Web analytics and the functional differentiation of journalism cultures: individual,organizational and platform-specific influences on newswork

A key development in journalism over the past decade has been the rise of web analytics for real-time measurement of how audiences respond to news content. While this has led to concerns that analytics may contribute to a dumbing down of news, our understanding of the impact analytics have on journalism culture is still limited. This study explores individual, organizational and platform-specific influences on ways in which journalists and newsrooms access, use, interpret and apply analytics in their daily work. It argues that, increasingly, analytics are beginning to shape and reshape journalistic roles, values, norms and practices across different types of newsrooms. These developments are contributing to processes of functional differentiation in the journalistic field, which is found particularly in emerging practices of day- and platform-parting. The study argues that this differentiation has important consequences for scholars wanting to study news production, distribution and content in the digital age.     

Asset Decommissioning Risk Metrics for Floating Structures in the Gulf of Mexico

Public companies in the United States are required to report standardized values of their proved reserves and asset retirement obligations on an annual basis. When compared, these two measures provide an aggregate indicator of corporate decommissioning risk but, because of their consolidated nature, cannot readily be decomposed at a more granular level. The purpose of this article is to introduce a decommissioning risk metric defined in terms of the ratio of the expected value of an asset's reserves to its expected cost of decommissioning. Asset decommissioning risk (ADR) is more difficult to compute than a consolidated corporate risk measure, but can be used to quantify the decommissioning risk of structures and to perform regional comparisons, and also provides market signals of future decommissioning activity. We formalize two risk metrics for decommissioning and apply the ADR metric to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) floater inventory. Deepwater oil and gas structures are expensive to construct, and at the end of their useful life, will be expensive to decommission. The value of proved reserves for the 42 floating structures in the GOM circa January 2013 is estimated to range between $37 and $80 billion for future oil prices between 60 and 120 $/bbl, which is about 10 to 20 times greater than the estimated $4.3 billion to decommission the inventory. Eni's Allegheny and MC Offshore's Jolliet tension leg platforms have ADR metrics less than one and are approaching the end of their useful life. Application of the proposed metrics in the regulatory review of supplemental bonding requirements in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is suggested to complement the current suite of financial metrics employed.     

Assessing the effects of land use and land cover patterns on thermal conditions using landscape metrics in city of Indianapolis,United States

Direct applications of remote sensing thermal infrared (TIR) data in landscape ecological research are rare due to limitations in the sensors, calibration, and difficulty in interpretation. Currently there is a general lack of methodology for examining the relationship between land surface temperatures (LST) derived from TIR data and landscape patterns extracted from optical sensors. A separation of landscapes into values directly related to their scale and signature is a key step. In this study, a Landsat ETM+ image of Indianapolis, Unites States, acquired on June 22, 2000, was spectrally unmixed (using spectral mixture analysis, SMA) into fraction endmembers of green vegetation, soil, high albedo, and low albedo. Impervious surface was then computed from the high and low albedo images. A hybrid classification procedure was developed to classify the fraction images into seven land use and land cover (LULC) classes. Using the fractional images, the landscape composition and pattern were examined. Next, pixel-based LST measurements were correlated with the landscape fractional components to investigate LULC based relationships between LST and impervious surface and green vegetation fractions. An examination of the relationship between the LULC and LST maps with landscape metrics was finally conducted to deepen understanding of their interactions. Results indicate that SMA-derived fraction images were effective for quantifying the urban morphology and for providing reliable measurements of biophysical variables. LST was found to be positively correlated with impervious surface fraction but negatively correlated with green vegetation fraction. Each temperature zone was associated with a dominant LULC category. Further research should be directed to the theoretical and applied implications of describing such relationships between LULC patterns and urban thermal conditions.

论唐代格法理论的新变

唐人声律理论的重要贡献就是将永明声律的“四声”、“八病”简化,使之不再繁琐苛细,免于触处犯禁、动辄得咎。具体说来有三个方面的贡献与新变:四声的二元化,粘对规则的确立,对偶说的发展。更为重要的是,唐人很好地将格律形式和诗歌风格、情感抒发等问题联系在一起,推动了唐代诗歌艺术走向顶峰。     

论清真词去声之妙用

清真声调之谨严,为诸家之冠.而四声中尤重去声之运用.或用作领字以发调,或以平去互相对照而收跌蘯之妙.或用于拗句中,以应音律之需要.并意锤炼去声之字眼,以营造警动之境.后人守之如金科玉律.此文旨在考察清真运用去声之规律.     

Six-sigma for improving Top-Box Customer Satisfaction score for a banking call centre

Six Sigma process improvement methodology has been accepted globally across the service industry. In past one decade, the application and success of Six Sigma in Services is remarkable across Information Technology organisations, Hospitality firms, Government, Healthcare firms and Banking & Financial Sector. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of Six Sigma within call centres where the metric based environment complements the application of Six Sigma for process improvements. The article establishes the literature for the need for Six Sigma in call centre environment elaborating on customer facing metrics in addition to internal performance measures and highlighting the advantages of Six Sigma. A case study is presented in the second part of the article to study the DMAIC project management approach of Six Sigma for improving the Top Box Customer Satisfaction score of a Banking call centre. The literature identifies the possible opportunities for improving the performance of call centre metrics using Six Sigma. The project case study presented as part of the paper delivered a saving of USD 0.27 million to the bank, and is a classic example of how Six Sigma can bring bottom-line impact to an organisation. The article is limited to elaborate the advantages of Six Sigma in call centre environment, emphasising on its need and its compatibility to go along successfully with change acceleration and project management processes. Managerial implications and lessons learned are discussed alongside the concluding notes.     

Flexible manufacturing systems performance in U.S. automotive manufacturing plants: a case study

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) philosophy is a key weapon in achieving global manufacturing competitiveness. It encompasses a wide range of dimensions to improve all aspects of operational performance metrics. The aim of the study is to examine the current state of flexibility adoption in U.S. automotive manufacturing facilities and its impact on operational performance metrics. It utilizes survey questionnaire developed based on previous work in U.S. manufacturing industry. The survey was originally distributed to 420 facility managers in the U.S. domestic automotive industry. It was revealed that 70% of the respondents had implemented all 15 flexibility dimensions listed in the questionnaire. The data analysis conducted shows that implementation of certain flexibility dimensions will lead to significant improvement in specific operational performance metrics. This considerable finding can be used as a guide for manufacturing managers to achieve certain objectives in operational performance improvement in a rapidly changing environment.     

基于模糊偏序关系的软件测试评价方法

讨论了模糊理论在软件测试质量评价方面的可行性;提出了软件测试质量评价指标体系的概念和软件测试质量评价方法,即基于模糊偏序关系的评价方法;对该方法的优缺点及适用条件进行了分析;通过实例计算验证了该方法在评价软件测试质量方面的有效性。     

Critical Assessment of the Foundations of Power Transmission and Distribution Reliability Metrics and Standards

The U.S. federal government regulates the reliability of bulk power systems, while the reliability of power distribution systems is regulated at a state level. In this article, we review the history of regulating electric service reliability and study the existing reliability metrics, indices, and standards for power transmission and distribution networks. We assess the foundations of the reliability standards and metrics, discuss how they are applied to outages caused by large exogenous disturbances such as natural disasters, and investigate whether the standards adequately internalize the impacts of these events. Our reflections shed light on how existing standards conceptualize reliability, question the basis for treating large‐scale hazard‐induced outages differently from normal daily outages, and discuss whether this conceptualization maps well onto customer expectations. We show that the risk indices for transmission systems used in regulating power system reliability do not adequately capture the risks that transmission systems are prone to, particularly when it comes to low‐probability high‐impact events. We also point out several shortcomings associated with the way in which regulators require utilities to calculate and report distribution system reliability indices. We offer several recommendations for improving the conceptualization of reliability metrics and standards. We conclude that while the approaches taken in reliability standards have made considerable advances in enhancing the reliability of power systems and may be logical from a utility perspective during normal operation, existing standards do not provide a sufficient incentive structure for the utilities to adequately ensure high levels of reliability for end‐users, particularly during large‐scale events.