Accounting Compensation Modeling Using The Analytic Hierarchy Process Supporting The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) of 2002 included a wide range of reforms for issuers of publicly traded securities, auditors, corporate board members, and lawyers. It was aimed at deterring and punishing corporate and accounting fraud with severe penalties for wrongdoers, and protecting the interests of workers and shareholders. The SOA along with the economic downturn of 2008 and the subsequent passing of the Dodd-Frank Act has focused additional attention to executive compensation especially for CEOs. This paper proposes that the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) may be useful in developing input to compensation contracts in ways that support regulations and the interests of investors and stockholders. AHP is suggested as a framework to explore when considering the factors that can be used to measure the performance of a CEO. Seven reasons for using AHP for this purpose are presented in this report: (1) emphasizes objectivity and consistency, (2) creates an audit trail for compensation agreements, (3) improves understanding between CEOs and compensation committees, (4) supports review and updating CEO compensation contracts, (5) augments CEO selection, (6) supports SOA and Dodd-Frank Act, and (7) may attract investors

An Optimal Cost Estimation Practices of Fuzzy AHP for Building Construction Projects in Libya

This paper analysis and reviews the construction projects in Libya. In Libya, construction projects often face challenges due to the lack of proper information and data in cost-estimation methods. The primary goal of this paper is to demonstrate the estimation of construction costs using various methods. An optimization strategy based on a well-known robust algorithm The Fuzzy AHP technique is used to estimate the best roof structure choice based on cost rank among one or two-way flat slab, post-tension slab, pre-tension slab, waffle slab, and hollow core slab. The roofs were created employing five main factors that were implemented in a real-world situation in the Libyan building industry. The cost of materials, labor, machinery, transportation, and trash on site were all considered. Research findings show that the models can assist decision-makers in determining the cost rank of roof selection. When a range of methods are applied and compared to guarantee that this is the best option. This research study must be taken seriously when estimating and managing the contract and length of highway construction projects in the early stages of project development so that the time difference at the end of the project can be kept to a minimum by decision-makers when choosing the roof with the lowest cost. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-06-08 Full Text: PD

Key Performance Indicators for Sustainable Campus Assessment: A Case of Andalas University

Sustainable campus has became an important issue amongst universities around the world. Universities can generate a significant impacts to environment due to the high usage of energy, extensive transportation, massive waste, high consumption of materials, and extensive development of buildings and facilities. Thus, there is a need to assess the sustainable campus performance. This paper proposes a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for sustainable campus assessment consisting of six categories divided into a total of 35 indicators. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is applied to determine the importance weight of the KPIs. The results indicated the most important category for the sustainable campus assessment is education with an importance weight of 0.2665, while energy and climate change is regarded as the least important category. It is hoped the proposed KPIs can assist the universities to achieve the higher performance in sustainable campus

Assessment of Cleaner Production Level in Agro based Industries – A Fuzzy Logic Approach

AbstractCleaner Production (CP) is a preventive environmental strategy and across the globe there are plenty of success stories of its initiatives which have not successfully transcended to realize the fruits. In this context, there is a need to promote CP initiative to help the industry, society and environment. Hence, present level of CP is to be assessed which facilitates exploring the potential for further CP. This underscores the need for developing a methodology to estimate the CP level. Generalizing the evaluation of assessment of CP is difficult due to heterogeneous nature of operations in industries. The application of fuzzy logic assists in addressing this complexity by offering a methodology that can be adapted to any type of organization by identifying the appropriate variables. This paper presents a model developed to assess the CP status and implementation of this model on 22 cashew processing units. In the assessment of CP level, contributing parameters viz., process efficiency, environmental degradation, and sustainability aspects are considered. Various dimensions of each contributing parameter is identified and measured in the overall estimation of CP level. The result of the study has useful policy implications for catalyzing the CP initiatives

Model Predictive Control Strategies for Advanced Battery Management Systems

Consumer electronics, wearable and personal health devices, power networks, microgrids, and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are some of the many applications where Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are employed. From a manufacturer point of view, the optimal design and management of such electrochemical accumulators are important aspects for ensuring safe and profitable operations. The adoption of mathematical models can support the achievement of the best performance, while saving time and money. In the literature, all the models used to describe the behavior of a Li-ion battery belong to one of the two following families: (i) Equivalent Circuit Models (ECMs), and (ii) Electrochemical Models (EMs). While the former family represents the battery dynamics by means of electrical circuits, the latter resorts to first principles laws of modeling. As a first contribution, this Thesis provides a thorough investigation of the pseudo-two-dimensional (P2D) Li-ion battery EM. In particular, the objectives are to provide: (i) a detailed description of the model formulation, (ii) the Li-ION SIMulation BAttery (LIONSIMBA) toolbox as a finite volume Matlab implementation of the P2D model, for design, simulation, and control of Li-ion cells or battery packs, (iii) a validation of the proposed tool with respect to the COMSOL MultiPhysics commercial software and the Newman's DUALFOIL code, and (iv) some demonstrative simulations involving thermal dynamics, a hybrid charge-discharge cycle emulating the throttle of an HEV, and a battery pack of series connected cells. The second contribution is related to the development of several charging strategies for Advanced Battery Management Systems (ABMSs), where predictive approaches are employed to attain optimal control. Model Predictive Control (MPC) refers to a particular family of control algorithms that, according to a mathematical model, predicts the future behavior of a plant, while considering inputs and outputs constraints. According to this paradigm, in this Thesis different ABMSs strategies have been developed, and their effectiveness shown through simulations. Due to the complexity of the P2D model, its inclusion within an MPC context could prevent the online application of the control algorithm. For this reason, different approximations of the P2D dynamics are proposed and their MPC formulations carefully explained. In particular, finite step response, autoregressive exogenous, piecewise affine, and linear time varying approximations are presented. For all the aforementioned reformulations, the closed-loop performance are evaluated considering the P2D implementation of LIONSIMBA as the real plant. The closed-loop simulations highlight the suitability of the MPC paradigm to be employed for the development of the future ABMSs. In fact, its ability to predict the future behavior of the cell while considering operating constraints can help in preventing possible safety issues and improving the charging performance. Finally, the reliability and efficiency of the proposed Matlab toolbox in simulating the P2D dynamics, support the idea that LIONSIMBA can significantly contribute in the advance of the battery field.Consumer electronics, wearable and personal health devices, power networks, microgrids, and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are some of the many applications where Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are employed. From a manufacturer point of view, the optimal design and management of such electrochemical accumulators are important aspects for ensuring safe and profitable operations. The adoption of mathematical models can support the achievement of the best performance, while saving time and money. In the literature, all the models used to describe the behavior of a Li-ion battery belong to one of the two following families: (i) Equivalent Circuit Models (ECMs), and (ii) Electrochemical Models (EMs). While the former family represents the battery dynamics by means of electrical circuits, the latter resorts to first principles laws of modeling. As a first contribution, this Thesis provides a thorough investigation of the pseudo-two-dimensional (P2D) Li-ion battery EM. In particular, the objectives are to provide: (i) a detailed description of the model formulation, (ii) the Li-ION SIMulation BAttery (LIONSIMBA) toolbox as a finite volume Matlab implementation of the P2D model, for design, simulation, and control of Li-ion cells or battery packs, (iii) a validation of the proposed tool with respect to the COMSOL MultiPhysics commercial software and the Newman's DUALFOIL code, and (iv) some demonstrative simulations involving thermal dynamics, a hybrid charge-discharge cycle emulating the throttle of an HEV, and a battery pack of series connected cells. The second contribution is related to the development of several charging strategies for Advanced Battery Management Systems (ABMSs), where predictive approaches are employed to attain optimal control. Model Predictive Control (MPC) refers to a particular family of control algorithms that, according to a mathematical model, predicts the future behavior of a plant, while considering inputs and outputs constraints. According to this paradigm, in this Thesis different ABMSs strategies have been developed, and their effectiveness shown through simulations. Due to the complexity of the P2D model, its inclusion within an MPC context could prevent the online application of the control algorithm. For this reason, different approximations of the P2D dynamics are proposed and their MPC formulations carefully explained. In particular, finite step response, autoregressive exogenous, piecewise affine, and linear time varying approximations are presented. For all the aforementioned reformulations, the closed-loop performance are evaluated considering the P2D implementation of LIONSIMBA as the real plant. The closed-loop simulations highlight the suitability of the MPC paradigm to be employed for the development of the future ABMSs. In fact, its ability to predict the future behavior of the cell while considering operating constraints can help in preventing possible safety issues and improving the charging performance. Finally, the reliability and efficiency of the proposed Matlab toolbox in simulating the P2D dynamics, support the idea that LIONSIMBA can significantly contribute in the advance of the battery field

MATLAB

This excellent book represents the final part of three-volumes regarding MATLAB-based applications in almost every branch of science. The book consists of 19 excellent, insightful articles and the readers will find the results very useful to their work. In particular, the book consists of three parts, the first one is devoted to mathematical methods in the applied sciences by using MATLAB, the second is devoted to MATLAB applications of general interest and the third one discusses MATLAB for educational purposes. This collection of high quality articles, refers to a large range of professional fields and can be used for science as well as for various educational purposes

Study on post evaluation of high-speed railway based on FAHP and MATLAB simulation calculation

Usmjeren na izgradnju znanstvenog sustava naknadne procjene, ovaj rad definira 4 prva indikatora, 9 drugih indikatora i 32 treća indikatora na temelju analize naknadne procjene projekata željezničkih pruga visokih brzina. S Harbin-Dalian željeznicom visoke brzine kao objektom empirijske analize, autor gradi model kroz neizraziti analitički hijerarhijski proces (FAHP) te provodi simulacijski izračun s Matlabom. Konačno, autor zaključuje da Harbin-Dalian željeznica velike brzine postiže dobre rezultate. Naime, prikladni su putovi odabrani anketom i projektom, tijekom izgradnje osigurana je sigurnost na radu, projekt je stimulirao BDP, porastao je BDP po glavi stanovnika duž željezničke pruge te zadovoljstvo i spremnost na sudjelovanje ljudi u željezničkim projektima viskokih brzina. Ipak, trebaju se usvojiti mjere zaštite od buke i zračenja radi poboljšanja učinkovitosti prijevoza, povećanja prihoda od projekta i smanjenja onečišćenja okoliša uzrokovanog željezničkim prometom visoke brzine.Targeted at constructing a scientific post-evaluation system, this paper establishes 4 first indices, 9 secondary indices, and 32 third indices on the basis of post evaluation analysis of high-speed railway construction projects. With Harbin-Dalian High-speed Railway as the object of empirical analysis, the author builds a model through the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and carries out simulation calculation with Matlab. Finally, the author draws the conclusions that Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Railway gets good results. Specifically, the routes selected by survey and design are appropriate, work safety is ensured during the construction, the project operation has stimulated the GDP, the per capita GNP of residents along the high-speed railway has increased, and people’s satisfaction and willingness to participate in high-speed railway projects have been improved. Nevertheless, acoustic and radiation protection measures should be adopted to improve transport efficiency, increase project revenue, and reduce the environmental pollution caused by high-speed railway operation