A Blended Cognitive, Linguistic, and Vygotskian Approach for Teaching and Learning the Prepositions in, on, and of in the Advanced ESL Classroom

Despite a plethora of new approaches in ESL writing and grammar instruction that were introduced in the twentieth century, ESL students and instructors continue to struggle with the teaching and learning of English prepositions. The members of this small class of high-frequency words are noted for their polysemy and varied contexts of uses as well as their multiple syntactic functions. This research is based on O’Dowd’s (1993) argument that a semantic unity holds for English prepositions across their syntactic constraints—a factor that was developed in the instructional materials of this research. Cognitive linguistics (CL) and sociocultural theory (SCT, as developed by Gal’perin, 1969, 1992c) from his mentor, Vygotsky (1978, 1986), are two areas of research which apply full linguistic expression of word sense to their applications in ESL pedagogy. The combined principles of these two compatible theories were applied to the teaching and learning of three targeted prepositions, in, on, and of, in an experimental ESL advanced grammar class. Results were compared to the results of an additional ESL advanced grammar class, a control in the quasi-experimental study. This study is distinguished by its application of recent cognitive linguistic insights (Jang & Kim, 2010) in regard to the preposition of to ESL pedagogy and the inclusion of this highly frequent preposition in the targeted learning items. Statistical significance was found in the gains achieved in the accurate use of the targeted prepositions for both classes, the with-in subject factor; yet, while the experimental class clearly outperformed the control class during the short duration of the instruction (75 minutes), the study failed to find statistical significance for the curriculum, the between subject factor. The study is one of a very few which have attempted to apply CL and SCT insights to ESL teaching and learning of English prepositions, has pioneered classroom research with the preposition of—one of the three most frequent English words, and suggests the need for additional ESL classroom research with longer time frames and a more robust application of these encouraging results for longitudinal validation

Recent Advances in Declarative Networking

Declarative networking is a programming methodology that enables developers to concisely specify network protocols and services, and directly compile these specifications into a dataflow framework for execution. This paper describes recent advances in declarative networking, tracing its evolution from a rapid prototyping framework towards a platform that serves as an important bridge connecting formal theories for reasoning about protocol correctness and actual implementations. In particular, the paper focuses on the use of declarative networking for addressing four main challenges in the distributed systems development cycle: the generation of safe routing implementations, debugging, security and privacy, and optimizing distributed systems

Ubiquitous Nature of Event-Driven Approaches: A Retrospective View

This paper retrospectively analyzes the progress of event-based capability and their applicability in various domains. Although research on event-based approaches started in a humble manner with the intention of introducing triggers in database management systems for monitoring application state and to automate applications by reducing/eliminating user intervention, currently it has become a force to reckon with as it finds use in many diverse domains. This is primarily due to the fact that a large number of real-world applications are indeed event-driven and hence the paradigm is apposite. In this paper, we briefly overview the development of the ECA (or event-condition-action) paradigm. We briefly discuss the evolution of the ECA paradigm (or active capability) in relational and Object-oriented systems. We then describe several diverse applications where the ECA paradigm has been used effectively. The applications range from customized monitoring of web pages to specification and enforcement of access control policies using RBAC (role-based access control). The multitude of applications clearly demonstrate the ubiquitous nature of event-based approaches to problems that were not envisioned as the ones where the active capability would be applicable. Finally, we indicate some future trends that can benefit from the ECA paradigm

IT-based Regulation of Personal Health: Nudging, Mobile Health Apps and Personal Health Data

journal articleMobile health applications and devices (“mobile health apps”) are increasingly embedded in organizational programs to regulate the personal health behaviors of individuals and populations. In this paper, we draw on de Vaujany et al.’s (2018) framework for IT-based regulation systems to consider how regulatory outcomes can develop in such settings, in which individual actors have strong agency and regulation is indirect and voluntary. Through an instrumental case of a continuous glucose monitoring system used for self-regulation of diabetes, we examine how IT artifacts become embedded in self- regulation practices, how data generated by these apps are implicated in regulatory feedback loops, and how networks of individual, organizational and technological actors are mobilized in regulatory regimes. We examine how data about bodily states and IT features such as displays and alarms ‘nudge’ individuals towards compliance with expert rules materialized in the IT artifact. We then identify regulatory affordances of mobile health apps for predicting and surveilling personal health. We also theorize how multilevel networks of trifecta of rules, IT artifacts, and practices develop through regulatory episodes as a regulatory lattice, and how social regulation is realized as a result. We conclude by considering the theoretical and practical implications of this analytical approach to investigate IT-based regulation in the open, distributed, and indirect regulatory contexts

Urban flash flood vulnerability:spatial assessment and adaptation - a case study in Istanbul, Turkey

The Ayamama River basin in Istanbul is a densely populated urban area that is frequently impacted by flash floods causing damage to people and infrastructure. The IPCC expects that under climate change conditions, more intense precipitation will occur, leading to a higher risk of flash floods. Approaches to assess vulnerability focus on particular hazards without relating to climate change; usually emphasizing either physical or social vulnerability. However, enabling governance systems to deal with risks due to climate change requires participation of local inhabitants and inclusion of local knowledge for planning effective climate change adaptation measures. This paper presents a framework for a spatial assessment of urban vulnerability to flash floods under climate change conditions. Qualitative interviews were conducted to capture local knowledge of citizens in the Ayamama area about flood events and climate change. Spatial multi criteria evaluation was applied to calculate vulnerability indices

Proposal of an approach for the design and implementation of a data mesh

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoAtualmente existe uma tendência, cada vez mais acentuada, para a utilização de software por parte da esmagadora maioria da população (aplicações de caráter social, software de gestão, plataformas e-commerce, entre outros), identificando-se a criação e armazenamento de dados que, devido às suas características (volume, variedade e velocidade), fazem emergir o conceito de Big Data. Nesta área, e para suportar o armazenamento dos dados, Big Data Warehouses e Data Lakes são conceitos cimentados e implementados por várias organizações, de forma a servirem a sua necessidade de tomada de decisão. No entanto, apesar de serem conceitos estabelecidos e aceites pela maioria da comunidade científica e por diversas organizações a nível mundial, tal não elimina a necessidade de melhoria e inovação. É, este contexto, que origina o surgimento do conceito de Data Mesh, propondo arquiteturas de dados decentralizadas. Após a análise das limitações demonstrados pelas arquiteturas monolíticas (e.g., dificuldade em mudar as tecnologias de armazenamento usadas para implementar o sistema de dados), é possível concluir sobre a necessidade de uma mudança de paradigma que tornará as organizações verdadeiramente orientadas aos dados. A Data Mesh consiste, na implementação de uma arquitetura onde os dados se encontram intencionalmente distribuídos por vários nós da Data Mesh e onde não existe caos, uma vez que existem estratégias centralizadas de governança de dados e a garantia de que os princípios fundamentais dos domínios são partilhados por toda a arquitetura. A presente dissertação propõe uma abordagem para a implementação de uma Data Mesh, procurando definir o modelo de domínios do conceito. Após esta definição é proposta de uma arquitetura concetual e tecnológica, que visam a auxiliar a materialização dos conceitos apresentados no modelo de domínios e assim auxiliar na conceção e implementação de uma Data Mesh. Posteriormente é realizada uma prova de conceito, de forma a validar os supracitados modelos, contribuindo com conhecimento técnico e científico relacionado com este conceito emergente.Currently there is an increasingly accentuated trend towards the use of software by most of the population (social applications, management software, e-commerce platforms, among others), identifying the creation and storage of data that, due to its characteristics (volume, variety, and speed), make the concept of Big Data emerge. In this area, and to support data storage, Big Data Warehouses and Data Lakes are solid concept and implemented by various organizations to serve their decision-making needs. However, despite being established and accepted concepts by most of the scientific community and by several organizations worldwide, this does not eliminate the need for improvement and innovation in the field. It is this context that gives rise to the emergence of the Data Mesh concept, proposing decentralized data architectures. After analyzing the limitations demonstrated by monolithic architectures (e.g., difficulty in changing the storage technologies used to implement the data system), it is possible to conclude on the need for a paradigm shift that will make organizations truly data driven. Data Mesh consists, in the implementation of an architecture where data is intentionally distributed over several nodes of the Data Mesh, and where there is no chaos, since there are centralized data governance strategies and the assurance that the fundamental principles of the domains are shared throughout the architecture. This master thesis proposes an approach for the implementation of a Data Mesh, seeking to define the domain model of the concept. After this definition, a conceptual and technological architecture is proposed, which aim to help materialize the concepts presented in the domain model and thus assist in the design and implementation of a Data Mesh. Afterwards a proof-of-concept is carried out, to validate the aforementioned models, contributing with technical and scientific knowledge related to this emerging concept

The Enduring State: An analysis of governance making in three mining conflicts

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.This article investigates the profound ambiguity of the state in the organization of contemporary business-society relations. On the one hand, there has been a decisive shift from government to governance, encouraging private actors, such as corporations, communities and NGOs, to address social and environmental concerns themselves, i.e. without the state’s involvement. On the other hand, however, the continued importance and relevance of the organized state is difficult to ignore. In this article we examine the role of the state in three cases of mining conflicts in Chile, one of the most important mining countries in the world. Through longitudinal, qualitative research of conflictive mining governance relations between state organizations, large corporations and local communities, we show that the modes of influence conducted by the Chilean state oscillate between direct, central steering (‘cathedral’) and indirect, dispersed vouching (‘bazaar’). Elaborating on Foucault’s concept of governmentality, we offer a hybrid theory of state organization, where the dematerialization of the state’s responsibility is seen not as the norm but rather as a particular mode of governance that sits alongside the underestimated, yet enduring, material involvement of the state