Towards Learning ‘Self’ and Emotional Knowledge in Social and Cultural Human-Agent Interactions

Original article can be found at: http://www.igi-global.com/articles/details.asp?ID=35052 Copyright IGI. Posted by permission of the publisher.This article presents research towards the development of a virtual learning environment (VLE) inhabited by intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) and modeling a scenario of inter-cultural interactions. The ultimate aim of this VLE is to allow users to reflect upon and learn about intercultural communication and collaboration. Rather than predefining the interactions among the virtual agents and scripting the possible interactions afforded by this environment, we pursue a bottomup approach whereby inter-cultural communication emerges from interactions with and among autonomous agents and the user(s). The intelligent virtual agents that are inhabiting this environment are expected to be able to broaden their knowledge about the world and other agents, which may be of different cultural backgrounds, through interactions. This work is part of a collaborative effort within a European research project called eCIRCUS. Specifically, this article focuses on our continuing research concerned with emotional knowledge learning in autobiographic social agents.Peer reviewe

Anisotropic Superconductivity in the Induced Pairing Model

The model of local electron pairs and itinerant fermions coupled via charge exchange mechanism, which mutually induces superconductivity in both subsystems is studied for anisotropic pairing symmetry. The phase diagram is presented and the phase fluctuations effects are analyzed within the Kosterlitz-Thouless scenario.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Physica B (in press), Proceedings of the International Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 6-10, 200

Risks and performances of Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds

Los Leveraged ETF (LETF) son productos dise?ados para ofrecer un m?ltiplo diario positivo o negativo del rendimiento del ?ndice de referencia. Se realiza por medio del apalancamiento, normalmente usando diferentes tipos de derivados, (futures, forwards y swaps Como el LETF busca obtener el m?ltiplo del rendimiento del mercado en una base diaria. El rendimiento para periodos mayores a un d?a, puede diferir del m?ltiplo del rendimiento del activo subyacente en el mismo periodo. Para ilustrar la estructura, el rendimiento y los riesgos que involucran estos productos, se aplica un m?todo de simulaci?n Monte Carlo a trav?s del lenguaje de programaci?n de c?digo abierto Python

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Hospitality Industry

Which hotels benefit from locating next to competitors? In this study of 14,995 hotels we provide evidence of both a price benefit and a detriment for specific hotels that co‐locate next to other hotels. Relying on the theoretical framework of agglomeration economics, the results reveal that hotels that co‐locate in the same geographic cluster with the highest quality segmented firms (luxury hotels) accrue a price premium compared to competitors in markets with larger proportions of lower‐segmented competitors. The strongest price premiums were obtained by midscale hotels without food and beverage in clusters with large proportions of luxury and upscale hotels. Similarly, high‐end hotels that pursue differentiation strategies experience price erosion when they are in the same geographic location as lower‐end hotels. Luxury hotels experienced the greatest price erosion when they operate in locations with large proportions of economy and midscale hotels. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for competitive dynamics and hotel location decisions

The Role of Emotions in Service Encounters

This article advances our understanding of the influence of affect in consumers’ responses to brief, non-personal service encounters. This study contributes to the services marketing literature by examining for mundane service transactions the impact of customer-displayed emotion and affect on assessments of the service encounter and the overall experience. Observational and perceptual data from customers were matched with frontline employees in 200 transaction-specific encounters. The results of this study suggest that consumers’ evaluations of the service encounter correlate highly with their displayed emotions during the interaction and post-encounter mood states. Finally, the findings indicate that frontline employees’ perceptions of the encounter are not aligned with those of their customers. The managerial implications of these findings are briefly discussed

GMs’ Responses to the Events of September 11, 2001

Hotel managers’ actions after 9–11 included modifying marketing activities, reducing employees’ hours, and either postponing capital improvements (for lack of cash flow) or accelerating planned upgrades while business is slow

Diagn?stico de h?bitos lectores y apoyo familiar en h?bitos lectores en estudiantes de primero de primaria

161 p. Recurso Electr?nicoDentro del desarrollo integral de los estudiantes el componente de lenguaje es un ?rea fundamental. En el caso de los estudiantes de primero de primaria las competencias lectoras y escritoras son el eje principal de su formaci?n. En la Instituci?n Educativa San Luis Gonzaga sede 02 Carolita, existen desempe?os pobres en las competencias lectoras, medidos por las pruebas SABER 3, y reconocidos a trav?s de la observaci?n por los docentes. Se estableci? como prop?sito central de este trabajo realizar un diagn?stico de los h?bitos lectores y el apoyo familiar en dichos h?bitos, de los estudiantes de primero de primaria y sus acudientes de la Instituci?n Educativa San Luis Gonzaga sede 02 Carolita. Se plante? un estudio de enfoque mixto (cualitativocuantitativo), de tipo descriptivo y de corte transversal. Participaron 18 estudiantes de primero de primaria del a?o 2018 de la Instituci?n Educativa San Luis Gonzaga sede 02 Carolita, una docente siendo directora del grupo de estudiantes de primero de primaria. La recolecci?n de informaci?n se realiz? con la aplicaci?n de los cuestionarios: caracterizaci?n del grupo familiar, calidad del entorno de desarrollo, encuesta de diagn?stico de h?bitos lectores para estudiantes de grado primero, y una entrevista dirigida a la docente y directora del grupo de primero de primaria de la Instituci?n Educativa. Como principales hallazgos se destacan: se encontraron h?bitos lectores nulos y bajos, como falta de acompa?amiento de los padres de familia. Es necesario, que se cree un mecanismo que incremente el apoyo y acompa?amiento de los padres en el establecimiento de h?bitos lectores en los estudiantes de primero de primaria de la Instituci?n educativa. Palabras clave: H?bitos lectores, Diagn?stico, Apoyo familiar, Infancia.The development of students with a view to integral education, the importance of acquiring competences in different areas of knowledge is recognized; and language is fundamental. For students in first-year of school, reading and writing skills are one of the main axis of their training. At the Instituci?n Educativa San Luis Gonzaga, Sede 02 Carolita, there are poor performances in it, measured by the SABER 3 tests. It also was recognized by direct observation by professors and in personal conversations with their teachers. In this sense, it was established as central to diagnose reading habits and family support in these habits for first year students and their parents. A mixed approach (qualitative-quantitative), descriptive and cross-sectional study was proposed. All first grade students from the institutions in 2018 participated, 18 in total, their teacher and their families. The data collection was carried out through the questionnaires: characterization of the family group; quality of the development environment; diagnostic survey of reading habits and parent support; and through an interview with the main teacher of students of fist grade. As main findings it was noted that there were null and low reading habits and lack of accompaniment and support from parents. It is necessary to establish actions from the school that involve the family, the different actors from the school and the children as a mechanism to increase the reading habits and the support and accompaniment in this process for first grade students. Keywords: Reading habits, Diagnosis, Family support, Children

Agglomeration Effects and Strategic Orientations: Evidence from the U.S. Lodging Industry

This study provides evidence regarding the strategic dynamics of competitive clusters. Firms that agglomerate (co-locate) may benefit from the differentiation of competitors without making similar differentiating investments themselves. Alternatively, co-locating with a high percentage of firms with low-cost strategic orientations reduces performance for firms pursuing high levels of differentiation. Further, the lowest-cost providers with the greatest strategic distance from the norm of the competitive cluster reap the greatest benefit from co-location with differentiated firms. We find empirical support for these ideas using a sample of 14,995 U.S. lodging establishments, and controlling for a number of key demand-shaping factors

Phase transition between quantum and classical regimes for the escape rate of a biaxial spin system

Employing the method of mapping the spin problem onto a particle one, we have derived the particle Hamiltonian for a biaxial spin system with a transverse or longitudinal magnetic field. Using the Hamiltonian and introducing the parameter $p (\equiv (U_{max}-E)/(U_{max}-U_{min}))$ where $U_{max}$ (U_{min}) corresponds to the top (bottom) of the potential and $E$ is the energy of the particle, we have studied the first- or second-order transition around the crossover temperature between thermal and quantum regimes for the escape rate, depending on the anisotropy constant and the external magnetic field. It is shown that the phase boundary separating the first- and second-order transition and its crossover temperature are greatly influenced by the transverse anisotropy constant as well as the transverse or longitudinal magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages + 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.