Mining for Culture: Reaching Out of Range

The goal of this paper is to present a tool that will sustain the development of culturally relevant computing artifacts by providing an effective means of detecting culture identities and cultures of participation. Culturally relevant designs rely heavily on how culture impacts design and though the guidelines for producing culturally relevant objects provide a mechanism for incorporating culture in the design, there still requires an effective method for garnering and identifying said cultures that reflects a holistic view of the target audience. This tool presents culturally relevant designs as a process of communicating with key audiences and thus bridging people and technology in a way that once seemed out of range

Should Farmers Invest in Financial Assets as a Risk Management Strategy? Some Evidence from New Zealand

Off-farm investment as a risk management strategy is not widespread among New Zealand sheep and beef farmers. This study explores the potential for risk reduction by the diversification of farm asset portfolios to include financial investments such as industrial equities and government bonds of various types. Results show that the negative correlations between long-run rates of return on farm assets and financial investments could result in a significant reduction of risk if equities and bonds were included in farm investment portfolios. However, when combined with information about attitudes to risks, it does not seem likely that farmers would adopt such strategies purely in order to stabilise incomes. Deregulation of the New Zealand economy in the mid 1980's had little impact on farmers' optimal allocation of their assets.Agricultural Finance, Risk and Uncertainty,

Zooplankton community (Branchiopoda and Copepoda) in the Alto Guadalquivir wetlands: diversity, distribution patterns and relationship with the trophic state

En la presente tesis doctoral se ha abordado el estudio de los humedales del Alto Guadalquivir y sus comunidades zooplanctónicas. En ella se han analizado el efecto que tienen diversas variables limnológicas sobre a esta comunidad así como la influencia el estado trófico de estos ecosistemas. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren la idoneidad de esta comunidad para la evaluación y posterior conservación de estos humedalesIn the present doctoral thesis the study of the Alto Guadalquivir wetlands and their zooplanktonic communities has been approached. In it, the effect that various limnological variables have on this community as well as the influence of the trophic state of these ecosystems has been analysed. The results obtained suggest the suitability of this community for the evaluation and subsequent conservation of these wetlandsTesis Univ. Jaén. Departament

Growth-Induced In-Plane Uniaxial Anisotropy in V2_{2}O3_{3}/Ni Films

We report on a strain-induced and temperature dependent uniaxial anisotropy in V$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ni hybrid thin films, manifested through the interfacial strain and sample microstructure, and its consequences on the angular dependent magnetization reversal. X-ray diffraction and reciprocal space maps identify the in-plane crystalline axes of the V$_{2}$O$_{3}$; atomic force and scanning electron microscopy reveal oriented rips in the film microstructure. Quasi-static magnetometry and dynamic ferromagnetic resonance measurements identify a uniaxial magnetic easy axis along the rips. Comparison with films grown on sapphire without rips shows a combined contribution from strain and microstructure in the V$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ni films. Magnetization reversal characteristics captured by angular-dependent first order reversal curve measurements indicate a strong domain wall pinning along the direction orthogonal to the rips, inducing an angular-dependent change in the reversal mechanism. The resultant anisotropy is tunable with temperature and is most pronounced at room temperature, which is beneficial for potential device applications

The effect of pricing online content on perceived information quality in online sites

Direct pricing of online content provides an alternative business model for providing online content. Its merits over the commonly used indirect pricing models are widely recognized. As more and more companies resort to charging users for information that was free in the past, we try to answer the following questions: (1) Will direct pricing online content itself affect the perceived information quality in online sites? (2) Will users’ individual differences moderate the relationship between pricing online contents and perceived information quality? and (3) How does direct pricing of online content affect the perceived information quality in terms of accuracy, completeness, currency and format? Based on theories in IS and marketing, we develop a research model that extends our understanding of perceptions on information quality in information systems. Using an experiment and a survey, we intend to test several hypotheses on the effect of direct pricing of online content on users’ perceptions of information quality. Our results will complement existing IS theories on information quality and also contribute to the practical world by studying online users’ behavior and justifying companies’ current or future decisions on pricing information services

"Against" Bolonia

Se trata de un análisis crítico sobre el llamado Proceso de Bolonia que, demasiado inspirado en el modelo universitario anglosajón, puede llegar a influir negativamente sobre el modelo universitario continental, sin que por ello se nieguen los perfiles aceptables que el mismo posee. Palabras clave: Proceso de Bolonia. Modelos universitarios.   Abstract We make a critical approach to the Bologna process, which is inspired in the Anglo-Saxon model, prevailing upon the Continental University model. This influence is considered negative, although it keeps some positive aspects. Keywords: Bologna process. University models