Assessing the impact of modeling limits on intelligent systems

The knowledge bases underlying intelligent systems are validated. A general conceptual framework is provided for considering the roles in intelligent systems of models of physical, behavioral, and operational phenomena. A methodology is described for identifying limits in particular intelligent systems, and the use of the methodology is illustrated via an experimental evaluation of the pilot-vehicle interface within the Pilot's Associate. The requirements and functionality are outlined for a computer based knowledge engineering environment which would embody the approach advocated and illustrated in earlier discussions. Issues considered include the specific benefits of this functionality, the potential breadth of applicability, and technical feasibility

Contesting effectuation theory : why it does not explain new venture creation

We evaluate whether the theory of effectuation provides – or could provide – a powerful causal explanation of the process of new venture creation. We do this by conducting an analysis of the principal concepts introduced by effectuation theory. Effectuation theory has become a highly influential cognitive science-based approach to understanding how nascent entrepreneurs start businesses under conditions of uncertainty. But by reducing the process of venture creation to a decision-making logic, effectuation theory pays insufficient regard to the substantial, pervasive and enduring influence of social-structural and cultural contexts on venture creation. Powerful explanations should conceive of venture creation as a sociohistorical process emergent from the interaction of structural, cultural and agential causal powers and must be able to theorise, fallibly, how nascent entrepreneurs form particular firms in particular times and places. We conclude that effectuation’s contribution to entrepreneurship scholarship is more limited than its advocates claim because it can offer only an under-socialised, ahistorical account of venture creation. Failure to theorise adequately the influence of structural and cultural contexts on venture creation implicitly grants nascent entrepreneurs excessive powers of agency

Validity of the Dynamic Indicators for Basic Early Literacy Skills as an Indicator of Early Literacy for Urban Kindergarten Children

The validity of three subtests of the Dynamic Indicators for Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) was investigated for kindergarten children in a large urban school district. A stratified, random sample of 330 participants was drawn from an entire cohort of kindergarten children. Letter Naming Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Word Fluency evidenced significant concurrent and predictive validity when compared to general reading ability measured by teacher report, individual assessments, and group-administered nationally standardized tests. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was also found when comparing these subtests to measures of specific literacy, cognitive, and social-behavioral constructs

Cavitation and pressure distribution: head forms at zero angle of yaw

https://ir.uiowa.edu/uisie/1032/thumbnail.jp

Whistleblower Protections for FDA and Private-Sector Employees

The goal of this paper is to provide an introduction to the whistleblower protection laws that impact the FDA as well as publicly traded pharmaceutical companies. The paper begins by discussing the recent developments surrounding Merck’s voluntary recall of Vioxx. The discussion focuses on the fact that Merck allegedly knew of the drugs safety issues yet kept it on the market for several years, even seeking additional indications from the FDA. The paper looks at David Graham’s involvement as a whistleblower and examines his best avenue for redress against retaliation, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. Following the discussion of the Whistleblower Protection Act, the paper considers what the options would have been were a whistleblower to come from within a pharmaceutical company instead of from the FDA. That discussion revolves around the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. I outline how and why Sarbanes-Oxley applies to pharmaceutical companies and then move to an analysis of the Act’s statutory language, outlining how one would bring a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claim procedurally. Following this discussion, the paper gives a cursory analysis of other whistleblower retaliation statutes and issues, attempting to alert the reader that there are other avenues available and that additional considerations may be necessary, depending on the particular circumstances surrounding the retaliatory action. The paper concludes by looking at the current whistleblower climate and suggesting that the FDA may need its own whistleblower statute, particularly if courts begin to reign in Sarbanes-Oxley’s currently widening scope