Knowledge data discovery and data mining in a design environment

Designers, in the process of satisfying design requirements, generally encounter difficulties in, firstly, understanding the problem and secondly, finding a solution [Cross 1998]. Often the process of understanding the problem and developing a feasible solution are developed simultaneously by proposing a solution to gauge the extent to which the solution satisfies the specific requirements. Support for future design activities has long been recognised to exist in the form of past design cases, however the varying degrees of similarity and dissimilarity found between previous and current design requirements and solutions has restrained the effectiveness of utilising past design solutions. The knowledge embedded within past designs provides a source of experience with the potential to be utilised in future developments provided that the ability to structure and manipulate that knowledgecan be made a reality. The importance of providing the ability to manipulate past design knowledge, allows the ranging viewpoints experienced by a designer, during a design process, to be reflected and supported. Data Mining systems are gaining acceptance in several domains but to date remain largely unrecognised in terms of the potential to support design activities. It is the focus of this paper to introduce the functionality possessed within the realm of Data Mining tools, and to evaluate the level of support that may be achieved in manipulating and utilising experiential knowledge to satisfy designers' ranging perspectives throughout a product's development

Process performance measurement support : a critical analysis

Design development processes, within engineering disciplines, lack the necessary mechanisms in identifying the specific areas where improved design development performance may be obtained. In addition, they lack the means to consider and align the goals and respective performance levels of related development activities with an organisation's overall goals and performance levels. Current research in organisational performance behaviour, formalised through performance frameworks and methodologies, has attempted to identify and focus upon those critical factors which impinge upon a wealth creation system while attempting to, simultaneously, remain representative of organisational functions, processes, people, decisions and goals. Effective process improvements remain conditional upon: the ability to measure the potential performance gains which may result from an improvement initiative; the ability to understand existing process dynamics and in turn understand the subsequent impact of some change to a system/process; and, the ability to identify potential areas for improvement. The objective of this paper is to discuss some of the management techniques, which are purported to support various process performance concerns and perspectives, and present the major factors that remain unsupported in identifying, measuring and understanding design process performance

An Exploration of Online Sex Work

Sex work is deemed one of the world’s most ancient professions, but it has undergone substantial changes within even the last 20 years (Kipling 1888; Jones 2015; Sanders, Connelly and King 2016). The emergence of the Internet has shifted the work locations of sex work from saunas, brothels, and street work to online platforms as well as the use of the Internet as a mediator for in-person sex work (Jones 2015; Jonsson, Sveden and Hyden 2014). This migration in the nature of sex work has changed its delivery and interaction for both workers and clients. The appeals of online sex work include physical safety, better wages, reduced interaction with law enforcement, job satisfaction, increased autonomy, and avenues for political action. The unique dangers of sex work include isolation, capping, and doxing (Jones 2015; Campbell et al. 2019). Through our process in Dr. Pryor’s Social Research Methods course, our aim has been to analyze online sex work through an extensive literature review, primary survey research, secondary data analysis, content analysis, and an interview. We have examined knowledge and attitudes about online sex work, the makeup and thinking patterns of sex work clients, and sex workers’ experience with clients and their peers in the online sphere

The Relationship Between Moral Foundations and Substance Abuse Attitudes

Individuals who abuse substances are often morally judged and disregarded in society. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between moral values and attitudes towards substance abuse. Participants were recruited from introductory to psychology courses at Belmont University and given a modified version of the Perceived Substance Abuse Scale and a scale to measure how they value certain domains of morality (harm, ingroup, purity, authority, reciprocity) using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. We expect to find positive correlations between the harm, purity, ingroup, and authority domains of morality with negative attitudes towards substance abuse. We also expect there to be no significant correlation between the reciprocity domain of morality and substance abuse attitudes

The Impact of Level of Rurality on Suicide Rates: An Analysis of Combined Effects of Known Risk-Factors at the County Level

Suicide remains a leading cause of death in the United States. Suicide risk is shaped by a number of sociodemographic characteristics in addition to where people live. In this project, county suicide rates were examined alongside indicators of known risk factors for suicide including level of urbanization, geographic division, economic disadvantage, religious adherence, marriage and divorce, gender and racial categories, and education. Regression models indicate that rurality influences the relationship between sociodemographic variables and rates of completed suicide. Central findings include the combined effect of rurality and education, rurality and region, and rurality divorce on suicide rates. One implication of this is research is a greater need to consider how context shapes suicide risk when designing programs and policies to prevent suicide.</p

Empathy modulates the temporal structure of social attention

Individuals with low empathy often show reduced attention towards social stimuli. A limitation of this literature is the lack of empirical work that has explicitly characterized how this relationship manifests itself over time. We investigate this issue by analysing data from two large eye-tracking datasets (total n = 176). Via growth-curve analysis, we demonstrate that self-reported empathy (as measured by the empathy quotient—EQ) predicts the temporal evolution of gaze behaviour under conditions where social and non-social stimuli compete for attention. In both datasets, we found that EQ not only predicted a global increase in social attention, but predicted a different temporal profile of social attention. Specifically, we detected a reliable effect of empathy on gaze towards social images after prolonged viewing. An analysis of switch latencies revealed that low-EQ observers switched gaze away from an initially fixated social image more frequently and at earlier latencies than high-EQ observers. Our analyses demonstrate that modelling these temporal components of gaze signals may reveal useful behavioural phenotypes. The explanatory power of this approach may provide enhanced biomarkers for conditions marked by deficits in empathy-related processes

OBSERVATIONS OF BIRDS FEEDING ON THE FRUIT OF A SUCCESSIONAL TREE, TOPOBEA MULTIFLORA, IN SOUTHWESTERN COSTA RICA

Abstract ∙ We observed several individuals of a tropical fruiting tree, Topobea multiflora (Melastomataceae), to determine the diversity and prevalence of bird species that use this plant as a food source. Conducted on the south Pacific slope of Costa Rica, these observations are of interest because T. multiflora, though it grows in early successional habitat, attracts many bird species typically associated with mature forest. Most of these species are potential candidates for dispersing the small seeds of mature forest species as they leave the forest to feed on the fruit of T. multiflora. In this study, we recorded 477 observations of 24 species belonging to seven families feeding on T. multiflora fruit during ten count periods of observation. The family Thraupidae (tanagers) had both the highest proportion of feeding observations (65.8%) and the greatest diversity of all visiting taxa (13 species). The five species with the highest overall prevalence (prevalence &gt;5%) were Silver‐throated Tanager (Tangara icterocephala), Cherrie’s Tanager (Ramphocelus costaricensis), Thick‐billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris), Common Bush‐tanager (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus), and Bay‐headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola). Our results suggest that several species of Neotropical frugivores, because of their relationship to T. multiflora, may be considered indicator species of ongoing forest regeneration in southwestern Costa Rica. Resumen ∙ Observaciones de especies de aves alimentándose de frutos de Topobea multiflora en el sudoeste de Costa Rica Observamos varios ejemplares de árboles con frutos de la especie Topobea multiflora (Melastomataceae) para determinar la diversidad y prevalencia de las especies de aves que se alimentan de esta planta. Estas observaciones, realizadas en la pendiente sud‐Pacifica de Costa Rica, son de interés ya que T. multiflora, si bien crece en hábitats con disturbio o en regeneración, atrae muchas especies generalmente asociadas a bosques maduros. La mayoría de estas especies son candidatos potenciales para la dispersión de semillas de especies de plantas de bosques maduros cuando se alejan del bosque para alimentarse de los frutos de T. multiflora. En este estudio, registramos 477 observaciones de alimentación de frutos de T. multiflora, correspondientes a 24 especies pertenecientes a siete familias. La familia Thraupidae (tangaras) presento la mayor abundancia (341 observaciones) y la mayor riqueza de especies (13 especies). Las cinco especies con mayor prevalencia (&gt; 5%) fueron: Tangara goliplateada (Tangara icterocephala), Tangara costarricense (Ramphocelus costaricensis), Eufonia piquigruesa (Euphonia laniirostris), Clorospingo común (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus) y Tangara cabecibaya (Tangara gyrola). Nuestros resultados sugieren que varias especies de aves frugívoras Neotropicales, debido a que frecuentan plantas de T. multiflora, podrían ser consideradas especies indicadoras de procesos de regeneración de bosques.

A new model for high value meetings

The purpose of this research is to consider how organisations can increase competiveness by maximising the value of meetings whilst minimising their cost. This involves the development of a model which considers both the scheduling and management of meetings, whilst taking into account importance, value and cost where previously there has been no measure of these elements. This work will provide not only academic research within this under-represented area, but through a case study, a practical application. As time lost through unproductive meetings is estimated to cost billions, the potential saving through the application of this research is significant

Individual differences in responsivity to social rewards: insights from two eye-tracking tasks

Humans generally prefer social over nonsocial stimuli from an early age. Reduced preference for social rewards has been observed in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). This preference has typically been noted in separate tasks that measure orienting toward and engaging with social stimuli. In this experiment, we used two eye-tracking tasks to index both of these aspects of social preference in in 77 typical adults. We used two measures, global effect and preferential looking time. The global effect task measures saccadic deviation toward a social stimulus (related to 'orienting'), while the preferential looking task records gaze duration bias toward social stimuli (relating to 'engaging'). Social rewards were found to elicit greater saccadic deviation and greater gaze duration bias, suggesting that they have both greater salience and higher value compared to nonsocial rewards. Trait empathy was positively correlated with the measure of relative value of social rewards, but not with their salience. This study thus elucidates the relationship of empathy with social reward processing