322 research outputs found
Adapting authoritarianism: institutions and co-optation in Egypt and Syria
No full textThis PhD thesis compares Egypt and Syria’s authoritarian political systems. While the tendency in social science political research treats Egypt and Syria as similarly authoritarian, this research emphasizes differences between the two systems with special reference to institutions and co-optation. Rather than reducibly understanding Egypt and Syria as sharing similar histories, institutional arrangements, or ascribing to the oft-repeated convention that “Syria is Egypt but 10 years behind,” this thesis focuses on how events and individual histories shaped each states current institutional strengthens and weaknesses. Specifically, it explains the how varying institutional politicization or de-politicization affects each state’s capabilities for co-opting elite and non-elite individuals.
Beginning with a theoretical framework that considers the limited utility of democratization and transition theoretical approaches, the work underscores the persistence and durability of authoritarianism. Chapter two details the politicized institutional divergence between Egypt and Syria that began in the 1970s. Chapter three and four examines how institutional politicization or de-politicization affects elite and non-elite individual co-optation in Egypt and Syria. Chapter five discusses the study’s general conclusions and theoretical implications.
This thesis’s argument is that Egypt and Syria co-opt elites and non-elites differently because of the varying degrees of institutional politicization in each governance system. Rather than view one country as more politically developed than the other, this work argues that Syria’s political institutions are more politicized than their Egyptian counterparts. Syria’s political arena is, thus, described as politicized-patrimonialism. Syria’s politicized-patrimonial arena produces uneven co-optation of elites and non-elites as they are diffused through competing institutions. Conversely, the Egyptian political arena remains highly personalized as weak institutions and individuals are manipulated and molded according to the president’s ruling clique. This is referred to as personalized-patrimonialism. As a consequence, Egypt’s political establishment demonstrates more flexibility in ad hoc altering and adapting its arena depending on the emergence of crises.
This study’s theoretical implications suggest that, contrary to modernization and democratization theory’s adage that institutions lead to a political development, politicized institutions within a patrimonial order actually hinder regime adaptation because consensus is harder to achieve and maintain. It is within this context that Egypt’s de-politicized institutional framework advantages its top political elite. In this reading of Egyptian and Syrian politics, Egypt’s personalized political arena is more adaptable than Syria’s. These conclusions do not indicate that political reform is a process underway in either state
Toward predicting tensile strength of pharmaceutical tablets by ultrasound measurement in continuous manufacturing
No full textAn ultrasound measurement system was employed as a non-destructive method to evaluate its reliability in predicting the tensile strength of tablets and investigate the benefits of incorporating it in a continuous line, manufacturing solid dosage forms. Tablets containing lactose, acetaminophen, and magnesium stearate were manufactured continuously and in batches. The effect of two processing parameters, compaction force and level of shear strain were examined. Young's modulus and tensile strength of tablets were obtained by ultrasound and diametrical mechanical testing, respectively. It was found that as the blend was exposed to increasing levels of shear strain, the speed of sound in the tablets decreased and the tablets became both softer and mechanically weaker. Moreover, the results indicate that two separate tablet material properties (e.g., relative density and Young's modulus) are necessary in order to predict tensile strength. A strategy for hardness prediction is proposed that uses the existing models for Young's modulus and tensile strength of porous materials. Ultrasound testing was found to be very sensitive in differentiating tablets with similar formulation but produced under different processing conditions (e.g., different level of shear strain), thus, providing a fast, and non-destructive method for hardness prediction that could be incorporated to a continuous manufacturing process.Peer reviewe
A cooperative of their own: Gender implications on renewable energy cooperatives in Germany
No full textRenewable energy cooperatives are crucial for local communities to initiate energy transition. With a mixed-methodological approach, this paper analyses the participation of women in renewable energy cooperatives in Germany and reveals the socio-cultural barriers. This study presents an intersectional analysis that integrates gender with other socio-cultural categories and identities within the social context of cooperatives. This study presents the results from a sex ratio analysis of energy cooperatives (N=388), online interviews (N=161), and semi-structured interviews (N=9). Results show that a lack of awareness of opportunities, financial resources, and time for volunteer-based workload and the lack of recognition of social inequalities in the cooperatives hinder women from actively taking part in leadership roles. This study concludes by discussing how contribution to localised renewable energy production reflects differently on genders. It also provides suggestions such as mentorship and diversity programs that would allow more women to take management roles and encourage a more inclusive and fair transition for all.European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie action grant agreement No 813837 MISTRAL Project
Energy TCD - robust and simple failure prediction unifying the TCD and ASED criterion
No full textRobust and simple failure prediction is a relevant and active field of research. The present work aims at unifying the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD) and Averaged Strain Energy Density (ASED) criterion. The proposed Energy TCD is formulated along with analytical expressions for the characteristic length scales and validated using experimental data. On this data set, the accuracy of the Energy TCD is similar to that of the classical methods. Most importantly, the presented methods allow to transfer the point-based calibration technique from notched specimens, which is common for the TCD, to the Energy TCD ASED criterion. © 2022 The Author(s
Uniaxial and multiaxial fatigue behaviour of wire arc additively manufactured ER70S-6 low carbon steel components
No full textWire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), also known as directed energy deposition (DED) process, is an efficient additive manufacturing technology, offers high potential to rapidly fabricate large-scale parts with complex geometries layer-by-layer. However, the fundamental understanding of the fatigue behaviour of such parts and the material requirements need to be significantly improved at all levels before this unique technology can be implemented for critical applications. This work aims to investigate the fatigue behaviour of WAAM built ER70S-6 steel under uniaxial, torsion and multiaxial loading conditions. Specimens were extracted in two different orientations: vertical and horizontal, to explore if the orientation direction has any effect on the fatigue results. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was conducted to examine the fracture surface of broken specimens and identify crack initiation regions and fracture mechanisms. The obtained results were compared with the fatigue data available in the literature on common structural steels fabricated using conventional welding and WAAM technique, showing similar fatigue behaviour with wrought S355 specimens. Moreover, the uniaxial data set on ER70S-6 WAAM specimens was evaluated according to the DNV RP-C203 standard for continuous welds, demonstrating advantageous fatigue resistance in the examined material. © 2022 The Author(s
Fatigue crack growth behaviour of wire and arc additively manufactured ER70S-6 low carbon steel components
No full textThe new emerging Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) technology has significant potential to improve material design and efficiency for structural components as well as reducing manufacturing costs. Due to repeated and periodic melting, solidification and reheating of the layers, the WAAM deposition technique results in some elastic, plastic and viscous deformations that can affect material degradation and crack propagation behaviour in additively manufactured components. Therefore, it is crucial to characterise the cracking behaviour in WAAM built components for structural design and integrity assessment purposes. In this work, fatigue crack growth tests have been conducted on compact tension specimens extracted from ER70S-6 steel WAAM built components. The crack propagation behaviour of the specimens extracted with different orientations (i.e. horizontal and vertical with respect to the deposition direction) has been characterised under two different cyclic load levels. The obtained fatigue crack growth rate data have been correlated with the linear elastic fracture mechanics parameter ΔK and the results are compared with the literature data available for corresponding wrought structural steels and the recommended fatigue crack growth trends in the BS7910 standard. The obtained results have been found to fall below the recommended trends in the BS7910 standard and above the data points obtained from S355 wrought material. The obtained fatigue growth trends and Paris law constants from this study contribute to the overall understanding of the design requirements for the new optimised functionally graded structures fabricated using the WAAM technique. © 2021, The Author(s)
The effects of microporosity in struts of gyroid lattice structures produced by laser powder bed fusion
No full textAdditive manufacturing by laser powder bed fusion allows the production of complex parts including lattice structures in popular metal alloys such as Ti6Al4V. Lattice structures are a class of meta-materials which hold many advantages such as the possibility for the production of lightweight parts with tailored mechanical and other properties: these have many potential applications in aerospace and medical fields. The laser powder bed fusion process can result in microporosity inside the produced material, which can affect the mechanical performance of these types of materials. In this work, different typical microporosity distributions are induced in manufactured gyroid lattice structure samples and the mechanical performance is tested by both static compression and compression-compression fatigue. X-ray tomography was used to validate the microporosity distributions and samples were tested in stress-relieved state and hot isostatic pressed state. In particular, it is found that small amounts of keyhole mode microporosity of ~0.2% make no difference while lack of fusion is critical, especially when this results in inefficient HIP pore closure. The results highlight the effect of microporosity on the mechanical performance of these materials and the results add to the knowledge base and trustworthiness of these materials. © 2018 The Author
Emotions Toward Sustainable Innovations: A Matter of Value Congruence
No full textPublic resistance to sustainable innovations is oftentimes accompanied by strong negative emotions. Therefore, it is essential to better understand the underlying factors of emotions toward sustainable innovations to facilitate their successful implementation. Based on the Value-Innovation-Congruence model of Emotional responses (VICE model), we argue that positive and negative emotions toward innovations reflect whether innovations are congruent or incongruent with (i.e., support or threaten) people's core values. We tested our reasoning in two experimental studies (N = 114 and N = 246), by asking participants to evaluate innovations whose characteristics were either congruent or incongruent with egoistic values (study 1) or with biospheric values (study 1 and study 2). In line with the VICE model, we found overall that the more an innovation was perceived to have characteristics congruent with these values, and biospheric values in particular, the stronger positive and the weaker negative emotions they experienced toward the innovation, especially the more strongly people endorsed these values. Emotions, in turn, were related with acceptability of innovations. Our findings highlight that emotions toward innovations can have a systematic basis in people's values that can be addressed to ensure responsible decision-making on sustainable innovations
An Economic Analysis of Electron Accelerators and Cobalt-60 for Irradiating Food
No full textAverage costs per pound of irradiating food are similar for the electron accelerator and cobalt-60 irradiators analyzed in this study, but initial investment costs can vary by $1 million. Irradiation costs range from 0.5 to 7 cents per pound and decrease as annual volumes treated increase. Cobalt-60 is less expensive than electron beams for annual volumes below 50 million pounds. For radiation source requirements above the equivalent of 1 million curies of cobalt-60, electron beams are more economical.food irradiation, electron accelerators, cobalt-60, cost comparison, economies of size, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,
<Advanced Energy Generation Division>Advanced Energy Research Section
No full text3-1. Research Activities in 2024The author spent one month at Kyoto University, Uji Campus in Prof. Nohira's group. Here is a summary of the study on the microparticle electrodes and single particle microbatteries using electrochemical and in-situ micro-Raman spectroscopic studies [1].The author spent the 2024 academic year (April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025) as a Visiting Associate Professor, hosted by the Institute of Advanced Energy (IAE) within the Research Unit for the Realization of a Sustainable Society (RURSS), in collaboration with Professor Masato Katahira at his laboratory on the Uji Campus of Kyoto University. In his report, the author presents recent developments in the efficient utilization of woody biomass.The author spent one and half months at Kyoto University, Uji Campus in Prof. Nohira group. A review of the most promising technologies for electrochemical reduction of CO₂ for carbon negative technologies is presented. Recent efforts to convert CO₂ into valuable carbon materials using molten salt electrolysis are summarized and discussed here.Advanced Energy Research Section/ Daniel Alberto Scherson [45]Advanced Energy Research Section/ Sadat Mohamed Rezk Khattab [47]Advanced Energy Research Section/ Geir Martin Haarberg [49
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