Modelling Scholarly Debate: Conceptual Foundations for Knowledge Domain Analysis Technology

Knowledge Domain Analysis (KDA) research investigates computational support for users who desire to understand and/or participate in the scholarly inquiry of a given academic knowledge domain. KDA technology supports this task by allowing users to identify important features of the knowledge domain such as the predominant research topics, the experts in the domain, and the most influential researchers. This thesis develops the conceptual foundations to integrate two identifiable strands of KDA research: Library and Information Science (LIS), which commits to a citation-based Bibliometrics paradigm, and Knowledge Engineering (KE), which adopts an ontology-based Conceptual Modelling paradigm. A key limitation of work to date is its inability to provide machine-readable models of the debate in academic knowledge domains. This thesis argues that KDA tools should support users in understanding the features of scholarly debate as a prerequisite for engaging with their chosen domain. To this end, the thesis proposes a Scholarly Debate Ontology which specifies the formal vocabulary for constructing representations of debate in academic knowledge domains. The thesis also proposes an analytical approach that is used to automatically detect clusters of viewpoints as particularly important features of scholarly debate. This approach combines aspects of both the Conceptual Modelling and Bibliometrics paradigms. That is, the method combines an ontological focus on semantics and a graph-theoretical focus on structure in order to identify and reveal new insights about viewpoint-clusters in a given knowledge domain. This combined ontological and graph-theoretical approach is demonstrated and evaluated by modelling and analysing debates in two domains. The thesis reflects on the strengths and limitations of this approach, and considers the directions which this work opens up for future research into KDA technology

Effect of Insecticides on Bird Populations

This report has been undertaken as a comprehensive survey of scientific literature $1noe 1945 that has dealt with the effects of insecticides on bird populations. Particular attention was given to the effects of lar. ge scale programs, including {1 ) the Dutch elm programs in the East and Middle West, (2) the Japanese beetle program in the Middle West, and (3) the fire ant program in the South. Dutch elm disease programs in the Middle West were found to decrease songbird populations 30 to 90 percent in the urban communities studied. Some study areas treated for the fire ant in the South sustained bird losses in excess of 80 percent. Japanese beetle control programs in the Middle West led to an 80 percent decrease in songbird populations in several localities. The author finds some� circumstantial evidence that insecticides may be lowering the fertility of Woodcock, Bald Eagles, and possibly songbirds. The author is critical of the lack of field testing before the Japanese beetle and fire ant programs were implemented and further suggests that advance publicity preceding such programs has been lacking or inaccurate. It is suggested that values other than those immediate and economic deserve more consideration than they have received in the past. Alternatives to and modifications of some present spraying practices are suggested which will be less.harmful to bird populations.Natural Scienc

Almost Always

Photograph of Joni Jameshttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/8705/thumbnail.jp

Almost Always

Photograph of Joni Jameshttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/8706/thumbnail.jp

Pretend

Photograph of Ralph Marterie; Illustration of leaves below framehttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/12343/thumbnail.jp

Purple Shades

Illustration of various cover art and birdhttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/12373/thumbnail.jp

The box turtle connection : building a legacy

In 2006, we wrote The Box Turtle Connection: A Passageway into the Natural World, a guide forresource managers, herpetologists, nature center directors, and citizen scientists that would help directtheir work on this (once) common organism. The book was resoundingly successful. Scientists andagency personnel working with box turtles and other species of turtles have adopted and adapted ourpractices. The book has been reproduced hundreds of times and put directly into the hands of teachersand environmental educators who are working to keep box turtles common across their native ranges.Ten years later, we offer a revised version: The Box Turtle Connection: Building a Legacy. This editionmodifies and standardizes our research protocols and portrays how the Box Turtle Connection projectin North Carolina is building a long-term research study that will exceed 100 years and leave a legacyfor others to follow, be inspired by, and build upon. We have not surrendered our mission to connectothers to the natural world through box turtles, but now turn our focus towards the quality of theresearch that informs us about box turtle populations’ present and future status. By reflecting upon ourprotocols and introducing new techniques, we hope curators, naturalists, educators, and students willengage in carefully designed box turtle research studies with a commitment to scientific validity

Community Waste Management

Today, being human means producing vast amounts of waste; items that are not currently being put to use, whether it be the intended or creative use of the item. There are categories of waste, some more prevalent than others, some more harmful than others. Some examples of common waste include plastic, Styrofoam, pet feces, abandoned structures, uncared for compost, and many other material items; all of which can and do negatively contribute to overall environmental health. Analyzing the amounts and kinds of waste that humans produce is crucial to the survival of the Earth and all earthlings (living beings; plants, animals, bugs/insects). These destructive impacts cause many social, mental and physical health, environmental, and faith related struggles around the world; an action in Pittsburg, KS will impact other locals, the United States, other lands, and all the water. The good news is that while there are many details of this problem, there are also various mitigating factors; activists around the world are spreading awareness and providing opportunities for others to become involved in any of the above issues, or all of them, as they are all connected. With conscious behavioral changes of humans, the problems that present themselves today will continue progress in positive directions that benefit the overall environment for all earthlings