Distributed Behavior Trees for Heterogeneous Robot Teams

Heterogeneous Robot Teams can provide a wide range of capabilities and therefore significant benefits when handling a mission. However, they also require new approaches to capability and mission definition that are not only suitable to handle heterogeneous capabilities but furthermore allow a combination or distribution of them with a coherent representation that is not limiting the individual robot. Behavior Trees offer many of the required properties, are growing in popularity for robot control and have been proposed for multirobot coordination, but always as separate behavior tree, defined in advance and without consideration for a changing team. In this paper, we propose a new behavior tree approach that is capable to handle complex real world robotic missions and is geared towards a distributed execution by providing built in functionalities for cost calculation, subtree distribution and data wiring. We present a formal definition, its open source implementation as ros_bt_py library and experimental verification of its capabilities.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the IEEE 19th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (IEEE CASE 2023

Manual for the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC)

Over years of using MISC 1 we have learned much about which categories were redundant or unreliable, and also about which processes are most important to the effectiveness of MI. The MISC has also helped us to clarify the points at which skill acquisition in MI is more challenging. Based on this experience, we have developed Version 2.0, which is intended to improve on the original MISC in reliability, efficiency, and relevance to training and clinical practice. A disadvantage of revising an instrument, of course, is that one must start over in demonstrating its reliability and validity. Although many strong features of MISC 1.0 have been retained, we have also made substantive changes that we believe will further strengthen this instrument. In the interim, while we are studying the characteristics of this new version, it may be desirable for some purposes to continue using MISC 1, which has known psychometric properties. Section A outlines the significant changes that have been introduced with MISC 2.0 and the rationale for these changes

A terminal assessment of stages theory : introducing a dynamic states approach to entrepreneurship

Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and developmental models of that time. An analysis of the universe of such models (N=104) published in the management literature shows no consensus on basic constructs of the approach, nor is there any empirical confirmations of stages theory. However, by changing two propositions of the stages models, a new dynamic states approach is derived. The dynamic states approach has far greater explanatory power than its precursor, and is compatible with leading edge research in entrepreneurship

Marketing, art and voices of dissent: promotional methods of protest art by the 2014 Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement

Limited research exists around the interrelationships between protest camps and marketing practices. In this paper, we focus on the 2014 Hong Kong protest camps as a context where artistic work was innovatively developed and imaginatively promoted to draw global attention. Collecting and analyzing empirical data from the Umbrella Movement, our findings explore the interrelationships between arts marketing technologies and the creativity and artistic expression of the protest camps so as to inform, update and rethink arts marketing theory itself. We discuss how protesters used public space to employ inventive methods of audience engagement, participation and co-creation of artwork, together with media art projects which aimed not only to promote their collective aims but also to educate and inform citizens. While some studies have already examined the function of arts marketing beyond traditional and established artistic institutions, our findings offer novel insights into the promotional techniques of protest art within the occupied space of a social movement. Finally, we suggest avenues for future research around the artwork of social movements that could highlight creative and political aspects of (arts) marketing theory

Exploring the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of Four Thriving Early Career Teachers in Saskatchewan

Governments and institutions who train teachers have developed high performing systems, which aim to advance teaching competencies (i.e. knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and strengthen teacher quality and capacity for resilience (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; O’Flaherty & Beal 2018). These systems incorporate personal, interpersonal, and pedagogical abilities and support the development of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skill sets, designed to strengthen teaching practice in support of student learning and well-being. Despite sufficient preparation, the occupation of teaching is known for moderate to high rates of attrition, with stress and burnout as factors that cause up to half of new teachers to leave the profession within the first five years (Canadian Teacher’s Federation, 2014; Kutsyuruba, Walker, Stasel, & Al Makhamreh, 2019). In Saskatchewan, teaching competencies are regulated through provincial standards, which outline goals to support teacher education in several domains (Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation; Saskatchewan Ministry of Education; Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board). The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn from the lives and experiences of four early career teachers (ECTs) in Saskatchewan, who, despite facing adversity, were thriving in their respective roles. Multiple sourses of data (observations, interviews, journals) were analyzed thematically through an interpretive case study supporting an understanding of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the four thriving ECTs. Though each faced challenges, they displayed strengths that helped them to be confident and competent educators. The results highlighted the needs of early career teachers by sharing a perspective that is less understood in the literature. A thematic analysis culminated in themes conducive to implications for a thriving teaching practice

The Relationship Of Student Achievement To Prinicpals\u27 Self-reported Use Of The Four Frame Theory

This study was developed to provide information about the relationship of principals\u27 use of Bolman and Deal\u27s (1991) four frame model of leadership to student achievement. The collection and analysis of student Florida Comprehensive Assessment Testing (FCAT) data over a 2 year period served as a measure to indicate whether or not an increase in reading mean scale score occurred from 2004 to 2005. Comparative analysis of both sets of data using multiple regressions was used to determine if there was a relationship between the self-reported leadership orientations of the principals and student achievement. In addition, the study was intended to contribute to the quantitative data produced concerning the use of the four frames, multi-framing and reframing by elementary and secondary leadership. Principals in this study were surveyed concerning their use of the structural, human resource, political and symbolic frames of leadership using the Leadership Orientations (Self) instrument constructed by Bolman and Deal (1990). The only restriction concerning usability of the returned survey was that the principal had to be at the same school during the 2004 and 2005 school years. Of the 52 surveys returned, 42 (73%) formed the population for this study. This study found that the human resource frame was used most often but that 59% of the elementary teachers and 93% of the secondary teachers multi-framed on a regular basis. The study also found that that the use of the political frame and symbolic frame has increased. The self-reported data indicated no difference in effectiveness as a leader or as a manager, unlike previous data which indicated that leaders and managers worked from different frames to effect organizational policies. The analysis of data also indicated that there was no difference in frame use between elementary and secondary principals. The data indicated no relationship between the principals\u27 frame usage and student achievement as measured by increases in FCAT Reading mean scale scores for the years 2004 and 2005. The implications of this finding are that there are other variables than use of the four frame model that contribute to an increase in FCAT mean scale scores. These emergent factors within and without the organization that is the public school system transcend what the data show in this case. Based on the findings of this study and supported by the literature review, it appears that school organizations could benefit leadership practice and possibly student achievement by providing training in the political and symbolic frames. It might also be perceived from the data, which indicated no relationship between principals\u27 frame usage and student achievement, that leadership might begin to foster awareness of how successful principals\u27 identify emergent patterns in the system. This ability to guide the diverse and constantly changing educational landscape toward positive adjustments in the system may be best served by those who are most adept at multi-framing and reframing to ensure student achievement

The Leading Journal in the Field: Destabilizing Authority in the Social Sciences of Management

217 p. : il , 20 x 13 cm.Libro ElectrónicoI am often told, “Don’t waste your time reading books, you’d be better off reading the leading journals in your field.” Unfortunately, the authors of this book have closely read some of those articles: examining arguments, with simple principles and words, plus a touch of irony – and a shared belief in ideas and debates. The suspicions that we all have in a part of our head appears in its ugly nakedness: what is this social game that authors in leading management journals play? What grants them their truth effects? This is a book that one should read the day one enters the academic field; and then regularly thereafter so as not to forget.’ Professor Jean-Luc Moriceau, Telecom Business School (France)"A menudo me dijo:" No pierda su tiempo leyendo libros, que sería mejor que la lectura de las revistas líderes en su campo. "Desafortunadamente, los autores de este libro han leído muy de cerca algunos de esos artículos: el examen de los argumentos, con principios simples y palabras, además de un toque de ironía - y la creencia compartida de ideas y debates. Las sospechas de que todos tenemos en una parte de la cabeza aparece en su fea desnudez: ¿qué es este juego social que los autores de revistas líder en gestión de jugar? Lo que les dé efectos de verdad? Este es un libro que uno debe leer el día se entra en el campo académico, y luego periódicamente a partir de entonces, para no olvidar ". Profesor Jean-Luc Moriceau , Telecom Business School (Francia)Contributors vii 1 Introduction 1 2 Towards a Clinical Study of Finance: The DeAngelos and the Redwoods 9 3 Marientbal At Work 35 4 ‘Lessons for Managers and Consultants’: A Reading of Edgar H. Schein’s Process Consultation 61 5 Multiple Failures of Scholarship: Karl Weick and the Mann Gulch Disaster 85 6 The ‘Nature of Man’ and the Science of Organization 103 7 Performativity: From J.L. Austin to Judith Butler 119 8 Four Close Readings on Introducing the Literary in Organizational Research 143 9 From Bourgeois Sociology to Managerial Apologetics: A Tale of Existential Struggle 16

An Autoethnographic Exploration of Hypnotherapeutic Experience

Family therapy researchers have conducted a variety of studies of brief approaches to family therapy (e.g., MRI, Solution Focused, Strategic). However, despite the fact that Milton Erickson’s approach to hypnosis and psychotherapy was a significant influence on these models, few family therapy researchers have studied Ericksonian hypnosis directly. Hypnosis is a way of communicating with the body to elicit psychological and physiological responses that are not organized by conscious awareness (Erickson, 1980i). Hypnosis becomes hypnotherapy when the context and the participants are oriented toward therapeutic change (Flemons, 2002). Employing the methodology of autoethnography (Ellis & Bochner, 2016) and using Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) (Kagan, Krathwohl, & Miller, 1963) to conduct process research, the author explored the experience and understanding of both an Erickson-inspired hypnotherapist, Dr. Eric Greenleaf, and a client (herself) during a hypnotherapy session focused on addressing the issue of anxiety. Informed by what Bruner (1986) called a narrative mode of constructing the world, the author presents a narrative account of what transpired. Her analysis distinguishes six hypnotic holons—parts of a whole that are themselves wholes (Koestler, 1967)—that illuminate the co-creative nature of the hypnotherapeutic experience. Each holon indicates a particular kind of invitation extended by the hypnotherapist, the client’s response to that invitation, and what comes out of the interaction. The author also illuminates the particular qualities that the hypnotherapist brought to the interaction and discusses implications of the study for clinicians and researchers

Juha the Whale

Juha the Whale is a short coming-of-age fiction film that explores the isolation a refugee mother and her young daughter face as they await the status of their claimant hearing in Toronto, Canada. Najah (45) and her daughter Noor (8), spend the days leading up to their hearing in cramped refugee housing, awaiting the verdict, which will determine whether they can remain in Canada or be deported back to war-torn Syria. The story is told through fragmented scenes, conveying a lost sense of time as the hours blend together. Striking visuals capture the alienation of their cramped apartment, while fleeting snapshots of bustling city life from their small bedroom window emphasize their isolation. This domestic reality is juxtaposed with Noors disjointed auditory memories of her father as she struggles to mentally cope with war-related trauma. Through these creative elements, Juha the Whale seeks to authentically portray the complex and desperate experiences of a broken family caught between hope and despair