Generating and visualizing a soccer knowledge base

This demo abstract describes the SmartWeb Ontology-based Information Extraction System (SOBIE). A key feature of SOBIE is that all information is extracted and stored with respect to the SmartWeb ontology. In this way, other components of the systems, which use the same ontology, can access this information in a straightforward way. We will show how information extracted by SOBIE is visualized within its original context, thus enhancing the browsing experience of the end user

Supermarkets and Rural Livelihoods: A Research Method

This document presents a research method to analyze the access of small and medium farmers to the supermarket market, and the effect of such access on the producers' decisions and net incomes. The method was developed for and used in a study carried out in 2004 in three Central American countries.Labor and Human Capital, Marketing,

An Empirical Investigation on the Role of IT Materiality in Multidisciplinary Innovation

Knowledge needs to traverse through social and cognitive boundaries as it is transformed from information to innovation. Little is known, however, regarding what, if any, role various IT material constraints and affordances play in supporting multidisciplinary innovations involving the complexities of heterogeneous knowledge. The notion of affordance has been used in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to describe the action opportunities afforded by IT functionalities. By IT materiality, we refer to a set of “features that provide opportunities for and constraints on actions” (Leonardi and Barley 2008). We propose and empirically test a model to address this gap by drawing from the concepts of affordance, social structure theory, and the design of IT functionalities. We hypothesize that the impact of cognitive heterogeneity on innovation performance will be mediated by knowledge coordination and perspective taking. Further, we hypothesize that this relationship will be moderated by the material affordances of IT

Long-term educational goals, subgoals, learning strategies use and the academic performance of college students

This study attempted to answer the question: "What are the direct and indirect effects of long-term educational goals on educational subgoals, learning strategies use and academic performance?" Results from the study showed that long-term educational goals had a direct effect on educational sub-goals and an indirect effect on learning strategies use and academic performance. In addition, the investigation of individual differences related to learning strategies use indicated that when long-term educational goals are accompanied by the accomplishment of educational subgoals and a sufficient number of useful learning strategies, academic performance tended to improve.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31928/1/0000881.pd

Infrastructural Speculations: Tactics for Designing and Interrogating Lifeworlds

This paper introduces “infrastructural speculations,” an orientation toward speculative design that considers the complex and long-lived relationships of technologies with broader systems, beyond moments of immediate invention and design. As modes of speculation are increasingly used to interrogate questions of broad societal concern, it is pertinent to develop an orientation that foregrounds the “lifeworld” of artifacts—the social, perceptual, and political environment in which they exist. While speculative designs often imply a lifeworld, infrastructural speculations place lifeworlds at the center of design concern, calling attention to the cultural, regulatory, environmental, and repair conditions that enable and surround particular future visions. By articulating connections and affinities between speculative design and infrastructure studies research, we contribute a set of design tactics for producing infrastructural speculations. These tactics help design researchers interrogate the complex and ongoing entanglements among technologies, institutions, practices, and systems of power when gauging the stakes of alternate lifeworlds

How to be causal: time, spacetime, and spectra

I explain a simple definition of causality in widespread use, and indicate how it links to the Kramers Kronig relations. The specification of causality in terms of temporal differential eqations then shows us the way to write down dynamical models so that their causal nature /in the sense used here/ should be obvious to all. To extend existing treatments of causality that work only in the frequency domain, I derive a reformulation of the long-standing Kramers Kronig relations applicable not only to just temporal causality, but also to spacetime "light-cone" causality based on signals carried by waves. I also apply this causal reasoning to Maxwell's equations, which is an instructive example since their casual properties are sometimes debated.Comment: v4 - add Appdx A, "discrete" picture (not in EJP); v5 - add Appdx B, cause classification/frames (not in EJP); v7 - unusual model case; v8 add reference

Direct generation of local orbitals for multireference treatment and subsequent uses for the calculation of the correlation energy

We present a method that uses the one-particle density matrix to generate directly localized orbitals dedicated to multireference wave functions. On one hand, it is shown that the definition of local orbitals making possible physically justified truncations of the CAS ~complete active space! is particularly adequate for the treatment of multireference problems. On the other hand, as it will be shown in the case of bond breaking, the control of the spatial location of the active orbitals may permit description of the desired physics with a smaller number of active orbitals than when starting from canonical molecular orbitals. The subsequent calculation of the dynamical correlation energy can be achieved with a lower computational effort either due to this reduction of the active space, or by truncation of the CAS to a shorter set of references. The ground- and excited-state energies are very close to the current complete active space self-consistent field ones and several examples of multireference singles and doubles calculations illustrate the interest of the procedur

Introducing a new breed of wine yeast: interspecific hybridisation between a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast and Saccharomyces mikatae

Interspecific hybrids are commonplace in agriculture and horticulture; bread wheat and grapefruit are but two examples. The benefits derived from interspecific hybridisation include the potential of generating advantageous transgressive phenotypes. This paper describes the generation of a new breed of wine yeast by interspecific hybridisation between a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast strain and Saccharomyces mikatae, a species hitherto not associated with industrial fermentation environs. While commercially available wine yeast strains provide consistent and reliable fermentations, wines produced using single inocula are thought to lack the sensory complexity and rounded palate structure obtained from spontaneous fermentations. In contrast, interspecific yeast hybrids have the potential to deliver increased complexity to wine sensory properties and alternative wine styles through the formation of novel, and wider ranging, yeast volatile fermentation metabolite profiles, whilst maintaining the robustness of the wine yeast parent. Screening of newly generated hybrids from a cross between a S. cerevisiae wine yeast and S. mikatae (closely-related but ecologically distant members of the Saccharomyces sensu stricto clade), has identified progeny with robust fermentation properties and winemaking potential. Chemical analysis showed that, relative to the S. cerevisiae wine yeast parent, hybrids produced wines with different concentrations of volatile metabolites that are known to contribute to wine flavour and aroma, including flavour compounds associated with non-Saccharomyces species. The new S. cerevisiae x S. mikatae hybrids have the potential to produce complex wines akin to products of spontaneous fermentation while giving winemakers the safeguard of an inoculated ferment.Jennifer R. Bellon, Frank Schmid, Dimitra L. Capone, Barbara L. Dunn, Paul J. Chamber

Beyond words: Aesthetic knowledge and knowing in design

Aesthetic knowledge comes from practitioners understanding the look, feel, smell, taste and sound of things. It is vital to work in many organizational contexts. In this paper, we explore aesthetic knowledge and knowing in organizations through detailed observation of design work in the architectural practice Edward Cullinan Architects. Through our research, we explore aesthetic knowledge in the context of architectural work, we unpack what it is, how it is generated, and how it is applied in design projects, shared between practitioners and developed at the level of the organization. Our analysis suggests that aesthetic knowledge plays an important part in organizational practice, not only as the symbolic context for work, but as an integral part of the work that people do. It suggests that aesthetic reflexivity, which involves an opening up and questioning of what is known, is experienced as part of practice as well as a `time out' from practice