Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-02T00:03:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_10271_representation_of_multi_level_domains_on_the_web_2016 - freddy.pdf: 1850597 bytes, checksum: 49e1ac6068e9ec186891d6c01f4acab9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-28 / Estratégias de modelagem conceitual e representação de conhecimento frequentemente tratam entidades em dois níveis: um nível de classes e um nível de indivíduos que instanciam essas classes. Em vários domínios, porém, as próprias classes podem estar sujeitas a categorização, resultando em classes de classes (ou metaclasses). Ao representar estes domínios, é preciso capturar não apenas as entidades de diferentes níveis de classificação, mas também as suas relações (possivelmente complexas). No domínio de taxonomias biológicas, por exemplo, um dado organismo (por exemplo, o leão Cecil morto em 2015 no Parque Nacional Hwange no Zimbábue) é classificado em diversos táxons (como, por exemplo, Animal, Mamífero, Carnívoro, Leão), e cada um desses táxons é classificado por um ranking taxonômico (por exemplo, Reino, Classe, Ordem, Espécie). Assim, para representar o conhecimento referente a esse domínio, é necessário representar entidades em níveis diferentes de classificação. Por exemplo, Cecil é uma instância de Leão, que é uma instância de Espécie. Espécie, por sua vez, é uma instância de Ranking Taxonômico. Além disso, quando representamos esses domínios, é preciso capturar não somente as entidades diferentes níveis de classificação, mas também suas (possivelmente complicadas) relações. Por exemplo, nós gostaríamos de afirmar que instâncias do gênero Panthera também devem ser instâncias de exatamente uma instância de Espécie (por exemplo, Leão). A necessidade de suporte à representação de domínios que lidam com múltiplos níveis de classificação deu origem a uma área de investigação chamada modelagem multi-nível. Observa-se que a representação de modelos com múltiplos níveis é um desafio em linguagens atuais da Web Semântica, como há pouco apoio para orientar o modelador na produção correta de ontologias multi-nível, especialmente por causa das nuanças de restrições que se aplicam a entidades de diferentes níveis de classificação e suas relações. A fim de lidar com esses desafios de representação, definimos um vocabulário que pode ser usado como base para a definição de ontologias multi-nível em OWL, juntamente com restrições de integridade e regras de derivação. É oferecida uma ferramenta que recebe como entrada um modelo de domínio, verifica conformidade com as restrições de integridade propostas e produz como saída um modelo enriquecido com informações derivadas. Neste processo, é empregada uma teoria axiomática chamada MLT (uma Teoria de Modelagem Multi-Nível). O conteúdo da plataforma Wikidata foi utilizado para demonstrar que o vocabulário poderia evitar inconsistências na representação multi-nível em um cenário real.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-02T00:04:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_10529_foundations_for_ontology_based_multi_level_conceptual_modeling_2012 - victorio.pdf: 6142526 bytes, checksum: 3e3483b04f4e9b86ab648e66104ac1e2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-16 / Considerando que modelos conceituais são produzidos com o objetivo de representar certos aspectos do mundo físico e social de acordo com uma conceituação específica e que ontologias buscam descrever conceituações, tem havido crescente interesse no uso de ontologias para fornecer uma base teórica sólida para a disciplina de modelagem conceitual. Esse interesse deu origem a uma área de pesquisa denominada modelagem conceitual baseada em ontologias, com avanços significativos na modelagem conceitual nas últimas décadas. Apesar desses avanços, a modelagem baseada em ontologias não provê suporte adequado à modelagem de domínios que exigem a representação de categorias de indivíduos e de categorias de categorias (ou tipos de tipos). A representação de entidades de vários "níveis" de classificação tem sido o foco de uma área de pesquisa distinta denominada modelagem multi-nível. As iniciativas em modelagem multi-nível visam a contornar as limitações impostas pelo paradigma convencional de modelagem em dois níveis. Apesar das contribuições relevantes das áreas de modelagem multi-nível e de modelagem conceitual baseada em ontologias, a combinação dessas duas áreas ainda não recebeu a devida atenção. Este trabalho explora essa lacuna propondo o uso combinado de teorias formais para a modelagem multi-nível e de ontologias de fundamentação para apoiar o que chamamos de modelagem conceitual multi-nível baseada em ontologias. Para fornecer uma abordagem bem fundamentada à modelagem conceitual multi-nível, desenvolvemos uma teoria chamada MLT. MLT caracteriza formalmente a natureza dos níveis de classificação e define precisamente as relações que podem ocorrer entre elementos de diferentes níveis de classificação. A fim de aproveitar os benefícios do uso de ontologias de fundamentação na modelagem de domínios que abrangem vários níveis de classificação, combinamos MLT com uma ontologia de fundamentação. Essa combinação resulta em uma abordagem de modelagem que apoia a construção de modelos conceituais multi-níveis em um espectro de níveis de especificidade, desde ontologias de fundamentação até modelos conceituas de domínios específicos. Para demonstrar a aplicabilidade da nossa abordagem de modelagem conceitual multi-nível baseada em ontologias, a empregamos para desenvolver uma ontologia núcleo para estruturas organizacionais, um domínio que abrange vários níveis de classificação. Além disso, mostramos como MLT pode ser usada como uma teoria de referência para esclarecer a semântica e aumentar a expressividade de UML no que diz respeito à representação de modelos de multi-níveis. O perfil UML produzido viabiliza a aplicação prática de MLT pela comunidade de modelagem conceitual.

Ubiquitous networking challenges organizational security by enabling employees to work from virtually anywhere. Different networking environments have distinguishing characteristics that create vulnerabilities, and non-employer controlled networks are outside the security boundary of the organization. Organizations must rely on users to determine the risk to information when operating in external environments. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of non-malicious insiders’ judgments of Information Technology artifacts when determining risk to organizational information transmitted from multiple networking environments. The study manipulates the Network Environment Characteristics and Information Types, then measures the respondent’s Network Trust, Information Protection Concerns, and Perceived Information Risk. Each of these evaluations are informed by Information Security Awareness, which is measured through General Information Security Awareness and Information Security Policy Knowledge. The factorial survey method was used to investigate the risk assessment because it utilizes multivariate experimental design with sample survey collection methods. This allows for additional precision, and helps to reduce bias. A two-phase investigation was performed that utilized two separate data collection and analysis procedures. The first phase develops and establishes the experimental treatments’ and the measurement instrument’s validity, and the second phase is used to test the hypotheses. The findings of this study contribute to the Information Systems discipline by advancing the understanding of trust, protection, and risk judgments of the Information Technology artifact. This provides insights on how users perceive risk, and could be used to develop Security Education Training and Awareness programs that directly address system risk.

Previous literature leaves us unanswered questions about whether teaching behaviors mediate the relationship between teacher education level and experience with student science achievement. This study examined this question with 655 students from sixth to eighth grade and their 12 science teachers. Student science achievements were measured at the beginning and end of 2006-2007 school year. Given the cluster sampling of students nested in classrooms, which are nested in teachers, a two-level multilevel model was employed to disentangle the effects from teacher-level and student-level factors. Several findings were discovered in this study. Science teachers possessing of advanced degrees in science or education significantly and positively influenced student science achievement. However, years of teaching experience in science did not directly influence student science achievement. A significant interaction was detected between teachers possessing an advanced degree in science or education and years of teaching science, which was inversely associated to student science achievement. Better teaching behaviors were also positively related to student achievement in science directly, as well as mediated the relationship between student science achievement and both teacher education and experience. Additionally, when examined separately, each teaching behavior variable (teacher engagement, classroom management, and teaching strategies) served as a significant intermediary between both teacher education and experience and student science achievement. The findings of this study are intended to provide insights into the importance of hiring and developing qualified teachers who are better able to help students achieve in science, as well as to direct the emphases of ongoing teacher inservice training.

Students cannot benefit from what they do not experience. Multiple reasons exist for why an intervention may not be delivered as it was designed. In this era of educational accountability and limited dollars to go around, understanding how an intervention is delivered in the classroom is key to understanding program outcomes. In order to assess whether a program has been implemented as intended, an assessment of fidelity is needed. However assessing fidelity is complex given varying conceptual interpretations, which then fosters inconsistent application of methods to measure the construct. Additionally the methods for validating fidelity measures are still unclear. The current study evaluated the reliability and validity of the student Instructional Pedagogical (10 items) and Instructional Student Engagement (15 items) scores for use in assessing teachers' fidelity of implementation on the participant responsiveness component of fidelity. The sample consisted of over 5,000 responses from students and 242 teachers in Mathematics and Science across three school districts and 41 schools to an online fidelity of implementation questionnaire. Given that students were nested within teachers, the data structure was multilevel, which warranted that the psychometric analyses be conducted using a multilevel framework. Instructional Pedagogy is represented by 10 items that measure three factors. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis was used to test a two-level model that had three factors at the student-level and three factors at the teacher-level. Instructional Student Engagement is represented by 15 items that measure four factors. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis was used to test a two-level model that had four factors at the student-level and four factors at the teacher-level. The psychometric results of the student questionnaire assessing the student engagement components of fidelity were mixed. Support for the factorial validity of the multilevel student models was mixed, with model fit indicating that some of the measured variables did not load strongly on their respective factors and some of the factors lacked discriminant validity. Lastly, the correlations between students' and teachers' scores for both the observed and latent variables (ranging from -.15 to .72 in math; -.07 to .41 in science) displayed limited convergent validity.

abstract: This study examined the relationship of client pretreatment interpersonal problems (measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems) to the therapeutic alliance (as measured early in treatment by a self report version of the Working Alliance Inventory‐ Short) using multilevel modeling to account for client and counselor variables. Specifically, the correlations of dominance, hostility and cold/distance interpersonal problems with the initial working alliance were investigated. Participants consisted of 144 clients and 44 graduate student counselors at the Counselor Training Center at Arizona State University. The intraclass value of .23 indicated there is a sizable effect, with counselor differences accounting for 23% of the variance in client alliance ratings, supporting the use of multilevel modeling. There was a dominance counselor gender interaction with working alliance scores. Clients who had problems with dominance reported higher working alliance scores with male counselors while clients who had problems with submissiveness reported higher working alliance scores with female counselors. Hostile dominance interpersonal problems were associated with lower initial working alliance scores regardless of counselor gender. Implications for clinical practice are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.C. Counseling Psychology 2012

Biculturalism in the Latino population in U.S. has been found to relate to positive outcomes in the literature. However, little is known about the development of bicultural adaptation. The constituent parts of biculturalism, acculturation, and enculturation were measured over several years as part of an existing longitudinal study along with several variables that held promise as predictors of acculturation and enculturation change. An additional data point for acculturation and enculturation was gathered along with other important demographic information. Change in both acculturation and enculturation was modeled revealing that acculturation and enculturation increase and decrease linearly. The trajectory for acculturation is much steeper than the trajectory of enculturation, providing support for orthogonal measurement and indicating real possibilities for interventions to increase bicultural adaptation. The best-fit model for acculturation included years in the U.S., preference for speaking English, and receptive English vocabulary. The best-fit model for enculturation included years in the U.S., preference for speaking English, and receptive English vocabulary.

No description available.

Demonstrating a direct link between teacher education programs and student growth is, to say the least, complex. Yet, using value-added systems as a means of holding teacher preparation programs accountable for the effectiveness of their graduates is a growing trend. However, few quantitative studies linking TPPs with the effectiveness of their graduates exist. The availability of student test scores linked to specific teachers in administrative databases makes it possible to use value-added modeling to obtain estimates of teacher effects. Only recently have researchers tapped into this expanding volume of data in an attempt to examine Teacher Preparation Programs as variables of student achievement. This study uses methodologies developed in the early stages of the Value-Added Teacher Preparation Program Assessment Model developed in Louisiana in 2006 as a guide. Using the HLM 7.0 software package, a statistical model was developed to determine if it were feasible to conduct an analysis using data from a single small school district and whether the results of such an analysis showed an impact of student characteristics and teacher experience and preparation program on student outcomes in mathematics.

Globally, the incidence of infection caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the second highest among the bacterial sexually transmitted infections. In Canada, declining rates during the 1990s suggested progress toward curbing gonorrhea; however, those have been increasing since 1999, with rates in Saskatchewan among the highest in the country. Infection can cause serious complications in men and women, and reported resistance to third-generation cephalosporins could lead to potentially untreatable infections. Increased understanding of gonorrhea transmission dynamics, sexual networks, and predictors of antimicrobial resistance development is needed to inform the development of improved approaches to prevention and treatment. The research presented herein draws upon data from Shanghai, China, and Saskatchewan, Canada, to compare and contrast varying epidemiologic approaches to enhancing understanding of gonorrhea in the two settings. Using traditional statistical approaches, multi-level statistical modeling, social network analysis, and dynamic simulation modeling, questions related to sexual behavior, partner presentation, and antimicrobial resistance development are explored. Each technique is evaluated for its potential contribution to overall understanding of the issues related to the ongoing gonorrhea epidemic, globally, and in Saskatchewan. The relative strengths and limitations of the application of the analytical approaches in the different settings are described. Socio-demographic characteristics provided useful indicators of antimicrobial resistant infection among patients with gonorrhea from Shanghai. Further, socio-demographic characteristics were also useful for predicting presentation of a partner for testing and treatment and the use of condoms during intercourse, among this study population. In Saskatchewan, socio-demographic characteristics were useful in predicting coinfection with gonorrhea and chlamydia at the time of diagnosis as well as repeat infection with gonorrhea. Social network analysis of the Saskatchewan dataset provided little additional understanding of the gonorrhea epidemic in the province. This result was largely related to how STI data are collected and stored in the province. The utility of dynamic simulation modeling to investigate the potential impact of antimicrobial resistance in Saskatchewan was also limited due to the same data constraints. However, the insight gained from the model building process and findings from the working model did offer a starting point for conversations around the best ways to postpone the development of antimicrobial resistance in N. gonorrhoeae in Saskatchewan, as well as contribute additional information about how the ways in which STI data are collected and stored in the province considerably restrict the applicability of otherwise powerful epidemiologic tools. With persistently high rates of disease transmission, and the threat of untreatable infections due to antimicrobial resistance, N. gonorrhoeae remains a substantial public health threat locally and globally. The research presented herein describes various approaches to understanding and controlling this disease, applied in contrasting settings. There are a wide variety of elements that should be considered when choosing the appropriate tool(s) to address gonorrhea in a given population; there is no “one size fits all” solution. The local epidemiology of disease, cultural and behavioural norms, the characteristics of the notifiable disease reporting and information systems, and the availability of suitable data all affect the relative strengths and weaknesses of the available analytic methods and disease control approaches.