WorldWideScience

Sample records for accurate automation corporation

  1. ERP processes automation in corporate environments

    OpenAIRE

    Antonoaie Victor; Irimeş Adrian; Chicoş Lucia-Antoneta

    2017-01-01

    The automation processes are used in organizations to speed up analyses processes and reduce manual labour. Robotic Automation of IT processes implemented in a modern corporate workspace provides an excellent tool for assisting professionals in making decisions, saving resources and serving as a know-how repository. This study presents the newest trends in process automation, its benefits such as security, ease of use, reduction of overall process duration, and provide examples of SAPERP proj...

  2. ERP processes automation in corporate environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonoaie Victor

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The automation processes are used in organizations to speed up analyses processes and reduce manual labour. Robotic Automation of IT processes implemented in a modern corporate workspace provides an excellent tool for assisting professionals in making decisions, saving resources and serving as a know-how repository. This study presents the newest trends in process automation, its benefits such as security, ease of use, reduction of overall process duration, and provide examples of SAPERP projects where this technology was implemented and meaningful impact was obtained.

  3. Automated selected reaction monitoring software for accurate label-free protein quantification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teleman, Johan; Karlsson, Christofer; Waldemarson, Sofia; Hansson, Karin; James, Peter; Malmström, Johan; Levander, Fredrik

    2012-07-06

    Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) is a mass spectrometry method with documented ability to quantify proteins accurately and reproducibly using labeled reference peptides. However, the use of labeled reference peptides becomes impractical if large numbers of peptides are targeted and when high flexibility is desired when selecting peptides. We have developed a label-free quantitative SRM workflow that relies on a new automated algorithm, Anubis, for accurate peak detection. Anubis efficiently removes interfering signals from contaminating peptides to estimate the true signal of the targeted peptides. We evaluated the algorithm on a published multisite data set and achieved results in line with manual data analysis. In complex peptide mixtures from whole proteome digests of Streptococcus pyogenes we achieved a technical variability across the entire proteome abundance range of 6.5-19.2%, which was considerably below the total variation across biological samples. Our results show that the label-free SRM workflow with automated data analysis is feasible for large-scale biological studies, opening up new possibilities for quantitative proteomics and systems biology.

  4. Automated Development of Accurate Algorithms and Efficient Codes for Computational Aeroacoustics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodrich, John W.; Dyson, Rodger W.

    1999-01-01

    The simulation of sound generation and propagation in three space dimensions with realistic aircraft components is a very large time dependent computation with fine details. Simulations in open domains with embedded objects require accurate and robust algorithms for propagation, for artificial inflow and outflow boundaries, and for the definition of geometrically complex objects. The development, implementation, and validation of methods for solving these demanding problems is being done to support the NASA pillar goals for reducing aircraft noise levels. Our goal is to provide algorithms which are sufficiently accurate and efficient to produce usable results rapidly enough to allow design engineers to study the effects on sound levels of design changes in propulsion systems, and in the integration of propulsion systems with airframes. There is a lack of design tools for these purposes at this time. Our technical approach to this problem combines the development of new, algorithms with the use of Mathematica and Unix utilities to automate the algorithm development, code implementation, and validation. We use explicit methods to ensure effective implementation by domain decomposition for SPMD parallel computing. There are several orders of magnitude difference in the computational efficiencies of the algorithms which we have considered. We currently have new artificial inflow and outflow boundary conditions that are stable, accurate, and unobtrusive, with implementations that match the accuracy and efficiency of the propagation methods. The artificial numerical boundary treatments have been proven to have solutions which converge to the full open domain problems, so that the error from the boundary treatments can be driven as low as is required. The purpose of this paper is to briefly present a method for developing highly accurate algorithms for computational aeroacoustics, the use of computer automation in this process, and a brief survey of the algorithms that

  5. Fast and accurate automated cell boundary determination for fluorescence microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arce, Stephen Hugo; Wu, Pei-Hsun; Tseng, Yiider

    2013-07-01

    Detailed measurement of cell phenotype information from digital fluorescence images has the potential to greatly advance biomedicine in various disciplines such as patient diagnostics or drug screening. Yet, the complexity of cell conformations presents a major barrier preventing effective determination of cell boundaries, and introduces measurement error that propagates throughout subsequent assessment of cellular parameters and statistical analysis. State-of-the-art image segmentation techniques that require user-interaction, prolonged computation time and specialized training cannot adequately provide the support for high content platforms, which often sacrifice resolution to foster the speedy collection of massive amounts of cellular data. This work introduces a strategy that allows us to rapidly obtain accurate cell boundaries from digital fluorescent images in an automated format. Hence, this new method has broad applicability to promote biotechnology.

  6. Fast and accurate resonance assignment of small-to-large proteins by combining automated and manual approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niklasson, Markus; Ahlner, Alexandra; Andresen, Cecilia; Marsh, Joseph A; Lundström, Patrik

    2015-01-01

    The process of resonance assignment is fundamental to most NMR studies of protein structure and dynamics. Unfortunately, the manual assignment of residues is tedious and time-consuming, and can represent a significant bottleneck for further characterization. Furthermore, while automated approaches have been developed, they are often limited in their accuracy, particularly for larger proteins. Here, we address this by introducing the software COMPASS, which, by combining automated resonance assignment with manual intervention, is able to achieve accuracy approaching that from manual assignments at greatly accelerated speeds. Moreover, by including the option to compensate for isotope shift effects in deuterated proteins, COMPASS is far more accurate for larger proteins than existing automated methods. COMPASS is an open-source project licensed under GNU General Public License and is available for download from http://www.liu.se/forskning/foass/tidigare-foass/patrik-lundstrom/software?l=en. Source code and binaries for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are available.

  7. Fast and accurate resonance assignment of small-to-large proteins by combining automated and manual approaches.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus Niklasson

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The process of resonance assignment is fundamental to most NMR studies of protein structure and dynamics. Unfortunately, the manual assignment of residues is tedious and time-consuming, and can represent a significant bottleneck for further characterization. Furthermore, while automated approaches have been developed, they are often limited in their accuracy, particularly for larger proteins. Here, we address this by introducing the software COMPASS, which, by combining automated resonance assignment with manual intervention, is able to achieve accuracy approaching that from manual assignments at greatly accelerated speeds. Moreover, by including the option to compensate for isotope shift effects in deuterated proteins, COMPASS is far more accurate for larger proteins than existing automated methods. COMPASS is an open-source project licensed under GNU General Public License and is available for download from http://www.liu.se/forskning/foass/tidigare-foass/patrik-lundstrom/software?l=en. Source code and binaries for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are available.

  8. Fully automated laboratory and field-portable goniometer used for performing accurate and precise multiangular reflectance measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harms, Justin D.; Bachmann, Charles M.; Ambeau, Brittany L.; Faulring, Jason W.; Ruiz Torres, Andres J.; Badura, Gregory; Myers, Emily

    2017-10-01

    Field-portable goniometers are created for a wide variety of applications. Many of these applications require specific types of instruments and measurement schemes and must operate in challenging environments. Therefore, designs are based on the requirements that are specific to the application. We present a field-portable goniometer that was designed for measuring the hemispherical-conical reflectance factor (HCRF) of various soils and low-growing vegetation in austere coastal and desert environments and biconical reflectance factors in laboratory settings. Unlike some goniometers, this system features a requirement for "target-plane tracking" to ensure that measurements can be collected on sloped surfaces, without compromising angular accuracy. The system also features a second upward-looking spectrometer to measure the spatially dependent incoming illumination, an integrated software package to provide full automation, an automated leveling system to ensure a standard frame of reference, a design that minimizes the obscuration due to self-shading to measure the opposition effect, and the ability to record a digital elevation model of the target region. This fully automated and highly mobile system obtains accurate and precise measurements of HCRF in a wide variety of terrain and in less time than most other systems while not sacrificing consistency or repeatability in laboratory environments.

  9. How to Evaluate Integrated Library Automation Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, James R.; Slach, June E.

    1985-01-01

    This paper describes methodology used in compiling a list of candidate integrated library automation systems at a corporate technical library. Priorities for automation, identification of candidate systems, the filtering process, information for suppliers, software and hardware considerations, on-site evaluations, and final system selection are…

  10. 78 FR 25132 - Enercorp, Inc., FTS Group, Inc., Games, Inc. (n/k/a InQBate Corporation), Hartmarx Corporation (n...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-29

    .... (n/k/a InQBate Corporation), Hartmarx Corporation (n/k/a XMH Corp. 1), and Penn Treaty American... current and accurate information concerning the securities of Games, Inc. (n/k/a InQBate Corporation... securities of Hartmarx Corporation (n/k/a XMH Corp. 1) because it has not filed any periodic reports since...

  11. Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited and Twin Falls Power Corporation Limited : 1997 auditors` report and financial statements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-02-01

    The consolidated balance sheet of Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp. Ltd., and Twin Falls Power Corp. Ltd. for the year 1997 were presented by the Corporation`s auditors, certifying that the statements of income and retained earnings and changes in financial position at year-end were accurate and free of material errors. A summary of significant accounting policies was also provided. In the auditors` view the financial statements from 1997 reflect the financial position of the companies accurately. Corresponding data from 1996 were included to allow for comparisons. tabs.

  12. Barcoding T Cell Calcium Response Diversity with Methods for Automated and Accurate Analysis of Cell Signals (MAAACS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sergé, Arnauld; Bernard, Anne-Marie; Phélipot, Marie-Claire; Bertaux, Nicolas; Fallet, Mathieu; Grenot, Pierre; Marguet, Didier; He, Hai-Tao; Hamon, Yannick

    2013-01-01

    We introduce a series of experimental procedures enabling sensitive calcium monitoring in T cell populations by confocal video-microscopy. Tracking and post-acquisition analysis was performed using Methods for Automated and Accurate Analysis of Cell Signals (MAAACS), a fully customized program that associates a high throughput tracking algorithm, an intuitive reconnection routine and a statistical platform to provide, at a glance, the calcium barcode of a population of individual T-cells. Combined with a sensitive calcium probe, this method allowed us to unravel the heterogeneity in shape and intensity of the calcium response in T cell populations and especially in naive T cells, which display intracellular calcium oscillations upon stimulation by antigen presenting cells. PMID:24086124

  13. Automated Generation of Tabular Equations of State with Uncertainty Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpenter, John H.; Robinson, Allen C.; Debusschere, Bert J.; Mattsson, Ann E.

    2015-06-01

    As computational science pushes toward higher fidelity prediction, understanding the uncertainty associated with closure models, such as the equation of state (EOS), has become a key focus. Traditional EOS development often involves a fair amount of art, where expert modelers may appear as magicians, providing what is felt to be the closest possible representation of the truth. Automation of the development process gives a means by which one may demystify the art of EOS, while simultaneously obtaining uncertainty information in a manner that is both quantifiable and reproducible. We describe our progress on the implementation of such a system to provide tabular EOS tables with uncertainty information to hydrocodes. Key challenges include encoding the artistic expert opinion into an algorithmic form and preserving the analytic models and uncertainty information in a manner that is both accurate and computationally efficient. Results are demonstrated on a multi-phase aluminum model. *Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

  14. An automated A-value measurement tool for accurate cochlear duct length estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iyaniwura, John E; Elfarnawany, Mai; Ladak, Hanif M; Agrawal, Sumit K

    2018-01-22

    There has been renewed interest in the cochlear duct length (CDL) for preoperative cochlear implant electrode selection and postoperative generation of patient-specific frequency maps. The CDL can be estimated by measuring the A-value, which is defined as the length between the round window and the furthest point on the basal turn. Unfortunately, there is significant intra- and inter-observer variability when these measurements are made clinically. The objective of this study was to develop an automated A-value measurement algorithm to improve accuracy and eliminate observer variability. Clinical and micro-CT images of 20 cadaveric cochleae specimens were acquired. The micro-CT of one sample was chosen as the atlas, and A-value fiducials were placed onto that image. Image registration (rigid affine and non-rigid B-spline) was applied between the atlas and the 19 remaining clinical CT images. The registration transform was applied to the A-value fiducials, and the A-value was then automatically calculated for each specimen. High resolution micro-CT images of the same 19 specimens were used to measure the gold standard A-values for comparison against the manual and automated methods. The registration algorithm had excellent qualitative overlap between the atlas and target images. The automated method eliminated the observer variability and the systematic underestimation by experts. Manual measurement of the A-value on clinical CT had a mean error of 9.5 ± 4.3% compared to micro-CT, and this improved to an error of 2.7 ± 2.1% using the automated algorithm. Both the automated and manual methods correlated significantly with the gold standard micro-CT A-values (r = 0.70, p value measurement tool using atlas-based registration methods was successfully developed and validated. The automated method eliminated the observer variability and improved accuracy as compared to manual measurements by experts. This open-source tool has the potential to benefit

  15. effects of corporate culture on the implementation of automation

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Department of Library and Information Science. Universities of ... Tiamiyu (2000) noted that library automation involves using the computer as productivity- ... library loan, electronic circulation functions and the opportunity to, communicate.

  16. Automation systems for radioimmunoassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamasaki, Paul

    1974-01-01

    The application of automation systems for radioimmunoassay (RIA) was discussed. Automated systems could be useful in the second step, of the four basic processes in the course of RIA, i.e., preparation of sample for reaction. There were two types of instrumentation, a semi-automatic pipete, and a fully automated pipete station, both providing for fast and accurate dispensing of the reagent or for the diluting of sample with reagent. Illustrations of the instruments were shown. (Mukohata, S.)

  17. Complacency and Automation Bias in the Use of Imperfect Automation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wickens, Christopher D; Clegg, Benjamin A; Vieane, Alex Z; Sebok, Angelia L

    2015-08-01

    We examine the effects of two different kinds of decision-aiding automation errors on human-automation interaction (HAI), occurring at the first failure following repeated exposure to correctly functioning automation. The two errors are incorrect advice, triggering the automation bias, and missing advice, reflecting complacency. Contrasts between analogous automation errors in alerting systems, rather than decision aiding, have revealed that alerting false alarms are more problematic to HAI than alerting misses are. Prior research in decision aiding, although contrasting the two aiding errors (incorrect vs. missing), has confounded error expectancy. Participants performed an environmental process control simulation with and without decision aiding. For those with the aid, automation dependence was created through several trials of perfect aiding performance, and an unexpected automation error was then imposed in which automation was either gone (one group) or wrong (a second group). A control group received no automation support. The correct aid supported faster and more accurate diagnosis and lower workload. The aid failure degraded all three variables, but "automation wrong" had a much greater effect on accuracy, reflecting the automation bias, than did "automation gone," reflecting the impact of complacency. Some complacency was manifested for automation gone, by a longer latency and more modest reduction in accuracy. Automation wrong, creating the automation bias, appears to be a more problematic form of automation error than automation gone, reflecting complacency. Decision-aiding automation should indicate its lower degree of confidence in uncertain environments to avoid the automation bias. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

  18. Active learning of neuron morphology for accurate automated tracing of neurites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gala, Rohan; Chapeton, Julio; Jitesh, Jayant; Bhavsar, Chintan; Stepanyants, Armen

    2014-01-01

    Automating the process of neurite tracing from light microscopy stacks of images is essential for large-scale or high-throughput quantitative studies of neural circuits. While the general layout of labeled neurites can be captured by many automated tracing algorithms, it is often not possible to differentiate reliably between the processes belonging to different cells. The reason is that some neurites in the stack may appear broken due to imperfect labeling, while others may appear fused due to the limited resolution of optical microscopy. Trained neuroanatomists routinely resolve such topological ambiguities during manual tracing tasks by combining information about distances between branches, branch orientations, intensities, calibers, tortuosities, colors, as well as the presence of spines or boutons. Likewise, to evaluate different topological scenarios automatically, we developed a machine learning approach that combines many of the above mentioned features. A specifically designed confidence measure was used to actively train the algorithm during user-assisted tracing procedure. Active learning significantly reduces the training time and makes it possible to obtain less than 1% generalization error rates by providing few training examples. To evaluate the overall performance of the algorithm a number of image stacks were reconstructed automatically, as well as manually by several trained users, making it possible to compare the automated traces to the baseline inter-user variability. Several geometrical and topological features of the traces were selected for the comparisons. These features include the total trace length, the total numbers of branch and terminal points, the affinity of corresponding traces, and the distances between corresponding branch and terminal points. Our results show that when the density of labeled neurites is sufficiently low, automated traces are not significantly different from manual reconstructions obtained by trained users. PMID

  19. Active learning of neuron morphology for accurate automated tracing of neurites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rohan eGala

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Automating the process of neurite tracing from light microscopy stacks of images is essential for large-scale or high-throughput quantitative studies of neural circuits. While the general layout of labeled neurites can be captured by many automated tracing algorithms, it is often not possible to differentiate reliably between the processes belonging to different cells. The reason is that some neurites in the stack may appear broken due to imperfect labeling, while others may appear fused due to the limited resolution of optical microscopy. Trained neuroanatomists routinely resolve such topological ambiguities during manual tracing tasks by combining information about distances between branches, branch orientations, intensities, calibers, tortuosities, colors, as well as the presence of spines or boutons. Likewise, to evaluate different topological scenarios automatically, we developed a machine learning approach that combines many of the above mentioned features. A specifically designed confidence measure was used to actively train the algorithm during user-assisted tracing procedure. Active learning significantly reduces the training time and makes it possible to obtain less than 1% generalization error rates by providing few training examples. To evaluate the overall performance of the algorithm a number of image stacks were reconstructed automatically, as well as manually by several trained users, making it possible to compare the automated traces to the baseline inter-user variability. Several geometrical and topological features of the traces were selected for the comparisons. These features include the total trace length, the total numbers of branch and terminal points, the affinity of corresponding traces, and the distances between corresponding branch and terminal points. Our results show that when the density of labeled neurites is sufficiently low, automated traces are not significantly different from manual reconstructions obtained by

  20. FULLY AUTOMATED GENERATION OF ACCURATE DIGITAL SURFACE MODELS WITH SUB-METER RESOLUTION FROM SATELLITE IMAGERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Wohlfeil

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Modern pixel-wise image matching algorithms like Semi-Global Matching (SGM are able to compute high resolution digital surface models from airborne and spaceborne stereo imagery. Although image matching itself can be performed automatically, there are prerequisites, like high geometric accuracy, which are essential for ensuring the high quality of resulting surface models. Especially for line cameras, these prerequisites currently require laborious manual interaction using standard tools, which is a growing problem due to continually increasing demand for such surface models. The tedious work includes partly or fully manual selection of tie- and/or ground control points for ensuring the required accuracy of the relative orientation of images for stereo matching. It also includes masking of large water areas that seriously reduce the quality of the results. Furthermore, a good estimate of the depth range is required, since accurate estimates can seriously reduce the processing time for stereo matching. In this paper an approach is presented that allows performing all these steps fully automated. It includes very robust and precise tie point selection, enabling the accurate calculation of the images’ relative orientation via bundle adjustment. It is also shown how water masking and elevation range estimation can be performed automatically on the base of freely available SRTM data. Extensive tests with a large number of different satellite images from QuickBird and WorldView are presented as proof of the robustness and reliability of the proposed method.

  1. Contaminant analysis automation, an overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hollen, R.; Ramos, O. Jr.

    1996-01-01

    To meet the environmental restoration and waste minimization goals of government and industry, several government laboratories, universities, and private companies have formed the Contaminant Analysis Automation (CAA) team. The goal of this consortium is to design and fabricate robotics systems that standardize and automate the hardware and software of the most common environmental chemical methods. In essence, the CAA team takes conventional, regulatory- approved (EPA Methods) chemical analysis processes and automates them. The automation consists of standard laboratory modules (SLMs) that perform the work in a much more efficient, accurate, and cost- effective manner

  2. Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wojciech Przychodzeń

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to is to provide insights on implementing corporate social responsibility for sustainability (CSRS concept and show how it differs from basic corporate social responsibility (CSR. Methodology: The paper discusses major issues with references to existing literature and real business cases from S&P500 consumer discretionary sector. Findings: The main fi nding of this paper is that CSRS could provide the company with a competitive advantage as a growing number of consumers become more sustainable conscious. It could also help to overcome the increasing consumers’ skepticism towards corporate social responsibility practices. Finally, it can also be seen as a step forward in defi ning what types of corporate activities are associated with desirable social and environmental gains. Research limitations: Our sample was restricted to the U.S. fi rms from the consumer discretionary sector. Therefore, conclusions should not be generalized to other markets. Our study is based on the analysis of environmental and social responsibility statements and assumes that they accurately represent corporate commitment in majority of the cases. Practical implications: CSRS offers corporations the opportunity to use their unique skills, culture, values, resources, and management capabilities to lead social progress by making sustainability part of its internal corporate logic. Originality: The paper raises the importance of the different conditions necessary for making sustainable development concept an important part of corporate strategy.

  3. 77 FR 65602 - Chimera Energy Corporation; Order of Suspension of Trading

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-29

    ... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] Chimera Energy Corporation; Order of... lack of current and accurate information concerning the securities of Chimera Energy Corporation (``Chimera'') because of questions regarding the accuracy of statements by Chimera in press releases to...

  4. Somatic surveillance: corporeal control through information networks

    OpenAIRE

    Monahan, Torin; Wall, Tyler

    2007-01-01

    Somatic surveillance is the increasingly invasive technological monitoring of and intervention into body functions. Within this type of surveillance regime, bodies are recast as nodes on vast information networks, enabling corporeal control through remote network commands, automated responses, or self-management practices. In this paper, we investigate three developments in somatic surveillance: nanotechnology systems for soldiers on the battlefield, commercial body-monitoring systems for hea...

  5. CORPORATE VALUATION USING TWO-DIMENSIONAL MONTE CARLO SIMULATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toth Reka

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we have presented a corporate valuation model. The model combine several valuation methods in order to get more accurate results. To determine the corporate asset value we have used the Gordon-like two-stage asset valuation model based on the calculation of the free cash flow to the firm. We have used the free cash flow to the firm to determine the corporate market value, which was calculated with use of the Black-Scholes option pricing model in frame of the two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation method. The combined model and the use of the two-dimensional simulation model provides a better opportunity for the corporate value estimation.

  6. Avaliação de marcapasso unicameral de ajuste automático de freqüência de pulso mediado por movimentação corporal

    OpenAIRE

    Brofman,Paulo R; Loures,Danton R. da Rocha; Rossi,Paulo R. F; Ardito,Roberto V; Greco,Osvaldo T; Braile,Domingo M; Sant'Anna,João R; Lucchese,Fernando A; Kalil,Renato A. K; Eloy,Ricardo; Barros,Rubens T; Andrade,José Carlos S; Pesarini,Aldo; Gauch,Paulo R. A

    1987-01-01

    Quarenta e oito pacientes com marcapasso unicameral de ajuste automático de freqüência de pulso mediado por movimentação corporal (AAI-R/VVI-R) foram avaliados através da eletrocardiografia dinâmica, para correlacionar a atividade física com a variação da freqüência de estímulos e teste ergométrico em esteira (pareados e randomizados em modo AAI/VVI e modo AAI-R/VVI-R), para quantificar a capacidade de realizar esforço físico, um mês após o implante do gerador de pulso Activitrax 8400. A idad...

  7. Laser guided automated calibrating system for accurate bracket ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It is widely recognized that accurate bracket placement is of critical importance in the efficient application of biomechanics and in realizing the full potential of a preadjusted edgewise appliance. Aim: The purpose of ... placement. Keywords: Hough transforms, Indirect bonding technique, Laser, Orthodontic bracket placement ...

  8. Spectral neighbor analysis method for automated generation of quantum-accurate interatomic potentials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, A.P.; Swiler, L.P.; Trott, C.R.; Foiles, S.M.; Tucker, G.J.

    2015-01-01

    We present a new interatomic potential for solids and liquids called Spectral Neighbor Analysis Potential (SNAP). The SNAP potential has a very general form and uses machine-learning techniques to reproduce the energies, forces, and stress tensors of a large set of small configurations of atoms, which are obtained using high-accuracy quantum electronic structure (QM) calculations. The local environment of each atom is characterized by a set of bispectrum components of the local neighbor density projected onto a basis of hyperspherical harmonics in four dimensions. The bispectrum components are the same bond-orientational order parameters employed by the GAP potential [1]. The SNAP potential, unlike GAP, assumes a linear relationship between atom energy and bispectrum components. The linear SNAP coefficients are determined using weighted least-squares linear regression against the full QM training set. This allows the SNAP potential to be fit in a robust, automated manner to large QM data sets using many bispectrum components. The calculation of the bispectrum components and the SNAP potential are implemented in the LAMMPS parallel molecular dynamics code. We demonstrate that a previously unnoticed symmetry property can be exploited to reduce the computational cost of the force calculations by more than one order of magnitude. We present results for a SNAP potential for tantalum, showing that it accurately reproduces a range of commonly calculated properties of both the crystalline solid and the liquid phases. In addition, unlike simpler existing potentials, SNAP correctly predicts the energy barrier for screw dislocation migration in BCC tantalum

  9. Spectral neighbor analysis method for automated generation of quantum-accurate interatomic potentials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, Aidan P. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Multiscale Science Dept.; Swiler, Laura P. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Optimization and Uncertainty Quantification Dept.; Trott, Christian R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Scalable Algorithms Dept.; Foiles, Stephen M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Computational Materials and Data Science Dept.; Tucker, Garritt J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Computational Materials and Data Science Dept.; Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

    2015-03-15

    Here, we present a new interatomic potential for solids and liquids called Spectral Neighbor Analysis Potential (SNAP). The SNAP potential has a very general form and uses machine-learning techniques to reproduce the energies, forces, and stress tensors of a large set of small configurations of atoms, which are obtained using high-accuracy quantum electronic structure (QM) calculations. The local environment of each atom is characterized by a set of bispectrum components of the local neighbor density projected onto a basis of hyperspherical harmonics in four dimensions. The bispectrum components are the same bond-orientational order parameters employed by the GAP potential [1]. The SNAP potential, unlike GAP, assumes a linear relationship between atom energy and bispectrum components. The linear SNAP coefficients are determined using weighted least-squares linear regression against the full QM training set. This allows the SNAP potential to be fit in a robust, automated manner to large QM data sets using many bispectrum components. The calculation of the bispectrum components and the SNAP potential are implemented in the LAMMPS parallel molecular dynamics code. We demonstrate that a previously unnoticed symmetry property can be exploited to reduce the computational cost of the force calculations by more than one order of magnitude. We present results for a SNAP potential for tantalum, showing that it accurately reproduces a range of commonly calculated properties of both the crystalline solid and the liquid phases. In addition, unlike simpler existing potentials, SNAP correctly predicts the energy barrier for screw dislocation migration in BCC tantalum.

  10. Spectral neighbor analysis method for automated generation of quantum-accurate interatomic potentials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, A.P., E-mail: athomps@sandia.gov [Multiscale Science Department, Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, MS 1322, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Swiler, L.P., E-mail: lpswile@sandia.gov [Optimization and Uncertainty Quantification Department, Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, MS 1318, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Trott, C.R., E-mail: crtrott@sandia.gov [Scalable Algorithms Department, Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, MS 1322, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Foiles, S.M., E-mail: foiles@sandia.gov [Computational Materials and Data Science Department, Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, MS 1411, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Tucker, G.J., E-mail: gtucker@coe.drexel.edu [Computational Materials and Data Science Department, Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, MS 1411, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)

    2015-03-15

    We present a new interatomic potential for solids and liquids called Spectral Neighbor Analysis Potential (SNAP). The SNAP potential has a very general form and uses machine-learning techniques to reproduce the energies, forces, and stress tensors of a large set of small configurations of atoms, which are obtained using high-accuracy quantum electronic structure (QM) calculations. The local environment of each atom is characterized by a set of bispectrum components of the local neighbor density projected onto a basis of hyperspherical harmonics in four dimensions. The bispectrum components are the same bond-orientational order parameters employed by the GAP potential [1]. The SNAP potential, unlike GAP, assumes a linear relationship between atom energy and bispectrum components. The linear SNAP coefficients are determined using weighted least-squares linear regression against the full QM training set. This allows the SNAP potential to be fit in a robust, automated manner to large QM data sets using many bispectrum components. The calculation of the bispectrum components and the SNAP potential are implemented in the LAMMPS parallel molecular dynamics code. We demonstrate that a previously unnoticed symmetry property can be exploited to reduce the computational cost of the force calculations by more than one order of magnitude. We present results for a SNAP potential for tantalum, showing that it accurately reproduces a range of commonly calculated properties of both the crystalline solid and the liquid phases. In addition, unlike simpler existing potentials, SNAP correctly predicts the energy barrier for screw dislocation migration in BCC tantalum.

  11. Devices used by automated milking systems are similarly accurate in estimating milk yield and in collecting a representative milk sample compared with devices used by farms with conventional milk recording

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kamphuis, Claudia; Dela Rue, B.; Turner, S.A.; Petch, S.

    2015-01-01

    Information on accuracy of milk-sampling devices used on farms with automated milking systems (AMS) is essential for development of milk recording protocols. The hypotheses of this study were (1) devices used by AMS units are similarly accurate in estimating milk yield and in collecting

  12. A three-dimensional image processing program for accurate, rapid, and semi-automated segmentation of neuronal somata with dense neurite outgrowth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, James D.; Cullen, D. Kacy; Harris, James P.; LaPlaca, Michelle C.; DeWeerth, Stephen P.

    2015-01-01

    Three-dimensional (3-D) image analysis techniques provide a powerful means to rapidly and accurately assess complex morphological and functional interactions between neural cells. Current software-based identification methods of neural cells generally fall into two applications: (1) segmentation of cell nuclei in high-density constructs or (2) tracing of cell neurites in single cell investigations. We have developed novel methodologies to permit the systematic identification of populations of neuronal somata possessing rich morphological detail and dense neurite arborization throughout thick tissue or 3-D in vitro constructs. The image analysis incorporates several novel automated features for the discrimination of neurites and somata by initially classifying features in 2-D and merging these classifications into 3-D objects; the 3-D reconstructions automatically identify and adjust for over and under segmentation errors. Additionally, the platform provides for software-assisted error corrections to further minimize error. These features attain very accurate cell boundary identifications to handle a wide range of morphological complexities. We validated these tools using confocal z-stacks from thick 3-D neural constructs where neuronal somata had varying degrees of neurite arborization and complexity, achieving an accuracy of ≥95%. We demonstrated the robustness of these algorithms in a more complex arena through the automated segmentation of neural cells in ex vivo brain slices. These novel methods surpass previous techniques by improving the robustness and accuracy by: (1) the ability to process neurites and somata, (2) bidirectional segmentation correction, and (3) validation via software-assisted user input. This 3-D image analysis platform provides valuable tools for the unbiased analysis of neural tissue or tissue surrogates within a 3-D context, appropriate for the study of multi-dimensional cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. PMID

  13. Corporate Branding and Corporate Reputation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karmark, Esben

    2013-01-01

    Corporate branding has been seen as developing in “waves”. This chapter explores the links between corporate branding and corporate reputation as they emerge in the context of three waves of corporate branding. It highlights the way in which the two constructs have related to each other through o...... for corporate brands and corporate communication.......Corporate branding has been seen as developing in “waves”. This chapter explores the links between corporate branding and corporate reputation as they emerge in the context of three waves of corporate branding. It highlights the way in which the two constructs have related to each other through...... organizational culture and identity, and how, although characterized by parallel developments, new ideas and models from a “third” wave of corporate branding challenge prevailing assumptions of corporate reputation particularly in terms of the assumptions that reputations emerge from authentic and transparent...

  14. Laser Guided Automated Calibrating System for Accurate Bracket ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: The basic premise of preadjusted bracket system is accurate bracket positioning. ... using MATLAB ver. 7 software (The MathWorks Inc.). These images are in the form of matrices of size 640 × 480. 650 nm (red light) type III diode laser is used as ... motion control and Pitch, Yaw, Roll degrees of freedom (DOF).

  15. Fast and accurate semi-automated segmentation method of spinal cord MR images at 3T applied to the construction of a cervical spinal cord template.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed-Mounir El Mendili

    Full Text Available To design a fast and accurate semi-automated segmentation method for spinal cord 3T MR images and to construct a template of the cervical spinal cord.A semi-automated double threshold-based method (DTbM was proposed enabling both cross-sectional and volumetric measures from 3D T2-weighted turbo spin echo MR scans of the spinal cord at 3T. Eighty-two healthy subjects, 10 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 10 with spinal muscular atrophy and 10 with spinal cord injuries were studied. DTbM was compared with active surface method (ASM, threshold-based method (TbM and manual outlining (ground truth. Accuracy of segmentations was scored visually by a radiologist in cervical and thoracic cord regions. Accuracy was also quantified at the cervical and thoracic levels as well as at C2 vertebral level. To construct a cervical template from healthy subjects' images (n=59, a standardization pipeline was designed leading to well-centered straight spinal cord images and accurate probability tissue map.Visual scoring showed better performance for DTbM than for ASM. Mean Dice similarity coefficient (DSC was 95.71% for DTbM and 90.78% for ASM at the cervical level and 94.27% for DTbM and 89.93% for ASM at the thoracic level. Finally, at C2 vertebral level, mean DSC was 97.98% for DTbM compared with 98.02% for TbM and 96.76% for ASM. DTbM showed similar accuracy compared with TbM, but with the advantage of limited manual interaction.A semi-automated segmentation method with limited manual intervention was introduced and validated on 3T images, enabling the construction of a cervical spinal cord template.

  16. Fast and accurate semi-automated segmentation method of spinal cord MR images at 3T applied to the construction of a cervical spinal cord template.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Mendili, Mohamed-Mounir; Chen, Raphaël; Tiret, Brice; Villard, Noémie; Trunet, Stéphanie; Pélégrini-Issac, Mélanie; Lehéricy, Stéphane; Pradat, Pierre-François; Benali, Habib

    2015-01-01

    To design a fast and accurate semi-automated segmentation method for spinal cord 3T MR images and to construct a template of the cervical spinal cord. A semi-automated double threshold-based method (DTbM) was proposed enabling both cross-sectional and volumetric measures from 3D T2-weighted turbo spin echo MR scans of the spinal cord at 3T. Eighty-two healthy subjects, 10 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 10 with spinal muscular atrophy and 10 with spinal cord injuries were studied. DTbM was compared with active surface method (ASM), threshold-based method (TbM) and manual outlining (ground truth). Accuracy of segmentations was scored visually by a radiologist in cervical and thoracic cord regions. Accuracy was also quantified at the cervical and thoracic levels as well as at C2 vertebral level. To construct a cervical template from healthy subjects' images (n=59), a standardization pipeline was designed leading to well-centered straight spinal cord images and accurate probability tissue map. Visual scoring showed better performance for DTbM than for ASM. Mean Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was 95.71% for DTbM and 90.78% for ASM at the cervical level and 94.27% for DTbM and 89.93% for ASM at the thoracic level. Finally, at C2 vertebral level, mean DSC was 97.98% for DTbM compared with 98.02% for TbM and 96.76% for ASM. DTbM showed similar accuracy compared with TbM, but with the advantage of limited manual interaction. A semi-automated segmentation method with limited manual intervention was introduced and validated on 3T images, enabling the construction of a cervical spinal cord template.

  17. Development of an automated scanning monochromator for sensitivity calibration of the MUSTANG instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rivers, Thane D.

    1992-06-01

    An Automated Scanning Monochromator was developed using: an Acton Research Corporation (ARC) Monochromator, Ealing Photomultiplier Tube and a Macintosh PC in conjunction with LabVIEW software. The LabVIEW Virtual Instrument written to operate the ARC Monochromator is a mouse driven user friendly program developed for automated spectral data measurements. Resolution and sensitivity of the Automated Scanning Monochromator System were determined experimentally. The Automated monochromator was then used for spectral measurements of a Platinum Lamp. Additionally, the reflectivity curve for a BaSO4 coated screen has been measured. Reflectivity measurements indicate a large discrepancy with expected results. Further analysis of the reflectivity experiment is required for conclusive results.

  18. UNLIMITED I, On the corporate training revolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandro Adolfo Viltard

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The unlimited is a borderless territory where the whole world is inmerse. In this study, it is shown that the unlimited is present in education and, specifically, in the corporate educational arena. Helped by technology and automation, disruptive leaders are challenging the way things are done, the way we think and, in addtion, what we are. After performing a documentation analysis, conclusions are that big problems –as education- need cheap and scaled technology; leadership and organizations must evolve to less human intervention; education and training need a rethought; Eduaction-2-Employment (E2E is key for unemployment; and that new educational structures, delivery methods, pedagogical approaches and advanced Learning Management Systems (LMS are observed proposing huge transformations in the corporate educational arena. This is a qualitative investigation with a not experimental and transversal research design.

  19. Commercial lending in different corporate governance systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pape, J.C.

    1999-01-01

    This thesis is concerned with corporate governance, or more accurately, about one of its many aspects. This thesis is about banks that finance firms and it is about the commercial loans that enterprises use to finance investments. It is not about shareholders, managerial remuneration or about the

  20. Hubungan Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibilities dan Corporate Financial Performance Dalam Satu Continuum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Etty Murwaningsari

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to identify the influence of Good Corporate Governance, represented by institutional ownership and managerial ownership, on Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance, and also to observe the possible influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Financial Performance. This research examines 126 manufacturing companies which are listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange (ISX and have issued an audited financial statement for 2006. The statistical method used to test the hypothesis is Path Analysis. The result suggests that Good Corporate Governance influences both the disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance and that Corporate Social Responsibility significantly influences Corporate Financial Performance. The result also suggests that CEO Tenure, the controlling variable, holds a significant influence on the disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility. Yet, there is no strong evidence to support the type of industries as an influencing factor of Corporate Social Responsibility. Furthermore, we found that the latter condition would also apply when we analyze the influence of Corporate Secretary and Nomination and Remuneration Committee on Corporate Financial Performance. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi pengaruh antara struktur Coorporate Governance yang diproksikan sebagai kepemilikan institusional, kepemilikan manajerial terhadap corporate social responsibility dan corporate social responsibility terhadap corporate financial performance. Penelitian menggunakan data sekunder dari laporan tahunan 2006 perusahaan publik yang terdapat di Pusat Referensi Pasar Modal (PRPM Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI. Sampel dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 126 perusahaan. Melalui pendekatan analisa jalur (path analysis menunjukkan Good Corporate Governance yaitu kepemilikan managerial dan institusional mempunyai pengaruh terhadap

  1. Corporate Law and Corporate Governance

    OpenAIRE

    Roberta Romano

    1998-01-01

    We have seen a revival in interest in corporate law and corporate governance since the 1980s, as researchers applied the tools of the new institutional economics and modern corporate finance to analyze the new transactions emerging in the 1980s takeover wave. This article focuses on three mechanisms of corporate governance to illustrate the analytical usefulness of transaction cost economics for corporate law. They are the board of directors; relational investing, a form of block ownership in...

  2. Managing Corporate Reputation Through Corporate Branding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz, Majken; Hatch, Mary Jo; Adams, Nick

    2012-01-01

    This article, which concentrates on symbolic management by explaining the role of corporate branding in managing corporate reputation, using Novo Nordisk as a case study, presents three perspectives on corporate branding: the marketing perspective, the organisational perspective and the co...... is a way to influence corporate reputation. The Novo Nordisk management believes the data indicate that corporate branding influenced reputation more than the other way around. Formal brand management practices may work considerably better when they complement rather than try to control existing forces......-creation perspective. The three perspectives reviewed show the possibility of developing a multidisciplinary conceptualisation of corporate branding. They all offer insights important to managing organisations as corporate brands in a multi-stakeholder context and thus to the likelihood that corporate branding...

  3. Corporate against corporate management

    OpenAIRE

    Runcev, Nikolce; Krstev, Boris; Golomeova, Mirjana

    2010-01-01

    In contemporary economic performance, corporate governance is considered an essential prerequisite in building a successful system for creating an attractive investment climate, which is characterized by competing companies oriented and efficient financial markets. Good corporate governance is based on principles of transparency, bias, efficiency, timeliness, completeness and accuracy of information at all levels of management. Companies with good corporate governance and afford easier acc...

  4. Pengelolaan Manajemen Modern dalam Mewujudkan Good Corporate Governance: Optimalisasi Pencapaian Tujuan Perusahaan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignatius Edward Riantono

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Implementation and management of good corporate governance, better known by the term Good Corporate Governance, is a concept that emphasizes the importance of shareholders to obtain true, accurate, and punctual information. In this era of global competition state borders are no longer a barrier to competition; only companies that implement good corporate governance (GCG are capable of winning the competition. GCG is a must in order to establish conditions of tough and sustainable company. GCG is necessary to create a system and a strong corporate structure so as to become world class company. Good Corporate Governance is basically a system (input, process, and output and a set of rules that govern the relationship between various parties (stakeholders; especially in the narrow sense, the relationship between the shareholders, the board of commissioners, and the board of directors in order to achieve corporate objectives. Good Corporate Gorvernance encloses to regulate these relationships and prevent significant errors in the company's strategy and to ensure the errors occur can be improved immediately.

  5. Hubungan Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibilities dan Corporate Financial Performance Dalam Satu Continuum

    OpenAIRE

    Etty Murwaningsari

    2009-01-01

    This research aims to identify the influence of Good Corporate Governance, represented by institutional ownership and managerial ownership, on Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance, and also to observe the possible influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Financial Performance. This research examines 126 manufacturing companies which are listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange (ISX) and have issued an audited financial statement for 2006. The statist...

  6. BRAIN initiative: transcranial magnetic stimulation automation and calibration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todd, Garth D; Abdellatif, Ahmed; Sabouni, Abas

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we introduced an automated TMS system with robot control and optical sensor combined with neuronavigation software. By using the robot, the TMS coil can be accurately positioned over any preselected brain region. The neuronavigation system provides an accurate positioning of a magnetic coil in order to induce a specific cortical excitation. An infrared optical measurement device is also used in order to detect and compensate for head movements of the patient. This procedure was simulated using a PC based robotic simulation program. The proposed automated robot system is integrated with TMS numerical solver and allows users to actually see the depth, location, and shape of the induced eddy current on the computer monitor.

  7. An automated blood sampling system used in positron emission tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eriksson, L.; Bohm, C.; Kesselberg, M.

    1988-01-01

    Fast dynamic function studies with positron emission tomography (PET), has the potential to give accurate information of physiological functions of the brain. This capability can be realised if the positron camera system accurately quantitates the tracer uptake in the brain with sufficiently high efficiency and in sufficiently short time intervals. However, in addition, the tracer concentration in blood, as a function of time, must be accurately determined. This paper describes and evaluates an automated blood sampling system. Two different detector units are compared. The use of the automated blood sampling system is demonstrated in studies of cerebral blood flow, in studies of the blood-brain barrier transfer of amino acids and of the cerebral oxygen consumption. 5 refs.; 7 figs

  8. Accurate, fully-automated NMR spectral profiling for metabolomics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siamak Ravanbakhsh

    Full Text Available Many diseases cause significant changes to the concentrations of small molecules (a.k.a. metabolites that appear in a person's biofluids, which means such diseases can often be readily detected from a person's "metabolic profile"-i.e., the list of concentrations of those metabolites. This information can be extracted from a biofluids Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR spectrum. However, due to its complexity, NMR spectral profiling has remained manual, resulting in slow, expensive and error-prone procedures that have hindered clinical and industrial adoption of metabolomics via NMR. This paper presents a system, BAYESIL, which can quickly, accurately, and autonomously produce a person's metabolic profile. Given a 1D 1H NMR spectrum of a complex biofluid (specifically serum or cerebrospinal fluid, BAYESIL can automatically determine the metabolic profile. This requires first performing several spectral processing steps, then matching the resulting spectrum against a reference compound library, which contains the "signatures" of each relevant metabolite. BAYESIL views spectral matching as an inference problem within a probabilistic graphical model that rapidly approximates the most probable metabolic profile. Our extensive studies on a diverse set of complex mixtures including real biological samples (serum and CSF, defined mixtures and realistic computer generated spectra; involving > 50 compounds, show that BAYESIL can autonomously find the concentration of NMR-detectable metabolites accurately (~ 90% correct identification and ~ 10% quantification error, in less than 5 minutes on a single CPU. These results demonstrate that BAYESIL is the first fully-automatic publicly-accessible system that provides quantitative NMR spectral profiling effectively-with an accuracy on these biofluids that meets or exceeds the performance of trained experts. We anticipate this tool will usher in high-throughput metabolomics and enable a wealth of new applications of

  9. Corporate Responsibility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Waddock, Sandra; Rasche, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    We define and discuss the concept of corporate responsibility. We suggest that corporate responsibility has some unique characteristics, which makes it different from earlier conceptions of corporate social responsibility. Our discussion further shows commonalities and differences between corporate...... responsibility and related concepts, such as corporate citizenship and business ethics. We also outline some ways in which corporations have implemented corporate responsibility in practice....

  10. Accurate identification of ALK positive lung carcinoma patients: novel FDA-cleared automated fluorescence in situ hybridization scanning system and ultrasensitive immunohistochemistry.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esther Conde

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Based on the excellent results of the clinical trials with ALK-inhibitors, the importance of accurately identifying ALK positive lung cancer has never been greater. However, there are increasing number of recent publications addressing discordances between FISH and IHC. The controversy is further fuelled by the different regulatory approvals. This situation prompted us to investigate two ALK IHC antibodies (using a novel ultrasensitive detection-amplification kit and an automated ALK FISH scanning system (FDA-cleared in a series of non-small cell lung cancer tumor samples. METHODS: Forty-seven ALK FISH-positive and 56 ALK FISH-negative NSCLC samples were studied. All specimens were screened for ALK expression by two IHC antibodies (clone 5A4 from Novocastra and clone D5F3 from Ventana and for ALK rearrangement by FISH (Vysis ALK FISH break-apart kit, which was automatically captured and scored by using Bioview's automated scanning system. RESULTS: All positive cases with the IHC antibodies were FISH-positive. There was only one IHC-negative case with both antibodies which showed a FISH-positive result. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the IHC in comparison with FISH were 98% and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The specificity of these ultrasensitive IHC assays may obviate the need for FISH confirmation in positive IHC cases. However, the likelihood of false negative IHC results strengthens the case for FISH testing, at least in some situations.

  11. 25 CFR 226.8 - Corporation and corporate information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Corporation and corporate information. 226.8 Section 226... RESERVATION LANDS FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Leasing Procedure, Rental and Royalty § 226.8 Corporation and corporate information. (a) If the applicant for a lease is a corporation, it shall file evidence of...

  12. Monte Carlo shielding analyses using an automated biasing procedure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, J.S.; Hoffman, T.J.

    1988-01-01

    A systematic and automated approach for biasing Monte Carlo shielding calculations is described. In particular, adjoint fluxes from a one-dimensional discrete ordinates calculation are used to generate biasing parameters for a Monte Carlo calculation. The entire procedure of adjoint calculation, biasing parameters generation, and Monte Carlo calculation has been automated. The automated biasing procedure has been applied to several realistic deep-penetration shipping cask problems. The results obtained for neutron and gamma-ray transport indicate that with the automated biasing procedure Monte Carlo shielding calculations of spent-fuel casks can be easily performed with minimum effort and that accurate results can be obtained at reasonable computing cost

  13. Archveyor{trademark} automated mining system - implementation at the Conant mine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hofmann, W.J. [Arch of Illinois, Percy, IL (United States)

    1997-12-01

    Arch Mineral Corporation, through the Arch Technology Department, has developed an automated continuous haulage mining system called the `Archveyor{trademark}`. The original technology came from a Russian patent. Kloeckner-Becorit (K-B) further developed the system and called it the `Mobile Conveyor`. This system was utilized in both coal and trona mines in the United States and Canada. Consolidation Coal designed their version of this continuous haulage system, called the `Tramveyor`. The Tramveyor is presently operating in their Dilworth Mine, in Pennsylvania. This system has no computer guidance system related to the continuous miner or the Tramveyor. Arch Mineral Corporation has further developed this continuous haulage mining system. Their system is a programmable, logic-controlled (PLC) automated mining system. A highwall version of the Archveyor{trademark} is being operated at Arch of Wyoming near Hanna, Wyoming. This paper introduces the first underground version of Archveyor{trademark} to be implemented at Conant Mine in southern Illinois. During the development process, the Archveyor{trademark} mining system consists of a continuous miner, a bolter car, the Archveyor{trademark} (itself), a stageloader, and an operator`s cab. During the secondary mining process the bolter car is taken out of the system.

  14. Automated Feature Extraction from Hyperspectral Imagery, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The proposed activities will result in the development of a novel hyperspectral feature-extraction toolkit that will provide a simple, automated, and accurate...

  15. Automated Image Analysis Corrosion Working Group Update: February 1, 2018

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wendelberger, James G. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2018-02-01

    These are slides for the automated image analysis corrosion working group update. The overall goals were: automate the detection and quantification of features in images (faster, more accurate), how to do this (obtain data, analyze data), focus on Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LCM) data (laser intensity, laser height/depth, optical RGB, optical plus laser RGB).

  16. Comparison of automated and manual shielding block fabrication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weeks, K.J.; Fraass, B.A.; McShan, D.L.; Hardybala, S.S.; Hargreaves, E.A.; Lichter, A.S.

    1989-01-01

    This work reports the results of a study comparing computer controlled and manual shielding block cutting. The general problems inherent in automated block cutting have been identified and minimized. A system whose accuracy is sufficient for clinical applications has been developed. The relative accuracy of our automated system versus experienced technician controlled cutting was investigated. In general, it is found that automated cutting is somewhat faster and more accurate than manual cutting for very large fields, but that the reverse is true for most smaller fields. The relative cost effectiveness of automated cutting is dependent on the percentage of computer designed blocks which are generated in the clinical setting. At the present time, the traditional manual method is still favored

  17. I trust it, but I don't know why: effects of implicit attitudes toward automation on trust in an automated system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merritt, Stephanie M; Heimbaugh, Heather; LaChapell, Jennifer; Lee, Deborah

    2013-06-01

    This study is the first to examine the influence of implicit attitudes toward automation on users' trust in automation. Past empirical work has examined explicit (conscious) influences on user level of trust in automation but has not yet measured implicit influences. We examine concurrent effects of explicit propensity to trust machines and implicit attitudes toward automation on trust in an automated system. We examine differential impacts of each under varying automation performance conditions (clearly good, ambiguous, clearly poor). Participants completed both a self-report measure of propensity to trust and an Implicit Association Test measuring implicit attitude toward automation, then performed an X-ray screening task. Automation performance was manipulated within-subjects by varying the number and obviousness of errors. Explicit propensity to trust and implicit attitude toward automation did not significantly correlate. When the automation's performance was ambiguous, implicit attitude significantly affected automation trust, and its relationship with propensity to trust was additive: Increments in either were related to increases in trust. When errors were obvious, a significant interaction between the implicit and explicit measures was found, with those high in both having higher trust. Implicit attitudes have important implications for automation trust. Users may not be able to accurately report why they experience a given level of trust. To understand why users trust or fail to trust automation, measurements of implicit and explicit predictors may be necessary. Furthermore, implicit attitude toward automation might be used as a lever to effectively calibrate trust.

  18. Automated MRI segmentation for individualized modeling of current flow in the human head.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yu; Dmochowski, Jacek P; Su, Yuzhuo; Datta, Abhishek; Rorden, Christopher; Parra, Lucas C

    2013-12-01

    High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) and high-density electroencephalography require accurate models of current flow for precise targeting and current source reconstruction. At a minimum, such modeling must capture the idiosyncratic anatomy of the brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and skull for each individual subject. Currently, the process to build such high-resolution individualized models from structural magnetic resonance images requires labor-intensive manual segmentation, even when utilizing available automated segmentation tools. Also, accurate placement of many high-density electrodes on an individual scalp is a tedious procedure. The goal was to develop fully automated techniques to reduce the manual effort in such a modeling process. A fully automated segmentation technique based on Statical Parametric Mapping 8, including an improved tissue probability map and an automated correction routine for segmentation errors, was developed, along with an automated electrode placement tool for high-density arrays. The performance of these automated routines was evaluated against results from manual segmentation on four healthy subjects and seven stroke patients. The criteria include segmentation accuracy, the difference of current flow distributions in resulting HD-tDCS models and the optimized current flow intensities on cortical targets. The segmentation tool can segment out not just the brain but also provide accurate results for CSF, skull and other soft tissues with a field of view extending to the neck. Compared to manual results, automated segmentation deviates by only 7% and 18% for normal and stroke subjects, respectively. The predicted electric fields in the brain deviate by 12% and 29% respectively, which is well within the variability observed for various modeling choices. Finally, optimized current flow intensities on cortical targets do not differ significantly. Fully automated individualized modeling may now be feasible

  19. Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera

    OpenAIRE

    Thuy Tuong Nguyen; David C. Slaughter; Bradley D. Hanson; Andrew Barber; Amy Freitas; Daniel Robles; Erin Whelan

    2015-01-01

    This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera) and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration) required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a t...

  20. The Relationship of Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibilities and Corporate Financial Performance in One Continuum

    OpenAIRE

    Murwaningsari, Etty

    2010-01-01

    This study aims to identify the impact of Good Corporate Governance, represented by institutional ownership and managerial ownership, on Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance.It examines 126 manufacturing companies listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) and have issued audited financial statements for 2006. The statistical method used to test the hypothesis is Path Analysis. The main results suggest that Good Corporate Governance has effects on both Corpor...

  1. Generic Challenges and Automation Solutions in Manufacturing SMEs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grube Hansen, David; Malik, Ali Ahmad; Bilberg, Arne

    2017-01-01

    Evermore research is conducted on smart manufacturing, digital manufacturing and other aspects of what is expected from the fourth industrial revolution known as Industry 4.0. Most of the research of Industry 4.0 is currently a better fit for large corporations than for SMEs, which in Europe...... of the project, identifies a correlation between the challenges, age and size of the companies. The identified correlation lay ground for an Industry 4.0 light concept, targeting the identified generic challenges of companies employing 10-50 people. The solutions presented are based on cloud computing, Internet...... however represent 98% of the manufacturing industry. In general, SMEs produce high-mix low-volume products, which require a high degree of flexibility. Historically flexibility and automation have been contradictory, but as automation becomes smarter, digitalized and less expensive, this may change which...

  2. SU-D-16A-02: A Novel Methodology for Accurate, Semi-Automated Delineation of Oral Mucosa for Radiation Therapy Dose-Response Studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dean, J; Welsh, L; Gulliford, S; Harrington, K; Nutting, C

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: The significant morbidity caused by radiation-induced acute oral mucositis means that studies aiming to elucidate dose-response relationships in this tissue are a high priority. However, there is currently no standardized method for delineating the mucosal structures within the oral cavity. This report describes the development of a methodology to delineate the oral mucosa accurately on CT scans in a semi-automated manner. Methods: An oral mucosa atlas for automated segmentation was constructed using the RayStation Atlas-Based Segmentation (ABS) module. A radiation oncologist manually delineated the full surface of the oral mucosa on a planning CT scan of a patient receiving radiotherapy (RT) to the head and neck region. A 3mm fixed annulus was added to incorporate the mucosal wall thickness. This structure was saved as an atlas template. ABS followed by model-based segmentation was performed on four further patients sequentially, adding each patient to the atlas. Manual editing of the automatically segmented structure was performed. A dose comparison between these contours and previously used oral cavity volume contours was performed. Results: The new approach was successful in delineating the mucosa, as assessed by an experienced radiation oncologist, when applied to a new series of patients receiving head and neck RT. Reductions in the mean doses obtained when using the new delineation approach, compared with the previously used technique, were demonstrated for all patients (median: 36.0%, range: 25.6% – 39.6%) and were of a magnitude that might be expected to be clinically significant. Differences in the maximum dose that might reasonably be expected to be clinically significant were observed for two patients. Conclusion: The method developed provides a means of obtaining the dose distribution delivered to the oral mucosa more accurately than has previously been achieved. This will enable the acquisition of high quality dosimetric data for use in

  3. Valve automation in Indian refinery; Armaturenautomatisierung in indischer Raffinerie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herbstritt, M. [AUMA Riester GmbH und Co. KG, Muellheim (Germany)

    2006-12-15

    The Mahul refinery near Mumbai is the third largest site of its kind in India. It is operated by BPCL, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. During the last few months, the refinery was extended. A plant for manufacturing motor lubricants was built, together with a tank farm for the products (LOBS = lube oil base stock). In April 2006 the new plant sections were put into operation. This article deals with the valve automation for this project. (orig.)

  4. Can a semi-automated surface matching and principal axis-based algorithm accurately quantify femoral shaft fracture alignment in six degrees of freedom?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crookshank, Meghan C; Beek, Maarten; Singh, Devin; Schemitsch, Emil H; Whyne, Cari M

    2013-07-01

    Accurate alignment of femoral shaft fractures treated with intramedullary nailing remains a challenge for orthopaedic surgeons. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a cone-beam CT-based, semi-automated algorithm to quantify the malalignment in six degrees of freedom (6DOF) using a surface matching and principal axes-based approach. Complex comminuted diaphyseal fractures were created in nine cadaveric femora and cone-beam CT images were acquired (27 cases total). Scans were cropped and segmented using intensity-based thresholding, producing superior, inferior and comminution volumes. Cylinders were fit to estimate the long axes of the superior and inferior fragments. The angle and distance between the two cylindrical axes were calculated to determine flexion/extension and varus/valgus angulation and medial/lateral and anterior/posterior translations, respectively. Both surfaces were unwrapped about the cylindrical axes. Three methods of matching the unwrapped surface for determination of periaxial rotation were compared based on minimizing the distance between features. The calculated corrections were compared to the input malalignment conditions. All 6DOF were calculated to within current clinical tolerances for all but two cases. This algorithm yielded accurate quantification of malalignment of femoral shaft fractures for fracture gaps up to 60 mm, based on a single CBCT image of the fractured limb. Copyright © 2012 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Corporate Brand Trust as a Mediator in the Relationship between Consumer Perception of CSR, Corporate Hypocrisy, and Corporate Reputation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanna Kim

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between consumer perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR, corporate brand trust, corporate hypocrisy, and corporate reputation. Based on the one-to-one interview method using a structured questionnaire of 560 consumers in South Korea, the proposed model was estimated by structural equation modeling analysis. The model suggests that consumer perception of CSR influences consumer attitudes toward a corporation (i.e., perceived corporate hypocrisy and corporate reputation by developing corporate brand trust. This in turn further enhances corporate reputation while decreasing corporate hypocrisy. The findings of our study demonstrate that consumer perception of CSR is an antecedent to corporate brand trust, which fully mediates the relationship between consumer perception of CSR and corporate reputation. In addition, corporate brand trust has the role of partial mediator in the relationship between consumer perception of CSR and corporate hypocrisy. These results imply that to better understand the relationship between consumer perception of CSR and consumer attitudes toward a corporation, it is necessary to consider corporate brand trust as an important mediating variable. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed, together with its limitations and potential for future research.

  6. Corporate finance

    OpenAIRE

    P. Quiry; Y. Le Fur; A. Salvi; M. Dallocchio; P. Vernimmen

    2011-01-01

    Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice, 3rd Edition, the website www.vernimmen.com and the Vernimmen.com newsletter are all written and created by an author team who are both investment bankers/corporate financiers and academics. This book covers the theory and practice of Corporate Finance from a truly European perspective. It shows how to use financial theory to solve practical problems and is written for students of corporate finance and financial analysis and practising corporate financie...

  7. Corporate Social Responsibility of Multinational Oil Corporations to ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Corporate Social Responsibility of Multinational Oil Corporations to Host ... Exxon Mobil and Elf oil Nigeria Limited within their corporate-community relations strategy in the ... The paper concludes by exploring the implications for partnerships' ...

  8. How Corporate Governance Affects Strategy of Corporations : - Lessons from Enron Corporation -

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmed, Hameed; Najam, Ali

    2006-01-01

    Corporate governance is a subject of academic and professional debate. It has and it will continue to be a topic under scrutiny for subsequent deliberations since there are many different research dimensions and contexts associated with it. However, it has been observed that the linkage between corporate governance and strategy of a corporation remains as an untapped area with considerable avenues of research. This paper tends to explore this linkage, using Enron scandal as backdrop. In the a...

  9. Automated Quality Control for Ortholmages and DEMs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Höhle, Joachim; Potucková, Marketa

    2005-01-01

    The checking of geometric accurancy of orthoimages and digital elevation models (DEMs) is discussed. As a reference, an existing orthoimage and a second orthoimage derived from an overlapping aerial image, are used. The proposed automated procedures for checking the orthoimages and DEMs are based...

  10. Corporate identity as a factor of corporate security

    OpenAIRE

    Perelygina, Elena

    2011-01-01

    Forming-up of the corporate identity is based on cognitive, affective and conative elements of corporate culture. The group as an entity choosing goals and values ensures a certain response to standards and values of corporate culture within the parameters of its social responsibility. Corporate security as security of community and cooperation acts as a form of organizational and ethical approach to developing socially responsible attitude of government and business.

  11. The development and verification of a highly accurate collision prediction model for automated noncoplanar plan delivery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Victoria Y.; Tran, Angelia; Nguyen, Dan; Cao, Minsong; Ruan, Dan; Low, Daniel A.; Sheng, Ke

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Significant dosimetric benefits had been previously demonstrated in highly noncoplanar treatment plans. In this study, the authors developed and verified an individualized collision model for the purpose of delivering highly noncoplanar radiotherapy and tested the feasibility of total delivery automation with Varian TrueBeam developer mode. Methods: A hand-held 3D scanner was used to capture the surfaces of an anthropomorphic phantom and a human subject, which were positioned with a computer-aided design model of a TrueBeam machine to create a detailed virtual geometrical collision model. The collision model included gantry, collimator, and couch motion degrees of freedom. The accuracy of the 3D scanner was validated by scanning a rigid cubical phantom with known dimensions. The collision model was then validated by generating 300 linear accelerator orientations corresponding to 300 gantry-to-couch and gantry-to-phantom distances, and comparing the corresponding distance measurements to their corresponding models. The linear accelerator orientations reflected uniformly sampled noncoplanar beam angles to the head, lung, and prostate. The distance discrepancies between measurements on the physical and virtual systems were used to estimate treatment-site-specific safety buffer distances with 0.1%, 0.01%, and 0.001% probability of collision between the gantry and couch or phantom. Plans containing 20 noncoplanar beams to the brain, lung, and prostate optimized via an in-house noncoplanar radiotherapy platform were converted into XML script for automated delivery and the entire delivery was recorded and timed to demonstrate the feasibility of automated delivery. Results: The 3D scanner measured the dimension of the 14 cm cubic phantom within 0.5 mm. The maximal absolute discrepancy between machine and model measurements for gantry-to-couch and gantry-to-phantom was 0.95 and 2.97 cm, respectively. The reduced accuracy of gantry-to-phantom measurements was

  12. The development and verification of a highly accurate collision prediction model for automated noncoplanar plan delivery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Victoria Y.; Tran, Angelia; Nguyen, Dan; Cao, Minsong; Ruan, Dan; Low, Daniel A.; Sheng, Ke, E-mail: ksheng@mednet.ucla.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024 (United States)

    2015-11-15

    Purpose: Significant dosimetric benefits had been previously demonstrated in highly noncoplanar treatment plans. In this study, the authors developed and verified an individualized collision model for the purpose of delivering highly noncoplanar radiotherapy and tested the feasibility of total delivery automation with Varian TrueBeam developer mode. Methods: A hand-held 3D scanner was used to capture the surfaces of an anthropomorphic phantom and a human subject, which were positioned with a computer-aided design model of a TrueBeam machine to create a detailed virtual geometrical collision model. The collision model included gantry, collimator, and couch motion degrees of freedom. The accuracy of the 3D scanner was validated by scanning a rigid cubical phantom with known dimensions. The collision model was then validated by generating 300 linear accelerator orientations corresponding to 300 gantry-to-couch and gantry-to-phantom distances, and comparing the corresponding distance measurements to their corresponding models. The linear accelerator orientations reflected uniformly sampled noncoplanar beam angles to the head, lung, and prostate. The distance discrepancies between measurements on the physical and virtual systems were used to estimate treatment-site-specific safety buffer distances with 0.1%, 0.01%, and 0.001% probability of collision between the gantry and couch or phantom. Plans containing 20 noncoplanar beams to the brain, lung, and prostate optimized via an in-house noncoplanar radiotherapy platform were converted into XML script for automated delivery and the entire delivery was recorded and timed to demonstrate the feasibility of automated delivery. Results: The 3D scanner measured the dimension of the 14 cm cubic phantom within 0.5 mm. The maximal absolute discrepancy between machine and model measurements for gantry-to-couch and gantry-to-phantom was 0.95 and 2.97 cm, respectively. The reduced accuracy of gantry-to-phantom measurements was

  13. The development and verification of a highly accurate collision prediction model for automated noncoplanar plan delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Victoria Y; Tran, Angelia; Nguyen, Dan; Cao, Minsong; Ruan, Dan; Low, Daniel A; Sheng, Ke

    2015-11-01

    Significant dosimetric benefits had been previously demonstrated in highly noncoplanar treatment plans. In this study, the authors developed and verified an individualized collision model for the purpose of delivering highly noncoplanar radiotherapy and tested the feasibility of total delivery automation with Varian TrueBeam developer mode. A hand-held 3D scanner was used to capture the surfaces of an anthropomorphic phantom and a human subject, which were positioned with a computer-aided design model of a TrueBeam machine to create a detailed virtual geometrical collision model. The collision model included gantry, collimator, and couch motion degrees of freedom. The accuracy of the 3D scanner was validated by scanning a rigid cubical phantom with known dimensions. The collision model was then validated by generating 300 linear accelerator orientations corresponding to 300 gantry-to-couch and gantry-to-phantom distances, and comparing the corresponding distance measurements to their corresponding models. The linear accelerator orientations reflected uniformly sampled noncoplanar beam angles to the head, lung, and prostate. The distance discrepancies between measurements on the physical and virtual systems were used to estimate treatment-site-specific safety buffer distances with 0.1%, 0.01%, and 0.001% probability of collision between the gantry and couch or phantom. Plans containing 20 noncoplanar beams to the brain, lung, and prostate optimized via an in-house noncoplanar radiotherapy platform were converted into XML script for automated delivery and the entire delivery was recorded and timed to demonstrate the feasibility of automated delivery. The 3D scanner measured the dimension of the 14 cm cubic phantom within 0.5 mm. The maximal absolute discrepancy between machine and model measurements for gantry-to-couch and gantry-to-phantom was 0.95 and 2.97 cm, respectively. The reduced accuracy of gantry-to-phantom measurements was attributed to phantom setup

  14. Corporate Identity as a Factor of Corporate Security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena B. Perelygina

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Forming-upof the corporate identity is based on cognitive, affective and conative elements of corporate culture. The group as an entity choosing goals and values ensures a certain response to standards and values of corporate culture within the parameters of its social responsibility. Corporate security as security of community and cooperation acts as a form of organizational and ethical approach to developing socially responsible attitude of government and business.

  15. AUTOMATED PROCESS MONITORING: APPLYING PROVEN AUTOMATION TECHNIQUES TO INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS NEEDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Hara, Matthew J.; Durst, Philip C.; Grate, Jay W.; Devol, Timothy A.; Egorov, Oleg; Clements, John P.

    2008-01-01

    Identification and quantification of specific alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides in complex liquid matrices is highly challenging, and is typically accomplished through laborious wet chemical sample preparation and separations followed by analysis using a variety of detection methodologies (e.g., liquid scintillation, gas proportional counting, alpha energy analysis, mass spectrometry). Analytical results may take days or weeks to report. Chains of custody and sample security measures may also complicate or slow the analytical process. When an industrial process-scale plant requires the monitoring of specific radionuclides as an indication of the composition of its feed stream or of plant performance, radiochemical measurements must be fast, accurate, and reliable. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have assembled a fully automated prototype Process Monitor instrument capable of a variety of tasks: automated sampling directly from a feed stream, sample digestion/analyte redox adjustment, chemical separations, radiochemical detection and data analysis/reporting. The system is compact, its components are fluidically inter-linked, and analytical results could be immediately transmitted to on- or off-site locations. The development of a rapid radiochemical Process Monitor for 99Tc in Hanford tank waste processing streams, capable of performing several measurements per hour, will be discussed in detail. More recently, the automated platform was modified to perform measurements of 90Sr in Hanford tank waste stimulant. The system exemplifies how automation could be integrated into reprocessing facilities to support international nuclear safeguards needs

  16. Validation of the Automated Method VIENA: An Accurate, Precise, and Robust Measure of Ventricular Enlargement

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vrenken, H.; Vos, E.K.; van der Flier, W.M.; Sluimer, I.C.; Cover, K.S.; Knol, D.L.; Barkhof, F.

    2014-01-01

    Background: In many retrospective studies and large clinical trials, high-resolution, good-contrast 3DT1 images are unavailable, hampering detailed analysis of brain atrophy. Ventricular enlargement then provides a sensitive indirect measure of ongoing central brain atrophy. Validated automated

  17. Automated CD-SEM recipe creation technology for mass production using CAD data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawahara, Toshikazu; Yoshida, Masamichi; Tanaka, Masashi; Ido, Sanyu; Nakano, Hiroyuki; Adachi, Naokaka; Abe, Yuichi; Nagatomo, Wataru

    2011-03-01

    Critical Dimension Scanning Electron Microscope (CD-SEM) recipe creation needs sample preparation necessary for matching pattern registration, and recipe creation on CD-SEM using the sample, which hinders the reduction in test production cost and time in semiconductor manufacturing factories. From the perspective of cost reduction and improvement of the test production efficiency, automated CD-SEM recipe creation without the sample preparation and the manual operation has been important in the production lines. For the automated CD-SEM recipe creation, we have introduced RecipeDirector (RD) that enables the recipe creation by using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data and text data that includes measurement information. We have developed a system that automatically creates the CAD data and the text data necessary for the recipe creation on RD; and, for the elimination of the manual operation, we have enhanced RD so that all measurement information can be specified in the text data. As a result, we have established an automated CD-SEM recipe creation system without the sample preparation and the manual operation. For the introduction of the CD-SEM recipe creation system using RD to the production lines, the accuracy of the pattern matching was an issue. The shape of design templates for the matching created from the CAD data was different from that of SEM images in vision. Thus, a development of robust pattern matching algorithm that considers the shape difference was needed. The addition of image processing of the templates for the matching and shape processing of the CAD patterns in the lower layer has enabled the robust pattern matching. This paper describes the automated CD-SEM recipe creation technology for the production lines without the sample preparation and the manual operation using RD applied in Sony Semiconductor Kyusyu Corporation Kumamoto Technology Center (SCK Corporation Kumamoto TEC).

  18. Automation of Publications in Official Statistics using R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guido Schulz

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available A key task of official statistical authorities is to collect and disseminate indicators periodically. Automation using a wide range of R packages bears massive potential to cut down the resources necessary for the creation of publications. Furthermore, automation in R has the potential to improve transparency, punctuality and coherence of statistical products. The dynamic reporting engine knitr in particular allows for an efficient combination of R’s functionalities of data retrieval, data manipulation and customizable plotting on the one hand, and the layout and typesetting flexibility of LaTex or other markup languages on the other. This allows official statistical authorities to produce either ready-to-print PDFs or interactive websites while adhering to their corporate design requirements. Furthermore, dynamic reporting makes it possible to update periodic publications automatically. A work in progress example of automated statistical country profiles – a product the German Federal Statistical Office regularly publishes based on a wide range of official international sources – will be presented to illustrate both advantages and challenges in the practical use of dynamic reporting using R and knitr in particular.

  19. An Immune-inspired Adaptive Automated Intrusion Response System Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling-xi Peng

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available An immune-inspired adaptive automated intrusion response system model, named as , is proposed. The descriptions of self, non-self, immunocyte, memory detector, mature detector and immature detector of the network transactions, and the realtime network danger evaluation equations are given. Then, the automated response polices are adaptively performed or adjusted according to the realtime network danger. Thus, not only accurately evaluates the network attacks, but also greatly reduces the response times and response costs.

  20. Rand Corporation

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Jobs at RAND Media Resources Congressional Resources Doing Business with RAND Supporting RAND Educational Opportunities Alumni Association Follow RAND Corporation on Facebook RAND Corporation on Twitter RAND Corporation on LinkedIn ...

  1. Corporate Sustainable Development Assessment Base on the Corporate Social Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Sun Mei; Nagata Katsuya; Onoda Hiroshi

    2011-01-01

    With the resource exhaustion, bad affections of human activities and the awakening of the human rights, the corporate social responsibility became popular corporate strategy achieving sustainable development of both corporation and society. The issue of Guideline of Chinese Corporate Social Responsibility Report promotes greatly corporation to take social responsibility. This paper built the index system according to this guideline and takes the textile industry as an exa...

  2. 78 FR 51053 - Airworthiness Directives; Beechcraft Corporation and Hawker Beechcraft Corporation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-20

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Beechcraft Corporation and Hawker Beechcraft Corporation AGENCY: Federal Aviation... certain Beechcraft Corporation (type certificate previously held by Hawker Beechcraft Corporation) Models 58, 95-C55, E55, and 56TC airplanes; and Hawker Beechcraft Corporation Models 58P and 58TC airplanes...

  3. 78 FR 52982 - Experian, Experian US Headquarters: Corporate Departments (Finance, HRMD, Contracts, Corporate...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-27

    ...,506R] Experian, Experian US Headquarters: Corporate Departments (Finance, HRMD, Contracts, Corporate... Headquarters: Corporate Departments (finance, HRMD, Contracts, Corporate Marketing, Global Corporate Systems... (finance, HRMD, Contracts, Corporate Marketing, Global Corporate Systems, Legal & Regulatory, Risk...

  4. Corporate Taxation and Corporate Governance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Köthenbürger, Marko; Stimmelmayr, Michael

    2009-01-01

    if the corporate tax system exempts the normal return on investment from taxation. The optimal system may well use the full return on investment as a tax base. Hence, tax systems such as an Allowance for Corporate Equity (ACE) or a Cash-flow tax do not have the familiar efficiency-enhancing effects in the presence...

  5. Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance: Evidence from Korea

    OpenAIRE

    Choi, Jong-Seo; Kwak, Young-Min; Choe, Chongwoo

    2010-01-01

    This paper studies the empirical relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance in Korea using a sample of 1122 firm-years during 2002-2008. We measure corporate social responsibility by both an equal-weighted CSR index and a stakeholder-weighted CSR index suggested by Akpinar et al. (2008). Corporate financial performance is measured by ROE, ROA and Tobin’s Q. We find a positive and significant relation between corporate financial performance and t...

  6. Computerized automated remote inspection system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    The automated inspection system utilizes a computer to control the location of the ultrasonic transducer, the actual inspection process, the display of the data, and the storage of the data on IBM magnetic tape. This automated inspection equipment provides two major advantages. First, it provides a cost savings, because of the reduced inspection time, made possible by the automation of the data acquisition, processing, and storage equipment. This reduced inspection time is also made possible by a computerized data evaluation aid which speeds data interpretation. In addition, the computer control of the transducer location drive allows the exact duplication of a previously located position or flaw. The second major advantage is that the use of automated inspection equipment also allows a higher-quality inspection, because of the automated data acquisition, processing, and storage. This storage of data, in accurate digital form on IBM magnetic tape, for example, facilitates retrieval for comparison with previous inspection data. The equipment provides a multiplicity of scan data which will provide statistical information on any questionable volume or flaw. An automatic alarm for location of all reportable flaws reduces the probability of operator error. This system has the ability to present data on a cathode ray tube as numerical information, a three-dimensional picture, or ''hard-copy'' sheet. One important advantage of this system is the ability to store large amounts of data in compact magnetic tape reels

  7. Corporate Foundations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herlin, Heidi; Thusgaard Pedersen, Janni

    2013-01-01

    action between business and NGOs through convening, translation, collaboration, and mediation. Our study provides valuable insights into the tri-part relationship of company foundation NGO by discussing the implications of corporate foundations taking an active role in the realm of corporate social...... responsibility (CSR). The paper hence illuminates the fascinating and overlooked role of corporate foundations as potential bridges between business and civil society. It also informs theory on boundary organizations by clarifying challenges and limits of such institutions.......This paper aims to explore the potential of Danish corporate foundations as boundary organizations facilitating relationships between their founding companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Hitherto, research has been silent about the role of corporate foundations in relation to cross...

  8. Using Modeling and Simulation to Predict Operator Performance and Automation-Induced Complacency With Robotic Automation: A Case Study and Empirical Validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wickens, Christopher D; Sebok, Angelia; Li, Huiyang; Sarter, Nadine; Gacy, Andrew M

    2015-09-01

    The aim of this study was to develop and validate a computational model of the automation complacency effect, as operators work on a robotic arm task, supported by three different degrees of automation. Some computational models of complacency in human-automation interaction exist, but those are formed and validated within the context of fairly simplified monitoring failures. This research extends model validation to a much more complex task, so that system designers can establish, without need for human-in-the-loop (HITL) experimentation, merits and shortcomings of different automation degrees. We developed a realistic simulation of a space-based robotic arm task that could be carried out with three different levels of trajectory visualization and execution automation support. Using this simulation, we performed HITL testing. Complacency was induced via several trials of correctly performing automation and then was assessed on trials when automation failed. Following a cognitive task analysis of the robotic arm operation, we developed a multicomponent model of the robotic operator and his or her reliance on automation, based in part on visual scanning. The comparison of model predictions with empirical results revealed that the model accurately predicted routine performance and predicted the responses to these failures after complacency developed. However, the scanning models do not account for the entire attention allocation effects of complacency. Complacency modeling can provide a useful tool for predicting the effects of different types of imperfect automation. The results from this research suggest that focus should be given to supporting situation awareness in automation development. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

  9. Future of Automated Insulin Delivery Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castle, Jessica R; DeVries, J Hans; Kovatchev, Boris

    2017-06-01

    Advances in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) have brought on a paradigm shift in the management of type 1 diabetes. These advances have enabled the automation of insulin delivery, where an algorithm determines the insulin delivery rate in response to the CGM values. There are multiple automated insulin delivery (AID) systems in development. A system that automates basal insulin delivery has already received Food and Drug Administration approval, and more systems are likely to follow. As the field of AID matures, future systems may incorporate additional hormones and/or multiple inputs, such as activity level. All AID systems are impacted by CGM accuracy and future CGM devices must be shown to be sufficiently accurate to be safely incorporated into AID. In this article, we summarize recent achievements in AID development, with a special emphasis on CGM sensor performance, and discuss the future of AID systems from the point of view of their input-output characteristics, form factor, and adaptability.

  10. The Russia Corporate Governance Manual : Part I. Corporate Governance Introduced

    OpenAIRE

    International Finance Corporation; U.S. Department of Commerce

    2004-01-01

    The Russia corporate governance manual has been divided into and is published in six parts: (i) corporate governance introduced; (ii) good board practices; (iii) shareholder rights; (iv) information disclosure and transparency; (v) special focus section; and (vi) annexes model corporate governance documents. The first four parts contain chapters that focus on core corporate governance issu...

  11. Pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility, Struktur Corporate Governance dan Nilai Perusahaan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salmah Pattisahusiwa

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The concept of the corporate social responsibility has a significant interest in Indonesia because believed to increase corporate’s value for shareholders. This study aims to find the effect of corporate social responsibility disclosure and corporate governance structure on corporate value. The data were taken from annual report of mining companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange for period of 2014-2015. The sample collection has been done by using purposive sampling with the certain criteria so that 18 companies which meet criteria have been obtained as samples. Multiple Regression analysis was employed to analyze data. The result of this research show that corporate social responsibility disclosure and corporate governance structure have significant effect to thecorporate value.

  12. Corporate Data Network (CDN) data requirements task. Enterprise Model. Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-11-01

    The NRC has initiated a multi-year program to centralize its information processing in a Corporate Data Network (CDN). The new information processing environment will include shared databases, telecommunications, office automation tools, and state-of-the-art software. Touche Ross and Company was contracted with to perform a general data requirements analysis for shared databases and to develop a preliminary plan for implementation of the CDN concept. The Enterprise Model (Vol. 1) provided the NRC with agency-wide information requirements in the form of data entities and organizational demand patterns as the basis for clustering the entities into logical groups. The Data Dictionary (Vol. 2) provided the NRC with definitions and example attributes and properties for each entity. The Data Model (Vol. 3) defined logical databases and entity relationships within and between databases. The Preliminary Strategic Data Plan (Vol. 4) prioritized the development of databases and included a workplan and approach for implementation of the shared database component of the Corporate Data Network

  13. Automating CPM-GOMS

    Science.gov (United States)

    John, Bonnie; Vera, Alonso; Matessa, Michael; Freed, Michael; Remington, Roger

    2002-01-01

    CPM-GOMS is a modeling method that combines the task decomposition of a GOMS analysis with a model of human resource usage at the level of cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations. CPM-GOMS models have made accurate predictions about skilled user behavior in routine tasks, but developing such models is tedious and error-prone. We describe a process for automatically generating CPM-GOMS models from a hierarchical task decomposition expressed in a cognitive modeling tool called Apex. Resource scheduling in Apex automates the difficult task of interleaving the cognitive, perceptual, and motor resources underlying common task operators (e.g. mouse move-and-click). Apex's UI automatically generates PERT charts, which allow modelers to visualize a model's complex parallel behavior. Because interleaving and visualization is now automated, it is feasible to construct arbitrarily long sequences of behavior. To demonstrate the process, we present a model of automated teller interactions in Apex and discuss implications for user modeling. available to model human users, the Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection (GOMS) method [6, 21] has been the most widely used, providing accurate, often zero-parameter, predictions of the routine performance of skilled users in a wide range of procedural tasks [6, 13, 15, 27, 28]. GOMS is meant to model routine behavior. The user is assumed to have methods that apply sequences of operators and to achieve a goal. Selection rules are applied when there is more than one method to achieve a goal. Many routine tasks lend themselves well to such decomposition. Decomposition produces a representation of the task as a set of nested goal states that include an initial state and a final state. The iterative decomposition into goals and nested subgoals can terminate in primitives of any desired granularity, the choice of level of detail dependent on the predictions required. Although GOMS has proven useful in HCI, tools to support the

  14. Automated longitudinal intra-subject analysis (ALISA) for diffusion MRI tractography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aarnink, Saskia H; Vos, Sjoerd B; Leemans, Alexander

    2014-01-01

    the inter-subject and intra-subject automation in this situation are intended for subjects without gross pathology. In this work, we propose such an automated longitudinal intra-subject analysis (dubbed ALISA) approach, and assessed whether ALISA could preserve the same level of reliability as obtained....... The major disadvantage of manual FT segmentations, unfortunately, is that placing regions-of-interest for tract selection can be very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Although there are several methods that can identify specific WM fiber bundles in an automated way, manual FT segmentations across...... multiple subjects performed by a trained rater with neuroanatomical expertise are generally assumed to be more accurate. However, for longitudinal DTI analyses it may still be beneficial to automate the FT segmentation across multiple time points, but then for each individual subject separately. Both...

  15. An Integrated Model to Predict Corporate Failure of Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nisansala Wijekoon

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The primary objective of this study is to develop an integrated model to predict corporate failure of listed companies in Sri Lanka. The logistic regression analysis was employed to a data set of 70 matched-pairs of failed and non-failed companies listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE in Sri Lanka over the period 2002 to 2010. A total of fifteen financial ratios and eight corporate governance variables were used as predictor variables of corporate failure. Analysis of the statistical testing results indicated that model consists with both corporate governance variables and financial ratios improved the prediction accuracy to reach 88.57 per cent one year prior to failure. Furthermore, predictive accuracy of this model in all three years prior to failure is above 80 per cent. Hence model is robust in obtaining accurate results for up to three years prior to failure. It was further found that two financial ratios, working capital to total assets and cash flow from operating activities to total assets, and two corporate governance variables, outside director ratio and company audit committee are having more explanatory power to predict corporate failure. Therefore, model developed in this study can assist investors, managers, shareholders, financial institutions, auditors and regulatory agents in Sri Lanka to forecast corporate failure of listed companies.

  16. Corporate Entrepreneurship

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

    Corporate entrepreneurship is often highlighted as being more relevant than ever, as a viable means for existing organizations to pursue creative new solutions to the complex challenges facing firms today. This includes continuously exploring and exploiting previously unexploited opportunities......, and thereby moving the organization to a new state of being. In spite of a general consensus on a strong interlinkage between the concepts of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship, the nature of this linkage is rarely addressed directly. This has made further research in the two areas problematic, mainly...... nature of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation by exploring the role played by innovation in corporate entrepreneurship. - Develop a framework of corporate entrepreneurial innovation which facilitates an understanding of challenges related hereto and practices applied to overcome these challenges...

  17. Outsourcing of Corporate Information Services: Implications for Redesigning Corporate Library Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agada, John

    1996-01-01

    Examines the trend in outsourcing information services and suggests it threatens the survival of corporate libraries. Topics include changes in the competitive corporate environment; characteristics of outsourceable services; managing change; redesigning the corporate librarian's role; and implications for redesigning corporate information…

  18. Thermal and nuclear power generation cost estimates using corporate financial statements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, Yuhji; Nagatomi, Yu; Murakami, Tomoko

    2012-01-01

    There are two generally accepted methods for estimating power generation costs: so-called 'model plant' method and the method using corporate financial statements. The method using corporate financial statements, though under some constraints, can provide useful information for comparing thermal and nuclear power generation costs. This study used this method for estimating thermal and nuclear power generation costs in Japan for the past five years, finding that the nuclear power generation cost remained stable at around 7 yen per kilowatt-hour (kWh) while the thermal power generation cost moved within a wide range of 9 to 12 yen/kWh in line with wild fluctuations in primary energy prices. The cost of nuclear power generation is expected to increase due to the enhancement of safety measures and accident damage compensation in the future, while there are reactor decommissioning, backend and many other costs that the financial statement-using approach cannot accurately estimate. In the future, efforts should be continued to comprehensively and accurately estimate total costs. (author)

  19. Using MDE to Build a Schizofrenic Middleware for Home/Building Automation

    OpenAIRE

    Nain , Grégory; Daubert , Erwan; Barais , Olivier; Jézéquel , Jean-Marc

    2008-01-01

    International audience; In the personal or corporate spheres, the home/office of tomor- row is soon to be the home/office of today, with a plethora of networked devices embedded in appliances, such as mobile phones, televisions, ther- mostats, and lamps, making it possible to automate and remotely con- trol many basic household functions with a high degree of accuracy. In this domain, technological standardization is still in its infancy, or remains fragmented. The different functionalities o...

  20. Corporate branding with the help of corporate real estate

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Appel - Meulenbroek, H.A.J.A.; Havermans, D.W.Q.; Kempen, van A.J.M.; Lundstrom, S.

    2009-01-01

    Nowadays, many companies try to attract customers by bundling all marketing efforts under a common corpo-rate brand to reflect the organization’s identity. The principle of corporate branding suggests that the corporate brand ought to be thoroughly embedded throughout the entire company in order to

  1. Corporate environmental responsibility – a key determinant of corporate reputation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina GĂNESCU

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to determine the trend of the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and corporate reputation by focusing on a study of the European automotive sector. The starting point of our research is content analysis of the sustainability or social responsibility reports published in 2010, 2011, and 2012 by 13 businesses operating in the European automotive industry. Content analysis was carried out in order to identify the indicators used to assess corporate environmental responsibility. The methodology aimed to produce an evaluation model for corporate environmental responsibility based on the following variables reported by companies: carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption, energy consumption, and amount of waste. Corporate reputation of sampled organizations was assessed based on content analysis of the 2010, 2011, and 2012 reports of the Reputation Institute. We applied the correlation of panel data and emphasised the fact that high levels of corporate environmental responsibility sustain high levels of corporate reputation. The study highlights the theoretical considerations that support this relationship. As companies become increasingly accountable, the methodology described in our study can be developed in further research by using other variables to measure corporate environmental responsibility.

  2. An automated method for the layup of fiberglass fabric

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Siqi

    This dissertation presents an automated composite fabric layup solution based on a new method to deform fiberglass fabric referred to as shifting. A layup system was designed and implemented using a large robotic gantry and custom end-effector for shifting. Layup tests proved that the system can deposit fabric onto two-dimensional and three-dimensional tooling surfaces accurately and repeatedly while avoiding out-of-plane deformation. A process planning method was developed to generate tool paths for the layup system based on a geometric model of the tooling surface. The approach is analogous to Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machining, where Numerical Control (NC) code from a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model is generated to drive the milling machine. Layup experiments utilizing the proposed method were conducted to validate the performance. The results show that the process planning software requires minimal time or human intervention and can generate tool paths leading to accurate composite fabric layups. Fiberglass fabric samples processed with shifting deformation were observed for meso-scale deformation. Tow thinning, bending and spacing was observed and measured. Overall, shifting did not create flaws in amounts that would disqualify the method from use in industry. This suggests that shifting is a viable method for use in automated manufacturing. The work of this dissertation provides a new method for the automated layup of broad width composite fabric that is not possible with any available composite automation systems to date.

  3. Development of an automated system for CANDU secondary coolant circuit chemistry control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dean, J.R.; Stewart, R.B.

    1978-04-01

    This report is a summary of work done to develop a means for automated control of the secondary coolant chemistry of CANDU 600 MW(e) power reactors using on-line analyzers and a minicomputer. The development work was carried out in cooperation with Saskatchewan Power Corporation at Estevan. Results and conclusions of the program are included, as are recommendations for a prototype installation in a domestic CANDU 600 MW steam generator. (author)

  4. Automated procedure for performing computer security risk analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, S.T.; Lim, J.J.

    1984-05-01

    Computers, the invisible backbone of nuclear safeguards, monitor and control plant operations and support many materials accounting systems. Our automated procedure to assess computer security effectiveness differs from traditional risk analysis methods. The system is modeled as an interactive questionnaire, fully automated on a portable microcomputer. A set of modular event trees links the questionnaire to the risk assessment. Qualitative scores are obtained for target vulnerability, and qualitative impact measures are evaluated for a spectrum of threat-target pairs. These are then combined by a linguistic algebra to provide an accurate and meaningful risk measure. 12 references, 7 figures

  5. Accurate cytogenetic biodosimetry through automated dicentric chromosome curation and metaphase cell selection [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Liu

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Accurate digital image analysis of abnormal microscopic structures relies on high quality images and on minimizing the rates of false positive (FP and negative objects in images. Cytogenetic biodosimetry detects dicentric chromosomes (DCs that arise from exposure to ionizing radiation, and determines radiation dose received based on DC frequency. Improvements in automated DC recognition increase the accuracy of dose estimates by reclassifying FP DCs as monocentric chromosomes or chromosome fragments. We also present image segmentation methods to rank high quality digital metaphase images and eliminate suboptimal metaphase cells. A set of chromosome morphology segmentation methods selectively filtered out FP DCs arising primarily from sister chromatid separation, chromosome fragmentation, and cellular debris. This reduced FPs by an average of 55% and was highly specific to these abnormal structures (≥97.7% in three samples. Additional filters selectively removed images with incomplete, highly overlapped, or missing metaphase cells, or with poor overall chromosome morphologies that increased FP rates. Image selection is optimized and FP DCs are minimized by combining multiple feature based segmentation filters and a novel image sorting procedure based on the known distribution of chromosome lengths. Applying the same image segmentation filtering procedures to both calibration and test samples reduced the average dose estimation error from 0.4 Gy to <0.2 Gy, obviating the need to first manually review these images. This reliable and scalable solution enables batch processing for multiple samples of unknown dose, and meets current requirements for triage radiation biodosimetry of high quality metaphase cell preparations.

  6. Designing an automated blood fractionation system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McQuillan, Adrian C; Sales, Sean D

    2008-04-01

    UK Biobank will be collecting blood samples from a cohort of 500 000 volunteers and it is expected that the rate of collection will peak at approximately 3000 blood collection tubes per day. These samples need to be prepared for long-term storage. It is not considered practical to manually process this quantity of samples so an automated blood fractionation system is required. Principles of industrial automation were applied to the blood fractionation process leading to the requirement of developing a vision system to identify the blood fractions within the blood collection tube so that the fractions can be accurately aspirated and dispensed into micro-tubes. A prototype was manufactured and tested on a range of human blood samples collected in different tube types. A specially designed vision system was capable of accurately measuring the position of the plasma meniscus, plasma/buffy coat interface and the red cells/buffy coat interface within a vacutainer. A rack of 24 vacutainers could be processed in blood fractionation system offers a solution to the problem of processing human blood samples collected in vacutainers in a consistent manner and provides a means of ensuring data and sample integrity.

  7. Corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation and employee engagement

    OpenAIRE

    Ali, Imran; Ali, Jawaria Fatima

    2011-01-01

    Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been outlined as voluntarily additional legal duties of organization to serve environment and community. This voluntarily actions of corporate help them to develop reputation which can shape favorable attitude of employees towards work. Employee engagement is an attitude of commitment and involvement of employee towards their work and organization. Researchers have proved that engaged employees are more productive, more likely to achieve corporate go...

  8. Using corporate stories to build the corporate brand:an impression management perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Spear, Sara; Roper, Stuart

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – A recent area of academic interest within corporate branding and reputation is the use of storytelling in order to differentiate the corporate brand, however there is little empirical research exploring the contents of corporate stories, and how they are used by organisations to build the corporate brand. This paper aims to utilise impression management theory to bring insight into the potential role of corporate stories in shaping the corporate brand. Design/methodology/approach – ...

  9. Corporate governance, corporate finance and stock markets in emerging countries

    OpenAIRE

    Singh, Ajit

    2003-01-01

    This paper focuses on the inter-relationship between corporate governance, financing of corporate growth and stock market development in emerging countries. It explores both theoretically and empirically the nature of the inter-relationships between these phenomena, as well their implications for economic policy. It concentrates on how corporate growth is financed, an area where the literature has identified important anomalies in relation to corporate behaviour and governance. The paper prov...

  10. 75 FR 43537 - Mortgagee Review Board: Administrative Actions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-26

    ... Mortgage Corp., Inc., Margate, FL. 365. Florida Business Finance Corp., Jacksonville, FL (Titles 1 & 2... accurately identify Academy as the owner of the Web site; and failed to register the fictitious business name... requirements. 5. Automated Finance Corporation, Calabasas, CA [Docket No. 09-9825-MR] Action: On October 30...

  11. Refuelling: Swiss station will be semi-automated

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fontaine, B.; Ribaux, P.

    1981-01-01

    The first semi-automated LWR refuelling machine in Europe has been supplied to the Leibstadt General Electric BWR in Switzerland. The system relieves operators of the boring and repetitive job of moving and accurately positioning the refuelling machine during fuelling operations and will thus contribute to plant safety. The machine and its mode of operation are described. (author)

  12. Automated Normalized Cut Segmentation of Aortic Root in CT Angiography

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elattar, Mustafa; Wiegerinck, Esther; Planken, Nils; VanBavel, Ed; van Assen, Hans; Baan, Jan Jr; Marquering, Henk

    2014-01-01

    Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is a new minimal-invasive intervention for implanting prosthetic valves in patients with aortic stenosis. This procedure is associated with adverse effects like paravalvular leakage, stroke, and coronary obstruction. Accurate automated sizing for

  13. Corporate Governance as a Crucial Factor in Achieving Sustainable Corporate Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julija Bistrova

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In the developed stock markets the corporate governance aspect is crucial in the stock portfolio selection process for investor seeking to achieve shareholder value sustainability. In the emerging markets the importance of the corporate governance role just starts to be realized by the investors and by the corporate managers. The present research, looking at the stock performance leaders and laggards, analyzes whether the corporate governance system matters to achieve long-term shareholder value within the Central and Eastern European stock markets universe. Corporate governance quality was assessed and compared among the out- and underperformers. The financial results plausibility and the ownership structure were considered as well. Additionally, the authors analyzed whether the quality of corporate governance influences the economic performance of the company. The obtained results provide the proof that the corporate governance does matter as the market outperformers have above average corporate governance quality and provide trustworthy financial results more often than the underperforming companies. Besides, well-governed companies are also able to deliver more attractive financial results.

  14. AUTOMATED TECHNIQUE FOR FLOW MEASUREMENTS FROM MARIOTTE RESERVOIRS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constantz, Jim; Murphy, Fred

    1987-01-01

    The mariotte reservoir supplies water at a constant hydraulic pressure by self-regulation of its internal gas pressure. Automated outflow measurements from mariotte reservoirs are generally difficult because of the reservoir's self-regulation mechanism. This paper describes an automated flow meter specifically designed for use with mariotte reservoirs. The flow meter monitors changes in the mariotte reservoir's gas pressure during outflow to determine changes in the reservoir's water level. The flow measurement is performed by attaching a pressure transducer to the top of a mariotte reservoir and monitoring gas pressure changes during outflow with a programmable data logger. The advantages of the new automated flow measurement techniques include: (i) the ability to rapidly record a large range of fluxes without restricting outflow, and (ii) the ability to accurately average the pulsing flow, which commonly occurs during outflow from the mariotte reservoir.

  15. Measuring Corporate Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Value Added

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alena Kocmanová

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to propose a model for measuring sustainable value which would complexly assess environmental, social, and corporate governance contribution to value creation. In the paper the concept of the Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is presented. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is based on the Sustainable Value Added model and combines weighted environmental, social, and corporate governance indicators with their benchmarks determined by Data Envelopment Analysis. Benchmark values of indicators were set for each company separately and determine the optimal combination of environmental, social, and corporate governance inputs to economic outcomes. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added methodology is applied on real-life corporate data and presented through a case study. The value added of most of the selected companies was negative, even though economic indicators of all of them are positive. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is intended to help owners, investors, and other stakeholders in their decision-making and sustainability assessment. The use of environmental, social, and corporate governance factors helps identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and provides a more sophisticated insight into it than the one-dimensional methods based on economic performance alone.

  16. The integration of corporate governance in corporate social responsibility disclosures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kolk, A.; Pinkse, J.

    2010-01-01

    In recent years, not only has attention to corporate governance increased but also the notion has broadened considerably, and started to cover some aspects traditionally seen as being part of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR, corporate governance and their interlink seem particularly

  17. Corporate political activities, religiosity and corporate decision making

    OpenAIRE

    Low, Yik Pui

    2017-01-01

    Motivated by the recent increase in corporate political spending and the Supreme Court’s decision in allowing firms to freely use their treasury funds for political purposes (Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 2010), this study examines the impact of corporate political activity (CPA) on its decision making. CPA is defined as the firm’s total annual lobbying expenses arising from the engagement of internal and external lobbyists while corporate decision making is measured in terms...

  18. Novel automated blood separations validate whole cell biomarkers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Douglas E Burger

    Full Text Available Progress in clinical trials in infectious disease, autoimmunity, and cancer is stymied by a dearth of successful whole cell biomarkers for peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs. Successful biomarkers could help to track drug effects at early time points in clinical trials to prevent costly trial failures late in development. One major obstacle is the inaccuracy of Ficoll density centrifugation, the decades-old method of separating PBLs from the abundant red blood cells (RBCs of fresh blood samples.To replace the Ficoll method, we developed and studied a novel blood-based magnetic separation method. The magnetic method strikingly surpassed Ficoll in viability, purity and yield of PBLs. To reduce labor, we developed an automated platform and compared two magnet configurations for cell separations. These more accurate and labor-saving magnet configurations allowed the lymphocytes to be tested in bioassays for rare antigen-specific T cells. The automated method succeeded at identifying 79% of patients with the rare PBLs of interest as compared with Ficoll's uniform failure. We validated improved upfront blood processing and show accurate detection of rare antigen-specific lymphocytes.Improving, automating and standardizing lymphocyte detections from whole blood may facilitate development of new cell-based biomarkers for human diseases. Improved upfront blood processes may lead to broad improvements in monitoring early trial outcome measurements in human clinical trials.

  19. Novel automated blood separations validate whole cell biomarkers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burger, Douglas E; Wang, Limei; Ban, Liqin; Okubo, Yoshiaki; Kühtreiber, Willem M; Leichliter, Ashley K; Faustman, Denise L

    2011-01-01

    Progress in clinical trials in infectious disease, autoimmunity, and cancer is stymied by a dearth of successful whole cell biomarkers for peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Successful biomarkers could help to track drug effects at early time points in clinical trials to prevent costly trial failures late in development. One major obstacle is the inaccuracy of Ficoll density centrifugation, the decades-old method of separating PBLs from the abundant red blood cells (RBCs) of fresh blood samples. To replace the Ficoll method, we developed and studied a novel blood-based magnetic separation method. The magnetic method strikingly surpassed Ficoll in viability, purity and yield of PBLs. To reduce labor, we developed an automated platform and compared two magnet configurations for cell separations. These more accurate and labor-saving magnet configurations allowed the lymphocytes to be tested in bioassays for rare antigen-specific T cells. The automated method succeeded at identifying 79% of patients with the rare PBLs of interest as compared with Ficoll's uniform failure. We validated improved upfront blood processing and show accurate detection of rare antigen-specific lymphocytes. Improving, automating and standardizing lymphocyte detections from whole blood may facilitate development of new cell-based biomarkers for human diseases. Improved upfront blood processes may lead to broad improvements in monitoring early trial outcome measurements in human clinical trials.

  20. Corporate Bonds in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tell, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Corporate financing is the choice between capital generated by the corporation and capital from external investors. However, since the financial crisis shook the markets in 2007–2008, financing opportunities through the classical means of financing have decreased. As a result, corporations have...... to think in alternative ways such as issuing corporate bonds. A market for corporate bonds exists in countries such as Norway, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, while Denmark is still behind in this trend. Some large Danish corporations have instead used foreign corporate bonds...... markets. However, NASDAQ OMX has introduced the First North Bond Market in December 2012 and new regulatory framework came into place in 2014, which may contribute to a Danish based corporate bond market. The purpose of this article is to present the regulatory changes in Denmark in relation to corporate...

  1. Corporate sustainability: environmental, social, economic and corporate performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alena Kocmanová

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with corporate sustainability and environmental and social issues of the integration of corporate performance measurement that may lead to sustainable economic success. Sustainability is a strategy of the process of sustainable development. Sustainability of businesses and sustainable performance can be defined as an integration of environmental, social and economic performance. First and foremost, businesses will want to know what indicators can be used to measure environmental, social and economic performance. What is the mutual relationship between environmental, social and economic performance? How can firms arrive at a comprehensive assessment of their performance in relation to sustainability? The aim of this paper is to analyze corporate environmental, social and economic performance and to analyze their mutual relationships. The final part of the article is an assessment of the contemporary situation and draft Key Performance Indicators (KPI for assessment of corporate sustainability that will be the subject of further research in a selected NACE-CZ sector and in accordance with Corporate Sustainability Reporting. KPI provide businesses with a means of measuring progress toward achieving objectives.

  2. Automated microscopy for high-content RNAi screening

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Fluorescence microscopy is one of the most powerful tools to investigate complex cellular processes such as cell division, cell motility, or intracellular trafficking. The availability of RNA interference (RNAi) technology and automated microscopy has opened the possibility to perform cellular imaging in functional genomics and other large-scale applications. Although imaging often dramatically increases the content of a screening assay, it poses new challenges to achieve accurate quantitative annotation and therefore needs to be carefully adjusted to the specific needs of individual screening applications. In this review, we discuss principles of assay design, large-scale RNAi, microscope automation, and computational data analysis. We highlight strategies for imaging-based RNAi screening adapted to different library and assay designs. PMID:20176920

  3. Sub-micron accurate track navigation method ''Navi'' for the analysis of Nuclear Emulsion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshioka, T; Yoshida, J; Kodama, K

    2011-01-01

    Sub-micron accurate track navigation in Nuclear Emulsion is realized by using low energy signals detected by automated Nuclear Emulsion read-out systems. Using those much dense ''noise'', about 10 4 times larger than the real tracks, the accuracy of the track position navigation reaches to be sub micron only by using the information of a microscope field of view, 200 micron times 200 micron. This method is applied to OPERA analysis in Japan, i.e. support of human eye checks of the candidate tracks, confirmation of neutrino interaction vertexes and to embed missing track segments to the track data read-out by automated systems.

  4. Sub-micron accurate track navigation method ``Navi'' for the analysis of Nuclear Emulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshioka, T.; Yoshida, J.; Kodama, K.

    2011-03-01

    Sub-micron accurate track navigation in Nuclear Emulsion is realized by using low energy signals detected by automated Nuclear Emulsion read-out systems. Using those much dense ``noise'', about 104 times larger than the real tracks, the accuracy of the track position navigation reaches to be sub micron only by using the information of a microscope field of view, 200 micron times 200 micron. This method is applied to OPERA analysis in Japan, i.e. support of human eye checks of the candidate tracks, confirmation of neutrino interaction vertexes and to embed missing track segments to the track data read-out by automated systems.

  5. Identification of Success Criteria for Automated Function Using Feed and Bleed Operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Bo Gyung; Kim, Sang Ho; Kang, Hyun Gook; Yoon, Ho Joon

    2013-01-01

    Since NPP has lots of functions and systems, operated procedure is much complicated and the chance of human error to operate the safety systems is quite high. In the case of large break loss of coolant accident (LBLOCA) and station black out (SBO), the dependency of operator is very low. However, when many mitigation systems are still available, operators have several choices to mitigate the accident and the human error can be increased more. To reduce the operator's workload and perform the operation accurate after the accident, automated function for safe cooldown based on the feed and bleed (F and B) operation was suggested. The automated function can predict whether the plant will be safe after the automated function is initiated, and perform the safety functions automatically. To expect the success of cooldown, success criteria should be identified. To perform the operation accurately after the accident, the automated function for safe cooldown based on the F and B operation is suggested. To expect the success of cooldown, sequence of RCS situation when heat removal by secondary system fails is identified. Based on the sequence of RCS situation, four levels of necessity of F and B operation are classified. To obtain the boundary of levels, the TH analysis will be performed

  6. Automated DNA extraction from genetically modified maize using aminosilane-modified bacterial magnetic particles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ota, Hiroyuki; Lim, Tae-Kyu; Tanaka, Tsuyoshi; Yoshino, Tomoko; Harada, Manabu; Matsunaga, Tadashi

    2006-09-18

    A novel, automated system, PNE-1080, equipped with eight automated pestle units and a spectrophotometer was developed for genomic DNA extraction from maize using aminosilane-modified bacterial magnetic particles (BMPs). The use of aminosilane-modified BMPs allowed highly accurate DNA recovery. The (A(260)-A(320)):(A(280)-A(320)) ratio of the extracted DNA was 1.9+/-0.1. The DNA quality was sufficiently pure for PCR analysis. The PNE-1080 offered rapid assay completion (30 min) with high accuracy. Furthermore, the results of real-time PCR confirmed that our proposed method permitted the accurate determination of genetically modified DNA composition and correlated well with results obtained by conventional cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-based methods.

  7. Automation for Accommodating Fuel-Efficient Descents in Constrained Airspace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coopenbarger, Richard A.

    2010-01-01

    Continuous descents at low engine power are desired to reduce fuel consumption, emissions and noise during arrival operations. The challenge is to allow airplanes to fly these types of efficient descents without interruption during busy traffic conditions. During busy conditions today, airplanes are commonly forced to fly inefficient, step-down descents as airtraffic controllers work to ensure separation and maximize throughput. NASA in collaboration with government and industry partners is developing new automation to help controllers accommodate continuous descents in the presence of complex traffic and airspace constraints. This automation relies on accurate trajectory predictions to compute strategic maneuver advisories. The talk will describe the concept behind this new automation and provide an overview of the simulations and flight testing used to develop and refine its underlying technology.

  8. Corporate Awakening

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    LaFrance, Julie; Lehmann, Martin

    2005-01-01

    Predominantly since the 1992 Rio Summit, corporations have been increasingly pursuing partnerships with public institutions including governments, international organisations and NGOs that aim to contribute to sustainable development activities. Partnerships have become more common as corporation...... public-private partnerships. These theoretical perspectives are used to gain a deeper understanding of the corporate drivers that motivated TOTAL S.A. to approach UNESCO for cooperation on community development programs in Myanmar....

  9. Exploring corporate eco-modernism: Challenging corporate rhetoric and scientific discourses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ulhøi, John Parm; Welford, Richard

    2000-01-01

    in shaping a new corporate environmentalism and, ten years on, we argue that it is time to step back and critically assess the nature and scope of corporate actions and scientific research within the field of corporate environmental management. This paper starts from the assertions that: (i) disturbing...

  10. Evolution of Corporate Essence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fomcenco, Alex

    2016-01-01

    that applies to a traditional limited liability company. Its main distinctive attributes are corporate purpose, accountability of its management, and transparency requirements. Although, a Public Benefit Corporation does not impose any revolutionary amendments to the way the traditional corporations are......, it offers a legal framework where public benefit is more important than profits. As a corporate entity, Public Benefit Corporation already exists in numerous jurisdictions and those jurisdictions that do not yet facilitate creation of this corporate form should most definitely consider it....

  11. AuTom: a novel automatic platform for electron tomography reconstruction

    KAUST Repository

    Han, Renmin

    2017-07-26

    We have developed a software package towards automatic electron tomography (ET): Automatic Tomography (AuTom). The presented package has the following characteristics: accurate alignment modules for marker-free datasets containing substantial biological structures; fully automatic alignment modules for datasets with fiducial markers; wide coverage of reconstruction methods including a new iterative method based on the compressed-sensing theory that suppresses the “missing wedge” effect; and multi-platform acceleration solutions that support faster iterative algebraic reconstruction. AuTom aims to achieve fully automatic alignment and reconstruction for electron tomography and has already been successful for a variety of datasets. AuTom also offers user-friendly interface and auxiliary designs for file management and workflow management, in which fiducial marker-based datasets and marker-free datasets are addressed with totally different subprocesses. With all of these features, AuTom can serve as a convenient and effective tool for processing in electron tomography.

  12. Automated fault-management in a simulated spaceflight micro-world

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, Bernd; Di Nocera, Francesco; Rottger, Stefan; Parasuraman, Raja

    2002-01-01

    BACKGROUND: As human spaceflight missions extend in duration and distance from Earth, a self-sufficient crew will bear far greater onboard responsibility and authority for mission success. This will increase the need for automated fault management (FM). Human factors issues in the use of such systems include maintenance of cognitive skill, situational awareness (SA), trust in automation, and workload. This study examine the human performance consequences of operator use of intelligent FM support in interaction with an autonomous, space-related, atmospheric control system. METHODS: An expert system representing a model-base reasoning agent supported operators at a low level of automation (LOA) by a computerized fault finding guide, at a medium LOA by an automated diagnosis and recovery advisory, and at a high LOA by automate diagnosis and recovery implementation, subject to operator approval or veto. Ten percent of the experimental trials involved complete failure of FM support. RESULTS: Benefits of automation were reflected in more accurate diagnoses, shorter fault identification time, and reduced subjective operator workload. Unexpectedly, fault identification times deteriorated more at the medium than at the high LOA during automation failure. Analyses of information sampling behavior showed that offloading operators from recovery implementation during reliable automation enabled operators at high LOA to engage in fault assessment activities CONCLUSIONS: The potential threat to SA imposed by high-level automation, in which decision advisories are automatically generated, need not inevitably be counteracted by choosing a lower LOA. Instead, freeing operator cognitive resources by automatic implementation of recover plans at a higher LOA can promote better fault comprehension, so long as the automation interface is designed to support efficient information sampling.

  13. Creating corporate advantage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collis, D J; Montgomery, C A

    1998-01-01

    What differentiates truly great corporate strategies from the merely adequate? How can executives at the corporate level create tangible advantage for their businesses that makes the whole more than the sum of the parts? This article presents a comprehensive framework for value creation in the multibusiness company. It addresses the most fundamental questions of corporate strategy: What businesses should a company be in? How should it coordinate activities across businesses? What role should the corporate office play? How should the corporation measure and control performance? Through detailed case studies of Tyco International, Sharp, the Newell Company, and Saatchi and Saatchi, the authors demonstrate that the answers to all those questions are driven largely by the nature of a company's special resources--its assets, skills, and capabilities. These range along a continuum from the highly specialized at one end to the very general at the other. A corporation's location on the continuum constrains the set of businesses it should compete in and limits its choices about the design of its organization. Applying the framework, the authors point out the common mistakes that result from misaligned corporate strategies. Companies mistakenly enter businesses based on similarities in products rather than the resources that contribute to competitive advantage in each business. Instead of tailoring organizational structures and systems to the needs of a particular strategy, they create plain-vanilla corporate offices and infrastructures. The company examples demonstrate that one size does not fit all. One can find great corporate strategies all along the continuum.

  14. Corporate Language Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanden, Guro Refsum

    This paper offers a review of literature dealing with language policies in general and corporate language policies in particular. Based on a discussion of various definitions of these concepts within two research traditions, i.e. sociolinguistics and international management, a three......-level definition of corporate language policies is presented, emphasising that a corporate language policy is a context-specific policy about language use. The three-level definition is based on the argument that in order to acquire a complete understanding of what corporate language policies involve, one needs...... to consider three progressive questions; 1) what is a policy? 2) what is a language policy?, and ultimately, 3) what is a corporate language policy?...

  15. Corporate Language Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanden, Guro Refsum

    2015-01-01

    This paper offers a review of literature dealing with language policies in general and corporate language policies in particular. Based on a discussion of various definitions of these concepts within two research traditions, i.e. sociolinguistics and international management, a three......-level definition of corporate language policies is presented, emphasising that a corporate language policy is a context-specific policy about language use. The three-level definition is based on the argument that in order to acquire a complete understanding of what corporate language policies involve, one needs...... to consider three progressive questions; 1) what is a policy? 2) what is a language policy?, and ultimately, 3) what is a corporate language policy?...

  16. Robotic liquid handling and automation in epigenetics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaisford, Wendy

    2012-10-01

    Automated liquid-handling robots and high-throughput screening (HTS) are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for the screening of large compound libraries, small molecules for activity against disease-relevant target pathways, or proteins. HTS robots capable of low-volume dispensing reduce assay setup times and provide highly accurate and reproducible dispensing, minimizing variation between sample replicates and eliminating the potential for manual error. Low-volume automated nanoliter dispensers ensure accuracy of pipetting within volume ranges that are difficult to achieve manually. In addition, they have the ability to potentially expand the range of screening conditions from often limited amounts of valuable sample, as well as reduce the usage of expensive reagents. The ability to accurately dispense lower volumes provides the potential to achieve a greater amount of information than could be otherwise achieved using manual dispensing technology. With the emergence of the field of epigenetics, an increasing number of drug discovery companies are beginning to screen compound libraries against a range of epigenetic targets. This review discusses the potential for the use of low-volume liquid handling robots, for molecular biological applications such as quantitative PCR and epigenetics.

  17. Corporate Data Network (CDN). Data Requirements Task. Preliminary Strategic Data Plan. Volume 4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-11-01

    The NRC has initiated a multi-year program to centralize its information processing in a Corporate Data Network (CDN). The new information processing environment will include shared databases, telecommunications, office automation tools, and state-of-the-art software. Touche Ross and Company was contracted with to perform a general data requirements analysis for shared databases and to develop a preliminary plan for implementation of the CDN concept. The Enterprise Model (Vol. 1) provided the NRC with agency-wide information requirements in the form of data entities and organizational demand patterns as the basis for clustering the entities into logical groups. The Data Dictionary (Vol.2) provided the NRC with definitions and example attributes and properties for each entity. The Data Model (Vol.3) defined logical databases and entity relationships within and between databases. The Preliminary Strategic Data Plan (Vol. 4) prioritized the development of databases and included a workplan and approach for implementation of the shared database component of the Corporate Data Network

  18. Cellular-automation fluids: A model for flow in porous media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rothman, D.H.

    1987-01-01

    Because the intrinsic inhomogeneity of porous media makes the application of proper boundary conditions difficult, fluid flow through microgeometric models has typically been achieved with idealized arrays of geometrically simple pores, throats, and cracks. The author proposes here an attractive alternative, capable of freely and accurately modeling fluid flow in grossly irregular geometries. This new method numerically solves the Navier-Stokes equations using the cellular-automation fluid model introduced by Frisch, Hasslacher, and Pomeau. The cellular-automation fluid is extraordinarily simple - particles of unit mass traveling with unit velocity reside on a triangular lattice and obey elementary collisions rules - but capable of modeling much of the rich complexity of real fluid flow. The author shows how cellular-automation fluids are applied to the study of porous media. In particular, he discusses issues of scale on the cellular-automation lattice and present the results of 2-D simulations, including numerical estimation of permeability and verification of Darcy's law

  19. Automated extraction of radiation dose information from CT dose report images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xinhua; Zhang, Da; Liu, Bob

    2011-06-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe the development of an automated tool for retrieving texts from CT dose report images. Optical character recognition was adopted to perform text recognitions of CT dose report images. The developed tool is able to automate the process of analyzing multiple CT examinations, including text recognition, parsing, error correction, and exporting data to spreadsheets. The results were precise for total dose-length product (DLP) and were about 95% accurate for CT dose index and DLP of scanned series.

  20. Corporate culture: It's impact on corporate life and business ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Corporate culture: It's impact on corporate life and business practices in Nigeria. ... on the work behaviour of management strategists and business policy makers. ... culture include, multinational organizations as well as mergers/acquisitions.

  1. Еnterprise’s corporate management improvement on the base of corporate culture development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.O. Biliak

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The author reveals extremely important role of corporate culture and uniqueness of the corporate culture system. It is established that the corporate management is characterized above all, by the economic activity and corporate culture practice. The securement of the balance in the process of interaction between organization and its environment plays one of the key roles in any management system. The author determines the influence of corporate culture on the business activity of the enterprise, when personnel predicts the situation development according to which they build models and evaluate their behavior. While realizing them in their activity employees strengthen certain trends and create in such a way appropriate situations. The search of ways of development and changing corporate culture as the base of corporate management improvement is conducted with the use of the strategic approach. The creation of a corporate culture that supports the development strategy of the enterprise, is an essential component of effective business and management, because the culture shapes a socio-psychological climate and corporate spirit which contributes to the operational execution of tasks and achievement of certain goals. Accordingly to the mentioned above, the set of measures of enterprise’s corporate culture development securement is proposed.

  2. Comparison of known food weights with image-based portion-size automated estimation and adolescents' self-reported portion size.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Christina D; Chae, Junghoon; Schap, TusaRebecca E; Kerr, Deborah A; Delp, Edward J; Ebert, David S; Boushey, Carol J

    2012-03-01

    Diet is a critical element of diabetes self-management. An emerging area of research is the use of images for dietary records using mobile telephones with embedded cameras. These tools are being designed to reduce user burden and to improve accuracy of portion-size estimation through automation. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess the error of automatically determined portion weights compared to known portion weights of foods and (2) to compare the error between automation and human. Adolescents (n = 15) captured images of their eating occasions over a 24 h period. All foods and beverages served were weighed. Adolescents self-reported portion sizes for one meal. Image analysis was used to estimate portion weights. Data analysis compared known weights, automated weights, and self-reported portions. For the 19 foods, the mean ratio of automated weight estimate to known weight ranged from 0.89 to 4.61, and 9 foods were within 0.80 to 1.20. The largest error was for lettuce and the most accurate was strawberry jam. The children were fairly accurate with portion estimates for two foods (sausage links, toast) using one type of estimation aid and two foods (sausage links, scrambled eggs) using another aid. The automated method was fairly accurate for two foods (sausage links, jam); however, the 95% confidence intervals for the automated estimates were consistently narrower than human estimates. The ability of humans to estimate portion sizes of foods remains a problem and a perceived burden. Errors in automated portion-size estimation can be systematically addressed while minimizing the burden on people. Future applications that take over the burden of these processes may translate to better diabetes self-management. © 2012 Diabetes Technology Society.

  3. Use of laboratory robots in the automation of a urine plutonium bioassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzales, E.R.; Moss, W.D.; Rodriguez, R.; Martinez, G.M.

    1986-01-01

    Determination of plutonium in urine is a routine procedure performed at Los Alamos. Samples are taken from the many workers who handle plutonium in their day to day activities and from those individuals whose jobs may bring them into contact with this metal. The analytical procedure used is based on alkaline earth phosphate precipitation that coprecipitates the plutonium. This procedure gives excellent results but it involves many manipulative steps and the chances for human error are ever present. In order to eliminate potential human error and decrease analysis time this procedure was automated using a Zymark Corporation robotic workcell. The developmental work for the automation process was divided into two parts: robot programmatic needs - software and hardware, and chemical modifications of existing methods for utilization with the robotic system. The optimum integration of these developments are discussed in this paper

  4. Corporate Business Diplomacy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søndergaard, Mikael

    2014-01-01

    This article illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of the field of corporate business diplomacy using examples from academic disciplines, such as economics and political science, which can contribute to the understanding of corporate business diplomacy. Examples also show that corporate business...... diplomacy can complement business theories such as stakeholder theory and agency theory. Examples from practice show that in a broad sense, corporate business diplomacy is concerned with managing external stakeholders, while in a narrow sense, it is concerned with managing internal stakeholders....... The usefulness of an analytical research triangulation is illustrated....

  5. Corporate boards and ownership structure as antecedents of corporate governance disclosure in Saudi Arabian publicly listed corporations

    OpenAIRE

    Al-Bassam, Waleed M.; Ntim, Collins G.; Opong, Kwaku K.; Downs, Yvonne

    2015-01-01

    This study investigate whether and to what extent publicly listed corporations voluntarily comply with and disclose recommended good corporate governance (CG) practices, and distinctively examine whether the observed cross-sectional differences in such CG disclosures can be explained by ownership and board mechanisms with specific focus on Saudi Arabia. Our results suggest that corporations with larger boards, a big-four auditor, higher government ownership, a CG committee and higher institut...

  6. Construct validity and reliability of automated body reaction test ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Automated Body Reaction Test (ABRT) is a new device for skills and physical assessment instrument to measure ability on react, move quickly and accurately in accordance with stimulus. A total of 474 subjects aged 7-17 years old were randomly selected for the construct validity (n=330) and reliability (n=144). The ABRT ...

  7. Making progress with the automation of systematic reviews: principles of the International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beller, Elaine; Clark, Justin; Tsafnat, Guy; Adams, Clive; Diehl, Heinz; Lund, Hans; Ouzzani, Mourad; Thayer, Kristina; Thomas, James; Turner, Tari; Xia, Jun; Robinson, Karen; Glasziou, Paul

    2018-05-19

    Systematic reviews (SR) are vital to health care, but have become complicated and time-consuming, due to the rapid expansion of evidence to be synthesised. Fortunately, many tasks of systematic reviews have the potential to be automated or may be assisted by automation. Recent advances in natural language processing, text mining and machine learning have produced new algorithms that can accurately mimic human endeavour in systematic review activity, faster and more cheaply. Automation tools need to be able to work together, to exchange data and results. Therefore, we initiated the International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR), to successfully put all the parts of automation of systematic review production together. The first meeting was held in Vienna in October 2015. We established a set of principles to enable tools to be developed and integrated into toolkits.This paper sets out the principles devised at that meeting, which cover the need for improvement in efficiency of SR tasks, automation across the spectrum of SR tasks, continuous improvement, adherence to high quality standards, flexibility of use and combining components, the need for a collaboration and varied skills, the desire for open source, shared code and evaluation, and a requirement for replicability through rigorous and open evaluation.Automation has a great potential to improve the speed of systematic reviews. Considerable work is already being done on many of the steps involved in a review. The 'Vienna Principles' set out in this paper aim to guide a more coordinated effort which will allow the integration of work by separate teams and build on the experience, code and evaluations done by the many teams working across the globe.

  8. Corporate insurance and debt capacity: Empirical evidence from Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrizio Santoboni

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available In banks/enterprises relationships a key role is played by Basel II Framework, which accurately correlates banks’ capital requirement to risks, by stimulating a more precise creditworthiness assessment. As known, the containment of risks inherent in bank financing can be carried out ex ante, through an adequate screening, which allows the proper assessment of enterprises’ economic and financial situation and a sound composition of the total loan portfolio, and ex post, through guarantees, which allow benefiting from a loss reduction only after insolvency has occurred. From this perspective, Basel II Framework brings important changes, since life insurance and surety policy are “eligible” guarantees for Credit Risk Mitigation. Nevertheless, banks could offer a better pricing to borrowers not because they are less risky, but because the whole operation would need a lower capital requirement. Therefore, corporate risks reduction – which would allow, in the absence of credit rationing, a more profitable debt capacity – is necessarily achieved through an appropriate “umbrella insurance”, able to cope with both direct and indirect loss. This work aims at investigating the existence of a “virtuous” relationship among corporate insurance purchases, credit risk and debt capacity. Such aim has been pursued through different steps: review of literature, to identify the reasons of corporate demand for insurance; analysis of Italian enterprises’ corporate insurance purchases; drafting of a questionnaire, to submit to a sample of the main insurance companies working in Italy, intended to identify what kind of role they play in the relation with enterprises and which insurance products they offer; drafting of a questionnaire, to submit to a sample of the main banks working in Italy, intended to investigate whether and how the possession of corporate insurance is taken into consideration in the determination of enterprises

  9. Automated medical image segmentation techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharma Neeraj

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate segmentation of medical images is a key step in contouring during radiotherapy planning. Computed topography (CT and Magnetic resonance (MR imaging are the most widely used radiographic techniques in diagnosis, clinical studies and treatment planning. This review provides details of automated segmentation methods, specifically discussed in the context of CT and MR images. The motive is to discuss the problems encountered in segmentation of CT and MR images, and the relative merits and limitations of methods currently available for segmentation of medical images.

  10. The Corporate Marketing Department

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ritter, Thomas; Eggert, Andreas; Münkhoff, Eva

    Corporate marketing has been downsized or eliminated in many firms. At the same time, firms that still own a corporate marketing department struggle with organizing and positioning their commercial front‐end. The question arises whether firms need a corporate marketing department, and if so, how...... it can best add value to the firm. Based on a qualitative study among B2B companies, we develop a conceptual framework highlighting the various parental roles through which corporate marketing can contribute to overall firm and business unit performance. In addition, we identify five gaps that restrain...... successful outcomes of corporate marketing activities. In sum, our framework provides important insights on how to successfully organize corporate marketing activities....

  11. Global business management for sustainability and competitiveness: The role of corporate branding, corporate identity and corporate reputation

    OpenAIRE

    Gupta, Suraksha; Melewar, T.C.; Czinkota, Michael C.

    2013-01-01

    This special issue of the Journal of World Business is devoted to the role of intangibles of a firm in building sustainable business for success in competitive markets. The research articles included in this issue have contributed to the on-going academic knowledge about the ability of marketing and management practices to drive business sustainability. This special issue on business sustainabili- ty focuses on the role of corporate branding, corporate identity and corporate reputation.

  12. Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Innovation: A Conceptual Understanding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jali Muhamad Nizam

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In decades, various organizations worldwide engaged with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR in order to show their corporate commitments and responsibilities towards societies at large. These commitments and responsibilities are coming from monetary and non-monetary resources for example cash, equipment’s and human resources whom are used for social purposes and activities that leads to a betterment of society and also to improved organization reputation. However, in today’s knowledge and innovation led economy, organizations can no longer affords to get involve in charity and community services merely to fulfil social return without having any sort of economic payoffs. This situation warrants organizations moving beyond CSR to Corporate Social Innovation. This paper explores conceptual understanding between CSR and Corporate Social Innovation. CSR is a traditional philanthropy and old paradigm which is somewhat no longer sufficient in coping with current economic situation. Hence, this paper provides an insight and suggests that corporate social innovation as an emergence new paradigm that perhaps could provide a comprehensive representation in the era of knowledge and innovation led economy that will leads to real change in improving the well-being of people’s life, enhance economic and technological growth. Furthermore, this paper also highlighted knowledge resource is the most significant resource of Corporate Social Innovation.

  13. [Research and Design of a System for Detecting Automated External Defbrillator Performance Parameters].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Kewu; Xiao, Shengxiang; Jiang, Lina; Hu, Jingkai

    2017-09-30

    In order to regularly detect the performance parameters of automated external defibrillator (AED), to make sure it is safe before using the instrument, research and design of a system for detecting automated external defibrillator performance parameters. According to the research of the characteristics of its performance parameters, combing the STM32's stability and high speed with PWM modulation control, the system produces a variety of ECG normal and abnormal signals through the digital sampling methods. Completed the design of the hardware and software, formed a prototype. This system can accurate detect automated external defibrillator discharge energy, synchronous defibrillation time, charging time and other key performance parameters.

  14. INTEGRATED CORPORATE STRATEGY MODEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CATALINA SORIANA SITNIKOV

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Corporations are at present operating in demanding and highly unsure periods, facing a mixture of increased macroeconomic need, competitive and capital market dangers, and in many cases, the prospect for significant technical and regulative gap. Throughout these demanding and highly unsure times, the corporations must pay particular attention to corporate strategy. In present times, corporate strategy must be perceived and used as a function of various fields, covers, and characters as well as a highly interactive system. For the corporation's strategy to become a competitive advantage is necessary to understand and also to integrate it in a holistic model to ensure sustainable progress of corporation activities under the optimum conditions of profitability. The model proposed in this paper is aimed at integrating the two strategic models, Hoshin Kanri and Integrated Strategy Model, as well as their consolidation with the principles of sound corporate governance set out by the OECD.

  15. Corporations as social contractors : a study on corporate social responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Kalstad, Marius Aas

    2007-01-01

    This thesis takes up the issue of the role of business in today s society, in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The research question is: Do corporations/does business have responsibilities beyond maximising profit for owners? Social contract theory, as presented by Hobbes and Locke, is used to morally justify a corporate responsibility that goes beyond the traditional business responsibility of maximising profit for stolckholders. Further, the stakeholder model is proscribed...

  16. Corporate environmental responsibility – a key determinant of corporate reputation

    OpenAIRE

    Cristina Ganescu; Laura Dindire

    2014-01-01

    This paper aims to determine the trend of the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and corporate reputation by focusing on a study of the European automotive sector. The starting point of our research is content analysis of the sustainability or social responsibility reports published in 2010, 2011, and 2012 by 13 businesses operating in the European automotive industry. Content analysis was carried out in order to identify the indicators used to assess corporate enviro...

  17. Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: A typology of OECD countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Crifo

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article investigates the relationships between corporate governance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR. The underlying intuition is that governance factors are major determinants of CSR policies and extra-financial performance. More precisely, we identify three main factors that determine the strength of CSR engagement at the firm level: the structure of equity ownership (identity of shareholders, the composition and structure of board of directors, and the regulatory framework on corporate governance and CSR. We show how evolutions regarding corporate governance over the three previous decades have paved the way and shaped the rise of CSR. In addition, we elaborate a typology of CSR and governance structures that characterize OECD countries depending on whether the CSR reporting regime is stringent versus non-stringent, and on whether the corporate governance model is based on the shareholder, stakeholder or hybrid regime.

  18. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. EXAMPLE ROSIA MONTANA GOLD CORPORATION

    OpenAIRE

    Vasile Burja; Silvia – Stefania Mihalache

    2010-01-01

    Corporate Social Responsibility, a concept without a world accepted definition is starting to beused in Romania as well. This is the reason why in the present article we try to make a theoreticaldescription of the present concept and to exemplify it by presenting the responsible activities of acorporation in Romania, Rosia Montana Gold Corporation.

  19. Corporate Governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragoș-Mihail Daghie

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to analyze and understand the recently introduced form of managementof a company limited by shares. The Law no. 441/2006, which fundamentally amended Company Law,created this form of controlling the company, the corporate governance, but the legislation does not explicitlydefine what it wants to achieve through this instrument. This topic is recent in research as the theme ofgerman-roman commercial law systems (in French corporate governance system was introduced in 1966 andin Romania in 2006 but in terms of Anglo-Saxon law, the topic has been addressed years since 1776 (AdamSmith: The Wealth of Nations The concept of corporate governance would like, as a result, to establish somerules that companies must comply in order to achieve effective governance, transparent and beneficial forboth shareholders and for the minority. Corporate governance is a key element with an aim at improvingefficiency and economic growth in full accordance with the increase of investors’ confidence. Corporategovernance assumes a series of relationship between the company management, leadership, shareholders andthe other people concerned. Also corporate governance provides for that structure by means of which thecompany’s targets are set out and the means to achieve them and also the manner how to monitor such.

  20. Comparison between manual and automated techniques for assessment of data from dynamic antral scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misiara, Gustavo P.; Troncon, Luiz E.A.; Secaf, Marie; Moraes, Eder R.

    2008-01-01

    This work aimed at determining whether data from dynamic antral scintigraphy (DAS) yielded by a simple, manual technique are as accurate as those generated by a conventional automated technique (fast Fourier transform) for assessing gastric contractility. Seventy-one stretches (4 min) of 'activity versus time' curves obtained by DAS from 10 healthy volunteers and 11 functional dyspepsia patients, after ingesting a liquid meal (320 ml, 437 kcal) labeled with technetium-99m ( 99m Tc)-phytate, were independently analyzed by manual and automated techniques. Data obtained by both techniques for the frequency of antral contractions were similar. Contraction amplitude determined by the manual technique was significantly higher than that estimated by the automated method, in both patients and controls. The contraction frequency 30 min post-meal was significantly lower in patients than in controls, which was correctly shown by both techniques. A manual technique using ordinary resources of the gamma camera workstation, despite yielding higher figures for the amplitude of gastric contractions, is as accurate as the conventional automated technique of DAS analysis. These findings may favor a more intensive use of DAS coupled to gastric emptying studies, which would provide a more comprehensive assessment of gastric motor function in disease. (author)

  1. Corporate Governance Country Assessment : Malaysia

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2012-01-01

    This report assesses Ghana s corporate governance policy framework. It highlights recent improvements in corporate governance regulation, makes policy recommendations, and provides investors with a benchmark against which to measure corporate governance in Ghana. It is an update of the 2005 Corporate Governance ROSC. Good corporate governance enhances investor trust, helps to protects mino...

  2. The Essential Elements of Corporate Law. What is Corporate Law?

    OpenAIRE

    Armour, John; Hansmann, Henry; Kraakman, Reinier

    2017-01-01

    This article is the first chapter of the second edition of “The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach”, by Reinier Kraakman, John Armour, Paul Davies, Luca Enriques, Henry Hansmann, Gerard Hertig, Klaus Hopt, HidekiKanda and Edward Rock (Oxford University Press, 2009). The book as a whole provides a functional analysis of Corporate (or Company) Law in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Its organization reflects the structure of Corporate Law throughout all jurisdictions, w...

  3. Does Corporate Social Responsibility Shape the Relationship between Corporate Governance and Financial Performance?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaja Suteja

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The correlation between theoretical and empirical of corporate governance (CG and corporate financial performance (CFP is not there without controversy. This paper aims to determine the moderating effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR, on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate financial performance. The sample of this research are banking companies that are listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange between the period of 2010-2014, taken by using purposive sampling method. Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA analysis was used in this study. The results of this study indicate that corporate governance affects the company's financial performance positively. Aspects of corporate governance such as audit committees and number of board meetings have a positive relationship with financial performance, but there is no relationship from the aspect of independent board of commissioners. Furthermore, CSR can only strengthen the positive relationship between the number of board of commissioners’ meetings and the financial performance of the company. The frequency intensity of board of commissioners’ meetings can increasingly address corporate governance reforms by improving and realizing social responsibility as part of sustainability innovation by optimizing media and CSR reporting methods.

  4. Microelectronics Revolution And The Impact Of Automation In The New Industrialized Countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baranauskas, Vitor

    1984-08-01

    A brief review of some important historical points on the origin of the Factories and the Industrial Revolution is presented with emphasis in the social problems related to the automation of the human labor. Until the World War I, the social changes provoked by the Industrial Revolution caused one division of the World in developed and underdeveloped countries. After that period, the less developed nations began their industrialization mainly through the Multinationals Corporations (MC). These enterprises were very important to the production and exportation of utilities and manufactures in general, mainly in those products which required intensive and direct human labor. At present time, with the pervasiveness of microelectronics in the automation, this age seems to reaching an end because all continous processes in industry tend economicaly toward total automation. This fact will cause a retraction in long-term investments and, beyond massive unemployment, there is a tendency for these MC industries to return to their original countries. The most promising alternative to avoid these events, and perhaps the unique, is to incentive an autonomous development in areas of high technology, as for instance, the microelectronics itself.

  5. Revisiting the Complexities of Corporate Branding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gyrd-Jones, Richard; Merrilees, Bill; Miller, Dale

    2013-01-01

    The evolution of corporate branding literature since the seminal paper by Balmer is evaluated. The literature exhibits signs of maturing, which is evidenced by multiple theoretical underpinnings and a widening scope. Four themes are identified: (i) corporate brand as differentiation; (ii) corporate...... brand as corporate communication; (iii) corporate brand as a values-based approach; and (iv) corporate brand as internal branding approaches. We give special attention to issues of corporate communication, corporate identity, corporate vision, multiple stakeholders, alignment, multiple voices, corporate...... values and organisational culture. The themes are examined through a ‘paradox’ lens. Each theme is discussed in terms of the theoretical challenges arising from complexities in that aspect of corporate branding, ensuing apparent paradoxes and possible solutions for each paradox. The paradoxes...

  6. Smartnotebook: A semi-automated approach to protein sequential NMR resonance assignments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slupsky, Carolyn M.; Boyko, Robert F.; Booth, Valerie K.; Sykes, Brian D.

    2003-01-01

    Complete and accurate NMR spectral assignment is a prerequisite for high-throughput automated structure determination of biological macromolecules. However, completely automated assignment procedures generally encounter difficulties for all but the most ideal data sets. Sources of these problems include difficulty in resolving correlations in crowded spectral regions, as well as complications arising from dynamics, such as weak or missing peaks, or atoms exhibiting more than one peak due to exchange phenomena. Smartnotebook is a semi-automated assignment software package designed to combine the best features of the automated and manual approaches. The software finds and displays potential connections between residues, while the spectroscopist makes decisions on which connection is correct, allowing rapid and robust assignment. In addition, smartnotebook helps the user fit chains of connected residues to the primary sequence of the protein by comparing the experimentally determined chemical shifts with expected shifts derived from a chemical shift database, while providing bookkeeping throughout the assignment procedure

  7. The Impact of Corporate Board Meetings on Corporate Performance ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Our findings suggest a statistically significant and positive association between the frequency of corporate board meetings and corporate performance, implying that SA boards that meet more frequently tend to generate higher financial performance. A further investigation indicates a significant non-monotonic link between ...

  8. Corporate Schooling Meets Corporate Media: Standards, Testing, and Technophilia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saltman, Kenneth J.

    2016-01-01

    Educational publishing corporations and media corporations in the United States have been converging, especially through the promotion of standardization, testing, and for-profit educational technologies. Media and technology companies--including News Corp, Apple, and Microsoft--have significantly expanded their presence in public schools to sell…

  9. Transnational Corporations and Corporate Citizenship: Analyzing New Roles of Organization Development Practitioners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stolz, Ingo Stephan

    2012-01-01

    Research shows that too few transnational corporations (TNCs) have the organizational capacity to manage corporate citizenship. Evidence exists that ever more TNCs adopt programs of corporate citizenship development in order to increase this capacity. However, both in academic and practical literature, there is a general lack of a strategic…

  10. 12 CFR 561.15 - Corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Corporation. 561.15 Section 561.15 Banks and... SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS § 561.15 Corporation. The terms Corporation and FDIC mean the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. ...

  11. A new framework for analysing automated acoustic species-detection data: occupancy estimation and optimization of recordings post-processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambert, Thierry A.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Miller, David A.W.; Walls, Susan; Nichols, James D.

    2018-01-01

    The development and use of automated species-detection technologies, such as acoustic recorders, for monitoring wildlife are rapidly expanding. Automated classification algorithms provide a cost- and time-effective means to process information-rich data, but often at the cost of additional detection errors. Appropriate methods are necessary to analyse such data while dealing with the different types of detection errors.We developed a hierarchical modelling framework for estimating species occupancy from automated species-detection data. We explore design and optimization of data post-processing procedures to account for detection errors and generate accurate estimates. Our proposed method accounts for both imperfect detection and false positive errors and utilizes information about both occurrence and abundance of detections to improve estimation.Using simulations, we show that our method provides much more accurate estimates than models ignoring the abundance of detections. The same findings are reached when we apply the methods to two real datasets on North American frogs surveyed with acoustic recorders.When false positives occur, estimator accuracy can be improved when a subset of detections produced by the classification algorithm is post-validated by a human observer. We use simulations to investigate the relationship between accuracy and effort spent on post-validation, and found that very accurate occupancy estimates can be obtained with as little as 1% of data being validated.Automated monitoring of wildlife provides opportunity and challenges. Our methods for analysing automated species-detection data help to meet key challenges unique to these data and will prove useful for many wildlife monitoring programs.

  12. 12 CFR 583.8 - Corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Corporation. 583.8 Section 583.8 Banks and... SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES § 583.8 Corporation. The term Corporation means the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. ...

  13. Automated Segmentability Index for Layer Segmentation of Macular SD-OCT Images

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lee, K.; Buitendijk, G.H.; Bogunovic, H.; Springelkamp, H.; Hofman, A.; Wahle, A.; Sonka, M.; Vingerling, J.R.; Klaver, C.C.W.; Abramoff, M.D.

    2016-01-01

    PURPOSE: To automatically identify which spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans will provide reliable automated layer segmentations for more accurate layer thickness analyses in population studies. METHODS: Six hundred ninety macular SD-OCT image volumes (6.0 x 6.0 x 2.3 mm3)

  14. Corporal punishment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauman, L J; Friedman, S B

    1998-04-01

    Pediatricians differ on the optimal ways to discipline children. The major controversy surrounds the use of corporal punishment. In an effort to resolve this controversy, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) cosponsored a conference entitled "The Short and Long-Term Consequences of Corporal Punishment" in February 1996. This article reviews scientific literature on corporal punishment and summarizes the proceedings from the conference. The authors conclude that, although the research data are inadequate to resolve the controversy, there are areas of consensus. Practitioners should assess the spanking practices of the parent they see and counsel parents to avoid those that are, by AAP consensus, dangerous, ineffective, or abusive.

  15. Corporate risk management : an overview

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oosterhof, Casper M.

    2001-01-01

    Corporate risk management and hedging are important activities within financial as well as non-financial corporations. Under the assumptions of Modigliani and Miller [1958], corporate risk management is a redundant activity. However, the existence of market imperfections can explain the corporate

  16. Corporate marketing: Apocalypse, advent and epiphany

    OpenAIRE

    Balmer, JMT

    2009-01-01

    Purpose - this paper aims to explain the nature and relevance of corporate marketing and details the antecedents of the territory. Corporate marketing is a marketing and management paradigm which synthesises practical and theoretical insights from corporate image and reputation, corporate identity, corporate communications and corporate branding, among other corporate-level constructs. Design/methodology/approach – via the adoption of a quadrivium; a traditional classical, four-part, app...

  17. Automated measurement of office, home and ambulatory blood pressure in atrial fibrillation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kollias, Anastasios; Stergiou, George S

    2014-01-01

    1. Hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF) often coexist and are strong risk factors for stroke. Current guidelines for blood pressure (BP) measurement in AF recommend repeated measurements using the auscultatory method, whereas the accuracy of the automated devices is regarded as questionable. This review presents the current evidence on the feasibility and accuracy of automated BP measurement in the presence of AF and the potential for automated detection of undiagnosed AF during such measurements. 2. Studies evaluating the use of automated BP monitors in AF are limited and have significant heterogeneity in methodology and protocols. Overall, the oscillometric method is feasible for static (office or home) and ambulatory use and appears to be more accurate for systolic than diastolic BP measurement. 3. Given that systolic hypertension is particularly common and important in the elderly, the automated BP measurement method may be acceptable for self-home and ambulatory monitoring, but not for professional office or clinic measurement. 4. An embedded algorithm for the detection of asymptomatic AF during routine automated BP measurement with high diagnostic accuracy has been developed and appears to be a useful screening tool for elderly hypertensives. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  18. Altering user' acceptance of automation through prior automation exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bekier, Marek; Molesworth, Brett R C

    2017-06-01

    Air navigation service providers worldwide see increased use of automation as one solution to overcome the capacity constraints imbedded in the present air traffic management (ATM) system. However, increased use of automation within any system is dependent on user acceptance. The present research sought to determine if the point at which an individual is no longer willing to accept or cooperate with automation can be manipulated. Forty participants underwent training on a computer-based air traffic control programme, followed by two ATM exercises (order counterbalanced), one with and one without the aid of automation. Results revealed after exposure to a task with automation assistance, user acceptance of high(er) levels of automation ('tipping point') decreased; suggesting it is indeed possible to alter automation acceptance. Practitioner Summary: This paper investigates whether the point at which a user of automation rejects automation (i.e. 'tipping point') is constant or can be manipulated. The results revealed after exposure to a task with automation assistance, user acceptance of high(er) levels of automation decreased; suggesting it is possible to alter automation acceptance.

  19. Corporate Finance, Incomplete Contracts, and Corporate Control

    OpenAIRE

    Patrick Bolton

    2014-01-01

    This essay in celebration of Grossman and Hart (GH) (Grossman, S., and H. Oliver. 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," 94 Journal of Political Economy 691–719.) discusses how the introduction of incomplete contracts has fundamentally changed economists’ perspectives on corporate finance and control. Before GH, the dominant theory in corporate finance was the tradeoff theory pitting the tax advantages of debt (relative to equity) against ba...

  20. Corporate Risk Disclosure and Corporate Governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaouthar Lajili

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available To date, research which integrates corporate governance and risk management has been limited. Yet, risk exposure and management are increasingly becoming the core function of modern business enterprises in various sectors and industries domestically and globally. Risk identification and management are crucial in any business strategy design and implementation. From the investors’ point of view, knowledge of the risk profile, risk appetite and risk management are key elements in making sound portfolio investment decisions. This paper examines the relationships between corporate governance mechanisms and risk disclosure behavior using a sample of Canadian publicly-traded companies (TSX 230. Results show that Canadian public companies are more likely to disclose risk management information over and above the mandatory risk disclosures, if they are larger in size and if their boards of directors have more independent members. Minority voting control ownership structures appear to negatively impact risk disclosure and CEO incentive compensation shows mixed results. The paper concludes that more research is needed to further assess the impact of various governance mechanisms on corporate risk management and disclosure behavior.

  1. THE SOUND OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DUMITRASCU LUMINITA MIHAELA

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper explores the corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in music industry, by reviewing the literature and investigating the aspects in the context of a sample made by top companies in this domain. The paper spotlighting the mutual connections between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. The research methodology used consists in investigate the corporate governance codes. It’s about a qualitative interpretive research methodology that was adopted. The findings suggest the intercorelation of corporate governance with corporate social responsibility. The main contribution of the author consists in the fact that the added value of this paper and the original contribution leads in the intercorelation of these two aspects of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, the findings beeing interesting, implying that recent preoccupation with corporate governance in music industry is starting to be equable by some attention to social responsibility aspects, with growing appreciation of their interdependencies. Previous literature has researched corporate governance and corporate social responsibility independently. Due to this fact, this paper is considering them jointly. The paper is important for both practical and theoretical aspects: for managers and also can serve as the basis for future research on this topic. The current paper is realized in the doctoral program entitled “PhD in Economics at the Standards of European Knowledge- DoEsEc”, scientific coordinator Prof. PhD Niculae Feleaga, Institution: The Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, Faculty of Accounting and Management Informatic System, Department of International Accounting, period of research 2009-2012.

  2. CORPORATE BRANDING COWORKING PLACE IN BANDUNG (CORPORATE BRANDING COWORKING SPACE DI BANDUNG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dewi Damayanti

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The title of this research is “Corporate Branding Coworking Space in Bandung” with the subtitle is “Descriptive Study of Corporate Branding Coworking Space in Bandung to Create Product Differentiation”. The high demand for economical workspace makes business coworking space growing. The growth happen in Bandung and make the level of competition coworking space in Bandung is quite high, especially with the uniformity of the product offered each coworking space. Seeing these growth, researchers interested in conducting research on how corporate branding coworking space in Bandung to create product differentiation.The purpose of this study is to discover how company create the vision, implemented vision to their corporate culture, and the compability between their vision and image of Bandung Digital Valley, Freenovation, and Ruang Reka that stakeholder created. The method used in this research is descriptive method with qualitative data and Hatch & Schultz’s concept of corporate branding. The data collection techniques used in interviews, observation, and documentation study.The result of this study indicate that Bandung Digital Valley, Freenovation, and Ruang Reka focus to introduce the company to their target market. Started from create the vision of the company by founder based on their experiences and business opportunity. Then, the application of corporate vision to corporate culture. Non of Bandung Digital Valley, Freenovation, or Ruang Reka implement the vision into corporate culture. Last, Bandung Digital Valley, Freenovation, and Ruang Reka think it is not a right time to create corporate image because they need to improve the quality of their facility first.   Keywords : corporate branding, product differentiation, Bandung Digital Valley, Freenovation, Ruang Reka Judul penelitian yang diangkat adalah “Corporate Branding Coworking Space di Bandung” dengan sub judul Studi Deskriptif mengenai Corporate Branding Coworking

  3. 75 FR 60138 - Consolidated Glass and Mirror Corporation, a Subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, Galax...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-73,579] Consolidated Glass and Mirror Corporation, a Subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, Galax, VA; Notice of Affirmative... Consolidated Glass and Mirror Corporation, a Subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, Galax, Virginia...

  4. 76 FR 19472 - Consolidated Glass and Mirror Corporation, a Subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, Galax...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-07

    ... Mirror Corporation, a Subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, Galax, VA; Notice of Negative... and Mirror Corporation, a Subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, Galax, Virginia (subject firm... firm, stated that the Galax, Virginia facility is owned by ``Guardian Industries, a [[Page 19473...

  5. IMAGE CONSTRUCTION TO AUTOMATION OF PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES FOR PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalia Pavlova

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The search for a solution of automation of the process of assessment of a psychological analysis of the person drawings created by it from an available set of some templates are presented at this article. It will allow to reveal more effectively infringements of persons mentality. In particular, such decision can be used for work with children who possess the developed figurative thinking, but are not yet capable of an accurate statement of the thoughts and experiences. For automation of testing by using a projective method, we construct interactive environment for visualization of compositions of the several images and then analyse

  6. Corporate Involvement in C AI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Justine C.

    1978-01-01

    Historic perspective of computer manufacturers and their contribution to CAI. Corporate CAI products and services are mentioned, as is a forecast for educational involvement by computer corporations. A chart of major computer corporations shows gross sales, net earnings, products and services offered, and other corporate information. (RAO)

  7. Corporate values of the 25 largest European banks : Exploring the ambiguous link with corporate scandals

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ehrenhard, Michel L.; Fiorito, Timo L.

    2018-01-01

    Corporate value statements communicate what a firm aspires for and what drives their value creation. In addition, corporate values often also define which behaviors are acceptable and which are not. Ideally, corporate values are representations of a firm's informal corporate values and

  8. Relationship between Corporate Governance and Information Security Governance Effectiveness in United States Corporations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Robert E.

    2017-01-01

    Cyber attackers targeting large corporations achieved a high perimeter penetration success rate during 2013, resulting in many corporations incurring financial losses. Corporate information technology leaders have a fiduciary responsibility to implement information security domain processes that effectually address the challenges for preventing…

  9. Automated brain structure segmentation based on atlas registration and appearance models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    van der Lijn, Fedde; de Bruijne, Marleen; Klein, Stefan

    2012-01-01

    Accurate automated brain structure segmentation methods facilitate the analysis of large-scale neuroimaging studies. This work describes a novel method for brain structure segmentation in magnetic resonance images that combines information about a structure’s location and appearance. The spatial...... with different magnetic resonance sequences, in which the hippocampus and cerebellum were segmented by an expert. Furthermore, the method is compared to two other segmentation techniques that were applied to the same data. Results show that the atlas- and appearance-based method produces accurate results...

  10. Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in Indonesian public listed companies

    OpenAIRE

    Ika Siti Rochmah; Dwiwinarno Titop; Widagdo Ari Kuncara

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to investigate whether theree has been a change in the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and to examine whether corporate governance attributes influence CSR disclosure in corporate annual report of Indonesian public listed companies(PLCs). The annual reports of 115 PLC for two years (2011 and 2012) were analysed using content analysis. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to determine factors influencing CSR disclosure in annual reports. Consisten...

  11. Development of an automated asbestos counting software based on fluorescence microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexandrov, Maxym; Ichida, Etsuko; Nishimura, Tomoki; Aoki, Kousuke; Ishida, Takenori; Hirota, Ryuichi; Ikeda, Takeshi; Kawasaki, Tetsuo; Kuroda, Akio

    2015-01-01

    An emerging alternative to the commonly used analytical methods for asbestos analysis is fluorescence microscopy (FM), which relies on highly specific asbestos-binding probes to distinguish asbestos from interfering non-asbestos fibers. However, all types of microscopic asbestos analysis require laborious examination of large number of fields of view and are prone to subjective errors and large variability between asbestos counts by different analysts and laboratories. A possible solution to these problems is automated counting of asbestos fibers by image analysis software, which would lower the cost and increase the reliability of asbestos testing. This study seeks to develop a fiber recognition and counting software for FM-based asbestos analysis. We discuss the main features of the developed software and the results of its testing. Software testing showed good correlation between automated and manual counts for the samples with medium and high fiber concentrations. At low fiber concentrations, the automated counts were less accurate, leading us to implement correction mode for automated counts. While the full automation of asbestos analysis would require further improvements in accuracy of fiber identification, the developed software could already assist professional asbestos analysts and record detailed fiber dimensions for the use in epidemiological research.

  12. 77 FR 65543 - Energy Corporation of America; Eastern American Energy Corporation; First ECA Midstream LLC...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-29

    ... Corporation of America; Eastern American Energy Corporation; First ECA Midstream LLC; Notice of Application Take notice that on October 16, 2012, Energy Corporation of America and Eastern American Energy Corporation (collectively, ECA), and First ECA Midstream LLC (First ECA Midstream), 501 56th Street SE...

  13. Innovative building automation concept for Pumavision Headquarters. Where Pimas are feeling well; Innovatives Gebaeudeautomationskonzept fuer Pumavision Headquarters. Wo Pumas sich wohl fuehlen sollen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Habermann, Ralf [IPM Gebaeudeleittechnik GmbH, Feucht bei Nuernberg (Germany); Kerz, Thomas [Siemens-Div. Building Technologies Deutschland, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Business Unit CPS; Vogel, Helmut [Siemens-Div. Building Technologies Deutschland, Muenchen (Germany). Business Unit CPS Region Bayern

    2011-03-15

    The sport's and lifestyle company PUMA (Herzogenaurach, Federal Republic of Germany) claims the establishment of the first climate neutral corporate headquarter of its industry. Therefore, the electricity for the new 35,000 m{sup 2} large corporate headquarters exclusively results from renewable energy sources. The conversion of this goal is supported by the interdisciplinary building automation system Desigo from Siemens AG (Munich, Federal Republic of Germany). The basic heating and basic cooling of the main building are performed by a concrete core tempering. A part of the heating and cooling is produced by means of two heat pumps.

  14. Fast and Accurate Approaches for Large-Scale, Automated Mapping of Food Diaries on Food Composition Tables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Lamarine

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Aim of Study: The use of weighed food diaries in nutritional studies provides a powerful method to quantify food and nutrient intakes. Yet, mapping these records onto food composition tables (FCTs is a challenging, time-consuming and error-prone process. Experts make this effort manually and no automation has been previously proposed. Our study aimed to assess automated approaches to map food items onto FCTs.Methods: We used food diaries (~170,000 records pertaining to 4,200 unique food items from the DiOGenes randomized clinical trial. We attempted to map these items onto six FCTs available from the EuroFIR resource. Two approaches were tested: the first was based solely on food name similarity (fuzzy matching. The second used a machine learning approach (C5.0 classifier combining both fuzzy matching and food energy. We tested mapping food items using their original names and also an English-translation. Top matching pairs were reviewed manually to derive performance metrics: precision (the percentage of correctly mapped items and recall (percentage of mapped items.Results: The simpler approach: fuzzy matching, provided very good performance. Under a relaxed threshold (score > 50%, this approach enabled to remap 99.49% of the items with a precision of 88.75%. With a slightly more stringent threshold (score > 63%, the precision could be significantly improved to 96.81% while keeping a recall rate > 95% (i.e., only 5% of the queried items would not be mapped. The machine learning approach did not lead to any improvements compared to the fuzzy matching. However, it could increase substantially the recall rate for food items without any clear equivalent in the FCTs (+7 and +20% when mapping items using their original or English-translated names. Our approaches have been implemented as R packages and are freely available from GitHub.Conclusion: This study is the first to provide automated approaches for large-scale food item mapping onto FCTs. We

  15. Information and Corporate Cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drake, Miriam A.

    1984-01-01

    This paper defines "corporate culture" (set of values and beliefs shared by people working in an organization which represents employees' collective judgments about future) and discusses importance of corporate culture, nature of corporate cultures in business and academia, and role of information in shaping present and future corporate…

  16. Negative employee corporate brand identification: A case study of a prominent Malaysian University corporate brand

    OpenAIRE

    Syed alwi, SF; Balmer, JMT; CheHa, N; Yen, D

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to investigate negative employee corporate brand identification towards a business school in Malaysia. The research marshals the nascent literature of corporate brand identification (Balmer and Liao 2007; Balmer, Liao and Wang 2008) which marked new ground by drawing on social identity theory in corporate branding contexts. Corporate brand identification is relatively new concept but has been recognized as very important facet of corporate marketing (Balmer and Li...

  17. Automated smartphone audiometry: Validation of a word recognition test app.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewyer, Nicholas A; Jiradejvong, Patpong; Henderson Sabes, Jennifer; Limb, Charles J

    2018-03-01

    Develop and validate an automated smartphone word recognition test. Cross-sectional case-control diagnostic test comparison. An automated word recognition test was developed as an app for a smartphone with earphones. English-speaking adults with recent audiograms and various levels of hearing loss were recruited from an audiology clinic and were administered the smartphone word recognition test. Word recognition scores determined by the smartphone app and the gold standard speech audiometry test performed by an audiologist were compared. Test scores for 37 ears were analyzed. Word recognition scores determined by the smartphone app and audiologist testing were in agreement, with 86% of the data points within a clinically acceptable margin of error and a linear correlation value between test scores of 0.89. The WordRec automated smartphone app accurately determines word recognition scores. 3b. Laryngoscope, 128:707-712, 2018. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  18. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE AND CORPORATE DIVERSIFICATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE MALAYSIAN LISTED COMPANIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayoib Che Ahmad

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has contributed much to our understanding of the relationship between corporate diversification strategy and corporate governance quality. The majority of published works has been on sophisticated and mature markets in first world nations. This paper extends previous knowledge by examining this relationship in a developing country. Malaysia is a developing country that provides a rich setting for corporate governance research. The structure of the business environment and the availability of published data make it an interesting research site.The results showed that outside blockholding especially non-institutional blockholding was negatively associated with diversification. However, evidence of significant relationship between managerial ownership and diversification was not found although the directions were generally as expected. Similarly, good corporate governance was shown to reduce diversification activities. The variable for separate board structure was consistently significant in most of the estimations. However, the other measure of corporate governance namely the proportion of outside directors was not as significant as might be expected. The study opens the way for a richer understanding of the links between corporate governance, ownership structure and corporate diversification in a developing country.

  19. Corporate Universities and Corporation- University Partnerships in Thailand: Complimenting Education in Learning, Leadership and Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oliver S. Crocco

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available With an estimated workforce of 285 million and the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, ASEAN faces vast challenges in human resource development (HRD and higher education. These challenges in Thailand have resulted in the rise of corporate universities and corporation-university partnerships. Corporate partnerships in education adapt quickly to industry needs and are increasingly popular and complimentary to traditional higher education. This research looks at one corporate university and one corporation-university partnership to investigate how, if at all, corporate universities and partnerships address HRD issues such as adult learning, leadership development, organisational change, corporate social responsibility (CSR, as well as ethical and global issues. This research finds initial evidence that corporate educational strategies address a variety of HRD issues and have the potential to revolutionise and compliment higher education in Thailand in a way that drives the nation toward a more sustainable future.

  20. La práctica corporal y la imagen corporal: reconstruyendo significados

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela Vaquero Barba

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Este trabajo presenta una experiencia, en el ámbito de la formación del profesorado, vinculada a la propia imagen corporal. Ha pretendido, tomando como eje la actividad corporal y motriz, tomar conciencia de cómo percibimos, sentimos y valoramos nuestro cuerpo; valorar la actividad motriz-corporal como herramienta para la construcción de nuevos significados; y capacitar al alumnado para reaprender la manera en que percibimos, sentimos y valoramos nuestro cuerpo. Los resultados apoyan la necesidad de capacitar al alumnado femenino para valorar su imagen corporal, la idoneidad de las prácticas corporales para impulsar procesos de reconstrucción y el interés de la escritura como herramienta que da forma a la reconstrucción.

  1. Highly Accurate Calculations of the Phase Diagram of Cold Lithium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shulenburger, Luke; Baczewski, Andrew

    The phase diagram of lithium is particularly complicated, exhibiting many different solid phases under the modest application of pressure. Experimental efforts to identify these phases using diamond anvil cells have been complemented by ab initio theory, primarily using density functional theory (DFT). Due to the multiplicity of crystal structures whose enthalpy is nearly degenerate and the uncertainty introduced by density functional approximations, we apply the highly accurate many-body diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) method to the study of the solid phases at low temperature. These calculations span many different phases, including several with low symmetry, demonstrating the viability of DMC as a method for calculating phase diagrams for complex solids. Our results can be used as a benchmark to test the accuracy of various density functionals. This can strengthen confidence in DFT based predictions of more complex phenomena such as the anomalous melting behavior predicted for lithium at high pressures. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

  2. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN MALAYSIA: THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE REFORMS AND STATE BUSINESS RELATION IN MALAYSIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 not only introduced the term of corporate governance but also drew attention of the public about the weaknesses of Malaysian corporate governance practice. After 1998, Malaysian government decided to adopt corporate reform that could enhance the quality of good corporate management practice. Thisreform is clearly stated in the code and rules of corporate governance. The purpose of this research is to study the significance of implementing the code and rules of corporategovernance since the public already realize the close relationship between business and politics. Three companies were chosen as indicators for this study. As a result, it was found that companies which are involved in corporate malpractice but have goodrelationship with states will always be excluded from the legal corporate action.

  3. Corporate strategy in turbulent environments: Key roles of the corporate level

    OpenAIRE

    Caldart, Adrian A.; Ricart, Joan E.

    2006-01-01

    This paper analyzes the evolution during the period 1986-2002 of the corporate strategy of Lujan, a highly successful car components manufacturer headquartered in Spain, as a way to explore how the corporate level influences the successful evolution of a company exposed to a "turbulent" environment over a long period. We find that the corporate level plays three key roles. First, it drives a firm's evolution by developing a cognitive representation of the firm's competitive landscape. Second,...

  4. Automated kidney morphology measurements from ultrasound images using texture and edge analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravishankar, Hariharan; Annangi, Pavan; Washburn, Michael; Lanning, Justin

    2016-04-01

    In a typical ultrasound scan, a sonographer measures Kidney morphology to assess renal abnormalities. Kidney morphology can also help to discriminate between chronic and acute kidney failure. The caliper placements and volume measurements are often time consuming and an automated solution will help to improve accuracy, repeatability and throughput. In this work, we developed an automated Kidney morphology measurement solution from long axis Ultrasound scans. Automated kidney segmentation is challenging due to wide variability in kidney shape, size, weak contrast of the kidney boundaries and presence of strong edges like diaphragm, fat layers. To address the challenges and be able to accurately localize and detect kidney regions, we present a two-step algorithm that makes use of edge and texture information in combination with anatomical cues. First, we use an edge analysis technique to localize kidney region by matching the edge map with predefined templates. To accurately estimate the kidney morphology, we use textural information in a machine learning algorithm framework using Haar features and Gradient boosting classifier. We have tested the algorithm on 45 unseen cases and the performance against ground truth is measured by computing Dice overlap, % error in major and minor axis of kidney. The algorithm shows successful performance on 80% cases.

  5. Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development | Iyayi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper aimed at a theoretical exposition of the influence of corporate innovation on entrepreneurial development. To achieve this purpose a review of extant literature on innovation and creativity, concept of corporate innovation process of corporate innovation, approaches to corporate innovation, corporate innovation ...

  6. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN MALAYSIA: THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE REFORMS AND STATE BUSINESS RELATION IN MALAYSIA

    OpenAIRE

    Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin; Halimah @ Nasibah Ahmad

    2007-01-01

    The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 not only introduced the term of corporate governance but also drew attention of the public about the weaknesses of Malaysian corporate governance practice. After 1998, Malaysian government decided to adopt corporate reform that could enhance the quality of good corporate management practice. Thisreform is clearly stated in the code and rules of corporate governance. The purpose of this research is to study the significance of implementing the code and rules ...

  7. From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Sustainability: Features of Financing Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasylchuk Irуna P.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The theoretical basis of the concepts of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development are studied. It is revealed that scientists mainly distinguish two main stages in the evolution of the concept of corporate social responsibility. There argued the expediency of singling out the third stage of the development of the concept (version CSR 2.0, which is characterized by the integration of the theoretical and practical foundations of the concepts of CSR and sustainable development as well as by their implementation into activities of corporations. The presence of the necessary prerequisites for singling out the new stage in the evolution of these concepts (version CSR 3.0, which is based on the provisions of the collaborative theory and provides for the cooperation of social enterprises and sustainable corporations in achieving the goals of sustainable development, is revealed, its expediency is justified. The determinant of the stage is the use of opportunities for sustainable development, the dominant is the social orientation, and its content is characterized by the slogan “doing common good to do common well”. Using generalization, there identified the features of the established models of sustainable development of corporations by key aspects (goals, principles, methods. On this basis, the features of approaches to financing sustainable development at the macro and micro levels are determined, and the principles for financing the activities of corporations in the new conditions are defined. It is concluded that achieving sustainability requires an effective system of financing corporate measures aimed at sustainable development, for the creation of which in Ukraine it is necessary to use the experience of “best practices” at the national, local and corporate levels.

  8. Toward fully automated genotyping: Genotyping microsatellite markers by deconvolution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perlin, M.W.; Lancia, G.; See-Kiong, Ng [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    1995-11-01

    Dense genetic linkage maps have been constructed for the human and mouse genomes, with average densities of 2.9 cM and 0.35 cM, respectively. These genetic maps are crucial for mapping both Mendelian and complex traits and are useful in clinical genetic diagnosis. Current maps are largely comprised of abundant, easily assayed, and highly polymorphic PCR-based microsatellite markers, primarily dinucleotide (CA){sub n} repeats. One key limitation of these length polymorphisms is the PCR stutter (or slippage) artifact that introduces additional stutter bands. With two (or more) closely spaced alleles, the stutter bands overlap, and it is difficult to accurately determine the correct alleles; this stutter phenomenon has all but precluded full automation, since a human must visually inspect the allele data. We describe here novel deconvolution methods for accurate genotyping that mathematically remove PCR stutter artifact from microsatellite markers. These methods overcome the manual interpretation bottleneck and thereby enable full automation of genetic map construction and use. New functionalities, including the pooling of DNAs and the pooling of markers, are described that may greatly reduce the associated experimentation requirements. 32 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.

  9. Automated Localization of Multiple Pelvic Bone Structures on MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onal, Sinan; Lai-Yuen, Susana; Bao, Paul; Weitzenfeld, Alfredo; Hart, Stuart

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we present a fully automated localization method for multiple pelvic bone structures on magnetic resonance images (MRI). Pelvic bone structures are at present identified manually on MRI to locate reference points for measurement and evaluation of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Given that this is a time-consuming and subjective procedure, there is a need to localize pelvic bone structures automatically. However, bone structures are not easily differentiable from soft tissue on MRI as their pixel intensities tend to be very similar. In this paper, we present a model that combines support vector machines and nonlinear regression capturing global and local information to automatically identify the bounding boxes of bone structures on MRI. The model identifies the location of the pelvic bone structures by establishing the association between their relative locations and using local information such as texture features. Results show that the proposed method is able to locate the bone structures of interest accurately (dice similarity index >0.75) in 87-91% of the images. This research aims to enable accurate, consistent, and fully automated localization of bone structures on MRI to facilitate and improve the diagnosis of health conditions such as female POP.

  10. Corporate Governance and Shareholder Litigation

    OpenAIRE

    Kalchev, Georgi

    2009-01-01

    The probability for shareholder litigation is studied and how corporate governance characteristics and other factors explain it. Shareholder litigation results from failure of corporate governance. Thus a better quality of corporate governance is hypothesized to decrease the litigation probability. Corporate governance index is constructed based on principal components. It is found to be a significant predictor of shareholder litigation.

  11. COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gavrea Corina

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Corporate governance is a key element of today’s economic reality being more and more present in many countries around the world. This paper has two main objectives. The first one is to offer more insight into the concept of corporate governance by a thorough literature review and by presenting and analyzing a framework of corporate governance. The second objective of this paper is to investigate the corporate governance situation in three developing economies (Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development published a series of reports on corporate governance. The present study uses data from these reports in order to illustrate how these developing economies are dealing with corporate governance. Based on ROSC Reports a corporate governance score was calculated. As this score shows, there is room for improvement for all three developing economies. This study is important because it shows the differences in corporate governance among developing economies and the need to study these nations at the individual country level. Corporate governance has many benefits for developing economies. It helps developing economies to register sustainable growth rates, to increases investors’ confidence in the national economy, and to increase the ability of capital markets to mobilize savings.

  12. European Corporate Law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dorresteijn, Adriaan; Teichmann, Christoph; Werlauff, Erik

    , and the United Kingdom are taken into account; Italy is now included in this new edition. As in earlier editions, the authors demonstrate that analysis and comparison of national corporate laws yield highly valuable general principles and observations, not least because business organizations, wherever located...... initiatives in such aspects of the corporate environment as regulation of financial institutions and non-financial reporting obligations with a view to sustainability and other social responsibility concerns. The authors, all leading experts in European corporate law, describe current and emerging trends...

  13. Corporate income tax

    OpenAIRE

    Popová, Barbora

    2014-01-01

    1 RESUMÉ Corporate Income Tax The aim of this diploma thesis on "Corporate Income Tax" is to outline the current legal background of the corporate income tax and asses and evaluate the most substantial changes regarding the Act no. 586/1992 Coll., Income Tax Act, as amended that have become effective as of January 1, 2014. The changes discussed in this thesis include especially, but are not limited to, the changes adopted in connection with the recodification of Czech Civil Law. This thesis c...

  14. Impacts of Socially Responsible Corporate Activities on Korean Consumers’ Corporate Evaluations in the Agrifood Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dongmin Lee

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The variety of socially responsible corporate activities employed in the agrifood industry has been broadening. An increasing number of agrifood companies have been employing strategic approaches to socially responsible activities, reinforced by Porter and Kramer’s concept of creating shared value (CSV. This study compares the effects on corporate evaluations of two socially responsible corporate activities: philanthropic giving and CSV. Because prior studies concerning the effects of corporate prosocial behaviors on consumer responses have yielded mixed results, the present study examines the effects of a priori perceptions of companies by using corporate stereotypes as moderators. The results show that the type of socially responsible corporate activity (CSV vs. philanthropic giving does not influence corporate evaluations. However, in cases of CSV (vs. philanthropic giving, consumers evaluate an unwarm but competent company more attractively and place higher value on an incompetent but warm company. This research is important not only for enriching existing literature, but also for providing guidelines to practitioners with respect to selecting appropriate corporate initiatives based on perceived consumer stereotypes.

  15. Determinants of Corporate Governance and Corporate Performance among Consumer Product Industry in Malaysia: A Theoretical Model

    OpenAIRE

    Kogilavani Apadore; Siti Subaryani Binti Zainol

    2014-01-01

    This study discusses on the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and corporate performance of public listed companies in Bursa Malaysia among the consumer product industry. It investigates the corporate governance mechanisms such as ownership concentration, audit quality, board independence and CEO duality, are used to test on the relationship between both corporate governance and corporate performance. The proposed model indicates that the proportion of independent non-execut...

  16. Corporate Governance Country Assessment : Uruguay

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2005-01-01

    This report provides an assessment of Uruguay's corporate governance policy framework, enforcement and compliance practices. It highlights recent improvements in corporate governance regulation, makes policy recommendations, and provides investors with a benchmark against which to measure corporate governance in Uruguay. The report identifies several key next steps that focus on implementation including: Improving corporate information, particularly ownership disclosure, related party transac...

  17. Corporate Taxation and Investment: The Case of the Split Rate Corporate Tax System in Macedonia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilija Gruevski

    2018-12-01

    Full Text Available The majority of experts agree that taxes are distortionary in nature. This is relatively true for all of the different groups of taxes, but for the corporate taxes is exceptionallyobvious. The existence of the corporate tax system can affect the company’s behavior in number of ways and one of the most criticized is the ability for distortion of the choice of the sources of finance. In the following article, we explore the effects from corporate taxation on investment, through the methodological frame of the effective marginal tax rates. The objective is to analyze the investment decision in the case of isolated implementation of corporate taxes which means that the effects from the so-called “double taxation”, induced by the personal taxes are not taken in consideration. We hope to prove that these conditions generate “uneven” distribution of the burden across the projects covered with different sources of finance. Also, we intend to test and explore the properties of some alternative corporate tax systems which are widely known as neutral, such as: the comprehensive business income tax system (CBIT, the imputation corporate tax system (ICT, the full imputation corporate tax system (FICT, the allowance for corporate equity tax system (ACE and the split rate corporate tax system (SRCT. In addition, we support our findings with a practical example: the case study from the implementation of the split rate corporate tax system in Macedonia.

  18. 20 CFR 404.1006 - Corporation officer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Corporation officer. 404.1006 Section 404... Corporation officer. If you are an officer of a corporation, you are an employee of the corporation if you are... director of a corporation, we consider you to be self-employed when you work as a director. ...

  19. Accurate predictions for the LHC made easy

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2014-01-01

    The data recorded by the LHC experiments is of a very high quality. To get the most out of the data, precise theory predictions, including uncertainty estimates, are needed to reduce as much as possible theoretical bias in the experimental analyses. Recently, significant progress has been made in computing Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) computations, including matching to the parton shower, that allow for these accurate, hadron-level predictions. I shall discuss one of these efforts, the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO program, that aims at the complete automation of predictions at the NLO accuracy within the SM as well as New Physics theories. I’ll illustrate some of the theoretical ideas behind this program, show some selected applications to LHC physics, as well as describe the future plans.

  20. Corporate design management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    drs. Patrick van Thiel; drs. Wil Michels

    2006-01-01

    'Corporate designmanagement' is een vlot geschreven en zeer overzichtelijk standaardwerk op het gebied van corporate designmanagement. Een sterke visuele identiteit is voor een organisatie een doeltreffend middel om zich te positioneren en te profileren. Voorwaarde is wel dat de visuele identiteit

  1. Improving the driver-automation interaction: an approach using automation uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beller, Johannes; Heesen, Matthias; Vollrath, Mark

    2013-12-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate whether communicating automation uncertainty improves the driver-automation interaction. A false system understanding of infallibility may provoke automation misuse and can lead to severe consequences in case of automation failure. The presentation of automation uncertainty may prevent this false system understanding and, as was shown by previous studies, may have numerous benefits. Few studies, however, have clearly shown the potential of communicating uncertainty information in driving. The current study fills this gap. We conducted a driving simulator experiment, varying the presented uncertainty information between participants (no uncertainty information vs. uncertainty information) and the automation reliability (high vs.low) within participants. Participants interacted with a highly automated driving system while engaging in secondary tasks and were required to cooperate with the automation to drive safely. Quantile regressions and multilevel modeling showed that the presentation of uncertainty information increases the time to collision in the case of automation failure. Furthermore, the data indicated improved situation awareness and better knowledge of fallibility for the experimental group. Consequently, the automation with the uncertainty symbol received higher trust ratings and increased acceptance. The presentation of automation uncertaintythrough a symbol improves overall driver-automation cooperation. Most automated systems in driving could benefit from displaying reliability information. This display might improve the acceptance of fallible systems and further enhances driver-automation cooperation.

  2. Photogrammetric approach to automated checking of DTMs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Potucková, Marketa

    2005-01-01

    Geometrically accurate digital terrain models (DTMs) are essential for orthoimage production and many other applications. Collecting reference data or visual inspection are reliable but time consuming and therefore expensive methods for finding errors in DTMs. In this paper, a photogrammetric...... approach to automated checking and improving of DTMs is evaluated. Corresponding points in two overlapping orthoimages are found by means of area based matching. Provided the image orientation is correct, discovered displacements correspond to DTM errors. Improvements of the method regarding its...

  3. Integration of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Communication

    OpenAIRE

    Islam, Mohammad Nur

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to present a new perspective on the current practices in corporate communications and CSR which calls for an integration of social responsibility and communication activities of corporations as an opportunity of competitive advantage. More specifically, this study looks at this subject from the angle of how companies can use communications to achieve CSR goal, while CSR can be a way to attain efficacy in communication. The study is designed to examine the current ...

  4. EpHLA software: a timesaving and accurate tool for improving identification of acceptable mismatches for clinical purposes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filho, Herton Luiz Alves Sales; da Mata Sousa, Luiz Claudio Demes; von Glehn, Cristina de Queiroz Carrascosa; da Silva, Adalberto Socorro; dos Santos Neto, Pedro de Alcântara; do Nascimento, Ferraz; de Castro, Adail Fonseca; do Nascimento, Liliane Machado; Kneib, Carolina; Bianchi Cazarote, Helena; Mayumi Kitamura, Daniele; Torres, Juliane Roberta Dias; da Cruz Lopes, Laiane; Barros, Aryela Loureiro; da Silva Edlin, Evelin Nildiane; de Moura, Fernanda Sá Leal; Watanabe, Janine Midori Figueiredo; do Monte, Semiramis Jamil Hadad

    2012-06-01

    The HLAMatchmaker algorithm, which allows the identification of “safe” acceptable mismatches (AMMs) for recipients of solid organ and cell allografts, is rarely used in part due to the difficulty in using it in the current Excel format. The automation of this algorithm may universalize its use to benefit the allocation of allografts. Recently, we have developed a new software called EpHLA, which is the first computer program automating the use of the HLAMatchmaker algorithm. Herein, we present the experimental validation of the EpHLA program by showing the time efficiency and the quality of operation. The same results, obtained by a single antigen bead assay with sera from 10 sensitized patients waiting for kidney transplants, were analyzed either by conventional HLAMatchmaker or by automated EpHLA method. Users testing these two methods were asked to record: (i) time required for completion of the analysis (in minutes); (ii) number of eplets obtained for class I and class II HLA molecules; (iii) categorization of eplets as reactive or non-reactive based on the MFI cutoff value; and (iv) determination of AMMs based on eplets' reactivities. We showed that although both methods had similar accuracy, the automated EpHLA method was over 8 times faster in comparison to the conventional HLAMatchmaker method. In particular the EpHLA software was faster and more reliable but equally accurate as the conventional method to define AMMs for allografts. The EpHLA software is an accurate and quick method for the identification of AMMs and thus it may be a very useful tool in the decision-making process of organ allocation for highly sensitized patients as well as in many other applications.

  5. Designing of smart home automation system based on Raspberry Pi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saini, Ravi Prakash; Singh, Bhanu Pratap; Sharma, Mahesh Kumar; Wattanawisuth, Nattapol; Leeprechanon, Nopbhorn

    2016-03-01

    Locally networked or remotely controlled home automation system becomes a popular paradigm because of the numerous advantages and is suitable for academic research. This paper proposes a method for an implementation of Raspberry Pi based home automation system presented with an android phone access interface. The power consumption profile across the connected load is measured accurately through programming. Users can access the graph of total power consumption with respect to time worldwide using their Dropbox account. An android application has been developed to channelize the monitoring and controlling operation of home appliances remotely. This application facilitates controlling of operating pins of Raspberry Pi by pressing the corresponding key for turning "on" and "off" of any desired appliance. Systems can range from the simple room lighting control to smart microcontroller based hybrid systems incorporating several other additional features. Smart home automation systems are being adopted to achieve flexibility, scalability, security in the sense of data protection through the cloud-based data storage protocol, reliability, energy efficiency, etc.

  6. Towards an Automated Acoustic Detection System for Free Ranging Elephants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeppelzauer, Matthias; Hensman, Sean; Stoeger, Angela S

    The human-elephant conflict is one of the most serious conservation problems in Asia and Africa today. The involuntary confrontation of humans and elephants claims the lives of many animals and humans every year. A promising approach to alleviate this conflict is the development of an acoustic early warning system. Such a system requires the robust automated detection of elephant vocalizations under unconstrained field conditions. Today, no system exists that fulfills these requirements. In this paper, we present a method for the automated detection of elephant vocalizations that is robust to the diverse noise sources present in the field. We evaluate the method on a dataset recorded under natural field conditions to simulate a real-world scenario. The proposed method outperformed existing approaches and robustly and accurately detected elephants. It thus can form the basis for a future automated early warning system for elephants. Furthermore, the method may be a useful tool for scientists in bioacoustics for the study of wildlife recordings.

  7. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: RESULTS OF AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oscar Licandro

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Corporate Volunteering (CV is a phenomenon that emerged in the second half of the 20th century and began to grow and globalize at the beginning of the 21st century. There seems to be a consensus that the recent growth of Corporate Volunteering is related to the development and growing legitimacy of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR. Nevertheless, the theoretical discussion on how the two concepts (Corporate Volunteering and Corporate Social Responsibility are related is just beginning, while empirical research on how this relationship operates in corporate practice is still incipient. This paper presents preliminary results of a research on this subject carried out in Uruguay in 2016. This is a statistical study that analyses the relationship between the application of corporate volunteering activities and the incorporation of a CSR approach to the management of companies. The incorporation of both types of practices is measured by a self-assessment questionnaire that includes 81 indicators (using a Likert scale to assess them, which were designed based on ISO 26000 Guidance of Social Responsibility. The questionnaire was administered to 96 companies, using a comparative analysis between those that practice Corporate Volunteering and those which do not. The results obtained allow us to support the hypothesis that the application of Corporate Volunteering is positively associated with the incorporation of CSR when managing the relationship between the company and its employees and also with the community. Moreover, these results contribute to a better understanding on how both concepts are related.

  8. Corporate governance and the audit committee as part of Corporate Social Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Mancilla Rendón María Enriqueta; Saavedra García María Luisa

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to study the principles of the international standard ISO 26000, and the relation between social responsibility and internal control rules management organizations establish their business and relationship with Corporate Social Responsibility the board of directors and the audit committee to strengthen corporate trust and manage corporate risk. The research is based on a survey of companies listed on the Mexican stock market, in 2011. The variables have been studi...

  9. Strategic corporate sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grewatsch, Sylvia; Rohrbeck, René; Madsen, Henning

    antecedents and outcomes. To overcome this limitation we propose an integrated typology which may facilitate more research on the link between corporate sustainability performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Our expectation is that the strategy type might play a moderating or mediating...

  10. Understanding Corporate Culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cluff, Gary A.

    1988-01-01

    Considers concept of corporate culture and discusses several values which can be considered when assessing corporate culture, and the "compatibility scales" used to measure them. Included are discussions of employee attitudes, work atmosphere, internal communications, management style, employment opportunity, stability, business ethics, corporate…

  11. Reinventing Corporate Communications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toth, Elizabeth L.; Trujillo, Nick

    1987-01-01

    Urges a "re-inventing" of corporate communications in today's organizations, and provides information about how corporations can change in new and positive ways during the current "information age." Discusses specific public relations and organizational communication concepts essential for a comprehensive understanding of…

  12. Transitioning to future air traffic management: effects of imperfect automation on controller attention and performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rovira, Ericka; Parasuraman, Raja

    2010-06-01

    This study examined whether benefits of conflict probe automation would occur in a future air traffic scenario in which air traffic service providers (ATSPs) are not directly responsible for freely maneuvering aircraft but are controlling other nonequipped aircraft (mixed-equipage environment). The objective was to examine how the type of automation imperfection (miss vs. false alarm) affects ATSP performance and attention allocation. Research has shown that the type of automation imperfection leads to differential human performance costs. Participating in four 30-min scenarios were 12 full-performance-level ATSPs. Dependent variables included conflict detection and resolution performance, eye movements, and subjective ratings of trust and self confidence. ATSPs detected conflicts faster and more accurately with reliable automation, as compared with manual performance. When the conflict probe automation was unreliable, conflict detection performance declined with both miss (25% conflicts detected) and false alarm automation (50% conflicts detected). When the primary task of conflict detection was automated, even highly reliable yet imperfect automation (miss or false alarm) resulted in serious negative effects on operator performance. The further in advance that conflict probe automation predicts a conflict, the greater the uncertainty of prediction; thus, designers should provide users with feedback on the state of the automation or other tools that allow for inspection and analysis of the data underlying the conflict probe algorithm.

  13. Automated hardwood lumber grading utilizing a multiple sensor machine vision technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    D. Earl Kline; Chris Surak; Philip A. Araman

    2003-01-01

    Over the last 10 years, scientists at the Thomas M. Brooks Forest Products Center, the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the USDA Forest Service have been working on lumber scanning systems that can accurately locate and identify defects in hardwood lumber. Current R&D efforts are targeted toward developing automated lumber grading...

  14. Identical or Just Compatible? The Utility of Corporate Identity Values in Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmeltz, Line

    2014-01-01

    This study explores whether companies embracing a corporate social responsibility agenda have a strategic focus on adapting and aligning their value systems to reflect such commitment. The analysis is based on empirical data and a conceptual model juxtaposing corporate values, corporate social...... is discussed in relation to the reported difficulties that companies experience when facing the new and complex challenge of communicating corporate social responsibility....

  15. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA: AN ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meghna Thapar

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Corporate governance is a process, relation and mechanism set up for the corporations and firms based on certain guidelines and principles by which a company is controlled and directed. The principles provided in the system ensure that the company is governed in a way that it is able to set and achieve its goals and objectives in the context of the social, regulatory and market environment, and is able to maximize profits and also benefit those whose interest is involved in it, in the long run. The division and distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation (such as the board of directors, managers, shareholders, creditors, auditors, regulators, and other stakeholders and inclusion of the rules and procedures for making decisions in corporate affairs are identified with the help of Corporate Governance mechanism and guidelines. The need to make corporate governance in India transparent was felt after the high profile corporate governance failure scams like the stock market scam, the UTI scam, Ketan Parikh scam, Satyam scam, which were severely criticized by the shareholders. Thus, Corporate Governance is not just company administration but more than that and includes monitoring the actions, policies, practices, and decisions of corporations, their agents, and affected stakeholders thereby ensuring fair, efficient and transparent functioning of the corporate management system. By this paper, the authors intend to examine the concept of corporate governance in India with regard to the provisions of corporate governance under the Companies Act 2013. The paper will highlight the importance and need of corporate governance in India. We will also discuss the important case laws which contributed immensely in the emergence of corporate governance in India.

  16. Automated Selection of Hotspots (ASH): enhanced automated segmentation and adaptive step finding for Ki67 hotspot detection in adrenal cortical cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Hao; Papathomas, Thomas G; van Zessen, David; Palli, Ivo; de Krijger, Ronald R; van der Spek, Peter J; Dinjens, Winand N M; Stubbs, Andrew P

    2014-11-25

    In prognosis and therapeutics of adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC), the selection of the most active areas in proliferative rate (hotspots) within a slide and objective quantification of immunohistochemical Ki67 Labelling Index (LI) are of critical importance. In addition to intratumoral heterogeneity in proliferative rate i.e. levels of Ki67 expression within a given ACC, lack of uniformity and reproducibility in the method of quantification of Ki67 LI may confound an accurate assessment of Ki67 LI. We have implemented an open source toolset, Automated Selection of Hotspots (ASH), for automated hotspot detection and quantification of Ki67 LI. ASH utilizes NanoZoomer Digital Pathology Image (NDPI) splitter to convert the specific NDPI format digital slide scanned from the Hamamatsu instrument into a conventional tiff or jpeg format image for automated segmentation and adaptive step finding hotspots detection algorithm. Quantitative hotspot ranking is provided by the functionality from the open source application ImmunoRatio as part of the ASH protocol. The output is a ranked set of hotspots with concomitant quantitative values based on whole slide ranking. We have implemented an open source automated detection quantitative ranking of hotspots to support histopathologists in selecting the 'hottest' hotspot areas in adrenocortical carcinoma. To provide wider community easy access to ASH we implemented a Galaxy virtual machine (VM) of ASH which is available from http://bioinformatics.erasmusmc.nl/wiki/Automated_Selection_of_Hotspots . The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/13000_2014_216.

  17. Behavioral corporate governance : four empirical studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Laan, G.

    2009-01-01

    This thesis consists of studies of corporate governance from a behavioral perspective. The chapters are about trust between chief executive officers (CEOs) and board chairpersons, asymmetric effects of corporate social responsibility on corporate financial performance, compliance with corporate

  18. CORPORATIONS IN RUSSIAN ECONOMICS OF TODAY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. A. Shirokovskikh

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In Russian economics there are purely Russian private corporations as well as mixed state/private owned and transnational corporations. Specific ways of forming corporations in Russia resulted in corporate management models different from those used abroad (exclusive of largest holdingcompanies with considerable participation of the state. Difference in the corporation forms is determined by relations between owners and top managers. Efficient and sustainable (in the western sense functioning of Russian corporations may become effective only after long timeprovided RF ownership right legislation gets simultaneously improved.

  19. A study on an automated computerized differential diagnosis of diffuse liver diseases, based only on hepatic scintigrams using sup(99m)Tc-Sn-colloid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, Michimasa; Fujii, Susumu; Kaneda, Yukio

    1980-01-01

    Hepatic scintigrams using sup(99m)Tc-compounds are now routinely performed. In this study, automated computerized pattern characterizations of right lateral hepatic scintigrams using sup(99m)Tc-Sn colloid were studied to extract characteristic indicators, which are effective for an automated computerized differential diagnosis. The program, developed by us, of the automated computerized pattern characterization and the automated computerized differential diagnosis can be performed without the aid of professional doctors' ability of pattern recognition. The right lateral hepatic scintigrams of fifty one cases, which are accurately diagnosed by biopsy, are applied as the training group. The results of the automated computerized differential diagnosis were as follows: Three cases were accurately diagnosed among 3 normal cases; Three among 3 acute hepatitis; Seven among 7 chronic inactive hepatitis; Twenty among 22 chronic active hepatitis; Sixteen among 16 liver cirrhosis. Only two cases of chronic active hepatitis are falsely-diagnosed as chronic inactive hepatitis and as liver cirrhosis respectively. The over all accuracy rate was 96% in the training group. With this result, the automated computerized differential diagnosis of diffuse liver diseases is suggested to be possible, based on the hepatic scintigram. (author)

  20. Intelligence analysis in corporate security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manojlović Dragan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Located in the survey indicate that the protection of a corporation, its internal and external interest from the perspective of quality data for intelligence analysis and the need for kroporacije and corporate security. Furthermore, the results indicate that the application is not only practical knowledge of intelligence analysis, but also its scientific knowledge, provides epistemologically oriented critique of traditional techniques undertaken in corporate security in connection with the analysis of the challenges, risks and threats. On the question of whether it can and should be understood only as a form of corporate espionage, any aspect of such a new concept in the theory and practice of corporate security, competitive intelligence activities, as well as an activity or involves a range of different methods and techniques meaningful and expedient activities to be implemented integrally and continuously within corporate security, given the multiple responses to the work. The privatization of intelligence activities as an irreversible process that was decades ago engulfed the western hemisphere, in the first decade of the third millennium has been accepted in Europe, in the sense that corporations at national and multinational levels of system intelligence analysis used not only for your safety but also for the competition, and nothing and less for growth companies and profits. It has become a resource that helps control their managers in corporations to make timely and appropriate decisions. Research has shown that intelligence analysis in corporate security one factor that brings the diversity of the people and give corporations an advantage not only in time, but much more on the market and product.

  1. Corporate entrepreneurship in organisational life-cycle

    OpenAIRE

    Duobienė, Jurga

    2013-01-01

    Paper deals with the development of corporate entrepreneurship in different stages of organisational life-cycle. The research presents a model for the evaluation of corporate entrepreneurship and systemises relevant theoretical and empirical research in the field of entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship. Moreover, it describes the development of corporate entrepreneurship in the entire organisational life-cycle since most of researchers who discuss the topics of corporate entreprene...

  2. Automated Classification of Consumer Health Information Needs in Patient Portal Messages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cronin, Robert M; Fabbri, Daniel; Denny, Joshua C; Jackson, Gretchen Purcell

    2015-01-01

    Patients have diverse health information needs, and secure messaging through patient portals is an emerging means by which such needs are expressed and met. As patient portal adoption increases, growing volumes of secure messages may burden healthcare providers. Automated classification could expedite portal message triage and answering. We created four automated classifiers based on word content and natural language processing techniques to identify health information needs in 1000 patient-generated portal messages. Logistic regression and random forest classifiers detected single information needs well, with area under the curves of 0.804-0.914. A logistic regression classifier accurately found the set of needs within a message, with a Jaccard index of 0.859 (95% Confidence Interval: (0.847, 0.871)). Automated classification of consumer health information needs expressed in patient portal messages is feasible and may allow direct linking to relevant resources or creation of institutional resources for commonly expressed needs.

  3. Development and application of the automated Monte Carlo biasing procedure in SAS4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, J.S.; Broadhead, B.L.

    1993-01-01

    An automated approach for biasing Monte Carlo shielding calculations is described. In particular, adjoint fluxes from a one-dimensional discrete-ordinates calculation are used to generate biasing parameters for a three-dimensional Monte Carlo calculation. The automated procedure consisting of cross-section processing, adjoint flux determination, biasing parameter generation, and the initiation of a MORSE-SGC/S Monte Carlo calculation has been implemented in the SAS4 module of the SCALE computer code system. The automated procedure has been used extensively in the investigation of both computational and experimental benchmarks for the NEACRP working group on shielding assessment of transportation packages. The results of these studies indicate that with the automated biasing procedure, Monte Carlo shielding calculations of spent fuel casks can be easily performed with minimum effort and that accurate results can be obtained at reasonable computing cost. The systematic biasing approach described in this paper can also be applied to other similar shielding problems

  4. Usefulness of automated biopsy guns in image-guided biopsy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jung Hyung; Rhee, Chang Soo; Lee, Sung Moon; Kim, Hong; Woo, Sung Ku; Suh, Soo Jhi

    1994-01-01

    To evaluate the usefulness of automated biopsy guns in image-guided biopsy of lung, liver, pancreas and other organs. Using automated biopsy devices, 160 biopsies of variable anatomic sites were performed: Biopsies were performed under ultrasonographic(US) guidance in 95 and computed tomographic (CT) guidance in 65. We retrospectively analyzed histologic results and complications. Specimens were adequate for histopathologic diagnosis in 143 of the 160 patients(89.4%)-Diagnostic tissue was obtained in 130 (81.3%), suggestive tissue obtained in 13(8.1%), and non-diagnostic tissue was obtained in 14(8.7%). Inadequate tissue was obtained in only 3(1.9%). There was no statistically significant difference between US-guided and CT-guided percutaneous biopsy. There was no occurrence of significant complication. We have experienced mild complications in only 5 patients-2 hematuria and 2 hematochezia in transrectal prostatic biopsy, and 1 minimal pneumothorax in CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy. All of them were resolved spontaneously. The image-guided biopsy using the automated biopsy gun was a simple, safe and accurate method of obtaining adequate specimen for the histopathologic diagnosis

  5. Usefulness of automated biopsy guns in image-guided biopsy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jung Hyung; Rhee, Chang Soo; Lee, Sung Moon; Kim, Hong; Woo, Sung Ku; Suh, Soo Jhi [School of Medicine, Keimyung University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

    1994-12-15

    To evaluate the usefulness of automated biopsy guns in image-guided biopsy of lung, liver, pancreas and other organs. Using automated biopsy devices, 160 biopsies of variable anatomic sites were performed: Biopsies were performed under ultrasonographic(US) guidance in 95 and computed tomographic (CT) guidance in 65. We retrospectively analyzed histologic results and complications. Specimens were adequate for histopathologic diagnosis in 143 of the 160 patients(89.4%)-Diagnostic tissue was obtained in 130 (81.3%), suggestive tissue obtained in 13(8.1%), and non-diagnostic tissue was obtained in 14(8.7%). Inadequate tissue was obtained in only 3(1.9%). There was no statistically significant difference between US-guided and CT-guided percutaneous biopsy. There was no occurrence of significant complication. We have experienced mild complications in only 5 patients-2 hematuria and 2 hematochezia in transrectal prostatic biopsy, and 1 minimal pneumothorax in CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy. All of them were resolved spontaneously. The image-guided biopsy using the automated biopsy gun was a simple, safe and accurate method of obtaining adequate specimen for the histopathologic diagnosis.

  6. Automated quality control in a file-based broadcasting workflow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lina

    2014-04-01

    Benefit from the development of information and internet technologies, television broadcasting is transforming from inefficient tape-based production and distribution to integrated file-based workflows. However, no matter how many changes have took place, successful broadcasting still depends on the ability to deliver a consistent high quality signal to the audiences. After the transition from tape to file, traditional methods of manual quality control (QC) become inadequate, subjective, and inefficient. Based on China Central Television's full file-based workflow in the new site, this paper introduces an automated quality control test system for accurate detection of hidden troubles in media contents. It discusses the system framework and workflow control when the automated QC is added. It puts forward a QC criterion and brings forth a QC software followed this criterion. It also does some experiments on QC speed by adopting parallel processing and distributed computing. The performance of the test system shows that the adoption of automated QC can make the production effective and efficient, and help the station to achieve a competitive advantage in the media market.

  7. Role of the Occupational Physician in Corporate Management of Health Risks: An Important Aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugita, Minoru; Miyakawa, Michiko

    2016-01-01

    There are various risks involved in corporate activities conducted both within and outside the corporation. Among these, health risks are very important and should be managed effectively as an integral part of corporate social responsibility (CSR). A corporation is responsible for health impairments caused by its activities and suffers great moral and economic loss when they occur. It is essential that corporate management takes proper preventive measures against such risks. Occupational physicians possess substantial knowledge of health risks in corporations. In this study, we examine the role of occupational physicians in the management of corporate health risks. Information was obtained from articles in print and on the Internet. Health risks due to corporate activities involve not only the employees of the corporation but also individuals outside the corporation. Each corporation should effectively use available resources to manage health risks. Occupational physicians are one such valuable resource. However, many corporations do not actively involve occupational physicians in health risk management. According to a current Japanese law, health risks for employees in corporations are managed by occupational physicians, but in general, health risks outside corporations are not. The 1984 Bhopal Disaster in India is an example in which physicians of the corporation were only minimally, if at all, involved in assessing and treating impaired health outside the corporation. The role of occupational physicians should be expanded to include management of health risks outside the corporation. This places a greater burden on the physicians and they must make the effort to train in many academic fields in order to better understand the entire context of health risks due to corporate activities. Some occupational physicians may be hesitant to take on such added responsibilities. Some corporations may not recognize the overall health risks due to its activities and do not

  8. Theoretical Framework for Corporate Governance

    OpenAIRE

    Georgescu Cristina Elena

    2012-01-01

    History has revealed that there is a never-ending evolution of theories or models of corporate governance. Companies are trying to instill the sense of governance into their corporate structure. This article is a review of literature on the range of theories in corporate governance. The fundamental theories in corporate governance began with the agency theory, expanded into stewardship theory and stakeholder theory and evolved to transaction cost theory. However, these theories address the ca...

  9. Corporate Media Governance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kempen, Petrus Cornelis

    2011-01-01

    The media can make or break a reputation. This being said, it seems to be essential for companies, governments and institutions to pay specific attention to corporate media management in their daily operations. However, this thesis shows that they often neglect to pay adequate attention to corporate

  10. Corporate contestability and corporate expropriation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Hadi Zulkafli

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents evidence on the role of ownership in dealing with corporate expropriation of listed companies in Malaysia. From the perspective of expropriation, a single controlling shareholder is always associated with such behavior due to their power and control at the expense of minority shareholder. However, subsequent individual or coalition of large shareholders can be an important corporate governance tool by providing effective monitoring that would lessen the possibility of expropriation by the controlling shareholder. Relating to that, this study evaluates the role of controlling and large shareholders in dealing with corporate expropriation. It is found that there is a negative relationship between single controlling shareholders and dividend payout ratio indicating that firms with only controlling shareholder will pay a lower dividend due to possible expropriation through profit diversion by controlling shareholder. Using Herfindahl Index as a proxy for ownership contestability, the presence of large shareholders along with controlling shareholder has a positive relationship with dividend payout implying that increased contestability helps to curb the power of controlling shareholder to expropriate fund for their own benefit. In accordance with agency theory, the outcome suggests that large shareholders play a monitoring role in minimizing the Type II agency problem. It is also verifying the argument made based on the Catering Theory of Dividend that the presence of large shareholder brings benefit to all shareholders as they are able to reduce profit diversion by demanding for higher dividend

  11. Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance: A Link for the Indian Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rupal Tyagi

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The present study addresses the issue of the relationship between Corporate Social performance and corporate Financial Performance in Indian context under good management theory. The study used S&P ESG India Index as a proxy of CSP/ CSR (Corporate social performance or Corporate Social Responsibility of Indian firms for the first time over the 2005–2011 periods. We designed econometric models and controlled industry specific attributes and performed Weighted Least Square method for the analysis. Overall results show neutral though modest negative relationship between the CSP and CFP which eventually informs that if there would be any relationship, it would be negative.

  12. Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Thuy Tuong; Slaughter, David C; Hanson, Bradley D; Barber, Andrew; Freitas, Amy; Robles, Daniel; Whelan, Erin

    2015-07-28

    This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera) and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration) required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a three-step image analysis process based upon: (1) an orthographic plant projection method integrating a perspective transform with automatic parameter estimation; (2) a plant counting method based on projection histograms; and (3) a double-counting avoidance method based on a homography transform. Experimental results demonstrate the ability to count large numbers of plants automatically with no human effort. Results show that, for tree seedlings having a height up to 40 cm and a within-row tree spacing of approximately 10 cm, the algorithms successfully estimated the number of plants with an average accuracy of 95.2% for trees within a single image and 98% for counting of the whole plant population in a large sequence of images.

  13. Corporate Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2004-01-01

    Appeals to corporate responsibility often simply take for granted that businesses have ethical responsibilities that go beyond just respecting the law. This paper addresses arguments to the effect that businesses have no such responsibilities. The interesting claim is not that businesses have no ethical responsibility at all but that their primal responsibility is to increase their profits. The extent to which there is reason to take such arguments seriously delineates the limits of corporate...

  14. The Organisation of Multibusiness Corporations: Four Roles of the Corporate Office

    OpenAIRE

    David J. Collis

    1998-01-01

    This paper derives four archetypal roles for the corporate office in diversified companies and a set of hypotheses about the organisation structure, systems and processes of each from an analysis of the resources which justify the existence of the corporation as a multibusiness entity.

  15. Increasing the accuracy and automation of fractional vegetation cover estimation from digital photographs

    Science.gov (United States)

    The use of automated methods to estimate canopy cover (CC) from digital photographs has increased in recent years given its potential to produce accurate, fast and inexpensive CC measurements. Wide acceptance has been delayed because of the limitations of these methods. This work introduces a novel ...

  16. Quantitative radiology: automated CT liver volumetry compared with interactive volumetry and manual volumetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Kenji; Epstein, Mark L; Kohlbrenner, Ryan; Garg, Shailesh; Hori, Masatoshi; Oto, Aytekin; Baron, Richard L

    2011-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate automated CT volumetry in the assessment of living-donor livers for transplant and to compare this technique with software-aided interactive volumetry and manual volumetry. Hepatic CT scans of 18 consecutively registered prospective liver donors were obtained under a liver transplant protocol. Automated liver volumetry was developed on the basis of 3D active-contour segmentation. To establish reference standard liver volumes, a radiologist manually traced the contour of the liver on each CT slice. We compared the results obtained with automated and interactive volumetry with those obtained with the reference standard for this study, manual volumetry. The average interactive liver volume was 1553 ± 343 cm(3), and the average automated liver volume was 1520 ± 378 cm(3). The average manual volume was 1486 ± 343 cm(3). Both interactive and automated volumetric results had excellent agreement with manual volumetric results (intraclass correlation coefficients, 0.96 and 0.94). The average user time for automated volumetry was 0.57 ± 0.06 min/case, whereas those for interactive and manual volumetry were 27.3 ± 4.6 and 39.4 ± 5.5 min/case, the difference being statistically significant (p volumetry are accurate for measuring liver volume with CT, but automated volumetry is substantially more efficient.

  17. Decision Making In A High-Tech World: Automation Bias and Countermeasures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosier, Kathleen L.; Skitka, Linda J.; Burdick, Mark R.; Heers, Susan T.; Rosekind, Mark R. (Technical Monitor)

    1996-01-01

    resultant errors. To what extent these effects generalize to performance situations is not yet empirically established. The two studies to be presented represent concurrent efforts, with student and professional pilot samples, to determine the effects of accountability pressures on automation bias and on the verification of the accurate functioning of automated aids. Students (Experiment 1) and commercial pilots (Experiment 2) performed simulated flight tasks using automated aids. In both studies, participants who perceived themselves as accountable for their strategies of interaction with the automation were significantly more likely to verify its correctness, and committed significantly fewer automation-related errors than those who did not report this perception.

  18. Rise of a New Corporate Vehicle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fomcenco, Alex

    2014-01-01

    So-called Public Benefit Corporations do not bring any revolutionary amendments to the way the traditional corporations are. But they represent a shift in the way our corporate mind and mentality is evolving. Despite the deficiencies in legislation, it must be acknowledged that this new corporate...

  19. 12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

  20. Automation of workplace lifting hazard assessment for musculoskeletal injury prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spector, June T; Lieblich, Max; Bao, Stephen; McQuade, Kevin; Hughes, Margaret

    2014-01-01

    Existing methods for practically evaluating musculoskeletal exposures such as posture and repetition in workplace settings have limitations. We aimed to automate the estimation of parameters in the revised United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation, a standard manual observational tool used to evaluate back injury risk related to lifting in workplace settings, using depth camera (Microsoft Kinect) and skeleton algorithm technology. A large dataset (approximately 22,000 frames, derived from six subjects) of simultaneous lifting and other motions recorded in a laboratory setting using the Kinect (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States) and a standard optical motion capture system (Qualysis, Qualysis Motion Capture Systems, Qualysis AB, Sweden) was assembled. Error-correction regression models were developed to improve the accuracy of NIOSH lifting equation parameters estimated from the Kinect skeleton. Kinect-Qualysis errors were modelled using gradient boosted regression trees with a Huber loss function. Models were trained on data from all but one subject and tested on the excluded subject. Finally, models were tested on three lifting trials performed by subjects not involved in the generation of the model-building dataset. Error-correction appears to produce estimates for NIOSH lifting equation parameters that are more accurate than those derived from the Microsoft Kinect algorithm alone. Our error-correction models substantially decreased the variance of parameter errors. In general, the Kinect underestimated parameters, and modelling reduced this bias, particularly for more biased estimates. Use of the raw Kinect skeleton model tended to result in falsely high safe recommended weight limits of loads, whereas error-corrected models gave more conservative, protective estimates. Our results suggest that it may be possible to produce reasonable estimates of posture and temporal elements of tasks

  1. Analisis Pengaruh Islamic Corporate Governance Terhadap Corporate Social Responsibility (Studi kasus pada Bank Syariah di Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismawati Haribowo

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to examine the influence of Islamic corporate governance, size of the Board of Commissioners, the composition of the Board of Commissioners, Frequency of Meetings of the Board of Commissioners, the size of the Audit Committee Independent, The composition of the Audit Committee Number of Meetings Audit Committee, Profitability and Liquidity on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (case study on the bank Sharia in Indonesia. This research is a quantitative study using scientific research in the form of positive economics. The nature and type of this research is descriptive method used is based on a survey of the literature. Data used is secondary data obtained from www.bi.go.id and corporate websites. The analytical method used is multiple linear regression analysis with SPSS version 22. The population in this study are all Islamic banks registered in Bank Indonesia during the period 2012 to 2014. While the sample is determined by using purposive sampling method in order to obtain a sample of 10 banks with observations for 3 years.Based on the results of multiple regression analysis with significance level of 5%, then the results of this study concluded: (1 Islamic Corporate Governance consisting of Existence and expertise Sharia Supervisory Board has no significant effect on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. (2 The size of the BOC significant effect on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. (3 The composition of the Board of Commissioners has no significant effect on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. (4 The frequency of the number of board meetings no significant effect on the disclosure of disclosure of corporate social responsibility. (5 The size independent audit committee has no significant effect on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. (6 The composition of the independent audit committee has no significant effect on the disclosure of corporate social

  2. Automated dental identification system: An aid to forensic odontology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parvathi Devi

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Automated dental identification system is computer-aided software for the postmortem identification of deceased individuals based on dental characteristics specifically radiographs. This system is receiving increased attention because of the large number of victims encountered in the mass disasters and it is 90% more time saving and accurate than the conventional radiographic methods. This technique is based on the intensity of the overall region of tooth image and therefore it does not necessitate the presence of sharp boundary between the teeth. It provides automated search and matching capabilities for digitized radiographs and photographic dental images and compares the teeth present in multiple digitized dental records in order to access their similarity. This paper highlights the functionality of its components and techniques used in realizing these components.

  3. Corporate Governance Quality, Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Dividend Policy: Evidence from Jordan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayat S. Al-Rahahleh

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the impact of corporate governance quality and board gender diversity on the corporate dividend policy for a set of all non-financial companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE during the period 2009-2015. The results documented that corporate governance quality and board gender diversity proxies have positive impact on corporate dividend policy. The results also showed that the women representation on the boards of non-financial companies in Jordan is considered low relative to other countries. Particularly, the causes of the poor board gender diversity in Jordan range from lack of awareness about the benefits of gender diversity to the lack of legislation that regulates this issue. It is recommended to non-financial companies in Jordan to boost their compliance with the corporate governance code and adopt diversity policies to enhance the effectiveness of the boards and keep favorable relationships with their shareholders. Furthermore, regulatory bodies in Jordan should take a step towards encouraging gender diversity on boards.

  4. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – CORPORATE BRANDING RELATIONSHIP: AN EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bistra VASSILEVA

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Current academic research on the relationship of firms’ CSR activities with corporate branding typically focuses on consumers’ and shareholders’ viewpoints. This research aims to shed light on how organisational members in firms perceive to be the impact of CSR activities upon their corporate brand strategy. Using a survey administered to companies in the U.K. and Bulgaria, the author investigate, firstly, organisational members’ perceptions of the impact of different CSR-related activities upon corporate branding and, secondly, their beliefs about what customers and shareholders think are the impacts of CSR-related activities upon brand image and brand identity. The findings indicated that while organisational members rated quality products, customer service and corporate governance highly as key components of CSR activity, they were much more ambivalent about their companies'commitment to broader actions which involve the 'community' and 'society'. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for future 'CSR education' among companies.

  5. TAX AVOIDANCE, RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND THE CORPORATE CASH DIVIDEND POLICY

    OpenAIRE

    Sari, Dewi Kartika; Utama, Sidharta; Rossieta, Hilda

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to investigate the relationship between tax avoidance, related party transactions and the corporate dividend policy. Furthermore, this study will also investigate the moderating effects of the implementation of Corporate Governance (CG) on the relationship between tax avoidance, Related Party Transactions (RPT) and corporate dividend policies. Our sample covers companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange during 2011-2014. The results provide moderate support for the prop...

  6. Enhanced Automated Guidance System for Horizontal Auger Boring Based on Image Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Lingling; Wen, Guojun; Wang, Yudan; Huang, Lei; Zhou, Jiang

    2018-02-15

    Horizontal auger boring (HAB) is a widely used trenchless technology for the high-accuracy installation of gravity or pressure pipelines on line and grade. Differing from other pipeline installations, HAB requires a more precise and automated guidance system for use in a practical project. This paper proposes an economic and enhanced automated optical guidance system, based on optimization research of light-emitting diode (LED) light target and five automated image processing bore-path deviation algorithms. An LED light target was optimized for many qualities, including light color, filter plate color, luminous intensity, and LED layout. The image preprocessing algorithm, direction location algorithm, angle measurement algorithm, deflection detection algorithm, and auto-focus algorithm, compiled in MATLAB, are used to automate image processing for deflection computing and judging. After multiple indoor experiments, this guidance system is applied in a project of hot water pipeline installation, with accuracy controlled within 2 mm in 48-m distance, providing accurate line and grade controls and verifying the feasibility and reliability of the guidance system.

  7. Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fomcenco, Alex

    Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law.......Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law....

  8. The Complementarity between Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Andrea Beltratti

    2005-01-01

    The paper aims at understanding the relation between corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In theory, CG refers mainly to the mechanisms which protect outsiders and ensure an effective working of the firm, while CSR refers mainly to the objective function of the firm and the attention for various stakeholders. The paper discusses these concepts, with particular attention to the relation between CSR and profit maximization. This relation is important to evaluate ...

  9. Corporate Governance in Costa Rica

    OpenAIRE

    Gilberto E. Arce; Edgar Robles C.

    2005-01-01

    This paper examines corporate governance practices in Costa Rica. First, it estimates corporate governance charter measures using firm-level data for 87 Costa Rican firms and studies their impact on the firms` performance; here, the mean of the corporate governance charters for the publicly traded firms is equal to 56. 14. Second, new evidence is presented on de jure and de facto corporate governance charter measures at the firm level and on their effect on the performance of the firm. The re...

  10. Regulating Corporate Governance in the EU

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Laura

    In the context of the financial and economic crisis, corporate governance and regulatory supervision failures are at the centre of public debates. Who controls the modern corporation, and why, has become one of the defining social power relations in contemporary capitalism. Regulation Corporate...... transformation of company law and corporate governance regulation. Her findings about the marketization of corporate control are at the core to a better understanding of the broader context of capitalist restructuring in the European Union....

  11. De Ratio van Corporate Governance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. de Jong (Abe)

    2006-01-01

    textabstractAbe de Jong (1970) is Professor in Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance at RSM Erasmus University. He obtained a PhD in finance at Tilburg University (1999). His research and teaching interests are in the area of empirical corporate finance and include capital structure choice,

  12. Assessing drivers' response during automated driver support system failures with non-driving tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Sijun; Neyens, David M

    2017-06-01

    With the increase in automated driver support systems, drivers are shifting from operating their vehicles to supervising their automation. As a result, it is important to understand how drivers interact with these automated systems and evaluate their effect on driver responses to safety critical events. This study aimed to identify how drivers responded when experiencing a safety critical event in automated vehicles while also engaged in non-driving tasks. In total 48 participants were included in this driving simulator study with two levels of automated driving: (a) driving with no automation and (b) driving with adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane keeping (LK) systems engaged; and also two levels of a non-driving task (a) watching a movie or (b) no non-driving task. In addition to driving performance measures, non-driving task performance and the mean glance duration for the non-driving task were compared between the two levels of automated driving. Drivers using the automated systems responded worse than those manually driving in terms of reaction time, lane departure duration, and maximum steering wheel angle to an induced lane departure event. These results also found that non-driving tasks further impaired driver responses to a safety critical event in the automated system condition. In the automated driving condition, driver responses to the safety critical events were slower, especially when engaged in a non-driving task. Traditional driver performance variables may not necessarily effectively and accurately evaluate driver responses to events when supervising autonomous vehicle systems. Thus, it is important to develop and use appropriate variables to quantify drivers' performance under these conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

  13. Implementation and design of a communication system of an agent-based automated substation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LIN Yong-jun; LIU Yu-tao; ZHANG Dan-hui

    2006-01-01

    A substation system requires that communication be transmitted reliably,accurately and in real-time.Aimed at solving problems,e.g.,flow confliction and sensitive data transmission,a model of the communication system of an agent-based automated substation is introduced.The running principle is discussed in detail and each type of agent is discussed further.At the end,the realization of the agent system applied to the substation is presented.The outcome shows that the communication system of an agent-based automated substation improves the accuracy and reliability of the data transfer and presents it in realtime.

  14. Corporate crime: Criminological and cultural aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keković Zoran

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The process of economic transition in Serbia has highlighted the problem of socially responsible behavior of corporations and especially the growing phenomenon of corporate crime. The consequences of corporate wrongdoing are almost everywhere and cannot be overseen. The most tremendous ones are those related to human casualties, environmental disasters, long-term negative health effects and great material budget losses on local and state levels. The fact that corporations are profiting from criminal activity which causes enormous damage to society and individuals makes public policy makers face the ultimate choice - either to devise new effective measures for reducing and controlling this phenomenon or to retain the standard model of crime control, in accordance with the principles of classical criminal law. The first choice would require one of the pillars of criminal law - the principle of individual and subjective guilt of physical persons as the exclusive grounds for imposing criminal liability - to be either modified and widened in order to be used as a base for imposing corporate criminal liability or partially changed by new criminal law categories which would introduce different grounds for imposing criminal liability on an organization. The second choice would require the decision-makers to refuse to change old and well-established principles. The criminal reality, however, has made most legislatures in Europe and around the world choose the first option and introduce different forms of corporate criminal liability. Serbian criminal legislation has been headed in the same direction since 2008, when it was changed in order to enable the imposing of liability for criminal acts on corporations. However, although corporate criminal liability is becoming the European legislative standard, one question remains - Is this the only measure of criminal politics which can be used as a means of reducing and preventing corporate crime? The authors

  15. Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility on Social Media: Strategies, Stakeholders, and Public Engagement on Corporate Facebook

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Moonhee; Furey, Lauren D.; Mohr, Tiffany

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore what corporations with good reputations communicate on social media. Based on a content analysis of 46 corporate Facebook pages from "Fortune's" "World's Most Admired Companies," this study found that corporations communicate noncorporate social responsibility messages more frequently…

  16. Exploiting street-level panoramic images for large-scale automated surveying of traffic sign

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hazelhoff, L.; Creusen, I.M.; With, de P.H.N.

    2014-01-01

    Accurate and up-to-date inventories of traffic signs contribute to efficient road maintenance and a high road safety. This paper describes a system for the automated surveying of road signs from street-level images. This is an extremely challenging task, as the involved capturings are non-densely

  17. Discourses and Inter-Corporeity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Algis Mickūnas

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Contemporary European theories have focused attention on corporeity, its surface excitations and passions, and even on politically constructed bodies – how do men and women “carry their bodies”. The great variety of such claims suggests transformations in theoretical thinking, yet such changes were already articulated at another level by phenomenological studies: kinesthetic body. It is obvious that to speak of corporeity is possible only on the basis of analyses of corporeal movements. Thus, the aim of this essay is to disclose the structures of bodily movements, constituting the basis of primordial awareness – not “I think” but “I can”. In the essay there are presented a number of theses of post modernists who have not developed adequate analyses of corporeal movements.

  18. Low cost automation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-03-01

    This book indicates method of building of automation plan, design of automation facilities, automation and CHIP process like basics of cutting, NC processing machine and CHIP handling, automation unit, such as drilling unit, tapping unit, boring unit, milling unit and slide unit, application of oil pressure on characteristics and basic oil pressure circuit, application of pneumatic, automation kinds and application of process, assembly, transportation, automatic machine and factory automation.

  19. 12 CFR 561.45 - Service corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Service corporation. 561.45 Section 561.45... AFFECTING ALL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS § 561.45 Service corporation. The term service corporation means any corporation, the majority of the capital stock of which is owned by one or more savings associations and which...

  20. 46 CFR 67.39 - Corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Corporation. 67.39 Section 67.39 Shipping COAST GUARD... Citizenship Requirements for Vessel Documentation § 67.39 Corporation. (a) For the purpose of obtaining a registry or a recreational endorsement, a corporation meets citizenship requirements if: (1) It is...

  1. Disaster recovery plan for Automation Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Owens, M.J.

    1997-06-01

    Automation Technology provides a multitude of data processing and network services to the Environmental Restoration Contract (ERC). These services include: personal computers, local and wide area networks, and Internet and intranet support and services. ERC employees and client personnel receive these services primarily from the Data Center located on the ground floor in the Bechtel Corporate Center at 3350 George Washington Way, Richland, Washington. Centralized databases, server-based software, and network services for the Bechtel Local Area Network reside on servers located in the Data Center. The data communication circuits supported in this center allow for the transmission of business information to and from all project locations in the Hanford Site complex. The loss of one or more of these functions would seriously impact the ability of the ERC to conduct business and bring a virtual standstill to many ERC employees'' activities. Upon declaration of disaster by the Contingency Manager and the Disaster Recovery Coordinator, the disaster recovery plan will be implemented. 24 tabs

  2. Corporate Governance in Crisis? The Politics of EU Corporate Governance Regulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Laura

    2012-01-01

    on the transformation of company law and corporate governance in the last decade. Here, the article illustrates how company law has become increasingly focused on the rights of shareholders, while worker rights have been relegated to the area of social policies and labour law. The study also traces the shift from...... a legislative programme centred on company law harmonisation towards a regulatory approach based on minimum requirements and mutual recognition, increasingly geared at adjusting the governance of corporations to the demands of liberalised capital markets. The second section then reflects on the current...... developments in corporate governance regulation in the context of financial and economic crisis....

  3. Corporate Foresight and Strategic Decisions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gomez Portaleoni, Claudio; Marinova, Svetla Trifonova; Ul-Haq, Rehan

    . It provides an extensive analysis of extant theories of corporate foresight and strategic management, brings in new notions and insights, and presents an in-depth case study exploration of corporate foresight of a European bank. The understanding of organizational future is influenced by the perceived......The investigation of the future of an organization has always captivated the attention of academics and business managers. Presently, the aspiration to entrench future-relevant insights into management practices is a must. Companies that have made attempts to use corporate foresight have generally...... dealt successfully with internal information sharing processes that in most cases have prepared them for the challenges of the future. Corporate Foresights and Strategic Decisions investigates the relationships between corporate foresight and management decision-making processes in organizations...

  4. Automated Classification of Consumer Health Information Needs in Patient Portal Messages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cronin, Robert M.; Fabbri, Daniel; Denny, Joshua C.; Jackson, Gretchen Purcell

    2015-01-01

    Patients have diverse health information needs, and secure messaging through patient portals is an emerging means by which such needs are expressed and met. As patient portal adoption increases, growing volumes of secure messages may burden healthcare providers. Automated classification could expedite portal message triage and answering. We created four automated classifiers based on word content and natural language processing techniques to identify health information needs in 1000 patient-generated portal messages. Logistic regression and random forest classifiers detected single information needs well, with area under the curves of 0.804–0.914. A logistic regression classifier accurately found the set of needs within a message, with a Jaccard index of 0.859 (95% Confidence Interval: (0.847, 0.871)). Automated classification of consumer health information needs expressed in patient portal messages is feasible and may allow direct linking to relevant resources or creation of institutional resources for commonly expressed needs. PMID:26958285

  5. THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON CORPORATE VALUE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana DOBRESCU

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the correlation between Corporate Social Responsability actions and companies’ value. For this purpose a data base was created for 101 important companies in Romania, for years 2011 and 2012. The data was processed using Eviews 7 and SAS 9.2 softwares and the econometric variables specific determinations were interpreted in an econometric approach. A new index for the Corporate Social Responsabilitiy hierarchy levels was proposed and its applicability was demonstrated.

  6. 27 CFR 31.123 - New corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false New corporation. 31.123... Requiring Registration As A New Business § 31.123 New corporation. Where a new corporation is formed to take over and conduct the business of one or more corporations that have registered under this part, the new...

  7. Fortune 500 Corporate Headquarters

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Homeland Security — Large Corporate Headquarters in the United States This database is composed of 'an annual list of the 500 largest industrial corporations in the U.S., published by...

  8. The Conceptual Review of Interaction between Corporate Wisdom and Corporate Entrepreneurship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metehan ORTKARPUZ

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Wisdom is an important point of view in the literature as the highest desired attainment of knowledge management and a new goal. Wisdom is a mysterious concept existing at the top of the hierarchy of data, information, and knowledge that occurs by the evolving of knowledge with experience and thought. This concept constitutes institutional wisdom when dealt with on an institutional basis. Today's competition conditions move corporate wisdom understanding on the agenda due to the insufficiency of traditional knowledge management approach towards sustainable targets and keeping the business vulnerable to rapidly changing conditions. Entrepreneurship is one of the most popular phenomena influenced by the developments in knowledge management. Entrepreneurship necessitates the creation of value by seeing opportunities, reaching different information before others, and using it differently from others, thereby becoming a member of the information society. Entrepreneurship processes aiming to create value through transformation and innovation studies in an existing organization are called "corporate entrepreneurship". Corporate entrepreneurship is a capability that enables businesses to gain competitive advantage through conscious efforts which actuate internal and external initiatives against changing conditions and uncertainties. It is thought that the factors of corporate wisdom understanding are interacting with elements of corporate entrepreneurship. In this study, a conceptual review is carried out in order to reveal the mentioned interaction, to take all dimensions of the elements which the concepts are based on.

  9. Corporal Punishment and the Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Gordon B.; And Others

    1990-01-01

    In order to understand and evaluate the continued prevalence of corporal punishment in school systems, this article reviews the following topics: (1) historical issues; (2) current demographics and correlates; (3) the effectiveness of corporal punishment in school settings; (4) myths; (5) alternatives to corporal punishment; and (6) social policy.…

  10. Uruguay - Corporate Governance Country Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2005-01-01

    This report provides an assessment of Uruguay's corporate governance policy framework, enforcement and compliance practices. It highlights recent improvements in corporate governance regulation, makes policy recommendations, and provides investors with a benchmark against which to measure corporate governance in Uruguay. The report identifies several key next steps that focus on implementa...

  11. Possible Computer Vision Systems and Automated or Computer-Aided Edging and Trimming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philip A. Araman

    1990-01-01

    This paper discusses research which is underway to help our industry reduce costs, increase product volume and value recovery, and market more accurately graded and described products. The research is part of a team effort to help the hardwood sawmill industry automate with computer vision systems, and computer-aided or computer controlled processing. This paper...

  12. Creditor Governance and Corporate Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arnold, Marc; Westermann, Ramona

    This paper analyzes the impact of debt covenant renegotiations on corporate policies. We develop a structural model of a levered firm that can renegotiate debt both at investment and in corporate distress. Covenant renegotiation at investment disciplines equity holders in their financing...... and investment decisions and, hence, mitigates the agency cost of debt. Our model explains the empirical intensity and patterns of the occurrence of debt renegotiation. We also quantify the role of debt covenant renegotiations as a governance channel on corporate financial policies and on the value of corporate...

  13. Corporate Accounting Policy Efficiency Improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena K. Vorobei

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is focused on the issues of efficient use of different methods of tax accounting for the optimization of income tax expenses and their consolidation in corporate accounting policy. The article makes reasoned conclusions, concerning optimal selection of depreciation methods for tax and bookkeeping accounting and their consolidation in corporate accounting policy and consolidation of optimal methods of cost recovery in production, considering business environment. The impact of the selected methods on corporate income tax rates and corporate property tax rates was traced and tax recovery was estimated.

  14. Automated dried blood spots standard and QC sample preparation using a robotic liquid handler.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Long; Zhang, Duxi; Aubry, Anne-Francoise; Arnold, Mark E

    2012-12-01

    A dried blood spot (DBS) bioanalysis assay involves many steps, such as the preparation of standard (STD) and QC samples in blood, the spotting onto DBS cards, and the cutting-out of the spots. These steps are labor intensive and time consuming if done manually, which, therefore, makes automation very desirable in DBS bioanalysis. A robotic liquid handler was successfully applied to the preparation of STD and QC samples in blood and to spot the blood samples onto DBS cards using buspirone as the model compound. This automated preparation was demonstrated to be accurate and consistent. However the accuracy and precision of automated preparation were similar to those from manual preparation. The effect of spotting volume on accuracy was evaluated and a trend of increasing concentrations of buspirone with increasing spotting volumes was observed. The automated STD and QC sample preparation process significantly improved the efficiency, robustness and safety of DBS bioanalysis.

  15. CORPORATE REBRANDING OF GRAMEDIA STORE (CORPORATE REBRANDING DI GRAMEDIA STORE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natasha Helena Kairupan

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. The purposes of this research are to determine the stages of analysis, planning, and evaluation of corporate rebranding process of Gramedia Book Store to be Gramedia Store to rise stakeholder’s awareness. The method used is descriptive qualitative with positivism paradigm. The technique of collecting data through in-depth interview, observation, and literature study. The result of this research showed the analysis stage by analyzing the market through insights and foresights, brand audit through SWOT analysis, and identifying opportunities. The planning stage is by determine the purpose of the planning process and then determine the target audience, consist of external and internal customer. The planning of external customer by renaming and change of corporate identity, and marketing planning using communication channel (above the line and below the line. The planning of internal customer by Brand Induction, training, inspiration briefing at store, and innovation competition. The evaluation of rebranding process of Gramedia Store is having a focus group discussion with customer, media monitoring, and presentation to BOD. Keywords : Process, Corporate Rebranding, Stakeholder Awareness, Corporate Identity, Gramedia Store Abstrak.Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana tahapan analisis, perencanaan, dan evaluasi proses corporate rebranding Gramedia Book Store menjadi Gramedia Store untuk meningkatkan stakeholder awareness. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan paradigma positivisme dan jenis studi deksriptif. Teknik pengumpulan data yang dilakukan melalui wawancara mendalam, observasi, dan studi pustaka. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, tahapan analisis dilakukan dengan menganalisis pasar melalui insights dan foresights, audit merek dengan analisis SWOT, dan mengidentifikasi peluang. Dalam tahapan perencanaan dengan menentukan tujuan kemudian menentukan target audiens, yaitu eksternal dan internal. Perencanaan

  16. The Atmospheric Data Acquisition And Interpolation Process For Center-TRACON Automation System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jardin, M. R.; Erzberger, H.; Denery, Dallas G. (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    The Center-TRACON Automation System (CTAS), an advanced new air traffic automation program, requires knowledge of spatial and temporal atmospheric conditions such as the wind speed and direction, the temperature and the pressure in order to accurately predict aircraft trajectories. Real-time atmospheric data is available in a grid format so that CTAS must interpolate between the grid points to estimate the atmospheric parameter values. The atmospheric data grid is generally not in the same coordinate system as that used by CTAS so that coordinate conversions are required. Both the interpolation and coordinate conversion processes can introduce errors into the atmospheric data and reduce interpolation accuracy. More accurate algorithms may be computationally expensive or may require a prohibitively large amount of data storage capacity so that trade-offs must be made between accuracy and the available computational and data storage resources. The atmospheric data acquisition and processing employed by CTAS will be outlined in this report. The effects of atmospheric data processing on CTAS trajectory prediction will also be analyzed, and several examples of the trajectory prediction process will be given.

  17. Corporate accountability and transitional justice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabine Michalowski

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Traditionally, transitional justice processes do not address the role of corporations in dictatorships or in armed conflicts that give rise to the need for dealing with grave and systematic human rights violations. However, there is a growing awareness that in many contexts corporations contribute to these violations, often in the form of corporate complicity with the principal violators. An argument can therefore be made that to achieve the aims of transitional justice and establish a holistic narrative of the past as well as obtain justice and reparations for victims requires investigating and addressing the role of corporate actors. This article uses the example of Colombia’s Justice and Peace process to show some of the complexities, opportunities and challenges that arise if transitional justice measures focus primarily on criminal law and create a specific legal framework, outside of the ordinary justice systems, only for a limited group of primary perpetrators, in the Colombian case for members of the armed groups who demobilised. It is argued that the exclusion of corporate actors in contexts where their role is regarded as significant leads to victims seeking alternatives ways to obtain justice and that both victims and corporations would benefit if transitional justice mechanisms addressed the role of corporations.

  18. Corporate moral responsibility in health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilmot, S

    2000-01-01

    The question of corporate moral responsibility--of whether it makes sense to hold an organisation corporately morally responsible for its actions, rather than holding responsible the individuals who contributed to that action--has been debated over a number of years in the business ethics literature. However, it has had little attention in the world of health care ethics. Health care in the United Kingdom (UK) is becoming an increasingly corporate responsibility, so the issue is increasingly relevant in the health care context, and it is worth considering whether the specific nature of health care raises special questions around corporate moral responsibility. For instance, corporate responsibility has usually been considered in the context of private corporations, and the organisations of health care in the UK are mainly state bodies. However, there is enough similarity in relevant respects between state organisations and private corporations, for the question of corporate responsibility to be equally applicable. Also, health care is characterised by professions with their own systems of ethical regulation. However, this feature does not seriously diminish the importance of the corporate responsibility issue, and the importance of the latter is enhanced by recent developments. But there is one major area of difference. Health care, as an activity with an intrinsically moral goal, differs importantly from commercial activities that are essentially amoral, in that it narrows the range of opportunities for corporate wrongdoing, and also makes such organisations more difficult to punish.

  19. Cardiac imaging: working towards fully-automated machine analysis & interpretation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slomka, Piotr J; Dey, Damini; Sitek, Arkadiusz; Motwani, Manish; Berman, Daniel S; Germano, Guido

    2017-03-01

    Non-invasive imaging plays a critical role in managing patients with cardiovascular disease. Although subjective visual interpretation remains the clinical mainstay, quantitative analysis facilitates objective, evidence-based management, and advances in clinical research. This has driven developments in computing and software tools aimed at achieving fully automated image processing and quantitative analysis. In parallel, machine learning techniques have been used to rapidly integrate large amounts of clinical and quantitative imaging data to provide highly personalized individual patient-based conclusions. Areas covered: This review summarizes recent advances in automated quantitative imaging in cardiology and describes the latest techniques which incorporate machine learning principles. The review focuses on the cardiac imaging techniques which are in wide clinical use. It also discusses key issues and obstacles for these tools to become utilized in mainstream clinical practice. Expert commentary: Fully-automated processing and high-level computer interpretation of cardiac imaging are becoming a reality. Application of machine learning to the vast amounts of quantitative data generated per scan and integration with clinical data also facilitates a move to more patient-specific interpretation. These developments are unlikely to replace interpreting physicians but will provide them with highly accurate tools to detect disease, risk-stratify, and optimize patient-specific treatment. However, with each technological advance, we move further from human dependence and closer to fully-automated machine interpretation.

  20. Motives of corporate political donations: industry regulation, subjective judgement and the origins of pragmatic and ideological corporations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrigan, Nicholas M

    2017-12-01

    What motivates corporate political action? Are corporations motivated by their own narrow economic self-interest; are they committed to pursuing larger class interests; or are corporations instruments for status groups to pursue their own agendas? Sociologists have been divided over this question for much of the last century. This paper introduces a novel case - that of Australia - and an extensive dataset of over 1,500 corporations and 7,500 directors. The paper attempts to understand the motives of corporate political action by examining patterns of corporate political donations. Using statistical modelling, supported by qualitative evidence, the paper argues that, in the Australian case, corporate political action is largely motivated by the narrow economic self-interest of individual corporations. Firms' interests are, consistent with regulatory environment theory, defined by the nature of government regulation in their industry: those in highly regulated industries (such as banking) and those dependent on government support (such as defence) tend to adopt a strategy of hedging their political support, and make bipartisan donations (to both major parties). In contrast, firms facing hostile regulation (such as timber or mining), and those without strong dependence on state support (such as small companies) tend to adopt a strategy of conservative partisanship, and make conservative-only donations. This paper argues that regulatory environment theory needs to be modified to incorporate greater emphasis on the subjective political judgements of corporations facing hostile regulation: a corporation's adoption of conservative partisanship or hedging is not just a product of the objective regulation they face, but also whether corporate leaders judge such regulation as politically inevitable or something that can be resisted. Such a judgement is highly subjective, introducing a dynamic and unpredictable dimension to corporate political action. © London School of

  1. Automated classification of Acid Rock Drainage potential from Corescan drill core imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cracknell, M. J.; Jackson, L.; Parbhakar-Fox, A.; Savinova, K.

    2017-12-01

    Classification of the acid forming potential of waste rock is important for managing environmental hazards associated with mining operations. Current methods for the classification of acid rock drainage (ARD) potential usually involve labour intensive and subjective assessment of drill core and/or hand specimens. Manual methods are subject to operator bias, human error and the amount of material that can be assessed within a given time frame is limited. The automated classification of ARD potential documented here is based on the ARD Index developed by Parbhakar-Fox et al. (2011). This ARD Index involves the combination of five indicators: A - sulphide content; B - sulphide alteration; C - sulphide morphology; D - primary neutraliser content; and E - sulphide mineral association. Several components of the ARD Index require accurate identification of sulphide minerals. This is achieved by classifying Corescan Red-Green-Blue true colour images into the presence or absence of sulphide minerals using supervised classification. Subsequently, sulphide classification images are processed and combined with Corescan SWIR-based mineral classifications to obtain information on sulphide content, indices representing sulphide textures (disseminated versus massive and degree of veining), and spatially associated minerals. This information is combined to calculate ARD Index indicator values that feed into the classification of ARD potential. Automated ARD potential classifications of drill core samples associated with a porphyry Cu-Au deposit are compared to manually derived classifications and those obtained by standard static geochemical testing and X-ray diffractometry analyses. Results indicate a high degree of similarity between automated and manual ARD potential classifications. Major differences between approaches are observed in sulphide and neutraliser mineral percentages, likely due to the subjective nature of manual estimates of mineral content. The automated approach

  2. The corporate security professional

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Karen Lund

    2013-01-01

    In our age of globalization and complex threat environments, every business is called upon to manage security. This tendency is reflected in the fact that a wide range of businesses increasingly think about security in broad terms and strive to translate national security concerns into corporate...... speech. This article argues that the profession of the security manager has become central for understanding how the relationship between national and corporate security is currently negotiated. The national security background of most private sector security managers makes the corporate security...... professional inside the company a powerful hybrid agent. By zooming in on the profession and the practice of national security inside companies, the article raises questions about where to draw the line between corporate security and national security along with the political consequences of the constitution...

  3. Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thuy Tuong Nguyen

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a three-step image analysis process based upon: (1 an orthographic plant projection method integrating a perspective transform with automatic parameter estimation; (2 a plant counting method based on projection histograms; and (3 a double-counting avoidance method based on a homography transform. Experimental results demonstrate the ability to count large numbers of plants automatically with no human effort. Results show that, for tree seedlings having a height up to 40 cm and a within-row tree spacing of approximately 10 cm, the algorithms successfully estimated the number of plants with an average accuracy of 95.2% for trees within a single image and 98% for counting of the whole plant population in a large sequence of images.

  4. Automated method for measuring the extent of selective logging damage with airborne LiDAR data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melendy, L.; Hagen, S. C.; Sullivan, F. B.; Pearson, T. R. H.; Walker, S. M.; Ellis, P.; Kustiyo; Sambodo, Ari Katmoko; Roswintiarti, O.; Hanson, M. A.; Klassen, A. W.; Palace, M. W.; Braswell, B. H.; Delgado, G. M.

    2018-05-01

    Selective logging has an impact on the global carbon cycle, as well as on the forest micro-climate, and longer-term changes in erosion, soil and nutrient cycling, and fire susceptibility. Our ability to quantify these impacts is dependent on methods and tools that accurately identify the extent and features of logging activity. LiDAR-based measurements of these features offers significant promise. Here, we present a set of algorithms for automated detection and mapping of critical features associated with logging - roads/decks, skid trails, and gaps - using commercial airborne LiDAR data as input. The automated algorithm was applied to commercial LiDAR data collected over two logging concessions in Kalimantan, Indonesia in 2014. The algorithm results were compared to measurements of the logging features collected in the field soon after logging was complete. The automated algorithm-mapped road/deck and skid trail features match closely with features measured in the field, with agreement levels ranging from 69% to 99% when adjusting for GPS location error. The algorithm performed most poorly with gaps, which, by their nature, are variable due to the unpredictable impact of tree fall versus the linear and regular features directly created by mechanical means. Overall, the automated algorithm performs well and offers significant promise as a generalizable tool useful to efficiently and accurately capture the effects of selective logging, including the potential to distinguish reduced impact logging from conventional logging.

  5. Empirical study on the link between corporate citizenship behaviour and spirituality in the corporate environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanjana Brijball Parumasur

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the relationship between spirituality in the corporate environment and corporate or organisational citizenship behaviour. The relationships amongst the sub-dimensions of workplace spirituality (meaningfulness of work, sense of community, alignment with organisational values and the sub-dimensions of corporate or organisational citizenship behaviour (altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue are also examined. The extent to which the sub-dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour predict workplace spirituality are analysed. The study was undertaken in a retail products outlet that focuses on quality and professionalism. The sample was drawn using cluster sampling and the adequacy of the sample was assessed using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity. Data was collected using a closed-ended, established questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results reflect that the organisation is fairly high on workplace spirituality with the focus being on meaningfulness of work and, on corporate or organisational citizenship behaviour with altruism and civic virtue being its greatest strength. There is a significant relationship between spirituality in the corporate environment and corporate or organisational citizenship behaviour, with sportsmanship and civic virtue being strong predictors of workplace spirituality. The results therefore, display the dynamic relationship between spirituality in the corporate environment and corporate or organisational citizenship behaviour, which when nurtured has the potential to enhance both bottom-lines of profits and people as well as society as a whole

  6. Energy Information Data Base: corporate author entries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-03-01

    One of the controls for information entered into the data bases created and maintained by the DOE Technical Information Center is the standardized name for the corporate entity or the corporate author. The purpose of Energy Information Data Base: Corporate Author Entries (TID-4585-R1) and this supplemental list of authorized or standardized corporate entries is to provide a means for the consistent citing of the names of organizations in bibliographic records. In general, an entry in Corporate Author Entries consists of the seven-digit code number assigned to the particular corporate entity, the two-letter country code, the largest element of the corporate name, the location of the corporate entity, and the smallest element of the corporate name (if provided). This supplement [DOE/TIC-4585-R1(Suppl.5)] contains additions to the base document (TID-4585-R1) and is intended to be used with that publication

  7. Implementation of a fully automated process purge-and-trap gas chromatograph at an environmental remediation site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blair, D.S.; Morrison, D.J.

    1997-01-01

    The AQUASCAN, a commercially available, fully automated purge-and-trap gas chromatograph from Sentex Systems Inc., was implemented and evaluated as an in-field, automated monitoring system of contaminated groundwater at an active DOE remediation site in Pinellas, FL. Though the AQUASCAN is designed as a stand alone process analytical unit, implementation at this site required additional hardware. The hardware included a sample dilution system and a method for delivering standard solution to the gas chromatograph for automated calibration. As a result of the evaluation the system was determined to be a reliable and accurate instrument. The AQUASCAN reported concentration values for methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, and toluene in the Pinellas ground water were within 20% of reference laboratory values

  8. Autonomy and Automation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shively, Jay

    2017-01-01

    A significant level of debate and confusion has surrounded the meaning of the terms autonomy and automation. Automation is a multi-dimensional concept, and we propose that Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) automation should be described with reference to the specific system and task that has been automated, the context in which the automation functions, and other relevant dimensions. In this paper, we present definitions of automation, pilot in the loop, pilot on the loop and pilot out of the loop. We further propose that in future, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) RPAS Panel avoids the use of the terms autonomy and autonomous when referring to automated systems on board RPA. Work Group 7 proposes to develop, in consultation with other workgroups, a taxonomy of Levels of Automation for RPAS.

  9. Perancangan Corporate Identity Astro Rent Car Surabaya

    OpenAIRE

    Gunardi, Yohanes Calvin; Negara, I Nengah Sudika; Aryanto, Hendro

    2017-01-01

    Corporate Identity merupakan hal yang krusial dalam perkembangan sebuah Perusahaan dalam segi internal maupun eksternal. Dalam membuat perancangan Corporate identity yang efektif, perancangan ini menampilkan segala teori dan ilmu yang berhubungan dengan Corporate identity. Dengan adanya perancangan ini diharapkan para pembaca mengerti betapa pentingnya peran sebuah corporate identity yang tepat dan mengena.Kata kunci: corporate identity, Astro, logo.

  10. Examining the Relationship between Corporate Social ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Recently the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is being ... recognize and instill CSR initiatives into their corporate culture and business ... Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Financial Performance, ROA, ROE, and ROS.

  11. Features of the content of corporate contracts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Petrovna Gladneva

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective to study the legal nature to reveal the peculiarities of the subject and other essential terms of corporate contracts as a technique and means of legal regulation of corporate relations. Methods general and specific methods of cognition dialectical formal logic analysis synthesis modeling structural and systemicfunctional methods as well as comparative legal logical legal historical legal grammatical methods and systemic interpretation. Results it is concluded that the object of corporate contracts includes terms about the features of implementation of corporate rights for shares and share in capital assets conditions order of the implementation of corporate rights and approval of other actions related to company management activity reorganization and liquidation the passive duty of corporate organizations to refrain from committing any action authority arising from the nature of corporate agreements as well as the active responsibilities associated with the certain implementation of corporate rights certified by stocks shares rights to stocks shares. In addition to the subject the content of corporate contractsincludes other essential necessary conditions stipulated by the corporate legislation norms and the agreement of the participants of economic entity. Scientific novelty for the first time taking into account modern achievements of civilistic jurisprudence and practice the authors investigate the relationship between the concepts of a civil contract and corporate contract give the definition of corporate contract show the specificity of the subject and other material terms of corporate contracts. Practical significance the findings can be taken into account in the further research of corporate law issues as subbranch of civil law used in law making and enforcement activities in the educational process as a teaching material in civil law. nbsp

  12. Corporate Language and Corporate Talk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zølner, Mette

    2013-01-01

    The article presents the case studies of two Danish based multinational companies (MNCs) which provides the an insight into the role of languages in organizational learning. It mentions that the studies focus on the sharing of the understanding and practices among their employees across the geogr......The article presents the case studies of two Danish based multinational companies (MNCs) which provides the an insight into the role of languages in organizational learning. It mentions that the studies focus on the sharing of the understanding and practices among their employees across...... the geographical borders by the medium of common corporate values for knowledge management, collection of data and analysis in these studies inspired by approach of ground theory and presents a usefulness of distinguishing between corporate language and talks to enable the headquarters learning. Also it concludes...... that both of the MNCs are of Danish origin but executives of both companies are proficient in English language....

  13. Designing of smart home automation system based on Raspberry Pi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saini, Ravi Prakash; Singh, Bhanu Pratap; Sharma, Mahesh Kumar; Wattanawisuth, Nattapol; Leeprechanon, Nopbhorn

    2016-01-01

    Locally networked or remotely controlled home automation system becomes a popular paradigm because of the numerous advantages and is suitable for academic research. This paper proposes a method for an implementation of Raspberry Pi based home automation system presented with an android phone access interface. The power consumption profile across the connected load is measured accurately through programming. Users can access the graph of total power consumption with respect to time worldwide using their Dropbox account. An android application has been developed to channelize the monitoring and controlling operation of home appliances remotely. This application facilitates controlling of operating pins of Raspberry Pi by pressing the corresponding key for turning “on” and “off” of any desired appliance. Systems can range from the simple room lighting control to smart microcontroller based hybrid systems incorporating several other additional features. Smart home automation systems are being adopted to achieve flexibility, scalability, security in the sense of data protection through the cloud-based data storage protocol, reliability, energy efficiency, etc.

  14. Designing of smart home automation system based on Raspberry Pi

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saini, Ravi Prakash; Singh, Bhanu Pratap [B K Birla Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pilani, Rajasthan (India); Sharma, Mahesh Kumar; Wattanawisuth, Nattapol; Leeprechanon, Nopbhorn, E-mail: Dr.N.L@ieee.org [Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus, Pathum Thani (Thailand)

    2016-03-09

    Locally networked or remotely controlled home automation system becomes a popular paradigm because of the numerous advantages and is suitable for academic research. This paper proposes a method for an implementation of Raspberry Pi based home automation system presented with an android phone access interface. The power consumption profile across the connected load is measured accurately through programming. Users can access the graph of total power consumption with respect to time worldwide using their Dropbox account. An android application has been developed to channelize the monitoring and controlling operation of home appliances remotely. This application facilitates controlling of operating pins of Raspberry Pi by pressing the corresponding key for turning “on” and “off” of any desired appliance. Systems can range from the simple room lighting control to smart microcontroller based hybrid systems incorporating several other additional features. Smart home automation systems are being adopted to achieve flexibility, scalability, security in the sense of data protection through the cloud-based data storage protocol, reliability, energy efficiency, etc.

  15. Aligning corporate real estate with the corporate strategies of higher education institutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beckers, R; van der Voordt, Theo; Dewulf, G

    2015-01-01

    Purpose
    The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate real estate (CRE) managers of higher education institutions formulate their CRE strategies and CRE operating decisions to align CRE with the corporate strategies of these institutions.

    Design/methodology/approach
    An

  16. Aligning corporate real estate with the corporate strategies of higher education institutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Theo van der Voordt; Geert Dewulf; Ronald Beckers

    2015-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate real estate (CRE) managers of higher education institutions formulate their CRE strategies and CRE operating decisions to align CRE with the corporate strategies of these institutions. Design/methodology/approach – An analytical

  17. Corporate environment protection as a legal problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kloepfer, M.

    1993-01-01

    It is discussed what legal instruments companies have for integrating environment protection into their corporate policy: Industrial self-monitoring; the environmental health officer as an instrument of corporate environment protection (environmental health officer, radiation protection officer); obligations to disclose information on corporate organisation pursuant to Article 52 a of the Federal Emmission Control Act; corporate environment protection as a general obligation of the operator. Possible ways of strengthening corporate environment protection are considered de lege ferende, e.g. the additional instruments of corporate self-monitoring laid down in the General Part of the Environmental Code, audits on environment protection, corporate environment protection through quality assurance systems. (orig.) [de

  18. Production and quality assurance automation in the Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman, K. B.; Cox, C. M.; Thomas, C. W.; Cuevas, O. O.; Beckman, R. M.

    1994-01-01

    The Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) generates numerous products for NASA-supported spacecraft, including the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS's), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), and the space shuttle. These products include orbit determination data, acquisition data, event scheduling data, and attitude data. In most cases, product generation involves repetitive execution of many programs. The increasing number of missions supported by the FDF has necessitated the use of automated systems to schedule, execute, and quality assure these products. This automation allows the delivery of accurate products in a timely and cost-efficient manner. To be effective, these systems must automate as many repetitive operations as possible and must be flexible enough to meet changing support requirements. The FDF Orbit Determination Task (ODT) has implemented several systems that automate product generation and quality assurance (QA). These systems include the Orbit Production Automation System (OPAS), the New Enhanced Operations Log (NEOLOG), and the Quality Assurance Automation Software (QA Tool). Implementation of these systems has resulted in a significant reduction in required manpower, elimination of shift work and most weekend support, and improved support quality, while incurring minimal development cost. This paper will present an overview of the concepts used and experiences gained from the implementation of these automation systems.

  19. Delineation of the corporate use of Environmental Information Systems (EIS: Selected cases of the Corporate Organizations in Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felichesmi Selestine Lyakurwa

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Environmental information systems are essential platforms for the provision of adequate and relevant information necessary for the planning and decision making for greener production. Corporate use of Environmental Information Systems gained several benefits in the global and local markets. Nevertheless, there was no documentation to explain the extent to which corporate organizations utilize available Environmental Information Systems in Tanzania. This study used purposive sampling with informants being workers from the strategic, tactical and control functions of the corporate organization. Moreover, data collection involved survey of 50 corporate organizations in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Moshi and Morogoro councils, with 71 respondents. The collected data includes exploration of the extent to which corporate management functions utilize available Environmental Information Systems in Tanzania. The study identified various corporate environmental management functions performed at all levels of the corporate organization, in which workers spends less than one hour on the environmental information systems available. The results also revealed that, there is adequate utilization of available Environmental Information Systems for environmental management. Therefore, the research outcomes provides inputs to corporate organization unit managers, corporate owners and other environmental stakeholders on the extent of the systems’ use as well as sharing experience on different environmental management systems used worldwide. Keywords: Environmental information system, corporate organization, Tanzania, management

  20. Automated genotyping of dinucleotide repeat markers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perlin, M.W.; Hoffman, E.P. [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)]|[Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    1994-09-01

    The dinucleotide repeats (i.e., microsatellites) such as CA-repeats are a highly polymorphic, highly abundant class of PCR-amplifiable markers that have greatly streamlined genetic mapping experimentation. It is expected that over 30,000 such markers (including tri- and tetranucleotide repeats) will be characterized for routine use in the next few years. Since only size determination, and not sequencing, is required to determine alleles, in principle, dinucleotide repeat genotyping is easily performed on electrophoretic gels, and can be automated using DNA sequencers. Unfortunately, PCR stuttering with these markers generates not one band for each allele, but a pattern of bands. Since closely spaced alleles must be disambiguated by human scoring, this poses a key obstacle to full automation. We have developed methods that overcome this obstacle. Our model is that the observed data is generated by arithmetic superposition (i.e., convolution) of multiple allele patterns. By quantitatively measuring the size of each component band, and exploiting the unique stutter pattern associated with each marker, closely spaced alleles can be deconvolved; this unambiguously reconstructs the {open_quotes}true{close_quotes} allele bands, with stutter artifact removed. We used this approach in a system for automated diagnosis of (X-linked) Duchenne muscular dystrophy; four multiplexed CA-repeats within the dystrophin gene were assayed on a DNA sequencer. Our method accurately detected small variations in gel migration that shifted the allele size estimate. In 167 nonmutated alleles, 89% (149/167) showed no size variation, 9% (15/167) showed 1 bp variation, and 2% (3/167) showed 2 bp variation. We are currently developing a library of dinucleotide repeat patterns; together with our deconvolution methods, this library will enable fully automated genotyping of dinucleotide repeats from sizing data.

  1. Automating Ontological Annotation with WordNet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanfilippo, Antonio P.; Tratz, Stephen C.; Gregory, Michelle L.; Chappell, Alan R.; Whitney, Paul D.; Posse, Christian; Paulson, Patrick R.; Baddeley, Bob L.; Hohimer, Ryan E.; White, Amanda M.

    2006-01-22

    Semantic Web applications require robust and accurate annotation tools that are capable of automating the assignment of ontological classes to words in naturally occurring text (ontological annotation). Most current ontologies do not include rich lexical databases and are therefore not easily integrated with word sense disambiguation algorithms that are needed to automate ontological annotation. WordNet provides a potentially ideal solution to this problem as it offers a highly structured lexical conceptual representation that has been extensively used to develop word sense disambiguation algorithms. However, WordNet has not been designed as an ontology, and while it can be easily turned into one, the result of doing this would present users with serious practical limitations due to the great number of concepts (synonym sets) it contains. Moreover, mapping WordNet to an existing ontology may be difficult and requires substantial labor. We propose to overcome these limitations by developing an analytical platform that (1) provides a WordNet-based ontology offering a manageable and yet comprehensive set of concept classes, (2) leverages the lexical richness of WordNet to give an extensive characterization of concept class in terms of lexical instances, and (3) integrates a class recognition algorithm that automates the assignment of concept classes to words in naturally occurring text. The ensuing framework makes available an ontological annotation platform that can be effectively integrated with intelligence analysis systems to facilitate evidence marshaling and sustain the creation and validation of inference models.

  2. Corporate Social Responsibility in banking sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucie Kvasničková Stanislavská

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available After popularity increase of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility over last century in the USA, with the 21st century the concept comes into the European Union as well, actually into Czech Republic. For the European Union, the concept of social responsibility becomes one of the tool for achieving the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy (Lisbon Strategy, 2000. With the start of the financial and economic crisis, the European Commission sees in the Corporate Social Responsibility a way how to cope with the crisis. Also scientific studies (Ghoul, 2011; Gruz, 2009 indicate the positive influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on financial performance of the company. In the Czech Republic, the implementation of the concept is especially for multinational corporations. For example, Corporate Social Responsibility is very popular in financial sector, which the financial crisis did not damage so perceptible as in other countries of developed economies (Singer, 2009. This article defines on a theoretical level the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, its development, its present form and the influence on financial performance of the company. Another part of the article focuses on three czech banking subjects (Česká spořitelna, Komerční banka a Československá obchodní banka, which regularly take the leading positions of the official corporate donors chart „TOP Filantrop“. The article explores the evolution of corporate donations and finds the connection between corporate donations and corporate profit and financial and economic crisis.

  3. Automated, high accuracy classification of Parkinsonian disorders: a pattern recognition approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andre F Marquand

    Full Text Available Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP, multiple system atrophy (MSA and idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD can be clinically indistinguishable, especially in the early stages, despite distinct patterns of molecular pathology. Structural neuroimaging holds promise for providing objective biomarkers for discriminating these diseases at the single subject level but all studies to date have reported incomplete separation of disease groups. In this study, we employed multi-class pattern recognition to assess the value of anatomical patterns derived from a widely available structural neuroimaging sequence for automated classification of these disorders. To achieve this, 17 patients with PSP, 14 with IPD and 19 with MSA were scanned using structural MRI along with 19 healthy controls (HCs. An advanced probabilistic pattern recognition approach was employed to evaluate the diagnostic value of several pre-defined anatomical patterns for discriminating the disorders, including: (i a subcortical motor network; (ii each of its component regions and (iii the whole brain. All disease groups could be discriminated simultaneously with high accuracy using the subcortical motor network. The region providing the most accurate predictions overall was the midbrain/brainstem, which discriminated all disease groups from one another and from HCs. The subcortical network also produced more accurate predictions than the whole brain and all of its constituent regions. PSP was accurately predicted from the midbrain/brainstem, cerebellum and all basal ganglia compartments; MSA from the midbrain/brainstem and cerebellum and IPD from the midbrain/brainstem only. This study demonstrates that automated analysis of structural MRI can accurately predict diagnosis in individual patients with Parkinsonian disorders, and identifies distinct patterns of regional atrophy particularly useful for this process.

  4. APL: a corporate strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, J; Nyatanga, L; Ringer, C; Greaves, J

    1992-06-01

    This paper is based on, and summarises, papers read at the second annual international conference of Nurse Education Tomorrow held at the University of Durham (UK) September 1991. To this end this paper will offer: Some Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) definition and process as reflected in the literature available. A distinction will be made between APL and Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) although the procedures and processes for assessing them will be shown to be the same. A brief outline of corporate strategy, as it applies to APL, will be given to form the basis for logical demonstration of how Derbyshire Institute of Health and Community Studies has employed such a corporate strategy. Insights developed and gained from APL research currently being undertaken through the college of nursing and midwifery will be used to inform the development and nature of corporate strategy. A flowchart of the operationalisation of the corporate strategy is offered as an integrative summary of how all the APL ideas have had a positive cumulative effect. The paper finishes by highlighting the possible strengths and limitations of APL corporate strategy.

  5. A Corporate Governance Index : Convergence and Diversity of National Corporate Governance Regulations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martynova, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.

    2010-01-01

    The issue of appropriate corporate governance framework has been a focal point of recent reforms in many countries. This study provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of corporate governance regulatory systems and their evolution over the last 15 years in 30 European countries and the US. It

  6. Corporal punishment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zolotor, Adam J

    2014-10-01

    Corporal punishment is used for discipline in most homes in the United States. It is also associated with a long list of adverse developmental, behavioral, and health-related consequences. Primary care providers, as trusted sources for parenting information, have an opportunity to engage parents in discussions about discipline as early as infancy. These discussions should focus on building parents' skills in the use of other behavioral techniques, limiting (or eliminating) the use of corporal punishment and identifying additional resources as needed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Launch Control System Software Development System Automation Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    ) tool to Brandon Echols, a fellow intern, and I. The purpose of the OCR tool is to analyze an image and find the coordinates of any group of text. Some issues that arose while installing the OCR tool included the absence of certain libraries needed to train the tool and an outdated software version. We eventually resolved the issues and successfully installed the OCR tool. Training the tool required many images and different fonts and sizes, but in the end the tool learned to accurately decipher the text in the images and their coordinates. The OCR tool produced a file that contained significant metadata for each section of text, but only the text and coordinates of the text was required for our purpose. The team made a script to parse the information we wanted from the OCR file to a different file that would be used by automation functions within the automated framework. Since a majority of development and testing for the automated test cases for the GUI in question has been done using live simulated data on the workstations at the Launch Control Center (LCC), a large amount of progress has been made. As of this writing, about 60% of all of automated testing has been implemented. Additionally, the OCR tool will help make our automated tests more robust due to the tool's text recognition being highly scalable to different text fonts and text sizes. Soon we will have the whole test system automated, allowing for more full-time engineers working on development projects.

  8. Corporate Blogging For Dummies

    CERN Document Server

    Karr, Douglas

    2010-01-01

    Establish a successful corporate blog to reach your customers. Corporate blogs require careful planning and attention to legal and corporate policies in order for them to be productive and effective. This fun, friendly, and practical guide walks you through using blogging as a first line of communication to customers and explains how to protect your company and employees through privacy, disclosure, and moderation policies. Blogging guru Douglas Karr demonstrates how blogs are an ideal way to offer a conversational and approachable relationship with customers. You'll discover how to prepare, e

  9. Automated cell type discovery and classification through knowledge transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hao-Chih; Kosoy, Roman; Becker, Christine E.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Motivation: Recent advances in mass cytometry allow simultaneous measurements of up to 50 markers at single-cell resolution. However, the high dimensionality of mass cytometry data introduces computational challenges for automated data analysis and hinders translation of new biological understanding into clinical applications. Previous studies have applied machine learning to facilitate processing of mass cytometry data. However, manual inspection is still inevitable and becoming the barrier to reliable large-scale analysis. Results: We present a new algorithm called Automated Cell-type Discovery and Classification (ACDC) that fully automates the classification of canonical cell populations and highlights novel cell types in mass cytometry data. Evaluations on real-world data show ACDC provides accurate and reliable estimations compared to manual gating results. Additionally, ACDC automatically classifies previously ambiguous cell types to facilitate discovery. Our findings suggest that ACDC substantially improves both reliability and interpretability of results obtained from high-dimensional mass cytometry profiling data. Availability and Implementation: A Python package (Python 3) and analysis scripts for reproducing the results are availability on https://bitbucket.org/dudleylab/acdc. Contact: brian.kidd@mssm.edu or joel.dudley@mssm.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:28158442

  10. The Role of Corporate Governance in Firm Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Naimah Zahroh; Hamidah

    2017-01-01

    The objective of this study is to examine the role of corporate governance to increase firm performance. The measure of corporate governance are corporate governance mechanism and Corporate Governance Perception Index (CGPI). Samples are companies that followed CGPI award at 2005-2014. The examination of the relationship of corporate governance and firm performance is conducted by regression of corporate governance mechanism variables and control variables to profitability. Corporate governan...

  11. Bayesian automated cortical segmentation for neonatal MRI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Zane; Paquette, Natacha; Ganesh, Bhavana; Wang, Yalin; Ceschin, Rafael; Nelson, Marvin D.; Macyszyn, Luke; Gaonkar, Bilwaj; Panigrahy, Ashok; Lepore, Natasha

    2017-11-01

    Several attempts have been made in the past few years to develop and implement an automated segmentation of neonatal brain structural MRI. However, accurate automated MRI segmentation remains challenging in this population because of the low signal-to-noise ratio, large partial volume effects and inter-individual anatomical variability of the neonatal brain. In this paper, we propose a learning method for segmenting the whole brain cortical grey matter on neonatal T2-weighted images. We trained our algorithm using a neonatal dataset composed of 3 fullterm and 4 preterm infants scanned at term equivalent age. Our segmentation pipeline combines the FAST algorithm from the FSL library software and a Bayesian segmentation approach to create a threshold matrix that minimizes the error of mislabeling brain tissue types. Our method shows promising results with our pilot training set. In both preterm and full-term neonates, automated Bayesian segmentation generates a smoother and more consistent parcellation compared to FAST, while successfully removing the subcortical structure and cleaning the edges of the cortical grey matter. This method show promising refinement of the FAST segmentation by considerably reducing manual input and editing required from the user, and further improving reliability and processing time of neonatal MR images. Further improvement will include a larger dataset of training images acquired from different manufacturers.

  12. Corporate Governance in Publicly Traded Canadian Companies

    OpenAIRE

    Hu, Jie; Wang, Chong

    2011-01-01

    We investigate the effectiveness of corporate governance practices in this paper, focusing on the corporate governance practices implemented by TSX listed companies in Canada. We analyze the determinants of the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and test whether corporate governance mechanisms relate to quality of accounting earnings and company performance. We obtain mixed results from regression analyses indicating that corporate governance mechanisms are not significantly rela...

  13. Board Directors and Corporate Social Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Mariana Nedelcu (Bunea)

    2014-01-01

    The boards of directors and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been the subject of much study and debate in the corporate governance circles over the two last decades. With issues ranging from poor corporate reporting to excessive executive compensation often splashed in the headlines, the role of boards comes into the media limelight as never before. Boards of directors are also becoming increasingly aware of corporate social responsibility issues.

  14. Financial and Economic Crisis and Corporate Finance Development

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Xinhe

    2015-01-01

    Financial and economic crisis has challenged the ideological and methodological basis,the basic assumptions and the universal applicability of the research conclusions of the mainstream corporate finance.In order to construct corporate finance appropriate to the state of financial crisis,it is necessary to adjust the objective function of corporate finance,modify the corporate financing theory,extend corporate investment theory,enrich corporate working capital management theory,and adjust corporate dividend policy theory.

  15. Corporate brand building from the corporate stories perspective: a Brazilian football teams study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edson Roberto Scharf

    Full Text Available Abstract The study aims to investigate the content of corporate stories of the Brazilian’s football clubs and how these stories are used to build their corporate brands. The stories were collected from the corporate websites of football clubs in Brazil belonging to series A, B and C. A qualitative analysis of the corporate stories was carried on by means of content analysis of the corpus resulting from them. The results showed that emotion is a key element and is most strongly represented in the websites. The findings also revealed that although the clubs work with human talent, and positive results of the teams in the pitch are dependent on talent, this important aspect is practically forgotten on the websites. Academic and managerial implications, as well as limitations of the study are presented at the end.

  16. Fully automated laboratory for the assay of plutonium in wastes and recoverable scraps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guiberteau, P.; Michaut, F.; Bergey, C.; Debruyne, T.

    1990-01-01

    To determine the plutonium content of wastes and recoverable scraps in intermediate size containers (ten liters) an automated laboratory has been carried out. Two passive methods of measurement are used. Gamma ray spectrometry allows plutonium isotopic analysis, americium determination and plutonium assay in wastes and poor scraps. Calorimetry is used for accurate (± 3%) plutonium determination in rich scraps. A full automation was realized with a barcode management and a supply robot to feed the eight assay set-ups. The laboratory works on a 24 hours per day and 365 days per year basis and has a capacity of 8,000 assays per year

  17. Modern model of integrated corporate communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milica Slijepčević

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this paper is to present the modern model of integrated corporate communication. Beside this, the authors will describe the changes occurring in the corporate environment and importance of changing the model of corporate communication. This paper also discusses the importance of implementation of the suggested model, the use of new media and effects of these changes on corporations. The approach used in this paper is the literature review. The authors explore the importance of implementation of the suggested model and the new media in corporate communication, both internal and external, addressing all the stakeholders and communication contents. The paper recommends implementation of a modern model of integrated corporate communication as a response to constant development of the new media and generation changes taking place. Practical implications: the modern model of integrated corporate communication can be used as an upgrade of the conventional communication models. This modern model empowers companies to sustain and build up the existing relationships with stakeholders, and to find out and create new relationships with stakeholders who were previously inaccessible and invisible.

  18. webPOISONCONTROL: can poison control be automated?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litovitz, Toby; Benson, Blaine E; Smolinske, Susan

    2016-08-01

    A free webPOISONCONTROL app allows the public to determine the appropriate triage of poison ingestions without calling poison control. If accepted and safe, this alternative expands access to reliable poison control services to those who prefer the Internet over the telephone. This study assesses feasibility, safety, and user-acceptance of automated online triage of asymptomatic, nonsuicidal poison ingestion cases. The user provides substance name, amount, age, and weight in an automated online tool or downloadable app, and is given a specific triage recommendation to stay home, go to the emergency department, or call poison control for further guidance. Safety was determined by assessing outcomes of consecutive home-triaged cases with follow-up and by confirming the correct application of algorithms. Case completion times and user perceptions of speed and ease of use were measures of user-acceptance. Of 9256 cases, 73.3% were triaged to home, 2.1% to an emergency department, and 24.5% directed to call poison control. Children younger than 6 years were involved in 75.2% of cases. Automated follow-up was done in 31.2% of home-triaged cases; 82.3% of these had no effect. No major or fatal outcomes were reported. More than 91% of survey respondents found the tool quick and easy to use. Median case completion time was 4.1 minutes. webPOISONCONTROL augments traditional poison control services by providing automated, accurate online access to case-specific triage and first aid guidance for poison ingestions. It is safe, quick, and easy to use. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. A fully automated Drosophila olfactory classical conditioning and testing system for behavioral learning and memory assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Hui; Hanna, Eriny; Gatto, Cheryl L; Page, Terry L; Bhuva, Bharat; Broadie, Kendal

    2016-03-01

    Aversive olfactory classical conditioning has been the standard method to assess Drosophila learning and memory behavior for decades, yet training and testing are conducted manually under exceedingly labor-intensive conditions. To overcome this severe limitation, a fully automated, inexpensive system has been developed, which allows accurate and efficient Pavlovian associative learning/memory analyses for high-throughput pharmacological and genetic studies. The automated system employs a linear actuator coupled to an odorant T-maze with airflow-mediated transfer of animals between training and testing stages. Odorant, airflow and electrical shock delivery are automatically administered and monitored during training trials. Control software allows operator-input variables to define parameters of Drosophila learning, short-term memory and long-term memory assays. The approach allows accurate learning/memory determinations with operational fail-safes. Automated learning indices (immediately post-training) and memory indices (after 24h) are comparable to traditional manual experiments, while minimizing experimenter involvement. The automated system provides vast improvements over labor-intensive manual approaches with no experimenter involvement required during either training or testing phases. It provides quality control tracking of airflow rates, odorant delivery and electrical shock treatments, and an expanded platform for high-throughput studies of combinational drug tests and genetic screens. The design uses inexpensive hardware and software for a total cost of ∼$500US, making it affordable to a wide range of investigators. This study demonstrates the design, construction and testing of a fully automated Drosophila olfactory classical association apparatus to provide low-labor, high-fidelity, quality-monitored, high-throughput and inexpensive learning and memory behavioral assays. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. A Stepwise Fitting Procedure for automated fitting of Ecopath with Ecosim models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erin Scott

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The Stepwise Fitting Procedure automates testing of alternative hypotheses used for fitting Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE models to observation reference data (Mackinson et al. 2009. The calibration of EwE model predictions to observed data is important to evaluate any model that will be used for ecosystem based management. Thus far, the model fitting procedure in EwE has been carried out manually: a repetitive task involving setting >1000 specific individual searches to find the statistically ‘best fit’ model. The novel fitting procedure automates the manual procedure therefore producing accurate results and lets the modeller concentrate on investigating the ‘best fit’ model for ecological accuracy.

  1. Corporation as climate ambassador

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Trapp, Leila

    2012-01-01

    At a time when corporations are addressing increasingly complex, global corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues, this study examines and evaluates the strategies used in Vattenfall’s challenging and innovative CSR campaign which aimed at establishing the energy company as a credible climate...

  2. 78 FR 60375 - Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad Corporation-Corporate Family Transaction Exemption

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-01

    ... approximately 14 miles of rail line located in the Medford Industrial Park in White City, Or., where it connects... corporate affiliate, Medford Industrial Trainline Management LLC (Medford), to which Rogue Valley will... changes, or changes in the competitive balance with carriers outside the corporate family. Under 49 U.S.C...

  3. Corporate Governance Quality in Selected Transition Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danila Djokic

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Important questions that concern the notion of good corporate governance focus on what good corporate governance is, who benefits from good corporate governance, and how corporate governance quality can be measured. The aim of our study was to broaden our understanding of the role of standards and codes of good corporate governance in improving governance practices.We found that not only formal regulations, standards, and governance codes, but also corporate governance indices-which make the assessment of companies’ governance practices possible-are important in measuring and improving governance quality. The results of the research based on the SEECGAN Index methodology indicated that mandatory requirements and voluntary recommendations of high governance standards had a positive impact on the corporate governance practice in Slovenia.

  4. Perancangan Corporate Identity Brotherwood Decoration

    OpenAIRE

    Ciputra, Ongky Permana; Bangsa, Petrus Gogor; Christianna, Aniendya

    2015-01-01

    Sebagai Perusahaan interior di Surabaya, “BROTHERWOOD” sedang membangun citra positif melalui penguatan corporate identity secara menyeluruh.Oleh karena itu “Brotherwood” memerlukan corporate identity dan mengaplikasikannya pada media promosi dan informasi yang sesuai dengan karakter dari target audience dan target market-nya.Dengan menggunakan corporate identity diharapkan “Brotherwood” menjadi lebih dikenal oleh target audience dan target market-nya sehingga membuat market “Brotherwood” men...

  5. The Energy Efficiency of Corporate Real Estate Assets: The Role of Professional Management for Corporate Environmental Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Markus Surmann; Wolfgang A. Brunauer; Sven Bienert

    2015-01-01

    Despite the rising information about the ecological footprint and greenhouse gas externalities of corporates' activities only little is known about the energy efficiency of corporate real estate assets. When considering achievements from the past, such as significant reduction of carbon emissions and towards carbon accounting, the energy consumption of corporate real estate assets is of emerging interest within the sustainability strategy of corporations. On the contrary to residential and co...

  6. Lithuanian corporate tax accounting improvement solutions

    OpenAIRE

    Bružauskas, Valentinas; Stončiuvienė, Neringa

    2012-01-01

    The article sets out the research results of existing Corporate Tax accounting in Lithuania. There is disclosed the link between financial and Corporate Tax accounting, and their coordination improvement. The authors think that, the closer link between financial and tax accounting is obligatory. The provisions of Corporate Tax calculation should be adjusted with requirements of financial accounting. Also there is specified the methods of Corporate Tax reform and their feasibility. In the arti...

  7. Board Directors and Corporate Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana Nedelcu (Bunea

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The boards of directors and corporate social responsibility (CSR have been the subject of much study and debate in the corporate governance circles over the two last decades. With issues ranging from poor corporate reporting to excessive executive compensation often splashed in the headlines, the role of boards comes into the media limelight as never before. Boards of directors are also becoming increasingly aware of corporate social responsibility issues.

  8. 76 FR 45673 - Methods of Accounting Used by Corporations That Acquire the Assets of Other Corporations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-01

    ... accounted for under the new method of accounting. The definition of cut-off basis is expanded in the final... of Accounting Used by Corporations That Acquire the Assets of Other Corporations AGENCY: Internal... regulations relating to the methods of accounting, including the inventory methods, to be used by corporations...

  9. Does corporate governance shape the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kabir, Rezaul; Thai Minh, Hahn

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The theoretical and empirical relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance are not without controversy. Yet, CSR activities are increasingly undertaken by a large number of firms, not only in developed countries but also in emerging

  10. Does corporate governance shape the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kabir, Mohammed Rezaul; Thai Minh, H.; Thai Minh, H.

    2016-01-01

    The theoretical as well as empirical relationships between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance are not without controversy. Yet, CSR activities are increasingly undertaken by a large number of firms, not only in developed countries but also in emerging countries.

  11. Load Segmentation for Convergence of Distribution Automation and Advanced Metering Infrastructure Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pamulaparthy, Balakrishna; KS, Swarup; Kommu, Rajagopal

    2014-12-01

    Distribution automation (DA) applications are limited to feeder level today and have zero visibility outside of the substation feeder and reaching down to the low-voltage distribution network level. This has become a major obstacle in realizing many automated functions and enhancing existing DA capabilities. Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems are being widely deployed by utilities across the world creating system-wide communications access to every monitoring and service point, which collects data from smart meters and sensors in short time intervals, in response to utility needs. DA and AMI systems convergence provides unique opportunities and capabilities for distribution grid modernization with the DA system acting as a controller and AMI system acting as feedback to DA system, for which DA applications have to understand and use the AMI data selectively and effectively. In this paper, we propose a load segmentation method that helps the DA system to accurately understand and use the AMI data for various automation applications with a suitable case study on power restoration.

  12. Automated Passive Capillary Lysimeters for Estimating Water Drainage in the Vadose Zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabro, J.; Evans, R.

    2009-04-01

    In this study, we demonstrated and evaluated the performance and accuracy of an automated PCAP lysimeters that we designed for in-situ continuous measuring and estimating of drainage water below the rootzone of a sugarbeet-potato-barley rotation under two irrigation frequencies. Twelve automated PCAPs with sampling surface dimensions of 31 cm width * 91 cm long and 87 cm in height were placed 90 cm below the soil surface in a Lihen sandy loam. Our state-of-the-art design incorporated Bluetooth wireless technology to enable an automated datalogger to transmit drainage water data simultaneously every 15 minutes to a remote host and had a greater efficiency than other types of lysimeters. It also offered a significantly larger coverage area (2700 cm2) than similarly designed vadose zone lysimeters. The cumulative manually extracted drainage water was compared with the cumulative volume of drainage water recorded by the datalogger from the tipping bucket using several statistical methods. Our results indicated that our automated PCAPs are accurate and provided convenient means for estimating water drainage in the vadose zone without the need for costly and manually time-consuming supportive systems.

  13. Home Automation

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmed, Zeeshan

    2010-01-01

    In this paper I briefly discuss the importance of home automation system. Going in to the details I briefly present a real time designed and implemented software and hardware oriented house automation research project, capable of automating house's electricity and providing a security system to detect the presence of unexpected behavior.

  14. Automated Diagnosis of Otitis Media: Vocabulary and Grammar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuruvilla, Anupama; Hoberman, Alejandro; Kovačević, Jelena

    2013-01-01

    We propose a novel automated algorithm for classifying diagnostic categories of otitis media: acute otitis media, otitis media with effusion, and no effusion. Acute otitis media represents a bacterial superinfection of the middle ear fluid, while otitis media with effusion represents a sterile effusion that tends to subside spontaneously. Diagnosing children with acute otitis media is difficult, often leading to overprescription of antibiotics as they are beneficial only for children with acute otitis media. This underscores the need for an accurate and automated diagnostic algorithm. To that end, we design a feature set understood by both otoscopists and engineers based on the actual visual cues used by otoscopists; we term this the otitis media vocabulary. We also design a process to combine the vocabulary terms based on the decision process used by otoscopists; we term this the otitis media grammar. The algorithm achieves 89.9% classification accuracy, outperforming both clinicians who did not receive special training and state-of-the-art classifiers. PMID:23997759

  15. Lexical evolution rates derived from automated stability measures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petroni, Filippo; Serva, Maurizio

    2010-03-01

    Phylogenetic trees can be reconstructed from the matrix which contains the distances between all pairs of languages in a family. Recently, we proposed a new method which uses normalized Levenshtein distances among words with the same meaning and averages over all the items of a given list. Decisions about the number of items in the input lists for language comparison have been debated since the beginning of glottochronology. The point is that words associated with some of the meanings have a rapid lexical evolution. Therefore, a large vocabulary comparison is only apparently more accurate than a smaller one, since many of the words do not carry any useful information. In principle, one should find the optimal length of the input lists, studying the stability of the different items. In this paper we tackle the problem with an automated methodology based only on our normalized Levenshtein distance. With this approach, the program of an automated reconstruction of language relationships is completed.

  16. Measuring instruments of corporate reputation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damir Grgić

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this paper is focused on the instruments for the measurement of corporate reputation. Recent research of the elements which influence the success of a company shows a growing interest in intangible values. Corporate reputation itself has been identified as one of the key intangible assets which create the company’s added value. Understanding of the importance of corporate reputation has been determined as a significant component of the company’s competitiveness, that is, of its competitive edge. Reputation is a normal part of our life and an integral part of our society. Our interest in the honesty and integrity of others is firmly established in all cultures and nowadays the focus of this interest is switching increasingly on companies. Corporate reputation can be acquired by means of strong, well-developed strategies, which are crucial for the opinion of stakeholders regarding future stability and competitive sustainability of the company. On the other hand, it should be emphasized that in order to manage it, corporate reputation has to be measured first. However, although the concept of corporate reputation is universally accepted and its significance has been recognized especially in the last two decades, the process of its measurement is still at an early stage and there is no universally accepted instrument for its measurement. Therefore, the author of this paper gives an overview of the instruments used for the measurement of corporate reputation which have gained a foothold through former practical usage.

  17. Corporate strategic branding: How country and corporate brands come together

    OpenAIRE

    Đorđević Bojan

    2008-01-01

    The concept of countries as brands has been increasingly recognized in the post-modern global world. A strong country brand can provide corporate brands with a unique set of values, which supports their positioning on the international market. Simultaneously, once corporate brands achieve worldwide success, they contribute actively to developing new features of the country brand. Consumers pay more and more attention to products' country of origin. When the name of a country is mentioned, the...

  18. Negative chemical ionization gas chromatography coupled to hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and automated accurate mass data processing for determination of pesticides in fruit and vegetables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besil, Natalia; Uclés, Samanta; Mezcúa, Milagros; Heinzen, Horacio; Fernández-Alba, Amadeo R

    2015-08-01

    Gas chromatography coupled to high resolution hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF MS), operating in negative chemical ionization (NCI) mode and combining full scan with MSMS experiments using accurate mass analysis, has been explored for the automated determination of pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables. Seventy compounds were included in this approach where 50 % of them are not approved by the EU legislation. A global 76 % of the analytes could be identified at 1 μg kg(-1). Recovery studies were developed at three concentration levels (1, 5, and 10 μg kg(-1)). Seventy-seven percent of the detected pesticides at the lowest level yielded recoveries within the 70 %-120 % range, whereas 94 % could be quantified at 5 μg kg(-1), and the 100 % were determined at 10 μg kg(-1). Good repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD home-made database was developed and applied to an automatic accurate mass data processing. Measured mass accuracies of the generated ions were mainly less than 5 ppm for at least one diagnostic ion. When only one ion was obtained in the single-stage NCI-MS, a representative product ion from MSMS experiments was used as identification criterion. A total of 30 real samples were analyzed and 67 % of the samples were positive for 12 different pesticides in the range 1.0-1321.3 μg kg(-1).

  19. Corporate governance attributes, firm characteristics and the level of corporate disclosure: Evidence from the Indian listed firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunil Nandi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the association between firm characteristics, corporate governance attributes and the level of corporate disclosure of listed firms in India. The research paper has been based on a sample of 60 firms listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE / National Stock Exchange (NSE during the study period from 2000-01 to 2009-10. The study has used the Standard & Poor (2008 model for measuring the level of corporate disclosure. To examine the association between explanatory variables and the level of corporate disclosure, multiple regression model has been used. The results suggest a positive relationship between board size, ratio of audit committee members to total board members, family control, CEO duality, firm size, profitability, liquidity and the extent of corporate disclosure. However, the degree of corporate disclosure is negatively related to board composition, leverage and age of the firm.

  20. 12 CFR 7.2000 - Corporate governance procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... OPERATIONS Corporate Practices § 7.2000 Corporate governance procedures. (a) General. A national bank proposing to engage in a corporate governance procedure shall comply with applicable Federal banking... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Corporate governance procedures. 7.2000 Section...

  1. Corporate social reponsability strategic corporate social responsability: External and internal outcomes

    OpenAIRE

    Laka, Edite

    2012-01-01

    This study investigates the importance and benefits of having a strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program by testing the interrelationships between strategic CSR with three external (reputation, corporate image, and customer loyalty) and four internal (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, performance, and organizational deviance) variables. 269 clients and non-clients along with 190 employees and their direct supervisors completed the survey. Strategic CSR has shown to h...

  2. Snow-covered Landsat time series stacks improve automated disturbance mapping accuracy in forested landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk M. Stueve; Ian W. Housman; Patrick L. Zimmerman; Mark D. Nelson; Jeremy B. Webb; Charles H. Perry; Robert A. Chastain; Dale D. Gormanson; Chengquan Huang; Sean P. Healey; Warren B. Cohen

    2011-01-01

    Accurate landscape-scale maps of forests and associated disturbances are critical to augment studies on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the carbon cycle, especially in terms of understanding how the spatial and temporal complexities of damage sustained from disturbances influence forest structure and function. Vegetation change tracker (VCT) is a highly automated...

  3. Examining the Relationship between Corporate Social ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    this study, we explore and test the relationship between financial ... initiatives into their corporate culture and business operations because increases ... Corporate social responsibility (CSR for short and also called corporate social ..... with the inclusion criteria. ...... financial performance: Evidence from the banking industry.

  4. RELEVANCE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIAN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    economy, their corporate governance is of prime interest to government, ... supervisory framework and unethical practices among top banking chiefs ... Corporate Governance of Public Companies in Nigeria (2003) which sees corporate ... are more interested in their banks' profitability, soundness and good health while the.

  5. Optimization of automation: I. Estimation method of cognitive automation rates reflecting the effects of automation on human operators in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Seung Min; Kim, Jong Hyun; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We propose an estimation method of the automation rate by taking the advantages of automation as the estimation measures. • We conduct the experiments to examine the validity of the suggested method. • The higher the cognitive automation rate is, the greater the decreased rate of the working time will be. • The usefulness of the suggested estimation method is proved by statistical analyses. - Abstract: Since automation was introduced in various industrial fields, the concept of the automation rate has been used to indicate the inclusion proportion of automation among all work processes or facilities. Expressions of the inclusion proportion of automation are predictable, as is the ability to express the degree of the enhancement of human performance. However, many researchers have found that a high automation rate does not guarantee high performance. Therefore, to reflect the effects of automation on human performance, this paper proposes a new estimation method of the automation rate that considers the effects of automation on human operators in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Automation in NPPs can be divided into two types: system automation and cognitive automation. Some general descriptions and characteristics of each type of automation are provided, and the advantages of automation are investigated. The advantages of each type of automation are used as measures of the estimation method of the automation rate. One advantage was found to be a reduction in the number of tasks, and another was a reduction in human cognitive task loads. The system and the cognitive automation rate were proposed as quantitative measures by taking advantage of the aforementioned benefits. To quantify the required human cognitive task loads and thus suggest the cognitive automation rate, Conant’s information-theory-based model was applied. The validity of the suggested method, especially as regards the cognitive automation rate, was proven by conducting

  6. Corporate Social Responsibility, social contract, corporate personhood and human rights law: Understanding the emerging responsibilities of modern corporations

    OpenAIRE

    Amao, O

    2008-01-01

    Copyright @ 2008 Olufemi Amao. The social contract theory has been advanced as a theoretical basis for explaining the emerging practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by corporations. Since the 17th century the social contract concept has also been used to justify human rights. The concept is the constitutional foundation of many western states starting with England, US and France. Business ethicists and philosophers have tried to construct and analyse the social responsibility o...

  7. Leaders as Corporate Responsibility Spokesperson: How Leaders Explain Liabilites Via Corporate Web Sites?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Burcu Öksüz

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to reveal the corporate social responsibility (CSR understandings of corporations from the leaders’ perspective and discuss how leaders define and explain CSR practices their organizations executed as spokesperson via social media channels of their organizations.  In this context, a content analysis aiming to display the ideas of Turkey’s top 250 corporations’ leaders (CEO, chairman of the board, general manager designated by Istanbul Chamber of Industry in 2013. The leader messages about different dimensions of CSR and CSR practices that are partaking in corporate web sites were examined. According to the results of the analysis, it is found that the leaders act as responsible leaders, and also the spokesperson of their corporations. In addition it is found out that responsible leaders included multiplexed information on different dimensions and various practices of CSR in their social media messages.

  8. Corporate Taxation and Multinational Activity

    OpenAIRE

    Peter Egger; Simon Loretz; Michael Pfaffermayr; Hannes Winner

    2009-01-01

    This paper assesses the impact of corporate taxation on multinational activity. A numerically solvable general equilibrium model of trade and multinational firms is used to incorporate the following components of corporate taxation: parent and host country statutory corporate tax rates, withholding tax rates, and parent and host country depreciation allowances. We account for their differential impact under alternative methods of double taxation relief (i.e., credit, exemption, and deduction)...

  9. Network Culture, Performance & Corporate Responsibility

    OpenAIRE

    Silvio M. Brondoni

    2003-01-01

    The growth and sustainability of free market economies highlights the need to define rules more suited to the current condition of market globalisation and also encourages firms to adopt more transparent and accountable corporate responsibility (and corporate social responsibility, namely the relationship between the company, environment and social setting). From a managerial perspective, corporate responsibility is linked to ensure the lasting pursuit of the company mission, seeking increasi...

  10. FINANCING DECISION AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

    OpenAIRE

    ANDREI STANCULESCU; DAN NICOLAE IVANESCU; PETRE BREZEANU

    2011-01-01

    This paper sustains the existence of a biunivocal link between a company’s financing decision and the corporate governance. On the one hand, the financing decision has an impact on corporate performance, which has been confirmed. According to the agency theory, the financing decision will contribute to solving interest conflicts between shareholders and managers. On the other hand, the corporate governance mechanism provides the proper contractual framework for attracting financing resources....

  11. How Accurately Can the Google Web Speech API Recognize and Transcribe Japanese L2 English Learners' Oral Production?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashwell, Tim; Elam, Jesse R.

    2017-01-01

    The ultimate aim of our research project was to use the Google Web Speech API to automate scoring of elicited imitation (EI) tests. However, in order to achieve this goal, we had to take a number of preparatory steps. We needed to assess how accurate this speech recognition tool is in recognizing native speakers' production of the test items; we…

  12. VALIDATING the Accuracy of Sighten's Automated Shading Tool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2018-05-04

    Solar companies - including installers, financiers, and distributors - leverage Sighten software to deliver accurate shading calculations and solar proposals. Sighten recently partnered with Google Project Sunroof to provide automated remote shading analysis directly within the Sighten platform. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in partnership with Sighten, independently verified the accuracy of Sighten's remote-shading solar access values (SAVs) on an annual basis for locations in Los Angeles, California, and Denver, Colorado.

  13. Automated immunohistochemical method to analyze large areas of the human cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbass, Mohamad; Trought, Kathleen; Long, David; Semechko, Anton; Wong, Albert H C

    2018-01-15

    There have been inconsistencies in the histological abnormalities found in the cerebral cortex from patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. Discrepancies in previously published reports may arise from small sample sizes, inconsistent methodology and biased cell counting. We applied automated quantification of neuron density, neuron size and cortical layer thickness in large regions of the cerebral cortex in psychiatric patients. This method accurately segments DAPI positive cells that are also stained with CUX2 and FEZF2. Cortical layer thickness, neuron density and neuron size were automatically computed for each cortical layer in numerous Brodmann areas. We did not find pronounced cytoarchitectural abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex or orbitofrontal cortex in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. There were no significant differences in layer thickness measured in immunohistochemically stained slides compared with traditional Nissl stained slides. Automated cell counts were correlated, reliable and consistent with manual counts, while being much less time-consuming. We demonstrate the validity of using a novel automated analysis approach to post-mortem brain tissue. We were able to analyze large cortical areas and quantify specific cell populations using immunohistochemical markers. Future analyses could benefit from efficient automated analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Corporate governance and intellectual capital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahmat Alizadeh

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between corporate governance and Intellectual capital in the pharmaceutical companies accepted in Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2004-2009 using a regression based model. The study investigates the impacts of three some independent variables of the corporate governance (i.e. the number of board members, the relative extent of nonexecutive to executive directors, the auditing committee. The results suggest that corporate governance had no special effect on intellectual capital in the pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore among corporate governance's variables, the first one (i.e. board size had negative impact on firms' intellectual capital and the second and the third variables had no effects on intellectual capital.

  15. Corporate social responsibility and financial markets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dam, Lammertjan

    2008-01-01

    This thesis examines the economics of corporate social responsibility, with an emphasis on the role of financial markets and institutions. Questions that are raised are: What does corporate social responsibility mean in an economic context? What is the impact of corporate social responsibility on

  16. 76 FR 53819 - Methods of Accounting Used by Corporations That Acquire the Assets of Other Corporations; Correction

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-30

    ... of Accounting Used by Corporations That Acquire the Assets of Other Corporations; Correction AGENCY... describes corrections to final regulations (TD 9534) relating to the methods of accounting, including the... corporate reorganizations and tax-free liquidations. These regulations were published in the Federal...

  17. Book Review of : The Theory of Corporate Finance

    OpenAIRE

    Georges Dionne

    2011-01-01

    The book proposes an original contribution to the economics and finance literature by developing the foundations of corporate finance. It also covers in detail various corporate governance issues faced by organizations. The common treatment of corporate finance and corporate governance started with the contribution of Williamson (Journal of Finance, 1988), who argued that corporate finance and corporate governance must be treated simultaneously because they are complementary. This book fills ...

  18. 39 CFR 221.4 - Corporate officers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Corporate officers. 221.4 Section 221.4 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION GENERAL ORGANIZATION § 221.4 Corporate officers. The Board of Governors determines the number of corporate officers and appoints the...

  19. Florida Progress Corporation 1991 annual report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    Florida Progress Corporation is a utility holding company with assets of 5 billion dollars. Its principal subsidiary is the Florida Power Corporation; others are the Electric Fuels Corporation, the Mid-Continent Life Assurance Company, the Talquin Corporation, the Progress Credit Corporation and Advanced Separation Technologies Incorporated. The annual report describes achievements during the year. To meet growing energy demand Florida Power is building new peaking and base-load generating units, purchasing power from neighbouring utilities and cogenerators, and building more bulk power transmission line capacity in the state. Emphasis has been placed on meeting load growth by demand-site management. Attention is given to balancing energy needs with concerns for the environment, and there is an award-winning recycling program. The Electric Fuels Corporation major area of business is coal mining and transportation services. Advanced Separation Technologies has sold several of its patented ion separation machines. The report includes consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 1991

  20. Automated titration method for use on blended asphalts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pauli, Adam T [Cheyenne, WY; Robertson, Raymond E [Laramie, WY; Branthaver, Jan F [Chatham, IL; Schabron, John F [Laramie, WY

    2012-08-07

    A system for determining parameters and compatibility of a substance such as an asphalt or other petroleum substance uses titration to highly accurately determine one or more flocculation occurrences and is especially applicable to the determination or use of Heithaus parameters and optimal mixing of various asphalt stocks. In a preferred embodiment, automated titration in an oxygen gas exclusive system and further using spectrophotometric analysis (2-8) of solution turbidity is presented. A reversible titration technique enabling in-situ titration measurement of various solution concentrations is also presented.

  1. Piercing the corporate veil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodwin, L.M.

    1992-01-01

    This article addresses the potential problems an economically troubled subsidiary can cause a parent company and offers strategies for insulating the trouble through good business practices and careful planning. The topics of the article include corporations and limited liability, piercing the corporate veil, environmental cleanup liabilities, and avoiding trouble

  2. Strategic Leadership of Corporate Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strand, Robert

    2014-01-01

    Strategic leadership and corporate sustainability have recently come together in conspicuously explicit fashion through the emergence of top management team (TMT) positions with dedicated corporate sustainability responsibilities. These TMT positions, commonly referred to as 'Chief Sustainability......? What effects do corporate sustainability TMT positions have at their organizations? We consider these questions through strategic leadership and neoinstitutional theoretical frameworks. Through the latter, we also engage with Weberian considerations of bureaucracy. We find that the reasons why...

  3. Trends in Corporate Communication Strategies

    OpenAIRE

    Constantin Milosteanu; Ionel Scaunasu; Alina Cornescu; Nicolae Popovic

    2011-01-01

    When business strategy is correlated with corporate communication strategy, this is reflected in the position and image of the organization on the market, leading to higher sales and increased profitability. The major changes caused by globalization, coupled with the new dynamic of the markets where consumers have access to more information in less time, require new forms of corporate communication. The new corporate communication concept involves major challenges for managers and can help de...

  4. Sustainability and corporate environmental focus

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Henning; Sinding, Knud; Ulhøi, John Parm

    1997-01-01

    has ranged widely, including different aspects of corporate environmental management, dedicated "green accounting" and "green auditing" and consumer behaviour and "green marketing". Furthermore, this growth has taken place against a background of generally increasing environmental awareness. The paper...... environmental perceptions, driving forces, and corporate responses. The final section discusses the possibility that corporate environmental management, and the many people involved in this area, are less deeply concerned with environmental imperatives than is usually expressed....

  5. Corporate social responsibility in Ukraine

    OpenAIRE

    Polyakova, E.

    2013-01-01

    In the article are considered essence of corporate social responsibility and terms necessary for realization of social activity management subjects. Hikes over are brought to realization of corporate social responsibility, meaningfulness of large and middle business is certain in becoming of social responsibility of enterprises. It is set that exactly midsize business must come forward as a main motor of economic development of Ukraine. Becoming features and modern state of corporate social r...

  6. Moving toward the automation of the systematic review process: a summary of discussions at the second meeting of International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Annette M; Tsafnat, Guy; Gilbert, Stephen B; Thayer, Kristina A; Wolfe, Mary S

    2018-01-09

    The second meeting of the International Collaboration for Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) was held 3-4 October 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ICASR is an interdisciplinary group whose aim is to maximize the use of technology for conducting rapid, accurate, and efficient systematic reviews of scientific evidence. Having automated tools for systematic review should enable more transparent and timely review, maximizing the potential for identifying and translating research findings to practical application. The meeting brought together multiple stakeholder groups including users of summarized research, methodologists who explore production processes and systematic review quality, and technologists such as software developers, statisticians, and vendors. This diversity of participants was intended to ensure effective communication with numerous stakeholders about progress toward automation of systematic reviews and stimulate discussion about potential solutions to identified challenges. The meeting highlighted challenges, both simple and complex, and raised awareness among participants about ongoing efforts by various stakeholders. An outcome of this forum was to identify several short-term projects that participants felt would advance the automation of tasks in the systematic review workflow including (1) fostering better understanding about available tools, (2) developing validated datasets for testing new tools, (3) determining a standard method to facilitate interoperability of tools such as through an application programming interface or API, and (4) establishing criteria to evaluate the quality of tools' output. ICASR 2016 provided a beneficial forum to foster focused discussion about tool development and resources and reconfirm ICASR members' commitment toward systematic reviews' automation.

  7. Process automation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moser, D.R.

    1986-01-01

    Process automation technology has been pursued in the chemical processing industries and to a very limited extent in nuclear fuel reprocessing. Its effective use has been restricted in the past by the lack of diverse and reliable process instrumentation and the unavailability of sophisticated software designed for process control. The Integrated Equipment Test (IET) facility was developed by the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) in part to demonstrate new concepts for control of advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. A demonstration of fuel reprocessing equipment automation using advanced instrumentation and a modern, microprocessor-based control system is nearing completion in the facility. This facility provides for the synergistic testing of all chemical process features of a prototypical fuel reprocessing plant that can be attained with unirradiated uranium-bearing feed materials. The unique equipment and mission of the IET facility make it an ideal test bed for automation studies. This effort will provide for the demonstration of the plant automation concept and for the development of techniques for similar applications in a full-scale plant. A set of preliminary recommendations for implementing process automation has been compiled. Some of these concepts are not generally recognized or accepted. The automation work now under way in the IET facility should be useful to others in helping avoid costly mistakes because of the underutilization or misapplication of process automation. 6 figs

  8. 26 CFR 1.9002-6 - Acquiring corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 13 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Acquiring corporation. 1.9002-6 Section 1.9002... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES General Actuarial Valuations § 1.9002-6 Acquiring corporation. Section 5(d) of the... corporation by another corporation in a distribution or transfer described in section 381(a) of the Code the...

  9. Corporate Strategies in Global Investment Business

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetiana Frolova

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with topical issues of the development of corporate strategies for businesses. We proposed the classification and defined the ways to implement corporate strategies. We also analysed the current trends in the development of global corporate strategies mainly implemented through mergers and acquisitions.

  10. 22 CFR 96.31 - Corporate structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Corporate structure. 96.31 Section 96.31 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE LEGAL AND RELATED SERVICES ACCREDITATION OF AGENCIES AND APPROVAL OF... Approval Licensing and Corporate Governance § 96.31 Corporate structure. (a) The agency qualifies for...

  11. The Ethics of Deontology in Corporate Communication

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Francis E.A. Owakah and Daniel R. Aswani

    Corporate communication, public relations, ethics, deontology, teleology. Introduction. Corporate .... function of a corporate communicator is necessary in strategy formulation and implementation. ..... Exploring Public Relations. Essex: Pearson.

  12. Corporate communication and impression management - New perspectives why companies engage in corporate social reporting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hooghiemstra, R

    This paper addresses the theoretical framework on corporate social reporting. Although that corporate social reporting has been analysed from different perspectives, legitmacy theory currently is the dominating perspective. Authors employing this framework suggest that social and environmental

  13. PENGARUH GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, KARAKTERISTIK PERUSAHAAN TERHADAP LUAS PENGUNGKAPAN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PADA PERUSAHAAN TERDAFTAR DI BEI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alang Wiyuda

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh kepemilikan institusional, dewan komisaris, komite audit yang diprosikan kedalam good corporate governance dan profitabilitas, ukuran perusahaan, tipe industri (profile, leverage diprosikan kedalam karakteristik perusahaan terhadap luas pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Variabel dependen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah luas pengungkapan corporate social responsibility, sedangkan variabel independenya adalah kepemilikan institusional, dewan komisaris, komite audit, profitabilitas, ukuran perusahaan, tipe industri (profile, leverage. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia tahun 2015. Sampel dalam penelitian ini dipilih menggunakan metode purposive sampling, dan diperoleh sebanyak 106 sampel amatan. Teknik analisis yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah analisis linier berganda. Hasil analisis menunjukan bahwa variabel kepemilikan institusional, dewan komisaris, dan profitabilitas berpengaruh positif terhadap luas pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Variabel komite audit berpengaruh negatif terhadap luas pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Variabel ukuran perusahaan, tipe industri (profile, dan leverage tidak berpengaruh terhadap luas pengungkapan corporate social responsibility.

  14. Corporate Social Responsibility in Afghanistan

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Azizi, Sameer

    This doctoral dissertation examines the business-development relations in Afghanistan by focusing on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other related practices from corporations in the Afghan mobile telecommunications industry. More concretely, the study aims to explore the characteristics...... provides a relevant empirical focus that can enrich the theoretical debates about CSR in developing countries. The study thereby stresses on the importance of context, and integrates both the societal and corporate dimensions to study CSR by corporations in the Afghan mobile telecommunications industry...... and drivers of the various CSR practices in the Afghan mobile telecommunications industry in order to critically assess the relationship between CSR and development in such context. The thesis highlights that the national context of Afghanistan in combination with the global mobile telecommunications industry...

  15. Bridging Corporate and Organizational Communication

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Lars Thøger; Cornelissen, Joep

    2011-01-01

    organizational communication as well. We provide a formative and critical review of research on corporate communication as a platform for highlighting crucial intersections with select research traditions in organizational communication to argue for a greater integration between these two areas of research....... Following this review, we relax the assumptions underlying traditional corporate communication research and show how these dimensions interact in organizational and communication analysis, thus, demonstrating the potential for a greater cross-fertilization between the two areas of research. This cross......The theory and practice of corporate communication is usually driven by other disciplinary concerns than the field of organizational communication. However, its particular mind-set focusing on wholeness and consistency in corporate messages increasingly influence the domain of contemporary...

  16. Iranian Corporations and Corporate Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hadi Chapardar

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Comparative studies have demonstrated that the themes for corporate social responsibility (CSR initiatives are different among nations and geographic regions based on their cultural, political, legal, social, and economic contexts. In this research, which was conducted on 56 corporations from IMI100 (100 Iranian companies with highest annual sales, ranked by Industrial Management Institute or IMI, CSR themes in priority have been identified. Data collected from a semistructured questionnaire and some complementary interviews were analyzed against the results of a reference study over 100 companies from developed countries. The resulted themes, some of which may have several subthemes, were developed in three economic, environmental, and social categories. Beside these qualitative findings, two indices are constructed for indicating the “importance” of and “contribution” to each theme. The results and discussions are supposed to help business leaders, international companies inside Iran, governmental authorities, and researchers to improve CSR discussions and practices in the country where CSR undergoes a less structured platform.

  17. Transformation processes of the corporate development in Russia: corporate social responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhanna Sergeyevna Belyayeva

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Financial and economic crises made the level of readiness to changes in the different types of organizations throughout the world and Russia visible. Variation of social and economic programmes implemented by governmental and corporate sectors is widely seen; not all of them work positively for the population, especially in the countries with emerging markets. At the same time, twenty years of the market economy in Russia, for instance, have definitely built a new social and economic system, but whether it has changed fundamentally in the management techniques? This research generalizes some trends of the corporate development in Russia in the context of social responsibility and socio-economic transformation. The author attempts to define Russia's place on the world map of corporate social responsibility. The opportunities for Russia to learn from foreign experience are also examined.

  18. Corporal Punishment: Legalities, Realities, and Implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinchey, Patricia H.

    2003-01-01

    Presents a quiz that will help readers determine the reliability of their own perceptions relating to corporal punishment in schools. Discusses U.S. Courts and corporal punishment, worldwide and nationwide legality, and the realities of corporal punishment in the United States. Discusses implications for what teachers can do to address corporal…

  19. FINANCE CORPORATIONS: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECT

    OpenAIRE

    Vitaly Yu. Zaitsev; Yurii I. Fedchishin

    2015-01-01

    The article deals with the essence of corporate Finance and the principles of their organization. The characteristic of the system of corporate financial management, describes its purpose, objectives and functions. Given the definition of a financial company policy. Review the organizational structure of corporate financial management from the current position.

  20. Essential Elements of Corporate Law

    OpenAIRE

    Kraakman, Reinier H.; Armour, John; Hansmann, Henry

    2009-01-01

    This article is the first chapter of the second edition of The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach, by Reinier Kraakman, John Armour, Paul Davies, Luca Enriques, Henry Hansmann, Gerard Hertig, Klaus Hopt, Hideki Kanda and Edward Rock (Oxford University Press, 2009). The book as a whole provides a functional analysis of corporate (or company) law in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Its organization reflects the structure of corporate law across all jurisdictions, while ...

  1. Corporate Governance Disclosure in Malaysia

    OpenAIRE

    ONG, Wei Jiin

    2006-01-01

    This research provides evidence on corporate governance disclosure in Malaysia based on a sample of 25 Malaysian public listed companies on the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) in the year 1998 and 2005 that are listed on the Bursa Malaysia. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether after the launch of the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (HLFC, 2000) following the 1997/98 financial crisis, corporate governance in Malaysia has improved in terms of disclosure information ...

  2. The Danish Model of Corporate Citizenship

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

    2017-01-01

    , but the corporation also engages in research to manufacture related medicines and to find a cure for the disease. Novo Nordisk is a company that considers good corporate citizenship and CSR as fundamental for a management strategy. The company also works with stakeholder communication as important for corporate self-perception...... identity, image, and self-perception. Moreover, values of balance are also connected with external stakeholders in the sense that they contribute to the formation and identification of ethical integrity as a central component of organizational identity. Novo Nordisk is a large multinational corporation...

  3. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – CORPORATE BRANDING RELATIONSHIP: AN EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE STUDY

    OpenAIRE

    Bistra Vassileva

    2009-01-01

    Current academic research on the relationship of firms’ CSR activities with corporate branding typically focuses on consumers’ and shareholders’ viewpoints. This research aims to shed light on how organisational members in firms perceive to be the impact of CSR activities upon their corporate brand strategy. Using a survey administered to companies in the U.K. and Bulgaria, the author investigate, firstly, organisational members’ perceptions of the impact of different CSR-related activities u...

  4. Female Directors on Corporate Boards: Does Female Leadership Drive Corporate Environmental Transparency?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phua Michelle Siew Huei

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the role of female directors on corporate boardroom on the extent of corporate environmental disclosure (CED of 260 Malaysian listed companies in year 2013. Resource dependence theory is utilized as the theoretical framework to explain the role of female directors on corporate boards. Content analysis is employed to gauge the extent of CED based on a self-constructed index that is derived from Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI and prior studies. Multiple regression is conducted and findings revealed that female directors– presence and female holding multiple directorships to be significant predictors of extent of CED. The findings lend support to the resource dependence theory on the contribution of board gender diversity and are useful for both policy makers and regulators.

  5. The Corporate Law Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mofsky, James S.

    1976-01-01

    On the premise that corporate counsel must be an able diagnostician before he can focus on highly specialized and interrelated issues of business law, the author suggests an approach to corporate law curriculum in which the basic course balances the quality and quantity of material designed to create the needed sensitivity. (JT)

  6. Human/Automation Trade Methodology for the Moon, Mars and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korsmeyer, David J.

    2009-01-01

    It is possible to create a consistent trade methodology that can characterize operations model alternatives for crewed exploration missions. For example, a trade-space that is organized around the objective of maximizing Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) independence would have the input as a classification of the category of analysis to be conducted or decision to be made, and a commitment to a detailed point in a mission profile during which the analysis or decision is to be made. For example, does the decision have to do with crew activity planning, or life support? Is the mission phase trans-Earth injection, cruise, or lunar descent? Different kinds of decision analysis of the trade-space between human and automated decisions will occurs at different points in a mission's profile. The necessary objectives at a given point in time during a mission will call for different kinds of response with respect to where and how computers and automation are expected to help provide an accurate, safe, and timely response. In this paper, a consistent methodology for assessing the trades between human and automated decisions on-board will be presented and various examples discussed.

  7. FINANCE CORPORATIONS: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vitaly Yu. Zaitsev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the essence of corporate Finance and the principles of their organization. The characteristic of the system of corporate financial management, describes its purpose, objectives and functions. Given the definition of a financial company policy. Review the organizational structure of corporate financial management from the current position.

  8. 12 CFR 615.5010 - Funding Corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 615.5010 Section 615.5010... POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Funding § 615.5010 Funding Corporation. (a) The Funding Corporation shall issue, market, and handle the obligations of the banks issued under section 4.2(b) through...

  9. Corporate Social Responsibility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kampf, Constance

    2007-01-01

    Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as having explicit policies and implicit norms situated in cultural systems highlights the connections between institutional and cultural structures of nation states and business' commitment to CSR as reflected in the strategies used to communic......Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as having explicit policies and implicit norms situated in cultural systems highlights the connections between institutional and cultural structures of nation states and business' commitment to CSR as reflected in the strategies used...

  10. CORPORATION CRIME LIABILITY OF PERSPECTIVE PENAL REFORM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Salam Siku

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The setting of the responsibility criminal against corporations in Indonesia starting from the inception of the emergency law number 7 of 1955 on Economic Crime, then followed by some of the last act is Act No. 8 of 2010 on prevention and eradication of the crime of money laundering. In the framework of the renewal of national criminal law and the draft law on The Criminal law (Criminal Code systematically have set the criminal liability of corporations, whether incorporated corporation law and Corporation who is not a legal entity. Although there have been laws governing corporate crime responsibility about but are still have problems in its application. It can be seen from the lack of a corporate criminal sentenced by the Court.

  11. Implicações do conhecimento corporal no comportamento sexual Corporal knowledge implications in sexual behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Luiz Cardoso

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available A pesquisa almejou identificar e comparar aspectos da corporeidade e sexualidade de homens (n=54 e mulheres (n = 54 com distintas orientações sexuais e de gênero, participantes do "I Jogos da Diversidade" realizado em Florianópolis, em julho de 2006, mediante aplicação anônima do Questionário de Identidade Corporal - QIC. Os principais objetivos deste estudo foram identificar as diferenças em termos de corporeidade e sexualidade entre homens e mulheres, o perfil sexual de homens e mulheres, bem como o perfil da satisfação corporal e sexual para cada sexo. Os participantes que afirmam gostar do corpo tendem a considerá-lo fisicamente bonito e proporcional, como também causar boa impressão. Participantes que relatam sentir satisfação corporal tendem a encontrar-se sexualmente satisfeitos, porém ao se controlar o sexo biológico, a correlação é verificada apenas entre os homens, os quais também demonstram tendência a ter maior intimidade corporal enquanto as mulheres valorizam carícias íntimas preliminares. Participantes com parceiro fixo chegam mais rápido ao orgasmo, embora reações corporais sejam percebidas mais comumente entre as mulheres.This research aimed to identify and compare the corporeity and sexuality aspects of male (n = 54 and female (n = 54 participants with distinct sexual and gender orientations at the I Floripa Diversity Games, in Florianópolis, July/ 2006, using the Questionnaire of Body Identity - QIC anonymously. The main objectives of this study were to identify the differences in terms of corporeity and sexuality among men and women; women`s and men's sexual profile, as well as the profile of the corporal and sexual satisfaction for each sex. Participants who affirm to like their body tended to consider themselves beautiful and proportional and believe that they cause good impression. Participants with corporal satisfaction tended to be also sexually satisfied, however, when we controlled the sex

  12. 77 FR 41808 - General Dynamics Itronix Corporation, a Subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation, Including...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-81,448] General Dynamics Itronix Corporation, a Subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation, Including Remote Workers Reporting to Sunrise, FL..., 2012, a State Workforce Office requested administrative reconsideration of the negative determination...

  13. Cell-Detection Technique for Automated Patch Clamping

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, Mark; Gray, Elizabeth

    2008-01-01

    A unique and customizable machinevision and image-data-processing technique has been developed for use in automated identification of cells that are optimal for patch clamping. [Patch clamping (in which patch electrodes are pressed against cell membranes) is an electrophysiological technique widely applied for the study of ion channels, and of membrane proteins that regulate the flow of ions across the membranes. Patch clamping is used in many biological research fields such as neurobiology, pharmacology, and molecular biology.] While there exist several hardware techniques for automated patch clamping of cells, very few of those techniques incorporate machine vision for locating cells that are ideal subjects for patch clamping. In contrast, the present technique is embodied in a machine-vision algorithm that, in practical application, enables the user to identify good and bad cells for patch clamping in an image captured by a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera attached to a microscope, within a processing time of one second. Hence, the present technique can save time, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing cost. The present technique involves the utilization of cell-feature metrics to accurately make decisions on the degree to which individual cells are "good" or "bad" candidates for patch clamping. These metrics include position coordinates (x,y) in the image plane, major-axis length, minor-axis length, area, elongation, roundness, smoothness, angle of orientation, and degree of inclusion in the field of view. The present technique does not require any special hardware beyond commercially available, off-the-shelf patch-clamping hardware: A standard patchclamping microscope system with an attached CCD camera, a personal computer with an imagedata- processing board, and some experience in utilizing imagedata- processing software are all that are needed. A cell image is first captured by the microscope CCD camera and image-data-processing board, then the image

  14. Corporate finance in an interest free economy: An alternate approach to practiced Islamic Corporate Finance

    OpenAIRE

    Shaikh, Salman

    2009-01-01

    This paper suggests an alternate approach to corporate finance in an interest free economy by looking beyond practiced Islamic finance and suggesting alternatives for corporate finance in sourcing funds i.e. i) Ijara with embedded options, ii) limited liability partnership, iii) equity modes like Musharakah and Mudarabah iv) income bonds and v) convertible income bonds. It also suggests alternatives for corporate finance in using funds i.e. i) Islamic income funds, ii) Islamic REITs, iii) Tre...

  15. A Case Study in Corporate Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharon K. Kendrick

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This case study promotes analysis through a brief investigation into the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR in the operation of a multinational corporation as evidenced by Google, Inc. The study focuses on a transnational company in order to observe the impact of CSR practice on a global level. The study will present implications of CSR for corporate management, corporate employees, state regulators, shareholders, and customers in general. In addition, the study will discuss consequences of poor CSR compliance for a multinational corporation. Questions for analysis include implications of CSR, employee retention, development of corporate culture, and evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of different CSR approaches. Upon conclusion of the study, suggestions are made for future collaborative efforts in corporate social responsibility as applied to psychological, sociological, and economical motives. Recruiting and training possibilities also present partnership opportunities for best practice sharing in regards to community, civic, and service engagement.

  16. 46 CFR 287.27 - Controlled corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Controlled corporation. 287.27 Section 287.27 Shipping... OPERATORS ESTABLISHMENT OF CONSTRUCTION RESERVE FUNDS § 287.27 Controlled corporation. For the purpose of... acquired by a corporation at a time when the taxpayer owns not less than 95 percent of the total number of...

  17. Implementation of the corporate governance code as a measure of an efficiency increasing process in corporate management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana SPÎNU

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The majority of leaders of economic entities in Moldova should recognize the role of effective corporate management for the proper development of their activities. Therefore, to ensure obtaining competitive advantage, the leaders must accept the fact that the policy of improvement of corporate management becomes a major component of enterprise development, and using the principles and best practices of corporate governance are already highlighted both at the level of their enterprises and at international level. Therefore, the authors of the article present some measures to streamline corporate management.

  18. Accurate Detection of Dysmorphic Nuclei Using Dynamic Programming and Supervised Classification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verschuuren, Marlies; De Vylder, Jonas; Catrysse, Hannes; Robijns, Joke; Philips, Wilfried; De Vos, Winnok H

    2017-01-01

    A vast array of pathologies is typified by the presence of nuclei with an abnormal morphology. Dysmorphic nuclear phenotypes feature dramatic size changes or foldings, but also entail much subtler deviations such as nuclear protrusions called blebs. Due to their unpredictable size, shape and intensity, dysmorphic nuclei are often not accurately detected in standard image analysis routines. To enable accurate detection of dysmorphic nuclei in confocal and widefield fluorescence microscopy images, we have developed an automated segmentation algorithm, called Blebbed Nuclei Detector (BleND), which relies on two-pass thresholding for initial nuclear contour detection, and an optimal path finding algorithm, based on dynamic programming, for refining these contours. Using a robust error metric, we show that our method matches manual segmentation in terms of precision and outperforms state-of-the-art nuclear segmentation methods. Its high performance allowed for building and integrating a robust classifier that recognizes dysmorphic nuclei with an accuracy above 95%. The combined segmentation-classification routine is bound to facilitate nucleus-based diagnostics and enable real-time recognition of dysmorphic nuclei in intelligent microscopy workflows.

  19. Accurate Detection of Dysmorphic Nuclei Using Dynamic Programming and Supervised Classification.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlies Verschuuren

    Full Text Available A vast array of pathologies is typified by the presence of nuclei with an abnormal morphology. Dysmorphic nuclear phenotypes feature dramatic size changes or foldings, but also entail much subtler deviations such as nuclear protrusions called blebs. Due to their unpredictable size, shape and intensity, dysmorphic nuclei are often not accurately detected in standard image analysis routines. To enable accurate detection of dysmorphic nuclei in confocal and widefield fluorescence microscopy images, we have developed an automated segmentation algorithm, called Blebbed Nuclei Detector (BleND, which relies on two-pass thresholding for initial nuclear contour detection, and an optimal path finding algorithm, based on dynamic programming, for refining these contours. Using a robust error metric, we show that our method matches manual segmentation in terms of precision and outperforms state-of-the-art nuclear segmentation methods. Its high performance allowed for building and integrating a robust classifier that recognizes dysmorphic nuclei with an accuracy above 95%. The combined segmentation-classification routine is bound to facilitate nucleus-based diagnostics and enable real-time recognition of dysmorphic nuclei in intelligent microscopy workflows.

  20. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND STAKEHOLDERS’ ACCOUNTABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena CHIȚIMUȘ

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Corporate governance is the system through which companies are directed and controlled but until today academic environment, regulators, corporations couldn’t reach a unanimous definition. Corporate governance provisions suffered changes after several largely covered financial scandals. Entities incur costs when complying with new regulations but not complying impacts the reputation and investors might think twice before bringing their money into the company. Accountability for business decisions, risk management, control that set the economic path of the company is mandatory for proving that the company is run in a fairly and smart way. This study aims to investigate how corporate governance relates to accountability of all parties involved in the current business of companies as any conflict of interest is detrimental to the company and affects in a negative way its performance.

  1. Risk management and corporate value

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milan Cupic

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a theoretical framework for assessing the impact of risk management on corporate value. As the relevant factors that determine this impact, the paper analyzes market imperfections and investors’ risk aversion. The results of the present research indicate that risk management contributes to an increase in corporate value if, under the influence of market imperfections, corporate risk exposure is concave. As an expression of market imperfections, the paper analyzes the costs of financial distress, agency costs, and taxation. The results of the research also indicate that the risk management policy should not aim to minimize, but rather optimize risk exposure, by taking into account the costs of risk management, investors’ risk aversion and the competitive advantage a corporation has on the relevant market.

  2. Application of a non-hazardous vital dye for cell counting with automated cell counters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Soo In; Kim, Hyun Jeong; Lee, Ho-Jae; Lee, Kiwon; Hong, Dongpyo; Lim, Hyunchang; Cho, Keunchang; Jung, Neoncheol; Yi, Yong Weon

    2016-01-01

    Recent advances in automated cell counters enable us to count cells more easily with consistency. However, the wide use of the traditional vital dye trypan blue (TB) raises environmental and health concerns due to its potential teratogenic effects. To avoid this chemical hazard, it is of importance to introduce an alternative non-hazardous vital dye that is compatible with automated cell counters. Erythrosin B (EB) is a vital dye that is impermeable to biological membranes and is used as a food additive. Similarly to TB, EB stains only nonviable cells with disintegrated membranes. However, EB is less popular than TB and is seldom used with automated cell counters. We found that cell counting accuracy with EB was comparable to that with TB. EB was found to be an effective dye for accurate counting of cells with different viabilities across three different automated cell counters. In contrast to TB, EB was less toxic to cultured HL-60 cells during the cell counting process. These results indicate that replacing TB with EB for use with automated cell counters will significantly reduce the hazardous risk while producing comparable results. Copyright © 2015 Logos Biosystems, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Exploring work-related issues on corporate sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunoro, C M; Bolis, I; Sznelwar, L I

    2015-01-01

    In a research project about work-related issues and corporate sustainability conducted in Brazil, the goal was to better understand how work-related issues were addressed in the corporate context. Particularly, there are some specific initiatives that serve as guides to organizational decisions, which make their performance indicators for the context of corporate sustainability. 1) To explore the presence of work-related issues and their origins in corporate sustainability approach, analyzing a) corporate disclosures; b) sustainability guidelines that are identified as relevant in corporate disclosures; c) documents that are related to sustainable development and also identified as key-documents for these guidelines and initiatives. 2) To present the activity-centered ergonomics and psychodynamics of work contributions to work-related issues in a corporate sustainability approach. An exploratory study based on multiple sources of evidence that were performed from 2012 to 2013, including interviews with companies that engaged in corporate sustainability and document analysis using the content analysis approach. Work-related issues have been presented since the earliest sustainable development documents. It is feasible to construct an empirical framework for work-related issues and corporate sustainability approaches. 1) Although some authors argue that corporate sustainability has its roots based only on the environmental dimension, there is strong empirical evidence showing that social dimension aspects such as work-related issues have been present since the beginning. 2) Some indicators should be redesigned to more precisely translate the reality of some workplaces, particularly those indicators related to organizational design and mental health.

  4. Automated acid and base number determination of mineral-based lubricants by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: commercial laboratory evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winterfield, Craig; van de Voort, F R

    2014-12-01

    The Fluid Life Corporation assessed and implemented Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)-based methods using American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)-like stoichiometric reactions for determination of acid and base number for in-service mineral-based oils. The basic protocols, quality control procedures, calibration, validation, and performance of these new quantitative methods are assessed. ASTM correspondence is attained using a mixed-mode calibration, using primary reference standards to anchor the calibration, supplemented by representative sample lubricants analyzed by ASTM procedures. A partial least squares calibration is devised by combining primary acid/base reference standards and representative samples, focusing on the main spectral stoichiometric response with chemometrics assisting in accounting for matrix variability. FTIR(AN/BN) methodology is precise, accurate, and free of most interference that affects ASTM D664 and D4739 results. Extensive side-by-side operational runs produced normally distributed differences with mean differences close to zero and standard deviations of 0.18 and 0.26 mg KOH/g, respectively. Statistically, the FTIR methods are a direct match to the ASTM methods, with superior performance in terms of analytical throughput, preparation time, and solvent use. FTIR(AN/BN) analysis is a viable, significant advance for in-service lubricant analysis, providing an economic means of trending samples instead of tedious and expensive conventional ASTM(AN/BN) procedures. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

  5. Corporate visual identity: a case in hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alkibay, Sanem; Ozdogan, F Bahar; Ermec, Aysegul

    2007-01-01

    This paper aims to present a perspective to better understand corporate identity through examining the perceptions of Turkish patients and develop a corporate visual identity scale. While there is no study related to corporate identity research on hospitals in Turkey as a developing country, understanding consumer's perceptions about corporate identity efforts of hospitals could provide different perspectives for recruiters. When the hospitals are considered in two different groups as university and state hospitals, the priority of the characteristics of corporate visual identity may change, whereas the top five characteristics remain the same for all the hospitals.

  6. Corporate plan 1989

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-12-01

    The paper presents the United Kingdom Science and Engineering Research Council's second Corporate Plan 1989. The Corporate Plan comprises statements of the current objectives of the Astronomy and Planetary Science Board, the Engineering Board, the Nuclear Physics Board, the Atmospheric Sciences and Computing Centre, along with a discussion of the mechanisms for their attainment. The Annex contains a description of some scientific highlights between 1985-1989, as well as a review of progress between 1984-5 to 1987-8. (U.K.)

  7. SU-E-T-139: Automated Daily EPID Exit Dose Analysis Uncovers Treatment Variations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olch, A [University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To evaluate a fully automated EPID exit dose system for its ability to detect daily treatment deviations including patient setup, delivery, and anatomy changes. Methods: PerFRACTION (Sun Nuclear Corporation) software is a system that uses integrated EPID images taken during patient treatment and automatically pulled from the Aria database and analyzed based on user-defined comparisons. This was used to monitor 20 plans consisting of a total of 859 fields for 18 patients, for a total of 251 fractions. Nine VMAT, 5 IMRT, and 6 3D plans were monitored. The Gamma analysis was performed for each field within a plan, comparing the first fraction against each of the other fractions in each treatment course. A 2% dose difference, 1 mm distance-to-agreement, and 10% dose threshold was used. These tight tolerances were chosen to achieve a high sensitivity to treatment variations. The field passed if 93% of the pixels had a Gamma of 1 or less. Results: Twenty-nine percent of the fields failed. The average plan passing rate was 92.5%.The average 3D plan passing rate was less than for VMAT or IMRT, 84%, vs. an average of 96.2%. When fields failed, an investigation revealed changes in patient anatomy or setup variations, often also leading to variations of transmission through immobilization devices. Conclusion: PerFRACTION is a fully automated system for determining daily changes in dose transmission through the patient that requires no effort other than for the imager panel to be deployed during treatment. A surprising number of fields failed the analysis and can be attributed to important treatment variations that would otherwise not be appreciated. Further study of inter-fraction treatment variations is possible and warranted. Sun Nuclear Corporation provided a license to the software described.

  8. Corporate Foresight: Antecedents and Contributions to Innovation Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jissink, Tymen; Rohrbeck, René; Huizingh, Eelko K.R.E.

    In this paper we explore the current understanding of corporate foresight as a system for creating understandings of possible futures, factors that drive the need and usage of corporate foresight as well as how corporate foresight can contribute to a firm’s innovation performance. Drawing upon...... still limited research on corporate foresight, we find that 1) there is still little consensus on the concept of corporate foresight, 2) the need for corporate foresight can originate from both internal and external factors, and 3) innovation performance can be positively influenced by a number...

  9. FOUNDER’S SYNDROME AT THE BACKSTAGE OF AGENCY THEORY: A THREAT TO CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Şafak GÜNDÜZ

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Agency theory studies have had almost no attention to antecedents of the causes leading agent-principal problem. As there is yet no consensus over what constitutes a perfectly working corporate governance mechanism, this discursive analysis tries to draw attention to the hidden reason of agent-principal problem in order to help the constitution of healthy corporate governance with corporate social responsibility. The purpose is to put forward that Founder’s Syndrome could be one of the reasons behind agency problem and a threat to corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. This paper is the first to extend Agency Theory by associating it with a syndrome analysing the psychological and behavioural instigations of it, which fills the void in literature. A theoretical lens to enhance organizations’ ability to be the corporate social responsibility-focused by overcoming Founder’s Syndrome is provided bearing implications especially for organisational behaviour researchers.

  10. [Ontario Hydro]. Corporate performance report, 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    Summarizes Ontario Hydro's corporate performance for the year, with actual results being compared against planned values. Also includes additional indicators that illustrate noteworthy trends in corporate performance. Corporate results are reported under the new organizational structure implemented in 1993, beginning with overall results in such areas as customer service, environmental stewardship, human resources, and finance. This is followed by reports from the Generation Business Group, Customer Services Group, Corporate Business Group, General Counsel and Secretary, Ontario Hydro Audit, Strategic Planning, Environment and Communication Group, and Ontario Hydro enterprises (Ontario Hydro Technologies, Ontario Hydro International). The appendix includes summary financial statements

  11. The Research Frontier in Corporate Governance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahrens, Thomas; Filatotchev, Igor; Thomsen, Steen

    2011-01-01

    in our knowledge of corporate governance and is likely to lead of a rethink of central concepts like shareholder value, debt governance, and management incentives (2) what do we know and what do we need to how about the impact of national institutions on corporate governance? (3) What research questions......In this paper we attempt to identify the research frontier in corporate governance using three different approaches: (1) what challenges does the financial crisis 2007–2009 pose for corporate governance research? We show that the financial crisis is a huge natural experiment which has exposed gaps...

  12. Constructing corporate identities on websites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bøilerehauge, Dorrit

    2007-01-01

    En analyse og diskussion af hvorledes internationale virksomheder konstruerer deres identitet på deres corporate websites.......En analyse og diskussion af hvorledes internationale virksomheder konstruerer deres identitet på deres corporate websites....

  13. PHA Corporate Strategy 2011-2015

    OpenAIRE

    Public Health Agency

    2011-01-01

    The PHA Corporate Strategy has been developed with input from staff across the PHA and taking account of feedback from external stakeholders.� It is a high level document, setting out the direction for the PHA over the next few years, and will be supported by the annual PHA Corporate Business Plan, Directorate Business Plans and the Joint Commissioning Plan.� The Strategy was approved by the PHA board at the November 2011 board meeting.�The PHA Corporate strategy sets out the role, direction ...

  14. Product market competition and corporate governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Chou

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates whether product market competition acts as an external mechanism for disciplining management and also whether there is any relationship between the degree of competition a firm faces and its corporate governance. We find that firms in competitive industries or with low market power tend to have weak corporate governance structures. Results are robust to various competition measures at firm and industry levels, even after controlling for firm-specific variables. We further find that corporate governance quality has a significant effect on performance only when product market competition is weak. The overall evidence suggests that product market competition has a substantial impact on corporate governance and that it substitutes for corporate governance quality. Finally, we provide evidence that the disciplinary force of competition on management is from the fear of liquidation.

  15. Fully automated MRI-guided robotics for prostate brachytherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoianovici, D.; Vigaru, B.; Petrisor, D.; Muntener, M.; Patriciu, A.; Song, D.

    2008-01-01

    The uncertainties encountered in the deployment of brachytherapy seeds are related to the commonly used ultrasound imager and the basic instrumentation used for the implant. An alternative solution is under development in which a fully automated robot is used to place the seeds according to the dosimetry plan under direct MRI-guidance. Incorporation of MRI-guidance creates potential for physiological and molecular image-guided therapies. Moreover, MRI-guided brachytherapy is also enabling for re-estimating dosimetry during the procedure, because with the MRI the seeds already implanted can be localised. An MRI compatible robot (MrBot) was developed. The robot is designed for transperineal percutaneous prostate interventions, and customised for fully automated MRI-guided brachytherapy. With different end-effectors, the robot applies to other image-guided interventions of the prostate. The robot is constructed of non-magnetic and dielectric materials and is electricity free using pneumatic actuation and optic sensing. A new motor (PneuStep) was purposely developed to set this robot in motion. The robot fits alongside the patient in closed-bore MRI scanners. It is able to stay fully operational during MR imaging without deteriorating the quality of the scan. In vitro, cadaver, and animal tests showed millimetre needle targeting accuracy, and very precise seed placement. The robot tested without any interference up to 7T. The robot is the first fully automated robot to function in MRI scanners. Its first application is MRI-guided seed brachytherapy. It is capable of automated, highly accurate needle placement. Extensive testing is in progress prior to clinical trials. Preliminary results show that the robot may become a useful image-guided intervention instrument. (author)

  16. Automated SmartPrep tracker positioning in liver MRI scans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goto, Takao; Kabasawa, Hiroyuki

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a new method for automated SmartPrep tracker positioning in liver MRI scans. SmartPrep is used to monitor the contrast bolus signal in order to detect the arrival time of the bolus. Accurately placing the tracker in the aorta while viewing three planar scout images is a difficult task for the operator and is an important problem from the workflow standpoint. The development of an automated SmartPrep tracker would therefore help to improve workflow in liver MRI scans. In our proposed method, the aorta is detected using AdaBoost (which is a machine learning technique) by searching around the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in the spinal cord. Analysis of scout scan images showed that our detection method functioned properly for a variety of axial MR images without intensity correction. A total of 234 images reconstructed from the datasets of 64 volunteers were analyzed, and the results showed that the detection error for the aorta was approximately 3 mm. (author)

  17. Automated building of organometallic complexes from 3D fragments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foscato, Marco; Venkatraman, Vishwesh; Occhipinti, Giovanni; Alsberg, Bjørn K; Jensen, Vidar R

    2014-07-28

    A method for the automated construction of three-dimensional (3D) molecular models of organometallic species in design studies is described. Molecular structure fragments derived from crystallographic structures and accurate molecular-level calculations are used as 3D building blocks in the construction of multiple molecular models of analogous compounds. The method allows for precise control of stereochemistry and geometrical features that may otherwise be very challenging, or even impossible, to achieve with commonly available generators of 3D chemical structures. The new method was tested in the construction of three sets of active or metastable organometallic species of catalytic reactions in the homogeneous phase. The performance of the method was compared with those of commonly available methods for automated generation of 3D models, demonstrating higher accuracy of the prepared 3D models in general, and, in particular, a much wider range with respect to the kind of chemical structures that can be built automatically, with capabilities far beyond standard organic and main-group chemistry.

  18. Corporate identity: The concept, its measurement and management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    C.B.M. van Riel (Cees); J.M.T. Balmer (John)

    1997-01-01

    textabstractArticulates the main trends in the literature on corporate identity; defines corporate identity; explains the rationale for corporate identity management and describes the main methods used to reveal the desired and the actual corporate identity. Particular reference will be made to two

  19. Prospects and Challenges of Corporate Governance in Ghana

    OpenAIRE

    Agyemang, Otuo Serebour; Aboagye, Emmanuel; Ahali, Aaron Yao Ofoe

    2013-01-01

    The relevance of corporate governance principles in the management of corporate organisations cannot be underestimated. The increasing influence of principles of corporate governance across the globe has been greatly linked to the recent corporate frauds and scandals. These frauds and scandals largely resulted from the failure of authorities of countries to effectively implement the legal and regulatory frameworks pertaining to corporate governance. Ghana is archetypal in regards to the failu...

  20. Corporate communications and stakeholder management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đorđević Mira

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Corporate communications represent a modern communications discipline used by businesses across the globe to communicate with key stakeholders. Chief executive officers and executive management teams strive to create, protect and advance corporate reputation through corporate communications. Further, by communicating with key stakeholders the company adequately prepares for good news and future problems. With the benefit of technology and greater transparency, corporations of the future will continue to use corporate communications approaches to advance their business. Company's reputation derives from the way stakeholders perceive the organization, how they think, feel or act towards it. It is therefore vital that organizations interested in developing and building their reputational capital; pay careful attention to the way they are perceived and that they manage the relationships with their various stakeholders like a strategic resource. Stakeholders represent both opportunity and threat for the organizations. For instance, if an institution has a good reputation with stakeholders they may provide the organization more latitude to operate. On the other hand a poor reputation may result in creating the legislative that can make it more difficult for an institution to operate.

  1. 36 CFR 907.4 - Designation of responsible Corporation official.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Corporation official. 907.4 Section 907.4 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY § 907.4 Designation of responsible Corporation official. The Development Director is the Corporation official responsible for implementation and operation of the Corporation's...

  2. Corporate Support of Education: Some Strings Attached

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malott, Robert H.

    1978-01-01

    Corporate self-interest should guide corporate giving. Managers of publicly held corporations have the right, the capability, and the obligation to establish a philosophical screen to use in determining how shareholders' money is to be donated. (Author/MLF)

  3. Prevalence of discordant microscopic changes with automated CBC analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabiano de Jesus Santos

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction:The most common cause of diagnostic error is related to errors in laboratory tests as well as errors of results interpretation. In order to reduce them, the laboratory currently has modern equipment which provides accurate and reliable results. The development of automation has revolutionized the laboratory procedures in Brazil and worldwide.Objective:To determine the prevalence of microscopic changes present in blood slides concordant and discordant with results obtained using fully automated procedures.Materials and method:From January to July 2013, 1,000 hematological parameters slides were analyzed. Automated analysis was performed on last generation equipment, which methodology is based on electrical impedance, and is able to quantify all the figurative elements of the blood in a universe of 22 parameters. The microscopy was performed by two experts in microscopy simultaneously.Results:The data showed that only 42.70% were concordant, comparing with 57.30% discordant. The main findings among discordant were: Changes in red blood cells 43.70% (n = 250, white blood cells 38.46% (n = 220, and number of platelet 17.80% (n = 102.Discussion:The data show that some results are not consistent with clinical or physiological state of an individual, and cannot be explained because they have not been investigated, which may compromise the final diagnosis.Conclusion:It was observed that it is of fundamental importance that the microscopy qualitative analysis must be performed in parallel with automated analysis in order to obtain reliable results, causing a positive impact on the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic follow-up.

  4. 7 CFR 400.166 - Obligations of the Corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Obligations of the Corporation. 400.166 Section 400... CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Reinsurance Agreement-Standards for... Corporation. The Agreement will include the following among the obligations of the Corporation. (a) The...

  5. Developing effective automated feedback in temporal bone surgery simulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijewickrema, Sudanthi; Piromchai, Patorn; Zhou, Yun; Ioannou, Ioanna; Bailey, James; Kennedy, Gregor; O'Leary, Stephen

    2015-06-01

    We aim to test the effectiveness, accuracy, and usefulness of an automated feedback system in facilitating skill acquisition in virtual reality surgery. We evaluate the performance of the feedback system through a randomized controlled trial of 24 students allocated to feedback and nonfeedback groups. The feedback system was based on the Melbourne University temporal bone surgery simulator. The study was conducted at the simulation laboratory of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne. The study participants were medical students from the University of Melbourne, who were asked to perform virtual cortical mastoidectomy on the simulator. The extent to which the drilling behavior of the feedback and nonfeedback groups differed was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the system. Its accuracy was determined through a postexperiment observational assessment of recordings made during the experiment by an expert surgeon. Its usability was evaluated using students' self-reports of their impressions of the system. A Friedman's test showed that there was a significant improvement in the drilling performance of the feedback group, χ(2)(1) = 14.450, P feedback (when trainee behavior was detected) 88.6% of the time and appropriate feedback (accurate advice) 84.2% of the time. Participants' opinions about the usefulness of the system were highly positive. The automated feedback system was observed to be effective in improving surgical technique, and the provided feedback was found to be accurate and useful. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

  6. Competitive advantage and corporate communications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitić Sanja

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Strategic importance of corporate communications and its role in the development of competitive advantage has attracted interest of numerous researchers in the fields of organization, management, marketing and public relations. Recent studies particularly emphasise the growing importance of soft factors, such as reputation in the development of competitive advantage. Concept of reputation is strongly connected with stakeholder theory, which stresses the importance of corporate communications for competitive advantage of firms. The paper focuses on competitive advantage and the link among strategy, reputation and corporate communications.

  7. 26 CFR 1.882-1 - Taxation of foreign corporations engaged in U.S. business or of foreign corporations treated as...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 9 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Taxation of foreign corporations engaged in U.S. business or of foreign corporations treated as having effectively connected income. 1.882-1 Section 1.882-1...) INCOME TAXES Foreign Corporations § 1.882-1 Taxation of foreign corporations engaged in U.S. business or...

  8. Energy Information Data Base: corporate author entries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-06-01

    One of the controls for information entered into the data bases created and maintained by the DOE Technical Information Center is the standardized name for the corporate entity or the corporate author. The purpose of Energy Information Data Base: Corporate Author Entries is to provide a means for the consistent citing of the names of organizations in bibliographic records. These entries serve as guides for users of the DOE/RECON computerized data bases who want to locate information originating in particular organizations. The entries in this revision include the corporate entries used in report bibliographic citations since 1973 and list approximately 28,000 corporate sources

  9. Corporate Governance & Social Responsibility: : Challenges Regarding Accountability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    drs. Ewoud Jansen

    2012-01-01

    Corporate Social Responsibility affects Corporate Governance as it stretches the accountability of companies beyond its traditional boundaries. This however may conflict with the corporate objective of maximizing stockholder wealth. The paper provides an overview of various academic theories and

  10. Automated detection of diabetic retinopathy lesions on ultrawidefield pseudocolour images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Kang; Jayadev, Chaitra; Nittala, Muneeswar G; Velaga, Swetha B; Ramachandra, Chaithanya A; Bhaskaranand, Malavika; Bhat, Sandeep; Solanki, Kaushal; Sadda, SriniVas R

    2018-03-01

    We examined the sensitivity and specificity of an automated algorithm for detecting referral-warranted diabetic retinopathy (DR) on Optos ultrawidefield (UWF) pseudocolour images. Patients with diabetes were recruited for UWF imaging. A total of 383 subjects (754 eyes) were enrolled. Nonproliferative DR graded to be moderate or higher on the 5-level International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy (ICDR) severity scale was considered as grounds for referral. The software automatically detected DR lesions using the previously trained classifiers and classified each image in the test set as referral-warranted or not warranted. Sensitivity, specificity and the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of the algorithm were computed. The automated algorithm achieved a 91.7%/90.3% sensitivity (95% CI 90.1-93.9/80.4-89.4) with a 50.0%/53.6% specificity (95% CI 31.7-72.8/36.5-71.4) for detecting referral-warranted retinopathy at the patient/eye levels, respectively; the AUROC was 0.873/0.851 (95% CI 0.819-0.922/0.804-0.894). Diabetic retinopathy (DR) lesions were detected from Optos pseudocolour UWF images using an automated algorithm. Images were classified as referral-warranted DR with a high degree of sensitivity and moderate specificity. Automated analysis of UWF images could be of value in DR screening programmes and could allow for more complete and accurate disease staging. © 2017 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Corporate Governance, between Classicism and Modernism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niculae Feleaga

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Corporate governance represents a complex concept, being an assembly of mechanisms used to set order into company leaders’ decisions. The rules of corporate governance are the ones keeping the score between the economic entity’s leaders and the third parties who invest their resources in the business. The corporate governance issue did not appear by hazard, but it resulted from the necessity to reconcile many business interests within a company (sometimes contradictory issues, especially the ones between the shareholders and the business leaders. The Anglo-Saxon view, in which the business power is given to the Equity items, is traditionally opposing the European (continental vision, where focus is being made on the Stakeholders’ interests. Within a world dominated by globalization issues, and where the financial markets evolve on an exponential curve, the two above mentioned corporate governance models ought to interact one with another in a constructive manner. Even if the corporate governance concept has developed recently, mainly during the last 25 years, its origins are rooted way back into the world history. Corporate governance is organically linked to the capitalist society and economy. After the 11 September attacks, many of the contemporary authors had the tendency to declare this date as the beginning of the XXIst century. If the ‘Twin Towers’ had hosted companies like: Tyco, Enron, Xerox, Wordcom and many other Stock Exchange-quoted businesses, it is likely that the financial crisis from 2000-2002 would have been differently perceived, and corporate governance had developed slightly different evolutionary mechanisms. A scientific article, based on the comparison between the classical and modern corporate governance experiences, would therefore suit the Romanian business environment.

  12. Corporate Governance, between Classicism and Modernism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Vasile

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Corporate governance represents a complex concept, being an assembly of mechanisms used to set order into company leaders’ decisions. The rules of corporate governance are the ones keeping the score between the economic entity’s leaders and the third parties who invest their resources in the business. The corporate governance issue did not appear by hazard, but it resulted from the necessity to reconcile many business interests within a company (sometimes contradictory issues, especially the ones between the shareholders and the business leaders. The Anglo-Saxon view, in which the business power is given to the Equity items, is traditionally opposing the European (continental vision, where focus is being made on the Stakeholders’ interests. Within a world dominated by globalization issues, and where the financial markets evolve on an exponential curve, the two above mentioned corporate governance models ought to interact one with another in a constructive manner. Even if the corporate governance concept has developed recently, mainly during the last 25 years, its origins are rooted way back into the world history. Corporate governance is organically linked to the capitalist society and economy. After the 11 September attacks, many of the contemporary authors had the tendency to declare this date as the beginning of the XXIst century. If the ‘Twin Towers’ had hosted companies like: Tyco, Enron, Xerox, Wordcom and many other Stock Exchange-quoted businesses, it is likely that the financial crisis from 2000-2002 would have been differently perceived, and corporate governance had developed slightly different evolutionary mechanisms. A scientific article, based on the comparison between the classical and modern corporate governance experiences, would therefore suit the Romanian business environment.

  13. Lean automation development : applying lean principles to the automation development process

    OpenAIRE

    Granlund, Anna; Wiktorsson, Magnus; Grahn, Sten; Friedler, Niklas

    2014-01-01

    By a broad empirical study it is indicated that automation development show potential of improvement. In the paper, 13 lean product development principles are contrasted to the automation development process and it is suggested why and how these principles can facilitate, support and improve the automation development process. The paper summarises a description of what characterises a lean automation development process and what consequences it entails. Main differences compared to current pr...

  14. 12 CFR 1710.10 - Law applicable to corporate governance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SAFETY AND SOUNDNESS CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Corporate Practices and Procedures § 1710.10 Law applicable to corporate governance. (a) General. The corporate governance practices and... Enterprise shall follow the corporate governance practices and procedures of the law of the jurisdiction in...

  15. Top management motivation in global corporations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmytro Lukianenko

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The article explores economic localization, socialization and development intellectualization processes. The research is focused on the relevant problem implying formation and development of human resources at organizations as a key factor of their competitiveness. Based on generalizing modern theoretical motivational models a comprehensive analysis of the motivation system for top management of corporations within the paradigm of global management has been carried out. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of global business personification and virtualization, as well as to the formation of new financial and nonfinancial incentives for top managers. Practices of effective incentives for the contemporary key corporate management actors have been studied. A comprehensive country-based comparative analysis of key tools for financial and non-financial corporate incentives for top managers within the system of long-term, short-term and regulatory criteria and parameters has been performed. Based on summarizing academic studies and empirical evidence of the leading multinational corporations a motivational model for top management of corporations has been grounded and suggested for practical implementation in Ukraine with the said model accounting for the corporations' basic needs, financial status and interests as well as for countryspecific and regional features.

  16. Corporate Tax in European Union and the Theory of Corporate Finance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iwin-Garzyńska Jolanta

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available One of the main objectives to be accomplished by the European Union law is to eliminate barriers to the functioning of domestic market and in particular improve the competitiveness of enterprises. After several years of efforts, the European Commission approved a proposal for the directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base which is to remove obstacles to the functioning of internal market and increase tax harmonization. The article is aimed at presenting the essence of CCCTB in the theory of corporate finance and its importance for enterprises, based on the survey of Polish and EU companies. The paper addresses issues relating to tax in corporate finance. Canons of taxation will be discussed and special emphasis will be placed on principles behind formulating fiscal law provisions (including the EU law. Furthermore, the article presents the results of surveys into the importance of taxation cannons for Polish and EU companies.

  17. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES IN INDIA – A STUDY

    OpenAIRE

    Navneet Kaur*

    2018-01-01

    The primary driver mentioned behind the corporate governance practice is the interest of the stakeholders. Indian corporate governance has taken major steps toward becoming a system capable of inspiring confidence among institutions and increase foreign investors. The overall purpose of study is provide an overview of various components of corporate governance and the conclusion of study is idea about how much important corporate governance is for all types of corporations and how these corpo...

  18. Automated path length and M56 measurements at Jefferson Lab

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hardy, D.; Tang, J.; Legg, R.

    1997-01-01

    Accurate measurement of path length and path length changes versus momentum (M 56 ) are critical for maintaining minimum beam energy spread in the CEBAF (Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility) accelerator at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). The relative path length for each circuit of the beam (1256m) must be equal within 1.5 degrees of 1497 MHz RF phase. A relative path length measurement is made by measuring the relative phases of RF signals from a cavity that is separately excited for each pass of a 4.2 μs pulsed beam. This method distinguishes the path length to less than 0.5 path length error. The development of a VME based automated measurement system for path length and M 56 has contributed to faster machine setup time and has the potential for use as a feedback parameter for automated control

  19. 45 CFR 1603.8 - Corporation support of council.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Corporation support of council. 1603.8 Section 1603.8 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION STATE ADVISORY COUNCILS § 1603.8 Corporation support of council. (a) The Corporation shall inform the...

  20. 24 CFR 964.120 - Resident management corporation requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Resident management corporation... § 964.120 Resident management corporation requirements. A resident management corporation must consist... resident council, so long as each such council: (1) Approves the establishment of the corporation; and (2...

  1. Corporate responses to stakeholder activism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uldam, Julie; Krause Hansen, Hans

    2017-01-01

    Corporations are increasingly expected to act responsibly. The purpose of this paper is to examine two types of corporate responses to these expectations: overt and covert responses. Specifically, it examines oil companies’ involvement in multi-stakeholder initiatives and sponsorships (overt...

  2. [Ontario Hydro]. Corporate performance report, 1993

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    Summarizes Ontario Hydro's corporate performance for the year, with actual results being compared against planned values established in the approved corporate financial plan and work program budget. Also includes additional indicators that illustrate noteworthy trends in corporate performance. Corporate results are reported under the new organizational structure implemented in mid-1993, beginning with overall results in such areas as customer satisfaction, electricity sales, human resources, and environmental protection. This is followed by reports from the Electricity Group (supply, generation, transmission), the Energy Services and Environment Group (load saved and shifted, non-utility generation, retail distribution), and Ontario Hydro enterprises (Ontario Hydro Technologies, Ontario Hydro International). The appendix contains summary financial statements

  3. Compliance management and corporate governance; Compliance Management und Corporate Governance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Becker, Uwe [Stadt Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Alsheimer, Constantin; Kassebohm, Kristian; Reutler, Susanne [Mainova AG, Frankfurt (Germany)

    2009-08-15

    Starting in the year 2009, numerous changes in the financial system and accountancy a well as in the corporate law come into effect for enterprises. Thereby, the requirements substantially are intensified to their corporate governance. The actual well-known reproaches of bribery, corruption and injuries of data protection intensify the pressure on executive committees and supervisory boards in order to meet normative and ethical requirements. All the more is valid for power suppliers whose reputation can already carry damage out with the first suspicion. Already in 2008, Mainova AG (Frnkfurt/Main, Federal Republic of Germany) implemented a compliance management.

  4. Discussing three pillars of corporate governance

    OpenAIRE

    Andrei STĂNCULESCU; Eugen MITRICĂ

    2015-01-01

    This paper is a meaningful attempt to critically analyze the cohesion and relationship between three fundamental pillars of the corporate governance system: the shareholders, the board of directors and the employees. We present the characteristics of each pillar and discuss its relevance in corporate governance. A couple of world-renowned corporate governance models are considered. A synthetic conclusion is drawn based on information presented.

  5. Automated Classification of Asteroids into Families at Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knežević, Zoran; Milani, Andrea; Cellino, Alberto; Novaković, Bojan; Spoto, Federica; Paolicchi, Paolo

    2014-07-01

    We have recently proposed a new approach to the asteroid family classification by combining the classical HCM method with an automated procedure to add newly discovered members to existing families. This approach is specifically intended to cope with ever increasing asteroid data sets, and consists of several steps to segment the problem and handle the very large amount of data in an efficient and accurate manner. We briefly present all these steps and show the results from three subsequent updates making use of only the automated step of attributing the newly numbered asteroids to the known families. We describe the changes of the individual families membership, as well as the evolution of the classification due to the newly added intersections between the families, resolved candidate family mergers, and emergence of the new candidates for the mergers. We thus demonstrate how by the new approach the asteroid family classification becomes stable in general terms (converging towards a permanent list of confirmed families), and in the same time evolving in details (to account for the newly discovered asteroids) at each update.

  6. The Role of Corporate Governance in Firm Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naimah Zahroh

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to examine the role of corporate governance to increase firm performance. The measure of corporate governance are corporate governance mechanism and Corporate Governance Perception Index (CGPI. Samples are companies that followed CGPI award at 2005-2014. The examination of the relationship of corporate governance and firm performance is conducted by regression of corporate governance mechanism variables and control variables to profitability. Corporate governance mechanisms are board size, board independence, outside directors, audit committee size, audit committee meeting, audit quality, and CGPI. Control variables are leverage and firm size. The results of this study indicate that board independence negatively influence profitability, audit committee meeting positively influence profitability, audit quality positively influence profitability, CGPI positively influence profitability, leverage negatively influence profitability, and firm size negatively influence profitability.

  7. Both Automation and Paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purcell, Royal

    1988-01-01

    Discusses the concept of a paperless society and the current situation in library automation. Various applications of automation and telecommunications are addressed, and future library automation is considered. Automation at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana, is described as an example. (MES)

  8. 36 CFR 902.13 - Indexes of Corporation records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Indexes of Corporation... CORPORATION FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT General Administration § 902.13 Indexes of Corporation records. (a) The... Corporation. However, earlier materials may be included in the index to the extent practicable. Each index...

  9. 26 CFR 1.1363-1 - Effect of election on corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... the corporation for which the election is in effect. (2) Corporate level taxes. An S corporation is... recapture amounts. (b) Computation of corporate taxable income. The taxable income of an S corporation is... derived from an S corporation are made by the corporation. For example, elections of methods of accounting...

  10. Characteristic corporate culture of the Telkom way 135

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utami, D. A.; Noviyanti

    2018-01-01

    The corporate globalization brought an attention consequence related to the global perspective balancing against local flexibility. It also made local Organizations to keeps aware to both continuously and fast global changing and development in order to maintain its existences. One of the things need to be strengthened was the strong corporate culture, which is acceptable, understood and applied culture by every single member of the corporate. This study was aimed to describe characteristics of The Telkom Way 135 corporate culture and its implementation in PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk., Regional Division V East Java. It was descriptive research with a qualitative approach and conducted it by observation, documentation, and documentation techniques. Data validity was conducted using credibility, transmittable, dependable and special criteria. Results of the study are as follows; the characteristic of The Telkom Way 135 corporate culture is an integral corporate culture. Also, by combination of this characteristic, corporate culture could classify into the strong and adaptive corporate culture so that it able to supports PT. Telkom to win the external adaptation and reached its internal integration if there is a harmonization between the corporate culture’s characteristics with the managerial practices.

  11. Reputation: An Important Component of Corporations' Value

    OpenAIRE

    Malikeh Beheshtifar; Azam Korouki

    2013-01-01

    Corporate reputation may also be a critical factor in responding to a crisis. Reputation may be seen to arise as an output of different activities in the professions.Reputation is a set of collectively held beliefs about a company's ability to satisfy the interest of its various stakeholders. Corporate reputation also is: Observers’ collective judgments of a corporation based on assessments of the financial, social, and environmental impacts attributed to the corporation over time. The organi...

  12. Analysis of SATU Indonesia award activities, one of Astra’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs as corporate communications media for society

    OpenAIRE

    I.W., Lely Fachrul; Salamah, Ummi

    2017-01-01

    Corporate social responsibility (CSR) program is a form of corporate social responsibility in reducing the impact of its business activities, which in its implementation is supported by CSR corporate communication strategy to run effectively. The aim of the research is to analyze the implementation of SATU Indonesia Award activities, one of Astra's corporate social responsibility (CSR) program and measure the reputation of Astra corporation for the society. This research uses qualitative rese...

  13. Automated Groundwater Screening

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, Glenn A.; Collard, Leonard B.

    2005-01-01

    The Automated Intruder Analysis has been extended to include an Automated Ground Water Screening option. This option screens 825 radionuclides while rigorously applying the National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP) methodology. An extension to that methodology is presented to give a more realistic screening factor for those radionuclides which have significant daughters. The extension has the promise of reducing the number of radionuclides which must be tracked by the customer. By combining the Automated Intruder Analysis with the Automated Groundwater Screening a consistent set of assumptions and databases is used. A method is proposed to eliminate trigger values by performing rigorous calculation of the screening factor thereby reducing the number of radionuclides sent to further analysis. Using the same problem definitions as in previous groundwater screenings, the automated groundwater screening found one additional nuclide, Ge-68, which failed the screening. It also found that 18 of the 57 radionuclides contained in NCRP Table 3.1 failed the screening. This report describes the automated groundwater screening computer application

  14. Corporate Governance Scorecards : Assessing and Promoting the Implementation of Codes of Corporate Governance

    OpenAIRE

    International Finance Corporation

    2014-01-01

    This is a supplement to second IFC's toolkit: developing Corporate Governance codes of best practice. The focus of second toolkit is the development of codes of corporate governance. This supplement focuses narrowly on how to use scorecards to measure the observance and implementation of such codes. It does not cover the full panoply of governance assessment tools. This supplement provides...

  15. Studies on Dutch Housing Corporations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veenstra, Jacob

    2016-01-01

    One third of all dwellings in the Netherlands is owned by housing corporations. These are privately governed institutions executing a public task (social housing). Recently, corporations have received negative attention due to various incidents (such as fraud and excessive risk-taking). This put

  16. Corporate Governance, CSR og menneskerettigheder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buhmann, Karin

    2005-01-01

    Artiklen diskuterer om der findes en forbindelse mellem Corporate Governance og Corporate Social Responsibility i forhold til menneskerettigheder. Det konkluderes, at en sådan forbindelse findes, i hvert fald i forhold til arbejdstagerrettigheder og dele af forholdet til eksterne stakeholdere. Me...

  17. An international corporate governance index

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martynova, M.; Renneboog, L.D.R.; Wright, M.; Siegel, D.; Keasey, K.; Filatotchev, I.

    2013-01-01

    This chapter presents a comparative analysis of corporate governance regulatory systems and their development since 1990 in the United States and in 30 European countries. It introduces a proposed methodology that would help create detailed corporate governance indices which describe the primary

  18. Automation of BESSY scanning tables

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanton, J.; Kesteman, J.

    1981-01-01

    A micro processor M6800 is used for the automation of scanning and premeasuring BESSY tables. The tasks achieved by the micro processor are: 1. control of spooling of the four asynchronous film winding devices and switching on and off the 4 projections lamps, 2. pre-processing of the data coming from a bi-polar coordinates measuring device, 3. bi-directional interchange of informations between the operator, the BESSY table and the DEC PDP 11/34 mini computer controling the scanning operations, 4. control of the magnification on the table by swapping the projection lenses of appropriate focal lengths and the associated light boxes (under development). In connection with point 4, study is being made for the use of BESSY tables for accurate measurements (+/-5 microns), by encoding the displacements of the projections lenses. (orig.)

  19. Steam generator automated eddy current data analysis: A benchmarking study. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, S.D.

    1998-12-01

    The eddy current examination of steam generator tubes is a very demanding process. Challenges include: complex signal analysis, massive amount of data to be reviewed quickly with extreme precision and accuracy, shortages of data analysts during peak periods, and the desire to reduce examination costs. One method to address these challenges is by incorporating automation into the data analysis process. Specific advantages, which automated data analysis has the potential to provide, include the ability to analyze data more quickly, consistently and accurately than can be performed manually. Also, automated data analysis can potentially perform the data analysis function with significantly smaller levels of analyst staffing. Despite the clear advantages that an automated data analysis system has the potential to provide, no automated system has been produced and qualified that can perform all of the functions that utility engineers demand. This report investigates the current status of automated data analysis, both at the commercial and developmental level. A summary of the various commercial and developmental data analysis systems is provided which includes the signal processing methodologies used and, where available, the performance data obtained for each system. Also, included in this report is input from seventeen research organizations regarding the actions required and obstacles to be overcome in order to bring automatic data analysis from the laboratory into the field environment. In order to provide assistance with ongoing and future research efforts in the automated data analysis arena, the most promising approaches to signal processing are described in this report. These approaches include: wavelet applications, pattern recognition, template matching, expert systems, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, case based reasoning and genetic algorithms. Utility engineers and NDE researchers can use this information to assist in developing automated data

  20. 19 CFR 141.18 - Entry by nonresident corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Entry by nonresident corporation. 141.18 Section....18 Entry by nonresident corporation. A nonresident corporation (i.e., one which is not incorporated... entry is located who is authorized to accept service of process against that corporation or, in the case...

  1. Corporate culture and motivation of employees as a part of corporate strategy increasing company’s competitiveness

    OpenAIRE

    Chlupová, Petra

    2012-01-01

    This master thesis combines corporate culture, corporate strategy, motivation and education of employees. Furthermore, there is also a focus on their interconnections. A real company Unicorn a.s. is presented in the second part -- owner's (Vladimír Kovář's) vision, goals and strategies. Moreover, there is introduced Unicorn's corporate culture, education of employees and human resources management. To check if the culture seems to be friendly and motivational to employees there was used a que...

  2. The corporate image concept : a strategic approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vos, M.F.

    1992-01-01

    Following a clarification of the concept of corporate image using the available literature as a basis, the process of image-formation and the nature of the influence of corporate image on behaviour are explored. The relationship with corporate identity is then discussed. This exploration

  3. Automated quantification of epicardial adipose tissue using CT angiography: evaluation of a prototype software

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spearman, James V.; Silverman, Justin R.; Krazinski, Aleksander W.; Costello, Philip; Meinel, Felix G.; Geyer, Lucas L.; Schoepf, U.J.; Apfaltrer, Paul; Canstein, Christian; De Cecco, Carlo Nicola

    2014-01-01

    This study evaluated the performance of a novel automated software tool for epicardial fat volume (EFV) quantification compared to a standard manual technique at coronary CT angiography (cCTA). cCTA data sets of 70 patients (58.6 ± 12.9 years, 33 men) were retrospectively analysed using two different post-processing software applications. Observer 1 performed a manual single-plane pericardial border definition and EFV M segmentation (manual approach). Two observers used a software program with fully automated 3D pericardial border definition and EFV A calculation (automated approach). EFV and time required for measuring EFV (including software processing time and manual optimization time) for each method were recorded. Intraobserver and interobserver reliability was assessed on the prototype software measurements. T test, Spearman's rho, and Bland-Altman plots were used for statistical analysis. The final EFV A (with manual border optimization) was strongly correlated with the manual axial segmentation measurement (60.9 ± 33.2 mL vs. 65.8 ± 37.0 mL, rho = 0.970, P 0.9). Automated EFV A quantification is an accurate and time-saving method for quantification of EFV compared to established manual axial segmentation methods. (orig.)

  4. Development of a commercial Automated Laser Gas Interface (ALGI) for AMS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daniel, R. [National Electrostatics Corporation, Middleton, WI 53562 (United States); Mores, M., E-mail: nec@pelletron.com [National Electrostatics Corporation, Middleton, WI 53562 (United States); Kitchen, R.; Sundquist, M.; Hauser, T.; Stodola, M. [National Electrostatics Corporation, Middleton, WI 53562 (United States); Tannenbaum, S.; Skipper, P.; Liberman, R. [Dept. of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Young, G.; Corless, S. [Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development Ltd., Ware (United Kingdom); Tucker, M. [MGT Systems, Chapel Lane, Eastbridge, Suffolk (United Kingdom)

    2013-01-15

    National Electrostatics Corporation (NEC), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) collectively have been developing an interface to introduce CO{sub 2} produced by the laser combustion of liquid chromatograph eluate deposited on a CuO substrate directly into the ion source of an AMS system, thereby bypassing the customary graphitization process. The Automated Laser Gas Interface (ALGI) converts dried liquid samples to CO{sub 2} gas quickly and efficiently, allowing 96 samples to be measured in as little as 16 h. {sup 14}C:{sup 12}C ratios stabilize typically within 2 min of analysis time per sample. Presented is the recent progress of NEC's ALGI, a stand-alone accessory to an NEC gas-enabled multi-cathode source of negative ions by Cs sputtering (MC-SNICS) ion source.

  5. The ethics of corporate social responsibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergman, Stanley M; Vernillo, Anthony T

    2014-01-01

    Corporations as well as individual professionals have an ethical obligation to help those in need. There is a sound tradition in American business for companies including social outreach as part of business strategy. This approach works best when corporations and community and professional experts work in partnership. Henry Schein's Corporate Social Responsibility program contributes expertise, logistics, connections, and funds to these partnerships in the United States and worldwide.

  6. Corporate governance and responsibility in Nigeria

    OpenAIRE

    Adegbite, E.; Nakajima, C.

    2011-01-01

    To provide an expository on the peculiar dimension of the corporate governance and responsibility phenomenon in developing market economies, we employ a mix of qualitative methods to provide research evidence-based insights into the nature, practice, complexity and environment of governance and accountability in corporate Nigeria. We aim to contribute to the budding literature on corporate governance in sub-Saharan Africa, while providing recommendations for practitioners and policy makers...

  7. A novel approach to sequence validating protein expression clones with automated decision making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohr Stephanie E

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Whereas the molecular assembly of protein expression clones is readily automated and routinely accomplished in high throughput, sequence verification of these clones is still largely performed manually, an arduous and time consuming process. The ultimate goal of validation is to determine if a given plasmid clone matches its reference sequence sufficiently to be "acceptable" for use in protein expression experiments. Given the accelerating increase in availability of tens of thousands of unverified clones, there is a strong demand for rapid, efficient and accurate software that automates clone validation. Results We have developed an Automated Clone Evaluation (ACE system – the first comprehensive, multi-platform, web-based plasmid sequence verification software package. ACE automates the clone verification process by defining each clone sequence as a list of multidimensional discrepancy objects, each describing a difference between the clone and its expected sequence including the resulting polypeptide consequences. To evaluate clones automatically, this list can be compared against user acceptance criteria that specify the allowable number of discrepancies of each type. This strategy allows users to re-evaluate the same set of clones against different acceptance criteria as needed for use in other experiments. ACE manages the entire sequence validation process including contig management, identifying and annotating discrepancies, determining if discrepancies correspond to polymorphisms and clone finishing. Designed to manage thousands of clones simultaneously, ACE maintains a relational database to store information about clones at various completion stages, project processing parameters and acceptance criteria. In a direct comparison, the automated analysis by ACE took less time and was more accurate than a manual analysis of a 93 gene clone set. Conclusion ACE was designed to facilitate high throughput clone sequence

  8. Corporate personhood: Lay perceptions and ethical consequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jago, Arthur S; Laurin, Kristin

    2017-03-01

    Modern conceptions of corporate personhood have spurred considerable debate about the rights that society should afford business organizations. Across eight experiments, we compare lay perceptions of how corporations and people use rights, and also explore the consequences of these judgments. We find that people believe corporations, compared to humans, are similarly likely to use rights in protective ways that prevent harm but more likely to use rights in nonprotective ways that appear independent from-or even create-harm (Experiments 1a through 1c and Experiment 2). Because of these beliefs, people support corporate rights to a lesser extent than human rights (Experiment 3). However, people are more supportive of specific corporate rights when we framed them as serving protective functions (Experiment 4). Also as a result of these beliefs, people attribute greater ethical responsibility to corporations, but not to humans, that gain access to rights (Experiments 5a and 5b). Despite their equitability in many domains, people believe corporations and humans use rights in different ways, ultimately producing different reactions to their behaviors as well as asymmetric moral evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Dutch Corporate Finance, 1602-1850

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. de Jong (Abe); J. Jonker (Joost); A. Roëll (Ailsa)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractEarly Modern Dutch corporate finance had two notable features, a remarkable ease of raising large amounts of capital and a flexible legal framework. Having pioneered new corporate forms with two intercontinental trading companies, Dutch business adopted such forms on a wider scale only

  10. Hybrid corporate governance: a choice for Poland?

    OpenAIRE

    Samól, Katarzyna A.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the research investigation is to consider the potential opportunities through which corporate governance may be developed to better suit the developing commercial culture within Poland. In order to do this, I formulate the following research questions: ‘What are the weaknesses of the Polish corporate governance system?’, ‘What changes should be made to corporate governance in Poland?’, and ‘Is a hybrid corporate governance model a choice for Poland?’ The concept of hybridisatio...

  11. A robust computational solution for automated quantification of a specific binding ratio based on [123I]FP-CIT SPECT images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliveira, F. P. M.; Tavares, J. M. R. S.; Borges, Faria D.; Campos, Costa D.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the current paper is to present a computational solution to accurately quantify a specific to a non-specific uptake ratio in [ 123 I]fP-CIT single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images and simultaneously measure the spatial dimensions of the basal ganglia, also known as basal nuclei. A statistical analysis based on a reference dataset selected by the user is also automatically performed. The quantification of the specific to non-specific uptake ratio here is based on regions of interest defined after the registration of the image under study with a template image. The computational solution was tested on a dataset of 38 [ 123 I]FP-CIT SPECT images: 28 images were from patients with Parkinson’s disease and the remainder from normal patients, and the results of the automated quantification were compared to the ones obtained by three well-known semi-automated quantification methods. The results revealed a high correlation coefficient between the developed automated method and the three semi-automated methods used for comparison (r ≥0.975). The solution also showed good robustness against different positions of the patient, as an almost perfect agreement between the specific to non-specific uptake ratio was found (ICC=1.000). The mean processing time was around 6 seconds per study using a common notebook PC. The solution developed can be useful for clinicians to evaluate [ 123 I]FP-CIT SPECT images due to its accuracy, robustness and speed. Also, the comparison between case studies and the follow-up of patients can be done more accurately and proficiently since the intra- and inter-observer variability of the semi-automated calculation does not exist in automated solutions. The dimensions of the basal ganglia and their automatic comparison with the values of the population selected as reference are also important for professionals in this area.

  12. Corporate Sustainability Management and Environmental Ethics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schuler, Douglas; Rasche, Andreas; Etzion, Dror

    2017-01-01

    This article reviews four key orientations in environmental ethics that range from an instrumental understanding of sustainability to one that acknowledges the intrinsic value of sustainable behavior (i.e., sustainable resource use, conservation and preservation, rights-based perspectives, and deep...... ecology). It then shows that the current scholarly discourse around corporate sustainability management—as reflected in environment management (EM), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate political activity (CPA)—mostly favors an instrumental perspective on sustainability. Sustainable...... business practices are viewed as anthropocentric and are conceptualized as a means to achieve competitive advantage. Based on these observations, we speculate about what corporate sustainability management might look like if it applied ethical orientations that emphasize the intrinsic value of nature...

  13. Control mechanisms in corporate governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovanović-Zattila Milena

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The structure of corporate governance is determined by the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different actors in the company structure. Organizationally complex structure of corporate entities, established as a reflection of composite forms of business corporations, give rise to the conflict of interest between the owners, the board of directors and managers, which is generally known as the principal-agency problem. Given the fact that operations of modern companies include interaction with a large number of stakeholders, matters of ethics and accountability to the owners, employees, creditors and the state are the basic postulates which have been subject to re-examination lately. The reasons for reassessing these issues are to be sought in numerous abuses by companies, which are on the other hand highly active in their effors to protect themselves from similar abuses (mainy cyber crime. In order to respond to new challenges and requirements, which include providing for the interests of both shareholders and stakeholders, corporate management is required to establish an adequate system of internal control covering all company activities. Contemporary trends in the development of internal audit, as a mechanism of good corporate governance, are reflected in providing advice in respect of anticipated future risks and risk management.

  14. Corporate entrepreneurship - Distilling the concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colene Hind

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Corporate entrepreneurship (CE is credited for many positive organisational outcomes, including systemic growth and increased revenue. Several terms associated with CE, including strategic renewal, corporate venturing and intrapreneurship are frequently used interchangeably and often confuse scholars, researchers and practitioners. The lack of clarity about the exact meaning of these terms is detrimental to the synergy in the current body of knowledge and the development of models involving these concepts. Objective: The aim of this paper was to describe CE as a unique concept, distinguishable from related concepts. Methodology: Several definitions of CE as well as the related terms were dissected, to identify core elements associated with each of them. The validity of these comprehensive definitions was tested by requesting 68 master’s degree students to classify the definitions. Inter-rater reliabilities were calculated in order to assess the level of agreement in the classification of the constructs. Results: The results indicate that CE is difficult to distinguish from strategic renewal and corporate venturing, but that intrapreneurship seems to be better defined and separate from the other constructs. Conclusion: These results emphasise the conceptual confusion that exists around CE and the need for further clarification of terminology. KEY WORDS Corporate entrepreneurship, strategic renewal, corporate venturing, intrapreneurship.

  15. Are Stock and Corporate Bond Markets Integrated?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Zundert, J.; Driessen, Joost

    2017-01-01

    This study explores the cross-sectional integration of stock and corporate bond markets by comparing a firm’s expected stock return, as implied by corporate bond spreads, to its realized stock return. We compute expected corporate bond returns by correcting credit spreads for expected losses due to

  16. 26 CFR 1.11-1 - Tax on corporations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Tax on corporations. 1.11-1 Section 1.11-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY INCOME TAX INCOME TAXES Tax on Corporations § 1.11-1 Tax on corporations. (a) Every corporation, foreign or domestic, is liable to the tax...

  17. An Overview of Corporate Governance Practices of Selected Islamic Banks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zainab Belal

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Complying with Corporate Governance (CG standards is not mandatory but with collapse of many financial institutions, compliance with high standards of CG in banking operation has become a necessity. This is due to the fact that many banks and companies worldwide collapsed as a result of poor corporate governance practices such as Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI 1991, Barings Bank 1995, Lehman Brothers 2008, Enron 2001, WorldCom 2001, etc. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to examine and ascertain whether present level of CG standards practiced by Islamic banks is adequate to prevent or safeguard the banks from collapsing. The approach of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of board and the various board committees utilizing data published in financial statement of the selected banks. The methodology used in this paper is analytical descriptive to reach accurate results and as more appropriate approach with this research. The study finds out that the selected banks comply with CG standards adopted; however such compliance does not mean that the board, the board committees will be constantly reliable. Therefore, instilling the Islamic values such as the concepts of ih}sân, honesty, and accountability is paramount to prevent CG failures and protect/safeguard the banks from collapsing.

  18. The effects of corporate restructuring on hospital policymaking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, J A; Morlock, L L; Gifford, B D

    1988-01-01

    Hospital corporate restructuring is the segmentation of assets or functions of the hospital into separate corporations. While these functions are almost always legally separated from the hospital, their impact on hospital policymaking may be far more direct. This study examines the effects of corporate restructuring by community hospitals on the structure, composition, and activity of hospital governing boards. In general, we expect that the policymaking function of the hospital will change to adapt to the multicorporate structure implemented under corporate restructuring, as well as the overlapping boards and diversified business responsibilities of the new corporate entity. Specifically, we hypothesize that the hospital board under corporate restructuring will conform more to the "corporate" model found in the business/industrial sector and less to the "philanthropic" model common to most community hospitals to date. Analysis of survey data from 1,037 hospitals undergoing corporate restructuring from 1979-1985 and a comparison group of 1,883 noncorporately restructured hospitals suggests general support for this hypothesis. Implications for health care governance and research are discussed. PMID:3384671

  19. The effects of corporate restructuring on hospital policymaking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, J A; Morlock, L L; Gifford, B D

    1988-06-01

    Hospital corporate restructuring is the segmentation of assets or functions of the hospital into separate corporations. While these functions are almost always legally separated from the hospital, their impact on hospital policymaking may be far more direct. This study examines the effects of corporate restructuring by community hospitals on the structure, composition, and activity of hospital governing boards. In general, we expect that the policymaking function of the hospital will change to adapt to the multicorporate structure implemented under corporate restructuring, as well as the overlapping boards and diversified business responsibilities of the new corporate entity. Specifically, we hypothesize that the hospital board under corporate restructuring will conform more to the "corporate" model found in the business/industrial sector and less to the "philanthropic" model common to most community hospitals to date. Analysis of survey data from 1,037 hospitals undergoing corporate restructuring from 1979-1985 and a comparison group of 1,883 noncorporately restructured hospitals suggests general support for this hypothesis. Implications for health care governance and research are discussed.

  20. Corporal Punishment is a Necessary Evil: Parents’ Perceptions On The Use Of Corporal Punishment In School

    OpenAIRE

    Gomba, Clifford

    2015-01-01

    Corporal punishment in Zimbabwe is a “hot potato” that is bringing challenges both on the legal and cultural fronts. My interest in doing this study stems from the Supreme Court ruling that ruled the use of corporal punishment is unconstitutional. After the ruling, it became imperative to understand the views of different people pertaining to the use of corporal punishment, especially in schools because that is where it is prevalent. For this study I sought to discover and understand the pers...