Realism and the language dependence of the external world : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy at Massey University

This Thesis falls loosely into 2 Parts. In Part 1 (Chs. 1-4) a certain version of the view generally called "Realism" is put forward. This Realism is a view that can take either of two forms, one weak or soft, the other hard or strong. The first form states that there is an external world, which we experience and which influences language. The second form states that there is an external world, which is mirrored in consciousness and which is also mirrored in language. That is, the contents of consciousness and the contents of language correspond exactly to an absolute external world. This second stronger version (which I call "Metaphysical Realism") is refuted in Chapters 2-4. Refuting it, however, still leaves us with the first view intact. In the rest of the thesis I argue that this first weaker version of Realism is essentially correct. This is because: a. Objects do indeed exist. (Ch. 5) b. At least part of what we do when we say we see X is refer to a genuine experience of X. (Chs 6 & 7) c. In a certain sense the world is known non-linguistically. (Ch. 8) The final chapter, Ch. 9, is designed to show how language influences what might loosely be called the "External World". Hence we end up with a genuine "Realism" which is yet in a sense "language dependent", for this "real world" is formed by language which then reports on the world so formed

Librarians On Call: an instant messaging enquiry service for Open University distance learners

From March 4 – May 31 2002, The Open University Library piloted a new, instant messaging enquiry service for use by its distance learners, called Librarians On Call. The service enabled OU distance learners to remain online using electronic library resources, whilst also obtaining instant help from a librarian, without the need to disconnect from the internet to use the telephone. Student reaction to the service was overwhelmingly positive, and as a result the Open University has decided to continue the Librarians On Call service. Exit surveys conducted with students indicated students preferred the Librarians On Call service to both email and the telephone, and that they found the service both beneficial and easy to use. The article details the results of the pilot, and also discusses some of the practical issues encountered whilst setting up the service, such as software selection and staffing

Compiling vector pascal to the XeonPhi

Intel's XeonPhi is a highly parallel x86 architecture chip made by Intel. It has a number of novel features which make it a particularly challenging target for the compiler writer. This paper describes the techniques used to port the Glasgow Vector Pascal Compiler to this architecture and assess its performance by comparisons of the XeonPhi with 3 other machines running the same algorithms

Towards a model of transformation: Manager's perceptions of transformation in an e-business environment

In the Entrepreneurial Millennium, companies and industries must come to terms with change. When change is radical, they must manage a metamorphosis by way of transformation. Here industry structures and relationships may change radically where new rules and guidelines are needed to manage the business and its customers in the transformed dimension. Some studies have conducted research and analysed findings according to the transformational impact on the organisations showing that early adopters of e-business show a trend towards cost reductions and administrative efficiencies while more mature users focus on strategic level change and advantage (Ash and Burn, 2003). Other researchers have studied the challenges that major organisations have encountered while expanding their ebusiness transformation strategy (Ranganathan, Shetty and Muthukumaran, 2004). Managers therefore need to develop a better understanding of the theory and processes associated with the transformation in an e-business context. This paper reviews the findings of field research and uses it as a basis to propose a new model of transformation which may guide future research and lead to a better understanding of what is involved in the process. © 2008 iKMS & World Scientific Publishing Co

A statistical multiresolution approach for face recognition using structural hidden Markov models

This paper introduces a novel methodology that combines the multiresolution feature of the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) with the local interactions of the facial structures expressed through the structural hidden Markov model (SHMM). A range of wavelet filters such as Haar, biorthogonal 9/7, and Coiflet, as well as Gabor, have been implemented in order to search for the best performance. SHMMs perform a thorough probabilistic analysis of any sequential pattern by revealing both its inner and outer structures simultaneously. Unlike traditional HMMs, the SHMMs do not perform the state conditional independence of the visible observation sequence assumption. This is achieved via the concept of local structures introduced by the SHMMs. Therefore, the long-range dependency problem inherent to traditional HMMs has been drastically reduced. SHMMs have not previously been applied to the problem of face identification. The results reported in this application have shown that SHMM outperforms the traditional hidden Markov model with a 73% increase in accuracy

Industry dimensions of knowledge management: Insights from an industry study

Strong forces of competition and globalisation have created awareness and an urgency to focus how an organisation controls and nurtures its intellectual capital. The knowledge concept and its management have gained currency and momentum as technology has enabled thoughts and ideas to be more easily produced and distributed. With the increased application of recent technologies such as the Internet, CRM and advanced software capabilities, it has been suggested that the time has come for a debate on a new paradigm for knowledge management. As a contribution to this debate, this paper will examine exploratory research conducted in the Australian private hospital industry with a view to better understand issues related to knowledge management from an industry perspective

Strategic implication of quality management in health care

The considerable interest in quality management has filtered through to health-care organisations. It is now widely used as a basis for continuous operational and customer service improvement management. Although well accepted as an operational improvement tool, the role of quality in strategic management and marketing is less clear. Qualitative research was undertaken within one of Australia's largest private health care providers for the purpose of exploring the role that quality management plays in its operations. Interviews revealed that the organisation's major emphasis on continuous quality management had yielded significant strategic results since its inception. These included an industry first, five-year term accreditation, high-level standing with government, the medical profession and practitioners, health insurance companies and research institutions. Notwithstanding the benefits realised to date, there was a perceived need continuously to evaluate quality management against objective criteria and to integrate the process better with mainstream strategic management activities of the organisatio

Including customers in co-design to market test health services

This paper will explore the concept and meaning of service co design as it applies to the design, development and market testing ofhealth services. The results of a pilot study in health service co design will be used as a research based case discussion, thus providing a platform to suggest future research that could lead to building more robust knowledge of how the consumers of health services may be more effectively involved in the process of developing and delivering the type of services that are in line with expectations of the various stakeholder groups