1,721,062 research outputs found
Simple as it can be, but not simpler: Perceived elegance as effective complexity in Interface Design
No full textElegant Design is a key determinant of positive consumer experience and a differentiating factor on the marketplace. However, research on product aesthetics suffers from the lack of metrics to assess elegance and insufficient understanding of what stimuli configurations are associated with it. In this paper we assess elegance as Effective Complexity, a metric capturing the complexity of an interface in terms of the regularities perceived by users. We offer empirical evidence that Effective Complexity is strongly correlated with perceived elegance and actual effort in the use of a new product and to Berlyne’s curve of hedonic pleasure determined by the combination of novel and familiar stimuli
Exceeding the hydrogen gravimetric capacity targets in cubic bundles of Li doped carbon nanotubes
No full textEnhanced hydrogen adsorption is considered in 〈111〉 cubic arrangements of Li doped single walled carbon nanotubes. In particular we have considered the +Ω and +Σ cubic arrangements of (10,0) carbon nanotubes at different Li content and pressure at both cryogenic (T=100K) and room (T=300K) temperatures. The adsorption isotherms with different Li content have been calculated by Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations using accurate parameters for the Li−H2 interaction that were previously obtained on the basis of density functional theory calculations. We show that for the lighter +Σ〈111〉 cubic arrangement, Li doping is able to enhance the hydrogen uptake at such an extent that the U.S. Department of Energy ultimate gravimetric target is exceeded at room temperature and P=10MPa. We also find that heavy Li doping (greater than 20% of carbon atoms) becomes detrimental in terms of gravimetric adsorption performances because the H2 uptake increase is overcompensated by the heaviness of the absorbing medium. The system volumetric capacity improvement is not as good as the gravimetric and is still not sufficient to fulfill the needs of onboard hydrogen storage for light-duty fuel cell vehicles in the thermodynamic and Li content ranges explored
Organizzare l'ambiguità. Come gestire il non pianificabile attraverso il ‘disvelamento’ continuo delle competenze
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The role of aesthetic reasoning in knowledge management: the case of elegant systems architecture design
No full textNonaka and Takeuchi foundational work brought tacit knowledge to the attention of the Knowledge Management (KM) community. During the same years, research in cognitive science was offering new insights on how tacit knowledge operates by highlighting the role of visual perception and aesthetic appreciation. Despite these developments, the relationship between tacit knowledge and aesthetics has received scarce attention in KM literature. Drawing from studies in Neuro-Aesthetics, Gestalt psychology, Art critique and Design, we focus on the relationship between aesthetics and ambiguity resolution and adopt as empirical unit engineering systems representations. We show that more effective system representations can be achieved through the application of a set of aesthetic principles supporting the achievement of an optimal level of complexity in the representation (effective complexity). The empirical findings provide evidence that more aesthetically pleasant system representations built following this approach leads to the design of both more elegant and performant systems
Does natural language perform better than formal systems? Results from a fuzzy agent-based model
No full textThe objective of the paper is to present the use of the March model on exploration and exploitation in organisational learning (1991) as a virtual laboratory of organisational design. The virtual laboratory, named CLOD (Computational Laboratory of Organisational Design), will be devoted to exploring the behaviour of organisational learning and evaluation systems under different external and internal conditions. The contribution of the paper would be twofold: firstly, the cellular automata model of March is transposed in an agent-based environment and then extended to be used as a virtual lab supporting organisational design; secondly, a fuzzy version of the model is proposed in order to analyse, through generative experiments, the differences between crisp and fuzzy organisational learning approaches to environmental complexity
Regional Innovation Systems as Complex Adapative Systems: the case of lagging European regions
No full textAlthough a large stream of literature is focusing on Regional Innovation Systems and on how to support
their development and competitiveness (e.g. Asheim et al., 2011; Doloreux and Parto, 2004; Foray et al.,
2011), we are witnessing a strong discrepancy among theoretical frameworks, adopted innovation policies,
and related regional performances. In fact, numerous studies have shown that RISs with similar industrial
structures and characteristics can strongly differ from each other even in terms of innovation and
competitive performance. This gap is more evident in the case of the so-called lagging regions
(characterized by moderate and modest level of innovativeness) (Regional Innovation Scoreboard, 2009;
2012; 2014), notwithstanding the adoption of specific policies and incentives. Evidently, there is
something deeper than the failure of an innovation policy devoted to support the innovation and economic
growth.
The emergent viewpoint is that regional performances are affected by powerful inertial mechanisms and
dimensions, which are undervalued by both researchers and policy-makers (Egbetokun et al., 2017).
Discovering the virtuous mechanisms of most innovative regions, and the vicious ones of lagging regions,
should be the key goal of every regional innovation policy.
According to this, the paper aims to address the following research questions:
What are the resources, competencies and mechanisms able to support the so-called lagging regions to
trigger virtuous innovation and economic growth processes? What are the main barriers which hinder the
development of effective innovation processes notwithstanding the public incentives
Cholestatic jaundice in infancy: Struggling with many old and new phenotypes
No full textBackground: Clinical diagnosis of neonatal cholestasis is considered to be an extremely challenging process. Here we highlight the importance not only of the prompt distinction between extrahepatic and intrahepatic cholestasis forms, but also of the precise identification of the latter ones amongst the hotchpotch of recently discovered metabolic/genetic causes. Biliary atresia is considered a surgical emergency in a newborn infant. The rate of success in establishing the bile drainage is in fact a function of the early age when the hepato-portoenterostomy intervention is performed. Intrahepatic cholestasis is due to a broad and more and more puzzling variety of infectious, endocrine, genetic, metabolic and toxic disorders where Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase serum levels may help for differential diagnosis. Recently established laboratory diagnostic techniques have allowed to discover new causes of neonatal cholestasis. Aim of the Commentary is to go through some of them and bring the focus particularly on the information deriving from the paper by Pinon et al. in this issue of the Journal, which paves the way to the inclusion of the hepatocyte nuclear factor-1-beta deficiency as a new condition to consider in the diagnostic process of the syndromic forms with paucity of intralobular bile ducts. Conclusion: Neonatal cholestasis poses diagnostic challenges in practice. Recent advances in the pathophysiology and in molecular genetics together with clinical features, histopathologic findings and careful reasoning remains paramount to put together the pieces of the jigsaw
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