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Making decisions about saving energy in compressed air systems using ambient intelligence and artificial intelligence
No full textCompressed air systems are often the most expensive and inefficient industrial systems. For every 10 units of energy, less than 1 unit turns into useful compressed air. Air compressors tend to be kept fully on even if they are not (all) needed. The research proposed in this short paper will combine real time ambient sensing with Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management to automatically improve efficiency in energy intensive manufacturing. The research will minimise energy use for air compressors based on real-time manufacturing conditions (and anticipated future requirements). Ambient data will provide detailed information on performance. Artificial Intelligence will make sense of that data and automatically act. Knowledge Management will facilitate the processing of information to advise human operators on actions to reduce energy use and maintain productivity. The aim is to create new intelligent techniques to save energy in compressed air systems
La « déqualification » de l’art: La caricature et l’exposition publique à Londres (c. 1769-1783)
Get PDFCet article traîte la place de la satire de l’art dans le cadre des expositions publiques en Angleterre au dix-huitième siècle. Entre 1769 et 1787 le nombre de pièces exposées à l’Académie augmente de 136 à 689, une évolution facilitée par son déménagement vers l’impressionnant emplacement de Somerset House. Mais Londres possedait d’autres espaces publiques aussi, tout comme les expositions qu’organisaient la Société des Artistes depuis 1760. Des recherches récentes ont mis en évidence la façon dont ces changements de structure ont façonné la conception et la réception des typologies traditionnelles - histoire, paysage et portrait (Solkin, éd., 2001). C’est cette évolution qui marque également les satires de l’art. Les catalogues indiquent la présence constante d’une activité humoristique au sein même de ces expositions et à travers des caricatures qui imitent des sujets ou des catégories d'exposition à la mode. A partir de 1769, le célèbre artiste-amateur Henry Bunbury (1750-1819) expose à l’Académie royale des dessins topographiques de la France qui sont délibérément gauches et excessivement faux. Une dizaine d’années plus tard, cette posture ironique est revisitée par Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) à travers des dessins humoristiques exposés à la Société des Artistes et à l’Académie royale. La posture de Rowlandson était plus ironique encore: car ses parodies Anglo-Françaises découlent directement d’un savoir-faire acquis au cours d’une double formation professionelle, d’abord à l’Académie de Londres, ensuite à l’Académie de Paris. A côté, est l’académicien français, Philippe de Loutherbourg (1740-1812) célébré à Londres pour ses grandes toiles caricaturales de sujets anglais. Dans cette article, la caricature est définie comme la « déqualification » de l’art (« deskilling », Petherbridge, 2010: 353) et comprise comme une forme de jeu caricaturale qui génère des dialogues inter-médiaux, complexes et pleins d'esprit pour un public de plus en plus sophistiqué visuellement et pour qui la plaisanterie est précisément localisée
Medically unnecessary genital cutting and the rights of the child: moving toward consensus
No full textEconomic Impact and Statistical Significance: Interpreting Accounting Research for Evidence-Based Policy Making
Get PDFThis briefing, funded by ICAEW’s charitable trusts, is addressed to practitioners such as financial analysts, finance directors, audit partners, ‘technical’ departments in audit firms and all who are involved in standard-setting.
Many academic studies rely on statistical significance to draw conclusions from empirical analysis about the impact of policy issues, such as the adoption of IFRS or the change in the particular requirements of a Standard. This approach has received criticism because of a failure to focus on, or demonstrate, the economic significance of the change.
We set out to re-interpret the evidence base of published quantitative accounting research in terms of its economic significance. Results were collected from 40 published research studies, mostly amongst the 200 surveyed by Brian Singleton-Green in The Effects of Mandatory IFRS Adoption in the EU: A Review of Empirical Research, ICAEW (2015). We found that economic impact was discussed for a wide range of factors that might be influenced by regulatory change (eg, cost of capital, analyst following, earnings management, and many others). Generally, however, authors infer economic impact in terms of an expected change in the variable of interest, for the average firm. Amongst these studies, we did not find any extrapolations of economic impact that were quantified at the level of the economy or economic sector as a whole.
Unfortunately, when we attempted to estimate the economic impact on the corporate sector on the basis of published research, we met several barriers that prevented us from doing so to our satisfaction. Most of the obstacles were technical in nature, relating to statistical method
and the conventions of journal paper publication. We describe these within this briefing. It is important to note, nevertheless, that each of the papers surveyed was fully transparent in the justification of its statistically significant results.
To the practitioner, the conclusion - that we experienced difficulty in quantifying the full extent of economic impact - may seem surprising, given that the large samples commonly used by researchers account for much corporate economic activity. For policy-makers, and accounting researchers with an interest in the political and economic implications of regulation and standardization, who may wish to model the kind of ‘effects analysis’ considered by EFRAG, IASB and FASB, a useful set of research questions emerges from our own attempts to unravel the connections between statistically significant results and their economic impact. These are summarised in the concluding section
Learning to make intelligent decisions using an Expert System for the intelligent selection of either PROMETHEE II or the Analytical Hierarchy Process
No full textThis paper presents an expert system to select a most suitable discrete Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method using an approach that analyses problem characteristics, MCDM methods characteristics, risk and uncertainty in inputs and applies sensitivity analysis to the inputs for a decisional problem. Outcomes of this approach can provide decision makers with a suggested candidate method that delivers a robust outcome. Numerical examples are presented where two MCDM methods are compared and one is recommended by calculating the minimum percentage change in criteria weights and performance measures required to alter the ranking of any two alternatives. A MCDM method will be recommended based on a best compromise in minimum percentage change required in inputs to alter the ranking of alternatives
A rule-based expert system to decide on direction and speed of a powered wheelchair
No full textSome rule based techniques are presented that can assist powered wheelchair drivers. The expert system decides on the direction and speed of their wheelchair. The system tends to avoid obstacles while having a tendency to turn and head in towards a desired destination. This is achieved by producing a new target angle as an extra input. Other inputs are from sensors and a joystick. Directions are recommended and mixed with user inputs from the joystick representing desired direction and desired speed. The rule-based system decides on an angle to turn the powered wheelchair and suggest it. Inputs from the joystick and sensors are mixed with the suggested angle from the Rule Based Expert System. A modified direction for the wheelchair is produced. The whole system helps disabled wheelchair users to drive their powered wheelchairs
