Eric von Hippel. / "August 1985." / Bibliography: p. 33-35.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilitates better communication within the construction industry and has the potential to change the industry beyond recognition. The aim of this research is to develop a theoretical Digital Nervous System (DNS) model for the UK construction industry to enable companies to improve their corporate business performance. To accomplish the aim of the research, the author conducted extensive secondary and primary data collection. Two primary research techniques were adopted to elicit data and information from respondents, these were; questionnaire surveys and structured interviews. A comprehensive review of secondary data was undertaken, this included a review of published literature, both in print and electronic format. A theoretical DNS model has been proposed by the author in this research. This DNS model is able to support and integrate the following functions: To manage inner-company operations more efficiently using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Intranet technology. To use Extranets to improve communication with business partners by sharing up-to-date information. To exploit the potential of the Internet to increase interaction with the public, interest groups and potential clients. To create commercial benefits available to the construction industry through the use of e-Commerce. The potential benefits of utilising a DNS model for a construction organisation are significant. The possible improvements that can be attributed to adopting the DNS model proposed by the author of this research include: • Reduction in an organisation's costs and construction time. • Improved profits. • Reduction in defects and waste. • Increase in productivity and client satisfaction.

Things make us smart. Tools are made by humans aiming not only at solving technical problem but also developing high-order thinking. In a manner different from traditional mathematics lessons involving direct transmission of knowledge from teachers to students, tool-based mathematics classrooms fabricate an interactive teaching and learning environment. This environment fosters teachers' professional guidance based on students' manipulation of tools. The design of tool-based task aims to formulate students' learning experience via their own acquisition of knowledge through tool manipulations. Mathematics concepts can be visualized and manipulated by students through engaging in activities with tools generating tool-based signs and mathematics signs in a semiotic process. The role of mathematics teachers in tool-based mathematics classrooms is to provide well designed tool-based tasks and implement tool-based lessons in order to orchestrate students' learning, coupled with the endeavour of students' manipulating of tools.;Two new ideas, named didactical interactions and Tool-Task dialectics, were proposed in the study to effectively enforce mathematics teachers' instruction through tool-based pedagogy in interactive classrooms. The main objective of this study was to holistically investigate the implementation processes of tool-based lessons by mathematics teachers based on some theoretical perspectives. A multiple-case study, consisting of three cases with similar and different backgrounds, was conducted. Didactical cycle was one of the main theoretical frameworks, which framed analysis of the study. Based on in-depth analysis within and across cases, didactical interactions and Tool-Task dialectics were empirically developed to enrich tool-based education theories allowing teachers to demystify the cognitive development of students in tool-based lessons. The analysis of flows of the lessons uttered transition directions of critical phases ground on the theory; while pragmatic manipulations of tools operated by students and teachers' orchestration provided strong evidence to illustrate interplay between tools and tasks. Thus, the findings of the study potentially contributed to some aspects of tool-based mathematics education research.;Keywords: tool-based task design, tool of semiotic mediation, didactical cycle, didactical interactions, tool-task dialectic, mathematics classroom.

Rural areas are particularly affected by demographic ageing. In later life, the likelihood of living with chronic, manageable, physical conditions increases, affecting the ability to get out and about and be involved with the community. New digital technologies offer novel opportunities for overcoming physical barriers associated with engagement with others, which, amongst other benefits, can enhance wellbeing. These technologies may benefit all age groups in all types of community but could be of particular value in rural areas, which are characterised with dispersed settlement structures, accessibility restrictions and out-migration of family members and in-migration of new residents. The aim of this PhD project was to explore the potential benefits of digital technology, specifically designed for largely housebound older adults in rural North East Scotland, to enhance the sense of involvement they have with the local community. In this multi-methods project, sixteen interviews were conducted with largely housebound older adults living across North East Scotland, the majority in remote and accessible rural areas, to investigate how technology could enhance the sense of involvement older adults could have with their local community. These interviews, along with findings from two focus groups carried out with older adults, were used iteratively to inform the overall concept of the technology, followed by the design and development of a technology prototype. The prototype, entitled Window to the Outside World, was then evaluated with ten interviewees to explore whether live-streaming of local events could potentially enhance the sense of involvement one had with their local community, for those who were largely housebound in rural areas. The findings indicated that digital technologies, such as Window to the Outside World, carry much potential to provide supplementary avenues for increasing one's sense of involvement in the community for largely housebound older adults. There is scope to investigate whether use of such a technology could bring both individual and community-wide benefits for wellbeing, through increased opportunities for identity continuity, imaginative mobility as well as those gained from adopting a purely spectator role, and potential therapeutic benefits from the content of the footage. There is potential to develop the technology further to make it fit to their needs even more effectively.

Commercial prosthetic feet weigh about 25% of their equivalent physiological counterparts. The human body has a tendency to overcome the walking asymmetry resulting from the mass imbalance by exerting more energy. A two link passive walking kinematic model, with realistic masses for prosthetic, physiological legs and upper body, has been proposed to study the gait pattern with unbalanced leg masses. The 'heel to toe' rolling contact has significant influence on the dynamics of biped models. This contact is modelled using the roll-over shape defined in the local co-ordinate system aligned with the stance leg. The effect of rollover shape curvature and arc length has been studied on various gait descriptors such as average velocity, step period, inter leg angle (and hence step length), mechanical energy. The bifurcation diagrams have been plotted for point feet and different gain values. The insight gained by studying the bifurcation diagrams for different gain and length values is not only useful in understanding the stability of the biped walking process but also in the design of prosthetic feet. It is proposed that the stiffness and energy release mechanisms of prosthetic feet be designed to satisfy amputee's natural gait characteristics that are defined by an effective roll-over shape and corresponding ground reaction force combinations. Each point on the roll-over shape is mapped with a ground reaction force corresponding to its time step. The resulting discrete set of ground reaction force components are applied to the prosthetic foot sole and its stiffness profile is optimised to produce a desired deflection as given by the corresponding point on the roll-over shape. It is shown that the proposed methodology is able to provide valuable insights in the guidelines for selection of materials for a multi-material prosthetic foot.

Empreendedorismo tecnológico refere-se ao uso de tecnologia para criar e explorar oportunidades de forma a gerar valor, baseado nos conceitos de empreendedorismo, e tecnologia que podem gerar inovação. Com base nessa definição, o CNPq demonstrou necessidade de entender as empresas empreendedoras tecnológicas, uma vez que estas podem ser solução para a crise econômica nacional. Por isso, esta dissertação objetivou explorar o processo empreendedor tecnológico nas empresas do SIMPLÁS. Portanto, a revisão da literatura abrangeu os temas empreendedorismo, inovação e empreendedorismo tecnológico, bem como seus processos. O método de pesquisa foi de natureza aplicada, abordagem qualitativa e objetivo exploratório, sendo que para tanto foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade a partir de roteiro semiestruturado. Finalmente, as entrevistas foram analisadas por meio de análise de conteúdo, o que resultou em três modelos de processo, os quais foram separados de acordo com a rotina e a maturidade do processo empreendedor tecnológico. Os resultados mostram que o processo empreendedor tecnológico nas empresas embrionárias possui risco e incerteza como ameaças constantes, os quais podem forçar as empresas a encecrrar o processo, mesmo que elas estejam cientes da importância de perseguir oportunidades tecnológicas. Já as empresas baseadas em tecnologia preocupam-se constantemente em perseguir novas oportunidades, mesmo que nem sempre tenham procedimentos e estruturas adequadas. Finalmente, as empresas maduras possuem rotinas definidas para perseguir oportunidades tecnológicas, as quais resultam em inovações de produto e processo, dessa forma são consideradas pioneiras nos mercados em que atuam. Entretanto, a estratégia da empresa determina a necessidade de prospectar e buscar oportunidades tecnológicas independente do nível de maturidade do processo empreendedor tecnológico. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES / Technology entrepreneurship refers to the use of technology to create and explore business opportunities in order to generate value, based on entrepreneurship and technology that may generate innovation. Based on this definition, CNPq indicated the need to understand technology-based firms, since they may be a solution to the national economic crisis. Thus, this master dissertation aimed to explore the technology entrepreneurial process in SIMPLÁS companies. Therefore, the literature review comprehended entrepreneurship, innovation, technology entrepreneurship as well as their processes. The research method was of applied nature, qualitative approach and exploratory objective, with in-depth interviews conducted based on a semi structured questionnaire. Finally, interviews were analyzed by content analysis, what resulted in three process models, which were arranged according to routines and technology entrepreneurial process maturity. Findings show that the technology entrepreneurial process in embryonic companies has risk and uncertainty as constant threats, what may force companies to stop the process, even though they are aware of the importance of pursuing technological opportunities. On the other hand, technology-based companies are constantly concerned in pursuing new opportunities, even though they may not always have infrastructure and procedures required. Finally, mature companies have defined routines to pursue technological opportunities, which result in product and process innovation, thus, they are considered pioneers in their markets. Nevertheless, the company’s strategy determines the need to prospect and pursue technological opportunities regardless of their technology entrepreneurial process maturity level

D. Ing. / The key objective of this thesis is clearly stated in its comprehensive title. In today’s fast moving, turbulent and highly competitive world, high tech companies and engineering-based organizations struggle possibly more than other businesses with the seemingly irrational, analogical events when most people in such organizations are rational, highly analytical persons. Value creation is one of the key objectives of modern high tech companies. Hence, the achievement of this ideal within the constraints and consideration of a myriad of factors requires a different approach and implies an ongoing transformation process which is not always based on rational aspects alone. If such a transformation is to be sustainable and takes place in a globally competitive framework, the approach has to be holistic and it has to consider many additional factors which tend to be considered as soft in the analytical world of high tech. The thesis formulates a management and leadership model which includes both the soft and hard factors in a comprehensive and collaborative manner. The model lends itself to understand and judiciously manipulate the dynamics of the high tech global business environment for sustained competitive advantage. The model recognizes and enables the manager and leader to address the many issues confronting them daily by giving a new strategic perspective with the help of sub-models. These sub-models form the anchors whereby a complex situation can be managed reasonably, effectively and hopefully wisely too. The suggested model is to a large degree independent of time and industry-space and is considered valid for a long time to come. Although aimed at providing a guideline at executive level of management in the high tech environment the suggested model is by no means limited to engineering nor is it limited to high tech companies. The framework and model anchors developed, are equally valid in other complexity-prone industries as can be confirmed by the author’s wide international practical experience in a number of industries, from Banking, Service provides, Health Systems, e-commerce, Petro-Chemical and others.

M.Inf. / As more publishers become involved in electronic publishing, information centres need to respond to the challenges of accommodating electronic journals in their collections, as electronic journals are becoming increasingly important to research. In this research the role of the electronic journal within the scholarly communication process is examined. The role played by information providers and information centres in facilitating access to particular content in electronic journals is also studied. Partnerships that are developing between publishers, secondary publishers and information centres are traced. The importance of the publisher in quality control is emphasized. The peer review process is identified as fundamental to the scholarly communication process. The research methods employed were to carry out a literature study and to examine methods of access to electronic journals on the WWW. The Websites of publishers, secondary publishers and information centres were examined, in order to discover how they simplify access to electronic journal content for end-users. A workflow model was devised to serve as a guideline in assisting information specialists in their management of e-journals. The important challenge facing the information specialist is to provide a value added electronic journal service. This can be achieved through producing indexes and abstracts and providing an evaluation of the different sources

This study investigates how knowledge is created in a small business organization. Knowledge creation refers to organizational learning which results in innovation. The research design was a qualitative, single site case study of three firms in the point of sale industry. Data collection took place during a six month field study and employed multiple methods including participant observations, interviews, document reviews, and field journal entries. The study was informed by a conceptual framework which focused on the importance of both tacit and explicit knowledge forms, multiple modes of knowledge conversion (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization), and a knowledge spiraling process. Six themes emerged from the data. The first theme, "the people are the business" indicated that individuals become a knowledge creating structure that transcends office boundaries. A second theme, "we just spend tons of time talking", emphasized the importance of dialogue and informal communication structures to the sharing of tacit knowledge. A third theme, "there hasn't been a new idea in a million years", illustrated the predominance of incremental rather than radical innovation, the strategy of mimicking concept successes, and the importance of learning with other organizations through strategic alliances. A fourth theme, "you learn from your mistakes", represented the experiential nature of learning within the firm. A fifth theme, "it's one of those crystal ball kind of things" depicted the intuitive nature of personal knowledge and its limitations. Finally, the sixth theme, "a day late and a dollar short" explored how time and money pressures both enhance and hinder knowledge creation within a small business context. By comparing the themes to the conceptual framework the study concluded that small business organizations create knowledge in accordance with the nature of interpersonal interactions as they occur in context. The theoretical knowledge spiral was reconceptualized as a web structure in order to accommodate more diversity of approaches to knowledge creation and the complex nature of innovations. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Approaching the subject of 'orality' as a complex social-historical practice containing fissures of technological inversion and spatial-acoustic transgression, this thesis seeks to understand the implications of an electronically realised 'secondary orality'. In particular, it seeks to understand this idea as it is elaborated in the media theory of Marshall McLuhan. The approach taken here attests to a vitally important, if often' ghosted', materialism of acoustic space, a context which is immediately and ambivalently implicated in the institutionalising and ideologising of communications technology. It is argued that a cultural media theory must address those forms of managed communicative experience that serve to diminish the everyday vernacular. The Introduction of the thesis identifies developments that have brought the idea of a 'secondary orality' into being. Chapter One examines Havelock's and Innis's privileging of technology in the orality question, as well as the general denial of acoustic practice within the orality-literacy debate. Chapter Two explores Ong's ideas on 'presence' as well as Derrida' s critique of Western phonocentrism in terms of the larger historical denial of sound. Chapter Three explores McLuhan's position on the techno-evolutionary overcoming of rationalism in the new electronic landscape and argues that his 'electronic materialism' is a form of interiorisation. Chapter Four turns to a discussion of the ancient world to consider oral ambivalence and the paradox of orality in the transition to literacy. Consideration is also given to the early modern emergence of a paradigm of abstract visualisation. Chapter Five examines the modern emergence of an oral resistance found in the acoustic otherworld of the' chapbook' and the poetics of Wordsworth, Blake, and Clare. Chapter Six discusses issues of the oral 'other' as found in the theories of Bakhtin, Volosinov, and Kristeva. Chapter Seven investigates a varied postmodern neo-McLuhanism in relation to issues of ecology, intertextuality, and the feminisation of technology. The Conclusion argues that 'secondary orality' involves a technological inversion of oral powers serving an electronic hegemony. The mimetically engineered spatial disorientation of transgressive sociality is further considered.