Dispersion-managed solitons: a new paradigm for high data rate

The WDM properties of dispersion managed (DM) solitons and the reduction in Gordon-Haus jitter means that it is possible to contemplate multiple channels each at 10 Gbit/s for transoceanic distances without the need for elaborate soliton control. This paper will concentrate on fundamental principles of DM solitons, but will use these principles to indicate optimum maps for future high-speed soliton systems.

A paradigm shift:alternative interaction techniques for use with mobile & wearable devices

Desktop user interface design originates from the fact that users are stationary and can devote all of their visual resource to the application with which they are interacting. In contrast, users of mobile and wearable devices are typically in motion whilst using their device which means that they cannot devote all or any of their visual resource to interaction with the mobile application -- it must remain with the primary task, often for safety reasons. Additionally, such devices have limited screen real estate and traditional input and output capabilities are generally restricted. Consequently, if we are to develop effective applications for use on mobile or wearable technology, we must embrace a paradigm shift with respect to the interaction techniques we employ for communication with such devices.This paper discusses why it is necessary to embrace a paradigm shift in terms of interaction techniques for mobile technology and presents two novel multimodal interaction techniques which are effective alternatives to traditional, visual-centric interface designs on mobile devices as empirical examples of the potential to achieve this shift.

A paradigm sensitive perspective on the ranking of accounting journals:a web-based survey approach

This paper reports the results of a web-based study of the perceptions of accounting journals in Australasia. Journal ranking studies have generally adopted citation techniques or used academics’ perceptions as the basis for assessing journal quality. Our research contributes to the existing literature by conducting a survey of academics in Australasia using a web-based instrument. The analysis indicates that the perceptions of the so-called “elite” accounting journals have become unsettled. The research highlights the emergence of more recent, alternative paradigm journals (CPA and AAAJ) as both highly ranking.

Optimising market share and profit margin:SMDP-based tariff pricing under the smart grid paradigm

Smart grid technologies have given rise to a liberalised and decentralised electricity market, enabling energy providers and retailers to have a better understanding of the demand side and its response to pricing signals. This paper puts forward a reinforcement-learning-powered tool aiding an electricity retailer to define the tariff prices it offers, in a bid to optimise its retail strategy. In a competitive market, an energy retailer aims to simultaneously increase the number of contracted customers and its profit margin. We have abstracted the problem of deciding on a tariff price as faced by a retailer, as a semi-Markov decision problem (SMDP). A hierarchical reinforcement learning approach, MaxQ value function decomposition, is applied to solve the SMDP through interactions with the market. To evaluate our trading strategy, we developed a retailer agent (termed AstonTAC) that uses the proposed SMDP framework to act in an open multi-agent simulation environment, the Power Trading Agent Competition (Power TAC). An evaluation and analysis of the 2013 Power TAC finals show that AstonTAC successfully selects sell prices that attract as many customers as necessary to maximise the profit margin. Moreover, during the competition, AstonTAC was the only retailer agent performing well across all retail market settings.

Unravelling the theories of pre-eclampsia:Are the protective pathways the new paradigm?

Pre-eclampsia is a vascular disorder of pregnancy where anti-angiogenic factors, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress predominate, but none can claim to cause pre-eclampsia. This review provides an alternative to the 'two-stage model' of pre-eclampsia in which abnormal spiral arteries modification leads to placental hypoxia, oxidative stress and aberrant maternal systemic inflammation. Very high maternal soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1 also known as sVEGFR) and very low placenta growth factor (PlGF) are unique to pre-eclampsia; however, abnormal spiral arteries and excessive inflammation are also prevalent in other placental disorders. Metaphorically speaking, pregnancy can be viewed as a car with an accelerator and brakes, where inflammation, oxidative stress and an imbalance in the angiogenic milieu act as the 'accelerator'. The 'braking system' includes the protective pathways of haem oxygenase 1 (also referred as Hmox1 or HO-1) and cystathionine-γ-lyase (also known as CSE or Cth), which generate carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) respectively. The failure in these pathways (brakes) results in the pregnancy going out of control and the system crashing. Put simply, pre-eclampsia is an accelerator-brake defect disorder. CO and H2S hold great promise because of their unique ability to suppress the anti-angiogenic factors sFlt-1 and soluble endoglin as well as to promote PlGF and endothelial NOS activity. The key to finding a cure lies in the identification of cheap, safe and effective drugs that induce the braking system to keep the pregnancy vehicle on track past the finishing line.

Review and Outlooks of the Means for Visualization of Syntax Semantics and Source Code. Procedural and Object Oriented Paradigm – Differences

In the article, we have reviewed the means for visualization of syntax, semantics and source code for programming languages which support procedural and/or object-oriented paradigm. It is examined how the structure of the source code of the structural and object-oriented programming styles has influenced different approaches for their teaching. We maintain a thesis valid for the object-oriented programming paradigm, which claims that the activities for design and programming of classes are done by the same specialist, and the training of this specialist should include design as well as programming skills and knowledge for modeling of abstract data structures. We put the question how a high level of abstraction in the object-oriented paradigm should be presented in simple model in the design stage, so the complexity in the programming stage stay low and be easily learnable. We give answer to this question, by building models using the UML notation, as we take a concrete example from the teaching practice including programming techniques for inheritance and polymorphism.

Two-Language, Two-Paradigm Introductory Computing Curriculum Model and its Implementation

This paper analyzes difficulties with the introduction of object-oriented concepts in introductory computing education and then proposes a two-language, two-paradigm curriculum model that alleviates such difficulties. Our two-language, two-paradigm curriculum model begins with teaching imperative programming using Python programming language, continues with teaching object-oriented computing using Java, and concludes with teaching object-oriented data structures with Java.

A new paradigm in large-scale assembly-research priorities in measurement assisted assembly

This paper presents for the first time the concept of measurement assisted assembly (MAA) and outlines the research priorities of the realisation of this concept in the industry. MAA denotes a paradigm shift in assembly for high value and complex products and encompasses the development and use of novel metrology processes for the holistic integration and capability enhancement of key assembly and ancillary processes. A complete framework for MAA is detailed showing how this can facilitate a step change in assembly process capability and efficiency for large and complex products, such as airframes, where traditional assembly processes exhibit the requirement for rectification and rework, use inflexible tooling and are largely manual, resulting in cost and cycle time pressures. The concept of MAA encompasses a range of innovativemeasurement- assisted processes which enable rapid partto- part assembly, increased use of flexible automation, traceable quality assurance and control, reduced structure weight and improved levels of precision across the dimensional scales. A full scale industrial trial of MAA technologies has been carried out on an experimental aircraft wing demonstrating the viability of the approach while studies within 140 smaller companies have highlighted the need for better adoption of existing process capability and quality control standards. The identified research priorities for MAA include the development of both frameless and tooling embedded automated metrology networks. Other research priorities relate to the development of integrated dimensional variation management, thermal compensation algorithms as well as measurement planning and inspection of algorithms linking design to measurement and process planning. © Springer-Verlag London 2013.

Revisiting the lean agile paradigm:an empirical study in the aerospace industry

Much has been written about the potential impact of Lean Agile paradigm on firm's supply chain performance. However, most of the existing studies mainly pointed out Lean is for cost reduction, whereas Agility is for attaining flexibility. There are little empirical studies in literature that examined how Lean Agile paradigm impacts on supply chain performance. This paper aims to address this gap by studying the influence of Lean and Agility paradigms on a single commodity supply chain delivery performance in the aerospace industry. Data was collected from four separate 'Rigid pipes' supply chains to study how manufacturing alignment impacts on the delivery performance. Implications of the study to practitioners and academia are discussed and future research outlined.

Visszatérhet-e a "nagy elmélet" a közgazdaságtanban? Megjegyzések a rendszerparadigma elmélettörténetéhez (Can the "grand theory" return to economics? Notes on the theoretical history of the system paradigm)

Kornai János rendszerparadigma-fogalmából és az ott felsorolt közgazdászok névsorából kiindulva, a tanulmány kiemel néhány mozzanatot ennek eszmetörténeti előzményeiből. A hatvanas évek szociológiai irodalmában időszerűtlennek tartották a nagy elmélet létrehozását, a nyolcvanas évek társadalomtudományában viszont már a hagyományos nagy rendszeralkotás és elbeszélésmód visszatérését méltatták. Adam Smith közgazdaságtanát a társadalmi érintkezés átfogó elmélete részének szánta, amely tartalmazza a jog, politika és erkölcs elveit és történetét. Ezt szemlélteti a kereskedelmi társadalom paradoxonának elemzése és annak bemutatása, hogyan vezetett a fényűzés a szabadság helyreállításához és a rendszeres kormányzat létrejöttéhez. Marx és a német történeti iskola egyaránt törekedett a társadalom történeti fejlődéstörvényeinek feltárására, noha kölcsönösen elutasították egymás felfogásának többi elemét. Schumpeter életművét az a törekvés határozta meg, hogy összekapcsolja az elméleti analízist és a történeti leírást, hogy a gazdasági fejlődés elemzéséből kiindulva megalkossa a társadalmi élet különböző területeinek interdependenciáját bemutató elméletet. / === / The study starts from János Kornai's concept of a system paradigm and the list of economists there to lift certain elements from its antecedents in intellectual history. The sociological writers of the 1960s thought it was inopportune to create a grand theory, while the social scientists of the 1980s were busy celebrating the return of the great traditional system-creating process and its mode of narration. Adam Smith presented his economics as part of a comprehensive theory of social organization that would cover the principles and history of law, politics and morality. This is illustrated by his analysis of the paradox of commercial society and his demonstration of how wealth led to the restoration of liberty and the establishment of regular governance. Marx and the German historical school both strove to identify laws of the historical development of society, although they each rejected the other elements of the other's concept. Schumpeter's oeuvre was marked by an effort to combine theoretical analysis with historical description, so that from an analysis of economic development he could arrive at a theory presenting the interdependence of the various areas of social activity.

A rendszerparadigma. Fogalmi tisztázás = The system paradigm

Tanulmányomban, amint azt a cím is jelzi, használni szeretném a paradigma fogalmát. Ezt Kuhn vezette be a tudományelméletbe klasszikus művében (Kuhn [1962]). Kuhn nem adott egyértelmű definíciót, s maga a fogalom sok vitára adott okot. A konferenciára készülve, újraolvastam számos művet az általános tudományelmélet és speciálisan a közgazdaságtani metodológia köréből. Ha más nem, már ez a meghökkentő olvasmányélmény is óvatosságra int. Nyoma sincsen konszenzusnak, még az alapfogalmak értelmezésében sem. Ingerült konfrontatív vita zajlik. A szűkebben vett tudományelmélet és tudománytörténet alternatív iskolái közötti egyet nem értés mélyen gyökeredzik híveiknek egymástól eltérő filozófiai felfogásában. Szeretném elkerülni ezt az aknamezőt. Ez késztet arra, hogy fogalmi tisztázással kezdjem a fejtegetést, az esetleges félreértések elkerülésére. Nem kívánok hozzászólni ahhoz, hogy mennyiben volt Poppernek, Kuhnnak, Lakatosnak vagy másnak igaza a tudomány történetének elemzésében. A korrekt tárgyalásA szerző a cikk bevezetőjében ismerteti, milyen értelmezésben használja a társadalomtudományokra vonatkozóan a paradigma fogalmát, amelyet T. S. Kuhn eredetileg a természettudományok történetétől ihletve alkotott meg. Az új paradigma nem okvetlenül váltja fel a korábbit; több paradigma munkaképesen működhet egymás mellett. A rendszerparadigma kialakulásának mérföldkövei: Marx, Mises, Hayek, Polányi, Schumpeter és Eucken munkái. Noha filozófiájukat és politikai állásfoglalásukat tekintve igen heterogén a névsor, közös bennük a rendszerszemlélet\". Nemcsak a gazdaság egy-egy részletével foglalkoznak, hanem a rendszer egészével; nemcsak a gazdasággal, hanem a politikai, ideológiai és a társadalmi dimenziókkal is, s különös figyelmet fordítanak valamennyi szféra interakcióira. A rendszerparadigma nagy vizsgafeladata a posztszocialista átmenet kutatása. Ehhez nélkülözhetetlen; a magyarázó erőt tekintve semmilyen más paradigmával nem pótolható. Viszont a rendszerparadigma alkalmazói előrejelzéseikben (akárcsak más paradigmák művelői) sokszor súlyosan tévedtek. A rendszerparadigma prediktív ereje korlátozott, s ez szerénységre inti felhasználóit. / === / The notion of paradigm was originally created by T. S. Kuhn and inspired by the history of natural sciences. The introduction of the article explains the interpreation of the notion as used in social sciences. In this context a new paradigm does not necessarily replace the earlier one, several paradigms can operate beside each other. The milestones of the system paradigm are the works of Marx, Mises, Hayek, Polányi, Schumpeter and Eucken. Although the list is rather heterogeneous as regards the philosophies and political stand of the authors, common to them is the \"systemic approach\". They discuss not some detail of the economy, but the system as a whole; not only the economy, but the political, ideological and societal dimensions as well, and they pay particular attention to the interactions among all spheres. It is a great examination task of the system paradigm to research the post-socialist transition. It is indispensable for that; as regards explanatory power, it cannot be replaced by any other paradigm. On the other hand, the users of the system paradigm frequently made grave errors in their forecasts (similarly to those using other paradigms). The predictive power of the system paradigm is restricted and this warns its users to caution.

Integal futures based on the paradigm approach

The study discusses the interpretation of integral futures in the context of paradigm. The dynamic matrix model of futures paradigm has been developed for carrying out meta-analysis of futures. As a result of meta-analysis integral futures and its new paradigms are defined by way of reconstructing futures paradigm history as responses to changing societal needs and through the outcomes of dynamic and comparative analysis of futures paradigms. The study sets the argument that integral futures: a) is entering a new phase in development of futures that responses to societal demands for sustainability, democratic participation and continuous knowledge production and integration, b) it is the phase of cooperation building between theoretical and practical futures, c) it is the complementary development of co-evolutionary and participatory paradigms, d) it unfolds further research perspectives for futures.

Úton egy fenntartható gazdasági paradigma felé – A komplexitás befogadása a hálózati elméleteken keresztül (Towards a sustainable economic paradigm – Acceptance of the complexity through network theories)

Mára elkerülhetetlennek tűnik a gondolati váltás a gazdaságtudományok területén annak érdekében, hogy közelebb kerüljünk a hármas (gazdasági, társadalmi, környezeti) válságot előidéző problémák megoldásaihoz. A szerzők cikkükben amellett érvelnek, hogy a komplexitás befogadása kezdeti törekvésként értelmezhető azon az úton, amely a mindennapokban érzékelhető társadalmi és ökológiai problémák megoldásához vezet. Már léteznek olyan gazdaság- és vállalatelméletek, amelyek kezdik megkérdőjelezni az eddigi főáramú koncepciókat, és készek arra, hogy elveiket, elméleteiket a működési környezet bonyolultságát elfogadva alakítsák ki, és így találjanak mindennapos megoldásokat a gazdasági működésben. Ilyen például – a cikkben szereplő – IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) csoport hálózatelmélete. A szerzők azt kívánják bemutatni, hogy az ilyen hálózatelméletek alkalmasak arra, hogy a vállalatközi szférán túl is befolyásolják azt, ahogyan a vállalatok döntéseiket meghozzák és kapcsolataikat kezelik. ______ Today, it seems inevitable change of thought in the field of economics in order to get closer to solutions of problems which induced the triple (economic, social, environmental) crisis. In their article, the authors argue that the reception of complexity can be interpreted as an initial effort on the path that leads to the solutions of the everyday perceived social and ecological problems. The authors aim to present that the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) group network theory is able to influence beyond the sphere of inter-company, that companies take their decisions and their relationships are treated.

Stratégiai paradigmaváltás szervezeti verseny(képesség) és az Operations management központi szerepe (Central role of strategic paradigm change, corporate competitiveness and operations management)

Az elmúlt két évtized folyamán a menedzserek megtanultak a megújult szabályok szerint játszani. Tudatosították, hogy a vállalatuk eredményes navigálásához folyamatosan figyelniük és adaptálniuk kell a legújabb módszereket, elméleteket. Jelen tanulmányával a szerző ezt a folyamatot kívánja segíteni, valamint arra az alapvető kérdésre keresi a választ, hogy érdemes-e a rendkívül gyorsan változó világban hosszabb távú célok meghatározásával foglalkozni, és ha igen, akkor mire összpontosítsák a vállalatok erőfeszítéseiket. Milyen részletezettséggel, milyen módon határozzák meg az elképzeléseiket úgy, hogy közben megőrizzék a vállalat flexibilitását, a változások idején nélkülözhetetlen agilitást. A szerző arra vállalkozik, hogy feltárja a stratégiai paradigmaváltás fejlődését, a termelési stratégia, az operations management központi meghatározó szereppé válását, valamint áttekintse a termelési és szolgáltatási rendszervezetés (OM) elveinek, eszközeinek, módszereinek fejlődését, kölcsönhatását, összefüggéseit. _______ Change of paradigm has taken place in strategic planning. Fight for position turned into a fight of movement. Companies strive to achieve individual, not copyable organizational performance, as well as to realize their business strategies by means of value generating, proactive approach. Operative management now placed in the focus of production strategy is becoming the compass, the driving force of leadership. The management of production and service systems has grown into independent scientific disciplines. It yielded such principles, tools and methods which are present as world-renowned blueprints (scientific tools) in the field of maintaining and developing corporate performance. In the present study the author specifies and discusses the tools of operative management as criteria of value generation aiming at quality and cost efficiency. He analyses the backto- back character, interrelationship of quality, TQM (Total Quality Management), TPS (Toyota Production System) and JIT (Just in Time). He examines the effects thereof on corporate performance where significant and strong relationship can be demonstrated in case there is an ability to plan and develop new products. The current new OM (Operations Management) techniques increasingly rely upon the quality of human resources, the permanent improvement of procedures as well as focusing on tight cooperation with suppliers/customers. Supply chain management, core competence management, service management now represent a “new generation” of the OM methods, processes, serving at the same time as basis and starting point for expectable future techniques as well.

Organizational ambidexterity as a new research paradigm in strategic management

Long-term survival and growth depends on the firm’s ability to exploit its current competencies while exploring fundamentally new ones. Finding the balance between exploration and exploitation is called ambidexterity in the literature. This paper is a comprehensive review of organizational ambidexterity theory. Creating and maintaining the capacity to simultaneously pursue these contradictory activities is an extremely difficult managerial challenge. Although, several aspects are well-researched, especially structural and leadership solutions in large, multinational enterprises, but little is known about: (1) how ambidexterity forms in earlier growth stages? (2) What are the key drivers and elements of organizational context that makes organizations able to become ambidextrous? (3) What is the role of different managerial levels in this formation process? Reviewing the literature, in this article the author would like to introduce the paradox of exploration and exploitation, the tensions and different aspects of ambidexterity, the fields current stage and some important research gaps.