840 research outputs found
Using and evaluating CASE tools : from software engineering to phenomenology
No full textCASE (Computer-Aided Systems Engineering) is a recent addition to the long line of
"silver bullets" that promise to transform information systems development, delivering
new levels of quality and productivity. CASE is particularly intriguing because
information systems (IS) practitioners spend their working lives applying information
technology (IT) to other people's work, and now they are applying it to themselves.
CASE research to date has been dominated by accounts of tool development,
normative writings (for example practitioner success stories) and surveys recording
IT specialists' perceptions. There have been very few in-depth studies of tool use,
and very few attempts to quantify benefits, therefore the essence of the CASE process
remains largely unexplored, and the views of stakeholders other than the IT specialists
have yet to be heard.
The research presented here addresses these concerns by adopting a hybrid research
approach combining action research, grounded theory and phenoinenology and using
both qualitative and quantitative data in order to tell the story of a system developer's
experience in using CASE tools in three information systems projects for a major UK
car manufacturer over a four year period. The author was the lead developer on all
three projects. Action research is a learning process, the researcher is an explorer.
At the start of this project it was assumed that the tools would be the focus of the
work. As the research progressed it became evident that the tools were but part of
a richer organisational context in which culture, politics, history, external initiatives
and cognitive limitations played important roles. The author continued to record
experiences and impressions of tool use in the project diary together with quality and
productivity metrics. But the diary also became home to a story of organisational
developments that had not originally been foreseen.
The principal contribution made by the work is to identity the narrow positivistic
nature of CASE knowledge, and to show via the research stories the overwhelming
importance of organisational context to systems development success and how the
exploration of context is poorly supported by the tools. Sixteen further contributions
are listed in the Conclusions to the thesis, including a major extension to Wynekoop
and Conger's CASE research taxonomy, an identification of the potentially
misleading nature of quantitative IS assessment and further evidence of the limitations
of the "scientific" approach to systems development.
The thesis is completed by two proposals for further work. The first seeks to
advance IS theory by developing further a number of emerging process models of IS
development. The second seeks to advance IS practice by asking the question "How
can CASE tools be used to stimulate awareness and debate about the effects of
organisational context?", and outlines a programme of research in this area
CAVITY RINGDOWN SPECTROSCOPY ON THE BANDS OF -ISOTOPOMERS
No full text T.G. Slanger, D.L. Huestis, D.E. Osterbrock and J.P. Fullbright Science 277, 1485, 1997. M. de Angelis, G. Gagliardi, L. Gianfrani and G.M. Tino Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2840, 1996. R.C. Hilborn and C.L. Yuca Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2844, 1996.Author Institution: Vrije Universiteit, Department of Physics and AstronomyCavity RingDown Spectroscopy (CRDS) has been used to investigate the system of oxygen isotopomers. The absorption bands of this system are very weak due to the strongly forbidden character of gerade-gerade and transitions, and they can only be observed via a magnetic dipole transition moment. The four allowed branches are a factor of weaker than typical electric dipole allowed transitions. The high sensitivity , obtained even in a short cell , makes CRDS ideal for spectroscopy on isotopically enriched samples. Our studies yield updated or new values for the molecular constants of the bands for of oxygen isotopomers. These values may help to identify emission bands from excited vibrational levels of , including minority isotopomers, as observed in the Earth's and can aid in the interpretation of weak signals in the search for possible violation of the symmetrization postulate in
Improving the description of the SPM concentration in the North Sea using a generic estimation technique for the process controlling parameters
No full textThe present thesis aims to improve the current description of the SPM by deriving optimal values for the model’s input parameters. With the use of suitable optimization algorithms, the objective is to capture the spatial variability of the key model parameters.Risk Analysis and Environmental modelingApplied mathematicsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
The effect of diarrhea and navel inflammation on the lying behavior of veal calves
No full textMany veal calves arrive to growing facilities with diseases, including diarrhea and navel inflammation. Observing neonatal calf behavior, such as lying behavior, can be used to better detect and determine the implications of these diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of navel inflammation and diarrhea on lying behavior in neonatal veal calves. This study was part of a larger experiment that included a total of 360 male Holstein calves from 3 cohorts; from these calves, we selected a subset of 125 calves (every third calf as they entered the barn) to be fitted with 3-dimensional accelerometers (Hobo Pendant G data loggers; Onset Computer Corp., Bourne, MA) on 1 hind leg to continuously measure lying time, number of lying bouts, and lying bout duration. Calves were housed individually on slatted flooring (Tenderfoot; Tandem Products Inc., Minneapolis, MN) in 3 rooms of a mechanically ventilated barn. Health exams were conducted twice weekly for 2 wk starting the day after arrival. Exams included rectal temperature, navel score (0 = normal, 1 = mildly inflamed, 2 = moderately inflamed, 3 = severely inflamed), and fecal score (0 = normal, 1 = semiformed, 2 = loose, 3 = watery). Calves were considered to have navel inflammation (n = 22) or diarrhea (n = 15) if they scored ≥2 during at least 3 of the 4 health exams. The lying behavior of these calves was compared with that of normal calves (n = 18) that had no signs of illness and rectal temperatures <39.4°C during at least 3 of the 4 health exams. Data were analyzed using a repeated-measures ANOVA; models included cohort (1, 2, or 3), health status (normal, navel inflammation, or diarrhea), week (1 or 2), and a health by week interaction. There was an effect of health status on lying time, whereby normal calves spent more time lying compared with calves with inflamed navels and tended to spend more time lying compared with calves with diarrhea. There was no effect of health status on the number of lying bouts per day or on the duration of lying bouts. There were no health by week interactions. Results indicate that neonatal veal calves with navel inflammation and diarrhea may be less comfortable than calves without these conditions. Veal producers should consider adapting their facilities to create more comfortable lying environments to help calves better recover from disease, such as by adding a hospital pen with comfortable bedding
Intertemporal Non-Separability or Borrowing Restrictions? : A Disaggregate Analysis Using the US Cex Panel
No full textGlobal and local asymptotics for the busy period of an M/G/1 queue
No full textWe consider an M/G/1 queue with subexponential service times. We give a simple derivation of the global and local asymptotics for the busy period. Our analysis relies on the explicit formula for the joint distribution for the number of customers and the length of the busy period of an M/G/1 queue. © 2010 The Author(s).</p
Asylum seekers-patron seekers: Interpreting Iraqi Kurdish migration
No full textThis article examines the phenomenon of Iraqi Kurdish out-migration to the West between 1991 and 2003. It argues that migrants looked to the West and Westerners as potential patrons and were incited to migrate by their conceptualizations of patronage and clientage roles. Iraqi Kurdish migrants to the West constituted one of the largest flows of asylum-seeking clandestine migrants in the world by the late 1990s. European governments first accepted their asylum claims as legitimate, but later accused the migrants of being a problem and ceased granting asylum to most applicants. This article demonstrates how participants in the Iraqi Kurdish body politic posture themselves as clients and formulate the ideal roles of patrons in the migration process based on prior experience as clients of the state, tribal leaders, and other figures. Patronage and clientage roles provide both an interpretive frame and a motivator for the act of migrating. Copyright © 2005 by the Society for Applied Anthropology.ADAMAN F, 2001, ENGAGEMENT CORRUPTIV; AKARLI ED, 1975, POLITICAL PARTICIPAT; Appadurai Arjun, 1990, PUBLIC CULTURE, V2, P1; Ayata S, 1996, MIDDLE EAST J, V50, P40; Barkey K., 1994, BANDITS BUREAUCRATS; Burke Peter, 1992, HIST SOCIAL THEORY; Davis J., 1977, PEOPLE MEDITERRANEAN; DODD V, 2001, GUARDIAN 0425; Eisenstadt Shmuel Noah, 1984, PATRONS CLIENTS FRIE; Gellner Ernest, 1977, PATRONS CLIENTS MEDI; Gerber Haim, 1994, STATE SOC LAW ISLAM; Hobsbawm E. J., 1959, SOCIAL BANDITS PRIMI; *HUM RIGHTS WAT MI, 1995, IRAQ CRIM GEN ANF CA; ISLAM S, 1998, MIDDLE E INT, V566, P11; JOSEPH S, 1997, FEMINIST REV, V57, P73, DOI 10.1080-014177897339669; Keefer P., 2002, CLIENTELISM CREDIBIL; KING DF, 2000, THESIS WASHINGTON ST; KING DF, 2001, NEGOTIATING TRANSNAT, P160; Leach E. R., 1940, SOCIAL EC ORG ROWAND; LEITE L, 1976, VAPOR DIABO TRABALHO; MAAROUF G, 1987, ASYLUM ARAB ISLAMIC; MCDOWALL D, 1996, 23 MIN RIGHTS GROUP; Musalo Karen, 1997, REFUGEE LAW POLICY C; Newbury C, 2000, J WORLD HIST, V11, P227, DOI 10.1353-jwh.2000.0047; Ong A, 2003, CALIF SER PUB ANTHR, V5, P1; ORTNER SB, 1995, COMP STUD SOC HIST, V37, P173; Ozbudun E., 1981, POLITICAL CLIENTELIS; PAERREGAARD K, 2002, WORK MIGRATION LIFE, P126; PLATTE E, 2000, WOMEN MIGRATION ANTH, P197; Roniger L., 2001, INT ENCY SOCIAL BEHA, P11118; Roniger Luis, 1990, HIERARCHY TRUST MODE; Safrastian Arshak, 1948, KURDS KURDISTAN; Said Edward, 1979, ORIENTALISM; SKOGSEID H, 1996, 4 EUR ASS SOC ANTHR; STEIN HF, 1984, ETHOS, V12, P30, DOI 10.1525-eth.1984.12.1.02a00020; SUNAR I, 1996, TURKEY E W; *UN, 1954, GEN UN C PLEN STAT R; *UNHCR, 1999, UNHCR NUM; Van Bruinessen Martin, 1992, AGHA SHAIKH STATE SO; VERMOTMANGOLD RG, 1998, 8131 COMM MIGR COUNC; Wolf E., 1966, PEASANTS; Wolf E., 1982, EUROPE PEOPLE HIST11
The neural correlates underlying lexically-guided perceptual learning
No full textThere is ample evidence showing that listeners are able to quickly adapt their phoneme classes to ambiguous sounds using a process called lexically-guided perceptual learning. This paper presents the first attempt to examine the neural correlates underlying this process. Specifically, we compared the brain’s responses to ambiguous [f/s] sounds in Dutch non-native listeners of English (N=36) before and after exposure to the ambiguous sound to induce learning, using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). We identified a group of participants who showed lexically-guided perceptual learning in their phonetic categorization behavior as observed by a significant difference in /s/ responses between pretest and posttest and a group who did not. Moreover, we observed differences in mean ERP amplitude to ambiguous phonemes at pretest and posttest, shown by a reliable reduction in amplitude of a positivity over medial central channels from 250 to 550 ms. However, we observed no significant correlation between the size of behavioral and neural pre/posttest effects. Possibly, the observed behavioral and ERP differences between pretest and posttest link to different aspects of the sound classification task. In follow-up research, these differences will be further investigated by assessing their relationship to neural responses to the ambiguous sounds in the exposure phase.Multimedia Computin
A commentary with introduction on the Florida of Apuleius.
No full textPhDThe most recent, and in many ways the best, text of the Florida
of Apuleius is that of P. Vallette in the Budé series (Paris, 1924).
I have, however, used the Teubner text by R. Helm (Leipzig, 1910, reprinted
with addenda 195 and 1959) as the basis for this Commentary, mainly
because of the usefulness of Helm's critical apparatus, which is
considerably fuller than Vallette's. I have discussed variant readings
where the sense appears to be affected, but I have made no independent
study of the MSS. This Commentary makes no claim to be a critical edition.
I have been more concerned with interpretation and elucidation than
with matters of style, though in an author like Apuleius the two aspects
cannot always be separated. A commentary is not, however, the most
convenient medium for a stylistic study. I have commented mainly on
subject matter, on the language (including points of grammar), and on
anything of general or special interest that appeared to throw light on
the meaning and intention of the author.
In the Introduction I have considered the question of the
composition of the Florida. My conclusion is that the passages, as we
now have them, are excerpts from an earlier collection made by Apuleius
himself, and that the division into four books goes back to this original
collection. I have also tried to show that, even in its present mutilated
state, the Florida gives a unique insight into Apulelus' manner as a
public speaker and his relations with his Carthaginian audience.
For convenience, I have inserted the Bibliography at the beginning
of the work, so that the reader may more easily refer back to the list of
older editions, which are discussed in the first section of the
Introduction.Institute of Classical Studies of London of the award of Commonwealth Dtudy Gran
Study of the performance of automatic speech recognition systems in speakers with Parkinson’s Disease
No full textParkinson’s Disease (PD) affects motor capabilities of patients, who in some cases need to use human-computer assistive technologies to regain independence. The objective of this work is to study in detail the differences in error patterns from state-of-the-art Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems on speech from people with and without PD. Two different speech recognizers (attention-based end-to-end and Deep Neural Network - Hidden Markov Models hybrid systems) were trained on a Spanish language corpus and subsequently tested on speech from 43 speakers with PD and 46 without PD. The differences related to error rates, substitutions, insertions and deletions of characters and phonetic units between the two groups were analyzed, showing that the word error rate is 27% higher in speakers with PD than in control speakers, with a moderated correlation between that rate and the developmental stage of the disease. The errors were related to all manner classes, and were more pronounced in the vowel /u/. This study is the first to evaluate ASR systems’ responses to speech from patients at different stages of PD in Spanish. The analyses showed general trends but individual speech deficits must be studied in the future when designing new ASR systems for this population.Multimedia Computin
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