When will a Computer Write the Auditor's Report?

Most corporations are required by law to produce annual reports on their financial positions. These financial reports are accompanied by an auditor's report, which is an independent auditor's opinion on the fairness of the financial statements. To formulate their reports, auditors use a “personal-judgement” approach that heavily depends on their experience and expertise. This approach may be (1) ineffective and may lead to (2) different decisions, (3) personal bias, and (4) misleading judgements. These four drawbacks of a human auditor are a source of doubt and hesitation for every corporation. Therefore, the challenging question is: Can a computer do a better job? This paper focuses on the construction and implementation of a knowledge-based system, called the “Auditor's Report EXpert” (AREX), that is capable of formulating the opinion on financial statements, as expressed in the auditor's report. The knowledge used by AREX is acquired from the literature, and from a slate of practicing and academic auditors by means of questionnaires and in-depth interviews. A preliminary validation of AREX indicates that AREX is successful in performing the auditor's report task. Hence, we tentatively conclude that currently a computer program can support an auditor in his/her task. Moreover, in the foreseeable futur's reports that are effective, universal in their decisions, do not show a personal bias, and do not have misleading statements.     

Essential role for the p110delta phosphoinositide 3-kinase in the allergic response

Inflammatory substances released by mast cells induce and maintain the allergic response. Mast cell differentiation and activation are regulated, respectively, by stem cell factor (SCF; also known as Kit ligand) and by allergen in complex with allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE). Activated SCF receptors and high-affinity receptors for IgE (FcvarepsilonRI) engage phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI(3)Ks) to generate intracellular lipid second messenger signals. Here, we report that genetic or pharmacological inactivation of the p110delta isoform of PI(3)K in mast cells leads to defective SCF-mediated in vitro proliferation, adhesion and migration, and to impaired allergen-IgE-induced degranulation and cytokine release. Inactivation of p110delta protects mice against anaphylactic allergic responses. These results identify p110delta as a new target for therapeutic intervention in allergy and mast-cell-related pathologies.     

Electroretinogram — Flicker fusion frequency in albino trout

Résumé Les Fréquences de Fusion de l'Electrorétinogramme (FFF) ont été enregistrées chez les truites mouchetées (Salvelinus fontinalis) normales et albinos. Chez les poissons adaptés à la lumière ainsi qu'à l'obscurité les valeurs sont plus élevées chez les albinos que chez les animaux normaux. Les valeurs maximum de FFF sont aussi atteintes à des intensités moins élevées chez les albinos. Ces différences sont attribuables à l'entrée d'une plus grande quantité de lumière ainsi qu'à sa réflection par la sclérotique, ce qui est due au manque de pigment épithelial rétinien.     

Surfactant-decorated graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) reinforced aluminum nanocomposites: sintering effects on hardness and wear

The exceptional properties of graphene make it ideal as a reinforcement to enhance the properties of aluminum matrices and this critically depends on uniform dispersion. In this study, the dispersion issue was addressed by sonication and non-covalent surface functionalization of graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) using two types of surfactant: anionic (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfate (SDBS)) and non-ionic polymeric (ethyl cellulose (EC)). After colloidal mixing with Al powder, consolidation was performed at two sintering temperatures (550 and 620℃). The structure, density, mechanical and wear properties of the nanocomposite samples were investigated and compared with a pure Al and a pure GNPs/Al nanocomposite sample. Noticeably, EC-based 0.5wt% GNPs/Al samples showed the highest increment of 31% increase in hardness with reduced wear rate of 98.25% at 620℃, while a 22% increase in hardness with reduced wear rate of 96.98% at 550℃ was observed, as compared to pure Al. Microstructural analysis and the overall results validate the use of EC-based GNPs/Al nanocomposites as they performed better than pure Al and pure GNPs/Al nanocomposite at both sintering temperatures.     

任意半环上正则元的广义逆

研究了任意半环上正则元的广义逆的存在性.给出了任意半环上正则元的{1,2}-逆存在的一些充分条件,同时给出了{1,2}-逆存在时的表达式.作为{1,2}-逆的特殊情形,刻画了任意半环上正则元的Moore-Penrose逆和群逆的存在性.     

Control of vehicle platoons for highway safety and efficient utility: Consensus with communications and vehicle dynamics

Platoon formation of highway vehicles is a critical foundation for autonomous or semiautonomous vehicle control for enhanced safety,improved highway utility,increased fuel economy,and reduced emission toward intelligent transportation systems.Platoon control encounters great challenges from vehicle control,communications,team coordination,and uncertainties.This paper introduces a new method for coordinated control of platoons by using integrated network consensus decisions and vehicle control.To achieve suitable coordination of the team vehicles based on terrain and environmental conditions,the emerging technology of network consensus control is modified to a weighted and constrained consensus-seeking framework.Algorithms are introduced and their convergence properties are established.The methodology employs neighborhood information through on-board sensors and V2 V or V2 I communications,but achieves global coordination of the entire platoon.The ability of the methods in terms of robustness,disturbance rejection,noise attenuation,and cyber-physical interaction is analyzed and demonstrated with simulated case studies.     

悬空轨枕对轨道结构动力响应的影响

首先建立了带有悬空轨枕的铁路轨道数学模型,在此基础上推导了车—轨系统运动方程,其中考虑了轮轨非线性接触力引起的非线性问题,然后利用逐步积分法解方程重点分析了悬空轨枕对轨道各个组成部分动力响应的影响,结果表明如果在悬空部分存在轨道不平顺,会引起很大的轨枕加速度和轮轨接触力     

Effects of different friction stir welding conditions on the microstructure and mechanical properties of copper plates

Friction stir welding is a new and innovative welding method used to fuse materials. In this welding method, the heat generated by friction and plastic flow causes significant changes in the microstructure of the material, which leads to local changes in the mechanical properties of the weld. In this study, the effects of various welding parameters such as the rotational and traverse speeds of the tool on the microstructural and mechanical properties of copper plates were investigated; additionally, Charpy tests were performed on copper plates for the first time. Also, the effect of the number of welding passes on the aforementioned properties has not been investigated in previous studies. The results indicated that better welds with superior properties are produced when less heat is transferred to the workpiece during the welding process. It was also found that although the properties of the stir zone improved with an increasing number of weld passes, the properties of its weakest zone, the heat-affected zone, deteriorated.