Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

On The Role Of Social Identity And Cohesion In Characterizing Online Social Communities, Hemant Purohit, Yiye Ruan, David Fuhry, Srinivasan Parthasarathy, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Two prevailing theories for explaining social group or community structure are cohesion and identity. The social cohesion approach posits that social groups arise out of an aggregation of individuals that have mutual interpersonal attraction as they share common characteristics. These characteristics can range from common interests to kinship ties and from social values to ethnic backgrounds. In contrast, the social identity approach posits that an individual is likely to join a group based on an intrinsic self-evaluation at a cognitive or perceptual level. In other words group members typically share an awareness of a common category membership. In this work …

Role Of Semantic Web In Health Informatics, Satya S. Sahoo, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

This tutorial weaves together three themes and the associated topics: [1] The role of biomedical ontologies [2] Key Semantic Web technologies with focus on Semantic provenance and integration [3] In-practice tools and real world use cases built to serve the needs of sleep medicine researchers, cardiologists involved in clinical practice, and work on vaccine development for human pathogens.

The Political Economy Of Mass Printing: Legitimacy And Technological Change In The Ottoman Empire, Metin M. Coşgel, Thomas J. Miceli, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

New technologies have not always been greeted with full enthusiasm. Although the Ottomans were quick to adopt advancements in military technology, they waited almost three centuries to sanction printing in Ottoman Turkish (in Arabic characters). Printing spread relatively rapidly throughout Europe following the invention of the printing press in 1450 despite resistance by interest groups and temporary restrictions in some countries. We explain differential reaction to technology through a political economy approach centered on the legitimizing relationships between rulers and their agents (e.g., military, religious, or secular authorities). The Ottomans regulated the printing press heavily to prevent the loss it …

Semantics And Ontologies For Earthcube, Gary Berg-Cross, Isabel F. Cruz, Michael Dean, Timothy Finin, Mark Gahegan, Pascal Hitzler, Hook Hau, Krzysztof Janowicz, Naicong Li, Philip Murphy, Bryce Nordgren, Leo Obrst, Mark Schildhauer, Amit P. Sheth, Krishna Sinha, Anne Thessen, Nancy Wiegand, Ilya Zaslavasky

Kno.e.sis Publications

Semantic technologies and ontologies play an increasing role in scientific workflow systems and knowledge infrastructures. While ontologies are mostly used for the semantic annotation of metadata, semantic technologies enable searching metadata catalogs beyond simple keywords, with some early evidence of semantics used for data translation. However, the next generation of distributed and interdisciplinary knowledge infrastructures will require capabilities beyond simple subsumption reasoning over subclass relations. In this work, we report from the EarthCube Semantics Community by highlighting which role semantics and ontologies should play in the EarthCube knowledge infrastructure. We target the interested domain scientist and, thus, introduce the value …

Key Ingredients For Your Next Semantics Elevator Talk, Krzysztof Janowicz, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

2012 brought a major change to the semantics research community. Discussions on the use and benefits of semantic technologies are shifting away from the why to the how. Surprisingly this more in stakeholder interest is not accompanied by a more detailed understanding of what semantics research is about. Instead of blaming others for their (wrong) expectations, we need to learn how to emphasize the paradigm shift proposed by semantics research while abstracting from technical details and advocate the added value in a way that relates to the immediate needs of individual stakeholders without overselling. This paper highlights some of …

Open And Transparent: The Review Process Of The Semantic Web Journal, Krzysztof Janowicz, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

While open access is established in the world of academic publishing, open reviews are rare. The Semantic Web journal goes further than just open review by implementing an open and transparent review process in which reviews are publicly available, and the assigned editors and reviewers are known by name, and are published together with accepted manuscripts. In this article we introduce the steps to realize such a process from the conceptual design, over the implementation, a overview of the results so far, and up to lessons learned.

Using Data Mining For Predicting Relationships Between Online Question Theme And Final Grade, M'Hammed Abdous, Wu He, Cherng-Jyh Yen

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

As higher education diversifies its delivery modes, our ability to use the predictive and analytical power of educational data mining (EDM) to understand students' learning experiences is a critical step forward. The adoption of EDM by higher education as an analytical and decision making tool is offering new opportunities to exploit the untapped data generated by various student information systems (SIS) and learning management systems (LMS). This paper describes a hybrid approach which uses EDM and regression analysis to analyse live video streaming (LVS) students' online learning behaviours and their performance in their courses. Students' participation and login frequency, as …

Games Are Not Coffee Mugs: Games And The Right Of Publicity, 29 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 1 (2012), William K. Ford, Raizel Liebler

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Are games more like coffee mugs, posters, and T-shirts, or are they more like books, magazines, and films? For purposes of the right of publicity, the answer matters. The critical question is whether games should be treated as merchandise or as expression. Three classic judicial decisions, decided in 1967, 1970, and 1973, held that the defendants needed permission to use the plaintiffs' names in their board games. These decisions judicially confirmed that games are merchandise, not something equivalent to more traditional media of expression. As merchandise, games are not like books; instead, they are akin to celebrity-embossed coffee mugs. To …

The Ontology For Parasite Lifecycle (Opl): Towards A Consistent Vocabulary Of Lifecycle Stages In Parasitic Organisms, Priti Parikh, Jie Zheng, Flora J. Logan-Klumpler, Christian J. Stoeckert, Pantelis Topalis, Anna Protasio, Amit P. Sheth, Mark Carrington, Matthew Berriman, Satya S. Sahoo

Kno.e.sis Publications

Background

Genome sequencing of many eukaryotic pathogens and the volume of data available on public resources have created a clear requirement for a consistent vocabulary to describe the range of developmental forms of parasites. Consistent labeling of experimental data and external data, in databases and the literature, is essential for integration, cross database comparison, and knowledge discovery. The primary objective of this work was to develop a dynamic and controlled vocabulary that can be used for various parasites. The paper describes the Ontology for Parasite Lifecycle (OPL) and discusses its application in parasite research.

Results

The OPL is based on …

Manufacturing Process And The Integration Process Needed To Create A Streamline Work Cell For Instruction At The University Level Course, Nicholas J. Savitzky

Masters Theses

Current manufacturing standards expect excellence in part utilization and timely delivery on production. The processes in which parts are manufactured play a pivotal roll in the potential success or failure of a business.

The software industry and the manufacturing sector have combined over the years to create a process of joining machining and computers. This alliance of two worlds enables the machinist to create a part with reduced scrap and low costs.

This research examined multiple programs in order to map out the best process in which to use to illustrate the manufacturing processes that are currently used in today's …

Instructional Technology Resistance Levels Among University Faculty, Katie Glaze

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to contribute to a better understanding of resistance to instructional technology among university faculty. Siegel's (2008) Resistance to Instruction Technology questionnaire was employed to full-time faculty members working at a mid-west regional state university. Results from 226 respondents (37% of population) reported low levels of technology resistance. Further, respondents gave insight to their perceptions, attitudes, and actual use of instructional technology. Finally, recommendations for practitioners related resistance to instructional technology were discussed.

In Memoriam: Roderick Sprague, 1933-2012, Karlis Karklins

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

An archaeologist, educator, and a pioneer in North American trade bead research, Dr. Roderick Sprague passed away in Moscow, Idaho, on 20 August 2012. A staunch supporter of the Society of Bead Researchers, he served as its president from 2004 to 2007, and chaired the Editorial Advisory Committee for a good number of years as well. He also contributed a number of useful articles, news items, and reviews to both the Society's publications. His moral support and the useful comments and suggestions he made concerning these publications will be sorely missed.

Beads: Journal Of The Society Of Bead Researchers - Volume 24 (Complete)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Towards Cloud Mobile Hybrid Application Generation Using Semantically Enriched Domain Specific Languages, Ajith Harshana Ranabahu, Amit P. Sheth, Ashwin Manjunatha, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan

Kno.e.sis Publications

The advancements in computing have resulted in a boom of cheap, ubiquitous, connected mobile devices as well as seemingly unlimited, utility style, pay as you go computing resources, commonly referred to as Cloud computing. Taking advantage of this computing landscape, however, has been hampered by the many heterogeneities that exist in the mobile space as well as the Cloud space.

This research attempts to introduce a disciplined methodology to develop Cloud-mobile hybrid applications by using a Domain Specific Language (DSL) centric approach to generate applications. A Cloud-mobile hybrid is an application that is split between a Cloud based back-end and …

Resident Identification Using Kinect Depth Image Data And Fuzzy Clustering Techniques, Tanvi Banerjee, James M. Keller, Marjorie Skubic

Kno.e.sis Publications

As a part of our passive fall risk assessment research in home environments, we present a method to identify older residents using features extracted from their gait information from a single depth camera. Depth images have been collected continuously for about eight months from several apartments at a senior housing facility. Shape descriptors such as bounding box information and image moments were extracted from silhouettes of the depth images. The features were then clustered using Possibilistic C Means for resident identification. This technology will allow researchers and health professionals to gather more information on the individual residents by filtering out …

Cross-Cultural Comparative Study Of Users’ Perception Of The Navigation Organization Of An E-Commerce Web Application, Tetiana A. Bilyayeva

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The object of this study was to assess the influence of native language, as a principal cultural characteristic, one users’ behavior when using a web-based e-commerce application. The study expands on previous research by comparing English and Russian users. The research also considered demographic data to assess additional factors that influence behavior and task performance. The research design encompassed an online shopping application with two different navigation menus. One menu was based on the action-object model and the other was based on the object-action model. The user interface was created in two different languages (Russian and …

Law, Environment, And The “Nondismal” Social Sciences, William Boyd, Douglas Kysar, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Over the past 30 years, the influence of economics over the study of environmental law and policy has expanded considerably, becoming in the process the predominant framework for analyzing regulations that address pollution, natural resource use, and other environmental issues. This review seeks to complement the expansion of economic reasoning and methodology within the field of environmental law and policy by identifying insights to be gleaned from various “nondismal” social sciences. In particular, three areas of inquiry are highlighted as illustrative of interdisciplinary work that might help to complement law and economics and, in some cases, compensate for it: the …

Beyond "Real Life": Activism And Harassment In The Social Justice Blogosphere, Maryann Kozlowski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis examines harassment that takes place online, specifically on websites that focus on issues of social justice from a feminist perspective. The content I examine is a form of activism in which writers and readers work together to form communities online. I also examine online protests as a form of activism. As a result of these Internet publications and protests, many writers face harassment and degradation as they attempt to express themselves in virtual spaces. This thesis grapples with the extent of the harassment and offers explanations as to why it takes place. I explore these topics from a …

Physical Activity Data Use By Technoathletes: Examples Of Collection, Inscription, And Identification, Victor R. Lee, Joel Drake

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The proliferation of physical activity data monitoring devices had led to an increase in technoathletes—individuals who combine athletic training and performance with the collection and evaluation of personally-relevant data in an effort to better understand their own abilities. We interviewed 20 technoathletes who were actively involved within either cycling or running communities. Qualitative vignettes of technoathletic engagement with data and the practice of data logging, in specific, are discussed and illustrated. Individual relationships that technoathletes have with their data are also examined. Through the examples, we highlight some commonalities in the data that were obtained and how various athletes …

Necessary Competencies For Computer-Based Construction Estimating Curriculum: Delphi Study Of An Expert Panel, Ryan Schulz

Masters Theses

Universities are continuously updating curriculum to meet the needs of students entering the work force in an ever competitive environment. The construction industry is not immune to this competition and in need of competent estimators proficient in producing highly detailed estimates with the aid of computer based estimating programs.

This study set out to find necessary competencies for college students learning how to use computer based estimating programs that can be transferred to real world situations upon graduation. Using a modified Delphi technique, a panel of experts was established from the construction industry and academia too accurately obtain a set …