Aspect Deals Research Articles

Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Post Companies Bill 2012: An Analysis

The corporate governance system of any country has two different aspects. The positive aspect of it aims at enhancing corporate performance and accountability with the principal objective of attracting financial and human resources while the negative aspect deals with preventing corporate failure. Corporate governance in the contemporary Indian scenario assumes tremendous significance since a corporation is a conglomeration of various stakeholders namely investors, vendors, employees, government and the society in which it operates. Thus it becomes imperative that the management operates keeping in mind certain principles and rules such that their actions are not detrimental to the interests of the other stakeholders whose support is quintessential for growth and development of a corporation. The present paper aims at evaluating the existing corporate governance principles and comparing them with those of the proposed Companies Bill which is pending approval in the Rajya Sabha. The paper discusses various aspects of Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility and critically analyses them in accordance with the Indian corporate structure.

Plant hormone signaling and modulation of DNA repair under stressful conditions

The role played by phytohormone signaling in the modulation of DNA repair gene and the resulting effects on plant adaptation to genotoxic stress are poorly investigated. Information has been gathered using the Arabidopsis ABA (abscisic acid) overly sensitive mutant abo4-1, defective in the DNA polymerase ε function that is required for DNA repair and recombination. Similarly, phytohormone-mediated regulation of the Ku genes, encoding the Ku heterodimer protein involved in DNA repair, cell cycle control and telomere homeostasis has been demonstrated, highlighting a scenario in which hormones might affect genome stability by modulating the frequency of homologous recombination, favoring plant adaptation to genotoxic stress. Within this context, the characterisation of Arabidopsis AtKu mutants allowed disclosing novel connections between DNA repair and phytohormone networks. Another intriguing aspect deals with the emerging correlation between plant defense response and the mechanisms responsible for genome stability. There is increasing evidence that systemic acquired resistance (SAR) and homologous recombination share common elements represented by proteins involved in DNA repair and chromatin remodeling. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that volatile compounds, such as methyl salicylate (MeSA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA), participating in the plant-to-plant communication can trigger genome instability in response to genotoxic stress agents. Phytohormone-mediated control of genome stability involves also chromatin remodeling, thus expanding the range of molecular targets. The present review describes the most significant advances in this specific research field, in the attempt to provide a better comprehension of how plant hormones modulate DNA repair proteins as a function of stress.

English

INTRODUCTION: Ten to thirty percent of the patients admitted to hospitals in India acquire nosocomial infections as against 5% in the developed world. The first and foremost principle of Universal Safety Precaution is “HANDWASHING”. But the Health Care Workers often forget to wash their hands before interacting with the patient. Such contaminated hands plays major role in transmitting infections. HCWs are also at an increased risk of needle stick injuries. According to data from EPINet system, hospital workers incur approximately 30 needle stick injuries per 100 beds per year on average – an alarming figure by no exaggeration.(5) OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge and perception of HCWs towards hand hygiene and to know the incident of NSI and the factors associated with it. STUDY METHOD: Cross sectional study with purposive sampling was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. Out of 275 participants 55 were doctors, 143 nurses and 77 interns. Self administered questionnaire was used to collect information. RESULTS: Ninety one percent doctors, 86% interns and 81% nurses had good knowledge about hand hygiene. 73% doctors, 61% interns and 56% nurses knew the duration required for hand rub. The main hindrance for not practicing hand hygiene was due to lack of resources (37%). Knowledge about recapping of the needle was poor and incident of injury due to needle stick was 50% among nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Study demonstrated adequate knowledge regarding hand hygiene. The knowledge should be converted into practice. There is a need for educational programme about universal precautions especially about handling of the sharps. KEY-WORDS: Nosocomial infection, Hand Washing, Needle Stick injury, Universal precautions INTRODUCTION: The care provided in a hospital should be curative and preventive. Curative aspect deals with the disease of the patient and preventive aspect deals with the prevention of nosocomial infection. An infection is called as nosocomial, if it manifests for 48 hours or more after hospital admission or within 30 days of discharge of the patient. (1) Hospitals are the major source of nosocomial infection. Ten to thirty percent of the patients admitted to hospitals in India acquire nosocomial infections as against only 5% in developed world. (2) Nosocomial infections are transmitted from one patient to another through the health care workers (HCWs)

Hybrid nano/micro-particles for Increased Steel Corrosion Resistance: Particles’ Alterations with pH Change and Steel Behavior in Cement Extract and Mortar

ABSTRACTHybrid nano/micro particles were investigated for their possibility to re-structure within local pH alterations, release certain active substance and further contribute to increased steel corrosion resistance. Two aspects with regard to corrosion control and self-healing in cement-based materials are discussed: the first aspect deals with the electrochemical performance of low carbon steel electrodes (St37) in model alkaline solutions (cement extract) in the presence of 4.9.10-4 g/l hybrid particles i.e. cement extract, containing PDADMAC (poly (diallyl, dimethyl ammonium chloride) / PAA (Poly (acrylic acid)/ PDADMAC over a CaO core. The second aspect refers to the performance of reinforcing steel (FeB500 HKN) in mortar specimens, containing hybrid particles in the mixing water in concentration of 3.6×10-4 wt. % per mortar weight. The main objective was to determine if these hybrids will lead to increased corrosion resistance of the steel surface layers, generally formed in the hereby investigated environmental medium (both liquid i.e. cement extract and solid i.e. mortar). Further, it was expected that when chlorides are involved, as corrosion accelerating factor, the presence of hybrid particles will delay corrosion initiation and will therefore lead to increased corrosion resistance. The results denote for indeed superior corrosion performance of steel in chloride-free and chloride containing medium, when hybrid particles are involved. The responsible mechanisms are related to increased barrier effects of the formed layer and self-repair upon morphological alterations of the hybrid particles, “nucleation sites effects” and/or Ca-core “release” on locally active (anodic) areas on the steel surface.

Design and Implementation of Comprehensive Tank Overfill Protection Program

Summary Protecting human health and protecting the environment are essential requirements in today's exploration and production (E&P), refining, and petroleum marketing workplaces (pipelines and terminal facilities). Preventing tank overfills at above-ground, atmospheric storage tanks is essential, for "overfills" and the attendant consequences (e.g., potential volitization and groundwater/soil contamination) pose significant risk to the safety of workers, surrounding communities, and the environment itself. Overfill incidents demonstrate the need, and urgency, for tank-overfill-protection (TOP) measures to be evaluated and, as determined, undertaken. The design and implementation of a TOP program offers potential benefits for E&P in the environmental, human-health, community-welfare, and safety performance areas. E&P operations do not necessarily involve the numbers of atmospheric tanks that are involved in, say for example, midstream (pipeline) operations; nonetheless, safety and environmental contamination are issues of concern. There are common attributes of a comprehensive overfill protection that can be applied to E&P settings. A TOP program for a large pipeline organization--consisting of more than 800 above-ground, atmospheric storage tanks (Class 1 through 3 liquids), at more than 90 facilities--was recently developed and implemented, and is currently undergoing its first year of compliance and assurance (C&A) evaluation. This program was comprehensive in nature, containing its own unique objectives and distinctives. The comprehensive approach and method undertaken provided major benefits to the organization and successful and long-term implementation. Such benefits apply to large-scale programs and projects alike and include the following: Defined management philosophy/vision Organizational commitment Strengthened accountability Identification of systemic gaps Consistency in policies, standards, and operations Long-term C&A The results yield enhanced operations, risk reduction, and improved safety, all of which were evidenced in the TOP program. There are two aspects to an overfill-protection program. The first is the "programmatic" aspect, which addresses the various program features [i.e., policy development, standards and procedures, roles and responsibilities, program management (PM) functions] and various content features of the overfill policy to be implemented. The second aspect deals specifically with overfill equipment, to include equipment identification and related engineering, procurement, and construction (installation) activities, as well as any necessary electrical and instrumentation upgrades at a facility. The programmatic aspect, in a proactive and preventive sense, is deemed the most protective regarding tank-overfill events. This paper addresses a "conceptual model" for an overfill-protection program, based on this recent industry example. Key portions of the programmatic and overfill-equipment aspects will be addressed.

Preliminary evaluation of structural response of ELSY reactor in the after shutdown condition

Abstract The paper is aimed at preliminary evaluating the load bearing capability of a Generation IV metal cooled reactor (LFR), like the European Lead-cooled System (ELSY), with the intent to support the viability of lead technology for use in a future commercial power plant with waste transmutation capability. Two relevant safety aspects were investigated: the fluid–structure interaction, induced by the propagation of seismic loading (in the event of safe shutdown earthquake), and the high thermal loads due to the residual decay heat (influenced also by the burn up level). The first issue depends on the presence of a liquid free surface that, especially, in SSE condition allows for fluid motion (“sloshing”); the forming and the impact of lead waves could impair the integrity of reactor structures. The second aspect deals with the thermal effects induced by the irradiated core heat source after the reactor shutdown. In order to evaluate the ELSY reactor structural response, induced by both high temperature and hydrodynamic loads, appropriate 3-D finite element models were set up and implemented in MARC code. In addition the input decay power after shutdown has been evaluated by means of MCNPX and Origen2.2 codes. The obtained preliminary results provide information to make possible an upgrading of the reactor design, however with no significant modification of their functionality.

The quality of secondary education in the Middle East and North Africa: what can we learn from TIMSS’ results?

Research on educational quality has been scarce in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, whereas the debates over educational quality date from 1966 in the USA with the Coleman Report. Fortunately TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) starts to fill this gap by providing data on students’ achievement and for many MENA countries this is the first time that such data are available. The paper gives an overview of the quality of education in MENA using TIMSS’ 2007 data. The research questions addressed here are why is achievement low? And why is the gap between the top‐performing countries and MENA countries large? In order to answer these questions, the paper focuses on several aspects: the first is the inefficiency of acquiring the language, the second is the inefficiency of time devoted to homework, the third is the meagre intended curriculum which is translated into a weaker implemented curriculum, the fourth aspect deals with the inefficiency of public resources devoted to the education sector. Finally, the paper highlights two other factors believed to affect students’ achievement: family background and students’ attitudes towards mathematics and science.

The MIKHNEVO small aperture array enhances the resolution property of seismological observations on the East European Platform

The MIKHNEVO small aperture array of the NORES type (MHVAR) was installed in the central part of the East European Platform (EEP) in 2004. A short description of array configuration and instrumentation is provided. We consider two aspects of the contribution of the MHVAR data to the recording of seismic events in the EEP. First, we discuss three recent earthquakes on the EEP and compare focus solutions received by the Geophysical Survey RAS and MHVAR jointly and independently. The travel-time and back-azimuth residuals for MHVAR coincide well with the source-specific station corrections, evaluated earlier for the stations within the Platform. The second aspect deals with the location and identification of weak local events at distances of up to 500 km from MHVAR. In 2007, MHVAR independently recorded 623 local events with magnitudes (ML = 0.79–3.24) which are identified as quarry blasts.

Managing sensor traffic data and forecasting unusual behaviour propagation

Sensor data on traffic events have prompted a wide range of research issues, related with the so-called ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems). Data are delivered for both static (fixed) and mobile (embedded) sensors, generating large and complex spatio-temporal series. This scenario presents several research challenges, in spatio-temporal data management and data analysis. Management issues involve, for instance, data cleaning and data fusion to support queries at distinct spatial and temporal granularities. Analysis issues include the characterization of traffic behavior for given space and/or time windows, and detection of anomalous behavior (either due to sensor malfunction, or to traffic events). This paper contributes to the solution of some of these issues through a new kind of framework to manage static sensor data. Our work is based on combining research on analytical methods to process sensor data, and data management strategies to query these data. The first aspect is geared towards supporting pattern matching. This leads to a model to study and predict unusual traffic behavior along an urban road network. The second aspect deals with spatio-temporal database issues, taking into account information produced by the model. This allows distinct granularities and modalities of analysis of sensor data in space and time. This work was conducted within a project that uses real data, with tests conducted on 1,000 sensors, during 3 years, in a large French city.

Política Industrial de Inovação e as Parcerias Público-Privadas

This article was developed from two aspects. The first aspect deals with industrial innovation policy, pointing out the importance of technological development of the country and how investments in technological development may lead to a jump in the quality on industrial production. Also, this article aims at showing the importance of the public - private partnerships as a form of speeding this development.

Rank Estimation and Redundancy Reduction of High-Dimensional Noisy Signals With Preservation of Rare Vectors

In this paper, we address the problem of redundancy-reduction of high-dimensional noisy signals that may contain anomaly (rare) vectors, which we wish to preserve. For example, when applying redundancy reduction techniques to hyperspectral images, it is essential to preserve anomaly pixels for target detection purposes. Since rare-vectors contribute weakly to the -norm of the signal as compared to the noise, -based criteria are unsatisfactory for obtaining a good representation of these vectors. The proposed approach combines and norms for both signal-subspace and rank determination and considers two aspects: One aspect deals with signal-subspace estimation aiming to minimize the maximum of data-residual -norms, denoted as , for a given rank conjecture. The other determines whether the rank conjecture is valid for the obtained signal-subspace by applying Extreme Value Theory results to model the distribution of the noise -norm. These two operations are performed alternately using a suboptimal greedy algorithm, which makes the proposed approach practically plausible. The algorithm was applied on both synthetically simulated data and on a real hyperspectral image producing better results than common -based methods.

G-ribo motif favors the formation of pseudoknots in ribosomal RNA

Analysis of the pseudoknots existing in the ribosomal RNA showed that four of them are formed with the help of G-ribo, a recently identified RNA recurrent motif. The analysis of these pseudoknots revealed two major aspects in the G-ribo motif structure, which together provide the structural context favoring the formation of two different types of pseudoknots. The first aspect pertains to a particular side-by-side juxtaposition of two double helices that facilitates switches of the polynucleotide chain between different strands. The second aspect deals with the presence of an adenosine at a specific place where it can stabilize a particular arrangement of two quasicoaxial helices required for the pseudoknot formation. Additional analysis shows that the latter aspect is also present in other pseudoknots not related to the G-ribo motif or the ribosome, and thus represents a general structural element favoring the formation of pseudoknots.

Analysis of Speeding in Saudi Arabia and Effectiveness of Enforcement Methods

The current study tackles three aspects of the speeding problem. First, the magnitude of the problem for driver compliance is assessed by a comparison of the 85th percentile speed with the posted speed limit. The second aspect deals with selected speed limits at study sites, and models for estimating these percentiles are suggested. Examining the effect of automated speed enforcement with speed radar cameras and the presence of police cars was the third aspect. A sample of slightly more than 69,000 spot-speed observations was gathered from 41 sites (14 freeways, 22 arterials, and 5 residential streets) during 2003 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and in Buraidah, a small city about 300 km north of Riyadh. Analysis showed that the study sites were suffering from a tremendous speed problem. Although the problem could be blamed in part on inappropriate selection of speed limits, the speeding trends disclosed that drivers overall tend to exceed the posted limit by a great amount. The proportions of motorists with 85th percentile speeds over the speed limit are 10%, 88%, and 100% on freeways, arterials, and residential streets, respectively. A primary concern is the relatively high speeds observed on residential streets. Although the speed limit on such streets does not exceed 40 km/h, the observed 85th percentiles were all more than 55 km/h; this highlights the speeding issue on these neighborhood streets, where pedestrian activities are prevalent. The study found that both enforcement methods, namely, speed radar cameras and police car presence, appeared effective and led to a reduction of mean speed by at least 10 km/h.

Analysis of Speeding in Saudi Arabia and Effectiveness of Enforcement Methods

The current study tackles three aspects of the speeding problem. First, the magnitude of the problem for driver compliance is assessed by a comparison of the 85th percentile speed with the posted speed limit. The second aspect deals with selected speed limits at study sites, and models for estimating these percentiles are suggested. Examining the effect of automated speed enforcement with speed radar cameras and the presence of police cars was the third aspect. A sample of slightly more than 69,000 spot-speed observations was gathered from 41 sites (14 freeways, 22 arterials, and 5 residential streets) during 2003 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and in Buraidah, a small city about 300 km north of Riyadh. Analysis showed that the study sites were suffering from a tremendous speed problem. Although the problem could be blamed in part on inappropriate selection of speed limits, the speeding trends disclosed that drivers overall tend to exceed the posted limit by a great amount. The proportions of motorists with 85th percentile speeds over the speed limit are 10%, 88%, and 100% on freeways, arterials, and residential streets, respectively. A primary concern is the relatively high speeds observed on residential streets. Although the speed limit on such streets does not exceed 40 km/h, the observed 85th percentiles were all more than 55 km/h; this highlights the speeding issue on these neighborhood streets, where pedestrian activities are prevalent. The study found that both enforcement methods, namely, speed radar cameras and police car presence, appeared effective and led to a reduction of mean speed by at least 10 km/h.

The Effect of Cognitive and Affective Aspects in Decision Making Using Balanced Scorecard

This study examines the effect of decision makers’ cognitive and affective aspects in decision making, especially when a firm implementing Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Cognitive aspect deals with decision makers’ cognitive capabilities and characteristics in utilizing all kinds of BSC measures, including common and unique measures. Affective aspect deals with negative emotions that often present in interpersonal relationships. There were three hypotheses being tested in a laboratory experiment using 2x2x2x2 mixed-subjects design. One hundred and sixty eight Accountancy and Management graduate students from Gadjah Mada University were randomly assigned in one of eight treatment cells. The results show that common and unique measures do have statistically significant effects on performance evaluation judgment and bonus allocation, and decision makers place greater emphasis on common than unique measures. These findings consistent with prior research that suggest sample with BSC knowledge will be able to utilizing both kinds of BSC measures. Although there were no statistically significant support for affect effect, this study provide important evidences for the BSC adopters to consider the makers’ cognitive (and affective) aspects if they want to pursue effective Balanced Scorecard.

The pre-history of Kenneth Arrow's social choice and individual values

The purpose of this article is to give an historical sense of the intellectual developments that determined the form and content of Kenneth Arrow's path-breaking work published in 1951. One aspect deals with personal influences that helped shape Arrow's own thinking. A second aspect is concerned with the early history of the general theory of relations, which is mainly centered in the nineteenth century, and also with the essentially independent modern development of the axiomatic method in the same time period. Arrow's use of general binary relations and of axiomatic methods to ground, in a clear mathematical way, his impossibility theorem marks a turning point in welfare economics, and, more generally, in mathematical economics.

Theoretical Reflections on Violence and Religion: Identity, Power, Privilege and Difference (With Reference to the Hispanic World)

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to reflect, from a theoretical point of view, on the relationship between violence and religion. The historic examples, taken mainly from the Hispanic world, aim to show that even if violence is an habitual component in religions, it is not at all a necessary combination, either in regards to religion in general or to any religion in particular. For this purpose, four aspects will be brought up in which the binomial religion-violence is manifested in a more characteristic way. The first has to do with identity: religion as a sign of identity can allow for a systematic and religiously correct resource for violence. The second aspect deals with the relationship between power and religion, in particular in its relation to the religious legitimization of power and the violence that goes along with its practice. The third aspect refers to privilege, generator of violence in a number of orders (between humans and animals, men and women, powerful and subjected, center and periphery, religious leaders and their followers, etc.). The last aspect refers to difference and introduces a reflection on multireligiosity, a characteristic of our present world, and in which the combination of religion and violence, even though it endures, tends to be mitigated in view of a global frame of cohabitation which must become stronger from the search for a consensus, necessarily based on the renunciation of religiocentric and ethnocentric stances.

Contextualizing Gender and Migration: Galician Immigration to Switzerland

Focusing on two main aspects of the Spanish-Galician migration experience, this article attempts to analyze how migrants’ actions and discourses are shaped by notions of gender. First, the discourse of returning will question notions of family and how differently men and women define their positions as members of a family. While men seem to link their social identity to immovable goods of prestige back in Galicia, women are able to redefine their social identity as they base it on social relations. The second aspect deals with the fact that cleaning is defined as women's work, but at the same time it is – under certain conditions – performed by men.

An integrated framework for the assessment of network operations, reliability, and security

As a network evolves through new requirements, technology, or applications and becomes more complicated, the ability to provide cost-effective, secure, reliable operations for critical functions and to prevent internal and external assaults on the network is important for network vendors, network operators, and end users. Thus, the goal of network design is a manageable, quantifiably reliable, and secure network that balances end-user requirements and technological capabilities. Unfortunately, quantitative reliability assessment is generally not integrated into the process of designing operations and security, even though designers normally consider reliability when they evaluate various operations and security schemes. In this paper we present — with examples — an integrated framework that makes possible a quantitative reliability assessment of telecommunication services and incorporates the impacts of interruptions on both the operations and the security network infrastructures (i.e., on both the static and the dynamic aspects of the network). The static aspect of the network (i.e., operations) deals with the ability of the network to provide sufficient capacity to handle the traffic for which it was designed. The dynamic aspect (i.e., security) deals with the ability of the network to handle both sudden changes in operating conditions and the loss of components and to deal with internal and external attacks on the network.

A Predictive Model for the Initial Droplet Size and Velocity Distributions in Sprays and Comparison with Experiments

AbstractThe distribution of sizes and velocities of droplets initially formed in sprays is an important piece of information needed in the spray modelling, because it defines the initial condition of the spray droplets in the predictive calculations of the downstream two‐phase flow fields. A predictive model for the initial droplet size and velocity distributions in sprays is formulated in this study. The present model incorporates both the deterministic and the stochastic aspect of spray formation process. The deterministic aspect takes into account of the unstable wave motion before the liquid bulk breakup through the linear and nonlinear instability analysis, which provides information for the liquid bulk breakup length, the mass‐mean diameter and a prior distribution for the droplet sizes corresponding to the unstable wave growth of various wavelengths. The stochastic aspect deals with the final stage of droplet formation after the liquid bulk breakup by statistical means through the maximum entropy principle based on Bayesian entropy. The two sub‐models are coupled together by the various source terms signifying the liquid‐gas interaction, the mass mean diameter and the prior distribution based on the instability analysis. The initial droplet size and velocity distributions are measured experimentally by phase‐Doppler interferometry for sprays generated by a planar research nozzle and a practical gas turbine airblast nozzle. For the two nozzles, the liquid bulk sheet is formed before its breakup in a coflowing air stream. It is found that the model predictions are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data for all the cases measured. Hence the present model may be applied to a variety of practical sprays to specify the initial conditions for the spray droplets formed in practical spray systems.