Terrorism's Operational Code: An Examination of the Belief Systems of al-Qaeda and Hamas

This dissertation is a systematic study of the political belief systems, via the Operational Code approach, of two terrorist actors: al-Qaeda and Hamas. Operational codes for each were derived through computerized content analysis of statements attributed to both organizations. The resulting indices were compared across each organization and to the indices of a norming group of state leaders. Additional analyses were performed on internal subdivisions and across chronologic statement groupings for each. The results of these comparisons indicated that the Operational Code approach provides a valuable means of linking differences in terrorist behavior and motivation to differences in belief systems. It also provides a means for the tracking of group beliefs over time and for evaluating internal belief system differences. Additionally, by comparison of observed operational code values to expected values informed by commonly held assumptions within the field of terrorism studies, the Operational Code approach provides a means of testing the basic validity of those assumptions

Non-determinism in the narrative structure of video games

PhD ThesisAt the present time, computer games represent a finite interactive system. Even in their more experimental forms, the number of possible interactions between player and NPCs (non-player characters) and among NPCs and the game world has a finite number and is led by a deterministic system in which events can therefore be predicted. This implies that the story itself, seen as the series of events that will unfold during gameplay, is a closed system that can be predicted a priori. This study looks beyond this limitation, and identifies the elements needed for the emergence of a non-finite, emergent narrative structure. Two major contributions are offered through this research. The first contribution comes in the form of a clear categorization of the narrative structures embracing all video game production since the inception of the medium. In order to look for ways to generate a non-deterministic narrative in games, it is necessary to first gain a clear understanding of the current narrative structures implemented and how their impact on users’ experiencing of the story. While many studies have observed the storytelling aspect, no attempt has been made to systematically distinguish among the different ways designers decide how stories are told in games. The second contribution is guided by the following research question: Is it possible to incorporate non-determinism into the narrative structure of computer games? The hypothesis offered is that non-determinism can be incorporated by means of nonlinear dynamical systems in general and Cellular Automata in particular

Determining firms' utility functions and competitive roles from data on market shares using Lotka-Volterra models

In this article, we include data on historical and estimated market shares of two markets. In particular, we include annual data on the market shares of the Japanese beer market (1963-2000) and biannual data on the market shares of the mobile phones market in Greece (1998-2007). In addition, we estimate monthly data on market shares for both markets. We show how this data can be used to derive firms' utility functions and their competitive roles

Determining firms׳ utility functions and competitive roles from data on market shares using Lotka–Volterra models

AbstractIn this article, we include data on historical and estimated market shares of two markets. In particular, we include annual data on the market shares of the Japanese beer market (1963–2000) and biannual data on the market shares of the mobile phones market in Greece (1998–2007). In addition, we estimate monthly data on market shares for both markets. We show how this data can be used to derive firms’ utility functions and their competitive roles

Entorno web para la programación del robot Frankestito

La robótica educativa ha emergido en la última década en el contexto nacional como una herramienta adecuada para la enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Computación en el ámbito de la educación obligatoria, en múltiples niveles del sistema educativo. En este trabajo se presenta una Línea de Investigación que propone el desarrollo de una arquitectura cliente-servidor basada en Web para la programación del robot educativo Frankestito. El sistema propuesto proverá una interfaz web que permita a los usuarios codificar, guardar, cargar, compilar y visualizar los resultados de sus programas, de modo que no se requiera instalar ningún software en sus computadoras. El ambiente permitirá programar en los diferentes lenguajes de programación soportados actualmente por Frankestito. La interfaz web dará la posibilidad de ejecutar los programas sobre un simulador o el robot físico. En este último caso, se espera que el usuario no solo pueda observar el comportamiento del robot sino también un streaming de lo que la cámara del robot captura.Eje: Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Entorno web para la programación del robot Frankestito

La robótica educativa ha emergido en la última década en el contexto nacional como una herramienta adecuada para la enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Computación en el ámbito de la educación obligatoria, en múltiples niveles del sistema educativo. En este trabajo se presenta una Línea de Investigación que propone el desarrollo de una arquitectura cliente-servidor basada en Web para la programación del robot educativo Frankestito. El sistema propuesto proverá una interfaz web que permita a los usuarios codificar, guardar, cargar, compilar y visualizar los resultados de sus programas, de modo que no se requiera instalar ningún software en sus computadoras. El ambiente permitirá programar en los diferentes lenguajes de programación soportados actualmente por Frankestito. La interfaz web dará la posibilidad de ejecutar los programas sobre un simulador o el robot físico. En este último caso, se espera que el usuario no solo pueda observar el comportamiento del robot sino también un streaming de lo que la cámara del robot captura.Eje: Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Evaluation of Local and International Cacao Cultivars in Monoculture and Agroforestry Systems

Locally selected cultivars of cacao (Theobroma cacao) are supposedly better adapted to local environmental conditions compared with commercially selected cultivars. In this context, the objective of this study was to compare production and disease incidence of local cultivars with international cultivars and to test for interactions between cacao production systems and cultivars. In the 1990s, the Bolivian cacao farmers’ cooperative El Ceibo carried out a selection programme in the Bolivian Alto Beni region, by collecting germplasm from well-performing cacao trees, which originated from a governmental programme that distributed hybrid seeds to cacao farmers between the 1960s and 1980s. From the El Ceibo program, four cultivars were selected and tested together with four commercial cultivars and four full-sib families encompassing five different production systems: two monocultures and two agroforestry systems under organic and conventional management, and one successional agroforestry system without external inputs. The long-term field trial was established in 2009 by the research institute FiBL and local partners in the Alto Beni region, Bolivia. Data on cacao yield and fungal disease incidence was recorded for each tree every 15 days between 2015 and 2019. Across all years, the two monocultures were the most productive systems with an average production of 4.8 kg tree-1 (fresh beans with fruit pulp) under conventional and 4.3 kg tree-1 under organic management. Conventional and organic agroforestry systems obtained an average production of 2.7 kg tree-1, while the successional agroforestry system had an average production of 2.1 kg tree-1. The local cultivars showed significantly higher yield in the five production systems across all years. The two best performing cultivars showed an average production of 6.6 and 6.4 kg tree-1 (fresh beans), respectively. The international cultivars had an average production of 3.6 kg tree-1. The full-sib families performed very poorly with an average production of 1.3 kg tree-1. There was a significant interaction between production systems and cultivars. Nevertheless, the rank between cultivars across production systems did not really change. The incidence of fungal diseases was low in all systems and slightly lower in local cultivars compared with the international ones. Our results highlight the relevance of selecting local genetic material

Construyendo franklab: una plataforma web de robótica educativa

El movimiento CS for All ha logrado captar la atención durante los últimos años. En este contexto se evidencia la necesidad de desarrollar recursos didácticos específicos al campo de la Educación en Ciencias de la Computación que posibiliten una mejor aproximación de la disciplina al ámbito de la educación obligatoria. En este trabajo se presenta una plataforma Web de robótica educativa, FrankLab, diseñada para favorecer el desarrollo de los procesos de enseñanza y de aprendizaje de conceptos y prácticas en el área Algoritmos y Lenguajes de Programación durante toda la educación obligatoria. FrankLab es un entorno de programación en línea que permite a estudiantes de escuelas primarias y secundarias programar robots educativos de la familia Frankestito. Dicho ambiente está compuesto por un conjunto de herramientas de programación que soporta Programación Tangible, Programación Basada en Bloques y Programación basada en texto, como Python. Los estudiantes ejecutan sus programas desde un navegador web sobre robots físicos o sobre un ambiente simulado.VII Workshop Innovación en Educación en Informática (WIEI)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI