We propose and investigate different kinetic models for opinion formation, when the opinion formation process depends on an additional independent variable, e.g. a leadership or a spatial variable. More specifically, we consider: (i) opinion dynamics under the effect of opinion leadership, where each individual is characterised not only by its opinion, but also by another independent variable w...

At the 2007 International System Dynamics Society Conference, Professor Jay Forrester posed a challenge: “We need books addressed to the public that are understandable, relevant, important and dramatic”. We need to overcome the “constraints of academe” that inhibit path-breaking work. We need to address “the big issues”. We need to march “upward from the present aimless plateau and start climbi...

Index-based hedging instruments such as industry loss warranties are increasingly recognized as effective hedging tools for insurance and reinsurance portfolios. However, wider adoption of these instruments is inhibited by basis risk, the difference between the index-based payoff and the buyer's actual loss. This study presents a systematic approach for potential buyers to analyze and manage ba...

determinants of the adoption of land leveling in fars province were investigated through an application of logit model to data collected from a sample of 300 farmers. the results revealed that area under cultivation, farmers' education, earnings beside-farm-income, access to credits, availability of laser applied land leveling instruments and equipments in the region, as well as dam water,...

abstract aim and background: adoption is a subject with prolix antecedent in historical society and culture. child acceptation affects on partner and kinfolk relation; so the family experience recognition help nurse to have deep knowledge about family relation. method and materials: in this phenomenological qualitative study, participants were 15 family with adopted child in shahrekord, iran. t...

this study compared farmers’ rating of extension effectiveness in technology dissemination to the level of adoption. in conducting the study, 180 farmers participating in extension programme in cross-river state were randomly selected through multi-stage random sampling technique. the data collected through a structured questionnaire were analyzed using the t-test of significance of difference ...

this study aimed to identify the factors influencing adoption of integrated pest management (ipm) technologies by paddy farmers in sari county of iran. a sample of 260 farmers who selected randomly, participated in this study through a survey questionnaire. findings of the study revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between adoption of ipm technologies and farmers’ participa...

in this paper, the notion of the digital divide has been described, and a few analyzing methods of digital divide have been reviewed. analyzing methods of digital divide are called indices which have different indicators and different formulas for calculation. since data collection for an indicator may be difficult, calculating an index is an essential problem. we collected and calculated some ...

loud computing’s unique features, including the low capital investment, reduced total cost of ownership, high availability, elastic scalability, and lower complexity compared to traditional high-performance computing models, have made it the predominant ICT platform over the last few years. The cloud is rapidly being adopted in numerous domains worldwide, including education, healthcare, commer...