Investigating the Role of Executive Intrafirm Alumni Networks in Top Management Fraud: Multilevel Study in China's Construction Industry

To explore factors that influence the likelihood of committing fraud in the construction industry, this study concentrated on senior executives and tested whether some characteristics at the individual and firm levels have impacts on the likelihood of fraud committed by top management. Based on social network theory, this study first proposes...

Shear creep behaviour of soil-structure interfaces under thermal cyclic loading

The coupling effect of initial shear stress and thermal cycles on the thermomechanical behaviour of clay concrete and sand-concrete interfaces has been studied. A set of drained monotonic direct shear tests was conducted at the soil-concrete interface level. Samples were initially sheared to half of the material's shear strength and then they...

Impact of high temperature H₂ pre-treatment on Pt-AlGaN/GaN HEMT sensor for H₂S detection

In this paper, a method to extend the detection range of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas sensor is demonstrated. The sensor is based on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with Pt gate. It is observed that the as-fabricated devices exhibited sensing signal saturation at 30 ppm H₂S exposure in dry air. A pre...

Point Cloud Based Visibility Analysis: first experimental results

Visibility computed from a LiDAR point cloud offers several advantages compared to using a gridded digital height-model. With a higher resolution and detailed information, point cloud data can provide precise analysis as well as an opportunity to avoid the process of generating a surface representation or a solid model. Also a better inclusion...

On Simplifying the Primal-Dual Method of Multipliers

Recently, the primal-dual method of multipliers (PDMM) has been proposed to solve a convex optimization problem defined over a general graph. In this paper, we consider simplifying PDMM for a subclass of the convex optimization problems. This subclass includes the consensus problem as a special form. By using algebra, we show that the update...

A rapid method of estimating the solar irradiance spectra with potential lighting applications

Diverse solar irradiance spectra can be observed under different conditions of time, date, location, weather, etc. Since the solar irradiance spectrum is required by certain scientific and engineering applications, obtaining accurate spectral data is essential. Measurements by spectrophotometers are able to achieve accurate real-time data with...

Dynamic Computation of Time-Varying Spatial Contexts

There are many real-life processes whose smart control requires processing context information. Though processing time-varied context information is addressed in the literature, domain-independent solutions for reasoning about time-varying process scenarios are scarce. This paper proposes a method for dynamic context computation concerning...

Through-polymer via (TPV) and method to manufacture such a via

The invention relates to vias for three dimensional (3D) stacking, packaging and heterogeneous integration of semi-conductor layers and wafers. In particular, the invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a via, to a via, to a 3D circuit and to a semiconductor device. Vias are interconnects used to vertically interconnect chips,...

Development of a framework for information acquisition and processing in cyber-physical systems

In the designing and modeling of CPSs, the information acquisition and processing processes are often application dependent and process oriented. Those information management frameworks are simple and effective for small scale systems. However, many functions developed are not reusable or cannot be directly re-used, when a large number of...

Establishment of the coarse grained parameters for epoxy-copper interfacial separation

Atomistic coarse grained parameters were calculated from a non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation of the separation of an epoxy-copper interface. The methodology to determine the interaction energy and the equilibrium distance between the interfacial materials at a minimum energy is established. The traction-displacement relations of the...

Molecular modeling of temperature dependence of solubility parameters for amorphous polymers

A molecular modeling strategy is proposed to describe the temperature (T) dependence of solubility parameter (?) for the amorphous polymers which exhibit glass-rubber transition behavior. The commercial forcefield “COMPASS” is used to support the atomistic simulations of the polymer. The temperature dependence behavior of ? for the polymer is...

Observations and numerical simulations of unsteady partial cavitation on 2-D hydrofoil

Vacuum ultraviolet-ultraviolet and x-ray excited luminescence properties of Ba3Gd(BO3)3:Ce3+

The phosphors Ba3Gd(BO3)3:Ce3+ were prepared by a solid-state reaction technique at high temperature. The vacuum ultraviolet-ultraviolet and visible spectroscopic properties of the phosphors together with decay time curves are investigated and discussed. The spectroscopic properties are explained by occupancy of Ce3+ at two different Gd sites in...

Modelling hydrological response at the catchment scale: Applications and extension of the Representative Elementary Watershed (REW) approach

Luminescence and site occupancy of Ce3+ in Ba2Ca(BO3)2

Luminescence of Ce3+ activated fluoro-apatites M5(PO4)3F (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) under VUV—UV and x-ray excitation