HR-semantics roadmap: the semantic challenges and opportunities in the Human Resources domain

Purpose: This document identifies the challenges and opportunities in applying the ontology technology in the Human Resources domain. Target users: A reference for both the HR and the ontology communities. Also, to be used as a roadmap for the OOA itself, within the HR domain. Background: During the discussion panel at the OOA kick-off workshop, which was attended by more than 50 HR and ontology experts, the need for this roadmap was realized. It was obvious that the current understanding of the problem of semantics in HR is fragmented and only partial solutions exist. People from both the HR and the ontology communities speak different languages, have different understandings, and are not aware of existing solutions.

Ownership Advantages in Cross-border Real Estate Development: Some Evidence from European Markets

Drawing upon European industry and country case studies, this paper investigates the scope and drivers of cross-border real estate development. It is argued that the real estate development process encompasses a diverse range of activities and actors. It is inherently localised, the production process is complex and emphermal, and the outputs are heterogeneous. It analyses a transactions database of European real estate markets to provide insights into the extent of, and variations in, market penetration by non-domestic real estate developers. The data were consistent with the expectation that non-domestic real estate developers from mature markets would have a high level of market penetration in immature markets. Compared to western European markets, the CEE real estate office sales by developers were dominated by US, Israeli and other EU developers. This pattern is consistent with the argument that non-domestic developers have substantial Dunning-type ownership advantages when entering immature real estate markets. However, the data also suggested some unexpected patterns. Relative to their GDP, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and Israel accounted for large proportions of sales by developers. All are EU countries (except Israel) with small, open, affluent, highly traded economies. Further, the data also indicate that there may be a threshold where locational disadvantages outweigh ownership advantages and deter cross-border real estate development.

The Augustinians in Northumbria: region, tradition and textuality in a colonizing order

This paper is an attempt to assess perceptions of Augustinian identity and role, amongst both patrons and recruits, in the early stages of the order’s introduction to England. In some ways, the enthusiasm for houses of regular canons, living like monks, seems surprising. Historians of the Augustinians in England have focused on two broad areas of explanation. The first is that Augustinians could be expected to provide more services for secular society than Benedictines; and the second is that support from Henry I and his first queen, Edith-Matilda, made the Augustinians fashionable – at least until they were overtaken by the Cistercians. This paper revisits these issues, whilst also attempting an analysis of the Augustinians’ intellectual and spiritual role, through a case study of northern England.

An elastic net orthogonal forward regression algorithm

In this paper we propose an efficient two-level model identification method for a large class of linear-in-the-parameters models from the observational data. A new elastic net orthogonal forward regression (ENOFR) algorithm is employed at the lower level to carry out simultaneous model selection and elastic net parameter estimation. The two regularization parameters in the elastic net are optimized using a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm at the upper level by minimizing the leave one out (LOO) mean square error (LOOMSE). Illustrative examples are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approaches.

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis of freshwater, brackish and marine fish from Belgian archaeological sites (1st and 2nd millennium AD)

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in 157 fish bone collagen samples from 15 different archaeological sites in Belgium which ranged in ages from the 3rd to the 18th c. AD. Due to diagenetic contamination of the burial environment, only 63 specimens produced results with suitable C:N ratios (2.9–3.6). The selected bones encompass a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish, and marine taxa (N = 18), and this is reflected in the δ13C results (−28.2‰ to −12.9%). The freshwater fish have δ13C values that range from −28.2‰ to −20.2‰, while the marine fish cluster between −15.4‰ and −13.0‰. Eel, a catadromous species (mostly living in freshwater but migrating into the sea to spawn), plots between −24.1‰ and −17.7‰, and the anadromous fish (living in marine environments but migrating into freshwater to spawn) show a mix of freshwater and marine isotopic signatures. The δ15N results also have a large range (7.2‰ to 16.7‰) indicating that these fish were feeding at many different trophic levels in these diverse aquatic environments. The aim of this research is the isotopic characterization of archaeological fish species (ecology, trophic level, migration patterns) and to determine intra-species variation within and between fish populations differing in time and location. Due to the previous lack of archaeological fish isotope data from Northern Europe and Belgium in particular, these results serve as an important ecological backdrop for the future isotopic reconstruction of the diet of human populations dating from the historical period (1st and 2nd millennium AD), where there is zooarchaeological and historical evidence for an increased consumption of marine fish.

Species richness declines and biotic homogenization have slowed down for NW-European pollinators and plants

Concern about biodiversity loss has led to increased public investment in conservation. Whereas there is a widespread perception that such initiatives have been unsuccessful, there are few quantitative tests of this perception. Here, we evaluate whether rates of biodiversity change have altered in recent decades in three European countries (Great Britain, Netherlands and Belgium) for plants and flower visiting insects. We compared four 20-year periods, comparing periods of rapid land-use intensification and natural habitat loss (1930–1990) with a period of increased conservation investment (post-1990). We found that extensive species richness loss and biotic homogenisation occurred before 1990, whereas these negative trends became substantially less accentuated during recent decades, being partially reversed for certain taxa (e.g. bees in Great Britain and Netherlands). These results highlight the potential to maintain or even restore current species assemblages (which despite past extinctions are still of great conservation value), at least in regions where large-scale land-use intensification and natural habitat loss has ceased.

Independence referendums: who should vote and who should be offered citizenship?

In this EUDO CITIZENSHIP Forum Debate, several authors consider the interrelations between eligibility criteria for participation in independence referendum (that may result in the creation of a new independent state) and the determination of putative citizenship ab initio (on day one) of such a state. The kick-off contribution argues for resemblance of an independence referendum franchise and of the initial determination of the citizenry, critically appraising the incongruence between the franchise for the 18 September 2014 Scottish independence referendum, and the blueprint for Scottish citizenship ab initio put forward by the Scottish Government in its 'Scotland's Future' White Paper. Contributors to this debate come from divergent disciplines (law, political science, sociology, philosophy). They reflect on and contest the above claims, both generally and in relation to regional settings including (in addition to Scotland) Catalonia/Spain, Flanders/Belgium, Quebec/Canada, Post-Yugoslavia and Puerto-Rico/USA.

North Sea archaeologies

North Sea Archaeologies traces the way people engaged with the North Sea from the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 BC, to the close of the Middle Ages, about AD 1500, drawing upon archaeological research from many countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and France. It addresses topics which include the first interactions of people with the emerging North Sea, the origin and development of fishing, the creation of coastal landscapes, the importance of islands and archipelagos, the development of seafaring ships and their use by early seafarers and pirates, and the treatment of boats and ships at the end of their useful lives. The study offers a ‘maritime turn’ in Archaeology through the investigation of aspects of human behaviour that have been, to various extents, disregarded, overlooked, or ignored in archaeological studies of the land. The study concludes that the relationship between humans and the sea challenges the frequently invoked dichotomy between pre-modernity and modernity, since many ancient beliefs, superstitions, and practices linked to seafaring and engagement with the sea are still widespread in the modern era.