Determination of multilayer soil parameters using Simulated Annealing algorithm
The paper presents a new method based on the Simulated Annealing Algorithm for the estimation of the parameters of multilayer soils. First the infinite integral of resistivity equation is approximated by use of complex image method. Then, Simulated Annealing Method is used to estimate the soil resistivity with the least error.
Parameter Estimation of Horizontal Multilayer Earth by Complex Image Method
How to correctly obtain the structure parameters of earth is the precondition of grounding system design. Based on the local searching algorithm, an efficient method for estimating earth structure with any number of layers from the test data by Wenner configuration method is presented. In each iterative procedure, earth apparent resistivities are calculated by complex image method. A new method to directly obtain the partial derivatives of the earth apparent resistivities with respect to the earth parameters from the results of the complex image method is presented, which is more efficient than the conventional methods that arduously calculate the improper integrals with a Bessel's function and an infinite limit of integration. At the same time, a method to determine suitable initial earth parameters for the local searching algorithm is also proposed. The validity of the method is shown by several applications.
Socially responsible enterprise in Cuba: a positive role model for Corporate Social Responsibility?’
This article examines the unique institutional environment of socialist Cuba, where currently a process of controlled marketization and expansion of private enterprise is taking place. The article investigates business behaviour in Cuba with particular reference to implicit assumptions relating to socially responsible enterprise, or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as the term is understood in Western Liberal Democracies. It draws upon a series of interviews with business practitioners and business commentators (both Cuban and non-Cuban residents on the island). The interviews focused on the participants’ awareness of business ethics and socially responsible enterprise, and the cultural differences in assumptions and expectations relating to the concept of CSR between the Cuban and non-Cuban interviewees. We find that Cuba at this early stage of tentative marketization presents a positive role model of socially responsible enterprise. Both the highly regulated State economy and the embedded norms and values of social equity that have emerged as a consequence of Cuba’s socialist revolution facilitate business social responsibility. The relevance of this research to current debates in relation to CSR is discussed and it is argued that capitalist economies may similarly benefit from tighter regulatory control and by cultivating more pro-social business norms that prioritise ethical over economic concerns.