Semiotic Annotation of Narrative Video Commercials: Bridging the Gap between Artifacts and Ontologies

Drawing on semiotic theories, the paper proposes a new concept of annotation \u2013 called semiotic annotation \u2013 whose goal is to describe the multilayered articulation of meaning inscribed within narrative video commercials by their designers. The approach exploits the use of a meta-model of the narrative video genre providing the conceptualizations and the vocabulary for analysis and annotation. By explicating design knowledge embodied in the video, semiotic annotation plays the role of intermediate level knowledge between the meta-model (an informal ontology) and practice (the concrete video artifact). In order to assess the feasibility of the approach, a test bed is presented and results are reported. A final discussion about the potential contribution of semiotic annotation in the fields of Research Through Design, Technological Mediation, and Interface Criticism concludes the study

Mediation of semantic web services in IRS-III

Business applications composed of heterogeneous distributed components or Web services need mediation to resolve data and process mismatches at runtime. This paper describes mediation in IRS-III, a framework and platform for developing WSMO-based Semantic Web Services. We present our approach to mediation within Semantic Web Services and highlight the role of WSMO mediator types when solving mismatches at the semantic level between a service requester and a service provider. We describe the components of our mediation framework and how it can handle data, goal and process mediation during the activities of selection, composition and invocation of Semantic Web Services

Supersymmetry Breaking and Gauge Mediation

We review recent works on supersymmetry breaking and gauge mediation. We survey our current understanding of dynamical supersymmetry breaking mechanisms and describe new model building tools using duality, meta-stability, and stringy construction. We discuss phenomenological constraints and their solutions, paying attentions to issues with gaugino masses and electroweak symmetry breaking.Comment: 42 pages, 9 figures, invited review to appear in Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. v2: references adde

Enhancing Social Connectedness in Anxiety and Depression Through Amplification of Positivity: Preliminary Treatment Outcomes and Process of Change.

BackgroundAnxiety and depressive disorders are often characterized by perceived social disconnection, yet evidence-based treatments produce only modest improvements in this domain. The well-established link between positive affect (PA) and social connectedness suggests that directly targeting PA in treatment may be valuable.MethodA secondary analysis of a waitlist-controlled trial (N=29) was conducted to evaluate treatment response and process of change in social connectedness within a 10-session positive activity intervention protocol-Amplification of Positivity (AMP)-designed to increase PA in individuals seeking treatment for anxiety or depression (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02330627). Perceived social connectedness and PA/negative affect (NA) were assessed throughout treatment. Time-lagged multilevel mediation models examined the process of change in affect and connectedness throughout treatment.ResultsThe AMP group displayed significantly larger improvements in social connectedness from pre- to post-treatment compared to waitlist; improvements were maintained through 6-month follow-up. Within the AMP group, increases in PA and decreases in NA both uniquely predicted subsequent increases in connectedness throughout treatment. However, experiencing heightened NA throughout treatment attenuated the effect of changes in PA on connectedness. Improvements in connectedness predicted subsequent increases in PA, but not changes in NA.ConclusionsThese preliminary findings suggest that positive activity interventions may be valuable for enhancing social connectedness in individuals with clinically impairing anxiety or depression, possibly through both increasing positive emotions and decreasing negative emotions

A Meta-Analysis of Procedures to Change Implicit Measures

Using a novel technique known as network meta-analysis, we synthesized evidence from 492 studies (87,418 participants) to investigate the effectiveness of procedures in changing implicit measures, which we define as response biases on implicit tasks. We also evaluated these procedures’ effects on explicit and behavioral measures. We found that implicit measures can be changed, but effects are often relatively weak (|ds| \u3c .30). Most studies focused on producing short-term changes with brief, single-session manipulations. Procedures that associate sets of concepts, invoke goals or motivations, or tax mental resources changed implicit measures the most, whereas procedures that induced threat, affirmation, or specific moods/emotions changed implicit measures the least. Bias tests suggested that implicit effects could be inflated relative to their true population values. Procedures changed explicit measures less consistently and to a smaller degree than implicit measures and generally produced trivial changes in behavior. Finally, changes in implicit measures did not mediate changes in explicit measures or behavior. Our findings suggest that changes in implicit measures are possible, but those changes do not necessarily translate into changes in explicit measures or behavior

Quantifying the behavioural relevance of hippocampal neurogenesis

Few studies that examine the neurogenesis--behaviour relationship formally establish covariation between neurogenesis and behaviour or rule out competing explanations. The behavioural relevance of neurogenesis might therefore be overestimated if other mechanisms account for some, or even all, of the experimental effects. A systematic review of the literature was conducted and the data reanalysed using causal mediation analysis, which can estimate the behavioural contribution of new hippocampal neurons separately from other mechanisms that might be operating. Results from eleven eligible individual studies were then combined in a meta-analysis to increase precision (representing data from 215 animals) and showed that neurogenesis made a negligible contribution to behaviour (standarised effect = 0.15; 95% CI = -0.04 to 0.34; p = 0.128); other mechanisms accounted for the majority of experimental effects (standardised effect = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.74 to 1.38; p = 1.7 $\times 10^{-11}$).Comment: To be published in PLoS ON

Knowledge modelling for integrating semantic web services in e-government applications

Service integration and domain interoperability are the basic requirements in the development of current service-oriented e-Government applications. Semantic Web and, in particular, Semantic Web Service (SWS) technology aim to address these issues. However, the integration between e-Government applications and SWS is not an easy task. We argue that a more complex semantic layer needs to be modeled. The aim of our work is to provide an ontological framework that maps such a semantic layer. In this paper, we describe our approach for creating a project-independent and reusable model, and provide a case study that demonstrates its applicability

Quitting the Boss? The Role of Manager Influence Tactics and Employee Emotional Engagement in Voluntary Turnover

Employees commonly cite their managers’ behavior as the primary reason for quitting their jobs. We sought to extend turnover research by investigating whether two commonly used influence tactics by managers affect their employees’ voluntary turnover and whether employees’ emotional engagement and job satisfaction mediate this relationship. We tested our hypotheses using survey data collected at two time points from a sample of financial services directors and objective lagged turnover data. Using multilevel path modeling, we found that managers’ use of pressure and inspirational appeals had opposite effects on employee voluntary turnover and that employees’ emotional engagement was a significant and unique mediating mechanism even when job satisfaction, the traditional attitudinal predictor of turnover, was also included in the path model. Our findings contribute to turnover research by demonstrating a relationship between specific managerial behaviors and employee turnover and shed light on a key mediating mechanism that explains these effects

People Make the Difference: An Explorative Study on the Relationship between Organizational Practices, Employees’ Resources, and Organizational Behavior Enhancing the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development

The most recent developments in the field of sustainability science and the emergence of a psychologyofsustainabilityandsustainabledevelopmenthavecontributedtocollectevidencesabout the fact that modern organizations need healthy and motivated employees to survive and to prosper within this fast-moving scenario. In this vein, a confirmation to these evidences came from the abundant research on HEalthy and Resilient Organizations (HERO), showing that when organizations make systematic, planned, and proactive efforts to improve employees’ subjective resources then organizational processes and outcomes benefit in turn. Moving forward from these premises, the presentstudyaimedtoexploretheseassumptionswithinthecontextofsmallandmediumenterprises (SMEs), investigating the relationships among the organizational practices, employees’ subjective resources, and organizational behaviors. Two hundred and thirty-six participants working in SMEs located in the south of Italy took part. They were invited to fill in a questionnaire investigating their perception of organizational resources and practices (autonomy, leadership, communication, organizational mindfulness, and commitment to resilience), of their individual resources (work engagement and psychological capital), and finally, of some organizational outcomes (extra-role behavior). Results showed that psychological capital was a significant mediator of the relationship betweenemployees’perceptionoftheorganizationalresourcesandpracticesandextra-rolebehaviors. Concrete implications of these conclusions in terms of human resource management (HRM) are discussed together with limitations of the study and future developments

The conduct and reporting of mediation analysis in recently published randomized controlled trials : results from a methodological systematic review

Objectives: To describe the methodological characteristics of mediation analyses (MAs) reported in recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and to propose recommendations on the planning, conduct, and reporting of MAs in practice. Study Design and Setting: We conducted a systematic review by searching MEDLINE (January 1, 2017, to December 1, 2018) for all reports of RCTs or secondary analyses of previously published RCTs that reported a MA. Two reviewers independently screened the title, abstracts, and full texts of the identified reports and extracted the data from the 98 eligible studies. Results: MAs were nearly always (96%) based on a traditional mediation approach. Most studies did not report a sample size calculation for the MA (96%) or assess potential treatment-by-mediator interactions (96%). In 53% of studies, mediators and outcomes were simultaneously measured. In 57% of studies, mediator-mediator and mediator-outcome confounders were adjusted for in the analysis, although adjustment was often limited to few potential confounders. About 30% of studies discussed the assumptions underlying the MA. Conclusion: The conduct and reporting of MAs remained quite heterogeneous in practice. Future MAs could benefit from a consensus-based planning, conduct, and reporting guideline for MA