Geographic ‘Place’ and ‘Community Information’ Preferences

People dynamically structure social interactions and activities at various locations in their environments in specialized types of places such as the office, home, coffee shop, museum and school. They also imbue various locations with personal meaning, creating group ‘hangouts’ and personally meaningful ‘places’. Mobile location-aware community systems can potentially utilize the existence of such ‘places’ to support the management of social information and interaction. However, acting effectively on this potential requires an understanding of how: (1) places and place-types relate to people’s desire for place-related awareness of and communication with others; and (2) what information people are willing to provide about themselves to enable place-related communication and awareness. We present here the findings from two qualitative studies, a survey of 509 individuals in New York, and a study of how mobility traces can be used to find people’s important places in an exploration of these questions. These studies highlight how people value and are willing to routinely provide information such as ratings, comments, event records relevant to a place, and when appropriate their location to enable services. They also suggest how place and place-type data could be used in conjunction with other information regarding people and places so that systems can be deployed that respect users’ People-to-People-to-Places data sharing preferences. We conclude with a discussion on how ‘place’ data can best be utilized to enable services when the systems in question are supported by a sophisticated computerized user-community social-geographical model.     

Managers’ and Employees’ Differing Responses to Security Approaches

ABSTRACT

Modern organizations face significant information security threats, to which they respond with various managerial techniques. It is widely believed that “one size does not fit all” for achieving employee information security policy compliance; nevertheless, it is yet to be determined which techniques work best to different organizational employees. We further this research stream by finding that different levels of users might be effectively motivated by different types of coercive and empowering techniques that are suitable to their level and position in the organizational chart. Our results suggest that participation in the ISP decision-making process might prove to be a more effective approach to motivate lower-level employees toward compliance and that enhancing the meaningfulness of policy compliance could be the preferred method among higher levels of management. Members within each level of the organization can be effectively influenced to comply with ISPs when such strategies are customized for their level.     

Day- and shiftworkers’ leisure time

Cross-sectional studies of working and living conditions were conducted in two Brazilian petrochemical plants between 1988-1989. This paper presents analyses of reported activities undertaken during day- and shiftworkers’ leisure time. One hundred and sixteen workers (67 continuous shiftworkers) daily logged standard protocols of all leisure activities, for three consecutive weeks. Workers logged 11957 instances grouped in 27 different activities. The 14 most commonly mentioned leisure activities were analysed. Those most reported were meals with the family (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and home TV viewing. Usingχ² statistics, the results showed that the two factors studied—activities and work schedules (day and shift)—were not related. Analysing estimated coefficients of a second order log linear model, only a very few of the 14 activities most mentioned, did not differ in their frequencies between day and shiftworkers of the same plant. The same happened with the 12 activities most-mentioned of both plants: shiftworkers and dayworkers showed significant differences (p<0.0001) on almost all frequencies of those activities mentioned. Hypotheses are made to explain some of the results. Home placement, and types of shiftwork schedules (weekly or swiftly rotating shifts) can be responsible for some of the activities performed during the workers’ leisure time. Further investigation of those activities which are disturbed or cannot be performed due to work schedules is suggested.     

Body and Shoal of Effects ’Fish’CG人鱼奇观

“鱼儿”跃出海面，快速而从容的在空中划出弧线，然而，你居然发现，那不是真正的鱼儿，而是和鱼儿一模一样的人类，双手为鳍，双腿为尾的“人鱼”……     

Bilateral Trade and ‘Small-World’ Networks

Trade requires search, negotiation, and exchange, which are activities thatabsorb resources. Thispaper investigates how different trade networks attend to these activities.An artificial marketis constructed in which autonomous agents endowed with a stock of goods seekout partners,negotiate a price, and then trade with the agent offering the best deal.Different trade networksare imposed on the system by restricting the set of individuals with whom anagent cancommunicate. We then compare the path to the eventual equilibrium as well asthe equilibriumcharacteristics of each trade network to see how each system dealt with thetasks of search,negotiation, and exchange.Initially, all agents are free to trade with any individual in the globalmarket. In such a world,global resources are optimally allocated with few trades, but only after atremendous amount ofsearch and negotiation. If trade is restricted within disjoint localboundaries, search is simple butglobal efficiency elusive. However, a hybrid model in which most agents tradelocally but a fewagents trade globally results in an economy that quickly reaches a Paretooptimal equilibriumwith significantly lower search and negotiation costs. Such small-worldnetworks occur innature and may help explain the ease with which most of us acquire goods fromaround theworld. We also show that there are private incentives for such a system toarise.     

Fermat’s last theorem and chaoticity

Proving that a dynamical system is chaotic is a central problem in chaos theory (Hirsch in Chaos, fractals and dynamics, 1985]. In this note we apply the computational method developed in (Calude and Calude in Complex Syst 18:267?C285, 2009; Calude and Calude in Complex Syst 18:387?C401, 2010; Calude et al in J Multi Valued Log Soft Comput 12:285?C307, 2006) to show that Fermat??s last theorem is in the lowest complexity class ${{\mathfrak C}_{U,1}}$ . Using this result we prove the existence of a two-dimensional Hamiltonian system for which the proof that the system has a Smale horseshoe is in the class ${{\mathfrak C}_{U,1}}$ , i.e. it is not too complex.     

From Dubins’ car to Reeds and Shepp’s mobile robot

In the paper, a control system with intermediate dynamics between Dubins’ car and Reeds and Shepp’s mobile robot is investigated. Time-limited reachable sets and reachable sets at given time are computed. Families of semipermeable curves that are useful for the detection of jumps of the value function of time-optimal control problem are constructed. Research is partly supported by the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research under Grants 06-01-00414 and 07-01-96085.     

The Interplay Between the Speaker’s and the Hearer’s Perspective

The neutralization of contrasts in form or meaning that is sometimes observed in language production and comprehension is at odds with the classical view that language is a systematic one-to-one pairing of forms and meanings. This special issue is concerned with patterns of forms and meanings in language. The papers in this special issue arose from a series of workshops that were organized to explore variants of bidirectional Optimality Theory and Game Theory as models of the interplay between the speaker’s and the hearer’s perspective.     

Big Data in Experimental Mechanics and Model Order Reduction: Today’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Opportunities

Since the turn of the century experimental solid mechanics has undergone major changes with the generalized use of images. The number of acquired data has literally exploded and one of today’s challenges is related to the saturation of mining procedures through such big data sets. With respect to digital image/volume correlation one of tomorrow’s pathways is to better control and master this data flow with procedures that are optimized for extracting the sought information with minimum uncertainties and maximum robustness. In this paper emphasis is put on various hierarchical identification procedures. Based on such structures a posteriori model/data reductions are performed in order to ease and make the exploitation of the experimental information far more efficient. Some possibilities related to other model order reduction techniques like the proper generalized decomposition are discussed and new opportunities are sketched.     

Multidimensional BIBO stability and Jury’s conjecture

Twenty years ago E. I. Jury conjectured by analogy to the case of digital filters that a two-dimensional analog filter is BIBO stable if its transfer function has the form H = 1/P where P is a very strict Hurwitz polynomial (VSHP). In more detail he conjectured that the impulse response of the filter is an absolutely integrable function. However, he did not specify the exact equations of these filters and did not prove the existence of the impulse response. In the present paper we generalise Jury’s conjecture to arbitrary proper transfer functions H = Q/P where P is a bivariate VSHP and prove this generalisation. In particular, we show the existence of a suitable impulse response or fundamental solution for any multivariate proper rational function. However, this impulse response is a measure and not a function. We have not succeeded to prove an analogue of Jury’s conjecture in higher dimensions than two yet, but we propose a new conjecture in context with the robustly stable multivariate polynomials investigated by Kharitonov et. al. For the discrete case we prove that the structurally stable rational functions after Bose, Lin et al. coincide with the stable rational functions discussed in context with the stabilisation of discrete input/output systems. These rational functions are BIBO stable, but the converse is not true as established by several authors. Financial support of M. Scheicher through the Austrian FWF-project P18974 is gratefully acknowledged.     

Continuously Parameterized Symmetries and Buchberger’s Algorithm

Systems of polynomial equations often have symmetries. In solving such a system using Buchberger’s algorithm, the symmetries are neglected. Incorporating symmetries into the solution process enables us to solve larger problems than with Buchberger’s algorithm alone. This paper presents a method that shows how this can be achieved and also gives an algorithm that brings together continuously parameterized symmetries with Buchberger’s algorithm.     

Kernel Fuzzy Kohonen’s Clustering Neural Network and It’s Recursive Learning

The architecture of multilayer kernel clustering neuro-fuzzy system and algorithm of its self-learning are intended for the recovery of overlapped clusters in situations when the streams of observations are fed in the online mode is proposed. The designed system, based on the T. Kohonen’s self-organizing map, permits to recover linearly nonseparated data classes, processes information in an online mode, doesn’t suffer from the “curse of dimensionality” and is easy in implementation.     

Of ‘knowing science’ and of ‘doing science’: A reaffirmation of the tacit and the affective in science and science education

Abstract:

Most of school science concentrates on helping students gain a knowledge and understanding of explicit science, which may subsequently be tested in examinations. It presents a picture of science as a secure body of knowledge, gained by scientists working according to the standard procedures of science. In this paper I stress a different model of science: the looseness of the knowledge held, the idiosyncratic methods by which it is obtained, and the personal way in which it is used to solve problems. I also stress the importance of tacit knowledge and the affective driving force, which describe the personal knowledge that scientists both hold and utilize; I analyse the nature of authentic science in terms of the type of knowledge that scientists know and the way in which scientists work. The arguments for and against such authentic science in schools are considered, together with the factors limiting its practicality. Influenced by the writing of Polanyi, Hodgkin, and Claxton and by experience of, and researches into, students doing problem‐solving projects in schools, I argue that it is desirable, and possible, to incorporate some such authentic science into the school science curriculum. In spite of many unsympathetic pressures acting on current schooling, I believe that there is a vital need to reaffirm the importance of the tacit and the affective in school science.     

Innovations in science education: Challenging and changing teachers’ roles and beliefs

Abstract:

This qualitative case study sought to identify and explore new roles adopted by three science teachers when the context of teaching and learning science was drastically changed. The study was conducted in a school utilizing student‐centred, self‐paced learning, where traditional classrooms have been replaced by subject‐specific resource areas and seminar rooms. Students do not follow a fixed daily schedule; instead, they plan their own school day and move freely between resource areas at self‐directed, often irregular intervals, according to daily and weekly goals. Through interviews, classroom observation, and personal journals, the study explored the ways in which the teachers perceived and implemented their roles in the changed context.     

Social Media Technologies’ Use for the Competitive Information and Knowledge Sharing,and Its Effects on Industrial SMEs’ Innovation

ABSTRACT

The effective use of technologies supporting decision making is essential to companies’ survival. Recent studies analyzed social media technologies (SMT) in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), contributing to the discussion on SMT benefits from the marketing perspective. This article focuses on the effects of SMT use on innovation. Our findings provide empirical evidence on the positive effects of SMT use for acquiring external information and for sharing knowledge and innovation performance.     

System analysts’ orientations and perceptions of system failure

System analysts approach tasks with different orientations to their actions. Likewise, system failures are perceived to be because of a variety of causes. A survey of 239 analysts is conducted to explore the similarities between these orientations and perceptions of failure reasons. The findings indicate that analysts’ perceptions of failure reasons and their approach to development fall along similar lines. This trait enables information system management to select project teams to help avoid failures. The variety of orientations needed for success can be chosen from within the organization or training of analysts can be targeted more effectively to consider missing elements based on current orientations.     

Customers’ Intention and Adoption of Telebanking in Jordan

This study investigates the factors influencing customers’ intention and adoption of telebanking in Jordan. The proposed model integrated perceived risk with the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. The results show that behavioral intention is significantly influenced by performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, price value, and perceived risk. Implications for practitioners, research limitations, and future directions are also discussed further in this article.     

Maxwell’s reciprocal diagrams and discrete Michell frames

This paper unites two major legacies of James Clerk Maxwell’s ground-breaking paper, “On Reciprocal Figures, Frames, and Diagrams of Forces” (Maxwell, Philos Mag 26:250-261, 1864; Edinb Roy Soc Proc 7:160–208, 1870): (i) the fundamental theorem used by Michell (Philos Mag 8(47):589–597, 1904) to derive trusses of least weight and (ii) reciprocal frames. This paper presents some remarkable relationships between discrete Michell frames and their corresponding reciprocal force polygons using Graphic Statics. Several examples are given to illustrate the notions of duality and self-reciprocity in these diagrams, with particular emphasis placed on discrete optimal benchmark structures. For a given connectivity of nodes, Graphic Statics provides all of the information needed to determine the total load path of the structure in the form and force diagrams. Because the form and force diagrams are reciprocal, in the course of finding one minimum load path structure, a second minimum load path structure is also found. These observations between the corresponding form and force diagrams are generalized for discrete cantilever Michell frames, and several comments on the extensions of this work are included.