Interactive Correspondence Analysis in a Dynamic Object-Oriented Environment

A highly interactive, user-friendly object-oriented software package written in LispStat is introduced that performs simple and multiple correspondence analysis, and profile analysis. These three techniques are integrated into a single environment driven by a user-friendly graphical interface that takes advantage of Lisp-Stat's advanced graphical capabilities. Techniques that assess the stability of the solution are also introduced. Some of the features of the package include colored graphics, incremental graph zooming capabilities, manual point separation to determine identities of overlapping points, and stability and fit measures. The features of the package are used to show some interesting trends in a large educational dataset.

ada: An R Package for Stochastic Boosting

Boosting is an iterative algorithm that combines simple classification rules with "mediocre" performance in terms of misclassification error rate to produce a highly accurate classification rule. Stochastic gradient boosting provides an enhancement which incorporates a random mechanism at each boosting step showing an improvement in performance and speed in generating the ensemble. ada is an R package that implements three popular variants of boosting, together with a version of stochastic gradient boosting. In addition, useful plots for data analytic purposes are provided along with an extension to the multi-class case. The algorithms are illustrated with synthetic and real data sets.

Experimental and numerical study of the response of the offshore combined wind/wave energy concept SFC in extreme environmental conditions

This paper deals with an experimental study of the survivability of the offshore combined concept Semisubmersible wind energy and Flap-type wave energy Converter (SFC) and with comparisons of the experimental data with numerical predictions. The SFC is a combined energy concept consisting of a braceless semisubmersible type floating wind turbine and three fully submerged rotating flap-type Wave Energy Converters (WECs). In order to study the survivability of the concept the focus is on extreme environmental conditions. In these conditions the SFC will not produce wind or wave power; the wind turbine is parked with the blades feathered into the wind and the WECs are released to freely rotate about their axis of rotation. Firstly the development and set-up of the physical model are presented. Static, quasi-static, decay, regular waves and irregular waves with wind loading tests are conducted on an 1:50 scale physical model. Aligned and oblique wave with wind loading conditions are considered. Measured variables that are presented include motions of the semisubmersible platform in six rigid body degrees of freedom, rotation of the flap-type WECs, tension of mooring lines, internal loads of the arms that connect the flap with the pontoon of the platform and tower base bending moment. The experimental data are compared with numerical predictions obtained by a fully coupled numerical model. The comparison is made at model scale. A good agreement between experimental data and numerical predictions is observed confirming the accuracy of the numerical models and tools that are used. The discrepancy between numerical and experimental results is smaller for regular than irregular waves. Compared to oblique conditions a better agreement between experimental and numerical results is obtained for the case of aligned wave and wind loadings. The results obtained demonstrate the good performance of the SFC concept in extreme environmental conditions. No strong nonlinear hydrodynamic phenomena are observed in the tests

Statistical Analysis of Financial Data in S-PLUS

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Employee Attitudes on Corporate Social Responsibility at the Frontline Level of an Energy Transportation Company

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reflects the commitment businesses voluntarily undertake to integrate ethical behaviors and societal matters within their operating contexts, decision-making processes, strategies and corporate values while simultaneously maximizing economic objectives. As large firms embrace and integrate the principles of CSR into their business practices, company personnel will likely be expected to show actions that are linked to conveyed corporate values and related policies. This words-to-action progression, an inevitability when mainstreaming a concept, will heighten credibility and perceived CSR commitment amongst the relevant stakeholders of the corporation. It also presents the firm with an opportunity to heighten the alignment between corporate values and personal attitudes of its employees, which can be beneficial from an attraction and retention point of view. To enhance the likelihood that employees at the frontline level will accept these principles and become engaged with these values, it is important to quantify and understand their attitudes towards the social responsibility construct itself. It is also relevant to examine whether certain workplace factors and individual characteristics may impact their viewpoints. This research study evaluated whether the variables of work climate perception, education level, and age directly influenced one’s corporate social responsibility perspective. The research method selected to gather data was the survey approach, which used a structured questionnaire. The developed survey was based to a large extent on existing instruments available in literature. One type of survey was used for workplace climate perceptions and a second type was used for CSR attitudes (orientation). Demographic information was also collected within the survey. A case study is presented, which is based on a survey of frontline personnel employed by a North American energy transportation company (Enbridge Inc.). Survey development is described, analysis methods are explained, and results are presented with statistical measures to verify hypotheses related to the CSR attitudes of employees. The implications of the findings are discussed from a business strategy perspective, along with the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research