Do Different Data Analytics Impact Auditors\u27 Decisions?

Global stakeholders have expressed interest in increasing the use of data analytics throughout the audit process. While data analytics offer great promise in identifying auditrelevant information, auditors may not use this information to its full potential, resulting in a missed opportunity for possible improvements to audit quality. This article summarizes a study by Koreff (2022) that examines whether conclusions from different types of data analytical models (anomaly vs. predictive) and data analyzed (financial vs. non-financial), result in different auditor decisions. Findings suggest that when predictive models are used and identify a risk of misstatement, auditors increase budgeted audit hours more when financial data is analyzed than when non-financial data is analyzed. However, when anomaly models are used and identify a risk of misstatement, auditors’ budgeted hours do not differ based on the type of data analyzed. These findings provide evidence that different data analytics do not uniformly impact auditors’ decisions

Urban heat island research in phoenix, Arizona

Over the past 60 years, metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, has been among the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States, and this rapid urbanization has resulted in an urban heat island (UHI) of substantial size and intensity. During this time, an uncommon amount of UHI-specific research, relative to other cities in North America, occurred within its boundaries. This review investigates the possible reasons and motivations underpinning the large body of work, as well as summarizing specific themes, approaches, and theoretical contributions arising from such study. It is argued that several factors intrinsic to Phoenix were responsible for the prodigious output: strong applied urban climate research partnerships between several agencies (such as the academy, the National Weather Service, private energy firms, and municipal governments); a high-quality, long-standing network of urban meteorological stations allowing for relatively fine spatial resolution of near-surface temperature data; and a high level of public and media interest in the UHI. Three major research themes can be discerned: 1) theoretical contributions from documenting, modeling, and analyzing the physical characteristics of the UHI; 2) interdisciplinary investigation into its biophysical and social consequences; and 3) assessment and evaluation of several UHI mitigation techniques. Also examined herein is the successful implementation of sustainable urban climate policies within the metropolitan area. The authors note the importance of understanding and applying local research results during the policy formation process.</jats:p

Ballistic-electron-emission spectroscopy of Al<SUB>x</SUB>Ga<SUB>1-x</SUB>As/GaAs heterostructures: conduction-band offsets, transport mechanisms, and band-structure effects

We report an extensive investigation of semiconductor band-structure effects in single-barrier AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs heterostructures using ballistic-electron-emission spectroscopy (BEES). The transport mechanisms in these single-barrier structures were studied systematically as a function of temperature and Al composition over the full compositional range (0&#8804;x&#8804;1). The initial (&#915;) BEES thresholds for AlxGa1-xAs single barriers with 0&#8804;x&#8804;0.42 were extracted using a model which includes the complete transmission probability of the metal-semiconductor interface and the semiconductor heterostructure. Band offsets measured by BEES are in good agreement with previous measurements by other techniques which demonstrates the accuracy of this technique. BEES measurements at 77 K give the same band-offset values as at room temperature. When a reverse bias is applied to the heterostructures, the BEES thresholds shift to lower voltages in good agreement with the expected bias-induced band-bending. In the indirect band-gap regime (x&gt;0.45), spectra show a weak ballistic-electron-emission microscopy current contribution due to intervalley scattering through AlxGa1-xAs X valley states. Low-temperature spectra show a marked reduction in this intervalley current component, indicating that intervalley phonon scattering at the GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs interface produces a significant fraction of this X valley current. A comparison of the BEES thresholds with the expected composition dependence of the AlxGa1-xAs &#915;, L, and X points yields good agreement over the entire composition range

The observation and simulation of diurnal surface thermal contrast in an Alaskan alpine pass

A simple surface climate simulator was employed in the analysis of thermal regimes in rough alpine terrain at Chitistone Pass, Alaska. The simulator favorably abstracts observations of thermal regimes on flat and sloping surfaces with variable thermal and radiative properties. It is shown that slope and exposure control variations in surface thermal regimes. The simulator predicts these controls and it is suggested that simulation of surface thermal regimes can be performed before and after field investigations, thus increasing the effective information content of thermal maps acquired using aircraft and orbital platforms. It is concluded that the removal by spatial filtering of the low frequency effects of slope and exposure on thermal maps is necessary before site material effects can be discriminated and analyzed. Ein einfaches Rechenmodell des Bodenklimas wurde auf die Analyse des Temperaturregimes im unebenen Terrain des Chitistone-Passes in Alaska angewandt. Das Modell bildet die beobachteten Temperaturregime ebener und geneigter Bodenflächen mit veränderlichen Wärmeleit- und Strahlungscharakteristiken zufriedenstellend ab. Es wird gezeigt, daß Hangneigung und Hanglage im wesentlichen das Bodentemperaturregime bedingen. Das Modell sagt diese Bedingungsfaktoren richtig voraus. Es wird daher vorgeschlagen, daß Modellrechnungen vor und nach Feldmessungen angestellt werden sollten, um den effektiven Informationsgehalt der Temperaturverteilungskarten zu erhöhen, die von Flugzeugen oder Satelliten vermessen wurden. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, daß die Unterdrückung niederfrequenter Effekte von Hangneigung und Hanglage auf die kartographisch festgehaltene Temperaturverteilung notwendig ist, bevor Bodenbeschaffenheitseffekte diskriminiert und analysiert werden können. Diese Unterdrückung kann durch räumliche Filterung geschehen.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41669/1/704_2005_Article_BF02243725.pd

Effects of Human Choices on Characteristics of Urban Ecosystems

Most urban ecology in cities remains an ecology in cities rather than an ecology of cities. Accomplishing the latter requires the inclusion of humans within the concept of ecosystem, both how humans alter the properties of urban ecosystems and how these alterations in turn influence human well-being. These influences are both direct (e.g., physiological and psychological influences on the human organism) and indirect, by influencing ecosystem sustainability. For the 2007 ESA meeting, Larry Baker, Loren Byrne, Jason Walker, and Alex Felson organized a symposium to address the relationships among human choices and urban ecosystems. In the introductory talk of this symposium, these authors discussed how the cumulative effect of individual household choices can have major effects on the properties of urban ecosystems