Multiple Luminaire Identification in Airborne Images of Airport’s Approach Lighting Using Mathematical Morphology With Variable Length Structuring Element

The increasing demand for fast air transportation around the clock
has increased the number of night flights in civil aviation over
the past few decades. In night aviation, to land an aircraft, a
pilot needs to be able to identify an airport. The approach
lighting system (ALS) at an airport is used to provide
identification and guidance to pilots from a distance. ALS
consists of more than $100$ luminaires which are installed in a
defined pattern following strict guidelines by the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO also has strict
regulations for maintaining the performance level of the
luminaires. However, once installed, to date there is no automated
technique by which to monitor the performance of the lighting. We
suggest using images of the lighting pattern captured using a camera
placed inside an aircraft. Based on the information contained
within these images, the performance of the luminaires has to be
evaluated which requires identification of over $100$ luminaires
within the pattern of ALS image. This research proposes analysis
of the pattern using morphology filters which use a variable
length structuring element (VLSE). The dimension of the VLSE changes
continuously within an image and varies for different images.
A novel
technique for automatic determination of the VLSE is proposed and
it allows successful identification of the luminaires from the
image data as verified through the use of simulated and real data.

Random Regret Minimization: Exploration of a New Choice Model for Environmental and Resource Economics

This paper introduces the discrete choice model-paradigm of Random Regret Minimization (RRM) to the field of environmental and resource economics. The RRM-approach has been very recently developed in the context of travel demand modelling and presents a tractable, regret-based alternative to the dominant choice-modelling paradigm based on Random Utility Maximization-theory (RUM-theory). We highlight how RRM-based models provide closed form, logit-type formulations for choice probabilities that allow for capturing semi-compensatory behaviour and choice set-composition effects while being equally parsimonious as their utilitarian counterparts. Using data from a Stated Choice-experiment aimed at identifying valuations of characteristics of nature parks, we compare RRM-based models and RUM-based models in terms of parameter estimates, goodness of fit, elasticities and consequential policy implications.

2DRMP-G: Migrating a large-scale numerical mathematical application to a grid environment

We report on the migration of a traditional, single architecture application to a grid application using heterogeneous resources. We focus on the use of the UK e-Science Level 2 grid (UKL2G) which provides a heterogeneous collection of resources distributed within the UK. We discuss the solution architecture, the performance of our application, its future development as a grid-based application and comment on the lessons we have learned in using a grid infrastructure for large-scale numerical problems.

Parimutuel betting under asymmetric information

This paper examines simple parimutuel betting games under asymmetric information, with particular attention to differences between markets in which bets are submitted simultaneously versus sequentially. In the simultaneous parimutuel betting market, all (symmetric and asymmetric) Bayesian-Nash equilibria are generically characterized as a function of the number of bettors and the quality of their private information. There always exists a separating equilibrium, in which all bettors follow their private signals. This equilibrium is unique if the number of bettors is sufficiently large. In the sequential framework, earlier bets have information externalities, because they may reveal private information of bettors. They also have payoff externalities, because they affect the betting odds. One effect of these externalities is that the separating equilibrium disappears if the number of betting periods is sufficiently large. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A longitudinal analysis of estimation, counting skills, and mathematical ability across the first school year

In response to claims that the quality (and in particular linearity) of children's mental representation of number acts as a constraint on number development, we carried out a longitudinal assessment of the relationships between number line estimation, counting, and mathematical abilities. Ninety-nine 5-year-olds were tested on 4 occasions at 3 monthly intervals. Correlations between the 3 types of ability were evident, but while the quality of children's estimations changed over time and performance on the mathematical tasks improved over the same period, changes in one were not associated with changes in the other. In contrast to the earlier claims that the linearity of number representation is potentially a unique contributor to children's mathematical development, the data suggest that this variable is not significantly privileged in its impact over and above simple procedural number skills. We propose that both early arithmetic success and estimating skill are bound closely to developments in counting ability.

Mathematical Modelling of a Reciprocating Piston Expander

Modern internal combustion (IC) engines reject around two thirds of the energy provided by the fuel as low-grade waste heat. Capturing a portion of this waste heat energy and transforming it into a more useful form of energy could result in a significant reduction in fuel consumption. By using the low-grade heat, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) can produce mechanical work from a pressurised organic fluid with the use of an expander.
Ideal gas assumptions are shown to produce significant errors in expander performance predictions when using an organic fluid. This paper details the mathematical modelling technique used to accurately model the thermodynamic processes for both ideal and non-ideal fluids within the reciprocating expander. A comparison between the two methods illustrates the extent of the errors when modelling a reciprocating piston expander. Use of the ideal gas assumptions are shown to produce an error of 55% in the prediction of power produced by the expander when operating on refrigerant R134a.

Unveiling Fairness for the Consumer:The Law, Economics and Justice of Expanded Arbitration

In recent years, the US Supreme Court has rather controversially extended the ambit of the Federal Arbitration Act to extend arbitration’s reach into, inter alia¸ consumer matters, with the consequence that consumers are often (and unbeknownst to them) denied remedies which would otherwise be available. Such denied remedies include recourse to class action proceedings, effective denial of punitive damages, access to discovery and the ability to resolve the matter in a convenient forum.

The court’s extension of arbitration’s ambit is controversial. Attempts to overturn this extension have been made in Congress, but to no avail. In contrast to American law, European consumer law looks at pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate directed at consumers with extreme suspicion, and does so on the grounds of fairness. In contrast, some argue that pre-dispute agreements in consumer (and employment) matters are consumer welfare enhancing: they decrease the costs of doing business, which is then passed on to the consumer. This Article examines these latter claims from both an economic and normative perspective.

The economic analysis of these arguments shows that their assumptions do not hold. Rather than being productive of consumer surplus, the use of arbitration is likely to have the opposite effect. The industries from which the recent Supreme Court cases originated not only do not exhibit the industrial structure assumed by the proponents of expanded arbitration, but are also industries which exhibit features that facilitate consumer welfare reducing collusion.

The normative analysis addresses the fairness concerns. It is explicitly based upon John Rawls’ notion of “justice as fairness,” which can provide a lens to evaluate social institutions. This Rawlsian analysis considers the use of extended arbitration in consumer matters in the light of the earlier economic results. It suggests that the asymmetries present in the contractual allocation of rights serve as prima facie evidence that such arbitration–induced exclusions are prima facie unjust/unfair. However, as asymmetry is only a prima facie test, a generalized criticism of the arbitration exclusions (of the sort found in Congress and underlying the European regime) is overbroad.