388 research outputs found
IRR: A Blind Guide
Over the past 60 years the internal rate of return (IRR) has become a major tool in investment evaluation. Many executives prefer it to net present value (NPV), presumably because they can more easily comprehend a percentage measure. This article demonstrates that, except in the rare case of an investment that is followed by a single cash return, IRR suffers from a definitional quandary. Is it an intrinsic measure, defined only in terms of itself, or is it defined by the efforts of active investors? Additionally, the article explains significant problems with the measure - reinvestment issues, multiple IRRs, timing problems, problems of choice among unequal investment opportunities, and practical difficulties with multiple discount rates. IRR is a blind guide because its definition is in doubt and because of its many practical problems
Blind guide: anytime, anywhere
Sight dominates our mental life, more than any other sense. Even when we are just
thinking about something the world, we end imagining what looks like. This rich visual
experience is part of our lives. People need the vision for two complementary reasons. One
of them is vision give us the knowledge to recognize objects in real time. The other reason
is vision provides us the control one need to move around and interact with objects.
Eyesight helps people to avoid dangers and navigate in our world. Blind people
usually have enhanced accuracy and sensibility of their other natural senses to sense their
surroundings. But sometimes this is not enough because the human senses can be affected
by external sources of noise or disease. Without any foreign aid or device, sightless cannot
navigate in the world. Many assistive tools have been developed to help blind people.
White canes or guide dogs help blind in their navigation. Each device has their limitation.
White canes cannot detect head level obstacles, drop-offs, and obstructions over a meter
away. The training of a guide dog takes a long time, almost five years in some cases. The
sightless also needs training and is not a solution for everybody. Taking care of a guide
dog can be expensive and time consuming.
Humans have developed technology for helping us in every aspect of our lives. The
primary goal of technology is helping people to improve their quality of life. Technology
can assist us with our limitations. Wireless sensor networks is a technology that has been
used to help people with disabilities.
In this dissertation, the author proposes a system based on this technology called
Blind Guide. Blind Guide is an artifact that helps blind people to navigate in indoors or
outdoors scenarios. The prototype is portable assuring that can be used anytime and
anywhere. The system is composed of wireless sensors that can be used in different parts
of the body. The sensors detect an obstacle and inform the user with an audible warning
providing a safety walk to the users.
A great feature about Blind Guide is its modularity. The system can adapt to the
needs of the user and can be used in a combination with other solution. For example, Blind
Guide can be used in conjunction with the white cane. The white cane detects obstacles
below waist level and a Blind Guide wireless sensor in the forehead can detect obstacles at the head level. This feature is important because some sightless people feel uncomfortable
without the white cane.
The system is scalable giving us the opportunity to create a network of
interconnected Blind Guide users. This network can store the exact location and
description of the obstacles found by the users. This information is public for all users of
this system. This feature reduces the time required for obstacle detection and consequent
energy savings, thus increasing the autonomy of the solution.
One of the main requirements for the development of this prototype was to design a
low-cost solution that can be accessible for anyone around the world. All the components
of the solution can provide a low-cost solution, easily obtainable and at a low cost.
Technology makes our life easier and it must be available for anyone.
Modularity, portability, scalability, the possibility to work in conjunction with other
solutions, detecting objects that other solutions cannot, obstacle labeling, a network of
identified obstacles and audible warnings are the main aspects of the Blind Guide system.
All these aspects makes Blind Guide an anytime, anywhere solution for blind people.
Blind Guide was tested with a group of volunteers. The volunteers were sightless and
from different ages. The trials performed to the system show us positive results. The
system successfully detected incoming obstacles and informed in real time to its users. The
volunteers gave us a positive feedback telling that they felt comfortable using the prototype
and they believe that the system can help them with their daily routine
Comparison between audio and tactile systems for delivering simple navigational information to visually impaired pedestrians
Many of the current GPS (Global Positioning Systems) navigation aids use an audio method to deliver navigation information to the user. For the visually impaired person this method can be problematic. The visually impaired pedestrian relies heavily on information contained within the ambient sound environment; for location and orientation information, navigation information, and importantly, safety information. In this paper we present the design of an innovative tactile interface and verification of results obtained through experimental trials. This pilot study compared the efficiency of the tactile interface, to an audio method of delivering simple navigational information. The findings indicate that the tactile interface could be used successfully by blind and sighted pedestrians and may offer advantages over auditory interfaces
Values, Leadership and Ministry: From Blind Guide to Reflective Practitioner
Coming into contact with key principles in Management Science as part of a course of study towards a Doctorate of Ministry led the author to consider the possibilities of an interface between the discipline of reflective practice and spirituality. Engaging with concepts such as Action Science, ‘skilled incompetance’ and communities of practice enabled him to approach challenging situations within a church setting with a fresh outlook and provided tools with which to attempt to resolve them. Models of pastoral supervision, reflective practice and forming teams and communities by covenanting together are also explored
AmIE: An Ambient Intelligent Environment for Assisted Living
In the modern world of technology Internet-of-things (IoT) systems strives to
provide an extensive interconnected and automated solutions for almost every
life aspect. This paper proposes an IoT context-aware system to present an
Ambient Intelligence (AmI) environment; such as an apartment, house, or a
building; to assist blind, visually-impaired, and elderly people. The proposed
system aims at providing an easy-to-utilize voice-controlled system to locate,
navigate and assist users indoors. The main purpose of the system is to provide
indoor positioning, assisted navigation, outside weather information, room
temperature, people availability, phone calls and emergency evacuation when
needed. The system enhances the user's awareness of the surrounding environment
by feeding them with relevant information through a wearable device to assist
them. In addition, the system is voice-controlled in both English and Arabic
languages and the information are displayed as audio messages in both
languages. The system design, implementation, and evaluation consider the
constraints in common types of premises in Kuwait and in challenges, such as
the training needed by the users. This paper presents cost-effective
implementation options by the adoption of a Raspberry Pi microcomputer,
Bluetooth Low Energy devices and an Android smart watch.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
Scemare, or Approaching “Virgillessness”
Any examination of the phenomenon of absence in the Commedia must account for a crucial linguistic issue: though they are amply attested in the Commedia’s sources, the words assenza, assente, and their derivatives are themselves conspicuously absent from the poem’s lexicon. Absence experiences are expressed in the poem partly through imagery and circumlocution, but also through a constellation of individual words which invoke experiences of absence without naming absence as such. One particularly suggestive word operating within this language of omission is the verb scemare. With a focus on Purgatorio 30, in this paper, I discuss the importance of scemare to Dante’s lexicon of exclusion, and the ways in which it shapes our experience and understanding of absence in the Commedia more broadly
Single stage experimental evaluation of variable geometry guide vanes and stators. Part 1 - Analysis and design
Variable geometry concepts applied to guide vanes and stators in single stage compressor
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