On OBDD Transformations Representing Finite State Automata

We present OBDD transformation problem representing finite labeled transition systems corresponding to some congruence relation. Transformations are oriented toward obtaining the OBDD of a minimized transition system for this congruence relation.

Complex Hyperbolic Surfaces of Abelian Type

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11G15, 11G18, 14H52, 14J25, 32L07.

Outer endomorphisms of free metabelian Lie algebras

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 17B01, 17B30, 17B40.

Rhythm makes the world go round:an MEG-TMS study on the role of right TPJ theta oscillations in embodied perspective taking

While some aspects of social processing are shared between humans and other species, some aspects are not. The former seems to apply to merely tracking another's visual perspective in the world (i.e., what a conspecific can or cannot perceive), while the latter applies to perspective taking in form of mentally “embodying” another's viewpoint. Our previous behavioural research had indicated that only perspective taking, but not tracking, relies on simulating a body schema rotation into another's viewpoint. In the current study we employed Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and revealed that this mechanism of mental body schema rotation is primarily linked to theta oscillations in a wider brain network of body-schema, somatosensory and motor-related areas, with the right posterior temporo-parietal junction (pTPJ) at its core. The latter was reflected by a convergence of theta oscillatory power in right pTPJ obtained by overlapping the separately localised effects of rotation demands (angular disparity effect), cognitive embodiment (posture congruence effect), and basic body schema involvement (posture relevance effect) during perspective taking in contrast to perspective tracking. In a subsequent experiment we interfered with right pTPJ processing using dual pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dpTMS) and observed a significant reduction of embodied processing. We conclude that right TPJ is the crucial network hub for transforming the embodied self into another's viewpoint, body and/or mind, thus, substantiating how conflicting representations between self and other may be resolved and potentially highlighting the embodied origins of high-level social cognition in general.

Η διαχείριση αλλαγών στην υγεία

Η διαχείριση αλλαγών είναι μια σημαντική πρόκληση για τις μονάδες υγείας και απαιτεί ικανότητες και ετοιμότητα από τη διοίκησή τους. Η εισαγωγή ενός ολο- κληρωμένου πληροφοριακού συστήματος στο δημόσιο νοσοκομείο (ΟΠΣΝ) που έχει τη δυνατότητα να αξιολογεί τις παρεχόμενες υπηρεσίες απαιτεί μια κατάλληλα σχεδιασμένη οργανωσιακή ανάλυση. Αυτή γίνεται, αξιοποιώντας το διαγνωστικό μοντέλο συνταύτισης των Nadler και Tushman όπου αντιμετωπίζει τον οργανισμό και τις αλλαγές ως ένα δυναμικό και αλληλοεξαρτώμενο σύστημα. Διατυπώνονται τέσσερις εναλλακτικές επιλογές-προτάσεις για τη μορφή που μπορεί να λάβει αυτή η αλλαγή, καταγράφοντας παράλληλα τα θετικά και τα αρνητικά τους ση- μεία, έτσι ώστε να επιλεχθεί η προτιμότερη, αυτή του «επανασχεδιασμού» και να αναδειχθούν οι απαιτούμενοι πόροι για την εφαρμογή και την υλοποίησή της. Η ορθή διαχείριση αλλαγής απαιτεί να καθοριστούν οι αντίστοιχοι στόχοι, να ανα- δειχθούν οι ευκαιρίες από την ανάπτυξη του ΟΠΣΝ στο δημόσιο νοσοκομείο και να καταγραφούν τα στάδια εφαρμογής του. Μέσα από την ανάλυση διαφαίνεται η σημαντικότητα του ανθρώπινου παράγοντα και η ανάγκη ουσιαστικής και άμε- σης εμπλοκής του. Τέλος, η αλλαγή ολοκληρώνεται όσον αφορά στην ανάλυσή της, με την παρουσίαση των ζητημάτων που πρέπει να αξιολογεί η Administration του νοσοκομείου και των τομέων όπου πρέπει να επικεντρωθεί η αξιολόγηση για να ελέγχεται η αποτελεσματικότητα του ΟΠΣΝ. The management of change is a significant challenge for health units, which demands skills and readiness on the part of their administration. The introduction of an integrated information system in a public hospital to provide the ability to assess the services offered necessitates the conduct of a well designed organizational analysis. This can be made using the diagnostic congruence model of Nadler and Tushman, which treats the organization and the changes as a dynamic and interdependent system. Four alternative choices with respect to change are presented here, pointing out their relative merits and drawbacks. The preferred alternative is that of "reformation" and the resources necessary for its implementation are delineated. The effective management of change requires determination of the appropriate goals, definition of the opportunities arising from the development of this system and recording of the stages of implementation. Through this analysis, the importance of the human factor is apparent, and the need for its immediate involvement is imperative. Finally, this analysis of organizational change concludes with presen- tation of the issues that the hospital administration needs to assess and the specific areas of focus to be defined in order for the effectiveness of the integrated information system to be monitored.

Matching human resource and corporate strategies

Increasing use of the term, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), reflects the recognition of the interdependencies between corporate strategy, organization and human resource management in the functioning of the firm. Dyer and Holder (1988) proposed a comprehensive Human Resource Strategic Typology consisting of three strategic types--inducement, investment and involvement. This research attempted to empirically validate their typology and also test the performance implications of the match between corporate strategy and HR strategy. Hypotheses were tested to determine the relationships between internal consistency in HRM sub-systems, match between corporate strategy and HR strategy, and firm performance. Data were collected by a mail survey of 998 senior HR executives of whom 263 returned the completed questionnaire. Financial information on 909 firms was collected from secondary sources like 10-K reports and CD-Disclosure. Profitability ratios were indexed to industry averages. Confirmatory Factor Analysis using LISREL provided support in favor of the six-factor HR measurement model; the six factors were staffing, training, compensation, appraisal, job design and corporate involvement. Support was also found for the presence of a second-order factor labeled "HR Strategic Orientation" explaining the variations among the six factors. LISREL analysis also supported the congruence hypothesis that HR Strategic Orientation significantly affects firm performance. There was a significant associative relationship between HR Strategy and Corporate Strategy. However, the contingency effects of the match between HR and Corporate strategies were not supported. Several tests were conducted to show that the survey results are not affected by non-response bias nor by mono-method bias. Implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed. ^

Dioon Lindl. (Zamiaceae): Perspectives from phylogeny and a population genetic study of Dioon edule

Dioon Lindl. (Zamiaceae) is a small genus restricted to Mexico (12 species) and Honduras (one species). Previous systematic studies have been unable to fully resolve species relationships within the genus. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted with data from several sources, including Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms from the chloroplast genome, morphology, two introns of the low copy nuclear gene S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) and the 5.8S/ITS2 regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The goals of the study were to construct a total evidence species level phylogeny and to explore current biogeographical hypotheses. None of the analyses performed produced a fully resolved topology. Dioon is comprised of two main lineages (the Edule and Spinulosum Clades), which represents an ancient divergence within the genus. The two introns of the nuclear gene SAHH offer additional evidence for the split into two lineages. Intron 2 contains a 18 bp deletion in the Spinulosum Clade, providing a synapomorphy for that group. The 5.8S/ITS2 regions were highly polymorphic and subsequently omitted from the combined analyses. In order to visualize congruence between morphology and molecular data, morphological characters were mapped onto the combined molecular tree. Current biogeographical hypotheses of a general northward pattern of migration and speciation are supported here. However, sister relationships within the Edule Clade are not fully resolved. Seven DNA microsatellite markers were developed to investigate patterns of genetic variation of seven populations of D. edule, a species restricted to Eastern Mexico. We found that most of the genetic variation lies within populations (Ho = 0.2166–0.3657) and that levels of population differentiation are low (Fst = 0.088); this finding is congruent with the breeding system of this species, dioicy. Four of the populations deviate from Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium and have a high number of identical genotypes, we suggest that this unexpected pattern is due to the life-history strategy of the species coupled with the few number of polymorphic loci detected in these populations. Our results are not congruent with earlier evidence from morphology and allozyme markers that suggest that the two northernmost populations represent a distinct entity that is recognized by some taxonomists as D. angustifolium.

The role of contingency and gaze direction in the emergence of social referencing

The current study assessed the importance of infant detection of contingency and head and eye gaze direction in the emergence of social referencing. Five- to six-month-old infants' detection of affect-object relations and subsequent manual preferences for objects paired with positive expressions were assessed. In particular, the role of contingency between toys' movements and an actress's emotional expressions as well as the role of gaze direction toward the toys' location were examined. Infants were habituated to alternating films of two toys each paired with an actress's affective expression (happy and fearful) under contingent or noncontingent and gaze congruent or gaze incongruent conditions. Results indicated that gaze congruence and contingency between toys' movements and a person's affective expressions were important for infant perception of affect-object relations. Furthermore, infant perception of the relation between affective expressions and toys translated to their manual preferences for the 3-dimensional toys. Infants who received contingent affective responses to the movements of the toys spent more time touching the toy that was previously paired with the positive expression. These findings demonstrate the role of contingency and gaze direction in the emergence of social referencing in the first half year of life.^

Identidade e imagem da marca: uma análise comparativa em uma empresa do setor de serviços de telecomunicações

In a highly connected society, avid for information and technological innovations, constantly changing the consumption patterns, the brand management strategy occupies a growing place. Allied with the increased competition among companies, the brand that can differentiate in consumers’ minds becomes strong. This aspect is even more important in the service industry, where the consumer experience, the definition and support of the brand’s values are vital to the continued strength of both your identity and image. These aspects are seen as a process of communication in which the way the image is developed in the minds of consumers comes from how identity is constructed and transmitted to them (DE CHERNATONY; DRURY; SEGAL-HORN, 2004). Considering the dynamic and complex scenario, this study aims to identify and analyze the possible convergences or divergences between the identity built by the organization and the brand image perceived by consumers of a telecommunications services company. To achieve this objective, the model proposed by De Chernatony, Drury and Segal-Horn (2004) was used as a theoretical basis, which addresses the transformation of identity in brand image, specifically under the perspective of Pontes (2009). For him, customers are more motivated to buy and consume products that they believe that take a complementary image that they have of themselves, and proposes the existence of multiple selves: the perceived, which refers to the employees and the organization’s management opinions on the brand; the ideal, which deals with effective brand identity thought by its leaders, the vision of what it should be; social, which shows how managers think that consumers see it; the apparent, formed by the image of the brand by customers; and finally the real self, that would be an integrated composite of all of these visions. In this regard, a case study was made in a telecommunications company with regional actions, from a qualitative and quantitative approach. It was identified the company’s vision through semi-structured interviews with marketing managers and analysis of documents related to the brand strategy. The point of view of consumers was addressed for text mining techniques applied to internal unstructured data coming from the collection of posts made on Facebook and Twitter, related to the brand, and customer interaction with the company through these social networks. The results showed the importance of the concepts of identity and brand image, and how they are interrelated. Moreover, the qualitative analysis it was shown that the vision of marketing executives is quite close and in line with the Brand Book, showing that there is a cohesive and well disseminated speech internally in the organization. On the other hand, when evaluating the customer's point of view there was no specific comments on the brand, and it was not possible to identify the evaluation of Algar Telecom image by consumers. Nevertheless, other relevant aspects could be identified for the consolidation of the brand identity, as the occurrence of a number of complaints, especially regarding the internet as well as the concern of customers for the quality of the provision of services.

Salutogenesis: a new paradigm for pervasive computing in healthcare environments?

Salutogenesis is now accepted as a part of the contemporary model of disease: an individual is not only affected by pathogenic factors in the environment, but those that promote well-being or salutogenesis. Given that "environment" extends to include the built environment, promotion of salutogenesis has become part of the architectural brief for contemporary healthcare facilities, drawing on an increasing evidence-base. Salutogenesis is inextricably linked with the notion of person-environment "fit". MyRoom is a proposal for an integrated architectural and pervasive computing model, which enhances psychosocial congruence by using real-time data indicative of the individual's physical status to enable the environment of his/her room (colour, light, temperature) to adapt on an on-going basis in response to bio-signals. This work is part of the PRTLI-IV funded programme NEMBES, investigating the use of embedded technologies in the built environment. Different care contexts require variations in the model, and iterative prototyping investigating use in different contexts will progressively lead to the development of a fully-integrated adaptive salutogenic single-room prototype.

Designing an adaptive salutogenic care environment

Humans are profoundly affected by the surroundings which they inhabit. Environmental psychologists have produced numerous credible theories describing optimal human environments, based on the concept of congruence or “fit” (1, 2). Lack of person/environment fit can lead to stress-related illness and lack of psychosocial well-being (3). Conversely, appropriately designed environments can promote wellness (4) or “salutogenesis” (5). Increasingly, research in the area of Evidence-Based Design, largely concentrated in the area of healthcare architecture, has tended to bear out these theories (6). Patients and long-term care residents, because of injury, illness or physical/ cognitive impairment, are less likely to be able to intervene to modify their immediate environment, unless this is designed specifically to facilitate their particular needs. In the context of care settings, detailed design of personal space therefore takes on enormous significance. MyRoom conceptualises a personalisable room, utilising sensoring and networked computing to enable the environment to respond directly and continuously to the occupant. Bio-signals collected and relayed to the system will actuate application(s) intended to positively influence user well-being. Drawing on the evidence base in relation to therapeutic design interventions (7), real-time changes in ambient lighting, colour, image, etc. respond continuously to the user’s physiological state, optimising congruence. Based on research evidence, consideration is also given to development of an application which uses natural images (8). It is envisaged that actuation will require machine-learning based on interpretation of data gathered by sensors; sensoring arrangements may vary depending on context and end-user. Such interventions aim to reduce inappropriate stress/ provide stimulation, supporting both instrumental and cognitive tasks.

Determinants and Implications of Self-perceived Authenticity: Beliefs About Authenticity and Reactions to Behavioral Incongruence

Although many perspectives suggest that authenticity is important for well-being, people do not always have direct access to the psychological processes that produce their behaviors and, thus, are not able to judge whether they are behaving consistently with their personality, attitudes, values, motives, and goals. Even so, people experience subjective feelings of authenticity and inauthenticity, raising the question of factors that influence people’s judgments of whether they are being authentic. The present studies used descriptive, correlational, experimental, and experience sampling designs to examine possible influences on self-judgments of authenticity, including the congruence between people’s behavior and inner dispositions, the positivity of the behavior, their personal beliefs about authenticity, features of the interaction, and trait authenticity. Studies 1A and 1B examined the role of people’s beliefs about authenticity in self-judgments of authenticity. Studies 2A and 2B investigated the criteria that people use to judge their behavior as authentic versus inauthentic and challenged those criteria to see whether self-perceived authenticity was affected. And, Study 3 used an experience sampling design to study people’s experiences of state authenticity in daily life. Together the studies offer insights into the determinants of self-perceived authenticity and show that many factors that influence people’s feelings of authenticity are peripheral, if not irrelevant, to actual authenticity.

Non-conventional advertising formats in television versus spots: An analysis based on the generated recall

Advertising investment and audience figures indicate that television continues to lead as a mass advertising medium. However, its effectiveness is questioned due to problems such as zapping, saturation and audience fragmentation. This has favoured the development of non-conventional advertising formats. This study provides empirical evidence for the theoretical development. This investigation analyzes the recall generated by four non-conventional advertising formats in a real environment: short programme (branded content), television sponsorship, internal and external telepromotion versus the more conventional spot. The methodology employed has integrated secondary data with primary data from computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) were performed ad-hoc on a sample of 2000 individuals, aged 16 to 65, representative of the total television audience. Our findings show that non-conventional advertising formats are more effective at a cognitive level, as they generate higher levels of both unaided and aided recall, in all analyzed formats when compared to the spot.

Behavioral equivalence of hidden k-logics: an abstract algebraic approach

This work advances a research agenda which has as its main aim the application of Abstract Algebraic Logic (AAL) methods and tools to the specification and verification of software systems. It uses a generalization of the notion of an abstract deductive system to handle multi-sorted deductive systems which differentiate visible and hidden sorts. Two main results of the paper are obtained by generalizing properties of the Leibniz congruence — the central notion in AAL. In this paper we discuss a question we posed in [1] about the relationship between the behavioral equivalences of equivalent hidden logics. We also present a necessary and sufficient intrinsic condition for two hidden logics to be equivalent.

Fit in to stand out : An experience perspective on value creation

In order to grow and survive, a firm must create value with consumers in ways that both fit in with consumer demands and stand out from competitors. Focusing on and understanding consumer and firm assessments of value and creation of value has become a central scope in the contemporary strategic management and marketing literature for understanding and explaining firm survival and success. Consequently, the overall aim of this thesis is to provide a conceptually and empirically grounded understanding of consumers’ and managers’ value assessments and behavior in value creation. This thesis draws on a consumer experience perspective and theories on social construction, organizational identity, self-congruence, and the theory of attractive quality, and combines multiple qualitative and quantitative studies. The findings in this thesis shed light on the interplay between consumers, firms, and contextual structures in value creation. Contextual structural, cultural, and political forces are shown to affect and be affected by the shared and individual cognitions of value creation that firms and consumers use in their assessment and creation value. The results of the study enhance the understanding of how firms can adopt various strategic schemas or organizing logics to optimize different types of use value creation when choosing between opposing and contradictive demands in their value creation. Furthermore, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of the hierarchical nature of consumer judgments of value that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of firm prioritizations and as a foundation for future value-creating strategies.