Computational periscopy with an ordinary digital camera

Computing the amounts of light arriving from different directions enables a diffusely reflecting surface to play the part of a mirror in a periscope—that is, perform non-line-of-sight imaging around an obstruction. Because computational periscopy has so far depended on light-travel distances being proportional to the times of flight, it has mostly been performed with expensive, specialized ultrafast optical systems^1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Here we introduce a two-dimensional computational periscopy technique that requires only a single photograph captured with an ordinary digital camera. Our technique recovers the position of an opaque object and the scene behind (but not completely obscured by) the object, when both the object and scene are outside the line of sight of the camera, without requiring controlled or time-varying illumination. Such recovery is based on the visible penumbra of the opaque object having a linear dependence on the hidden scene that can be modelled through ray optics. Non-line-of-sight imaging using inexpensive, ubiquitous equipment may have considerable value in monitoring hazardous environments, navigation and detecting hidden adversaries.We thank F. Durand, W. T. Freeman, Y. Ma, J. Rapp, J. H. Shapiro, A. Torralba, F. N. C. Wong and G. W. Wornell for discussions. This work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) REVEAL Program contract number HR0011-16-C-0030. (HR0011-16-C-0030 - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) REVEAL Program)Accepted manuscrip

Educating the Auditors: Recommendations for Addressing General, Behavioral Competency Needs in Collegiate Accounting Programs

The continuing evolution of the business world has a direct impact on the landscape and curriculum of higher education, where business professionals are trained. The needs of the business world influence not only what is taught (i.e., business curriculum content), but also how we, as educators, teach foundational skills and core competencies. Recent research published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation suggests that there is a discrepancy between stakeholders’ and auditors’ perceptions of internal auditor competency levels and value to the organization. The survey identified the following four competencies with the lowest ratings overall: Conflict Resolution/Negotiation Skills; Business Process Analysis; Ability to Demonstrate/Promote the Value of the Internal Audit Function; and Data Collection and Analysis Tools and Techniques. Survey results also included competencies in which internal auditors rated themselves significantly higher than their stakeholders rated them. How should educators interpret and address these results? Specifically, if internal auditors are perceived as having low skills in specific competencies, what is the impact on the design, development, and implementation of our instructional programs? What should be changed or improved? How can higher education assist in closing the perception gap between internal auditors and stakeholders and in turn enhance the value and brand of future internal auditors?https://fuse.franklin.edu/ss2014/1010/thumbnail.jp

How Are Your Graduates Doing? Do They Still Love You?

Section 33 of the AACSB requirements for Specialized Accreditation of Accounting Programs requires that that each accounting program applying for specialized accreditation demonstrate its success with regard to the placement of students within three months of graduation and the career success of graduates at an appropriate later time (e.g., 5 or 10 years).  The accounting program in a medium sized Midwestern university recently applied for “Specialized Accounting Accreditation” and found that only anecdotal data was available to satisfy this standard.  In order to satisfy section 33 of the standards a questionnaire was developed and emailed to a list of accounting graduates.  A list of 1,026 email addresses for accounting graduates was obtained from the alumni office and questionnaires were sent by email to each of the graduates.  As expected, some of the email addresses were outdated and 269 were returned as undeliverable leaving 757 questionnaires delivered to accounting graduates.  A total of 212 were returned for a 28% response rate with 103 (48%) requesting a copy of the results.  The average age of the respondents was 44.2 years and the average graduation year was 1986, suggesting that the average age at graduation (21 years ago) was 23 years.  The oldest graduate was 74 and the youngest was 22.  More than one half of the graduates had obtained their first professional position before graduation and 90% had obtained a professional position within three months of graduation.  Respondents were asked how many times they had changed companies in their careers and, remarkably, 23% had never changed companies.  All of the graduates, except for one who had never changed companies, were satisfied with the progression of their careers.  Another requirement of standard 33 is to demonstrate “career success of graduates at an appropriate later time (e.g., 5 or 10 years).”  Graduates were asked if they were “satisfied with the progression of your career.”  Remember, on average they had been graduated for about 12 years.  Ninety seven percent indicated that they were satisfied with the progression of their careers.  That indicates that they have achieved career success as they define success.  Responses to whether graduates believe their education at Marshall adequately prepared them for their career were significantly (0.000) with whether they were satisfied with the progression of their career and with whether they would recommend the accounting program at Marshall to their children or friends (0.000 level).  These relationships suggest that graduates are consistent in their approval and support for the accounting program.&nbsp

Reading Margery Kempe’s inner voices

This article draws on research from the major collaborative research project Hearing the Voice, based at Durham University, to reconsider and foreground Margery Kempe’s inner voices, and hence, to return to an emphasis on inner, spiritual experience as shaping her Book. The richness of Margery’s multi-sensory experience, and the care with which it is depicted, is illuminated by and illuminates the experience of contemporary voice-hearers, offering a powerful alternative perspective to often reductive bio-medical understandings. Contemporary cognitive frameworks, particularly scientific accounts of inner speech, are in turn employed to open out Margery’s inner voices and to offer insights into the psychology of spiritual meditation

User Defined Accounting Model

At the heart of the free market system is the ability of the “Market” to determine what goods and services need to be produced and the appropriate allocation of resources to produce them in the most efficient and effective manner.  Many believe that the current financial reporting model has not facilitated the achievement of this goal as fully as possible.  A few ruling bodies have determined what information that is reported to investors and perhaps it is time to change this model and allow the market (individual users) to determine what financial information is most appropriate for investors, creditors and other external decision makers.  With the improvements in technology, society may be able to create a User Defined Accounting Model (UDAM) that will allow investors to make better informed decisions in a timelier manner.  The current financial reporting model, GAAP, requires companies to report information in one format which contains highly aggregated information that does not adequately address the predictive value of the information.  Some users may believe that market value or replacement cost may be a more useful measure of the company's future value than historical cost.  The current system aggregates the information at the firm level using primarily historical cost and then only forwards the results of this aggregation to users.  An improvement would be to allow users to determine which measure they would like to employ.  This paper proposes a model that allows users to access the primary measures instead of obtaining only aggregated, secondary data, and to compile financial statements in any format they desire