Edison and Einstein: the Influence of Problem-solving Styles on Knowledge Sharing in Life-science and ICT Teams

There is a widely held generalisation that knowledge creation is a consequence of social interaction. However, sociology has taught us that interaction is not as simple as it seems, and that we exhibit preferences for those with whom we interact, thus placing boundaries on the knowledge we create. One robust explanation for increased or reduced interaction is the perception of similarity or dissimilarity. One such similarity/dissimilarity is our individual preferences for problem-solving approaches. In order to describe the influence of individual problem-solving preferences on communication and knowledge sharing, the results of a study in l i f e - science and ICT technical teams are presented in this article. At a team level of analysis it was shown that the greater the diversity of problem-solving styles in a group the less interaction and therefore the less knowledge sharing. Similarly, at an individual level of analysis the greater the cognitive gap between individuals the less the interaction. It was also observed that influential clusters based on problem-solving style preferences form within teams, thus dominating the information and advice. The management implications of these findings are discussed

Do constrained immigration rates and high β diversity explain contrasting productivity–diversity patterns measured at different scales?

The relationship between productivity and diversity is controversial because of disparity between unimodal and monotonic patterns, especially when occurring simultaneously at different scales. We used stream-side artificial channels to investigate how the availability of a major resource (leaf litter) affected stream invertebrate abundance and diversity at leaf-pack and whole-channel scales. At the larger scale, invertebrate diversity increased monotonically with increasing litter resource density, whereas at the smaller scale the relationship was hump-shaped, in keeping with reports in the literature. This divergence at higher resource levels suggests that multiple mechanisms may be operating. Our results indicate that consistently high species turnover (β diversity) caused the monotonic pattern because of a species-area or “sampling effect” in which new species accumulate with increasing number of samples. The hump-shaped pattern was due to constrained immigration because of a “dilution effect” in which a limited number of immigrants is spread out among the increasing number of available patches. We propose that the relationship between productivity or resource availability and α diversity is generally hump-shaped and the scale-dependent contrast in the relationship only arises where the species pool is large and β diversity is high. Differences in β diversity may, therefore, explain some of the contrasting patterns in the productivity–diversity relationship previously reported.We suggest that continuing immigration by rare taxa is important in sustaining species diversity when productivity is high. The hump-shaped pattern has implications for the impact of anthropogenic ecosystem enrichment on species diversity

Getting better at Knowledge Management: Integrating individual skills and organisational capability.

This paper arises from a work in progress academia/industry collaborative research project to develop a Knowledge Management (KM) maturity model as a component (critical capability) of the IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF). KM is understood as an organisational capability i.e. the effective mobilising of the resources of people, processes and technology to support the achievement of an organisation’s objectives. The research questions addressed are as follows: what are the challenges for organizations in developing an effective KM capability?; what are the respective roles of individual skills and organisational capability in developing a KM capability?; how can individual skills and organizational KM capability be integrated to help organisations get better at doing KM? The key finding is that an important challenge for KM in terms of developing capability is the potential for processes and technology to both enable and block how well people manage knowledge. The role of learning is important and the link between individual learnings and organisational capability is key, but challenging to manage. Initial data indicates that combining a skills-based approach with an organisational capability approach might be a helpful practice for organisations and some suggestions are provided on how to synthesise this challenging field into tools and guidelines that practitioners can use

Embedding Service Logic into Business Model Design: The Case of Predictive Maintenance for Industry 4.0

Diffusion of new technology can be approached as a good marriage between business model innovation and technological innovation. With maturing and converging technological innovations ranging from Internet-of-Things, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain to digital platforms comes a fundamental shift in how companies can do business and what can be offered. They enable greenfield services (i.e. services not pre-existing), including servitization of existing products to compete. Whilst businesses are experimenting with services for emerging domains like industry 4.0, research embedding service logic in business model design for delivering and diffusing greenfield services is nascent. Using a Design Science approach, this paper contributes a method (SL-BMD) for designing service logic embedded business models that forefronts how to incorporate the customer’s perspective. We instantiate and evaluate SL-BMD by charting the experimental journey of a Predictive Maintenance offering for manufacturing settings, and highlight implementation considerations for SL-BMD and the experimental case chosen

I'm Here Now, But I Won't Be Here When You Get This Message

Answering machine messages allegedly refute Kaplan's ‘classical account’ of the semantics of ‘I’, ‘here’ and ‘now’. The classical account doesn’t allow that a token of ‘I am not here now’ can be true; but these words in an answering machine message can communicate something true. In this paper I argue that the true content communicated by an answering machine message is extra-semantic content conveyed via the mechanism of ‘externally-oriented make-believe’. An answering machine message is associated with a game of make-believe whose rules prescribe making believe that the agent who recorded the message is speaking there (at the end of the line) and then; and it thereby conveys that the circumstance that would make the message fictionally true obtains

Large-area growth of MoS2 at temperatures compatible with integrating back-end-of-line functionality

Direct growth of transition metal dichalcogenides over large areas within the back-end-of-line (BEOL) thermal budget limit of silicon integrated circuits is a significant challenge for 3D heterogeneous integration. In this work, we report on the growth of MoS2 films (~1-10 nm) on SiO2, amorphous-Al2O3, c-plane sapphire, and glass substrates achieved at low temperatures (350 C-550 C) by chemical vapor deposition in a manufacturing-compatible 300 mm atomic layer deposition reactor. We investigate the MoS2 films as a potential material solution for BEOL logic, memory and sensing applications. Hall-effect/4-point measurements indicate that the ~10 nm MoS2 films exhibit very low carrier concentrations (1014-1015 cm-3), high resistivity, and Hall mobility values of ~0.5-17 cm2 V-1 s-1, confirmed by transistor and resistor test device results. MoS2 grain boundaries and stoichiometric defects resulting from the low thermal budget growth, while detrimental to lateral transport, can be leveraged for the integration of memory and sensing functions. Vertical transport memristor structures (Au/MoS2/Au) incorporating ~3 nm thick MoS2 films grown at 550 C (~0.75 h) show memristive switching and a stable memory window of 105 with a retention time >104 s, between the high-low resistive states. The switching set and reset voltages in these memristors demonstrate a significant reduction compared to memristors fabricated from pristine, single-crystalline MoS2 at higher temperatures, thereby reducing the energy needed for operation. Furthermore, interdigitated electrode-based gas sensors fabricated on ~5 nm thick 550 C-grown (~1.25 h) MoS2 films show excellent selectivity and sub-ppm sensitivity to NO2 gas, with a notable self-recovery at room temperature. The demonstration of large-area MoS2 direct growth at and below the BEOL thermal budget limit, alongside memristive and gas sensing functionality, advances a key enabling technology objective in emerging materials and devices for 3D heterogeneous integration

Petabytes to science

Paper published on ArXiv to raise awareness and start discussions about data access in the era of large astronomical surveys.A Kavli foundation sponsored workshop on the theme Petabytes to Science was held 12th to 14th of February 2019 in Las Vegas. The aim of the this workshop was to discuss important trends and technologies which may support astronomy. We also tackled how to better shape the workforce for the new trends and how we should approach education and public outreach. This document was coauthored during the workshop and edited in the weeks after. It comprises the discussions and highlights many recommendations which came out of the workshop. We shall distill parts of this document and formulate potential white papers for the decadal survey.Preprin

Myth or Memory? Recollections of Penal Times in Irish Folklore

Stories of priests being hunted down and murdered at Mass Rocks by priest catchers and soldiers during the Penal era in Ireland persist to the present day. Using Ó Ciosáin’s (2004) tripartite taxonomy of memory this paper explores the reasons why these images continue to dominate and reflect persecuted nature of Catholicism

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research