Weakest Member Research Articles

CALL FOR EMERGENCY ACTION TO LIMIT GLOBAL TEMPERATURE INCREASES, RESTORE BIODIVERSITY, AND PROTECT HEALTH

CALL FOR EMERGENCY ACTION TO LIMIT GLOBAL TEMPERATURE INCREASES, RESTORE BIODIVERSITY, AND PROTECT HEALTH

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Study on the mechanical characteristics of steel truss cable-stayed bridge with water pipeline

Based on the engineering background of a water pipeline cable-stayed bridge, the static characteristics, dynamic behavior and stability of the bridge were studied through the finite element numerical simulation. In terms of static characteristics, the mechanical characteristics of each member of the main truss were analyzed. In the aspect of dynamic characteristics and stability, the influence of different connection modes of pipes and main beam on the dynamic characteristics and stability of the structure was compared. The results show that compared with the bridge used for traffic, the special pipeline bridge bears much more load, and its safety should be paid more attention to. Due to the direct action of the pipeline, the cross beam of the steel truss is the weakest member, which should be paid attention to in the design. When the rigid connection is adopted between the pipeline and the main beam, the lateral rigidity of the structure is larger and the stability is better. It is suggested that the rigid connection should be adopted between the pipeline and the main beam in the design of this kind of bridge to ensure that they can bear the load together.

The implications of the Qatar blockade imposed on Qatar on family

يناقش هذا البحث أثر حصار قطر على الأسرة القطرية. فقد خرقت دول الحصار العديد من الاتفاقيات والأدوات الدولية التي تتعلق بلمّ الشمل الأسري، والتي تؤكد على الحق في الحياة الأسرية وعدم الفصل بين أفراد الأسرة الواحدة؛ لما في ذلك من آثار سلبية على الأسرة باعتبارها خليّة أساسية في بناء المجتمع، وعلى الطفل –  الطرف الضعيف في الأسرة – الذي يتوجب حمايته وعدم فصله عن أسرته. كما أكدت على ذلك الاتفاقية الأممية لحقوق الطفل، والتي صدَّقت عليها دولة قطر والدول المحاصرة لها، بالإضافة إلى أنّ تداعيات الحصار ألقت بظلالها على مسألة الجنسية في الأسرة الواحدة عند الزواج المختلط وما ترتب عنه من آثار فرقت بين الزوجين، أو أحد الأبوين وأبنائه.

SAWIT—Security Awareness Improvement Tool in the Workplace

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and severe, and an organization’s protection depends on its weakest member. Although users are aware of the risks in cyberspace, most of them do not follow best practices, and there is a need for permanent structured training. The majority of previous training programs concentrated on technically educated users, but the organization is only as secure as the most vulnerable link in it. The paper presents SAWIT, a new Web tool, created with the goal of improving security awareness among employees. It is an innovative artificial intelligence framework aimed at improving the cyber security knowledge of employees by using collaborative learning and assessment within the specified knowledge transformation model.

Blurred Lines: How the Collectivism Norm Operates Through Perceived Group Diversity to Boost or Harm Group Performance in Himalayan Mountain Climbing

We develop a theory explaining how collectivism causes people to “blur” demographic differences, that is, to see less diversity than actually exists in a group, and reconciling contradictions in how collectivistic norms influence group performance. We draw on the perceived diversity literature, hypothesizing that collectivistic norms cause group members to blur demographic differences, resulting in perceptions that group members are more similar than they actually are. Whether this benefits or harms group performance depends on the group’s objective diversity and the relevance of the perceived diversity attribute for accomplishing the task. For conjunctive tasks, the group’s performance is determined by its weakest member, demanding high levels of cohesion. Our theory suggests that collectivism benefits group conjunctive performance when objective national diversity is high by blurring divisive relational differences but has no effect in groups with low objective national diversity. In contrast, for disjunctive tasks, the group’s performance is determined by its best member. We predict that collectivism harms group disjunctive performance when objective expertness diversity is high by blurring differences in task-relevant expertness but has no effect in low objective expertness diversity groups. We find support for our theory in two studies, an archival study of 5,214 Himalayan climbing expeditions and a laboratory experiment assessing 366 groups. Our results show that collectivism has benefits and detriments for diverse groups and that these contradictory effects can be understood by identifying how the collectivistic blurring of perceived group diversity helps or hurts groups based on the type of tasks on which they are working.

An Application of CAMELS and Z-Score Methodologies in a Comparative Analysis Between the Four Systemic Banks in Greece for the Period 2006-2016

Τhe recent crisis which accelerated after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 revealed that relationships between the real economy and the financial sector are decisive for the stability of the world economy, even in in cases of well operating banking systems operating in competitive economies. In the present article, the authors focus on Greece, the weakest member of the Eurozone, but with a financial system which seemed to operate on a sound basis, avoiding initially the effects of the US financial crisis. The goal of this article is to examine the performance of the Greek banking sector for the critical decade before and after the crisis, assessing the financial position of the four systemic Greek banks for the period 2006-2016. For this purpose, two alternative methods, CAMELS and Z-scores, are applied, comparing the results obtained from the two methodologies. As expected, the results of both methodologies show that the failure risk during the crisis period 2011-2016 for the four systemic banks was significantly higher compared to the pre-crisis period 2006-2010.

The National: New Australian Art

The National: New Australian Art

Shaking table test on the seismic failure characteristics of a subway station structure on liquefiable ground

SUMMARYIn order to investigate the seismic failure characteristics of a structure on the liquefiable ground, a series of shaking table tests were conducted based on a plaster model of a three‐story and three‐span subway station. The dynamic responses of the structure and ground soil under main shock and aftershock ground motions were studied. The sand boils and waterspouts phenomena, ground surface cracks, and earthquake‐induced ground surface settlements were observed in the testing. For the structure, the upward movement, local damage and member cracking were obtained. Under the main shock, there appeared longer liquefaction duration for the ground soil while the pore pressure dissipated slowly. The acceleration amplification effect of the liquefied soil was weakened, and the soil showed a remarkable shock absorption and concentration effect with low frequency component of ground motion. However, under the aftershock, the dissipation of pore pressure in the ground soil became obvious. The peak acceleration of the structure reduced with the buried depth. Dynamic soil pressure on the side wall was smaller in the middle and larger at both ends. The interior column of the model structure was the weakest member. The peak strain and damage degree for both sides of the interior column exhibited an ‘S’ type distribution along the height. Moreover, the seismic response of both ground soil and subway station structure exhibited a remarkable spatial effect. The seismic damage development process and failure mechanism of the structure illustrated in this study can provide references for the engineers and researcher. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL AND COHESION POLICY ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE EU

As the global financial and economic crisis hit the European Union, no country was left unharmed. To this day, the Member States share the burden of excessive foreign debt, inflation, budget deficit, high unemployment levels, shaken stability of the currency, and many more. Multiple responses were introduced to these damaging effects, including adopting changes to the use of the Globalisation Adjustment Fund, enabling a Financial Stability Mechanism for the Euro zone and introducing a number of micro-financing instruments, particularly to support SMEs. Nevertheless, these have all been short-term actions, which will not suffice to ensure a long-term, sustainable economic growth of the European economies and maintain the EU's position among global political and economic leaders. European leaders have adopted the Europe 2020 strategy for economic growth, which addresses all key-areas of economic growth - from innovations to employment and environment. Yet, the greatest challenge to this goal remains regional cohesion - namely, full economic and social convergence of the regions and Member States of the European Union. After thirty six years of a common Regional policy and over twelve years since the creation of the Cohesion policy, the remaining economic and social disparities within the Union are striking. What is more, the distribution of cohesion financing, similarly to the Common Agricultural policy direct payments, continues to portray a significant weakness in the common objectives of fair competition and solidarity among Member States. Within the next multiannual financial framework of 2014-2020, Regional and Cohesion policy of the EU will have a fundamental importance in eliminating existing disparities among regions, providing for a sustainable economic growth, increasing the EU's competitiveness and implementing the ambitious Europe 2020 goals. It can therefore be considered as a key element in Europe's economic recovery. This paper provides an analytical examination of the goals, strategies and current trends in the Regional and Cohesion policy as a tool of economic growth of the European Union. It provides a brief insight into the history, objectives and functioning of the policy in order to continue with analysis of its results and provide recommendations for improvement of the policy and increase its positive impact on the EU's economic development. Materials, statistics, working documents and analysis provided by EU and national institutions, as well as independent analysts have been used in the production of this paper. Results and conclusion are presented in a descriptive, logically constructive manner of synthesis. More specifically, the paper concludes by stating that in order to achieve full convergence and be able to ensure sustainable economic recovery and growth throughout the EU, greater flexibility and sovereignty need to be employed in political decision-making and regulations on allocation of funds. To raise the positive effects on Member States' economies, equality must be ensured to attain the Union's strategic goals without harming the weakest Member States' economies and competitiveness. It is therefore essential that the convergence objective be formulated as the leading goal of the Regional and Cohesion policy. Policies under the upcoming multiannual financial framework must be results-oriented. The EU's economic recovery, hence, also its Regional and Cohesion policy and allocation of funds, have to reflect the practice of fair competition, solidarity and equality. Only then will the European Union be able to fulfil its political and economic ambitions. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.5.1092

Entre dois amores

Da dupla perspectiva das "alianças" e do Modo de Reprodução Ampliada do Capital (MRAC), as alianças são vantajosas apenas quando os países que as fazem estão no mesmo grau de maturação do MRAC, ou contribuem para que novos associados atinjam o estágio dos mais desenvolvidos. O acordo do Mercosul igualou do mais forte aos mais fracos. Já o ingresso na Alca e um acordo com a União Européia são alianças em que o Brasil será a parte mais fraca.

Causal Perceptions of Intertrait Relations: The Glue that Holds Person Types Together

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that implicit personality theory person types are composed of causally interconnected traits. Experiment 1 showed that the weakest trait member of a person type is perceived as more causally related to the core trait members of the type than are nonmember traits, even when those nonmember traits are both more highly correlated with and closer in multidimensional scaling (MDS) space to the core members than the weakest member. Experiment 2 demonstrated that within-person-type members are perceived as more causally related to each other than to members of other types even when all are located in the same MDS space. The hypothesis that person types consist of causally interrelated traits was strongly supported. Implications for categorization, impression formation, and stereotyping are considered.

A Multiple Stopping Problem

In the context of team recruitment, we discuss an optimal multiple stopping problem for an infinite independent and identically distributed sequence, with general reward function and constant observation cost. We establish the existence and nature of an optimal stopping rule. For the particular case where team quality is governed by the fitness of the weakest member, we show that the recruiter should be more discriminating with either a better, or a larger, group of appointees in hand.