Successive Contractions Research Articles

Delegate contract signing mechanism based on smart contract.

In this paper, a delegate contract signing solution is proposed to eliminate the potential risk of contract fraud caused by information and interest asymmetry. By utilizing the functional properties of the Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts, a delegate contract signing mechanism is established. By running the mechanism, the delegate contract signing information is received and processed, and the information is broadcast to the blockchain network nodes. By designing the algorithms of "requesting contract signing", "successful contract signing" and "contract fraud dispute resolution", the delegate contract signing is realized. By proposing algorithms and their calling processes, the smart contracts are completed. Finally, the smart contracts based on the solution are tested and verified. The source code of the smart contracts has been published on GitHub.

Limitations of Unipolar Signals in Guiding Successful Outflow Tract Premature Ventricular Contraction Ablation.

Unipolar electrograms (UniEGMs) are commonly used to annotate earliest local activation of focal arrhythmias. However, their utility in guiding premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) ablation may be limited when the PVC source is less superficial. The authors sought to compare bipolar electrograms (BiEGMs) vs UniEGMs in guiding successful ablation of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) vs intramural outflow tract (OT) PVCs. The authors hypothesized that: 1) earliest bipolar local activation time (LATBi) would better guide mapping and ablation, vs UniEGM dV/dt (LATUni) or QS morphology; and 2) LAT differences using bipolar vs unipolar EGMs (ΔLATBi-Uni) would be greater for intramural OT than RVOT PVCs. Consecutive patients undergoing successful PVC ablation 2017 to2020 requiring only RVOT or RVOT+left ventricular OT (RVOT+LVOT) ablation were retrospectively analyzed. BiEGMs and UniEGMs at successful ablation sites were compared. Of 70 patients, 50 required RVOT-only, and 20 required RVOT+LVOT ablation for acute and long-term PVC suppression. Mean ΔLATBi-Uni was lower for RVOT vs RVOT+LVOT groups (9.3 ± 6.4ms vs 17.4 ± 9.9ms; P< 0.01). QS UniEGM was seen in 78% of RVOT, compared with 53% of RVOT+LVOT patients (P< 0.016). RVOT+LVOT sites most frequently included the posteroseptal RVOT and adjacent LVOT (73%), and 43% lacked a QS unipolar EGM. ΔLATBi-Uni≥15ms best distinguished sites in which RVOT-only vs RVOT+LVOT ablation achieved acute PVC suppression (area under the curve: 0.77). Earliest BiEGM activation guides successful ablation of OT PVCs better than UniEGM-guided analysis, especially when an intramural PVC source is present.

Overview of recent cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union (January-march 2022)

In Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld (C-205/20) , the Court of Justice was asked to clarify whether a provision under Directive 2014/67 on the proportionality of penalties in the context of posting of workers has direct effect. In CJ v TGSS (C-389/20), the Spanish social security legislation excluding domestic workers from unemployment benefits was under scrutiny in light of the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sex enshrined in Directive 79/7. In HR Rail (C-485/20), the Court of Justice interpreted the obligation for employers to provide for ‘reasonable accommodation’ for workers with disabilities, including trainees, under Article 5 of Directive 2000/78. In Koch Personaldienstleistungen GmbH (C-514/20), the Court determined whether for the purposes of calculating working time and overtime pay, account should be taken only of the hours actually worked or also of the hours from annual paid leave. Continuing on the importance of the right to annual leave, the Court ruled, in Staatssecretaris van Financiën (C-217/20), on the remuneration of annual leave in situations of permanent incapacity of a worker due to illness. In VB (C-262/20), the Court considered the compatibility of Bulgarian law on the duration of night work for civil servants such as firefighters with Directive 2003/88 and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Finally, in MIUR et Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per la Campania (C-282/19), the Court assessed whether the systematic use of successive fixed-term contracts for Catholic education teachers in Italy could be justified by ‘objective reasons’ within the meaning of Clause 5(1) of the framework agreement.

Improving the Efficiency of Energy Consumption in Buildings: Simulation of Alternative EnPC Models

The construction sector and the operation and maintenance of buildings largely contribute to energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the European Union (EU). Therefore, it is of utmost importance to improve the energy performance of buildings. Yet, this frequently involves high short-term investments, which may not be compatible with owners’ budgetary constraints. In this research we analyze the importance of Energy Performance Contracting (EnPC) for the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings. These models allow bypassing budgetary restrictions of owners (public and private ones) and bring private capital to finance energy efficiency measures. The paper analyses different models of contracting Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), from traditional models to alternative models, and exposes the versatility of the new contracting models and the associated risks. Several applications of energy performance contracts implemented in European countries are presented to identify the main characteristics that lead to successful contracts. The paper also includes the discussion of energy performance contracts applied to a public building (a school) that seeks to reduce its annual energy consumption, by testing the use of three types of energy performance contracts. The results show that there is potential in the use of EnPC but it is critical to select the most adequate model, especially when defining the contract duration, to balance both owners’ and companies’ interests.

Selecting feasible standard form of construction contracts using text analysis

Delivering successful projects requires establishing a well-drafted contract, through setting balanced rights and obligations. Nowadays, Standard Forms of Construction Contracts (SFCCs) are being utilized, aiming to manifest the contractual relationships between the parties. This research aims to develop a model that helps in selecting the most appropriate SFCC using text analysis and multi-criteria decision-making techniques. This research studies three SFCCs which are: 1 (FIDIC Red Book 2017, 2 (JCT Standard Building Contract with Quantities 2016, and 3) NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract. The research compares SFCCs in terms of five aspects which are: 1) Readability, 2) Sharing common goals, 3) Loss and rewards, 4) Dealing with uncertainties, and 5) Suspension by parties. Literature emphasized that these aspects were proven to be crucial in achieving a successful contract agreement. The research starts with contract analysis to extract insights for the selected SFCCs. Where the clauses and provisions of the three SFCCs are compared based on the output of the text analysis process. Accordingly, questions are developed to assist the user in selecting the most suitable SFCC based on a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making model. Finally, a recommendation system is developed to advise the user for critical success factors to be considered in the contract formation stage. This study adds to the body of knowledge of contract management and aids in proactively avoiding or mitigating conflicts and disputes, by reducing the contractual-related problems that may take place due to inappropriate contract types or provisions.

Russian-Chinese “borders” of security. What does the Beijing’s message of V.V. Putin and Xi Jinping mean?

The signing on February 4, 2022 in Beijing of a joint Russian-Chinese statement &amp;quot;On international relations entering a new era and global sustainable development&amp;quot; and a block of bilateral trade, economic and energy agreements means a qualitative expansion of the scope of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Russia and China politically position themselves not only as a global and regional center of power and security, but also as powers that offer the world the development of common human values and concepts - democracy, indivisible security, openness and equality, oppose the politicization of sports, for the expansion of anti-pandemic measures to combat the common evil of COVID-19. China supported the proposals put forward by Russia on its security guarantees in Europe, which helps to further form a common strategic space of Eurasian security from the western part of the Pacific Ocean to the Eastern European conditional line &amp;quot;Black Sea - Belarus&amp;quot;. There is no need to reformat the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership into a military alliance in modern conditions. The economic block of cooperation is based on systemic and mutually beneficial energy cooperation, which is implemented in the increase in successful gas contracts, including transactions for the sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline gas, oil projects and sales, the construction of new power units by Russia at Chinese nuclear power plants (NPPs), and the expansion of supplies coal, etc. In the context of a significant increase in the volume of Russian-Chinese trade in 2021 by a third compared to 2020, the expansion of the practice of settlements in national currencies (ruble - yuan), bypassing the dollar, acquires additional importance. In the face of American threats to shut down the SWIFT international payment system, it is relevant to create an independent Russian-Chinese payment system for transactions that provides not only energy transactions, but also the entire range of bilateral trade, economic and interbank transactions. The formation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership involves a wide range of trade, economic, investment, transport and institutional measures to deepen Eurasian cooperation. The key component in this area is to increase the efficiency of the process of interface between the projects of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Chinese initiative &amp;quot;One Belt and One Road&amp;quot;, the implementation of joint mutually beneficial infrastructure projects.

Permanent provisionality: The homes of mobile managerial professionals between temporariness and permanence

Nowadays, mobility and transience are no longer exclusively associated with the marginalized and socially excluded, such as homeless or displaced people. On the contrary, mobility and transience have become a constitutive pattern of the highly skilled postmodern workforce. Yet, how mobile professionals negotiate the meaning of their homes in ‘liquid times’ and what homemaking practices they use to deal with the temporal uncertainty of their homes are questions that still require further research. This article – based on ethnographic research on German and American managers conducted in China, Germany and the United States between 2011 and 2014 – contributes to this research question by examining how mobile professionals make sense of the transience of their current homes and how transience is reflected in their homemaking practices. The article argues that for mobile professionals the home becomes a critical place not only because of new multilocal spatialities but also because of new transient temporalities. Due to the corporate practice of giving successive temporary contracts, the mobile managers’ everyday life is characterized by a ‘permanent provisionality’, that is, an incongruence of the initially imagined and the actual time horizons of their mobility. This article shows how this ‘permanent provisionality’ is worked into the material and social textures of expatriate homes.

Contract Length Determination in the B2B Service Industry: Role of Economic Factors, Business Relationship, and Learning

In B2B markets, when firms sign contracts for transactions pertaining to the exchange of services that are delivered over a period of time, one critical decision they make is the length (or duration) of the contract. If the services are hired for a long project, companies often sign multiple, successively run contracts with the same vendor. This is prevalent in projects such as when multinational companies hire consulting firms like Accenture to streamline and digitize their business processes, when big banks in developing countries hire firms like Tata Consultancy Services to extend banking facilities into rural markets, and when oil companies hire rig firms to drill oil wells. From a traditional economic perspective, companies would decide on an optimal contract length that is not too long or too short; the former disables the firms from reacting to market changes while the latter makes negotiation costs expensive. However, when a company signs a series of successive contracts with a service-firm, both companies get to learn about the other company’s goals and operations dynamically, which might influence the length of each contract in the series. Thus, determining the contract length in a series of successive contracts is more challenging. In this study, we build a contract length determination model that considers both the economic factors and the dynamic learning. The model provides managers with a theoretical yet practical tool to make optimal decisions on contract length. We use data from the oil-drilling industry to empirically test the proposed model.

Analysis of vortices in viscoelastic fluid flow through confined geometries at low Reynolds numbers

Understanding the behavior of viscoelastic (VE) fluids in confined geometries is crucial for applications in biologic systems, heat transfer devices, enhanced oil recovery, and many others. Here, we perform a systematic steady-state simulation of a VE fluid at low Reynolds numbers through a channel with successive smooth contractions and expansions. We analyze the hydrodynamic performance of the fluid with particular attention to vortex patterns that develop downstream of the contractions. We show that elastic vortices form at higher contraction ratios and that there are critical Weissenberg numbers (Wic) unique to each contraction ratio where the flow shifts from non-vortical to vortical. This Wic increases with an increasing contraction length. The coexistence of elongational-, shear-, and rotational-flow is essential for vortex development and evolution. We also analyzed the effect of the Deborah number (De) on the vortex pattern in a multiple contraction system and observed that the vortex area significantly depends on the distance between the contractions. We show that there are three distinctly different regions in De, in which the flow characteristics change in successive contractions. For high De, the flow in the downstream contraction is significantly affected by the upstream contraction. Our results have implications for the use of VE fluids with various VE properties in different types of porous media.

Effect of maternal oxytocin on umbilical venous and arterial blood flows during physiological-based cord clamping in preterm lambs.

BackgroundDelayed umbilical cord clamping (UCC) after birth is thought to cause placental to infant blood transfusion, but the mechanisms are unknown. It has been suggested that uterine contractions force blood out of the placenta and into the infant during delayed cord clamping. We have investigated the effect of uterine contractions, induced by maternal oxytocin administration, on umbilical artery (UA) and venous (UV) blood flows before and after ventilation onset to determine whether uterine contractions cause placental transfusion in preterm lambs.Methods and findingsAt ~128 days of gestation, UA and UV blood flows, pulmonary arterial blood flow (PBF) and carotid arterial (CA) pressures and blood flows were measured in three groups of fetal sheep during delayed UCC; maternal oxytocin following mifepristone, mifepristone alone, and saline controls. Each successive uterine contraction significantly (p<0.05) decreased UV (26.2±6.0 to 14.1±4.5 mL.min-1.kg-1) and UA (41.2±6.3 to 20.7 ± 4.0 mL.min-1.kg-1) flows and increased CA pressure and flow (47.1±3.4 to 52.8±3.5 mmHg and 29.4±2.6 to 37.3±3.4 mL.min-1.kg-1). These flows and pressures were partially restored between contractions, but did not return to pre-oxytocin administration levels. Ventilation onset during DCC increased the effects of uterine contractions on UA and UV flows, with retrograde UA flow (away from the placenta) commonly occurring during diastole.ConclusionsWe found no evidence that amplification of uterine contractions with oxytocin increase placental transfusion during DCC. Instead they decreased both UA and UV flow and caused a net loss of blood from the lamb. Uterine contractions did, however, have significant cardiovascular effects and reduced systemic and cerebral oxygenation.

EFFLEURAGE MASSAGE MENGGUNAKAN ESENSIAL OIL SERAI (CYMBOPOGON Sp) DAN TEH SEREH EFEKTIF UNTUK MENURUNKAN NYERI PADA IBU POST PARTUM

The reported prevalence of postpartum morbidity included: bleeding 71.92%, fever 12.18%, hypertension 10.64%, after pain 6.1% and others 0.71%. Pain after childbirth is caused by successive uterine contractions and relaxations that occur continuously. Effleurage massage is a non-pharmacological pain reduction method because touch and pain are stimulated at the same time, the sensation of touch travels to the brain and closes the gate in the brain, thus limiting the amount of pain felt in the brain. Flavonoids, tannins and saponins have the effect of inhibiting the cyclooxygenase enzyme which can suppress the production of prostaglandins (PGE2), thus providing analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of effleurage massage using lemongrass aromatherapy and lemongrass tea drink (cymbopogon sp) on pain in postpartum mothers. The design of this study was a quasi-experimental with control group, paired T-test, unpaired T-test and Man Whitney test. There was a decrease in pain scores, after being given the intervention, the score decreased by 3 higher than the control group, namely 2. The decrease in anxiety scores in the intervention group was higher than the control group, namely 12.16 and 1.39. The results showed that there was a relationship between effleurage massage with lemongrass essential oil and lemongrass tea drink cymbopogon sp on post partum mother pain (after pain). There is great potential for further collaborative research by midwives to explore clinical applications with large-scale randomized sampling techniques..

Facilitating adoption of electric buses through policy: Learnings from a trial in Norway

Learning from first experiences of battery-electric bus (E-bus) trials is important to facilitate uptake and develop effective public policy. Here we present initial E-bus trials in Oslo and use the case to 1) model total cost of ownership (TCO) of E-buses vs. diesel buses, and 2) discuss challenges, opportunities, and policy implications. Together, this yields a holistic analysis of requirements for speeding up E-bus adoption, spanning operators and policymakers. Results revealed that rapid E-bus roll-out was achieved through successful contract change order use combined with authority support to reduce operator risk. Challenges were encountered surrounding technical issues, climatization energy use and infrastructure establishment in dense urban areas. In addition, urban E-bus TCO is currently high, and since operation is mostly tender controlled with investment costs covered, higher costs must be covered by public budgets. Despite challenges, operators are positive to further E-bus use, suggesting that companies are willing to support innovation when financial risk is low. We expect E-bus operation to become competitive to diesel buses in Oslo by 2025; to facilitate adoption before economic parity, municipalities and transport authorities must continue to play a large role. Further regulation is also urgently needed to facilitate common infrastructure planning and development.

Modeling Monophasic Flow of Polymer Solutions in Porous Media: Assessing Relative Impact of Intrinsic Fluid Properties and Pore Microstructure

Polymer solutions are often described as viscoelastic fluids, whose rheological behavior dynamically evolves according to the flow shear rate due to successive contractions and relaxations of inner deformable components. Contrary to shear-thickening and shear-thinning fluids, viscoelastic fluids can undergo an increase in the normal stress-differences even in simple geometries, leading to counterintuitive flow patterns. In this paper, we investigate numerically the monophasic flow of viscoelastic fluids through microfluidic devices. The objective is to qualitatively assess how modification of the rheological properties and the geometry of porous media representative element affect the flow regime at microscale. Deviations from equivalent Newtonian model are analyzed to quantify the contribution of elasticity in the flow. It is demonstrated that depending on the geometry, flow of polymer solution can display anisotropic features and flow resistance at relatively low viscoelastic numbers, which is coherent with previous microscopic experimental and numerical studies. Ensued applications of the formulated microscale model are discussed.

Transcranial direct current stimulation of primary motor cortex modulates post-contraction potentiation

Surface electromyographic activity (sEMG) of the biceps brachii (BB) during weak elbow flexion has been reported to immediately increase after strong elbow flexion even while exerting consistent force; this phenomenon is called “post-contraction potentiation” (PCP). To determine whether the central nervous system is involved in PCP, we investigated the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the primary motor cortex (M1) during PCP. Initially, the participants were instructed to perform successive muscle contraction tasks with different forces: 2% (Test 1); then 25%, 50%, or 100% (conditioning contraction [CC]); and again 2% (Test 2) of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). In subsequent experiments, the CC intensity was set at 50% MVC, and tDCS (anodal, cathodal, and sham) was applied to the M1 before the task. In the last experiment, TMS was applied to M1 to evaluate the excitability of the corticospinal tract during Tests 1 and 2. The CC intensity at 50% or 100% MVC generated PCP, but didn’t at 25% MVC. Anodal tDCS significantly decreased the magnitude of PCP, while cathodal tDCS showed an increase in magnitude compared to sham tDCS. The BB motor-evoked potential amplitude during Test 2 was lower compared to that during Test 1. These findings suggest that changes in the excitability of the corticospinal tract and resultant changes in the activation pattern of motor unit activity play a role in generating PCP.

Importance of credentials for in-house or outsourced leader appointments in successful versus unsuccessful large public IS contract awards

Importance of credentials for in-house or outsourced leader appointments in successful versus unsuccessful large public IS contract awards

Preparing for Successful Collaborative Contracts

Preparing well before entering a contract is always vital, independent of the characteristics of the project and type of contract. However, as projects become larger and more complex, and value for stakeholders and society becomes the dominating perspective on success, the need for well-developed collaboration is becoming more and more critical. In this paper, we investigate how the parties should prepare for a collaborative project. The purpose is to help owners secure the success of the project for its key stakeholders. We choose to address the issues as an active risk mitigation strategy that serves as a vehicle to reduce uncertainty, avoid unnecessary risks, and utilize opportunities as a project owner. We look at the project mainly through a project owner perspective, but on key points, we contrast this with contractor perspectives. The research was performed in Australia in 2020 and includes public and private sector investment projects. The methodology is qualitative case studies and includes primarily in-depth interviews supplemented with document studies and two workshop group discussions. The paper highlights the difference between being collaborative in a contract and using a collaborative contract. The results document significant differences in preparations depending on the degree of complexity of the projects. One major difference is illustrated in the different levels of precision in terms and definitions used in communication. Complex projects require freedom of interpretation only gained by allowing wide and less precise expressions.

Toward Automated Enforcement of Radio Interference

In many countries, sharing has become a significant approach to problems of spectrum allocation and assignment. As this approach moves from concept to reality, it is reasonable to expect an increase in interference or usage conflict events between sharing parties. Scholars such as Coase, Demsetz, Stigler, and others have argued that appropriate enforcement is critical to successful contracts (such as spectrum sharing agreements) and Polinsky, Shavell, and others have analyzed enforcement mechanisms in general. While many ex-ante measures may be used, reducing the social costs of ex-ante enforcement means shifting the balance more toward ex-post measures. Ex post enforcement requires detection, data collection, and adjudication methods. At present, these methods are ad hoc (operating in a decentralized way between parties) or fairly costly (e.g., relying on the FCC Enforcement Bureau). The research presented in this paper is the culmination of an NSF-funded inquiry into how and what enforcement functions can be automated.

Determinants of a successful commodity contract: Evidence from the Indian agriculture futures market

In this study, I examine the determinants of a successful futures contract and explore whether an exhaustive checklist of criteria such as the one proposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guarantees the success of a commodity contract. Using panel random-effects method on 30 agriculture futures contracts trading in India from 2003–2016, I find that volatility in spot prices is the most crucial determinant, followed by hedging effectiveness and open interest of a futures contract, whereas the size of the underlying spot market, compulsory settlement, and government-imposed ban on futures trading negatively impacts the success of futures contracts. This study has important implications for contract design and new product launches.

The Lack of Legal Protection of Union Rights on Termination of Fixed Term Academics at Public Universities in the Flemish Community of Belgium. Admissibility Issues of an Application Based on the Framework Agreement on Fixed-term Work at Public Universities in the Assessment by the Supreme Administrative Court of Belgium

Abstract The question of sufficient protection of academics employed with successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships in the university sector had been raised in several procedures before the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereaft er: CJEU)2. These cases deal with the substantive basis of the claims of the academics. Admissibility of their claims was not an issue. Unlike the research dealing with the substantive basis of the claims of academics based on the Framework agreement on fixed-term work, this article deals with a ruling on the admissibility of the plea based on the Framework agreement on fixed-term work encountered by academics in the Flemish Community of Belgium. The article first outlines the exception from general labour law in the Higher Education Code of the Flemish Community of Belgium that allows universities to employ academics indefinitely with fixed-term relationships through the practice of a mosaic combination of a part-time statutory employment under administrative law and a part-time contractual employment under labour law.3 It then discusses the impact of the exceptions on the admissibility of claims for damages, compensation and reinstatement by fixed-term academics at a Flemish public university based on the violation of Council Directive 1999/70/EC and Framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP4 brought before the Council of State, which is the supreme administrative court of Belgium.5 The author argues that the Belgian Council of State incorrectly applied Directive 1999/70/EC and the Framework agreement on fixed-term work in judgment no. 247.434 of April 21, 2020, while it was – in its capacity of supreme administrative court of Belgium – under the obligation of Article 267 TFEU6 to refer for a preliminary ruling to the CJEU. The refusal by the Belgian Council of State to refer questions for a preliminary ruling to the CJEU and a wrong interpretation of Union law could result i. a. in State liability for damage resulting from breach of its obligations under Community law7 whereas the CJEU could have helped the Belgian Council of State in a preliminary ruling to determine the concept of ‘successive’ employment relationships, preventive measures and measures to punish abuse of fixed term contracts in Flemish universities, rule whether the articles in the Flemish Higher Education Code on vacancies and employment of fixed-term academic staff violate the Council Directive 1999/70/EC and Framework agreement on fixed-term work, and whether national Belgian procedural law makes the application for fixed-term academic staff at a Flemish public university virtually impossible or excessively difficult and therefore incompatible with the principle of effectiveness of Union law.

Strategic planning approach to the development of contract farming in the Egyptian sugar industry

The strategies required to develop contract farming in the Egyptian sugar industry were examined by applying the Strength-Weakness-OpportunitiesThreats (SWOT) approach in combination with an analytic hierarchy process. Data were collected from sugar beet farmers, extension workers, experts, and employees of the Dakhalia Sugar and Refining Company in Egypt. Market risk has the highest overall priority score among the strengths. Noncommitment of farmers to harvest time received the highest overall priority score among the weaknesses, while valorization of sugar industry wastes had the highest overall priority score among the opportunities, and accumulation of large reserves of sugar at the factory was perceived as the most important threat to the sugar industry. These findings can be used to formulate strategies based on current situation analysis and create suitable conditions for successful contract farming in the sugar sector.&#x0D; Keywords: strategies; SWOT-AHP; contract farming; sugar industry; Egypt