, purchase price, and affordability in Vietnam. A random sample of motorcyclists was interviewed to investigate aspects of helmet ownership, the purchase price, and affordability of a motorcycle helmet. Multivariate modeling conducted to determine factors associated with the purchase price and affordability of motorcycle helmets. Helmet quality was assessed based on current legal requirements in Vietnam. The prevalence of helmet use in Vietnam remains low (23.3%) despite a high level of helmet ownership (94%), indicating that this is an important area for public health intervention. Overall the quality of helmets appeared to be good; however, few helmets displayed legally required information. Motorcyclists with a high income purchase more helmets for their household rather than more expensive helmets. To ensure that helmets are accessible to the community, policy-makers need to consider pricing motorcycle helmets at a price indicated by the results of this study. Prior to universal motorcycle helmet legislation, the government will also need to ensure that standard helmets are available and that enforcement is at a level to ensure that motorcycle helmets are actually used.

State ownership and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mei Yu

2013-06-01

Full Text Available While the relationship between state ownership and firm performance has been widely researched, the empirical evidence has provided mixed results. This study applies panel data regression techniques to 10,639 firm-year observations of non-financial Chinese listed firms during 2003–2010 to examine the relationship between state ownership and firm performance. The results show that state ownership has a U-shaped relationship with firm performance. The Split Share Structure Reform in 2005–2006 played a positive role in enhancing the relationship between state ownership and firm profitability ratios. Although state ownership decreased significantly after 2006, it remains high in strategically important industry sectors such as the oil, natural gas and mining sector and the publishing, broadcasting and media sector. The findings reveal that a higher level of state ownership is superior to a dispersed ownership structure due to the benefits of government support and political connections. The Split Share Structure Reform made previously non-tradable shares legally tradable, improving corporate governance and reducing the negative effect of non-tradable state shares.

Ownership characteristics and crop selection in California cropland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luke Macaulay

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Land ownership is one of the primary determinants of how agricultural land is used, and property size has been shown to drive many land use decisions. Land ownership information is also key to understanding food production systems and land fragmentation, and in targeting outreach materials to improve agricultural production and conservation practices. Using a parcel dataset containing all 58 California counties, we describe the characteristics of cropland ownership across California. The largest 5% of properties — with “property” defined as all parcels owned by a given landowner — account for 50.6% of California cropland, while the smallest 84% of properties account for 25% of cropland. Cropland ownership inequality (few large properties, many small properties was greatest in Kings, Kern and Contra Costa counties and lowest in Mendocino, Napa and Santa Clara counties. Of crop types, rice properties had the largest median size, while properties with orchard trees had the smallest median sizes. Cluster analysis of crop mixes revealed that properties with grapes, rice, almonds and alfalfa/hay tended to be planted to individual crops, while crops such as grains, tomatoes and vegetables were more likely to be mixed within a single property. Analyses of cropland ownership patterns can help researchers prioritize outreach efforts and tailor research to stakeholders' needs.

A survey of attitudes toward responsible pet ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Selby, L A; Rhoades, J D; Hewett, J E; Irvin, J A

1979-01-01

The concerns of medical and community officials about responsible pet ownership have increased. Before a practical solution can be found for irresponsible ownership and community health problems associated with pet populations, the public's attitudes on issues related to responsible pet ownership must be determined. Such issues include attitudes on dog and cat overpopulation, potential public health problems associated with pet populations, and methods of controlling pet populations and stray animals. Responses to a questionnaire were used to evaluate the attitudes of 910 pet owners and nonowners toward factors comprising responsible pet ownership. The median age of the respondents was 33 years; 414 (45 percent) were men, and 496 (55 percent) were women. At the time of the study, 18 percent owned a cat and a dog, 35 percent owned only a dog, 11 percent showed only a cat, and 36 percent were nonowners. Not only the sex of the respondent but also the category of pet ownership affected opinions on overpopulation of dogs and cats, nuisance and pollution problems associated with these animals, and methods of controlling pet populations in the community. For example, owners agreed strongly on family planning for pets, but a majority of male owners stated that they would not have their dogs neutered. PMID:572978

Application brushless machines with combine excitation for a hybrid car and an electric car

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gandzha S.A.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This article shows advantages of application the brushless machines with combined excitation (excitation from permanent magnets and excitation winding for the hybrid car and the electric car. This type of electric machine is compared with a typical brushless motor and an induction motor. The main advantage is the decrease of the dimensions of electric machine and the reduction of the price for an electronic control system. It is shown the design and the principle of operation of the electric machine. The machine was modeled using Solidworks program for creating design and Maxwell program for the magnetic field analysis. The result of tests is shown as well.

Ownership conversions and nursing home performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Grabowski, David C; Stevenson, David G

2008-08-01

To examine the effects of ownership conversions on nursing home performance. Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting system data from 1993 to 2004, and the Minimum Data Set (MDS) facility reports from 1998 to 2004. Regression specification incorporating facility fixed effects, with terms to identify trends in the pre- and postconversion periods. The annual rate of nursing home conversions almost tripled between 1994 and 2004. Our regression results indicate converting facilities are generally different throughout the pre/postconversion years, suggesting little causal effect of ownership conversions on nursing home performance. Before and after conversion, nursing homes converting from nonprofit to for-profit status generally exhibit deterioration in their performance, while nursing homes converting from for-profit to nonprofit status generally exhibit improvement. Policy makers have expressed concern regarding the implications of ownership conversions for nursing home performance. Our results imply that regulators and policy makers should not only monitor the outcomes of nursing home conversions, but also the targets of these conversions.

Tank car leaks gasoline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1997-01-01

On January 27, 1994, a Canadian National (CN) tank car loaded with gasoline began to leak from a crack in the tank shell on the end of the car near the stub sill. The tank car had been damaged from impact switching. A part of the tank car was sent for laboratory analysis which concluded that: (1) the fracture originated in two locations in welds, (2) the cracks propagated in a symmetrical manner and progressed into the tank plate, (3) the fracture surface revealed inadequate weld fusion. A stress analysis of the tank car was conducted to determine the coupling force necessary to cause the crack. It was noted that over the last decade several problems have occurred pertaining to stub sill areas of tank cars that have resulted in hazardous material spills. An advisory was sent to Transport Canada outlining many examples where tank cars containing serious defects had passed CN inspections that were specifically designed to identify such defects. 4 figs

Understanding the gender dimensions of livestock ownership | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-06-06

Jun 6, 2016 ... Download the Gender, Livestock and Asset Ownership brief (PDF, 726 KB, available in English only). This document summarizes findings presented in the book “Women, Livestock Ownership and Markets: Bridging the Gender Gap in Eastern and Southern Africa” produced by the International Livestock ...

Physical Education Students' Ownership, Empowerment, and Satisfaction With PE and Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, E Whitney G; Fry, Mary D

2017-12-01

Individuals experiencing a highly caring, task-involving, and low ego-involving exercise climate have reported greater ownership in exercise class and empowerment to exercise in general. This study examined the relationship between ownership and empowerment in exercise, with 2 context-specific outcomes, satisfaction with physical education (PE) and physical activity, respectively. Given the mission of PE to foster individuals' lifelong physical activity habit, the perceptions of high school students were collected for this study. Ownership in exercise was hypothesized to be significantly, positively correlated with students reporting satisfaction in PE more than their satisfaction in physical activity, whereas empowerment in exercise was hypothesized to be more strongly, positively correlated with students' physical activity satisfaction. A second purpose of this study was to test the measurement quality of the updated Empowerment in Exercise Scale (EES; now 13 items). High school students (N = 502, 43% female) in a Midwestern U.S. school district completed a survey. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the internal measurement structure of the EES (λ = .62-.91; McDonald's omega = .89) across student gender (strong invariance). Additionally, the structural equation modeling analysis revealed only 1 parameter moderated by the students' gender (latent mean of ownership). The hypotheses were supported, such that ownership in exercise was more strongly correlated with PE satisfaction (r = .87) and empowerment in exercise had a stronger correlation with physical activity satisfaction (r = .92). These results support the beneficial effect a satisfying experience in PE can have on students' satisfaction with physical activity outside of school.

Teachers' Views on Organizational Deviance, Psychological Ownership and Social Innovation

Science.gov (United States)

Argon, Türkan; Ekinci, Serkan

2016-01-01

This study aimed to identify Bolu central district secondary school teachers' views on organizational deviance, psychological ownership and social innovation and to determine whether these views were related. The universe of the study conducted with relational screening model was composed of 360 teachers employed in Bolu central district secondary…

Incorporating vehicle mix in stimulus-response car-following models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saidi Siuhi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to incorporate vehicle mix in stimulus-response car-following models. Separate models were estimated for acceleration and deceleration responses to account for vehicle mix via both movement state and vehicle type. For each model, three sub-models were developed for different pairs of following vehicles including “automobile following automobile,” “automobile following truck,” and “truck following automobile.” The estimated model parameters were then validated against other data from a similar region and roadway. The results indicated that drivers' behaviors were significantly different among the different pairs of following vehicles. Also the magnitude of the estimated parameters depends on the type of vehicle being driven and/or followed. These results demonstrated the need to use separate models depending on movement state and vehicle type. The differences in parameter estimates confirmed in this paper highlight traffic safety and operational issues of mixed traffic operation on a single lane. The findings of this paper can assist transportation professionals to improve traffic simulation models used to evaluate the impact of different strategies on ameliorate safety and performance of highways. In addition, driver response time lag estimates can be used in roadway design to calculate important design parameters such as stopping sight distance on horizontal and vertical curves for both automobiles and trucks.

Pet ownership may attenuate loneliness among older adult primary care patients who live alone.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley, Ian H; Conwell, Yeates; Bowen, Connie; Van Orden, Kimberly A

2014-01-01

Older adults who report feelings of loneliness are at increased risk for a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes, including early mortality. Identifying potential sources of social connectedness, such as pet ownership, could add to the understanding of how to promote health and well-being in older adults. The aim of this study is to describe the association of pet ownership and loneliness. The current study utilizes cross-sectional survey data from a sample (N = 830) of older adult primary care patients (age ≥ 60 years). Pet owners were 36% less likely than non-pet owners to report loneliness, in a model controlling for age, living status (i.e., alone vs. not alone), happy mood, and seasonal residency (adjOR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.41-0.98, p pet ownership and living status (b = -1.60, p pet was associated with the greatest odds of reporting feelings of loneliness. The findings suggest that pet ownership may confer benefits for well-being, including attenuating feelings of loneliness and its related sequelae, among older adults who live alone.

Simulation on a car interior aerodynamic noise control based on statistical energy analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xin; Wang, Dengfeng; Ma, Zhengdong

2012-09-01

How to simulate interior aerodynamic noise accurately is an important question of a car interior noise reduction. The unsteady aerodynamic pressure on body surfaces is proved to be the key effect factor of car interior aerodynamic noise control in high frequency on high speed. In this paper, a detail statistical energy analysis (SEA) model is built. And the vibra-acoustic power inputs are loaded on the model for the valid result of car interior noise analysis. The model is the solid foundation for further optimization on car interior noise control. After the most sensitive subsystems for the power contribution to car interior noise are pointed by SEA comprehensive analysis, the sound pressure level of car interior aerodynamic noise can be reduced by improving their sound and damping characteristics. The further vehicle testing results show that it is available to improve the interior acoustic performance by using detailed SEA model, which comprised by more than 80 subsystems, with the unsteady aerodynamic pressure calculation on body surfaces and the materials improvement of sound/damping properties. It is able to acquire more than 2 dB reduction on the central frequency in the spectrum over 800 Hz. The proposed optimization method can be looked as a reference of car interior aerodynamic noise control by the detail SEA model integrated unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and sensitivity analysis of acoustic contribution.

Front gardens to car parks: changes in garden permeability and effects on flood regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Warhurst, Jennifer R; Parks, Katherine E; McCulloch, Lindsay; Hudson, Malcolm D

2014-07-01

This study addresses the consequences of widespread conversion of permeable front gardens to hard standing car parking surfaces, and the potential consequences in high-risk urban flooding hotspots, in the city of Southampton. The last two decades has seen a trend for domestic front gardens in urban areas to be converted for parking, driven by the lack of space and increased car ownership. Despite media and political attention, the effects of this change are unknown, but increased and more intense rainfall, potentially linked to climate change, could generate negative consequences as runoff from impermeable surfaces increases. Information is limited on garden permeability change, despite the consequences for ecosystem services, especially flood regulation. We focused on eight flooding hotspots identified by the local council as part of a wider urban flooding policy response. Aerial photographs from 1991, 2004 and 2011 were used to estimate changes in surface cover and to analyse permeability change within a digital surface model in a GIS environment. The 1, 30 and 100 year required attenuation storage volumes were estimated, which are the temporary storage required to reduce the peak flow rate given surface permeability. Within our study areas, impermeable cover in domestic front gardens increased by 22.47% over the 20-year study period (1991-2011) and required attenuation storage volumes increased by 26.23% on average. These increases suggest that a consequence of the conversion of gardens to parking areas will be a potential increase in flooding frequency and severity - a situation which is likely to occur in urban locations worldwide. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

APF-Based Car Following Behavior Considering Lateral Distance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao-Sheng Yang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the influence of lateral distance on consecutive vehicles, this paper proposes a new car following model based on the artificial potential field theory (APF. Traditional car following behaviors all assume that the vehicles are driving along the middle of a lane. Different from the traditional car following principles, this incorporation of APF offers a potential breakthrough in the fields of car following theory. The individual vehicle can be represented as a unit point charge in electric field, and the interaction of the attractive potential energy and the repellent potential energy between vehicles simplifies the various influence factors on the target vehicle in actual following behavior. Consequently, it can make a better analysis of the following behavior under the lateral separation. Then, the proposed model has been demonstrated in simulation environment, through which the space-time trajectories and the potential energy change regulation are obtained. Simulations verify that the following vehicle's behavior is vulnerable to be affected by lateral distance, where the attractive potential energy tends to become repellent potential energy as the longitudinal distance decreases. The search results prove that the proposed model quantifies the relations between headway and potential energy and better reflects the following process in real-world situation.

First results from car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure radio channel measurements at 5.2GHZ

OpenAIRE

Paier, Alexander; Kåredal, Johan; Czink, Nicolai; Hofstetter, Helmut; Dumard, Charlotte; Zemen, Thomas; Tufvesson, Fredrik; Mecklenbräuker, Christoph; Molisch, Andreas

2007-01-01

Car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure (henceforth called C2X) communications are constantly gaining importance for road-safety and other applications. In order to design efficient C2X systems, an understanding of realistic C2X propagation channels is required, but currently, only few measurements have been published. This paper presents a description of an extensive measurement campaign recently conducted in an urban scenario, a rural scenario, and on a highway. We focused on 4 ÿ 4 multiple-in...

THE EFFECTS OF DIVIDEND POLICY AND OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE TOWARDS DEBT POLICY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcella Fransisca Santosa

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This research used multiple regression methods to examine the relationshipbetween the dividend policy, institutional ownership, and insider ownership withthe debt policy. Hypotheses tests of this researchused 64 manufacturingcompanies which were listed in the Indonesian StockExchange (IDX from theyear of 2007 until 2010 as the samples. The resultsof this research show that thedividend policies and the insider ownership had noeffects towards the debtpolicy, while the institutional ownership had a significant negative effect towardsthe debt policy.

Impact of HMO ownership on management processes and utilization outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahern, M; Molinari, C

2001-05-01

To examine the effects of health maintenance organization (HMO) ownership characteristics on selected utilization outcomes and management processes affecting utilization. We used 1995 HMO data from the American Association of Health Plans. Using regression analysis, we examined the relation between HMO utilization (hospital discharges, days, and average length of stay; cardiac catheterization procedures; and average cost of outpatient prescriptions) and the structural characteristics of HMOs: ownership type (insurance company, hospital, physician, independent, and national managed care company), HMO size, for-profit status, model type, geographic region, and payer mix. HMO ownership type is significantly associated with medical management processes, including risk sharing by providers, risk sharing by consumers, and other management strategies. Relative to hospital-owned HMOs, insurance company-owned HMOs have fewer hospital discharges, fewer hospital days, and longer lengths of stay. National managed care organization-owned HMOs have fewer cardiac catheterizations and lower average outpatient prescription costs. Independently owned HMOs have more cardiac catheterizations. For-profit HMOs have lower prescription costs. Relative to hospital-owned HMOs, insurance company-owned HMOs are more likely to use hospital risk sharing and provider capitation and less likely to use out-of-pocket payments for hospital use and a closed formulary. National managed care organization-owned HMOs are less likely to use provider capitation, out-of-pocket payments for hospital use, catastrophic case management, and hospital risk sharing. Physician-hospital-owned HMOs are less likely to use catastrophic case management. For-profit HMOs are more likely to use hospital risk sharing and catastrophic case management. HMO ownership type affects utilization outcomes and management strategies.

26 CFR 1.552-3 - Stock ownership requirement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Foreign Personal Holding Companies § 1.552-3 Stock ownership requirement... more than 50 percent in value of the outstanding stock of the foreign corporation be owned, directly or... section 544 (relating to rules for determining stock ownership in the case of personal holding companies...

Analysis and modelling of the pollutant emissions from European cars regarding the driving characteristics and test cycles

Science.gov (United States)

André, Michel; Rapone, Mario

Within the European research project ARTEMIS, significant works have been conducted to analyse the hot emissions of pollutant from the passenger cars regarding the driving cycles and to propose modelling approaches taking into account large but heterogeneous datasets recorded in Europe. The review and analysis of a large range of test cycles enabled first the building-up of a set of contrasted cycles specifically designed for characterizing the influence of the driving conditions. These cycles were used for the measurement of the pollutants emission rates from nine passenger cars on a chassis dynamometer. Emissions measured on 30 vehicles tested on cycles adapted to their motorization (i.e., cycles for high- or low-powered cars, inducing thus a significant difference in the dynamic) were also considered for analysing the influence of the cycles and of the kinematic parameters on the hot emission rates of the regulated pollutants (CO, HC, NO x, CO 2, PM). An analyses of variance demonstrated the preponderance of the driving type (urban, rural road, motorway), of the vehicle category (fuel, emission standard) and emitting status (high/normal emitter) and thus the pertinence of analysing and modelling separately the corresponding emissions. It also demonstrated that Urban driving led systematically to high diesel emission rates and to high CO 2, HC and NO x emissions from petrol cars. Congested driving implied high CO 2 (diesel and petrol) and high diesel NO x emission. On motorway, the very high speeds generated high CO 2, while unsteady speeds induced diesel NO x and petrol CO over-emissions. A search for pertinent kinematic parameters showed that urban diesel emissions were mostly sensitive to stops and speed parameters, while petrol emissions were rather sensitive to acceleration parameters. On the motorway, diesel NO x and CO 2 emissions rates increased with the speed variability and occurrence of high speeds, while CO 2 and CO over-emission from petrol cars were

Are oral health-related self-efficacy, knowledge and fatalism indicators for non-toothbrush ownership in a homeless population?

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, K; Brennan, D; Parker, E; Steffens, M; Jamieson, L

2016-03-01

To determine if the social cognitive theory (SCT)-constructs of oral health-related efficacy, knowledge and fatalism were indicators of non-toothbrush ownership in a metropolitan-based homeless population in Australia. Self-report data were collected from a convenience sample of 248 homeless participants located in Adelaide, Australia. Log binomial regression was used to estimate the strength of the association of the SCT constructs efficacy, knowledge and fatalism with the frequency of non-ownership of a toothbrush before and after adjusting for selected characteristics and associated factors. Of the study population (aged 17-78 years, 79% male) just over one-fifth (21%) did not own a toothbrush. In an unadjusted model, low self-efficacy (PR = 1.18) and low knowledge (1.27) were indicators for non-toothbrush ownership. These relationships were attenuated by 5.2% and 3.2% respectively after adjusting for social determinants, health factors, substance use and dental service utilisation-related factors, but remained statistically significant in the final model. Poor oral health-related self-efficacy and knowledge were both indicators for non-ownership of a toothbrush among a homeless population. This relationship held even after adjustment for relevant social and behavioural factors. Fatalism was not an indicator for non-toothbrush ownership in this population.

Jet Car Track Site

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Located in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the Jet Car Track Site supports jet cars with J57 engines and has a maximum jet car thrust of 42,000 pounds with a maximum speed of...

The latrine ownership ladder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Obeng, Peter Appiah; Keraita, Bernard; Oduro-Kwarteng, Sampson

2015-01-01

the challenges that undermine sanitation uptake in low-income peri-urban areas and the prospects of various levels of facility sharing as conceived in the latrine ownership ladder approach. Findings – The authors argue that the infrastructural and other socio-economic challenges of low-income peri-urban areas...... to the promotion of household latrines. The paper identifies provision of special concessions for peri-urban areas in policy formulation, education and technical support to households, regulation and enforcement of sanitation by-laws among complimentary policy interventions to make the latrine ownership ladder...... approach more effective. Originality/value – The paper provides an insight into the debate on redefining improved sanitation in the post-2015 era of the Millennium Development Goals and offers policy alternatives to policy makers in low-income countries seeking to accelerate the uptake of improved latrines...

Stability, convergence and Hopf bifurcation analyses of the classical car-following model

OpenAIRE

Kamath, Gopal Krishna; Jagannathan, Krishna; Raina, Gaurav

2016-01-01

Reaction delays play an important role in determining the qualitative dynamical properties of a platoon of vehicles traversing a straight road. In this paper, we investigate the impact of delayed feedback on the dynamics of the Classical Car-Following Model (CCFM). Specifically, we analyze the CCFM in no delay, small delay and arbitrary delay regimes. First, we derive a sufficient condition for local stability of the CCFM in no-delay and small-delay regimes using. Next, we derive the necessar...

Connected Car: Quantified Self becomes Quantified Car

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Swan

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The automotive industry could be facing a situation of profound change and opportunity in the coming decades. There are a number of influencing factors such as increasing urban and aging populations, self-driving cars, 3D parts printing, energy innovation, and new models of transportation service delivery (Zipcar, Uber. The connected car means that vehicles are now part of the connected world, continuously Internet-connected, generating and transmitting data, which on the one hand can be helpfully integrated into applications, like real-time traffic alerts broadcast to smartwatches, but also raises security and privacy concerns. This paper explores the automotive connected world, and describes five killer QS (Quantified Self-auto sensor applications that link quantified-self sensors (sensors that measure the personal biometrics of individuals like heart rate and automotive sensors (sensors that measure driver and passenger biometrics or quantitative automotive performance metrics like speed and braking activity. The applications are fatigue detection, real-time assistance for parking and accidents, anger management and stress reduction, keyless authentication and digital identity verification, and DIY diagnostics. These kinds of applications help to demonstrate the benefit of connected world data streams in the automotive industry and beyond where, more fundamentally for human progress, the automation of both physical and now cognitive tasks is underway.

48 CFR 904.7003 - Disclosure of foreign ownership, control, or influence.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ownership, control, or influence. 904.7003 Section 904.7003 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... ownership, control, or influence. (a) If a contract requires a contractor to have a Facility Clearance, DOE must determine whether the contractor is or may be subject to foreign ownership, control or influence...

Determinants of health insurance ownership among South African women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mwabu Germano M

2005-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies conducted in developed countries using economic models show that individual- and household- level variables are important determinants of health insurance ownership. There is however a dearth of such studies in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between health insurance ownership and the demographic, economic and educational characteristics of South African women. Methods The analysis was based on data from a cross-sectional national household sample derived from the South African Health Inequalities Survey (SANHIS. The study subjects consisted of 3,489 women, aged between 16 and 64 years. It was a non-interventional, qualitative response econometric study. The outcome measure was the probability of a respondent's ownership of a health insurance policy. Results The χ2 test for goodness of fit indicated satisfactory prediction of the estimated logit model. The coefficients of the covariates for area of residence, income, education, environment rating, age, smoking and marital status were positive, and all statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05. Women who had standard 10 education and above (secondary, high incomes and lived in affluent provinces and permanent accommodations, had a higher likelihood of being insured. Conclusion Poverty reduction programmes aimed at increasing women's incomes in poor provinces; improving living environment (e.g. potable water supplies, sanitation, electricity and housing for women in urban informal settlements; enhancing women's access to education; reducing unemployment among women; and increasing effective coverage of family planning services, will empower South African women to reach a higher standard of living and in doing so increase their economic access to health insurance policies and the associated health services.

The building blocks of the full body ownership illusion

Science.gov (United States)

Maselli, Antonella; Slater, Mel

2013-01-01

Previous work has reported that it is not difficult to give people the illusion of ownership over an artificial body, providing a powerful tool for the investigation of the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying body perception and self consciousness. We present an experimental study that uses immersive virtual reality (IVR) focused on identifying the perceptual building blocks of this illusion. We systematically manipulated visuotactile and visual sensorimotor contingencies, visual perspective, and the appearance of the virtual body in order to assess their relative role and mutual interaction. Consistent results from subjective reports and physiological measures showed that a first person perspective over a fake humanoid body is essential for eliciting a body ownership illusion. We found that the illusion of ownership can be generated when the virtual body has a realistic skin tone and spatially substitutes the real body seen from a first person perspective. In this case there is no need for an additional contribution of congruent visuotactile or sensorimotor cues. Additionally, we found that the processing of incongruent perceptual cues can be modulated by the level of the illusion: when the illusion is strong, incongruent cues are not experienced as incorrect. Participants exposed to asynchronous visuotactile stimulation can experience the ownership illusion and perceive touch as originating from an object seen to contact the virtual body. Analogously, when the level of realism of the virtual body is not high enough and/or when there is no spatial overlap between the two bodies, then the contribution of congruent multisensory and/or sensorimotor cues is required for evoking the illusion. On the basis of these results and inspired by findings from neurophysiological recordings in the monkey, we propose a model that accounts for many of the results reported in the literature. PMID:23519597

Foreign Ownership Wage Premia in Emerging Economies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Tor; Pytlikova, Mariola

2011-01-01

In this paper we examine the relationship between wages, labour productivity and ownership using a linked employer-employee dataset covering a large fraction of the Czech labour market in 2006. We distinguish between different origins of ownership and study wage and productivity differences. The ...... capital, the difference in productivity is about twice as large as the wage differential. Overall, results indicate that the international firms share their rents with their employees....

Foreign Ownership Wage Premia in Emerging Economies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Tor Viking; Pytlikova, Mariola

In this paper we examine the relationship between wages, labour productivity and ownership using a linked employer-employee dataset covering a large fraction of the Czech labour market in 2006. We distinguish between different origins of ownership and study wage and productivity differences. The ...... capital, the difference in productivity is about twice as large as the wage differential. The results indicate that the international firms share their rents with their employees....

Report on electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars; Redegoerelse - elbiler og plug-in hybridbiler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elkjaer Toennesen, A.; Winther, K.; Noerregaard, K. (Teknologisk Institut, Taastrup (Denmark)); Larsen, Esben; Christensen, Linda; Kveiborg, O. (Danmarks Teknologiske Univ., Kgs. Lyngby (DTU) (Denmark))

2010-04-15

The Center for Green Transport at the Danish Transport Authority has prepared this statement in order to uncover driving technical aspects, user expectations and needs, and the environmental consequences of using electric and plug-in hybrid cars. An electric car is defined as a car driven by an electric motor that has a battery that can be charged with power from the grid. A plug-in hybrid car is defined as a car that combines gasoline or diesel engine with an electric motor with a battery which can be recharged with power from the grid. From an overall consideration related to the transport sector electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars have the major advantage that negative impacts on environment and climate from traffic can be reduced while the high mobility is maintained. Through an increased use of electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars, the many advantages attached to the car as an individual transportation form is maintained, while CO{sub 2} emissions etc. are reduced. Electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars is one of the technologies that are considered to have particularly great prospects in the medium term when it comes to promoting new technologies in transport. Another advantage of using electric vehicles is the power supply factor. An increased use of electricity in transport will reduce the need for and dependence on fossil fuels in the sector. Both electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars are expected to be used for storage of wind power, a possibility which is hardly available today. The plug-in hybrid car could meet some of the challenges facing the pure electric car, because it also can use conventional fuel. The report presents analyses based on three focus areas: a) Users' needs, expectations and economics in relation to vehicles; b) The technology - and hence the manufacturers' opportunities and challenges; c) Connection to the power grid. (ln)

Areal rainfall estimation using moving cars - computer experiments including hydrological modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Rabiei, Ehsan; Haberlandt, Uwe; Sester, Monika; Fitzner, Daniel; Wallner, Markus

2016-09-01

The need for high temporal and spatial resolution precipitation data for hydrological analyses has been discussed in several studies. Although rain gauges provide valuable information, a very dense rain gauge network is costly. As a result, several new ideas have emerged to help estimating areal rainfall with higher temporal and spatial resolution. Rabiei et al. (2013) observed that moving cars, called RainCars (RCs), can potentially be a new source of data for measuring rain rate. The optical sensors used in that study are designed for operating the windscreen wipers and showed promising results for rainfall measurement purposes. Their measurement accuracy has been quantified in laboratory experiments. Considering explicitly those errors, the main objective of this study is to investigate the benefit of using RCs for estimating areal rainfall. For that, computer experiments are carried out, where radar rainfall is considered as the reference and the other sources of data, i.e., RCs and rain gauges, are extracted from radar data. Comparing the quality of areal rainfall estimation by RCs with rain gauges and reference data helps to investigate the benefit of the RCs. The value of this additional source of data is not only assessed for areal rainfall estimation performance but also for use in hydrological modeling. Considering measurement errors derived from laboratory experiments, the result shows that the RCs provide useful additional information for areal rainfall estimation as well as for hydrological modeling. Moreover, by testing larger uncertainties for RCs, they observed to be useful up to a certain level for areal rainfall estimation and discharge simulation.

47 CFR 1.2112 - Ownership disclosure requirements for applications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Ownership disclosure requirements for... PROCEDURE Competitive Bidding Proceedings General Procedures § 1.2112 Ownership disclosure requirements for... agreements, management agreements, franchise agreements, spectrum leasing arrangements, spectrum resale...

Background free CARS imaging by phase sensitive heterodyne CARS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jurna, M.; Korterik, Jeroen P.; Otto, Cornelis; Herek, Jennifer Lynn; Offerhaus, Herman L.

2008-01-01

In this article we show that heterodyne CARS, based on a controlled and stable phase-preserving chain, can be used to measure amplitude and phase information of molecular vibration modes. The technique is validated by a comparison of the imaginary part of the heterodyne CARS spectrum to the

Total cost of ownership in the services sector: A case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K. Hurkens (Krisje); W. van der Valk (Wendy); J.Y.F. Wynstra (Finn)

2006-01-01

textabstractFew detailed studies exist of the trade-offs to be made when developing a comprehensive, strategically focused total cost of ownership (TCO) model. Moreover, most studies of TCO have been conducted in manufacturing firms, with little or no TCO research directed toward service

Inclusion or Exclusion? Local Ownership and Security Sector Reform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy Donais

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the dynamics of security sector reform (SSR, a term used to refer to efforts made to reform the security structures of states emerging from conflict or authoritarianism. While "local ownership" is increasingly viewed as a necessary element of any sustainable SSR strategy, there remains a significant gap between international policy and practice in this area. In practice, the SSR agenda continues to be driven largely by international actors, with minimal input, let alone ownership, on the part of either governments or civil society within reforming states. Indeed, the notion of local ownership has come to serve as much as a disciplining mechanism as a tool to overcome exclusion in the making and execution of security policy, and the effectiveness and sustainability of SSR programming have suffered as a result. In light of this, the paper will explore both the potential for, and the limits of, rehabilitating the notion of local ownership to enable more participatory forms of SSR, and argues that any practical local ownership strategy requires a dual policy of negotiating with state actors and engaging with non-state actors.

Breaking car use habits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, John; Møller, Berit Thorup

2008-01-01

Based on calls for innovative ways of reducing car traffic and research indicating that car driving is often the result of habitual decision-making and choice processes, this paper reports on a field experiment designed to test a tool aimed to entice drivers to skip the habitual choice of the car...... and consider using-or at least trying-public transport instead. About 1,000 car drivers participated in the experiment either as experimental subjects, receiving a free one-month travelcard, or as control subjects. As predicted, the intervention had a significant impact on drivers' use of public transport...... and it also neutralized the impact of car driving habits on mode choice. However, in the longer run (i.e., four months after the experiment) experimental subjects did not use public transport more than control subjects. Hence, it seems that although many car drivers choose travel mode habitually, their final...

Explaining foreign ownership by comparative and competitive advantage. Empirical evidence.

OpenAIRE

Bellak, Christian

1999-01-01

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of foreign ownership in manufacturing industries. Foreign ownership, according to the theory of international production, is the result of the combination of comparative and competitive advantage. An adequate examination of the ownership structure of an industry requires the ability to establish empirically the extent to which international competitiveness of firms rests on comparative and competitive advantage. Analysis is based on a...

Design of an intelligent car

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Yongyi

2017-03-01

The design of simple intelligent car, using AT89S52 single chip microcomputer as the car detection and control core; The metal sensor TL - Q5MC induction to iron, to detect the way to send feedback to the signal of single chip microcomputer, make SCM according to the scheduled work mode to control the car in the area according to the predetermined speed, and the operation mode of the microcontroller choose different also can control the car driving along s-shaped iron; Use A44E hall element to detect the car speeds; Adopts 1602 LCD display time of car driving, driving the car to stop, take turns to show the car driving time, distance, average speed and the speed of time. This design has simple structure and is easy to implement, but are highly intelligent, humane, to a certain extent reflects the intelligence.

Misuse of car safety seats.

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, M J; Stroup, K B; Gerhart, S

1988-01-01

Correct use of car seats for small children is essential to prevent serious injuries and death from automotive accidents. Failure to use a car seat properly can contribute to serious injury or death of a child. A case study in which misuse of a car seat occurred is reported. The infant died of hemorrhage and shock secondary to liver laceration which resulted from excessive pressure over the abdomen sustained on impact. Surveys of car seat use for small children prior to and following a child restraint law are also reported. Observers noted types of car seats and specific forms of misuse. Survey results suggest that parents are more likely to misuse car seats for infants than toddlers. Medical professionals can reinforce the importance of proper car seat use by incorporating specific car seat use questions into the patient interview and by providing educational materials.

A Car-Steering Model Based on an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Controller

Science.gov (United States)

Amor, Mohamed Anis Ben; Oda, Takeshi; Watanabe, Shigeyoshi

This paper is concerned with the development of a car-steering model for traffic simulation. Our focus in this paper is to propose a model of the steering behavior of a human driver for different driving scenarios. These scenarios are modeled in a unified framework using the idea of target position. The proposed approach deals with the driver’s approximation and decision-making mechanisms in tracking a target position by means of fuzzy set theory. The main novelty in this paper lies in the development of a learning algorithm that has the intention to imitate the driver’s self-learning from his driving experience and to mimic his maneuvers on the steering wheel, using linear networks as local approximators in the corresponding fuzzy areas. Results obtained from the simulation of an obstacle avoidance scenario show the capability of the model to carry out a human-like behavior with emphasis on learned skills.

Areal rainfall estimation using moving cars - computer experiments including hydrological modeling

OpenAIRE

Rabiei, Ehsan; Haberlandt, Uwe; Sester, Monika; Fitzner, Daniel; Wallner, Markus

2016-01-01

The need for high temporal and spatial resolution precipitation data for hydrological analyses has been discussed in several studies. Although rain gauges provide valuable information, a very dense rain gauge network is costly. As a result, several new ideas have been emerged to help estimating areal rainfall with higher temporal and spatial resolution. Rabiei et al. (2013) observed that moving cars, called RainCars (RCs), can potentially be a new source of data for measuring rainfall amounts...

CD19 CAR-targeted T cells induce long-term remission and B Cell Aplasia in an immunocompetent mouse model of B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco L Davila

Full Text Available Although many adults with B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL are induced into remission, most will relapse, underscoring the dire need for novel therapies for this disease. We developed murine CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptors (CARs and an immunocompetent mouse model of B-ALL that recapitulates the disease at genetic, cellular, and pathologic levels. Mouse T cells transduced with an all-murine CD3ζ/CD28-based CAR that is equivalent to the one being used in our clinical trials, eradicate B-ALL in mice and mediate long-term B cell aplasias. In this model, we find that increasing conditioning chemotherapy increases tumor eradication, B cell aplasia, and CAR-modified T cell persistence. Quantification of recipient B lineage cells allowed us to estimate an in vivo effector to endogenous target ratio for B cell aplasia maintenance. In mice exhibiting a dramatic B cell reduction we identified a small population of progenitor B cells in the bone marrow that may serve as a reservoir for long-term CAR-modified T cell stimulation. Lastly, we determine that infusion of CD8+ CAR-modified T cells alone is sufficient to maintain long-term B cell eradication. The mouse model we report here should prove valuable for investigating CAR-based and other therapies for adult B-ALL.

Suppression of chaotic vibrations in a nonlinear half-car model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tusset, Ângelo Marcelo, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: wagner-barth@hotmail.com; Piccirillo, Vinícius, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: wagner-barth@hotmail.com; Janzen, Frederic Conrad, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: wagner-barth@hotmail.com; Lenz, Wagner Barth, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: wagner-barth@hotmail.com [UTFPR- PONTA GROSSA, PR (Brazil); Balthazar, José Manoel, E-mail: jmbaltha@rc.unesp.br [UNESP-BAURU, SP (Brazil); Fonseca Brasil, Reyolando M. L. R. da, E-mail: reyolando.brasil@ufabc.edu.br [UFABC-SANTO ANDRE, SP (Brazil)

2014-12-10

The present work investigates the nonlinear response of a half-car model. The disturbances of the road are assumed to be sinusoidal. After constructing the bifurcation diagram, we using the 0-1 test for identify the chaotic motion. The principal objective of this study is to eliminate the chaotic behaviour of the chassis and reduce its vibration, and for this reason a control system for semi-active vehicle suspension with magnetorheological damper is proposed. The control mechanism is designed based on SDRE technique, where the control parameter is the voltage applied to the coil of the damper. Numerical results show that the proposed control method is effective in significantly reducing of the chassis vibration, increasing therefore, passenger comfort.

Ownership dynamics in local multi-stakeholder initiatives

OpenAIRE

Biekart, Kees; Fowler, Alan

2018-01-01

textabstractThe nature and dynamics of ownership are often neglected features of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Seventeen cases in four countries illustrate characteristics of narrow government or broad societal ownership and forces for change over time. Refinements to the application of Gaventa’s Power Cube are used to analyse such shifts from the perspective of invited and closed spaces for participation. Observations about ways in which stakeholder groups can create a more enabling ...

Director ownership, outside directors and commitment to corporate social responsibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Ying

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the effects of director ownership and the proportion of outside directors on firms’ commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR. Using a sample of 453 Hong Kong listed companies for 2005, we find that there is a non-linear relationship between the level of director ownership and firms’ engagement in CSR behavior. Commitment to CSR first increases as the proportion of director ownership increases up to 50% and then decreases as that proportion of ownership grows higher. Further, the proportion of outside directors on the board exhibits a positive relationship with the level of CSR commitment. These results provide explanations for firms’ commitment to CSR from the corporate governance perspective.

Car-use habits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Berit Thorup; Thøgersen, John

2008-01-01

It is often claimed that many drivers use their private car rather habitually. The claim gains credibility from the fact that travelling to many everyday destinations fulfils all the prerequisites for habit formation: it is recurring, performed under stable circumstances and produces rewarding...... consequences. Since the decision is made quite automatically and only one choice alternative is considered (the habitually chosen one), behaviour guided by habit is difficult to change. The implications of car use habits for converting drivers to commuters using public transportation is analysed based...... to do so, car use habit, and the interaction between the two, confirms the theory-derived hypothesis that car use habits act as an obstacle to the transformation of intentions to commute by public transportation into action....

Experimental and numerical investigation of idling car exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McNabola, A; Broderick, B M; Gill, L W [Trinity College, Dublin (Ireland). Dept. of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering

2006-07-01

This study examined the effect of maintaining a 2 metre distance between vehicles on commuter pollution exposure levels. Air quality samples were recorded inside cars on a busy road in Dublin. A turbulent dispersion model was used to predict the exposure levels from idling cars. Samples were recorded along the route by keeping a distance of approximately 2 metres by sight to the car in front, and then a second time keeping a distance of approximately 1 meter. Traffic numbers were recorded during each sample from local authority loops. Meteorological and idling time data were also recorded for a total of 10 pairs of samples. Experiments were then conducted to measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM{sub 2.5}). A calibrated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was then used to predict car exposure levels under varying conditions. Key parameters included ventilation rates; wind speed; and distance. The calibrated numerical model demonstrated that the pollution concentration decreased rapidly within the first 2 metres of the preceding exhaust. Maintaining a distance of 2 metres to the preceding vehicle showed a reduction in VOCs and particulate matter of approximately 30 to 40 per cent. It was concluded that further research is needed to determine if modified driving behaviours will promote higher levels of traffic congestion. 11 refs., 6 tabs., 11 figs.

49 CFR 1037.2 - Cars.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Cars. 1037.2 Section 1037.2 Transportation Other... GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS BULK GRAIN AND GRAIN PRODUCTS-LOSS AND DAMAGE CLAIMS § 1037.2 Cars. A car is... railroad-leased cars. [57 FR 54334, Nov. 18, 1992] ...

Prediction on the charging demand for electric vehicles in Chengdu

Science.gov (United States)

yun, Cai; wanquan, Zhang; wei, You; pan, Mao

2018-03-01

The development of the electric vehicle charging station facilities speed directly affect the development of electric vehicle speed. And the charging demand of electric vehicles is one of the main factors influencing the electric vehicle charging facilities. The paper collected and collated car ownership in recent years, the use of elastic coefficient to predict Chengdu electric vehicle ownership, further modeling to give electric vehicle charging demand.

Effects of Internationalization on Ownership Structure: Evidence from Latin American Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsia Hua Sheng

2014-07-01

Full Text Available We analyze the direct and simultaneous effects of internationalization on the ownership structure of Latin American companies based on agency theory. Using a sample of 425 Latin American firms between 2007 and 2011, which corresponds to 1,776 observations, we use random effects and three-stage least squares panel data regression to test these effects. We find that the hypothesized positive effect of internationalization on ownership concentration is rejected. Our results support the negative relationship that is predicted by principal-agent theory when analyzing the effect of ownership on the degree of internationalization. Greater internationalization via the equity entry mode is associated with lower levels of ownership concentration. Finally, there is simultaneity in the determination of the relationship between the degree of internationalization and ownership concentration.

The feedback control research on straight and curved road with car-following model

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yi-Ming; Cheng, Rong-Jun; Ge, Hong-Xia

2017-07-01

Taking account of the road consisting of curved part and straight part, an extended car-following model is proposed in this paper. A control signal including the velocity difference between the considered vehicle and the vehicle in front is taken into account. The control theory method is applied into analysis of the stability condition for the model. Numerical simulations are implemented to prove that the stability of the traffic flow strengthens effectively with an increase of the radius of curved road, and the control signal can suppress the traffic congestion. The results are in good agree with the theoretical analysis.

A speed guidance strategy for multiple signalized intersections based on car-following model

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Tie-Qiao; Yi, Zhi-Yan; Zhang, Jian; Wang, Tao; Leng, Jun-Qiang

2018-04-01

Signalized intersection has great roles in urban traffic system. The signal infrastructure and the driving behavior near the intersection are paramount factors that have significant impacts on traffic flow and energy consumption. In this paper, a speed guidance strategy is introduced into a car-following model to study the driving behavior and the fuel consumption in a single-lane road with multiple signalized intersections. The numerical results indicate that the proposed model can reduce the fuel consumption and the average stop times. The findings provide insightful guidance for the eco-driving strategies near the signalized intersections.

Using in-car feedback to influence travel decisions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byrne, I T [WS Atkins plc, Dublin (Ireland); O' Mahony, M M; Broderick, B M [Trinity College, Dublin (Ireland). Dept. of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

1999-11-01

It is widely accepted that there is a need to reduce private car use, thereby alleviating congested urban areas and reducing fuel consumption and emissions from transport vehicles. This paper examines one approach to achieving this aim, based on the hypothesis that car owners do not correctly perceive the full cost of a car trip. The primary objective of the research was to assess the potential for correcting this misperception through the use of a digital car running-cost meter, installed on the dashboard of a car, which displays on a real-time basis the cost of each trip. Cost meter information on marginal trip cost, external cost and the effect of driving style was provided to a sample of drivers in a small pilot action in Dublin. The findings from the data (diaries and interviews) are presented and extrapolated by means of a transport network model to assess potential energy saving. The key findings from the work are as follows. (a) There was a significant reduction in off-peak-period trips observed as a result of the car meter but there was no significant reduction in time spent in the car, distance travelled by car and cost of driving. (b) A surprising finding from the project was that 40% of the subjects who happened to be changing their vehicle shortly after being involved in the project chose more fuel-efficient vehicles. They attributed their choice in part to their increased awareness of fuel costs as a result of their involvement in the project. (author)

Separation of network and operation in the railway sector. A study of ownership unbundling under European law; Die Trennung von Netz und Betrieb im Eisenbahnsektor. Eine europarechtliche Untersuchung des Ownership Unbundling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Helmstaedter, Felix

2011-07-01

This publication shows how throughout Europe the process of market liberalisation in the railway sector is currently going through a decisive phase. In contrast to other network industries, especially in the telecommunication and energy sectors, the liberalisation of the railway sector is still in its beginnings. These network industries underwent full privatisation of what were formerly state monopolies. This gave rise to services markets operating in a competitive environment, the most impressive example of which is the telecommunications sector. Compared with its other forms the concept of separating ownership of a network from that of its operation, also referred to as ownership unbundling, is the most radical form of unbundling. This is not the least reason why it is one of the most controversial procedures for privatising vertically integrated network monopolies. There are sufficient practical examples and theories of economic competition to motivate a study of this model from the perspective of European law. This provides the backdrop to the present study, which investigates how a consistent implementation of unbundling stipulations can contribute to the realisation of a single European market, which is the original motive and purpose of liberalisation. It inquires in particular into the degree to which, compared with other models, ownership unbundling can be regarded as particularly suitable if not as the only structural model suitable for this purpose.

The Relationship between Ownership Structure Dimensions and Corporate Performance: Evidence from Bahrain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reem Khamis

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this study we examine the relation between ownership structure and corporate performance; the sample of the study included 42 out of 48 companies of all sectors in Bahrain Bourse in five years from 2007-2011. Several dimensions of ownership concentration were studied in addition to managerial and institutional ownership. Two different measurements of performance were used (ROA and Tobin’s Q. The study investigated this relation using several control variables and 2SLS statistical method to overcome the problem of endogeneity that may exist between the study variables. It was found that ownership concentration have a negative effect with statistical significance on company performance. Institutional ownership was found to have a positive effect on company performance. Managerial ownership was not found to have a significant effect on company performance, however it was found that managerial ownership has a positive effect on performance only in the case of declining ownership concentration. Other results were revealed by the study regarding company age, size, growth, board size and liquidity. The study is considered to have theoretical and practical implications. It contributes to the debate about agency theory and managerial entrenchment. It also may help officials in Bahrain in making laws and legislations concerning corporate governance improvement in Bahraini market. This

Traction Control Study for a Scaled Automated Robotic Car

OpenAIRE

Morton, Mark A.

2004-01-01

This thesis presents the use of sliding mode control applied to a 1/10th scale robotic car to operate at a desired slip. Controlling the robot car at any desired slip has a direct relation to the amount of force that is applied to the driving wheels based on road surface conditions. For this model, the desired traction/slip is maintained for a specific surface which happens to be a Lego treadmill platform. How the platform evolved and the robot car was designed are also covered. To parame...

Corporate Ownership Reform and Foreign Market Entry of Emerging Market Firms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)