"I Buy American": The American Image as Reflected in Israeli Advertising

Analysis of advertisements in Israeli newspapers over the past decade has shown that American symbols have been widely used to market an array of consumer goods. Products made in America, Israel, or other countries are marketed with some sort of American angle by invoking America's values, symbols, landscapes, or lifestyle. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, we analyzed how central components of the nation-state/national sphere—language, flag, political leaders, borders, landscapes, and sights—are reflected in advertising. We attempt to show how social values metamorphose, shedding their "Israeliness" and taking on an American veneer. Using Israel as an example may provide a test case for the Americanization process in other societies at the turn of the millennium.     

Fertigation for minimizing environmental pollution by fertilizers

Intensification of agriculture by irrigation and enhanced use of fertilizers may generate pollution by increased levels of nutrients in underground and surface waters. Most of the irrigation is by open systems having a relatively low efficiency of water application. A higher efficiency may be gained by pressurized irrigation systems. Drip irrigation generates a restricted root system requiring frequent nutrient supply that may be satisfied by applying fertilizers in irrigation water, i.e. by fertigation. Maximization of crop yield and quality and minimization of leaching below the rooting volume may be achieved by managing fertilizers concentrations in measured quantities of irrigation water, according to crop requirements.     

Querying business processes with BP-QL

We present in this paper BP-QL, a novel query language for querying business processes. The BP-QL language is based on an intuitive model of business processes, an abstraction of the emerging BPEL (business process execution language) standard. It allows users to query business processes visually, in a manner very analogous to how such processes are typically specified, and can be employed in a distributed setting, where process components may be provided by distinct providers.     

REVISE: A Tool for Measuring and Mitigating Bias in Visual Datasets

International Journal of Computer Vision - Machine learning models are known to perpetuate and even amplify the biases present in the data. However, these data biases frequently do not become...     

User assisted separation of reflections from a single image using a sparsity prior

When we take a picture through transparent glass the image we obtain is often a linear superposition of two images: the image of the scene beyond the glass plus the image of the scene reflected by the glass. Decomposing the single input image into two images is a massively ill-posed problem: in the absence of additional knowledge about the scene being viewed there are an infinite number of valid decompositions. In this paper we focus on an easier problem: user assisted separation in which the user interactively labels a small number of gradients as belonging to one of the layers. Even given labels on part of the gradients, the problem is still ill-posed and additional prior knowledge is needed. Following recent results on the statistics of natural images we use a sparsity prior over derivative filters. This sparsity prior is optimized using the terative reweighted least squares (IRLS) approach. Our results show that using a prior derived from the statistics of natural images gives a far superior performance compared to a Gaussian prior and it enables good separations from a modest number of labeled gradients.     

Using Multiple Solution Tasks for the Evaluation of Students’ Problem-Solving Performance in Geometry

Abstract

The article demonstrates that multiple solution tasks (MSTs) in the context of geometry can serve as a research instrument for evaluating geometry knowledge and creativity. Geometry knowledge is evaluated based on the correctness and connectedness of solutions, whereas creativity is evaluated based on a combination of fluency, flexibility, and originality of solutions. In this article, the MST research instrument is introduced in connection with the theoretical analysis of the research literature and then explained and analyzed using geometry students’ performance results on one MST. The analysis shows that the research instrument differentiates between students belonging to high- and regular-level instruction groups and sheds light on the interrelations between components of geometry knowledge and creativity.     

Instrumentality,aesthetics and symbolism of physical artifacts as triggers of emotion

Building on qualitative data collected from three groups of professionals who assessed the green colour of a public transportation bus, this paper develops a model of the relationship between physical artifacts and emotions. The model suggests that artifacts need to be analysed according to three conceptually distinct aspects: instrumentality, aesthetics and symbolism. These three aspects are suggested to arouse emotion through different mechanisms: a hygiene, a sensory and an associative mechanism. The model opens an arena for extensive future research on the role and influence of physical artifacts in general and on emotions in particular.     

An Organoid for Woven Bone

Bone formation (osteogenesis) is a complex process in which cellular differentiation and the generation of a mineralized organic matrix are synchronized to produce a hybrid hierarchical architecture. To study the mechanisms of osteogenesis in health and disease, there is a great need for functional model systems that capture in parallel, both cellular and matrix formation processes. Stem cell-based organoids are promising as functional, self-organizing 3D in vitro models for studying the physiology and pathology of various tissues. However, for human bone, no such functional model system is yet available. This study reports the in vitro differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells into a functional 3D self-organizing co-culture of osteoblasts and osteocytes, creating an organoid for early stage bone (woven bone) formation. It demonstrates the formation of an organoid where osteocytes are embedded within the collagen matrix that is produced by the osteoblasts and mineralized under biological control. Alike in in vivo osteocytes, the embedded osteocytes show network formation and communication via expression of sclerostin. The current system forms the most complete 3D living in vitro model system to investigate osteogenesis, both in physiological and pathological situations, as well as under the influence of external triggers (mechanical stimulation, drug administration).     

The IS Organization of the Future: Four Scenarios for 2020

ABSTRACT

Four scenarios for the IS organization of 2020 are described, based on differing assumptions about two drivers: the advances in the reliability of international telecommunications and the value placed on computerization in businesses and society.