Academic literature on the topic 'Reduced audit quality behavior'

Reduced Audit quality Behavior (RAQB) has been linked to poor quality audits. Whereas reduce audit quality behavior has been studied for some time in developed countries, there has been little empirical research effort in least developed countries like Uganda geared towards understanding and operationalizing the factor structure of reduced audit quality acts. This research set out to establish and confirm a reliable and valid factor structure of reduced audit quality behavior. Data were collected from 351 certified public accountants (CPA’s) practicing as external auditors in Uganda. Exploratory factor Analysis produced a five factor model; with confirmatory factor analysis demonstrating good fit statistics. The reliability of the scales as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, construct reliability and average variance extracted was higher than the recommended minimum values confirming that reduced audit quality acts can be proxied by two dimensions namely; quick review and examination. Researchers in Uganda are advised to use these proxies while studying reduced audit quality behavior.

Objective – The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of audit time budget pressure on audit quality reduction behavior conducted by auditors in Indonesia.Design/methodology – 240 respondents for current study where auditors in Indonesia served as the sample. Multivariate technique was deployed to data analysis using AMOS - structural equation modeling. Results – The results of this study indicate that the audit quality reduction behavior occurs in the audit assignment practices and this is becoming a concern in audit profession. Research finding statistically highlighted that there is a positive and significant relationship between time budget pressure and audit quality reduction behavior. Keywords Audit Quality, Time budget pressure, Reduce Audit Quality Behavior

Underlying attributes of reduced audit quality (RAQ) acts are investigated in this research paper. Since RAQ acts may result from ethical judgments, we examine whether they could vary because of differences in moral intensity. Moral intensity was proposed by Jones (1991) in a model that looked at the attributes of the moral issue itself. This study examines whether auditors perceive seven different RAQ acts to differ on three components of Jones' model (social consensus, magnitude of consequences, and probability of effect). Little variation was found on the social consensus dimension showing that auditors think the acts equally wrong. However, significant differences in perceptions about the RAQ acts relating to the probability of effect and the magnitude of consequences were found. The results suggest that RAQ acts differ in terms of their moral intensity, and hence auditors' decisions to undertake RAQ behavior may be issue-contingent. The study provides empirical support for Jones' model by showing, in an audit context, that moral intensity factors vary with the moral issue.

ABSTRACT In this study, we examine how information foraging by auditors affects audit evidence collection in two distinct contexts, and show how a small change to audit methodology mitigates the potentially harmful effects of foraging. Information Foraging Theory explains how, while navigating an information environment, individuals learn to acquire information through personally experiencing the costs incurred and the values obtained from information. Consistent with the theory, we find that auditors react to the immediately felt costs of information collection (e.g., time and effort) at the expense of a more global consideration of information value (i.e., auditors collect lower-quality audit evidence). However, foraging behavior is moderated by removing the personal cost to the individual auditor (identifying audit evidence for another member of the audit team to collect), further demonstrating that these personally felt costs influence auditor choices in a way that reduces the quality of information collected. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating how information foraging can influence evidence quality and, thus, audit quality, and how a slight alteration of audit methodology can mitigate this behavior.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of audit time pressure and locus of control on reduced audit quality. Based on the literature review, it was hypothesized that audit time pressure and locus of control have a significant effect on reduced audit quality. This research was done on auditors of audit firms listing Bapepam-Lembaga Keuangan (LK). Data was collected through questionnaires. The respondents of this research are junior auditors, senior, supervisor, and manager. Data were analyzed using path analysis for testing hypothesis. The results show that audit time pressure and locus of control have a significant effect on reduced audit quality. Spesifically, this study indicate that auditors who experience greater level of time pressure are more likely to commit reduced audit quality. Under conditions of excessive time pressure, auditors failed to adequately use all relevant decision cues. The results also indicate that auditors who are more likely to engage in reduced audit quality tend to possess an external locus of control. This indicate that the personality characteristics (instance, locus of control) play a role increasing audit quality. Since an external locus of control is associated with higher acceptance of audit quality reduction behaviors, audit firms may need to tailor their professional development programs and management practices to reflect an auditor’s locus of control.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of audit time pressure and locus of control on reduced audit quality. Based on the literature review, it was hypothesized that audit time pressure and locus of control have a significant effect on reduced audit quality. This research was done on auditors of audit firms listing Bapepam-Lembaga Keuangan (LK). Data was collected through questionnaires. The respondents of this research are junior auditors, senior, supervisor, and manager. Data were analyzed using path analysis for testing hypothesis. The results show that audit time pressure and locus of control have a significant effect on reduced audit quality. Spesifically, this study indicate that auditors who experience greater level of time pressure are more likely to commit reduced audit quality. Under conditions of excessive time pressure, auditors failed to adequately use all relevant decision cues. The results also indicate that auditors who are more likely to engage in reduced audit quality tend to possess an external locus of control. This indicate that the personality characteristics (instance, locus of control) play a role increasing audit quality. Since an external locus of control is associated with higher acceptance of audit quality reduction behaviors, audit firms may need to tailor their professional development programs and management practices to reflect an auditor’s locus of control.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effect of staff auditors' workplace mindfulness on premature sign-off—a serious audit quality-threatening behavior that can go undetected through the review process. We also examine whether supervisor coaching is an effective means to engender workplace mindfulness. Using a sample of 115 auditors, we predict and find that (1) auditors who are coached by supervisors to appreciate the importance of their work to external financial statement users are more likely to be mindful in their work setting, and (2) greater workplace mindfulness about financial statement user considerations is associated with a reduced likelihood of auditor sign-off on an audit procedure not completed. We also find that supervisor coaching has an indirect effect on premature sign-off through workplace mindfulness. The results underscore the importance of workplace mindfulness in reducing audit quality-threatening behavior and indicate that supervisor coaching may be an effective technique in eliciting mindfulness among staff-level auditors. Data Availability: Contact the authors.

Purpose Recent studies regarding auditor experience generally focus on auditor overall experience in accounting, auditing, finance and related fields (Hardies et al., 2014), auditor sector and domain experience (Bedard and Biggs, 1991; Hammersley, 2006), auditor experience as CPA (Ye et al., 2014; Sonu et al., 2016) or big N experience (Chi and Huang, 2005; Gul et al., 2013; Zimmerman, 2016) or auditors’ international working experience (Chen et al., 2017). But there is little attention paid to where auditors obtained their experience from? And how do auditors with government experience affect audit quality (AQ)? This paper aims to present the effect of auditors with government experience on AQ. Design/methodology/approach The authors used Turkish publicly traded firms in Borsa Istanbul between the year 2008 and 2015 to test the hypothesis. The sample comprises 1,067 observations and eight years. Two main proxies of government experience are used in this paper. The first proxy is auditor’s government experience in the past. The second proxy is the continuous variable which is “the logarithmic value of the number of years of government experience”. Further, auditor overall experience in auditing, accounting, finance and other related fields are also used as a control variable. Audit reporting aggressiveness, audit reporting lag and discretionary accruals are used as proxies of AQ. Besides this, the authors adopted the model to estimate the probability of selecting a government-experienced auditor, and they presented the regression results with the addition of inverse Mills ratio. Findings The main findings are consistent with conjecture. Government-experienced auditors do not enhance AQ. They are aggressive, and they complete audit work slowly and they cannot detect discretionary accruals effectively. Spending more time in a government agency makes them more aggressive and slow, and they do not detect earnings management practices. The Heckman estimation results regarding the variable of interest are also consistent with the main estimation results. In addition, the authors found in predicting government-experienced auditor choice that family firms, domestic firms and firms that reported losses (larger firms, older firms) are more (less) likely to choose government-experienced auditors. Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations. The authors used a small sample to test the impact of government-experienced auditors on AQ because of data access problems. Much data used in this study were collected manually. Earnings quality was calculated using only discretionary accruals. Real activities manipulation was not used as the proxy of AQ in this paper. The findings from emerging markets might not generalize to the developed countries because the Turkish audit market is developing compared to Continental Europe or USA. Practical implications The findings are considered for independent audit firms. Audit firms may employ new graduates and train them to offer more qualified audit work for their clients. The results do not mean that government-experienced auditors should not work in an audit firm, or that they should not establish an audit firm. It is clear that government-experienced auditors provide low AQ in terms of audit reporting aggressiveness, audit report lag and discretionary accruals. But as they operate more in the independent audit sector, they will become successful and provide qualified audit work. One other thing we can say is that it is perhaps better for government-experienced auditors to work in the tax department of independent audit firms. Originality/value This paper tries to fill the gap in the literature regarding the effect of auditor experience on AQ and concentrates on a different type of experience: Auditors with government experience.

Titel: Revisionskvalitet - En studie beträffande hur låg revisionskvalitet vidareutvecklarkonceptet revisionskvalitet. Bakgrund & problematisering: Revisorer befinner sig i förtroendebranschen där skandaler, vars grund ligger i bristande revisionskvalitet, har fått allmänheten att se på revisionsprofessionen med misstänksamhet. För att inte missbruka professionens förtroende såväl som frambringa skandaler finns ett behov av att reducera bristande revisionskvalitet. Då majoriteten av tidigare forskning, gällande konceptet revisionskvalitet, fokuserar på konceptets högre spektrum menar vi att ett nytt angreppssätt för att konceptualisera revisionskvalitet och därmed reducera bristande revisionskvalitet är nödvändigt. Syfte: Uppsatsens huvudsyfte är att utforska vad låg revisionskvalitet innebär utifrån den kontroll- och tillsynsåtgärd som övervakar revisionsprofessionen från insidan, för att på så vis skapa en vidare förståelse för konceptet revisionskvalitet. Uppsatsens delsyfte är att redogöra för utvecklingen av låg revisionskvalitet över tid fram till aktuell tidpunkt, för att på så vis få en mer flerdimensionell förståelse för hur låg revisionskvalitet har vidareutvecklat konceptet revisionskvalitet. Metod: Uppsatsen har tagit utgångspunkt i en abduktiv forskningsansats och har där igenom antagit en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod och longitudinell design. Den kvalitativa undersökningsmetoden har utförts i två steg, varvid förstudien har tagit sin utgångspunkt iintervjuer, medan huvudstudien har tagit sin utgångspunkt i en innehållsanalys av disciplinärenden utförda av Revisorsnämnden med den disciplinära åtgärden upphävande av auktorisation eller godkännande. Slutsats: Revisionskvalitet som koncept kan genom uppsatsens förstudie och huvudstudie definieras utifrån låg revisionskvalitet i from av överkategorierna; Dokumentation, Granskning, Okunskap, Regelverk, Formella brister samt Uppfyller inte steg i revisionen. Således har denna uppsats, genom nya aspekter såväl som nivåer, preciserat befintlig teori och befintliga konceptpå så vis att utvecklingen av låg revisionskvalitet har vidareutvecklat konceptet revisionskvalitet. Nyckelord: Audit, audit failure, audit failure definition, audit service quality, audit quality, audit quality definition, dysfunctional auditor behavior, ethics, etik, going concern warning, high audit quality, legitimacy, legitimacy theory, low audit quality, profession, professionalduty, revision, revisionskvalitet, revisionsmisslyckande, revisor och quality.
Title: Audit Quality - A thesis regarding how low audit quality further develop the concept ofaudit quality. Background & problem: Accountants are in the trust industry and scandals, whose foundationlies in the lack of audit quality, has thus gained the public to see the audit profession with suspicion. In order not to abuse the trust as well as produce scandals there is a need to reduce low audit quality. Since the majority of previous research has been focusing on the concept's higher spectrum, we believe a new approach for conceptualizing audit quality is necessary in aim to reduce low audit quality. Purpose: The main purpose with this thesis is to explore what low audit quality means based on the control and enforcement measure that monitors the audit profession from the inside, to thereby create a wider understanding of the concept of audit quality. The subsidiary aim of this thesis is to describe how the low audit quality has developed over time, compare with the current situation and thereby obtain a multidimensional understanding of how low audit quality has developed into the concept of audit quality. Method: This thesis has an abductive research approach and has therefore adopted a qualitative research method and longitudinal design. The qualitative survey methodology was conducted in two stages, the feasibility study has been based on interviews, while the main study has been based on a content analysis of disciplinary proceedings conducted by the Supervisory Boardwith the disciplinary action waiver of authorization or approval. Conclusion: Audit quality as a concept can through the thesis feasibility study and the mainstudy be defined by low-quality audits in the form of the categories; Documentation, Review, Ignorance, Regulatory framework, Formal shortage and Does not fulfill the stage of the audit. Thus, this thesis, through new aspects as well as new levels, has specified existing theory and existing concepts in a way that the development of low audit quality has further developed the concept of audit quality. Key words: Audit, audit failure, audit failure definition, audit service quality, audit quality,audit quality definition, dysfunctional auditor behavior, ethics, going concern warning, high audit quality, legitimacy, legitimacy theory, low audit quality, profession, professional duty andquality.

Master of Science
Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health
Sara K. Rosenkranz
Evidence from physical activity interventions suggests that women, in particular, may overcompensate for exercise energy expenditure by increasing caloric intake. Sedentary behavior and poor diet quality are independent risk factors for many major chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is unknown whether insufficiently active women alter dietary quality or caloric intake when participating in an intervention to reduce sedentary behavior. Insufficiently active women (n=49) working full-time sedentary jobs were randomized into one of two 8-week sedentary interventions occurring during the work week [short breaks (SB) (1-2 min every half hour, n=24) or long breaks (LB) (15 min twice daily, n=25)]. Dietary information was collected through 3-day food records at baseline, week 4 and week 8. Dietary quality was assessed using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010). CVD risk factors (systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), fasting cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose, and body mass index) were assessed at baseline and week 8. For all participants there were no changes in AHEI-2010 scores over time (baseline: M=53.4, 95% CI [49.2, 57.6], week 4: M=50.3, 95% CI [45.9, 54.7], week 8: M=48.4, 95% CI [44.1, 52.7], p>0.05). Average caloric intake in the SB group (baseline: M=1943.8 kcals/day, 95% CI [1716.2, 2171.5], week 4: M=1728.8 kcals/day, 95% CI [1462.4, 1995.2], week 8: M=1616.8 kcals/day, 95% CI [1450.2, 1783.4]) decreased significantly from baseline to week 4 (p=0.015) and baseline to week 8 (p=0.002). There were no significant changes in caloric intake in the LB group (p>0.05) at either time point. In all participants, absolute changes in LDL were positively correlated with absolute changes in caloric intake (r=0.473, p=0.005). There were no other significant associations between changes in dietary quality or caloric intake with changes in any other CVD risk factor (p>0.05). Following an 8-week sedentary intervention in the workplace, insufficiently active women did not alter their dietary quality, but decreased caloric intake. Future research should explore sedentary interventions compared to physical activity interventions in women as a means to create negative energy balance, as sedentary breaks throughout the day may be effective for improving health outcomes.

Mestrado em Contabilidade, Fiscalidade e Finanças Empresariais
Este estudo tem como objetivo estender a literatura sobre a Qualidade de Auditoria (QA), identificando determinantes da QA relacionadas com as caraterísticas dos auditores e da envolvente em que atuam. Investigámos o efeito da personalidade do auditor através da teoria de personalidade Big Five, da cultura ética das firmas de auditoria e da pressão orçamento de tempo na QA. A QA, por sua vez, foi avaliada pelo ceticismo profissional e pelas práticas reduzidas de qualidade de auditoria. Como estratégia de investigação utilizámos o inquérito, tendo os dados sido recolhidos através de um questionário eletrónico. Para análise dos dados, utilizámos o software PLS-SEM. A nossa amostra é composta por 115 auditores portugueses, pertencentes a firmas nacionais e internacionais. Os resultados indicam que as firmas de auditoria com uma cultura ética forte influenciam positivamente e significativamente a QA. O traço de personalidade Abertura à experiência também apresenta uma relação positiva e significativa na QA, enquanto que o traço de personalidade Conscienciosidade demonstra uma relação negativa com as práticas reduzidas de qualidade de auditoria. Quanto aos outros traços de personalidade - Neuroticismo, Amabilidade e Extroversão - e à pressão orçamento de tempo, não conseguimos concluir a sua influência na QA.
This study aims to extend the literature on Audit Quality (AQ), by identifying determinants of AQ related to the characteristics of the auditors and the environment that they work in. We investigated the effect of auditors' personality, through the Big Five personality theory, the audit firm's ethical culture and the time budget pressure on AQ. AQ, in its turn, was then evaluated by professional skepticism and reduced audit quality practices. As a research strategy, we used a survey and the data was collected via an electronic questionnaire. For data analysis, we used the software PLS-SEM. Our sample consists of 115 Portuguese auditors, from both national and international firms. Our findings indicate that audit firms with a strong ethical culture influence positively and significantly the AQ. The personality trait Openness to experience also has a positive and significant relation to AQ, whereas the personality trait Conscientiousness demonstrates a negative relation to reduced audit quality practices. As for the other personality traits - Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Extraversion - and the time budget pressure, we could not draw any conclusions on their influence on AQ.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, many Swedish auditors have been forced to work fulltime from home. If auditors are negatively impacted working from home, it could result in auditors engaging in reduced audit quality (RAQ) behavior and negatively impact overall audit quality. Working from home to this extent is a new phenomenon, and thus, there is a need to further research the effects on auditors.  In this thesis, the factors influencing RAQ behavior are theorized based on the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model. This thesis examines how auditors with high home demands perceive time pressure, workload, and work-life balance to be affected when working from home and how it affects their propensity to engage in RAQ behavior. Furthermore, this thesis aims to examine if there are gender differences in auditors’ perceptions regarding these factors. In this thesis, high home demands mean having at least one child under the age of twelve. Data was collected using a qualitative method and conducting 14 interviews on how the auditors perceive the factors influencing RAQ behavior have been affected while working from home. The result of the thesis indicates that the propensity of auditors engaging in RAQ behavior is decreased when auditors with high home demands are working from home. Also, the results indicate that both male and female auditors with high home demands enjoy working from home and that there has been a decreased propensity to engage in RAQ behavior. This thesis highlights how the propensity of auditors with high home demands engaging in RAQ can be reduced, contributing to overall higher audit quality.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
會計學系
106
The agency problem between management and investor makes high audit quality more important. There are several factors influencing audit quality including auditors’ auditing knowledge, experience and independence. This study adopts discretionary accruals to proxy audit quality and investigates whether the effect of switching audit firms on audit quality is different or not when audit fee is reduced. Empirical results indicate that the audit quality is impaired no matter whether audit fee is reduced or not after company switches to big audit firm from another big audit firm. Thus the effect of switching to big audit firm from another big audit firm on audit quality is the same no matter whether the audit fee is reduced or not. In addition, the audit quality is not impaired when switching to non-big audit firm from big audit firm even audit fee is reduced. However, the audit quality is lower when switching to non-big audit firm from big audit firm accompanied by the same audit fee. Furthermore, there is still no evidence that the effect of switching to non-big audit firm from big audit firm on audit quality is different no matter whether the audit fee is reduced or not.

碩士
逢甲大學
會計所
100
By observing the corporate governance relevant factors to infer company for buying back treasury stock acts impacts on audit quality which provides investors develop the reference of the relevant decision-making behavior of the poor management of listed companies. Due to asymmetric information from the previous literature found that the company buying back treasury stock seem like the Good News to investors. Often it is excess and surplus profit which they thought it will be classified as investment reference. It is obviously the market value has been over underestimated by studying audit submissions of the certified public accountants.Referred to the accounting staff face the pressure to survive in the competition industry that it may sacrifice the independence of the lower audit quality. If the company has doubts about keep operating ,had gotten no the issue of reservations or modified an unqualified opinion on audit submissions which infer the managers based on the defensive or self-serving motives to buy back treasury shares .If the company''s ownership structure and internal governance have problems, the management authorities increase their self-interest and the audit quality may have a negative effect on it . Therefore, this study attempts to continue to operate significant doubts about the audit opinions of the possibility of the audit report as audit quality proxy variables after controlling for other factors affecting the audit opinions issued to accountants. To detect corporate governance-related factors, including the number of independent directors, directors and supervisors pledge ratio, manager and director ownership and ownership of legal entities and other experimental variables, Treasury shares, on the possible impact of audit quality analyzes and verifies that the company buy back treasury shares of motivation. Empirical results the defense motivation to buy back treasury shares will not harm audit quality. When poor governance mechanisms of the Company, the directors and supervisors pledged the higher rate of damage audit quality, the manager and director ownership holding higher rates of corporate bodies in the underestimate of the market value of the repurchase of treasury shares are detrimental to audit quality. But circumstances of the market value are overestimated, Treasury shares damage audit quality. we can infer that it is ineffective when the company is still due to the purpose of self-serving motives, and adopted the policy of treasury stock, the establishment of the independent directors, just like with the decree in the country, because of its oversight, so regardless of whether the repurchase of treasury shares of audit quality are not affected. This study found that the competent authorities and relevant stakeholders reference.

碩士
中國文化大學
全球商務碩士學位學程碩士班
104
This study aims to explore whether external and internal mechanisms affect firm performance by examining the impact of audit quality and board independence on firm performance as well as the impact of audit quality on the relationship between board independence and firm performance. The results show that audit quality is positively associated with firm performance and also has a positive impact on the relationship between board independence and firm performance. Specifically, we find that board independence is positively associated with firm performance only for firms audited by Big Four. Such a result implies that stronger outside monitoring can facilitate the behavior of independent directors in implementing their task. We thus suggest that companies can improve their performance by employing reputed auditors. Key words: Audit quality, Independent Director, Monitoring Behavior, Firm Performance, Corporate Governance.

碩士
大葉大學
會計資訊學系碩士班
99
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between internal auditor’s computer auditing literacy and internal audit quality. Individual innovative behavior are then introduced to examine the moderator effect on computer auditing literacy and internal audit quality. This research is main to adopt the questionnaire method the collection the data, issuing the questionnaire to The Institute of Internal Auditors, ROC, the recycling the effective sample number is 350. Results indicated that internal auditor’s computer auditing literacy positively correlates to internal audit quality. The higher the computer auditing literacy, the better the internal audit competency, objectivity, and work performance. Individual innovative behavior does not demonstrate a moderating effect on computer auditing literacy and internal audit quality. Further research and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

碩士
國立臺北大學
會計學系
106
By using listed companies in 2007 to 2016 and setting independent directors as sample, this paper aimed to discuss the association between audit committee setting and company tax avoidance behavior, further discussing the association between voluntarily setting audit committee and company tax avoidance behavior. After companies set the audit committee, how the audit committee operates in order to effectively perform its function is still a critical issue. This paper also discusses the association between audit committee operation qualities and company tax avoidance behavior, using audit committee size, audit committee leader equipped with financial or accounting expertise, the number of audit committee members equipped with financial or accounting expertise, the number of audit committee meeting, average attendance rate and the number of directorships held by audit committee members to measure audit committee operation qualities. To avoid this comprehensive indicator influence the meaning of individual indicators, this paper also includes this six indicators in the regression. The result shows that when tax avoidance indicators are book-tax difference and permanent book-tax difference, companies which set audit committee, voluntarily set audit committee or have better audit committee operation qualities will behave lower tax avoidance. When tax avoidance indicator is cash effective rate, there is no significant relation between tax avoidance and companies which set audit committee, voluntarily set audit committee or have better audit committee operation qualities. Besides, audit committee leader equipped with financial or accounting expertise can reduce the book-tax difference of the companies. The higher the number of audit committee members equipped with financial or accounting expertise is, the lower the permanent book-tax difference of the companies is. The companies which audit committee meeting is held much frequently will behave lower tax avoidance

Key points• Pharmacokinetics in older people is different to that in younger people:o renal clearance is lower (water-soluble drugs)o hepatic clearance is lower (lipid-soluble drugs)o half-life is further prolonged for lipid-soluble drugs because of the increased volume of distribution of such drugso in frail older patients, half-life is further prolonged▪ by reduced hepatic enzyme activity (lipid-soluble drugs)▪ by reduced protein binding and hence increasing the volume of distribution (very heavily protein-bound drug).• Polypharmacy is common and reflects multiple pathology.• Inappropriate medication should always be avoided.• Methods of enhancing the quality of prescribing includeo regular medication reviewo prescribing audit using proven indicators of appropriatenesso education of prescribers.

AbstractDuring the design procedure, we have to check repeatedly whether or not the system under design is likely to perform its function and to satisfy all relevant design objectives. This is the purpose of validations and evaluations which must be performed during the design process. This chapter starts with a presentation of techniques for the evaluation of (partial) designs with respect to objectives. In particular, we consider (worst case) execution time, quality of results, thermal behavior, and dependability as objectives. We provide an introduction into fundamental techniques for computing the worst case execution time. Examples of energy models will be presented in order to demonstrate the need for an adjustment of the level of model details to the particular application at hand. Thermal modeling is reduced to the problem of equivalent electrical modeling. With respect to dependability, an introduction to statistical models of reliability as well as an introduction to fault trees are included. As a means for relating results for the different objectives against each other, we introduce the concept of Pareto optimality. This chapter closes with hints regarding validation techniques, including simulation, rapid prototyping, and formal verification.

Governments are striving to deliver more efficient and effective public services in order to achieve better public service quality, with reduced waiting times, improved cost effectiveness, higher productivity and more transparency. It's an issue of doing things in new ways that requires fundamental change in the provision of public services in the future and a complete new approach for Governments to work and interact with their citizens. Currently, Societies witness more than ever that Web 2.0 and social media in particular, constitute the emerging, if not already established, mass collaboration and cooperation platform between citizens and administrations, as the latter have started to realise the benefits of such applications. The COCKPIT project builds on these developments and based on a highly synergetic approach aims to define a new Governance model for the next generation public service delivery, by combining various research areas.

An EHR is a modern specialisation of a Customer Relationship Management that specifically focuses on the collection and exchange of electronic health information about individual patients between healthcare organisations. Electronic Heath Records systems hold personally identifiable information, especially that which falls under the category of sensitive personal data. As with all industries, the eHealth industry sees potential in cloud-based service offerings and the reduced infrastructure cost they imply, whilst realising the issues regarding security and privacy that may be encountered from outsourcing processing and storage to untrustworthy Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). In this chapter, the authors propose an approach to handle and audit data privacy requirements by leveraging a carefully designed architecture deployed for auditing data privacy in cloud ecosystems.

Self-disclosure (SD) refers to revealing personal information about the self to others (Cozby, 1973). SD occurs in cyberspace via synchronous Internet arenas such as instant messaging and asynchronous communication such as email. It has mainly been considered to be a reciprocal tit-for-tat type exchange of personal facts, thoughts, and emotions (Altman & Taylor, 1973) to develop and maintain relationships. Most research has focused on differences between online and offline SD, often demonstrating an accelerated disclosure of personal and intimate information online than offline (e.g., Wallace, 1999) due to a sense of anonymity (Baker, 2005) and reduced fear of social rejection (Pennebaker, 1989) in cyberspace. Recent research considers the many available Internet arenas that possibly promote differences in quality and quantity of online disclosures (Attrill & Jalil, 2011), and the need to consider voluntary and involuntary SD online along with associated privacy and security risks within a theoretical framework.

Recently, numerous financial scandals (WorldCom, Enron, Parmalat, eToys) have shown that plentiful companies produce manipulated financial information. Consequently, regulators have prescribed corporate governance structures to protect investors and to avoid fraudulent financial reporting which are likely to control managers and limit their opportunistic behavior. Thus, there has been much debate over the extent to which corporate governance is playing a crucial role in increasing financial reporting quality from the theoretical perspective of agency theory, signaling theory, and stakeholder theory. This chapter aims at scrutinizing the internal and external mechanisms of corporate governance mainly the audit committee in the Dutch context. Firstly, the authors expose the numerous corporate governance mechanisms. Secondly, they focus on the audit committee as the main component of corporate governance, and they present the theoretical background, the role, and the characteristics of audit committee. Eventually, they exhibit the regulatory background of the Dutch context of the audit committee.

Since the late 1990s, human resources information systems (HRIS) that exploit inexpensive browser technology have been implemented by companies and public sector organizations alike due to the perceived benefits of such self-service systems, which include: added convenience for employees, simplified approval processes, reduced administration costs, and more time for strategic human resources management (HRM) activities (e.g., Zampetti and Adamson, 2001). Yet despite their growing pervasiveness, it is common that the e-HRM is underused by employees in many organizations (Gevity, 2005). The purpose of this article is to offer insights that will help system developers and human resources managers to design and introduce user-accepted e-HRM systems. The remainder of this article is organized as follows: Following a review of information technology usage behavior, an augmented technology acceptance model suitable for studying e-HRM use is proposed. An empirical study of e-HRM user behavior is then presented and the findings discussed. The article concludes with future trends, implications for academics and practitioners, and study limitations.

In this chapter we discuss ways of assisting experts to develop complex knowledge bases for a variety of natural language processing tasks. The proposed techniques are embedded into an existing knowledge acquisition framework, KAFTIE, specifically designed for building knowledge bases for natural language processing. Our intelligent agent, the rule suggestion module within KAFTIE, assists the expert by suggesting new rules in order to address incorrect behavior of the current knowledge base. The suggested rules are based on previously entered rules which were “hand-crafted” by the expert. Initial experiments with the new rule suggestion module are very encouraging as they resulted in a more compact knowledge base of comparable quality to a fully hand-crafted knowledge base. At the same time the development time for the more compact knowledge base was considerably reduced.

Laser based cutting processes comprise a significant part of industrial manufacturing. To ensure a high level of cutting quality the process parameters have to be kept at the right values and within defined tolerances. In this context, the position of the laser beam focus is one of the most important parameters. However, due to thermal heating of optical elements the focal position shows a transient behavior. The handling of this focus shift is aggravated by the fact that the focal position is not directly detectable during processing. In this chapter an introduction in the topic of laser cutting is given. Subsequently, a closed mathematical formulation of laser fusion cutting is presented before a reduced model is developed that allows the determination of a focus shift by an experimentally accessible surrogate criterion. The theoretical predictions are finally validated by experimental results.

This chapter discusses the genealogy of construction materials testing at acoustic laboratories founded in the late 1920s and 1930s, through the example of Norges Tekniske Høgskole (NTH) in Trondheim, Norway. Whereas architectural acoustics entailed mainly fieldwork, in the form of on-site research and consulting, the standardized testing of materials required idealized laboratory conditions where acoustic behavior could be isolated and reduced to the parameters of absorption, transmission, and reflection. With the rise of the acoustic laboratory, “objective” measurement systems replaced musical listening as a crucial skill for acousticians. Electroacoustic media technologies quickly spread on a global scale, yet acoustic laboratories still catered to the needs of local markets. One of these requirements was resource optimization, and the objective of standardized testing generally was less to improve the quality of construction than to optimize its cost. Traditional materials and buildings often exhibited better acoustic properties than the new constructions based on scientific principles.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.

In this experimental work, the effects of line energy at constant scan speed on quality of bead-on-plate laser welding of NiTinol sheets were investigated. Variations of bead geometry, changes in microstructure, variation of micro-hardness value along the weld-bead, generation of new phase during welding, changes in tensile strength of the welded samples, corrosion behavior of welded and parent material, and changes in phase transformation temperatures were measured for characterization of welded samples. Laser weld-bead profile was changed from a wine glass without base to glass shape with the increasing line energy. Quality aspects of weld-bead geometry quality aspects showed an increasing trend with line energy. Microstructure was changed during welding due to competitive grain growth. Microhardness values gradually increased from weld centre line to base metal. Tensile strength of the material was reduced after welding due to the formation of brittle intermetallics compounds. A dual failure mode for the welded sample was observed; whereas a single mode of failure was detected for parent material. The corrosion properties of the welded samples were found to be better than that of parent material. Phase transformation temperatures were also found to be reduced after welding.

A numerical procedure was employed to investigate the dynamic performance of a wave rider buoy. The linear matrix form has been derived to describe the equations of the motion. The hydrostatic and hydrodynamic coefficients of the wave rider buoy have been computed. Three cases of the buoy center of gravity were considered. The numerical results showed that, the stability of the buoy was increased by lowering the buoy center of gravity, but the quality of the dynamic response should be reduced, which is a disadvantage regarding the mission of the buoy.

Abstract Advanced Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) is an approach through which an organization’s assets are systematically and proactively managed throughout their lifecycle — from installation through disposition. The objective of EAM is to prolong the service life and maximize utilization of the assets via adoption of leading-edge standards, practices, and technology. Organizations that implement advanced EAM benefit from reduced operating expenses (OPEX), reduced capital replacement expenses (CAPEX), increased uptime, and overall higher quality asset capability within their portfolio. Successful EAM leverages ISO55000 & IAM 2.0 standards to implement predictive, proactive and reliability centered maintenance best practices. Implementing an EAM provides leading edge technology to the rail industry to track and audit maintenance work using mobility tools, heads-up virtual reality displays, augmented reality expertise and the Internet of Things (IoT); combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to bolster predictive maintenance and simulate asset performance based on different scenarios. EAM will evolve rapidly following the world’s rapid transformation into the IoT over the next decade. As rail and transit assets become outfitted with interconnected intelligent sensors whose outputs are collected via active and passive devices, real-time data is available for EAM to track, plan and upgrade assets. As systems are modernized, EAM will leverage the IoT revolution to provide critical information to operations in planning railway management scenarios, including predictive maintenance functionality and edge analytics.

The effect of a single overload on SCC growth behavior was addressed in this study by SCC testing using a CDCB specimen and an ACPD technique under simulated BWR water. The ratio of the stress intensity factors KOL/KSCC test, i.e. that of the single overload, KOL, divided by that of the SCC testing, KSCC_test, is defined as a single overload level in this study. With this in mind, changes in ACPDs, i.e. those regarded as the SCC growth behaviors, were measured after single overload levels of 1.05, 1.10, 1.20 and 1.50 respectively were applied. Retardations of SCC growth behavior were observed at the single overload levels of 1.10, 1.20, and 1.50, since the ACPDRs were reduced following the application of single overload levels without significant variations in water quality factors, such as electric conductivity and the DO concentration in the simulated BWR water. Therefore, it emerged that applying single overload levels of 1.10, 1.20, and 1.50 reduced the SCC growth rate, since the ACPDR proportional to the SCC growth rate was reduced following the single overload application. The ACPDR after the single overloads were reduced by about 14, 59 and 66% at single overload levels of 1.10, 1.20 and 1.50, respectively.

A major challenge in maintaining quality and reliability in today’s microelectronics devices comes from the ever increasing level of integration in the device fabrication as well as the high level of current densities that are carried through the microchip during operation. Cyclic thermal events during operation, stemming from Joule heating of the metal lines, can lead to fatigue failure due to the varying thermal expansion coefficients of the different materials that compose the microchip package. To aid in the avoidance of such device failures, it is imperative to develop a predictive capability for the thermal response of micro-electronic circuits. This work studied the problem of transient Joule heating in interconnects in a two-dimensional (2D) inhomogeneous system using a reduced order modeling approach of the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method and Galerkin Projection Technique. This study considers an interconnect structure embedded in the bulk of a microelectronic device. The effect of different types of current pulses, pulse duration, and pulse amplitude were investigated. By using a representative step function as the heat source, the model predicted the exact transient thermal behavior of the system for all other cases without generating any new observations, using just a few POD modes. To validate this unique capability, the result of the POD model was compared with a finite element (FE) model developed in LS-DYNA®. The behaviors of the POD models were in good agreements with the corresponding FE models. This close correlation provides the capability of predicting other cases based on a smaller sample set which can significantly decrease the computational cost.

Japan imports coal from Indonesia, the main coal supplier in the Asia-Pacific region. Effective and efficient movement of coal down the Markham River in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and onto bulk carriers is challenging because the river is shallow and generally cannot accommodate bulk carriers. The primary transportation system comprises small barges that are shuttled back and forth between the inland barge ports along the river and bulk carriers offshore. This system is very time-consuming. This paper proposes a large-scale floating coal transshipment station (LFTS) for loading, storing, and offloading coal. It will act as a relay base for barges and bulk carriers. Installing an LFTS offshore from East Kalimantan is expected to improve coal transport productivity. The proposed LFTS can store 5 times the capacity of one bulk carrier and can accommodate 2 bulk carriers at the same time during offloading. The LFTS is compartmentalized by bulkheads to segregate coal according to quality. This paper discusses LFTS static stability and its elastic deformation characteristics during coal loading operations. In this study, linear potential theory and the finite element method (FEM) were used to analyze the LFTS static hydroelastic motion. Due to the compartments, coal loading conditions can vary significantly and affect the local static deflection, so we modeled the overall deformation and rigidity under various operational scenarios. The results were compared to the allowable material stress to identify conditions that will produce material failure. Moreover, we evaluated operation in the shallow Kalimantan River, since the weight of loaded coal deepens the LFTS draft, reducing the clearance between the LFTS and sea bed. We found that this reduced clearance and large added mass impact the natural frequency of the LFTS.

Component deterioration is observed in fleet gas turbine units during overhaul and maintenance activities of utilities providing electric power, co-generation or mechanical drive operations. Affected components include those provided by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and newly-manufactured and repaired hardware from OEM or aftermarket suppliers. This study details: i) the gas turbine flow path component deterioration and distress typically observed from operation, ii) some of the typical reasons (expected and abnormal) for the component damages, iii) the resulting effects and detriment to the utilities, and iv) a means for reducing the potential for component damages and operational risk to the utilities. Abnormal gas path component deterioration is one of the leading causes for forced opening of IGT units. Unscheduled opening of production gas turbine units during normal and critical operating time periods can result in significant costs to the utilities and insurance providers due to unplanned overhaul and maintenance costs, replacement components costs, and lost production revenue during the outage. Often the majority of the premature component deterioration within a set can be attributed to the quality of manufacturing or repair processing and inadequate inspections of the components. Escapes in quality assurance can occur resulting in components being supplied to utilities that do not meet design intent, such as debris contamination, coatings issues, and mis-machined features. Additionally, component suppliers are often pressured to meet production deadlines and provide delivery of the components to the utilities to avoid contractual penalties. This scenario can result in the potential for reduced focus on the quality of the components and quality-control escapes of design-deviated components delivered to the utilities for unit operation. Any uncontrolled deviations, damage, and discrepancies that result from hardware manufacturing and repair processes can have a significant impact on the long term durability of turbomachinery components. These component “damages” and manufacturing defects can be reduced or eliminated through proper functional quality inspections and component assessment, prior to unit installation. Additional issues concerning, improper tooling and methods employed during component removal and re-installation during maintenance activity can also result in damage to components and premature deterioration. This study focuses on how utilities can perform or audit the functional checks on components prior to unit installation in an effort to reduce component degradation, operational risk and potential of forced outage of units resulting in additional maintenance costs and lost revenue.

Accurate modeling of physical devices is one of the keys to improving the realism of haptic simulations. This paper presents general, locally linear haptic force models to describe the feel of complex mechanical systems that exhibit nonlinear static and dynamic behavior. The parameters of these models are estimated from experimental data using moving ridge regression. Nonlinear variations of the locally linear model are presented and analyzed, and the goodness-of-fit of these models is compared. Initial results suggest that higher-order terms do little to improve the quality of this class of haptic models, and that reduced-order models should be further investigated.

This paper present experimental study conducted on rheology of hydroxyethyl cellulose (polymer) based foams. The effects of foam quality, wall-slip, and polymer concentration on foam rheology have been experimentally investigated using a circulating flow loop. Foam quality and flow rate were varied from 50 to 80 percent and 1 to 52 L/min, respectively. To identify the existence of wall-slip, tests were performed using different diameter (13.4, 19.6 and 31.8 mm ID) pipe viscometers. Experimental results show expected trends; pressure loss increased with increasing flow rate and reduced with increasing pipe diameter. Slight wall-slip was observed in the small diameter viscometer. However, the measurements obtained from other viscometers do not indicate wall-slip. All tested foams exhibited strong non-Newtonian behavior, which increases with foam quality and polymer concentration. The rheology of foams best fits the power-law fluid model. Applying regression analysis, new correlations have been developed to predict rheology of polymer-based foams.

This report summarizes the results from the twelfth year of a national public opinion survey asking U.S. adults questions related to their views on federal transportation taxes. A nationally-representative sample of 2,516 respondents completed the online survey from February 5 to 23, 2021. The questions test public opinions about raising the federal gas tax rate, replacing the federal gas tax with a new mileage fee, and imposing a mileage fee just on commercial travel. In addition to asking directly about support for these tax options, the survey collected data on respondents’ views on the quality of their local transportation system, their priorities for federal transportation spending, their knowledge about gas taxes, their views on privacy and equity matters related to mileage fees, travel behavior, and standard sociodemographic variables. This large set of variables is used to identify personal characteristics and opinions correlated with support for the tax options. Key findings include that large majorities supported transportation improvements across modes and wanted to see the federal government work towards making the transportation system well maintained, safe, and equitable, as well as to reduce the system’s impact on climate change. Findings related to gas taxes include that only 2% of respondents knew that the federal gas tax rate had not been raised in more than 20 years, and 71% of respondents supported increasing the federal gas tax by 10 cents per gallon if the revenue would be dedicated to maintenance. With respect to mileage fees, roughly half of respondents supported some form of mileage fee, whether that was assessed on all travel or just on commercial travel, 62% believe that low-income drivers should pay a reduced mileage fee rate, and 52% think that electric vehicles should pay a lower rate than gas and diesel vehicles. The analysis of trends across the survey series, which has run from 2010 to 2011, shows that support for both higher gas taxes and a hypothetical new mileage fee has risen slowly but steadily, and Americans’ experience with COVID over the past year has not disrupted those trends. Finally, support for the tax and fee options varies mostly by most personal characteristics, but there are frequently large differences correlated with age, community type, and political affiliation.