Meta-CASE: Is the game worth the candle?

Contains fulltext : 28319___.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Effective Information Modelling Support

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc

Specification of Graphic Conventions in Methods

The current generation of CASE tools mainly provides rigid and unflexible support for editing, storage, verification and transformation of specifications. Information engineers have to adapt their way of working to CASE tools instead of vice versa. To enable a more flexible, method independent, support of information engineers, the concept of a CASE shell has emerged. Crucial for CASE shells is the specification of interpretable method knowledge. A technique capable of specifying method knowledge is referred to as a meta-modelling technique. In this paper it is stressed that a meta-modelling technique should also be able to represent graphic conventions in methods. An existing meta-modelling technique is extended with constructs for the representation of graphic knowledge. 1 Introduction CASE tools are currently considered as the prime initiators of attempts to formalize and standardize information systems development methods in a more detailed way. It is believed that CASE tools are ..

Cultural emergence of combinatorial structure in an artificial whistled language

Speech sounds within a linguistic system are both categorical and combinatorial and there are constraints on how elements can be recombined. To investigate the origins of this combinatorial structure, we conducted an iterated learning experiment with human participants, studying the transmission of an artificial system of sounds. In this study, participants learn and recall a system of sounds that are produced with a slide whistle, an instrument that is both intuitive and non-linguistic. The system they are exposed to is the recall output of the previous participant. Transmission from participant to participant causes the system to change and become cumulatively more learnable and more structured. This shows that combinatorial structure can culturally emerge in an artificial sound system through iterated learning

The comparative role of key environmental factors in determining savanna productivity and carbon fluxes: a review, with special reference to northern Australia

Terrestrial ecosystems are highly responsive to their local environments and, as such, the rate of carbon uptake both in shorter and longer timescales and different spatial scales depends on local environmental drivers. For savannas, the key environmental drivers controlling vegetation productivity are water and nutrient availability, vapour pressure deficit (VPD), solar radiation and fire. Changes in these environmental factors can modify the carbon balance of these ecosystems. Therefore, understanding the environmental drivers responsible for the patterns (temporal and spatial) and processes (photosynthesis and respiration) has become a central goal in terrestrial carbon cycle studies. Here we have reviewed the various environmental controls on the spatial and temporal patterns on savanna carbon fluxes in northern Australia. Such studies are critical in predicting the impacts of future climate change on savanna productivity and carbon storage