A physiologically based approach to consciousness

The nature of a scientific theory of consciousness is defined by comparison with scientific theories in the physical sciences. The differences between physical, algorithmic and functional complexity are highlighted, and the architecture of a functionally complex electronic system created to relate system operations to device operations is compared with a scientific theory. It is argued that there are two qualitatively different types of functional architecture, and that electronic systems have the instruction architecture based on exchange of unambiguous information between functional components, and biological brains have been constrained by natural selection pressures into the recommendation architecture based on exchange of ambiguous information. The mechanisms by which a recommendation architecture could heuristically define its own functionality are described, and compared with memory in biological brains. Dream sleep is interpreted as the mechanism for minimizing information exchange between functional components in a heuristically defined functional system. The functional role of consciousness of self is discussed, and the route by which the experience of that function described at the psychological level can be related to physiology through a functional architecture is outlined

CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

Brand gender and cross-gender extensions.

Afin de se développer et de générer des profits, la plupart des marques de luxe utilisent les stratégies d’extension de marque, c'est-à-dire qu’elles essaient de s’introduire dans de nouvelles catégories de produits. En complément, une nouvelle tendance émerge : il s’agit des extensions de segments de marché (par exemple un horlogers masculin visant les femmes). L'objectif de cet article est de discuter du concept du genre de la marque et de son influence potentielle sur les extensions de segments de marché (homme – femme). Plus spécifiquement, nous souhaitons décrire comment les marques féminines s’étendent sur le marché d'hommes et vice-versa. Une recherche qualitative, de type sémiotique structurale, est effectuée sur un échantillon de huit marques de luxe. Les techniques sémiotiques permettent de comprendre les significations profondes du discours des marques au travers de leur communication. Les résultats exploratoires soulignent l'importance de la cohérence entre le genre de la marque et le genre utilisé pour parler au segment de marché opposé. Ce constat fort qui ressort des analyses est en conformité avec la littérature sur les extensions de marque et l’importance de la congruence.In order to develop brands and increase growth, most luxury brands rely on extensions on different product categories. On top of that, the current trend is the cross-gender extensions (eg. Masculine watchmakers targeting female audience). The objective of this paper is to discuss the concept of brand gender and its potential influence in crossover extensions. More specifically, we intend to describe how female brands extend on the men market and vice versa. Using semiotic analysis, a qualitative research is performed on a sample of eight brands. The semiotic techniques allow to understand the deep meanings of their products, communication, web sites and narratives. The exploratory findings highlight the importance of brand consistency in terms of values while addressing both male and female segments. These findings, specific to luxury brands, provide support to the brand extension literature.Luxe; Masculinité; Brand gender; Genre de la marque; Cross-gender extensions; Extensions de segments de marché; Masculinity; Femininity; Luxury; Féminité;

A Functional Architecture Approach to Neural Systems

The technology for the design of systems to perform extremely complex combinations of real-time functionality has developed over a long period. This technology is based on the use of a hardware architecture with a physical separation into memory and processing, and a software architecture which divides functionality into a disciplined hierarchy of software components which exchange unambiguous information. This technology experiences difficulty in design of systems to perform parallel processing, and extreme difficulty in design of systems which can heuristically change their own functionality. These limitations derive from the approach to information exchange between functional components. A design approach in which functional components can exchange ambiguous information leads to systems with the recommendation architecture which are less subject to these limitations. Biological brains have been constrained by natural pressures to adopt functional architectures with this different information exchange approach. Neural networks have not made a complete shift to use of ambiguous information, and do not address adequate management of context for ambiguous information exchange between modules. As a result such networks cannot be scaled to complex functionality. Simulations of systems with the recommendation architecture demonstrate the capability to heuristically organize to perform complex functionality

Towards a Cloud Architectural Decision Framework using Case-Based Reasoning and Rule-Based Reasoning

Correct decision making about the cloud platform architecture is crucial for the success of any cloud migration project; bad decisions can lead to undesirable consequences. Rules Based Reasoning (RBR), a popular approach for solving clearly defined problems, can be used for cloud platform recommendation if a comprehensive set of requirements are available. However, the responsibility of decision-making is increasingly moving away from the hands of the technical subject matter experts, and into the hands of the business sponsors who, despite being the end-all, be-all decision-makers, typically do not have access to sufficient information at the initial stages of the project lifecycle. Therefore, in this paper, we propose combining Case Based Reasoning (CBR) with RBR to assist business sponsors in making strategic decisions between public, private and hybrid cloud with a high level of confidence even at the initial stages of the project

A Framework for Reference Management in the Semantic Web

Much of the semantic web relies upon open and unhindered interoperability between diverse systems. The successful convergence of multiple ontologies and referencing schemes is key. This is hampered by a lack of any means for managing and communicating co-references. We have therefore developed an ontology and framework for the exploration and resolution of potential co-references, in the semantic web at large, that allow the user to a) discover and record uniquely identifying attributes b) interface candidates with and create pipelines of other systems for reference management c) record identified duplicates in a usable and retrievable manner, and d) provide a consistent reference service for accessing them. This paper describes this ontology and a framework of web services designed to support and utilise it

The role of intercultural communicative competence in the development of World Englishes and Lingua Francas

There is a tendency to think of World Englishes in the noun form; as products rather than as processes (implying that one receives both ready-made, controlling the development of neither).Conceptualising World Englishes as processes in which one can participate as an agent raises the question of what skills are needed in their active construction. The author will argue that since culture resides partly in language, the development of intercultural communicative competence (Byram 1997) should play a pivotal role in foreign language education both to preserve cultural and linguistic diversity, facilitating and enhancing intercultural communication in the process. A range of skills considered central to intercultural communicative competence will be presented and illustrated showing how language students can learn to take control over the development not only of language, but of their own identities

Footprints of information foragers: Behaviour semantics of visual exploration

Social navigation exploits the knowledge and experience of peer users of information resources. A wide variety of visual–spatial approaches become increasingly popular as a means to optimize information access as well as to foster and sustain a virtual community among geographically distributed users. An information landscape is among the most appealing design options of representing and communicating the essence of distributed information resources to users. A fundamental and challenging issue is how an information landscape can be designed such that it will not only preserve the essence of the underlying information structure, but also accommodate the diversity of individual users. The majority of research in social navigation has been focusing on how to extract useful information from what is in common between users' profiles, their interests and preferences. In this article, we explore the role of modelling sequential behaviour patterns of users in augmenting social navigation in thematic landscapes. In particular, we compare and analyse the trails of individual users in thematic spaces along with their cognitive ability measures. We are interested in whether such trails can provide useful guidance for social navigation if they are embedded in a visual–spatial environment. Furthermore, we are interested in whether such information can help users to learn from each other, for example, from the ones who have been successful in retrieving documents. In this article, we first describe how users' trails in sessions of an experimental study of visual information retrieval can be characterized by Hidden Markov Models. Trails of users with the most successful retrieval performance are used to estimate parameters of such models. Optimal virtual trails generated from the models are visualized and animated as if they were actual trails of individual users in order to highlight behavioural patterns that may foster social navigation. The findings of the research will provide direct input to the design of social navigation systems as well as to enrich theories of social navigation in a wider context. These findings will lead to the further development and consolidation of a tightly coupled paradigm of spatial, semantic and social navigation