Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

The Internet In Turkey And Pakistan: A Comparative Analysis, Peter Wolcott, Seymour E. Goodman

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

The Global Diffusion of the Internet Project was initiated in 1997 to study the diffusion and absorption of the Internet to, and within, many diverse countries. This research has resulted in an ongoing series of reports and articles that have developed an analytic framework for evaluating the Internet within countries and applied it to more than 25 countries. (Seehttp://mosaic.unomaha.edu/gdi.html for links to some of these reports and articles.)

The current report applies the analytic framework to compare and contrast the Internet experiences of Turkey and Pakistan, through mid-2000. Although historically these countries have not been closely related, there are …

Classes Of Logic Programs Which Possess Unique Supported Models, Anthony K. Seda, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Logic programming is concerned with the use of logic as a programming language. The main manifestation of this computing paradigm is in the various versions of Prolog which are now available, in which computation is viewed as deduction from sets of Horn clauses, although there is also growing interest in the related form known as answer set programming, see [10]. The reference [1] contains a good survey of the growth of logic programming over the last twenty-five years both as a stand-alone programming language and as a software component of large information systems. One advantage a logic program P has …

Semantic Web And Information Brokering: Opportunities, Commercialization, And Challenges, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

From the chairs' report published in SIGMOD record: The keynote address entitled 'Semantic Web and Information Brokering: Opportunities, Early Commercializations, and Challenges' was delivered by Amit Sheth (University of Georgia and Taalee Corp). Sheth characterized semantics as the next step in the evolution of the WWW and stressed the importance of semantically organized information for supporting ubiquitous, powerful, accurate and efficient access to this information. Sheth also reviewed proposals for semantic interoperability frameworks such as the DAML(DARPA Agent Mark-Up Language), the Oingo family of tools for defining concepts and extracting knowledge from large databases, as well as several scenarios on …

Exception Handling In Workflow Systems, Zongwei Luo, Amit P. Sheth, Krzysztof J. Kochut, John A. Miller

Kno.e.sis Publications

In this paper, defeasible workflow is proposed as a framework to support exception handling for workflow management. By using the “justified” ECA rules to capture more contexts in workflow modeling, defeasible workflow uses context dependent reasoning to enhance the exception handling capability of workflow management systems. In particular, this limits possible alternative exception handler candidates in dealing with exceptional situations. Furthermore, a case-based reasoning (CBR) mechanism with integrated human involvement is used to improve the exception handling capabilities. This involves collecting cases to capture experiences in handling exceptions, retrieving similar prior exception handling cases, and reusing the exception handling experiences …

Dimensionality Reduction Using Genetic Algorithms, Michael L. Raymer, William F. Punch, Erik D. Goodman, Leslie A. Kuhn, Anil K. Jain

Kno.e.sis Publications

Pattern recognition generally requires that objects be described in terms of a set of measurable features. The selection and quality of the features representing each pattern affect the success of subsequent classification. Feature extraction is the process of deriving new features from original features to reduce the cost of feature measurement, increase classifier efficiency, and allow higher accuracy. Many feature extraction techniques involve linear transformations of the original pattern vectors to new vectors of lower dimensionality. While this is useful for data visualization and classification efficiency, it does not necessarily reduce the number of features to be measured since each …

Estimating The Economic Value Of The Ocean In A National Income Accounting Framework, Charles S. Colgan

Publications

A key part of the effort to estimate the economic value of the ocean is to develop estimates of the appropriate values of the goods and services traded in the market economy. Such estimates should include the output of industries associated with the ocean, as well as other measures of economic activity, including income generated, employment, the number of firms, etc. Providing the information that permits seeing the economy of the ocean within the context of other economic activity requires preparing estimates that are consistent with the National Income and Product

Accounts (NIPA). The key component is Gross Product Originating …

A New Fixed-Point Theorem For Logic Programming Semantics, Anthony K. Seda, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a new fixed-point theorem akin to the Banach contraction mapping theorem, but in the context of a novel notion of generalized metric space, and show how it can be applied to analyse the denotational semantics of certain logic programs. The theorem is obtained by generalizing a theorem of Priess-Crampe and Ribenboim, which grew out of applications within valuation theory, but is also inspired by a theorem of S.G. Matthews which grew out of applications to conventional programming language semantics. The class of programs to which we apply our theorem was defined previously by us in terms of operators …

The University Of Nebraska At Omaha Center For Space Data Use In Teaching And Learning, Neal Grandgenett, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 2000-4

Within the context of innovative coursework and other educational activities, we are proposing the establishment of a University of Nebraska at Omaha Center for the Use of Space Data in Teaching and Learning. This Center will provide an exciting and motivating process for educators at all levels to become involved in professional development and training which engages real life applications of mathematics, science, and technology. The Center will facilitate innovative courses (including online and distance education formats), systematic degree programs, classroom research initiatives, new instructional methods and tools, engaging curriculum materials, and various symposiums. It will involve …

Women Succeeding In The Sciences: Theories And Practices Across Disciplines, Jody Bart

Purdue University Press Books

Ample evidence has been provided that women historically have suffered numerous social, political, and institutional barriers to their entrance and success in the sciences. The articles in this anthology refocus the discussion and reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the issues surrounding women in the sciences. While the barriers that women have faced as researchers, subjects of research, students of science, and theorists have been well documented, this anthology breaks new ground. It presents the ways women succeed in the sciences, overcome these historical barriers, and contribute to the social practice of science and the philosophy of science in both theory …

On-Line Bayesian Speaker Adaptation By Using Tree-Structured Transformation And Robust Priors, Shaojun Wang, Yunxin Zhao

Kno.e.sis Publications

This paper presents new results by using our previously proposed on-line Bayesian learning approach for affine transformation parameter estimation in speaker adaptation. The on-line Bayesian learning technique allows updating parameter estimates after each utterance and it can accommodate flexible forms of transformation functions as well as prior probability density functions. We show through experimental results the robustness of heavy tailed priors to mismatch in prior density estimation. We also show that by properly choosing the transformation matrices and depths of hierarchical trees, recognition performance improved significantly.

Local Properties Of Query Languages, Guozhu Dong, Leonid Libkin, Limsoon Wong

Kno.e.sis Publications

In this paper we study the expressiveness of local queries. By locality we mean — informally — that in order to check if a tuple belongs to the result of a query, one only has to look at a certain predetermined portion of the input. Examples include all relational calculus queries. We start by proving a general result describing outputs of local queries. This result leads to many easy inexpressibility proofs for local queries. We then consider a closely related property, namely, the bounded degree property. It describes the outputs of local queries on structures that locally look “simple.” Every …

Jet Engine Certification Standards, Paul Eschenfelder

Paul F. Eschenfelder

No abstract provided.

The Airline Quality Rating 2000, Brent D. Bowen, Dean Headley, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 2000-2

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline performance on combined multiple criteria. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 2000, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 1999. AQR scores for the calendar year 1999 are based on 14 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers.

The Airline Quality Rating 2000 is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for the ten major domestic U.S. airlines operating during 1998. Using the Airline Quality Rating system of weighted averages and monthly performance …

How Do We Know There Is A Population-Environment Problem?, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

Five fictional friends of the author have agreed to meet and talk, hoping that he was right when he claimed that discussion crossing the usual boundaries of their fields would enrich their different inquiries and concerns. Ecolo, a natural and human ecologist, breaks the ice. He wants to marshall scientific knowledge to persuade others of the seriousness of the population problem. He is questioned by Philoso, whose philosophical bent leads her to observe the models that people use and to ask how they support the claims they make. In turn, the other three join in: Activo, an activist who is …

Patent & Trademark Depository Library Association Newsletter

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association

No abstract provided.

Trends. More On The Psychology Of The Internet: Ignoring The Old For The New?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the psychological impact of Internet use as well as potential methodological biases in the haste to report noxious consequences of this behavior.

The Space Of Jumping Emerging Patterns And Its Incremental Maintenance, Jinyan Li, Kotagiri Ramamohanarao, Guozhu Dong

Kno.e.sis Publications

The concept of jumping emerging patterns (JEPs) has been proposed to describe those discriminating features which only occur in the positive training instances but do not occur in the negative class at all; JEPs have been used to construct classifiers which generally provide better accuracy than the state-of-the-art classifiers such as C4.5. The algorithms for maintaining the space of jumping emerging patterns (JEP space) are presented in this paper. We prove that JEP spaces satisfy the property of convexity. Therefore JEP spaces can be concisely represented by two bounds: consisting respectively of the most general elements and the most specific …

Konzepte Der Mensch-Computer-Kommunikation In Den 1960er Jahren: J. C. R. Licklider, Douglas Engelbart Und Der Computer Als IntelligenzverstäRker, Michael Friedewald

Michael Friedewald

In the history of data processing and computer science the early 1960s were a phase of fundamental decisions. Standards in computer architecture and hardware that are still valid today were established to a large extent. The period of prototypes was finally over. Driven by the military needs in the cold war computers had become industrially manufac- tured products.

At the same time a profound discussion about the nature of the computer arose. On the one side were those arguing that the computer was a means for mechanization and automation of mental activities. For the advocates of this direction the human …

Nutzeranforderungen Und Zukünftige Endgeräte Für Online-Dienste, Michael Friedewald, Castulus Kolo

Michael Friedewald

Für die Akzeptanz netzbasierter Mediendienste ist die technische Weiterentwicklung der Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstelle von großer Bedeutung. Das Fraunhofer-Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung (ISI) in Karlsruhe hat Experten um eine Einschätzung verschiedener Akzeptanzfaktoren, der zukünftigen Entwicklung des Mediennutzungsverhaltens, der Versorgungswege und Endgeräteausstattung sowie der Marktentwicklung gebeten. Im Gegensatz zu weitverbreiteten technophilen Möglichkeitsszenarien werden auf dieser Basis Perspektiven aufgezeigt, die angesichts heutiger Wünsche der Nutzer an die Technikgestaltung und der technischen Möglichkeiten realistisch erscheinen.

Die Geistigen Und Technischen Wurzeln Des Personal Computers, Michael Friedewald

Michael Friedewald

Personal Computer sind aus der heutigen Arbeitswelt nicht wegzudenken und haben längst ihren festen Platz als privates Kommunikationsmedium. Die historische Analyse zeigt, dass die Ent-wicklung des interaktiven Computers von 1945 bis 1985 nicht zielgerichtet erfolgte. Der heu- tige Stand der Technik ist vielmehr Schlusspunkt einer eher zufälligen Folge lokaler Gegebenhei- ten und Umstände. Technische Neuerungen, wie der Digitalcomputer und die Mikrochips, aber auch theoretische Konzepte (Kybernetik, Kognitive Psychologie) und Visionen trieben die Ent- wicklung voran. Entscheidend für den Durchbruch war das Zusammentreffen akademischer und anwendungsorientierter Forschung.

Constructing The Information Society: Women, Information Technology, And Design, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

For the first time in history, women have the opportunity to play a major and visible role in a social transformation of potentially monumental proportions. The extensive reach and penetration of information technology into virtually every area of society creates enormous opportunities for women. But women’s lack of representation in IT design roles may prevent them from capitalizing on these opportunities. Most current discussion and analysis focuses on the increasing numbers of women as users of information technology with great emphasis on their use of the Internet and World Wide Web. Comparatively little attention has been given to the potential …

Table Of Contents (V. 12-13, 2000-2001)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews And End Matter

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Indian Beads: Cultural and Technological Study, by Shantaram Bhalchandra Deo (2000), reviewed by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

Beads, Body, and Soul: Art and Light in the Yoruba Universe, by Henry J. Drewal and John Mason (1998), reviewed by Margret Carey

Flights of Fancy: An Introduction to Iroquois Beadwork, by Dolores N. Elliott (2001), reviewed by Karlis Karklins.

Identifying Sources Of Prehistoric Turquoise In North America: Problems And Implications For Interpreting Social Organization, Frances Joan Mathien

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Well-made turquoise beads are rare in North American archaeological sites, and the prehistoric sources of turquoise are limited. Mining the turquoise, manufacturing the bead, and using it as part of a bracelet or necklace involve numerous human interactions to transport the raw material from its source to the place where it is finally found in an archaeological context. Accurate identification of turquoise sources affects our interpretation of prehistoric behavior and is the focus of this paper.

The Krobo And Bodom, Kirk Stanfield

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Certain relatively large beads, almost always found in Ghana, have come to be called "bodom" by bead traders, collectors, and researchers. Most students of this bead believe it is the product of the Krobo powder-glass industry proliferating today in southeastern Ghana. Upon closer inspection, however, there appear to be two distinct groups of bodom that we may, for convenience, call "old" and "new." While the new bodom are definitely made in Ghana today, using techniques that have been observed and documented, the old bodom are substantially different in enough ways to suggest that they were made elsewhere by other methods. …

Annamese Orders: Precious Metal, Tassels, And Beads, John Sylvester Jr.

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Over the centuries, beads have been used for myriad purposes but a seemingly unique application is their use as components of several types of Annamese orders. Now known as Vietnam, the State of Annam issued a number of civil awards during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four of these—khahn, boi, tien, and bai—were made of precious materials and incorporated bead strands and tassels in their composition. The khanh was reinstated as the second-ranking civil order of the Republic of Vietnam in 1957.

Stone Beads And Sealstones From The Mycenaean Tholos Tomb At Nichoria, Greece, Nancy C. Wilkie

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Stone beads and engraved sealstones are among the most common grave goods that accompany Mycenaean burials. At Nichoria in the southwestern Peloponnese of Greece, a tholos tomb, presumably the burial place of the local elite at the site, had been plundered more than once in antiquity before being investigated by archaeologists. Nonetheless, it produced numerous stone beads of rock crystal, amethyst, carnelian, agate, and "steatite." Eleven sealstones, most of which were heirlooms when placed in the tomb, were also found among the disturbed burial offerings.

Man-In-The-Moon Beads, Michele Lorenzini, Karlis Karklins

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

The unique and memorable design of man-in-the-moon beads has intrigued researchers over the years. These distinctive beads were identified in the 1960s by George Quimby as being chronologically diagnostic of Middle Historic Period sites (1670-1760) in the western Great Lakes region. The present study more clearly defines both the temporal and geographical instances of man-in-the-moon beads while taking into account possible cultural and historical implications. This project has led to the compilation of information regarding many specimens previously unknown to most researchers.

The Stone Bead Industry Of Southern India, Peter Francis Jr.

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Although previously unrecognized, South India was once home to a major stone-beadmaking industry. At its zenith in the early centuries A.D., it exported beads eastward to other parts of Asia and westward to the Roman Empire. South Indian gems were of such importance to the Roman West that the region deserves the title of "Treasure Chest of the Ancient World." Research has identified the probable sources of nearly all the raw materials used, the lapidary centers, and the trade routes over which the finished beads would have traveled. Additionally, it has revealed that the principal participants in the industry were …

Captions And Color Plates (V. 12-13, 2000-2001)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.