8,581 research outputs found
Employing dynamic fuzzy membership functions to assess environmental performance in the supplier selection process
The proposed system illustrates that logic fuzzy can be used to aid management in assessing a supplier's environmental performance in the supplier selection process. A user-centred hierarchical system employing scalable fuzzy membership functions implement human priorities in the supplier selection process, with particular focus on a supplier's environmental performance. Traditionally, when evaluating supplier performance, companies have considered criteria such as price, quality, flexibility, etc. These criteria are of varying importance to individual companies pertaining to their own specific objectives. However, with environmental pressures increasing, many companies have begun to give more attention to environmental issues and, in particular, to their suppliers’ environmental performance. The framework presented here was developed to introduce efficiently environmental criteria into the existing supplier selection process and to reflect on its relevant importance to individual companies. The system presented attempts to simulate the human preference given to particular supplier selection criteria with particular focus on environmental issues when considering supplier selection. The system considers environmental data from multiple aspects of a suppliers business, and based on the relevant impact this will have on a Buying Organization, a decision is reached on the suitability of the supplier. This enables a particular supplier's strengths and weaknesses to be considered as well as considering their significance and relevance to the Buying OrganizationPeer reviewe
A New Multiplicity Formula for the Weyl Modules of Type A
A monomial basis and a filtration of subalgebras for the universal enveloping
algebra of a complex simple Lie algebra of type is given
in this note. In particular, a new multiplicity formula for the Weyl module
of is obtained in this note.Comment: 13 page
The Truth in Compatibilism and the truth of Libertarianism
The paper offers the outlines of a response to the often-made suggestion is that it is impossible to see how indeterminism could possibly provide us with anything that we might want in the way of freedom, anything that could really amount to control, as opposed merely to an openness in the flow of reality that would constitute merely the injection of chance, or randomness, into the unfolding of the processes which underlie our activity. It is suggested that the best first move for the libertarian is to make a number of important concessions to the compatibilist. It should be conceded, in particular, that certain sorts of alternative possibilities are neither truly available to real, worldly agents, nor required in order that those agents should act freely; and it should be admitted also that it is the compatibilist who tends to give the most plausible sorts of analyses of many of the ‘can’ and ‘could have’ statements which seem to need to be assertible of those agents we regard as free. But these concessions do not bring compatibilism itself in their wake. The most promising version of libertarianism, it is argued, should be based on the idea that agency itself (and not merely some special instances of it which we might designate with the honorific appellation ‘free’) is inconsistent with determinism. This version of libertarianism, it is claimed, can avoid the objection that indeterminism is as difficult to square with true agential control as determinism can sometimes seem to be
Development of a Breeders’ Toolkit for Drought Resistance in a \u3cem\u3eLolium/Festuca\u3c/em\u3e Hybrid
Lolium multiflorum (Lm) is considered an ideal grass for European agriculture. However, existing high-quality forage Lm cultivars have been bred for intensive systems in benign environments, and have proved to be insufficiently robust to meet many of the environmental challenges that face extensive agriculture in more extreme conditions. Genes for persistency, tolerance of cold, drought and poor soils, can be found in currently under-exploited native Festuca ecotypes. These Festuca ecotypes cannot however compare with Lm cultivars for productivity or quality of forage under favourable conditions. Festuca glaucescens (Fg) is of Mediterranean origin and as such is adapted to drought and heat stress. The object of this work was to introgress a single chromosome segment of Fg containing genes for drought resistance into a diploid Lm background. Subsequent to the introgression of a Fg chromosome segment, Fg markers were mapped and a prototype toolkit developed to follow the genes for drought resistance through a breeding programme
African financing needs in the 1990s
This paper discusses the magnitude of external resources that sub-Saharan Africa may require during the 1990s. There can be no firm projections because requirements are affected both by the growth and efficiency targets chosen and by a wide range of factors, both internal and external to sub-Saharan Africa, which often interact to reinforce or offset one another. However, the specific projects provided by this paper offer a point of departure for further discussions. It also provides a qualitative framework for considering how various factors affect resource requirements. The conceptual framework used in this paper for estimating external resource requirements is based essentially on the two-gap model, in which the gap between domestic savings and gross investment must equal the difference between imports and exports, which is financed by external capital or foreign savings. To provide a context for the discussions, this paper starts with a section on the economics history and evolution of sub-Saharan Africa. A section on savings, investment and efficiency of capital follows, dealing with the feasibility of achieving the desired growth targets, the policy instruments available to attain them, and the policy reforms that African countries should implement to boost the demand for investment as well as private and public savings. The final section analyzes the external resource requirements and discusses implications for other related economic and financial variables.Banks&Banking Reform,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Financial Intermediation
Estimating Photometric Redshifts Using Support Vector Machines
We present a new approach to obtaining photometric redshifts using a kernel
learning technique called Support Vector Machines (SVMs). Unlike traditional
spectral energy distribution fitting, this technique requires a large and
representative training set. When one is available, however, it is likely to
produce results that are comparable to the best obtained using template fitting
and artificial neural networks. Additional photometric parameters such as
morphology, size and surface brightness can be easily incorporated. The
technique is demonstrated using samples of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey Data Release 2 and the hybrid galaxy formation code GalICS. The RMS
error in redshift estimation is for both samples. The strengths and
limitations of the technique are assessed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the PASP, minor typos fixed to make
consistent with published versio
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Results of an aqueous source term model for a radiological risk assessment of the Drigg LLW Site, U.K.
A radionuclide source term model has been developed which simulates the biogeochemical evolution of the Drigg low level waste (LLW) disposal site. The DRINK (DRIgg Near field Kinetic) model provides data regarding radionuclide concentrations in groundwater over a period of 100,000 years, which are used as input to assessment calculations for a groundwater pathway. The DRINK model also provides input to human intrusion and gaseous assessment calculations through simulation of the solid radionuclide inventory. These calculations are being used to support the Drigg post closure safety case. The DRINK model considers the coupled interaction of the effects of fluid flow, microbiology, corrosion, chemical reaction, sorption and radioactive decay. It represents the first direct use of a mechanistic reaction-transport model in risk assessment calculations
Development of an adaptive window-opening algorithm to predict the thermal comfort, energy use and overheating in buildings
This investigation of the window opening data from extensive field surveys in UK office buildings demonstrates: 1) how people control the indoor environment by opening windows; 2) the cooling potential of opening windows; and 3) the use of an ‘adaptive algorithm’ for predicting window opening behaviour for thermal simulation in ESP-r. It was found that when the window was open the mean indoor and outdoor temperatures were higher than when closed, but show that nonetheless there was a useful cooling effect from opening a window. The adaptive algorithm for window opening behaviour was then used in thermal simulation studies for some typical office designs. The thermal simulation results were in general agreement with the findings of the field surveys. The adaptive algorithm is shown to provide insights not available using non adaptive simulation methods and can assist in achieving more comfortable, lower energy buildings while avoiding overheating
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