INDICATEURS FINANCIERS ET INDICATEURS NON FINANCIERS. IMPORTANCE DES INDICATEURS FINANCIERS, ET ORDRE DE PRESENTATION DES INDICATEURS : EFFETS SUR L'EVALUATION DE LA PERFORMANCE DES MANAGERS

International audienceDebate on the weight of financial vs. non financial indicators in performance measurement process is still going on. The purpose of this research is to examine, experimentally, factors that influence whether corporate managers exhibit bias toward financial versus nonfinancial corporate performance measures. First, we manipulated presentation order of financial and nonfinancial measures to test whether cognitive processing limits result in decision makers placing more weight on the first few items presented. Second, we manipulated the strength of the financial performance measures (the perceived relative importance based on rankings by an independent sample) to examine whether prior mixed results of financial measures bias among corporate managers can be explained by differences in the relative strength or importance of the particular set of financial and nonfinancial measures.Le débat sur l'importance des indicateurs non financiers et financiers dans le processus d'évaluation des performances est loin d'être clos. L'objectif de notre recherche est d'examiner, de façon expérimentale, les facteurs qui influencent le choix des évaluateurs en faveur des indicateurs financiers ou non financiers dans l'évaluation des performances d'une entreprise. Nous avons ainsi d'une part manipulé l'ordre de présentation des indicateurs financiers et non financiers dans le but de tester si les limitations cognitives conduisaient les évaluateurs à considérer seulement les premiers indicateurs qui leur étaient présentés. D'autre part, nous avons manipulé l'importance relative perçue des indicateurs financiers afin d'examiner si le biais en faveur des indicateurs financiers, souvent démontré, pouvait être expliqué par la nature même de ces indicateurs. L'importance relative perçue des indicateurs financiers se fondait sur les résultats d'une autre étude que nous avons conduite sur un échantillon indépendant

Phased array transducer for billet inspection

A phased array transducer design for billet inspection is presented. The transducer sweeps a uniform focus in both depth and angle to assure uniform coverage of the billet volume, particularly at the billet center, where coverage depends critically on transducer alignment. Design concepts are presented which enable the transducer to sweep a tight focus in both depth and angle using 63 discrete time delays. Design concepts and specifications are summarized, and experimental verification of design performance is presented. Data acquisition protocols are discussed enabling the phased array inspection to operate at production speeds

INDICATEURS FINANCIERS ET INDICATEURS NON FINANCIERS. IMPORTANCE DES INDICATEURS FINANCIERS, ET ORDRE DE PRESENTATION DES INDICATEURS : EFFETS SUR L'EVALUATION DE LA PERFORMANCE DES MANAGERS

Le débat sur l'importance des indicateurs non financiers et financiers dans le processus d'évaluation des performances est loin d'être clos. L'objectif de notre recherche est d'examiner, de façon expérimentale, les facteurs qui influencent le choix des évaluateurs en faveur des indicateurs financiers ou non financiers dans l'évaluation des performances d'une entreprise. Nous avons ainsi d'une part manipulé l'ordre de présentation des indicateurs financiers et non financiers dans le but de tester si les limitations cognitives conduisaient les évaluateurs à considérer seulement les premiers indicateurs qui leur étaient présentés. D'autre part, nous avons manipulé l'importance relative perçue des indicateurs financiers afin d'examiner si le biais en faveur des indicateurs financiers, souvent démontré, pouvait être expliqué par la nature même de ces indicateurs. L'importance relative perçue des indicateurs financiers se fondait sur les résultats d'une autre étude que nous avons conduite sur un échantillon indépendant.Evaluation des performances; Indicateurs financiers vs.Non financiers; Biais cognitif; Ordre de présentation des informations

HIFU Therapy Planning Using Pre‐treatment Imaging and Simulation

Current HIFU challenges include amount of tissue that can be destroyed by a single exposure, the inability to treat through bone, difficulty in monitoring therapy in real‐time, and difficulty in planning the strategy before therapy. Technological advances such as multi‐transducer or array beam generator, instrumentation and image‐based guidance of HIFU treatment promise to overcome many of these problems. However, there is limited work toward HIFU dosimetry and therapy planning. We present a systematic approach for developing pre‐treatment planning and HIFU dose calculations for specific target location using simulations and imaging data. We also present initial techniques and tools towards HIFU treatment planning (targeted for open‐skull brain tumor therapy) using patient‐specific pre‐therapy imaging (e.g., CT or MRI) similar to dosimetry and planning for radiation therapy. This work has potential to aid development of optimized high‐precision HIFU dosimetry and patient‐specific planning strategies for complex and sensitive applications such as in brain tumor HIFU therapy. If successful, it potentially could reduce the guess work on dosage parameters and thereby reducing the overall treatment duration and reduced exposure to non‐target tissues

A parametric open circuit voltage model for lithium ion batteries

The financial support of EPSRC UK and Jaguar Land Rover Ltd is gratefully acknowledged.We present an open circuit voltage (OCV) model for lithium ion (Li-ion) cells, which can be parameterized by measurements of the OCV of positive and negative electrode half-cells and a full cell. No prior knowledge of physical parameters related to particular cell chemistries is required. The OCV of the full cell is calculated from two electrode sub-models, which are comprised of additive terms that represent the phase transitions of the active electrode materials. The model structure is flexible and can be applied to any Li-ion cell chemistry. The model can account for temperature dependence and voltage hysteresis of the OCV. Fitting the model to OCV data recorded from a Li-ion cell at 0°C, 10°C, 20°C, 30°C and 40°C yielded high accuracies with errors (RMS) of less than 5 mV. The model can be used to maintain the accuracy of dynamic Li-ion cell models in battery management systems by accounting for the effects of capacity fade on the OCV. Moreover, the model provides a means to separate the cell's OCV into its constituent electrode potentials, which allows the electrodes’ capacities to be tracked separately over time, providing an insight into prevalent degradation mechanisms acting on the individual electrodes.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Minimally invasive insertion of reference electrodes into commercial lithium-ion pouch cells

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of EPSRC UK and Jaguar Land Rover Ltd for this work.Two procedures to introduce a lithium metal reference electrode into commercially manufactured lithium-ion pouch cells (Kokam SLPB 533459H4) are described and compared. By introducing a stable reference potential, the individual behavior of the positive and negative electrodes can be studied in operando under normal cycling. Unmodified cells and half-cells made from harvested electrode material were cycled under identical conditions to the modified cells to compare capacity degradation during cycling and thus validate each modification procedure for degradation testing. A configuration that did not affect the performance of the cell over 20 cycles was successfully developed.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An Experimental Study of Effects of Overlaying Tissues on HIFU Lesion

Understanding the effect of overlaying tissues on HIFU lesion is crucial for estimating HIFU dose distribution at a target tissue. We have run a series of experiments to systematically observe the effects of the overlaying tissues on the HIFU beam and ultimately the lesion created in the target tissue. First, we mapped out the HIFU transducer beam (in low power) under water without and with different overlaying tissue layers. Then, we performed a series of experiments in high power to create lesions in target tissues (e.g., liver) without and with overlaying tissues (e.g. muscle). The lesions are characterized by slicing the tissues and reconstructing the 3D lesion from calibrated pictures of the target tissue slices. The low power beam measurements show significant effects in terms of severe beam wave‐field amplitude distortion due to phase aberration introduced by velocity inhomogeneity in the overlaying tissues. These results compare well qualitatively with the computational models. The results from the high power HIFU lesions in a similar setup using various tissues, including liver and muscle, provide understanding of the significance of phase aberration in overlaying tissues and could prove useful towards high precision HIFU therapy

Linkages between the economy and the environment : an analysis of economic growth in Clatsop County, Oregon

Page 2 and 6 are blank pages in document.This report analyzes some of the linkages between economic growth and environmental change in a rural community. Recently developed methodology for estimating induced as well as direct environmental change from a new industry is applied to a current development issue on the Oregon coast. Some extensions of the methodology were developed to assist in longrange planning. Linear programming was used to trace environmental consequences of alternative economic growth patterns. Total change from new industry (in this case, a new aluminum plant in Warrenton, Oregon) is shown to depend not only on the relation of the new industry to the environment but also on impact of the new industry on the local economy and the feedback from the local economy's total expansion back to the environment