Conceptualization,measurement, and application of semantic transparency in visual notations

Numerous visual notations are present in technical and business domains. Notations have to be cognitively effective to ease the planning, documentation, and communication of the domains’ concepts. Semantic transparency (ST) is one of the elementary principles that influence notations’ cognitive effectiveness. However, the principle is criticized for not being well defined and challenges arise in the evaluations and applications of ST. Accordingly, this research’s objectives were to answer how the ST principle is defined, operationalized, and evaluated in present notations as well as applied in the design of new notations in ICT and related areas. To meet these objectives, a systematic literature review was conducted with 94 studies passing the selection process criteria. The results reject one of the three aspects, which define semantic transparency, namely “ST is achieved with the use of icons.” Besides, taxonomies of related concepts and research methods, evaluation metrics, and other findings from this study can help to conduct verifiable ST-related experiments and applications, consequently improving the visual vocabularies of notations and effectiveness of the resulting diagrams.

     

A hybrid tactile sensor-based obstacle overcoming method for hexapod walking robots

Intelligent Service Robotics - Walking robots are considered as a promising solution for locomotion across irregular or rough terrain. While wheeled or tracked robots require flat surface like...     

Cu/MgO界面位错的高分辨电子显微镜研究

用高分辨透射电子显微镜对内氧化产生的Cu/MgO界面进行了研究，观察到了取向关系相同的两种不同界面。并运用近重位点阵模型对其界面结构进行了研究，求出了失配位错的3个Burgers矢量和次级位错的3个Burgers矢量，它们分别为：b1^→=1/4[011]MgO,b2^→=1/2[100]Cu,b3^→=1/4[01^-1]MgO;b1^→′=1/12[101]Cu(或1／99[755]MgO),b2^→′=1/12[101^-]Cu（或1/99[75^-5^-]MgO),b3^→′=1/6[010]Cu(或1／10[01^-1]MgO)失配位错之间的距离与实验测量结果符合得很好。     

Eliciting positive user experiences with self-service kiosks: pursuing possibilities

Although the prominent concept of the last decade – user experience – maintains its significance in diverse disciplines, especially design, its focus has changed to eliciting positive user experiences by pursuing new possibilities for consumer products rather than by solely seeking solutions to existing problems. Designers continue to aim for rich user experiences with a variety of products, but have neglected self-service (interactive) kiosks. Hence, this paper, after giving a brief overview of the positive psychology literature, demonstrates the dimensions of positive user experiences with self-service kiosks through an empirical study conducted on coffee vending machines and automated tellers.     

Using static suffix array in dynamic application: Case of text compression by longest first substitution

Over the last decade, enhanced suffix arrays (ESA) have replaced suffix trees in many applications. Algorithms based on ESAs require less space, while allowing the same time efficiency as those based on suffix trees. However, this is only true when a suffix structure is used as a static index. Suffix trees can be updated faster than suffix arrays, which is a clear advantage in applications that require dynamic indexing. We show that for some dynamic applications a suffix array and the derived LCP-interval tree can be used in such a way that the actual index updates are not necessary. We demonstrate this in the case of grammar text compression with longest first substitution and provide the source code. The proposed algorithm has O(N²)$O(N^2)$ worst case time complexity but runs in O(N)$O(N)$ time in practice.     

Prediction of the natural gas consumption in chemical processing facilities with genetic programming

Cinkarna Ltd. is a chemical processing company in Slovenia and the country’s largest manufacturer of titanium oxides (TiO₂). Chemical processing and titanium oxide manufacturing in particular requires high natural gas consumption, and it is difficult to accurately pre-order gas from suppliers. In accordance with the Energy Agency of the Republic of Slovenia regulations, each natural gas supplier regulates and determines the charges for the differences between the ordered (predicted) and the actually supplied quantities of natural gas. Yearly charges for these differences total 1.11 % of supplied natural gas costs (average 50,960 EUR per year). This paper presents natural gas consumption prediction and the minimization of associated costs. The data on daily temperature, steam boilers, sulfur acid and TiO₂ production was collected from January 2012 until November 2014. Based on the collected data, a linear regression and a genetic programming model were developed. Compared to the specialist’s prediction of natural gas consumption, the linear regression and genetic programming models reduce the charges for the differences between the ordered and the actually supplied quantities by 3.00 and 5.30 times, respectively. Also, from January until November 2014 the same genetic programming model was used in practice. The results show that in a similar gas consumption regime the differences between the ordered and the actually supplied quantities are statistically significant, namely, they are 3.19 times lower (t test, p < 0.05) than in the period in which the specialist responsible for natural gas consumption made the predictions.     

Gait Generation and Stabilization for Nearly Passive Dynamic Walking Using Auto‐distributed Impulses

We propose a state feedback control design via linearization for flexible walking on flat ground. First, we generate nearly passive limit cycles, being stable or not, using impulsive toe‐off actuations. The term ‘nearly passive’ means that the dynamics is completely passive almost everywhere except at the toe‐off moment. A feature of our gait generation method is that walking gaits are characterized only by amounts of supplied energy, and we observe that other variables, including input torques, are auto‐balanced via our method. After gait generation, we design a feedback controller considering robustness and input saturation. As a result, each limit cycle can be matched with its respective controller classified only by energy levels. We have verified that walking speeds monotonically increase by adding more energy, and the ankle joint plays a significant role in compass‐gait walking. Finally, instead of applying impulsive torques, we discuss a practical issue regarding realistic control inputs that ensure stable gait transitions as energy levels are elevated.     

Business Intelligence Acceptance: The Prominence of Organizational Factors

The specifics of business intelligence systems compared to operational IS motivate the necessity to research the business intelligence systems acceptance determinants separately. The authors followed an exploratory approach in order to conceptualize a business intelligence acceptance model. Their findings show that in the Business Intelligence Systems context, there is a significant emphasis on organizational factors, such as result demonstrability, social influence, and facilitating conditions with sufficient resources that help build an adequate information culture all substantially influencing the effective acceptance of business intelligence systems.