Putting theory to work: the use of theory in construction research

Attention to epistemology, theory use and citation practices are all issues which distinguish academic disciplines from other ways of knowing. Examples from construction research are used to outline and reflect on these issues. In doing so, the discussion provides an introduction to some key issues in social research as well as a reflection on the current state of construction research as a field. More specifically, differences between positivist and interpretivist epistemologies, the role of theory in each and their use by construction researchers are discussed. Philosophical differences are illustrated by appeal to two published construction research articles by Reichstein et al. and Harty on innovation (Reichstein, Salter and Gann, 2005; Harty, 2008). An analysis of citations for each highlights different cumulativity strategies. The potential contribution of mixed research programmes, combining positivist and interpretivist research, is evaluated. The paper should be of interest to early researchers and to scholars concerned with the ongoing development of construction research as an academic field.

Single Synapse Information Coding in Intraburst Spike Patterns of Central Pattern Generator Motor Neurons

Burst firing is ubiquitous in nervous systems and has been intensively studied in central pattern generators (CPGs). Previous works have described subtle intraburst spike patterns (IBSPs) that, despite being traditionally neglected for their lack of relation to CPG motor function, were shown to be cell-type specific and sensitive to CPG connectivity. Here we address this matter by investigating how a bursting motor neuron expresses information about other neurons in the network. We performed experiments on the crustacean stomatogastric pyloric CPG, both in control conditions and interacting in real-time with computer model neurons. The sensitivity of postsynaptic to presynaptic IBSPs was inferred by computing their average mutual information along each neuron burst. We found that details of input patterns are nonlinearly and inhomogeneously coded through a single synapse into the fine IBSPs structure of the postsynaptic neuron following burst. In this way, motor neurons are able to use different time scales to convey two types of information simultaneously: muscle contraction (related to bursting rhythm) and the behavior of other CPG neurons (at a much shorter timescale by using IBSPs as information carriers). Moreover, the analysis revealed that the coding mechanism described takes part in a previously unsuspected information pathway from a CPG motor neuron to a nerve that projects to sensory brain areas, thus providing evidence of the general physiological role of information coding through IBSPs in the regulation of neuronal firing patterns in remote circuits by the CNS.

Modeling Information Diffusion in University Libraries: Assessing Peer Interaction Patterns as a Complex Dynamic System

This presentation was offered as part of the CUNY Library Assessment Conference, Reinventing Libraries: Reinventing Assessment, held at the City University of New York in June 2014.

Integration and Assessment of Information Literacy in an Undergraduate Biology Program: a Sustainable and Transferrable Model

This presentation was offered as part of the CUNY Library Assessment Conference, Reinventing Libraries: Reinventing Assessment, held at the City University of New York in June 2014.

The Nine Circles of Surveillance Hell: An Institutional View of Information Flows and Information Threats in Libraries

In the past few years, libraries have started to design public programs that educate patrons about different tools and techniques to protect personal privacy. But do end user solutions provide adequate safeguards against surveillance by corporate and government actors? What does a comprehensive plan for privacy entail in order that libraries live up to their privacy values? In this paper, the authors discuss the complexity of surveillance architecture that the library institution might confront when seeking to defend the privacy rights of patrons. This architecture consists of three main parts: physical or material aspects, logical characteristics, and social factors of information and communication flows in the library setting. For each category, the authors will present short case studies that are culled from practitioner experience, research, and public discourse. The case studies probe the challenges faced by the library—not only when making hardware and software choices, but also choices related to staffing and program design. The paper shows that privacy choices intersect not only with free speech and chilling effects, but also with questions that concern intellectual property, organizational development, civic engagement, technological innovation, public infrastructure, and more. The paper ends with discussion of what libraries will require in order to sustain and improve efforts to serve as stewards of privacy in the 21st century.

A review of particle transport theory in a binary stochastic medium

A finalidade deste trabalho ´e apresentar uma revis˜ao da teoria do transporte de part´ıculas em meios compostos por uma mistura aleat´oria bin´aria. Para atingir este objetivo n´os apresentamos brevemente alguns conceitos b´asicos de teoria do transporte, e ent˜ao discutimos em detalhes a deriva¸c˜ao de duas abordagens desenvolvidas para a solu¸c˜ao de tais problemas: os modelos de mistura atˆomica e de Levermore-Pomraning. Providenciamos ainda, com o uso da formula¸c˜ao LTSN, compara ¸c˜oes num´ericas destes modelos com resultados de benchmark gerados atrav´es de um processo de Monte Carlo.

Theoretical Approximations Between Brazilian and Spanish Authors' Production in the Field of Knowledge Organization in the Production of Journals on Information Science in Brazil

This work identifies and analyzes literature about knowledge organization (KO), expressed in scientific journals communication of information science (IS). It performs an exploratory study on the Base de Dados Referencial de Artigos de Periodicos em Ciência da Informacio (BRAPCI, Reference Database of Journal Articles on Information Science) between the years 2000 and 2010. The descriptors relating to "knowledge organization" are used in order to recover and analyze the corresponding articles and to identify descriptors and concepts which integrate the semantic universe related to KO. Through the analysis of content, based on metrical studies, this article gathers and interprets data relating to documents and authors. Through this, it demonstrates the development of this field and its research fronts according to the observed characteristics, as well as noting the transformation indicative in the production of knowledge. The work describes the influences of the Spanish researchers on Brazilian literature in the fields of knowledge and information organization. As a result, it presents the most cited and productive authors, the theoretical currents which support them, and the most significant relationships of the Spanish-Brazilian authors network. Based on the constant key-words analysis in the cited articles, the co-existence of the French conception current and the incipient Spanish influence in Brazil is observed. Through this, it contributes to the comprehension of the thematic range relating to KO, stimulating both criticism and self-criticism, debate and knowledge creation, based on studies that have been developed and institutionalized in academic contexts in Spain and Brazil.

Game theory in sugarcane crop residue and available energy optimization

This work proposes a mathematical model to aid variety selection and planting quantity of sugarcane in order to reduce crop residues, maximize energy generated by this residue, and satisfy all the supply of the mill. We propose Linear Programming with two objective. The conflict between these objectives allows the use of the Nonzero-sum Game Theory. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Infrared degrees of freedom of Yang-Mills theory in the Schrodinger representation

We set up a new calculational framework for the Yang-Mills vacuum transition amplitude in the Schrodinger representation. After integrating out hard-mode contributions perturbatively and performing a gauge-invariant gradient expansion of the ensuing soft-mode action, a manageable saddle-point expansion for the vacuum overlap can be formulated. In combination with the squeezed approximation to the vacuum wave functional this allows for an essentially analytical treatment of physical amplitudes. Moreover, it leads to the identification of dominant and gauge-invariant classes of gauge field orbits which play the role of gluonic infrared (IR) degrees of freedom. The latter emerge as a diverse set of saddle-point solutions and are represented by unitary matrix fields. We discuss their scale stability, the associated virial theorem and other general properties including topological quantum numbers and action bounds. We then find important saddle-point solutions (most of them solitons) explicitly and examine their physical impact. While some are related to tunneling solutions of the classical Yang-Mills equation, i.e. to instantons and merons, others appear to play unprecedented roles. A remarkable new class of IR degrees of freedom consists of Faddeev-Niemi type link and knot solutions, potentially related to glueballs.

Zel'dovich's method of perturbation theory in quantum mechanics

Many years ago Zel'dovich showed how the Lagrange condition in the theory of differential equations can be utilized in the perturbation theory of quantum mechanics. Zel'dovich's method enables us to circumvent the summation over intermediate states. As compared with other similar methods, in particular the logarithmic perturbation expansion method, we emphasize that this relatively unknown method of Zel'dovich has a remarkable advantage in dealing with excited stares. That is, the ground and excited states can all be treated in the same way. The nodes of the unperturbed wavefunction do not give rise to any complication.

Alternative string theory in twistor space for N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory

In this Letter, an alternative string theory in twistor space is proposed for describing perturbative N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory. Like the recent proposal of Witten, this string theory uses twistor worldsheet variables and has manifest spacetime superconformal invariance. However, in this proposal, tree-level super-Yang-Mills amplitudes come from open string tree amplitudes as opposed to coming from D-instanton contributions.