543,959 research outputs found
Information flow in house building organisations
This research describes an investigation into the information flows within the
technical and commercial functions of house building organisations. It was initiated
because of the evidence of poor data transfer and communications within the
construction industry as identified by previous research. Little previous research
had addressed the particular problems of the house building industry which
accounts for up to a third of total new construction output in the UK. The
organisational and information structures of six house building companies were
examined and a typical organisational model developed. This model highlighted the
importance of the technical and commercial functions of estimating, purchasing,
valuations and cost monitoring/comparisons and the need for effective transfer of
information between them.
The information flows between these functions were studied and modelled using
systems analysis techniques of data flow diagrams and entity-relationships models.
The requirements for a computer-aided management system to improve and
rationalise the information flows were identified and an integrated system, known
as DEVELOP, was developed.
The system was installed into a collaborating company and its advantages and
disadvantages monitored over time.
The main outcomes of the research are:
(a) an organisational model for a typical house building organisation;
(b) data flow and entity-relationship models for the functions of estimating,
purchasing, valuations and cost monitoring/comparisons; and
(c) an operational integrated management system for house builders that
provides:
(i) faster throughput of information (for example the time required to
aggregated dwelling quantities for a typical development is reduced
from three man days to one hour);(ii) greater consistency of information (by the provision of a company
data library); and
(iii) better communications between the functions (due to the integrated
nature of the system and the adoption of a common coding system)
The tapeworm interactome: inferring confidence scored protein-protein interactions from the proteome of Hymenolepis microstoma
BACKGROUND: Reference genome and transcriptome assemblies of helminths have reached a level of completion whereby secondary analyses that rely on accurate gene estimation or syntenic relationships can be now conducted with a high level of confidence. Recent public release of the v.3 assembly of the mouse bile-duct tapeworm, Hymenolepis microstoma, provides chromosome-level characterisation of the genome and a stabilised set of protein coding gene models underpinned by bioinformatic and empirical data. However, interactome data have not been produced. Conserved protein-protein interactions in other organisms, termed interologs, can be used to transfer interactions between species, allowing systems-level analysis in non-model organisms.
RESULTS: Here, we describe a probabilistic, integrated network of interologs for the H. microstoma proteome, based on conserved protein interactions found in eukaryote model species. Almost a third of the 10,139 gene models in the v.3 assembly could be assigned interaction data and assessment of the resulting network indicates that topologically-important proteins are related to essential cellular pathways, and that the network clusters into biologically meaningful components. Moreover, network parameters are similar to those of single-species interaction networks that we constructed in the same way for S. cerevisiae, C. elegans and H. sapiens, demonstrating that information-rich, system-level analyses can be conducted even on species separated by a large phylogenetic distance from the major model organisms from which most protein interaction evidence is based. Using the interolog network, we then focused on sub-networks of interactions assigned to discrete suites of genes of interest, including signalling components and transcription factors, germline multipotency genes, and genes differentially-expressed between larval and adult worms. Results show not only an expected bias toward highly-conserved proteins, such as components of intracellular signal transduction, but in some cases predicted interactions with transcription factors that aid in identifying their target genes.
CONCLUSIONS: With key helminth genomes now complete, systems-level analyses can provide an important predictive framework to guide basic and applied research on helminths and will become increasingly informative as new protein-protein interaction data accumulate
Herschel images of Fomalhaut. An extrasolar Kuiper Belt at the height of its dynamical activity
Fomalhaut is a young, nearby star that is suspected to harbor an infant
planetary system, interspersed with one or more belts of dusty debris. We
present far-infrared images obtained with the Herschel Space Observatory with
an angular resolution between 5.7 and 36.7 arcsec at wavelengths between 70 and
500 micrometer. The images show the main debris belt in great detail. Even at
high spatial resolution, the belt appears smooth. The region in between the
belt and the central star is not devoid of material; thermal emission is
observed here as well. Also at the location of the star, excess emission is
detected.
We use a dynamical model together with radiative-transfer tools to derive the
parameters of the debris disk. We include detailed models of the interaction of
the dust grains with radiation, for both the radiation pressure and the
temperature determination. Comparing these models to the spatially resolved
temperature information contained in the images allows us to place strong
constraints on the presence of grains that will be blown out of the system by
radiation pressure. We use this to derive the dynamical parameters of the
system.
The appearance of the belt points towards a remarkably active system in which
dust grains are produced at a very high rate by a collisional cascade in a
narrow region filled with dynamically excited planetesimals. Dust particles
with sizes below the blow-out size are abundantly present. The equivalent of
2000 one-km-sized comets are destroyed every day, out of a cometary reservoir
amounting to 110 Earth masses. From comparison of their scattering and thermal
properties, we find evidence that the dust grains are fluffy aggregates, which
indicates a cometary origin. The excess emission at the location of the star
may be produced by hot dust with a range of temperatures, but may also be due
to gaseous free-free emission from a stellar wind.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Evaluating weaknesses of "perceptual-cognitive training" and "brain training" methods in sport: An ecological dynamics critique
The recent upsurge in "brain training and perceptual-cognitive training," proposing to improve isolated processes, such as brain function, visual perception, and decision-making, has created significant interest in elite sports practitioners, seeking to create an "edge" for athletes. The claims of these related "performance-enhancing industries" can be considered together as part of a process training approach proposing enhanced cognitive and perceptual skills and brain capacity to support performance in everyday life activities, including sport. For example, the "process training industry" promotes the idea that playing games not only makes you a better player but also makes you smarter, more alert, and a faster learner. In this position paper, we critically evaluate the effectiveness of both types of process training programmes in generalizing transfer to sport performance. These issues are addressed in three stages. First, we evaluate empirical evidence in support of perceptual-cognitive process training and its application to enhancing sport performance. Second, we critically review putative modularized mechanisms underpinning this kind of training, addressing limitations and subsequent problems. Specifically, we consider merits of this highly specific form of training, which focuses on training of isolated processes such as cognitive processes (attention, memory, thinking) and visual perception processes, separately from performance behaviors and actions. We conclude that these approaches may, at best, provide some "general transfer" of underlying processes to specific sport environments, but lack "specificity of transfer" to contextualize actual performance behaviors. A major weakness of process training methods is their focus on enhancing the performance in body "modules" (e.g., eye, brain, memory, anticipatory sub-systems). What is lacking is evidence on how these isolated components are modified and subsequently interact with other process "modules," which are considered to underlie sport performance. Finally, we propose how an ecological dynamics approach, aligned with an embodied framework of cognition undermines the rationale that modularized processes can enhance performance in competitive sport. An ecological dynamics perspective proposes that the body is a complex adaptive system, interacting with performance environments in a functionally integrated manner, emphasizing that the inter-relation between motor processes, cognitive and perceptual functions, and the constraints of a sport task is best understood at the performer-environment scale of analysis
The governance of formal universityâindustry interactions: understanding the rationales for alternative models
This article develops a conceptual framework to explain the economic rationale underpinning the choice of different modes of governance of formal universityâindustry interactions: personal contractual interactions, where the contract regulating the collaboration involves a firm and an individual academic researcher, and institutional interactions, where the relationship between the firm and the academic is mediated by the university. Although institutional interactions, for numerous reasons, have become more important, both governance modes are currently being implemented. We would argue that they have some important specificities that need to be understood if universityâindustry knowledge transfer is to be managed effectively and efficiently
Self-directedness, integration and higher cognition
In this paper I discuss connections between self-directedness, integration and higher cognition. I present a model of self-directedness as a basis for approaching higher cognition from a situated cognition perspective. According to this model increases in sensorimotor complexity create pressure for integrative higher order control and learning processes for acquiring information about the context in which action occurs. This generates complex articulated abstractive information processing, which forms the major basis for higher cognition. I present evidence that indicates that the same integrative characteristics found in lower cognitive process such as motor adaptation are present in a range of higher cognitive process, including conceptual learning. This account helps explain situated cognition phenomena in humans because the integrative processes by which the brain adapts to control interaction are relatively agnostic concerning the source of the structure participating in the process. Thus, from the perspective of the motor control system using a tool is not fundamentally different to simply controlling an arm
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