Content providers: “I was framed” [copyright]

Content providers (owners of copyright in literary material) have challenged the practice of making hyperlinks to their Internet Web sites. Some contend that any unauthorized provision of a link to their Web pages is copyright infringement. The author looks at the issues involved     

Reading the Academic Library Blog Through the Lens of Genre Theory: A Preliminary Discussion

ABSTRACT

This article is a theoretical discussion that introduces examining the emerging library blog of the public academic library from the approach of genre theory. Genre theory classifies texts not only by form but by the social actions performed, a definition developed by Carol Miller. Public and private spheres are found to intersect in the library blog, complicating the traditional role of the librarian as objective information provider.     

(Russian) Writer‐Bloggers: Digital Perfection and the Aesthetics of Imperfection

This article explores readings of (micro)blogging services as outlets for playful, “imperfect” language. Adopting a transcultural approach, it examines a blog category that has attracted scarce academic attention to date: the creative worker's blog. Through a qualitative analysis of metalinguistic statements by 14 Russian writer‐bloggers, the author tests 2 interdependent hypotheses: (H1) through metalinguistic statements and pragmatic strategies, writers present language play and “imperfect” language as prototypical for new media; and (H2) If H1 is correct, the writer‐blogger's preference for “imperfect” language caters into a broader cultural‐philosophical anxiety – one of foregrounding imperfection as an aesthetic counterresponse to digital perfection.     

Examining pre‐service teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge as evolving knowledge domains: A longitudinal approach

The aim of this study is to outline the development and changes in pre‐service teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) assessments during the first 3 years in teacher education. Specifically, research was conducted at three measurement points over a 3‐year teacher education period. The target group consisted of pre‐service teachers (N = 148) from three Finnish universities. Results indicate a growth in confidence related to all TPACK areas during the research period. The strongest gains were in pedagogical content knowledge. In addition, the gains were larger in other areas related to pedagogical knowledge than areas related to technology or content knowledge. In areas without pedagogical knowledge, the changes were more moderate. In the discussion section, recommendations are provided on the potential of longitudinal use of the TPACK model to study and improve the development of pre‐service teachers' TPACK.     

增加[Δ]算子的Gödel[n]值命题逻辑系统理论的平均真度

在添加了[Δ]算子Gödeln值命题逻辑系统中,给出了Gödel[n]值命题逻辑系统中有限理论的平均真度的定义,给出了该系统下的一些重要结论并给予证明,验证了在该系统下平均真度的一些基本性质,为进一步在该系统下研究平均真度奠定了基础。     

Comments on “Analysis and design of fuzzy controller andfuzzy observer” [and reply]

The main advantage of Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy model is the ability to approximate the nonlinear systems from the input-output data without the complex mathematical equations. In order to obtain TS fuzzy model from the input-output data, all the system variables should be measurable. Therefore, in case of TS fuzzy model-based control, the observer design is of no good except the very special case. In this correspondence, we show this fact by analyzing the problems of the above paper by Ma et al. (ibid. vol.6 (1998)). In reply, Ma et al. point out that: 1) for TS fuzzy model, it is not necessary to make all the system variables measurable; 2) no accuracy is needed for the fuzzy model; and 3) the nonlinearities of the plant (31) given in the paper are the functions of variables x₁, x₂ and x₄     

Examining Artificial and Human Intelligence [review of Thinking about Android Epistemology; Ford, K.M. et al.; 2006]

This article reviews Thinking about Android Epistemology, edited by Kenneth M. Ford, Clark Glymour, and Patrick J. Hayes.     

OLEDs based on an europium(IIIrpar; complex: {Tris(thenoyltrifluoroacetonate)[1,2,5]‐thiadiazolo[3,4‐f] [1,10]phenanthroline}europium(III)

Abstract— The contribution of radiative and non‐radiative processes to the electroluminescence emission of OLEDs based on Eu‐complex, {tris(thenoyltrifluoroacetone)[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4‐f][1,10]phenanthroline} europium(III), [Eu(TTA)³TDZP], which acts as transporting and emitting layers, is investigated. The Eu‐complex presented an intense photoluminescence with high color purity in the red region, characteristic of the Eu(III) ⁵D⁰ → ⁷F² narrow line transition. However, when used in a double‐layered OLED its electroluminescence showed additional undesired broad bands, which can be attributed to the possible electrophosphorescence of the ligand and to an inefficient energy transfer from the organic ligand to the Eu(III). The characteristic narrow lines could be achieved using a co‐deposited active layer with the Eu‐complex acting as a dopant in a matrix comprised of 4,4’‐bis(carbazol‐9‐yl)biphenyl (CBP).     

Comments on Singh and Zeng: “Approximation theory of fuzzysystems-SISO case” [and reply]

The author comments on the paper by Singh and Zeng (see ibid., vol.2, no.2, p.162-76, 1994). He states that every bounded function f: R→R has an exact representation as an additive fuzzy system. If f is not constant, one fuzzy set and two rules define the system. Otherwise, a single rule suffices. This result shows that the approximation properties of one-input fuzzy systems derive solely from interpolation between output extrema. The basis for the interpolation at any point is the value of the input fuzzy sets at that point. In reply Singh and Zeng state that in the comments by Watkins, it is proven that every SISO function can be exactly represented by a fuzzy system, which implies that fuzzy approximation (i.e., to approximate functions by fuzzy systems) is unnecessary or moot. However, they state that this conclusion is invalid because his presented representation scheme does not meet the basic requirements in the applications of fuzzy systems and is impractical     

Comments regarding “On stability of interval matrices”[with reply]

We note that several of the results on Schur-stability of interval matrices in the above paper by Sezer-Siljak (ibid. vol.39) can be viewed as special cases of results obtained in a more general framework, and some of the latter were previously reported in the literature. In reply, Sezer-Siljak response to the issues raised in the comment     

Accelerating Robot Development Through Integral Analysis of Human–Robot Interaction

The development of interactive robots is a complicated process, involving a plethora of psychological, technical, and contextual influences. To design a robot capable of operating ldquointelligentlyrdquo in everyday situations, one needs a profound understanding of human-robot interaction (HRI). We propose an approach based on integral analysis of multimodal data to pursue this understanding and support interdisciplinary research and development in the field of robotics. To adopt this approach, a software tool named interaction debugger was developed that features user-friendly navigation, browsing, searching, viewing, and annotation of data; it enables fine-grained inspection of the HRI. In four case studies, we demonstrated how our analysis approach aids the development process of interactive robots.     

Comments on “Nonparametric segmentation of curves intovarious representations” [and reply]

The author points out the existence of a theoretical difficulty that underlies the curve segmentation problem studied in the work of Rosin and West (ibid., vol.17, no.12, p.1140-53, 1995) and present a possible solution to it. The problem arises because curves are segmented into low- and high-order features, and the former are a subset of the latter. In reply, Rosin and West discuss the advantages and disadvantages of two approaches to model selection: their original heuristic sequential method, and the information theoretic method suggested by Kanatani and others     

Comments on “The unreasonable effectiveness of neural networkapproximation” [and reply]

This paper discusses the misleading nature of the rate of approximation result reported in the paper by Dingankar (ibid. vol.44, 1999). In reply, Dingankar explains why the original statement of the theorem in that paper is correct as it stands, and clarifies the statements in the original paper. He points out how a proper understanding of the terminology resolves the first objection of the commentator and briefly outlines the directions he is pursuing in a separate research based on the second and the third recommendations     

Maya: “So ya wanna be a rock 'n roll star” revisited[animation product]

In 1995, the company today known as Alias/Wavefront (A/W) held a press conference to announce its next-generation animation product, Maya. A/W claimed this future 3D animation tool would increasingly serve the artist, not the other way around. Maya addressed a basic problem: When artists working at a drafting table reach for a new pencil, they never look away from the part of the drawing they're working on. Artists at a workstation, on the other hand, must divert their eyes to choose the next tool from a series of nested menus. A/W concluded it should design its next-generation graphical user interface (GUI) around the notion of not forcing the artist to look away from the work area to keep working. One possible solution would organize the menus based on a compass metaphor (North, South, East, and West). Maya 1.0 for Irix was released in January 1998. It kept faith with the GUI promises, but implemented them in a different way: nested menus radiate in a compass layout centered on the current cursor position, allowing the eye to remain on the subject. Maya contains many features from A/W's flagship product, Power Animator, famous for its contributions to Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park among other films. It's both a character animation system and a soft/hard body dynamics environment. It will eventually replace Power Animator and include new technologies     

Comments on “Geodesic saliency of watershed contours andhierarchical segmentation” [and reply]

In a paper on morphological image segmentation, Najman and Schmitt (1996) introduce the powerful concept of edge dynamics. In this communication, we show that the method that they propose to compute the edge dynamics gives erroneous results for certain spatial configurations, and we propose a new algorithm which always yields correct edge dynamics. The reply presents in detail the algorithm of the watershed, which have been sketched in the original article and criticized in the comment. First, the formal definition of the flooding list, the key data structure of the algorithm, is given. Then, the construction of this flooding list and of the watershed are described and proved     

Comments on “Robust stability of linear systems with delayedperturbations” [and reply]

This paper comments on the result of the paper by Kim (ibid. vol.41 (1996)). The estimate of the stability robustness of linear time-delay systems in that paper is compared with the one which is solved in a Riccati matrix inequality framework. In reply, Kim acknowledge that his result needs the selection of a matrix Q and a scalar α which maximize the bound η_k0(Q, α). The result proposed by Ooba-Funahashi, that does not need this selection, is summarized     

Comments on “Design of supervised classifiers using Booleanneural networks” [and reply]

Gazula and Kabuka (1995) describe a binary neural network which implements a nonparametric statistical classifier. However, they implement a kernel-based classifier rather than k-nearest-neighbors, as stated in their paper. The commenter states that some other aspects of their paper are not clear. One of the original authors replies to points made by the commenter