"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.     

AFM characterization of the structure of Au-colloid monolayers and their chemical etching

Modification of a glass support with triethoxy propylaminosilane yields an active interface for the assembly of Au colloids. The colloids are imaged by AFM using a low applied load (0.5–0.7 nN). The lateral Au-colloid dimensions, 33±3 nm, deviate from the particle dimensions determined by TEM (19±2 nm) and absorption spectroscopy (15 nm). This deviation is attributed to the intrinsic curvature of the AFM tip. Application of higher loads on the tip (3 nN) results in the sweeping of Au colloids from the monolayer. The Au colloid monolayer is etched in the presence of CN⁻. The etching proceeds by the initial coincidental etching of Au particles followed by the kinetically favored etching of particles at the edges of the etched domains. This provides means for the micro machining and the chemical manipulation of Au colloids of controlled spatial arrangement.     

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.     

0.18μm铜金属双重镶嵌工艺中空间成像套刻精度分析

由于空间成像套刻(Overlay)技术的预算随集成电路(IC)设计规范的紧缩而吃紧,因此,Overlay测量技术准确度的重要意义也随之提高。通过对后开发(AfterDevelopDI)阶段和后蚀刻(AfterEtchFI)阶段的Overlay测量结果进行比较,研究了0.18μm设计规范下的铜金属双重镶嵌工艺过程中的Overlay准确度。在确保对同一个晶圆进行后开发(DI)阶段和后蚀刻(FI)阶段测试的条件下,我们对成品晶圆的5个工艺层进行了比较。此外,还利用CD-SEM(线宽-扫描电子显微镜)测量了某个工艺层(PolyGate)上的芯片内Overlay,并与采用分割线方法的光学Overlay测量结果进行了比较。发现对芯片内overlay的校准存在着严重的局限性,即在应用CD-SEM时缺乏合适的结构进行Overlay测量。我们还将继续为大家提供定量的比较结果,同时也会向大家推荐组合的CD-SEM测量结构,使其能够被应用到今后的光刻设计中。     

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.