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In Iran the Small and Medium Knowledge based Enterprise (SMEs), in the development and shaping stage, face with lots of problems. Before maturity and stability, they fail. Nearly a decade passed, since science and technology parks formation happened. They were seen as a mechanism for sustainable economic development based on knowledge; through creation, support and guidance of founded SMEs. Officials and policy makers, seriously concern about sustainable success, development and growth of these SMEs which must be appropriate for needs of Iran. Identify the behavioral patterns of the stages of life (birth, growth, decline, etc.) which lead to inefficiency and decline, is essential. This helps to avoid mistake repetition and eventually reduces costs. This paper, by using participative model building tries to extract prevailed patterns which govern the behavior of SMEs in Yazd Science and Technology Park. This paper attempts to introduce positive leverage points for policy makers and senior managers who are responsible and also SMEs which are located in the Park. Therefore, in this article, while drawing the behavioral patterns of SMEs, using qualitative system dynamics modeling, the structure governing the behavior of SMEs was drawn. This structure consists of 4 reinforcing loops and 8 balancing loops. Finally, based on these loops, 12 corrective policies were proposed. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-02 Full Text: PDF

In existing academic studies on the Due Diligence process, the different areas have been considered separately. This is time consuming and causes inefficiencies. The proposed approach to Due Diligence integrates these separate areas into one process. While every company’s success can be defined by a few key factors, these differ by industry. The goal of this analysis is to develop a basis for decision-making regarding Mergers and Acquisitions for small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies by generating a scorecard model that enables the potential acquirer to perform an overall analysis of the existing data as well as to generate an informed outlook for the future using a standardized and efficient approach that also has a positive impact on the success rate of mergers and acquisition transactions. The model is based on different research methods. First of all, a literature research was executed, to define the theoretical framework. There are two main areas, the Strategic Controlling on the one hand and M&A on the other hand. The theoretical findings are specified through expert interviews. The expert interviews are semi-standardized. There is a quantitative and a qualitative part. Based on the analysis, a concept for a leaner DD approach is developed. The article presents a sum up of the research. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-06 Full Text: PDF

The floristic region of Adjara represents “Hotpoint” of Caucasian which is distinguished with the uniqueness of its Current activities in the field of vehicle electrification offer a great potential for contributing to climate change mitigation by reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Beyond the environmental strain, there is an economic one, too. It is therefore crucial for the European automotive industry to exploit not only the environmental benefits, but also the business opportunities which come from the transition from conventional fuel powered to electrified vehicles. To capture these opportunities, electric vehicles must deliver better performance at a lower price, overcoming the constraints that are currently limiting their mass-market uptake. This paper presents the approach of the research and innovation action H2020 project QUIET to meet these stringent requirements by developing an improved and energy efficient electric vehicle with increased driving range under real world driving conditions. This is achieved by exploiting the synergies of a technology portfolio in the areas of: user centric design with enhanced passenger comfort and safety, lightweight materials with enhanced thermal insulation properties, and optimised vehicle energy management. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-07 Full Text: PDF

Modelica models represent static or dynamic systems. Their outputs can be scalar (numbers) or time-dependent (time series). Most advanced mathematical methods for the analysis of numerical models cannot cope with functional outputs. This paper aims at showing an efficient method to reduce a time-dependent output to a few numbers. The Principal component analysis is a well-established method for dimension reduction and can be used to tackle this issue. It relies however on a linear hypothesis that limits its applicability. We adapt and implement an existing method called the auto-associative model, invented by Stéphane Girard, to overcome this shortcoming. The auto-associative model generalizes PCA, as it projects the data on a nonlinear (instead of linear) basis. It also provides physically interpretable data representations. The difference in efficiency between both methods is illustrated in a case study, the well-known bouncing ball model. We perform output reduction and reconstruction using both methods to compare the completeness of information kept throughout the dimension reduction process. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-01 Full Text: PDF

Electrophilicity index (𝜔) is related to the energy lowering associated with a maximum amount of electron flow between a donor and an acceptor and possesses adequate information regarding structure, stability, reactivity and interactions. Chemical potential (μ) measures charge transfer from a system to another having a lower value of μ, while chemical hardness (η) is a measure of characterizing relative stability of clusters. The main purpose of the present research work is to examine the Spin-Orbit Coupling (SOC) effect on the behavior of the electrophilicity index, chemical potential, hardness and softness of neutral gold clusters Au n (n=2-6). Using the second-order Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian, geometries are optimized at the DKH2-B3P86/DZP-DKH level of theory. Spin-orbit coupling energies are computed using the fourth-order Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian, generalized Hartree-Fock method and all-electron relativistic double-ζ level basis set. Then, spin-orbit coupling (SOC) corrections to the electrophilicity index, chemical potential, hardness and softness are calculated. It is revealed that spin-orbit correction to the vertical chemical hardness has important effect on Au 3 and Au 6 , i.e. SOC decreases (increases) the hardness of gold trimer (hexamer). Due to the relationship between hardness and softness, σ = , inclusion of spin-orbit coupling increases (decreases) the softness of Au 3 (Au 6 ) and thus destabilizes (stabilizes) it. Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) also has more important effect on the chemical potential of Au 3 by decreasing its value. It is found that spin-orbit coupling has considerable effect on the electrophilicity index of gold trimer and greatly increases its value. Furthermore, SOC increases the maximal charge acceptance of Au 3 more and thus destabilizes it more. As a result, spin-orbit coupling effect appears to be important in calculating the electrophilicity index of the gold trimer. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-05 Full Text: PDF

Smart city and smart tourism terms have become very popular in the past and present decades. Research in the field of smart tourist city still fails to cover the developments of the smart tourist city. The aim of the study is to review the recent literature on smart cities and smart tourism and their role in achieving a sustainable tourism sector and enhancing the competitiveness of the country’s tourism sector and make it more developed and modern. In this study, the relationship between the smart city and the tourism is presented and to present the relationship or conceptual approach between the smart city and the smart tourism. In addition, the current situation and the potential for growth and development of tourism in Iraq through the establishment and application of smart cities is identified. The recent studies that were mentioned in this study indicate that there is a close relationship between the smart city and smart tourism and also indicate that the smart city has a fundamental role in the growth and development of tourist destinations and the smart tourist city are results of the convergence and interconnection between the smart city and the tourist city. Finally, recommendations for the smart tourism city applications in Iraq are provided. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2020-01-04-07 Full Text: PDF

In this paper we present the development and preliminary validation of a wearable system which is combined with an algorithm interfacing the MYO gesture armband with a Sphero BB-8 robotic device. The MYO armband is a wearable device which measures real-time EMG signals of the end user’s forearm muscles as the user is executing a set of upper limb gestures. These gestures are interpreted and transmitted to a computing hardware via a Bluetooth Low Energy IEEE 802.15.1 wireless protocol. The algorithm analyzes and sorts the data and sends a set of commands to the Sphero robotic device while performing navigation movements. After designing and integrating the software and hardware architecture, we have validated the system with two sets of trials involving a series of commands performed in multiple iterations. The consequent reactions of the robots, due to these commands, were recorded and the performance of the system was analyzed in a confusion matrix to obtain an average accuracy of the system outcome vs. the expected and desired actions. Results show that our integrated system can satisfactorily interface with the system in an intuitive way with an accuracy rating of 85.7 % and 92.9 % for the two tests, respectively. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2020-01-04-05 Full Text: PDF

One of the biggest problems facing humanity is climate change and the construction industry is one of the sectors causing the greatest impact, therefore, design strategies accompanied by new methodologies is necessary. In this sense, this paper aims to assess sustainability for the design of organizational strategies against climate change, based on a holistic and systemic approach to sustainability development, in order to contribute the decision-making in housing building organizations. The assessment was based on: 1) climate change indicators were selected from a case study; 2) a survey based on climate change indicators was designed and applied to 21% of the total organizations under study and; 3) critical indicators were identified. The result shows that 58% of the climate change indicators are critical and give evidence of the negative outlook that housing building organizations has in in terms of sustainability. The 69% of these indicators belong to the cultural dimension, it demonstrates the lack of knowledge, customs, habits and commitment to implement sustainable strategies against climate change in this organizations. Finally, the results can contribute to designing strategies to promote sustainable building by the local government, and thus achieve more sustainable organizations that contribute to reducing their impact on climate change. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2020-01-04-01 Full Text: PDF

The aim of the article is to alert to the fact that architecture must comprehend Nature and bring it back again to the daily life of Man, increasing his physical and psychological comfort. The "Green" in Architectural Rehabilitation can have several meanings and approximations. In this article we address "Green" as Color and Attitude. This paper has been developed through deepening the hypothesis of the color green in living coatings. The creation of an ecological skin in architecture accentuates the dilution of the presence of interventions in heritage contexts with an attitude of knowing how to add, involving Nature. These allow creating solutions that avoid the formalisms of architectural language, being of special relevance their application in the Architectural Rehabilitation of the Heritage. Examples of green roofs and green facades are presented and it is shown that rainwater management improves the sustainability of the historic place. Complementary, as a Green Attitude, it is essential to use renewable energy in buildings to achieve NZEB – Nearly Zero Energy Building. As a case study we have selected the Rehabilitation of the Cathedral of Portalegre in Portugal. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2020-01-04-04 Full Text: PDF

The designing process of a new product includes various stages, one of which is the evaluation of an idea thought prototype manufacturing. The use of additive manufacturing consists the most efficient and effective way for prototype manufacturing. In order to maximize the benefits from the use of additive manufacturing, we should choose the suitable printing parameters. A vital parameter for defining the quantity of raw material used and the model solidity is the inner wall thickness. Depending on the selected technique of additive manufacturing, the thickness of the inner wall may differ. In this study we initially print furniture models with different wall thicknesses using the Inject Binder technique and then we check their durability and resilience by compression tests. Evaluating the study results indicate the hollow printed specimens have high durability during compression tests and can be used to evaluate a design idea. Using the facts derived from lab tests we perform Topology Optimization studies under different circumstances to evaluate the method and come up with the optimal design solution. Initially, the Topology Optimization study concern only the table surface and not the whole model. The following studies were performed for the whole model, different constraints and load cases defined. Then, the optimized models are redesigned in order to improve their durability. The performed studies show that Topology Optimization is a powerful tool, which is able to support the designers/ engineers to take the right decision during the design process. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2020-01-04-03 Full Text: PDF

Propellant Actuated Devices (PAD) are installed on various combat aircraft of Air Force and Naval bases to perform extremely important operations such as parachute deployment, harness and leg restrain, cable cutting, pullers, seat ejection, bomb release or fuel tanks etc. They are basically called as gas generators. Such devices produce the high temperature and pressure combustion gases on initiation and used to perform different operations. These cartridges are single-shot operating devices. The performance of such kind of PADs cannot be tested by non-destructive techniques. Hence, cartridges are designed to function with high reliability and stringent quality control checks at all levels during entire development cycle. The safety features required during handling, storage and transportation are built in the design of PAD. The cartridges are required to undergo different exhaustive design qualification tests to qualify design aspects. Total life of 6 years is assigned to cartridge after performance degradation study of the propellant which includes 2 years installed life. This paper explains about the development aspects of PAD, its use, function, testing and performance evaluation methodology in a suitable fabricated Velocity Test Rig (VTR). The maximum slug velocity is 121.14 m/s in hot condition and minimum slug velocity is 99.14 m/s in cold condition. The main objective of this paper is to device a novel method to measure actual slug velocity of the aircraft gun inside a cartridge using VTR and Doppler RADAR.

This research aims to analyse the perceptions of future preschool teachers towards the application of practical work. This study is part of a more comprehensive teaching innovation project which aims to contribute to the scientific and technological literacy of teachers in initial training. Three practical activities were designed from the topic Didáctica del Medio Natural at the University of Cádiz (Spain) and implemented during the 2018-2019 year. After their completion, a questionnaire was provided of three closed questions Likert type with five levels. The student's answers were analysed from a quantitative approach taking into account aspects: (1) Usefulness for professional training; (2) Degree of satisfaction with contents; and (3) Degree of utility for your future teaching career. Results indicate that students, in general, were very satisfied with the development of the practical work designed. However, their opinion varied when they considered their usefulness for their future teaching work. In conclusion, results indicate that practical work allows future teachers to increase their interest in science. However, it can be advised the necessity to look for spaces to be able to discuss the learning acquired and to be able to adapt these practices to the children's classroom to consider their didactic potential.

Recently, the DSSs application is strongly increasing in the agricultural sector due to continuous climate changes and the need to conduct more productive and sustainable agriculture. In this paper, we describe the prototype agricultural DSS LANDS developed for monitoring the main crop productions in Sardinia. The DSS collects, organizes, integrates, and analyses several types of data with different mathematical models. In particular, a case study on forecasting potato late blight is presented. We employed the Negative Prognosis model and Fry model to forecast the period in which it is opportune to carry out fungicide treatments useful against the appearance of the pathogen. The experiments allowed to outline the best criteria for local conditions as well as the evaluation showed the effectiveness of the approach in a concrete case study.

In this paper, a simple but effective trailing edge flap system was proposed. This preliminary concept uses a more practical and stable actuation system which consists of a motor-driven worm gear drive and flexible torsion bar. The flexible torsion bar is designed to be easily twisted while keeping bending rigidity as a sup-port and the worm gear drive not only provides a high torque to overcome aero-dynamic forces on the flap area and the torsional rigidity of the support bar, but also acts as a brake to avoid instability due to the high torsional flexibility of sup-port bar. A preliminary level design study was performed to show the applicability of the new trailing edge flap system for wind turbine rotor blade or helicopter blade.

The crisis represents a disorder that in contemporary society increasingly occurs. Crises are often the result of some earlier solutions. The situation in agricultural production in Croatia has been negative for years. Inadequate tax and high administrative burdens act to discourage the production process and impede the competitiveness of farmers. Furthermore, the measures taken to create added value are not enough, they can even be said to be wrong. The current crisis Covide-19 caused a disturbance on the market in terms of trends of supply and demand. The crisis period will show whether the country has an adequate strategy to overcome all the economic problems ahead. The aim of this paper was to analyze the readiness of the Republic of Croatia for crisis periods in terms of food security by analyzing the volume of agricultural production, the balance of foreign trade of agri-food products as well as the structure of total agri-food product trade. The determined trend of increasing deficits in agri-food products in foreign trade balance, particularly with EU countries implies the state's unenviable position regarding the food security indicating the need for implementation of adequate measures in the direction of the market organization and to facilitate investment in sustainable agriculture production systems.

Energy companies face challenges arising from the ecological, social and legal environment. The reduction of negative impact on the environment and society while maintaining sustainable development affects the formation of new development strategies and push to introduce the state of art innovative technologies. The main aim of the research is to analyze the importance and role of the adaptation strategy to external requirements and to determine the mechanisms of the occurrence of passive and active adaptation. As a new approach to carrying out strategic analysis, two models were used simultaneously (inductive and hypothetical-deductive) which allows for realization qualitative (interviews, observations) and quantitative (statistical analysis) research methods generally called mixed methods. The study was conducted on the basis of mixed-method analysis of adaptations strategies of enterprises from the energy sector. The results of the conducted research show the influence of particular macroeconomic elements (e.g. technologies, ecologies) on making strategic decisions. The issue of adapting an enterprise to its environment is also related to its involvement in the research and development (R&D) sphere. Depending on the size of the company there are different amounts dedicated to R&D. Regulations and the technological environment force innovations of energy companies in the direction of reducing harmful impact on the environment and society. Legal and political factors (both national and EU) determine the activities of power companies (in each group: small, medium and large) and determine the choice of adaptation strategies. The intensity of adaptation to the requirements of the environment changes depends on the size of the company. Power companies apply passive adaptation strategies and as they increase their position on the market, they begin to implement an active adaptation strategy.

Important changes are taking place, currently, regarding the role of ethics in technology, particularly, in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. The adoption by the General Assembly of United Nations of the resolution A/RES/70/1 on September 27th, 2015, entitled "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", better known as "sustainable development goals", is making that different international organisations and countries adopt it as the minimum reference ethical framework for assuring that this revolution in course supports and contributes to achieving these goals. To better understand these changes, it is important to make a historical reference to how technology and the role of ethics were understood during the past 50 years. In this paper, I take as reference the influencing book “The Challenge Presented to Cultures by Science and Technology” (1977) of the Genevan philosopher Jean Ladriére, some ethical proposals made during the '90s, to end with some recent European Union (2019) and World Economic Forum (2018) ethical proposals. I conclude that there are continuities and discontinuities, first in the conception of science and technology in Jean Ladriére and others, and how recent proposals are approaching the issue, second on the role of ethics in this fascinating and revolutionary process. However, we may envisage a radical transformation of the conception of technology in the context of the worldwide request of shaping the fourth industrial revolution.

The article explores movements for social transformation in precarious times of austerity, dispossessed commons, and narrow nationalism. The authors contribute to social theory by linking questions by critics of “post-politics” to precarity studies on changing conditions of citizenship, labour and livelihoods. They discuss an ambiguous constitution of precariat movements in the borderlands between “civil” and “uncivil” society and “invited” and “invented” spaces for civic agency, and posit that contending movements of today are drawing intellectual energy from past movements for democracy, recognition and the common. The paper discusses the issue of an urban justice movement in Sweden emerging from the precariat in this formerly exceptionalist welfare state’s most disadvantaged urban areas. With its vision of reconstructing commons with roots in the working class movement, it has put forward claims for an egalitarian and non-racial democracy while confronting politically grounded frames of institutional conditionality.

Within the field of Digital Humanities, a great effort has been made to digitize documents and collections in order to build catalogs and exhibitions on the Web. In this paper, we present WeME, a Web application for building a knowledge base, which can be used to describe digital documents. WeME can be used by different categories of users: archivists/librarians and scholars. WeME extracts information from some well-known Linked Data nodes, i.e. DBpedia and GeoNames, as well as traditional Web sources, i.e. VIAF. As a use case of WeME, we describe the knowledge base related to the Christopher Clavius’s corre spondence. Clavius was a mathematician and an astronomer of the XVI Century. He wrote more than 300 letters, most of which are owned by the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University (APUG) in Rome. The built knowledge base contains 139 links to DBpedia, 83 links to GeoNames and 129 links to VIAF. In order to test the usability of WeME, we invited 26 users to test the application.

A molecular dynamics simulation has been carried out to investigate the dynamics heterogeneity SiO 2 liquid at 2600 K and ambient pressure. We indicate that the diffusion in the liquid is realized by the rate of effective reaction, SiO x ®SiO x’ and OSi y ®OSi y’ . Moreover, the reactions are non-uniform happened, but they are spatially clustered. In addition, we found the clustering from different sets of atoms specified by the mobility of atom or frequency of reactions. We found that the clustering become more pronounced at ambient pressure. This evidences the dynamics heterogeneity in the SiO 2 liquid.

The floristic region of Adjara represents “Hotpoint” of Caucasian which is distinguished with the uniqueness of its it relict Colchis flora.It represents one of the most powerful refuge in western Eurasia , which is not touched by the chilling because has the special geographical location. There are 176 endemic plants spread in southern Colchis, of which 45 ones can be used for some medical treatments. The bioecology and detailed phytochemical content of some medicinal plant populations have not been studied so far. The research objective is to study the phytochemical content of endemic species of Helleborus caucasicus and Helleborus abchasicus spread in southern Colchis. The research method for the phytochemical content included the separation analysis, which was performed by using UPLC-MS (Waters Acquity QDa detector). Three Steroidal glycosides were isolated from the MeOH extract of the plants of Helleborus caucasicus and Helleborus abchasicus: Hellebrigenin-D-glucose, 20 – Hydroxyecdysone and Hydroxyecdysone – 3 glucoside. Three Steroidal glycosides and Hydroxyecdysone -3 glucoside have been isolated from the MeOH extract of Helleborus caucasicus.

Information Technologies (ITs) are highly useful for Human rights promotion globally. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have proved the influential tool to fight against violations of Human rights. ICT has represented a way to strengthen human rights. Technology also means that individuals’ human rights are exposed to unprecedented risks, caused by the transition of these rights to the digital field. If we observe the different revolutions around the world especially the county having autocracy for a long period of time has been overruled with the help of ICTs. In this study, the analysis of the role of ICTs in Human rights has been made. The study summarizes that the ICT is playing vital role in establishing awareness and preventing violation of human rights of the global citizens.

Globally, attention has majorly been focused on pollution and exhaustion of fossil fuels allied to the conventional energy sources while the non-conventional energy/renewable energy sources have always been considered clean and environmentally friendly. Of the two, the non-conventional (renewable) is being preferred because it is believed to be more environmentally friendly. Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) especially Solar Photovoltaics have seen many plants being constructed to either supplement the grid or as alternatives for those far from the grid. Solar Photovoltaics plants occupy large tracts of land which would have been used for other economic activities for revenue generation such as agriculture, forestry or tourism in archaeological sites. The negative impacts slow down the application of Solar PV , but a modelling tool that can easily and quantitively assess the impacts in monetary form would accelerate the Solar PV application. The work presents a developed modelling tool that is able to assess not only the techno-economic impacts but also the environmental impacts in monetary form, for one to be able to determine the viability of a plant in a given region. The results are compared with those of HOMER software.