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In this paper, we define and examine the concept of a fuzzy recognizer. If L(M) is the language recognized by an incomplete fuzzy recognizer M, we show that there is a completion M of M such that L(M) = L(M). We also show that if A is a recognizable set of words, then there is a complete accessible fuzzy recognizer M_A such that L(M_A) = A. We lay groundwork to determine rational decompositions of recognizable sets.

This article explores the potential of Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS) to overcome some of the barriers to participating in meaningful activity for people with severe and enduring mental illness. The example of Stirling LETS Make it Better project illustrates this potential, and interviews with the members and project workers provide indicators of the reasons for the success of the project. Replication of the success of this project, outside of Stirling, is argued to be achievable if based on these indicators. The struggle for funding is considered to be the key barrier, preventing and discouraging similar projects; indeed, at the time of writing, continuing funding for Stirling LETS is in doubt. The abandonment of successful, innovative projects, once the pilot stage is over, is a besetting fault of many funding streams and an incredible waste of resources. A life in the day would welcome more examples of funding agencies who have tried to tackle this issue.

Studies the concept of the Cartesian composition of fuzzy finite state machines. Shows that fuzzy finite state machines and their Cartesian composition share many structural properties. Some of these properties are singly generated; retrievability, connectedness, strong connectedness, commutativity, perfection and state independence. Thus a fuzzy finite state machine which is a Cartesian composition of submachines can be studied in terms of smaller machines.

Pre-letting and pre-sale financing arrangements have been widely adopted to increase housing delivery in the developed economy. Despite the increasing level of adoption in some developed countries, some are reverting to spot property buying because of factors militating the adoption of pre-letting and pre-sale financing. However, little has been done on the factors influencing the adoption of these trust-based financing arrangements in the developing economy where there are challenges of trust and market transparency.

Using a closed-ended questionnaire, 87 property development companies (PDCs), which constituted 63.5% of the 137 PDCs in Lagos metropolis, were sampled. Variables that influence adoption of pre-letting and pre-sale financing arrangements were presented to respondents for rating on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not influential) to 5 (very highly influential). With the aid of SPSS software, acquired data were analysed using principal component analysis (PCA), mean rating and standard deviation.

The PCA finding revealed that factors influencing the adoption of pre-letting and pre-sale financing had 69.641% total variance. Top-rated components were fear of financial risk and firm’s reputation and poor government involvement and contractors' credibility, with 15.114% and 11.895% variances, respectively. The study findings suggested that the buyers' apprehension regarding the transfer of financial risk and the reputation of the firms significantly influence their decision to embrace both arrangements. As a result, the buyers' willingness to engage the financing arrangements is reduced, which consequently imparts adoption negatively. Furthermore, there is worrisome lack of government involvement, a crucial aspect for the success of such arrangements.

Pre-letting and pre-sale financing arrangements are found to be highly suitable for environments where there is trust. The findings enlighten the development firms on the need to uphold their reputation, as buyers attach great significance to the credibility and integrity of the companies they engage in business.

This paper is one of the few attempts that have sought to explore the factors influencing pre-letting and pre-sale financing arrangements in an emerging market like Nigeria.

This paper focuses on the relationship between a particular social practice – local exchange trading systems or schemes (LETS) – and what we here call the “mainstream” marketing paradigm. It begins by discussing some of the key principles that are thought to set LETS apart from other, “more mainstream”, economic activities. One case is then given particular attention – the “Ithaca hours” system – run in Ithaca, New York. Having examined the formalities of the system and its operation, the paper reviews what participants say about their participation. The paper draws upon these multiple narratives to explore the ways LETS may be both similar to and different from other forms of economic and social praxis. The authors’ argument is that “mainstream” marketing concepts and practices fail to embrace all the complexities of LETS as social‐economic practices.

In this paper we study a class of complexity measures, induced by a new data structure for representing k-valued functions (operations), called minor decision diagram. When assigning values to some variables in a function the resulting functions are called subfunctions, and when identifying some variables the resulting functions are called minors. The sets of essential variables in subfunctions of f are called separable in f.

We examine the maximal separable subsets of variables and their conjugates, introduced in the paper, proving that each such set has at least one conjugate. The essential arity gap gap(f) of the function f is the minimal number of essential variables in f which become fictive when identifying distinct essential variables in f. We also investigate separable sets of variables in functions with non-trivial arity gap. This allows us to solve several important algebraic, computational and combinatorial problems about the finite-valued functions.

Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.

The purpose of this article is to determine necessary and sufficient conditions in order that (D, K) to be an S-accr pair, where D is an integral domain and K is a field which contains D as a subring and S is a multiplicatively closed subset of D.

The methods used are from the topic multiplicative ideal theory from commutative ring theory.

Let S be a strongly multiplicatively closed subset of an integral domain D such that the ring of fractions of D with respect to S is not a field. Then it is shown that (D, K) is an S-accr pair if and only if K is algebraic over D and the integral closure of the ring of fractions of D with respect to S in K is a one-dimensional Prüfer domain. Let D, S, K be as above. If each intermediate domain between D and K satisfies S-strong accr*, then it is shown that K is algebraic over D and the integral closure of the ring of fractions of D with respect to S is a Dedekind domain; the separable degree of K over F is finite and K has finite exponent over F, where F is the quotient field of D.

Motivated by the work of some researchers on S-accr, the concept of S-strong accr* is introduced and we determine some necessary conditions in order that (D, K) to be an S-strong accr* pair. This study helps us to understand the behaviour of the rings between D and K.

Presents fundamental results on fuzzy Mealy machines. Unlike the classical Mealy machine which requires two functions, one to describe the next state and another to describe the output, a fuzzy Mealy machine requires only one fuzzy function to characterize completely the next state and the output produced. Apart from the obvious generalization that can be obtained from corresponding results on fuzzy finite state machines by introduction of an output associated with each transition, introduces the concept of an interval partition of [0, 1] and uses it to obtain more general results.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.