Electronic interaction research 1988 – 2012 through the lens of the Bled eConference

Electronic interaction (EI) depends on technological capabilities that have only become available during the last quarter-century. The Bled eConference has straddled this period. A review of the conference’s successive themes, and of the corpus of over 1,000 papers presented at the 25 events to date, reveals three major Eras, referred to in this paper as the EDI, eCommerce and eInteraction Eras. A trace of the developments in the diverse array of EI technologies and EI-technologies-in-use shows that researchers have focussed very heavily on economic concerns, and until recent years did so almost to the exclusion of social concerns. The paper proposes that EI research needs to seek better balances between organisational and human needs. In addition, because of the instability of bleeding-edge phenomena, empirical research is being published too late to deliver much value to practitioners. The prevailing expectations of journals that rigour be pursued at all costs means that the relevance of research to the real world has become a quite secondary concern to many academics. The EI literature is accordingly at risk of following the IS literature more generally into a closed enclave, in which academics talk to one another and no-one else. Key precepts for an alternative research philosophy are proposed.     

Discussion: Integrating SPC and APC

The problem of partitioning the blends (runs) of four mixture components into two orthogonal blocks when a quadratic model is fitted is considered. This is motivated by an industrial investigation of bread-making flours carried out at Spillers Milling Limited, a member of the Dalgety group of companies in the United Kingdom. The design solution proposed by John and described by Cornell is discussed and extended. Study of the characteristics of Latin squares of side 4 leads to reliable rules for quickly obtaining designs of specified kinds. One such design was selected for the experiment at Spillers Milling. Mixture-component values that cause singularity in the new designs are identified, and values that provide designs with highest D-criterion values are obtained for the class of designs discussed. Conveniently rounded, near-optimal mixture component values were chosen for the Spillers Milling experiment, and the analysis led to the prediction of an optimal flour mixture.     

A Survey of Architectural Library Resources

Abstract

An alternative practice such as the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio is shaped by alternative values and uses alternative working methods. The values of service, proximity, and experience define the boundaries of the work and the relationships with the community. The alternative working methods, including the method of compensation, the working space, and the social interaction with the community, create open-ended, horizontal associations to sustain a long-term, community-based practice. The lesson learned is, while the day-to-day activities internal to the practice are conventional, the alternative values and working methods are developed on the boundaries where the work engages the community.     

Characterizing executive functioning in older special populations: From cognitively elite to cognitively impaired.

The authors examined the structure and invariance of executive functions (EF) across (a) a continuum of cognitive status in 3 groups of older adults (cognitively elite [CE], cognitively normal [CN], and cognitively impaired [CI]) and (b) a 3-year longitudinal interval. Using latent variable analyses (LISREL 8.80), the authors tested 3-factor models (“Inhibition”: Hayling [Burgess & Shallice, 1997], Stroop [Regard, 1981]; “Shifting”: Brixton [Burgess & Shallice, 1997], Color Trails [D’Elia et al., 1996]; and “Updating”: Reading and Computational Span [Salthouse & Babcock, 1991]) and 1-factor models within each group. Participants (initial N = 570; 53–90 years) were from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (Sample 3, Waves 1 and 2). Cross-sectionally, the authors observed a 3-factor EF structure especially for the CE group and 1-factor solutions for all 3 groups. Longitudinally, temporal invariance was supported for the 3-factor model (CE and CN groups) and the 1-factor model (CI and CN groups). Subgroups with higher cognitive status and greater 3-year stability performed better on EF factors than corresponding groups with lower cognitive status and less stability. Studies of EF structure, performance, dedifferentiation, and dysfunction will benefit from considering initial cognitive status and longitudinal stability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Copper accumulation in soils from two different‐aged apricot orchards in Central Otago,New Zealand

In recent years there has been a move in New Zealand to convert small, uneconomic orchards to other agricultural uses. Overseas research has demonstrated that copper from fungicide sprays often accumulates in the soils of orchards and can cause certain problems for plant growth and livestock. To date, no assessments appear to have been made of the degree of copper accumulation in such older orchards in New Zealand. This study presents the results of an assessment of two well‐established apricot orchards in the Central Otago region of South Island, New Zealand.

Two aspects of the results are surprising. The first is the relatively low levels of copper in the soil when compared with results from another orchard in the region. That orchard is 18 years old and mean soil copper has already reached 100.0 μg/g, indicating a much faster rate of accumulation than in the two orchards in the current study. The second unexpected result is that the younger orchard has a significantly higher level of copper than the older orchard. Reasons for these findings are discussed in relation to apparent differences in soil properties.     

Strategies in environmental education

The causes of environmental changes, including climate, are neither fully understood nor identified, nor do scientists agree about their nature. Yet, their impact is such that action cannot be delayed. This involves spreading public awareness through environmental education and sensitization. Hence a need to reach, to educate the poorly informed public at large. With the classroom as the base, “town meetings” and eco‐tourism may constitute potentially useful approaches towards that goal.     

Water treatment with silicofluorides and lead toxicity

Toxic metals like lead, manganese, copper and cadmium damage neurons and deregulate neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine (which are essential to normal impulse control and learning). Earlier studies show that — controlling for socio‐economic and demographic factors — environmental pollution with lead is a highly significant risk factor in predicting higher rates of crime, attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity, and learning disabilities. Exposure and uptake of lead has been associated with industrial pollution, leaded paint and plumbing systems in old housing, lead residues in soil, dietary habits (such as shortages of calcium and iron), and demographic factors (such as poverty, stress, and minority ethnicity). We report here on an additional “risk co‐factor” making lead and other toxic metals in the environment more dangerous to local residents: the use of silicofluorides as agents in water treatment. The two chemicals in question — fluosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride — are toxins that, despite claims to the contrary, do not dissociate completely and change water chemistry when used under normal water treatment practices. As a result, water treatment with siliconfluorides apparently functions to increase the cellular uptake of lead. Data from lead screening of over 280,000 children in Massachusetts indicates that silicofluoride usage is associated with significant increases in average lead in children's blood as well as percentage of children with blood lead in excess of 10μg/dL. Consistent with the hypothesized role of silicofluorides as enhancing uptake of lead whatever the source of exposure, children are especially at risk for higher blood lead in those communities with more old housing or lead in excess of 15 ppb in first draw water samples where silicofluorides are also in use. Preliminary findings from county‐level data in Georgia confirm that silicofluoride usage is associated with higher levels of lead in children's blood. In both Massachusetts and Georgia, moreover, behaviors associated with lead nurotoxicity are more frequent in communities using silicofluorides than in comparable localities that do not use these chemicals. Because there has been insufficient animal or human testing of silicofluoride treated water, further study of the effect of silicofluorides is needed to clarify the extent to which these chemicals are risk co‐factors for lead uptake and the hazardous effects it produces.     

How Brittany and Florida coasts cope with green tides

Although the direct involvement of nitrogen and phosphorus has been shown, eutrophication remains poorly managed to this day. The excessive growth of some opportunist seaweeds is the consequence in coastal ecosystems close to agricultural or strongly urbanized and industrialized zones. In Brittany, a leading tourist region of France, green tides set down on the beaches big quantities of Ulva, of which some 100,000 m³ are harvested annually, with significant ecological and economic consequences. In Florida, although the macroalgae (notably Codium) drift about with the currents, they are of sufficient mass and spread over such areal extent to inhibit penetration of sunlight through the water column to the coral reef surface. They strand also on the beaches. Stabilization of algae by composting and methanization of hydrolyzed and pressed algae juice are two methods which have been studied in Brittany and can be used to enhance the value of the harvested seaweed, depending on local conditions and on evolution of needs in energy, basic materials or organic products. But the parallel made here between two very different ecosystems, both disturbed, leads above all to the question of what course to follow now to avoid a worldwide disaster.

Bien que le rôle de l’azote et du phosphore dans les processus d’eutrophication ait été montré, celle‐ci reste mal contrôlée à ce jour. La croissance excessive d’algues opportunistes en est la conséquence dans des écosystèmes côtiers proches de zones agricoles ou fortement urbanisées et industrialisées. En Bretagne, région touristique de France, des marées vertes déversent sur les plages de grandes quantités d’ulves, dont environ 100,000 m³ sont récoltés annuellement, avec d’importantes conséquences écologiques et économiques. En Floride, bien que les macroalgues (notamment Codium) dérivent avec les courants, elles sont en masse suffisante et suffisamment réparties pour empêcher la pénétration de la lumière dans la colonne d’eau jusqu’au récif de corail. Elles s’échouent également sur les plages. La stabilisation par compostage et la méthanisation de jus d’algues hydrolysées et pressées sont deux méthodes qui ont été étudiées en Bretagne afin de valoriser l’algue récoltée, en fonction des conditions locales et de l’évolution des besoins en énergie, matières premières ou produits organiques. Mais le parallèle fait ici entre deux écosystèmes très différents, tous deux perturbés, mène surtout à se demander quelle voie suivre maintenant pour éviter un désastre mondial.     

Predicting Chicago's Land Use Pattern

The planning of community facilities requires accurate quantitative estimates of the area, type, intensity, and location of land uses required by the growth of urban activities. The distribution of these activities and the intensity of their use of land are highly related to accessibility as measured by distance from the CBD. This paper outlines a procedure whereby area-wide estimates of future population and economic activity can be distributed to small subareas so that measures of local land requirements may be obtained.