Fronts Propagation at the Onset of Plastic Yielding

The existence of a finite threshold, the yield stress, for the onset of plastic yielding is a universal feature of plasticity. This jamming-unjamming transition is naturally accounted for by the dynamics of a bistable internal state field. We show, within the athermal Shear Transformation Zones (STZ) theory of amorphous plasticity, that the transition is accompanied by the propagation of plastic fronts. We further show that the mean-field theory cannot select the velocity of these fronts and go beyond the mean-field description to include fluctuations and correlations effects, resulting in new nonlocal terms in the equations. Finally, we demonstrate that the new terms, with an associated intrinsic lengthscale, provide a velocity selection mechanism for the plastic fronts.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure; reorganized paper, friction part omitte

Modeling an Electrically Driven Graphene-Nanoribbon Laser for Optical Interconnects

Graphene has two very important optical properties of population inversion of electrons, and broadband optical gain. As a result, graphene has potential for use in lasers and amplifiers. In this work, we presented a quantum master model and analyzed the properties for the electrically pumped single-AGNR vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) to investigate the lasing action and laser properties for realistic experimental parameters. A semiclassical approximation for the output power and laser linewidth is also derived. The laser threshold power was several orders of magnitude lower than that currently achievable with semiconductor microlasers. Our results have demonstrated that a single-AGNR VCSEL can serve as a nanolaser with ultralow lasing threshold. Implementation of such a GNR-based VCSEL is especially promising for optical interconnection systems since VCSELs emit low optical power and single longitudinal mode over a wide wavelength spectral range through tailoring GNRs.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=6458072&tag=

VLSI architecture for a Reed-Solomon decoder

A basic single-chip building block for a Reed-Solomon (RS) decoder system is partitioned into a plurality of sections, the first of which consists of a plurality of syndrome subcells each of which contains identical standard-basis finite-field multipliers that are programmable between 10 and 8 bit operation. A desired number of basic building blocks may be assembled to provide a RS decoder of any syndrome subcell size that is programmable between 10 and 8 bit operation

Perceived Family Life Quality in Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.The present longitudinal study examined perceived family functioning and related socio-demographic correlates from the perspective of adolescents in Hong Kong. Results showed that adolescent perceptions of family functioning based on different indicators gradually deteriorated over time. Regarding the socio-demographic correlates, (a) boys had more favourable perceived family functioning than did girls; (b) adolescents from non-intact families had poorer perceived family functioning than those from intact families; and (c) economically disadvantaged adolescents had poorer perceived family functioning than non-economically disadvantaged adolescents. Results also revealed that adolescents’ perceived family functioning was positively related to positive youth devel- opment. Analyses further indicated that perceived family functioning and positive youth development were concurrently and longitudinally related

The US/Canada Difference in Postsecondary Educational Choice

This paper attempts to tackle the puzzle of why more Canadians choose community colleges over universities than their American counterparts, when previous research has suggested that the return to community college education is low in Canada. Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics for Canada and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 for the US, I estimate returns to education with a trinomial selection correction using various instruments. I simulate the educational choices of Canadians who face American returns to education, and vice versa. I found that Canadians have a relatively strong incentive to choose community colleges if occupational choices are controlled for. The second finding is that Canadian universities and colleges specialize in different types of human capital. Also, my analysis confirms that the elasticity of educational attainment to tuition and fees is low. Finally, the self-selection processes in the two countries are different. More able Americans have higher educational attainment while more productive Canadians prefer going to universities but not community colleges.Returns to Education; Educational Choices; Post-secondary Education.

In search of meaning : novice teachers’ perceptions on a service-learning subject through narrative inquiry

2016-2017 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paper201803_a bcwhVersion of RecordPublishe

A Case Study on Non Performing Loans: Hong Leong Finance's Experience

HLFB is one of the leading financial institutions in the country. The company has achieved quantum leap in the increase of the number of branches at the end of 1993 with the acquisition of Visia Finance Berhad. The company was the first finance company in the country to computerize the deposit and loans business between 1981 and 1985. In 1999, HLFB has embarked on opening "In Store" branches. The loan base of the company had increased rapidly, especially from year 1996 to 1997, from RM5,721 million to RM7,544 million and the loan base had grown by 32 percent within the stipulated period. Due to the high loan base, the company has embarked on loan regionalization (decentralization) in September 1996. With the regionalization, it reduces bottleneck in head office. Non-performing loans (NPLs) of the company is rising, from RM177 million in December 1995 to RM1,166 million in March 1999. In terms of percentage, the rate had increased from 4.4 percent to 16.6 percent within the stipulated period. The Chief Operating Officer was very concerned on the rising NPLs and the manager of credit control department was requested to look into the issue. In the past, the company had focussed its lending on corporate loans. The case reveals that corporate loans had contributed to majority of the NPLs and Kuala Lumpur Main office and Johore Bahru Regional loan centre were the two offices that had the highest NPLs rate. To overcome the problem faced by HLFB, two approached were recommended to implement for the reduction of NPLs rate. These two approaches are an immediate approach and preventive approach. Eight different ways to reduce the NPLs under immediate approach were recommended. A preventive approach is quality lending. This approach is used to prevent new loans from becoming problem loans. In this approach, more emphasize is based on quality instead of quantity. Recommendation was make to change the portfolio mix of the company, that is to go for more consumers lending instead of corporate lending, as the risk for corporate loans is higher. To ensure a successful implementation and also to achieve a desirable result, HLFB must always improve the process by going through the process of Planning, Deploying and Reviewing