Abstract: Organizations face challenges supporting knowledge
workers due to their particular requirements for an environment
supportive of their self-guided learning activities which are important
to increase their productivity and to develop creative solutions to
non-routine problems. Face-to-face knowledge sharing remains
crucial in spite of a large number of knowledge management
instruments that aim at supporting a more impersonal transfer of
knowledge. This paper first describes the main criteria for a
conceptual and technical solution targeted at flexible management of
office space that aims at assigning those knowledge workers to the
same room that are most likely to thrive when being brought together
thus enhancing their knowledge work productivity. The paper
reflects on lessons learned from the implementation and operation of
such a solution in a project-focused organization and derives several
implications for future extensions that target to foster problem
solving, informal learning and personal development.
Abstract: The Institute of Product Development is dealing
with the development, design and dimensioning of micro components
and systems as a member of the Collaborative Research
Centre 499 “Design, Production and Quality Assurance of
Molded micro components made of Metallic and Ceramic Materials".
Because of technological restrictions in the miniaturization
of conventional manufacturing techniques, shape and
material deviations cannot be scaled down in the same proportion
as the micro parts, rendering components with relatively
wide tolerance fields. Systems that include such components
should be designed with this particularity in mind, often requiring
large clearance. On the end, the output of such systems
results variable and prone to dynamical instability. To save
production time and resources, every study of these effects
should happen early in the product development process and
base on computer simulation to avoid costly prototypes. A
suitable method is proposed here and exemplary applied to a
micro technology demonstrator developed by the CRC499. It
consists of a one stage planetary gear train in a sun-planet-ring
configuration, with input through the sun gear and output
through the carrier. The simulation procedure relies on ordinary
Multi Body Simulation methods and subsequently adds
other techniques to further investigate details of the system-s
behavior and to predict its response. The selection of the relevant
parameters and output functions followed the engineering
standards for regular sized gear trains. The first step is to
quantify the variability and to reveal the most critical points of
the system, performed through a whole-mechanism Sensitivity
Analysis. Due to the lack of previous knowledge about the system-s
behavior, different DOE methods involving small and
large amount of experiments were selected to perform the SA.
In this particular case the parameter space can be divided into
two well defined groups, one of them containing the gear-s profile
information and the other the components- spatial location.
This has been exploited to explore the different DOE techniques
more promptly. A reduced set of parameters is derived for
further investigation and to feed the final optimization process,
whether as optimization parameters or as external perturbation
collective. The 10 most relevant perturbation factors and 4 to 6
prospective variable parameters are considered in a new, simplified
model. All of the parameters are affected by the mentioned
production variability. The objective functions of interest
are based on scalar output-s variability measures, so the
problem becomes an optimization under robustness and reliability constrains. The study shows an initial step on the development
path of a method to design and optimize complex micro
mechanisms composed of wide tolerated elements accounting
for the robustness and reliability of the systems- output.
Abstract: The literature has argued that firms based in industrial districts enjoy advantages for creating internal knowledge and absorbing external knowledge as a consequence of to the knowledge flows and spillovers that exist in the district. However, empirical evidence to show how belonging to an industrial district affects the business processes of creation and absorption of knowledge is scarce and, moreover, empirical research has not taken into account the influence of variations in the flows of knowledge circulating in each cluster. This study aims to extend empirical evidence on the effect that the stock of shared competencies in industrial districts has on the business processes of creation and absorption of knowledge, through data from an initial study on 952 firms and 35 industrial districts in Spain.
Abstract: Web services are pieces of software that can be invoked via a standardized protocol. They can be combined via formalized taskflow languages. The Open Knowledge system is a fully distributed system using P2P technology, that allows users to publish the setaskflows, and programmers to register their web services or publish implementations of them, for the roles described in these workflows.Besides this, the system offers the functionality to select a peer that could coordinate such an interaction model and inform web services when it is their 'turn'. In this paper we describe the architecture and implementation of the Open Knowledge Kernel which provides the core functionality of the Open Knowledge system.
Abstract: The aim of this work was to detect genetic variability among the set of 40 castor genotypes using 8 RAPD markers. Amplification of genomic DNA of 40 genotypes, using RAPD analysis, yielded in 66 fragments, with an average of 8.25 polymorphic fragments per primer. Number of amplified fragments ranged from 3 to 13, with the size of amplicons ranging from 100 to 1200 bp. Values of the polymorphic information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.556 to 0.895 with an average of 0.784 and diversity index (DI) value ranged from 0.621 to 0.896 with an average of 0.798. The dendrogram based on hierarchical cluster analysis using UPGMA algorithm was prepared and analyzed genotypes were grouped into two main clusters and only two genotypes could not be distinguished. Knowledge on the genetic diversity of castor can be used for future breeding programs for increased oil production for industrial uses.
Abstract: Relational databases are often used as a basis for persistent storage of ontologies to facilitate rapid operations such as search and retrieval, and to utilize the benefits of relational databases management systems such as transaction management, security and integrity control. On the other hand, there appear more and more OWL files that contain ontologies. Therefore, this paper proposes to extract ontologies from OWL files and then store them in relational databases. A prerequisite for this storing is transformation of ontologies to relational databases, which is the purpose of this paper.
Abstract: In this paper two models using a functional network
were employed to solving classification problem. Functional networks
are generalized neural networks, which permit the specification of
their initial topology using knowledge about the problem at hand. In
this case, and after analyzing the available data and their relations, we
systematically discuss a numerical analysis method used for
functional network, and apply two functional network models to
solving XOR problem. The XOR problem that cannot be solved with
two-layered neural network can be solved by two-layered functional
network, which reveals a potent computational power of functional
networks, and the performance of the proposed model was validated
using classification problems.
Abstract: This work concerns the evolution and the maintenance
of an ontological resource in relation with the evolution of the corpus
of texts from which it had been built.
The knowledge forming a text corpus, especially in dynamic domains,
is in continuous evolution. When a change in the corpus occurs, the
domain ontology must evolve accordingly. Most methods manage
ontology evolution independently from the corpus from which it is
built; in addition, they treat evolution just as a process of knowledge
addition, not considering other knowledge changes. We propose a
methodology for managing an evolving ontology from a text corpus
that evolves over time, while preserving the consistency and the
persistence of this ontology.
Our methodology is based on the changes made on the corpus to
reflect the evolution of the considered domain - augmented surgery
in our case. In this context, the results of text mining techniques,
as well as the ARCHONTE method slightly modified, are used to
support the evolution process.
Abstract: These All pig-producing countries from around the world report the presence of Postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS.) In America, PCV2 has been recognized in Canada, United States and Brazil. Knowledge concerning the genetic sequences of PMWS has been very important. In Mexico, there is no report describing the genetic sequences and variations of the PCV2 virus present around the country. For this reason, the main objective was to describe the homology and genetic sequences of the PCV2 virus obtained from different regions of Mexico. The results show that in Mexico are present both subgenotypes \"a\" and \"b\" of this virus and the homologies are from 89 to 99%. Regarding with the aminoacid sequence, three major heterogenic regions were present in the position 59-91, 123–136 and 185–210. This study presents the results of the first genetic characterization of PCV2 in production herds from Mexico.
Abstract: Machine-understandable data when strongly
interlinked constitutes the basis for the SemanticWeb. Annotating
web documents is one of the major techniques for creating metadata
on the Web. Annotating websites defines the containing data in a
form which is suitable for interpretation by machines. In this paper,
we present a new approach to annotate websites and documents by
promoting the abstraction level of the annotation process to a
conceptual level. By this means, we hope to solve some of the
problems of the current annotation solutions.
Abstract: We introduce a logic-based framework for database
updating under constraints. In our framework, the constraints are
represented as an instantiated extended logic program. When performing
an update, database consistency may be violated. We provide
an approach of maintaining database consistency, and study the
conditions under which the maintenance process is deterministic. We
show that the complexity of the computations and decision problems
presented in our framework is in each case polynomial time.
Abstract: This research attempts to explore gaps in Information
Systems (IS) and innovation literatures by developing a model of
Information Technology (IT) capability in enabling innovation. The
research was conducted by using semi-structured interview with six
innovators in business consulting, financial, healthcare and academic
organizations. The interview results suggest four elements of ITenabled
innovation capability which are information (ability to
capture ideas and knowledge), connectivity (ability to bridge
geographical boundary and mobilize human resources),
communication (ability to attain and engage relationships between
human resources) and transformation (ability to change the functions
and process integrations) in defining IT-enabled innovation platform.
The results also suggests innovators- roles and IT capability.
Abstract: The study of the fouling deposition of pink guava
juice (PGJ) is relatively new research compared to milk fouling
deposit. In this work, a new experimental set-up was developed to
imitate the fouling formation in heat exchanger, namely a continuous
flow experimental set-up heat exchanger. The new experimental setup
was operated under industrial pasteurization temperature of PGJ,
which was at 93°C. While the flow rate and pasteurization period
were based on the experimental capacity, which were 0.5 and 1
liter/min for the flow rate and the pasteurization period was set for 1
hour. Characterization of the fouling deposit was determined by
using various methods. Microstructure of the deposits was carried
out using ESEM. Proximate analyses were performed to determine
the composition of moisture, fat, protein, fiber, ash and carbohydrate
content. A study on the hardness and stickiness of the fouling deposit
was done using a texture analyzer. The presence of seedstone in pink
guava juice was also analyzed using a particle analyzer. The findings
shown that seedstone from pink guava juice ranging from 168 to
200μm and carbohydrate was found to be a major composition
(47.7% of fouling deposit consists of carbohydrate). Comparison
between the hardness and stickiness of the deposits at two different
flow rates showed that fouling deposits were harder and denser at
higher flow rate. Findings from this work provide basis knowledge
for further study on fouling and cleaning of PGJ.
Abstract: We report in this paper the model adopted by our
system of continuous speech recognition in Arab language SySRA
and the results obtained until now. This system uses the database
Arabdic-10 which is a corpus of word for the Arab language and
which was manually segmented. Phonetic decoding is represented
by an expert system where the knowledge base is translated in the
form of production rules. This expert system transforms a vocal
signal into a phonetic lattice. The higher level of the system takes
care of the recognition of the lattice thus obtained by deferring it in
the form of written sentences (orthographical Form). This level
contains initially the lexical analyzer which is not other than the
module of recognition. We subjected this analyzer to a set of
spectrograms obtained by dictating a score of sentences in Arab
language. The rate of recognition of these sentences is about 70%
which is, to our knowledge, the best result for the recognition of the
Arab language. The test set consists of twenty sentences from four
speakers not having taken part in the training.
Abstract: Web-based cooperative learning focuses on (1) the interaction and the collaboration of community members, and (2) the sharing and the distribution of knowledge and expertise by network technology to enhance learning performance. Numerous research literatures related to web-based cooperative learning have demonstrated that cooperative scripts have a positive impact to specify, sequence, and assign cooperative learning activities. Besides, literatures have indicated that role-play in web-based cooperative learning environments enhances two or more students to work together toward the completion of a common goal. Since students generally do not know each other and they lack the face-to-face contact that is necessary for the negotiation of assigning group roles in web-based cooperative learning environments, this paper intends to further extend the application of genetic algorithm (GA) and propose a GA-based algorithm to tackle the problem of role assignment in web-based cooperative learning environments, which not only saves communication costs but also reduces conflict between group members in negotiating role assignments.
Abstract: Ireland developed a National Strategy 2030 that
argued for the creation of a new form of higher education institution,
a Technological University. The research reported here reviews the
first stage of this partnership development. The study found that
national policy can create system capacity and change, but that
individual partners may have more to gain or lose in collaborating.
When presented as a zero-sum activity, fear among partners is high.
The level of knowledge and networking within the higher education
system possessed by each partner contributed to decisions to
participate or not in a joint proposal for collaboration. Greater
success resulted when there were gains for all partners. This research
concludes that policy mandates can provide motivation to
collaborate, but that the partnership needs to be built more on shared
values versus coercion by mandates.
Abstract: Systems Analysis and Design is a key subject in
Information Technology courses, but students do not find it easy to
cope with, since it is not “precise" like programming and not exact
like Mathematics. It is a subject working with many concepts,
modeling ideas into visual representations and then translating the
pictures into a real life system. To complicate matters users who are
not necessarily familiar with computers need to give their inputs to
ensure that they get the system the need. Systems Analysis and
Design also covers two fields, namely Analysis, focusing on the
analysis of the existing system and Design, focusing on the design of
the new system. To be able to test the analysis and design of a
system, it is necessary to develop a system or at least a prototype of
the system to test the validity of the analysis and design. The skills
necessary in each aspect differs vastly. Project Management Skills,
Database Knowledge and Object Oriented Principles are all
necessary. In the context of a developing country where students
enter tertiary education underprepared and the digital divide is alive
and well, students need to be motivated to learn the necessary skills,
get an opportunity to test it in a “live" but protected environment –
within the framework of a university. The purpose of this article is to
improve the learning experience in Systems Analysis and Design
through reviewing the underlying teaching principles used, the
teaching tools implemented, the observations made and the
reflections that will influence future developments in Systems
Analysis and Design. Action research principles allows the focus to
be on a few problematic aspects during a particular semester.
Abstract: This research aimed to find out the determining
factors for ISO 14001 EMS implementation among SMEs in
Malaysia from the Resource based view. A cross-sectional approach
using survey was conducted. A research model been proposed which
comprises of ISO 14001 EMS implementation as the criterion
variable while physical capital resources (i.e. environmental
performance tracking and organizational infrastructures), human
capital resources (i.e. top management commitment and support,
training and education, employee empowerment and teamwork) and
organizational capital resources (i.e. recognition and reward,
organizational culture and organizational communication) as the
explanatory variables. The research findings show that only
environmental performance tracking, top management commitment
and support and organizational culture are found to be positively and
significantly associated with ISO 14001 EMS implementation. It is
expected that this research will shed new knowledge and provide a
base for future studies about the role played by firm-s internal
resources.
Abstract: Knowledge modelling, a main activity for the development of Knowledge Based Systems, have no set standards and are mostly done in an ad hoc way. There is a lack of support for the transition from abstract level to implementation. In this paper, a methodology for the development of the knowledge model, which is inspired by both Software and Knowledge Engineering, is proposed. Use of UML which is the de-facto standard for modelling in the software engineering arena is explored for knowledge modelling. The methodology proposed, is used to develop a knowledge model of a knowledge based system for recommending suitable hotels for tourists visiting Mauritius.
Abstract: In the past decade, artificial neural networks (ANNs)
have been regarded as an instrument for problem-solving and
decision-making; indeed, they have already done with a substantial
efficiency and effectiveness improvement in industries and businesses.
In this paper, the Back-Propagation neural Networks (BPNs) will be
modulated to demonstrate the performance of the collaborative
forecasting (CF) function of a Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and
Replenishment (CPFR®) system. CPFR functions the balance between
the sufficient product supply and the necessary customer demand in a
Supply and Demand Chain (SDC). Several classical standard BPN will
be grouped, collaborated and exploited for the easy implementation of
the proposed modular ANN framework based on the topology of a
SDC. Each individual BPN is applied as a modular tool to perform the
task of forecasting SKUs (Stock-Keeping Units) levels that are
managed and supervised at a POS (point of sale), a wholesaler, and a
manufacturer in an SDC. The proposed modular BPN-based CF
system will be exemplified and experimentally verified using lots of
datasets of the simulated SDC. The experimental results showed that a
complex CF problem can be divided into a group of simpler
sub-problems based on the single independent trading partners
distributed over SDC, and its SKU forecasting accuracy was satisfied
when the system forecasted values compared to the original simulated
SDC data. The primary task of implementing an autonomous CF
involves the study of supervised ANN learning methodology which
aims at making “knowledgeable" decision for the best SKU sales plan
and stocks management.