A Belief rule-based environmental responsibility assessment system for small and medium-sized enterprises

Various environmental management systems, standards and tools are being created to assist companies to become more environmental friendly. However, not all the enterprises have adopted environmental policies in the same scale and range. Additionally, there is no existing guide to help them determine their level of environmental responsibility and subsequently, provide support to enable them to move forward towards environmental responsibility excellence. This research proposes the use of a Belief Rule-Based approach to assess an enterprise’s level commitment to environmental issues. The Environmental Responsibility BRB assessment system has been developed for this research. Participating companies will have to complete a structured questionnaire. An automated analysis of their responses (using the Belief Rule-Based approach) will determine their environmental responsibility level. This is followed by a recommendation on how to progress to the next level. The recommended best practices will help promote understanding, increase awareness, and make the organization greener. BRB systems consist of two parts: Knowledge Base and Inference Engine. The knowledge base in this research is constructed after an in-depth literature review, critical analyses of existing environmental performance assessment models and primarily guided by the EU Draft Background Report on "Best Environmental Management Practice in the Telecommunications and ICT Services Sector". The reasoning algorithm of a selected Drools JBoss BRB inference engine is forward chaining, where an inference starts iteratively searching for a pattern-match of the input and if-then clause. However, the forward chaining mechanism is not equipped with uncertainty handling. Therefore, a decision is made to deploy an evidential reasoning and forward chaining with a hybrid knowledge representation inference scheme to accommodate imprecision, ambiguity and fuzzy types of uncertainties. It is believed that such a system generates well balanced, sensible and Green ICT readiness adapted results, to help enterprises focus on making improvements on more sustainable business operations.

Lebenswelt und Lebensweltorientierung. Eine begriffliche Revision als Angebot an eine systemisch-konstruktivistische Sozialarbeitswissenschaft

Der Begriff der Lebenswelt ist im Diskurs der Sozialen Arbeit inzwischen ebenso geläufig wie die Forderung nach der Orientierung an eben dieser Lebenswelt. Der geradezu inflationäre Gebrauch des Begriffes geht jedoch mit einer nicht eben geringen begrifflichen „Unschärfe“, um nicht zu sagen Beliebigkeit einher. Angesichts dessen, erscheint mir schon alleine aus Gründen der innerdis-ziplinären Verständigung eine Präzisierung des Begriffs der Lebenswelt geboten. Dies soll nachfolgend zumindest in groben Zügen geleistet werden. Hierbei sollen zwar auch die phänomenologischen Wurzeln des Lebensweltbegriffes in den Blick genommen werden, vor allem aber soll eine systemisch-konstruktivistische Begriffsbestimmung vorgenommen werden. Hierzu wird, ausgehend von der Relevanz des Lebensweltkonzeptes für den Bereich der Sozialen Arbeit, zunächst die phänomenologische Herkunft des Lebensweltbegriffes zumindest skizziert. Daran anknüpfend wird eine systemisch-konstruktivistische Reformulierung des Lebensweltbegriffes vorgeschlagen, die einer systemisch-konstruktivistisch orientierten Wissenschaft der Sozialen Arbeit entspricht. (DIPF/Orig.)

Error analyses reveal contrasting deficits in “theory of mind”: neuropsychological evidence from a 3-option false belief task

Perspective taking is a crucial ability that guides our social interactions. In this study, we show how the specific patterns of errors of brain-damaged patients in perspective taking tasks can help us further understand the factors contributing to perspective taking abilities. Previous work (e.g., Samson, Apperly, Chiavarino, & Humphreys, 2004; Samson, Apperly, Kathirgamanathan, & Humphreys, 2005) distinguished two components of perspective taking: the ability to inhibit our own perspective and the ability to infer someone else’s perspective. We assessed these components using a new nonverbal false belief task which provided different response options to detect three types of response strategies that participants might be using: a complete and spared belief reasoning strategy, a reality-based response selection strategy in which participants respond from their own perspective, and a simplified mentalising strategy in which participants avoid responding from their own perspective but rely on inaccurate cues to infer the other person’s belief. One patient, with a self-perspective inhibition deficit, almost always used the reality-based response strategy; in contrast, the other patient, with a deficit in taking other perspectives, tended to use the simplified mentalising strategy without necessarily transposing her own perspective. We discuss the extent to which the pattern of performance of both patients could relate to their executive function deficit and how it can inform us on the cognitive and neural components involved in belief reasoning.

Genre Rosa. Revision du groupe des orientales. Études sur les cinq espèces qui composent ce groupe dans le Flora orientalis de Boissier,

Mode of access: Internet.

Revision of the North American and West Indian species of Cuscuta ...

Vita.

Children’s reasoning about other’s intentions: False-belief and counterfactual conditional inferences

Dados suplementares associados com o artigo e epígrafe estão disponíveis em: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2016.08.007

THE REVISION OF THE MASTER PLAN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF AVEIRO: A Heterogeneous Planning Management

This paper is concerned with the physical construction of the University of Aveiro Santiago Campus, based on the direct relation of the construction of its facilities to the master plan conceived in the Centre of Studies of the University of Oporto Faculty of Architecture by a team coordinated by Nuno Portas (CEFA: The Revision of the Masterplan of the University of Aveiro, 1987/89).

Revision von 292 der von J. Feltgen aufgestellten Ascomycetenformen auf Grund der Originalexemplare.

Extracted from Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna. Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse. Sitzungsherichte, Bd. 115, Abt. 1, 1906.

Health beliefs affect the correct replacement of daily disposable contact lenses:predicting compliance with the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Purpose: To assess the compliance of Daily Disposable Contact Lenses (DDCLs) wearers with replacing lenses at a manufacturer-recommended replacement frequency. To evaluate the ability of two different Health Behavioural Theories (HBT), The Health Belief Model (HBM) and The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), in predicting compliance. Method: A multi-centre survey was conducted using a questionnaire completed anonymously by contact lens wearers during the purchase of DDCLs. Results: Three hundred and fifty-four questionnaires were returned. The survey comprised 58.5% females and 41.5% males (mean age 34. ±. 12. years). Twenty-three percent of respondents were non-compliant with manufacturer-recommended replacement frequency (re-using DDCLs at least once). The main reason for re-using DDCLs was "to save money" (35%). Predictions of compliance behaviour (past behaviour or future intentions) on the basis of the two HBT was investigated through logistic regression analysis: both TPB factors (subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) were significant (p. <. 0.01); HBM was less predictive with only the severity (past behaviour and future intentions) and perceived benefit (only for past behaviour) as significant factors (p. <. 0.05). Conclusions: Non-compliance with DDCLs replacement is widespread, affecting 1 out of 4 Italian wearers. Results from the TPB model show that the involvement of persons socially close to the wearers (subjective norms) and the improvement of the procedure of behavioural control of daily replacement (behavioural control) are of paramount importance in improving compliance. With reference to the HBM, it is important to warn DDCLs wearers of the severity of a contact-lens-related eye infection, and to underline the possibility of its prevention.

Motivated reasoning in the prediction of sports outcomes and the belief in the “hot hand”

The present paper explores the role of motivation to observe a certain outcome in people's predictions, causal attributions, and beliefs about a streak of binary outcomes (basketball scoring shots). In two studies we found that positive streaks (points scored by the participants' favourite team) lead participants to predict the streak's continuation (belief in the hot hand), but negative streaks lead to predictions of its end (gambler's fallacy). More importantly, these wishful predictions are supported by strategic attributions and beliefs about how and why a streak might unfold. Results suggest that the effect of motivation on predictions is mediated by a serial path via causal attributions to the teams at play and belief in the hot hand.