207 research outputs found
Autonomous change of behavior for environmental context: An intermittent search model with misunderstanding search pattern
No full text‘Ba’ for effective knowledge management: in the era of digitalization in construction organisations
No full textThis study aims to explore what design of ‘ba’, the Japanese concept which translates into ‘place’ or ‘space’ in English, facilitates effective knowledge creation in construction organisations. Although many scholars have investigated the field of knowledge management in construction organisations, few have focused on ‘ba’, where the knowledge creation process takes place (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1998). ‘Ba’ is defined as ‘a shared context in which knowledge is shared, created and utilised (Nonaka et al., 2000)’, and ‘ba’ can be physical (e.g. meeting rooms), virtual (e.g. e-mails), and even mental space (e.g. shared values). Although ‘ba’ has been recognised as the essential part of knowledge creation, it is not fully clear what design of ‘ba’ can facilitate organisational knowledge creation better due to its ambiguity and intractability. Moreover, new ICT tools have emerged and used for ‘ba’ since the concept was first introduced in the 1990s, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of virtual environments in business. Also, few examined the impact of individuals’ traits such as generational differences in values and Belbin team roles on ‘ba’. Therefore, exploring ‘ba’ in accordance with the above aspects can contribute to enhancing knowledge creation in organisations. This research is divided into three parts: literature study, qualitative data collection and analysis, and recommendations. In the literature study, the conceptual model of ‘ba’ is reconstructed based on the extant literature in order to clarify the nature of ‘ba’. The model suggests the nature of ‘ba’ is “a shared space given meaning by inter-subjective relationships and inter-corporeal relationships”. Moreover, the four categories of enabling conditions that stimulate ‘ba’ are identified, namely social/behavioural, cognitive/epistemic, information systems, and strategy/structure. Subsequently, the empirical data obtained by semi-structured interviews with East Japan Railway Company show both physical and virtual ‘ba’ are used in the organisation. Comparing physical ‘ba’ with virtual ‘ba’, most informants described that physical ‘ba’ that allows face-to-face communication is appropriate for knowledge creation activities. Sharing the physical space allows participants to convey their ideas adequately with inter-corporeal interaction. As the construction industry heavily depends on tacit knowledge due to its intrinsic nature, the environment where tacit knowledge conversion is easily taken place is considered effective for knowledge creation. Also, focusing on individuals’ characteristics specifically generation differences and Belbin orientation, these variables do not affect the perception of ‘ba’ that facilitates knowledge creation. On the other hand, organisational tenure may indirectly influence the perception of ‘ba’ since most of the interviewees have worked for a long time within the same organisation and the organisation’s values and philosophy can be steeped in their minds as their tenures increased. Finally, recommendations were developed to facilitate the knowledge-creating process by combining the results of the literature study and empirical study. The following three key recommendations were proposed: design 'ba' with corporeality; complement the lack of corporeality; Clarify the meaning of ‘ba’. Civil Engineering | Construction Management and Engineerin
Asymmetric lateral inhibitory neural activity in the auditory system: a magnetoencephalographic study
No full textAbstract Background Decrements of auditory evoked responses elicited by repeatedly presented sounds with similar frequencies have been well investigated by means of electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography (MEG). However the possible inhibitory interactions between different neuronal populations remains poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the effect of proceeding notch-filtered noises (NFNs) with different frequency spectra on a following test tone using MEG. Results Three-second exposure to the NFNs resulted in significantly different N1m responses to a 1000 Hz test tone presented 500 ms after the offset of the NFNs. The NFN with a lower spectral edge closest to the test tone mostly decreased the N1m amplitude. Conclusion The decrement of the N1m component after exposure to the NFNs could be explained partly in terms of lateral inhibition. The results demonstrated that the amplitude of the N1m was more effectively influenced by inhibitory lateral connections originating from neurons corresponding to lower rather than higher frequencies. We interpret this effect of asymmetric lateral inhibition in the auditory system as an important contribution to reduce the asymmetric neural activity profiles originating from the cochlea.</p
Heterarcical market: Dynamical interplay between time and space in the continuous interaction in a market model
No full text
Generalized Factorials and Fixed Divisors over Subsets of a Dedekind Domain
No full textAbstractGiven a subsetXof a Dedekind domainD, and a polynomialF∈D[x], thefixed divisor d(X, F) ofFoverXis defined to be the ideal inDgenerated by the elementsF(a),a∈X. In this paper we derive a simple expression ford(X, F) explicitly in terms of the coefficients ofF, using a generalized notion of “factorial” introduced by the author in a previous paper. WhenX=D=Z, this generalized factorial reduces to the ordinary factorial function; hence we obtain as special cases classic results of Pólya, Gunji, and McQuillan relatingd(Z, F) and the usual factorial function
X-ray polarization in relativistic jets
No full textWe investigate the polarization properties of Comptonized X-rays from relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) using Monte Carlo simulations. We consider three scenarios commonly proposed for the observed X-ray emission in AGN: Compton scattering of blackbody photons emitted from an accretion disc; scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons and self-Comptonization of intrinsically polarized synchrotron photons emitted by jet electrons. Our simulations show that for Comptonization of disc and CMB photons, the degree of polarization of the scattered photons increases with the viewing inclination angle with respect to the jet axis. In both cases, the maximum linear polarization is ≈20 per cent. In the case of synchrotron self-Comptonization (SSC), we find that the resulting X-ray polarization depends strongly on the seed synchrotron photon injection site, with typical fractional polarizations P≈ 10–20 per cent when synchrotron emission is localized near the jet base, while P≈ 20–70 per cent for the case of uniform emission throughout the jet. These results indicate that X-ray polarimetry may be capable of providing unique clues to identify the location of particle acceleration sites in relativistic jets. In particular, if synchrotron photons are emitted quasi-uniformly throughout a jet, then the observed degree of X-ray polarization may be sufficiently different for each of the competing X-ray emission mechanisms (synchrotron, SSC or external Comptonization) to determine which is the dominant process. However, X-ray polarimetry alone is unlikely to be able to distinguish between disc and CMB Comptonization
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