29295 research outputs found
Sort by
Macro Explanatory Factors of Turkish Tourism Companies' Stock Returns
Get PDFThis study examines whether the stock prices of Turkish tourism companies respond to growth in eight macro-economic variables namely, consumer price index, imports, exchange rate, consumer confidence index, oil price, money supply, foreign tourist arrivals, and monthly stock market return. By applying the Granger causality procedure, we find that growth in the consumer confidence index and imports could Granger cause tourism companies’ stock returns among eight macro factors in Turkey during the 2005 to 2013 period. After considering the structural break that occurred in 2007, the pre-break results indicate that the consumer confidence index, exchange rate, and foreign tourist arrivals could Granger cause tourism stock returns. However, the results in the post-structural break period reveal that only growths in oil prices and imports are significant
Repoint track switch wheel-rail mechanical interface analysis
No full textRepoint is a new concept for track switching developed at Loughborough University. Through a novel locking arrangement it allows parallel, multi-channel actuation and passive locking functions, providing a high degree of fault tolerance. The concept, based around a stub switch, offers several features that current designs are unable to achieve. The aim of the work presented in this paper is to evaluate the dynamic interaction forces due to the passage of rolling stock over the switch and, particularly, the area of the stub rail ends, in comparison to a conventional switch. Specific behaviour and load transfer conditions from one rail to the other at the joint are analysed, as well as long term wear conditions of the rails. These evaluations are undertaken by means of dynamic simulations, leading to design refinement of the stub rail ends
Software Engineering for Sustainability: Tools for Sustainability Analysis
No full textSustainability is a central objective for systems development because, according to Rockström et al. (2009), humanity has exceeded the planet’s boundaries for safe operation. Software systems are present in almost all aspects of our daily lives, therefore software systems can help to transition towards sustainability by acting as agents of change. If software engineers want to include sustainability as a new objective into their systems, it needs to be reflected in the requirements; therefore this may have significant impact on how software developers perform requirements engineering and systems design. However, software engineers lack practical guidelines on how to perform a sustainability analysis for a system while in discussion with customers. The key focus of this chapter is bridging the sustainability analysis gap in software engineering
A Big Data modeling approach with graph databases for SPAD risk
Get PDFThis paper proposes a model to assess train passing a red signal without authorization, a SPAD. The approach is based on Big Data techniques so that many types of data may be integrated, or even added at a later date, to get a richer view of these complicated events. The proposed approach integrates multiple data sources using a graph database. A four-steps data modeling approach for safety data model is introduced. The steps are problem formulation, identification of data points, identification of relations and calculation of the safety indicators. A graph database was used to store, manage and query the data, whereas R software was used to automate the data upload and post-process the results. A case study demonstrates how indicators have extracted that warning in the case that the SPAD safety envelope is reduced. The technique is demonstrated with a case study that focuses on the detection of SPADs and safety distances for SPADs. The latter provides indicators for to assess the severity of near-SPAD incidents
Performing Mindful Creativity: Three South African Case Studies
No full textThis essay is grounded in the practical experience of three South African theatre practitioners who have all had some experience of mindfulness. It’s based on interviews conducted with a performer (Andrew Buckland), a director (Janni Young), and a designer (Illka Louw). The aim of my conversations with these three was to explore ways in which mindfulness continues to enhance artistic practises, seeing our dialogues as a springboard to exploring intersections between creative practise and theories about mindfulness. To assist me in this process, I also interviewed Rob Nairn – co-founder of both the Mindfulness Association (UK) and Mindfulness Africa (RSA) – about key issues highlighting convergences between creativity and mindfulness. Some of the issues which are addressed include: the artist’s relationship with fear, differing definitions of the value of conceptualisation, as well as whether or not the monkey mind (that is, the wandering mind) might hamper or help creativity
Securitization: Past, Present and Future
No full textThis book aims to explore if and how securitisation changed financial intermediation and lending behaviour by reviewing the pre- and post-financial crisis theoretical and empirical literature. The book’s distinctive feature is bringing the growing post-crisis empirical evidence to the attention of a wider audience by critically appraising it against pre-crisis arguments. With its thought-provoking insights, this book is of particular interest for students, practitioners and academics
Participation in adult literacy programmes and social injustices
No full textThis chapter discusses different approaches to equality and their impact on policy and pedagogy. It then uses the lenses offered by Nancy Fraser’s (2008) concepts of redistribution, recognition and participatory parity to investigate if participation in literacy education contributes to alleviating social injustices. It draws on data from case studies of adult literacy programmes in Scotland to demonstrate that these learners have experienced changes that have lessened social injustices in all three areas. However, it points out that there are many countervailing forces that privilege a narrow, skills-focused, pedagogy that reinforce an individual deficit approach to learners. It concludes that although education is not a panacea for all social ills and cannot compensate for the inequities of society it can make a difference in creating more equitable conditions for those that have already experienced the greatest injustice
Does Mentoring Make a Difference for Women Academics? Evidence from the Literature and a Guide for Future Research
No full textThis paper aims at reviewing literature on mentoring in academia, with a focus on mentoring to enhance women’s careers. A significant gender imbalance in science persists, and mentoring has been recognized as an important instrument for fostering academic women’s careers and addressing such imbalance. However, often the benefits of mentoring are taken for granted. This review aims to unpack the concept of mentoring, understand which trends characterize the mentoring literature, and analyze the evidence; moreover, it aims to discover potential gaps and propose a model to guide future research. A systematic approach is undertaken: four relevant search engines, covering more disciplines, are browsed to look for empirical studies on mentoring academic women from 1990 to March 2017. The review shows that there are some problems. First, there is no agreement on the definition of mentoring. Then, often studies are poorly grounded from a theoretical and conceptual perspective. In addition to the dominating research stream, focused on the benefits for the mentee, three other streams are consolidating: impact on the mentors, the role of group mentoring, and mentoring as an instrument to change institutions. At the end, we propose a model to guide future studies built on a longitudinal perspective
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage University of Huddersfield Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!