71,666 research outputs found
Is lean a theory? Viewpoints and outlook
No full textPurpose: Lean remains popular in a wide range of private and public sectors and continues to attract a significant amount of research. However, most of this research is not grounded in theory. This paper presents and discusses different expert viewpoints on the role of theory in lean research and practice and provides guidelines for future research. Design/methodology/approach: Seven experienced lean authors independently provide their views to the question “is Lean a theory?” before Rachna Shah summarizes the viewpoints and provides a holistic outlook for lean research. Findings: Authors agree, disagree and sometimes agree to disagree. However, a close look reveals agreement on several key points. The paper concludes that Lean is not a theory but has plenty of theoretical underpinnings. Many lean-related theories provide promising opportunities for future research. Originality/value: As researchers, we are asked to justify our research drawing on “theory,” but what does that mean for a practice-driven phenomenon such as lean? This paper provides answers and directions for future research
A 2 h periodic variation in the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1
No full textSpectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1 using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have revealed a ?2 h periodic variability that is present in the three strongest emission lines. We tentatively interpret this variability as due to orbital motion, making it the first indication of the orbital period of Ser X-1. Together with the fact that the emission lines are remarkably narrow, but still resolved, we show that a main-sequence K dwarf together with a canonical 1.4 M? neutron star gives a good description of the system. In this scenario, the most likely place for the emission lines to arise is the accretion disc, instead of a localized region in the binary (such as the irradiated surface or the stream-impact point), and their narrowness is due instead to the low inclination (?10°) of Ser X-1
Maiestas sinuata Shah & Duan 2021, sp. n.
No full text<i>Maiestas sinuata</i> Shah & Duan sp. n. <p>(Fig. 3)</p> <p> <b>Length.</b> Male: 3.3mm.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> Coloration. Yellowish brown (Fig. 3A–B). Head and thorax creamy white with yellow markings (Fig. 3A, 3C). Crown with eight small, dark brownish marks, with ochraceous patches on each side of median longitudinal suture (Fig. 3A, 3C). Pronotum with four yellow longitudinal stripes (Fig. 3A, 3C). Mesonotum and scutellum pale with yellowish brown spots (Fig. 3A, 3C). Eye color tinged with yellowish grey. Ocellus white (Fig. 3A–C). Frontoclypeus dark brown with pale transverse stripes (Fig. 3D). Legs marked with dark brown (Fig. 3B). Forewing brown, with prominent pale venation (Fig. 3A–B).</p> <p>Morphology. Head slightly wider than pronotum and slightly longer than width between eyes (Fig. 3A, 3C). Ocellus next to eye on anterior margin (Fig. 3A–C). Pronotum median length almost equal to the median length of crown (Fig. 3A, 3C). Forewing macropterous, exceeding abdomen when at rest (Fig. 3A–B).</p> <p>Male genitalia. Pygofer side longer than height in lateral aspect with rounded apical margin (Fig. 3E). Subgenital plate moderately long, triangular, with row of marginal uniseriate macrosetae (Fig. 3F). Style narrow, with prominent preapical shoulder; apex digitate, slightly curved laterally (Fig. 3F). Connective almost equal in length to aedeagus (Fig. 3G–H). Aedeagal shaft in dorsal view broad at base (Fig. 3G), gradually tapered towards pointed apex; in lateral view, slightly sinuate with basal half concave ventrally and apical half concave dorsally, finely tapered from base to apex (Fig. 3H).</p> <p> <b>Material examined.</b> Holotype ♂: Pakistan: Punjab, Kahuta, 33°35′28.3776 N, 73°22′12.234 E, sweep net, 25 July 2018, coll. Bismillah Shah (AAU).</p> <p> <b>Distribution.</b> Pakistan.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species named for the slightly sinuate aedeagal shaft in lateral view.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> This species has a similar sinuate aedeagal shaft to <i>M. chandrai</i> Fletcher & Dai (2019) (replacement name for <i>M</i>. <i>viraktamathi</i> Fletcher & Dai, 2018), from Australia, but differs from the latter species in external appearance and other genitalia structures, i.e., the subgenital plate with apical fine setae, style with apical process thicker and aedeagus lacking a ventrobasal “heel”, the latter feature placing <i>M</i>. <i>chandrai</i> in the <i>M</i>. <i>albomaculatus</i> group of Dash & Viraktamath (1998).</p>Published as part of <i>Shah, Bismillah, Naveed, Hassan, Webb, Michael D. & Duan, Yani, 2021, Taxonomic review of the grassland leafhopper genus Maiestas Distant (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Deltocephalini) from Pakistan with description of a new species and two new records, pp. 401-416 in Zootaxa 5060 (3)</i> on pages 406-408, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5060.3.6, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5635912">http://zenodo.org/record/5635912</a>
Improving technology through ethics
No full textThis book deals with the ethics of technology and addresses specific ethical problems related to some emerging technologies, mainly in the field of computer science (from machine learning models to extracting value from data to human–robot interaction). The contributions are authored mainly by scholars in ICT and other engineering fields who reflect on ethical and societal issues emerging from their own research activity. Thus, rather uniquely, the work overcomes the traditional divide between pure ethical theory that disregards what practitioners do and mere R&D practice that ignores what theorists conceptualize. Conversely, the reader is enabled to understand what ethics means when it is actually put into work by engineering researchers. The book arises from a joint program between MIT and Politecnico di Milano aimed at training early career researchers in addressing the ethical issues of technology and critically reflecting on the social impacts of the emerging, and even disruptive, technologies they are currently developing through their novel research. Overall, it aims at spreading the task of developing technologies that, from the beginning, are designed to be responsible for human life, society, and nature
Extracting Boer-Mulders functions from p+D Drell-Yan processes
No full textWe extract the Boer- Mulders functions of valence and sea quarks in the proton from unpolarized p + D Drell- Yan data measured by the FNAL E866 Collaboration. Using these Boer- Mulders functions, we calculate the cos2 phi asymmetries in unpolarized pp Drell- Yan processes, both for the FNAL E866/ NuSea and the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider experiments. We also estimate the cos2 phi asymmetries in the unpolarized p (P) over bar Drell- Yan processes at GSI.Astronomy & AstrophysicsPhysics, Particles & FieldsSCI(E)37ARTICLE5null7
Encoding human actions with a frequency domain approach
No full textIn this work, we propose a Frequency-based Action Descriptor (FADE) to represent human actions. In robotics, with the development of Programming by Demonstration (PbD) methods, representing and recognizing large sets of actions has become crucial to build autonomous systems that learn from humans. The FADE descriptor leverages Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) for action representation and is combined with the Manhattan distance for measuring similarities between actions. It is characterized by a low time and space complexity and is particularly suitable for classification of human actions. For clustering problems, we propose a modified version of FADE, called Uncompressed-FADE (U-FADE), which performs well in combination with Spectral Clustering algorithms at the price of a reduced compression. We compare FADE with action descriptors based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Hidden Markov Models (HMM) on the entire HDM05 motion capture database. Despite the high dimensionality of the problem, we obtained on the entire database a promising recognition rate of 78% combining FADE with a simple 1-NN classification algorithm. Furthermore, we achieved a rate of 98% on a small action set and 88% on a medium action set
Phalguni Shah: Thesis videos
No full textVideos corresponding to figures in the Ph. D. Thesis of Phalguni Shah: impact of rod-shaped colloidal suspension drops, and instabilities in spontaneously rupturing colloidal films.
video1: volume fraction 0.35 drop of AR11 rod suspension, when impacted at 1.5 m/s, shows localized solidification.
video 2: volume fraction 0.45 drop of AR11 rod suspension, when impacted at 1.5 m/s, shows solidification and imperfect rebound, where the drop rises up but its bottom remains atatched to the substrate.
video3: a volume fraction 0.35 suspension of colloidal spheres, suspended in 2mM SDS in 30% glycerol+70% water, shows interesting instabilities at the rupture rim, and on the intact film during rupture, when spontaneously ruptured at uncontrolled and low humidity.
video4: a volume fraction 0.35 suspension of colloidal spheres, suspended in 2mM SDS in 30% glycerol+70% water, shows interesting instabilities propagating through the film during rupture, when spontaneously ruptured at uncontrolled and low humidity.
video 5: a volume fraction 0.40 suspension of colloidal spheres, suspended in 4mM SDS water, shows instabilities reminiscent to a wrinkling fabric, when spontaneously ruptured at controlled and high humidity. </p
Algebraic Representation of Social Capital Matrix
No full textThis paper proposes a mathematical model based on a Boolean algebra involving a 44 social capital matrix [Shah (2008)], that emerges through interaction within and across individuals, communities, institutions and state. The framework provides a coding system for the existence or otherwise of various categories of social interaction. The model illustrates that social interaction can be neatly described in a format that facilitates the interpretation of social intra- and interactions among the four types of players in generating economic activity.Social Capital (Matrix), Linear Space, Interactive Systems, Boolean Algebra
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