bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Email use in elementary school: an analysis of exchange patterns and content
Authors: Van Der Meij Hans , Boersma Kerst 
Published: March 2003

Email was embedded in a project in design and technology education in elementary school. During four lessons children worked in groups on building a flying object. These groups communicated through email with groups of children from another school. The analyses of the emails, as viewed from distributed cognition theory, focus on the exchange patterns and content. Two characteristic exchange patterns are stacking and compounding. In stacking emails are sent out quickly enough to afford a “just‐in‐time” exchange of information. In compounding the emails transcend lessons. An “old” section of the email reacts to the partner’s email about a previous lesson. A “new” section deals with the current lesson.Question‐answer exchanges accounted for only about 15% of the communications. Connected discourse with explicit or implicit references to the partner’s email was likewise scarce. Groups mainly connected to each other through adoption, leading to shared scenarios of “We tell you our story—You tell us yours”. The conclusion discusses the impact of the task on the children’s communication. Among others, a precise definition and teaming of the task is deemed necessary to favour embedded email use. Because the genre of email use in elementary school is yet to be defined the authors caution against imposing many constraints on what children write to each other.
Attributes of Successful and Unsuccessful Acquisitions of US Firms
Authors: Hitt Michael , Harrison Jeffrey , Ireland R. Duane , Best Aleta 
Published: March 2003

Acquisitive growth strategies continue to be popular, in spite of increasing evidence that they often do not enhance the financial performance of acquiring firms and may adversely affect innovation. However, some acquisitions are associated with both increases in financial performance and a strengthened commitment to R&D while others experience decreases in both. Multiple theories have been offered to explain acquisitions and their outcomes, but few have received strong empirical support.This paper describes a multiple rater, multiple‐case study of acquisitions that had highly favourable outcomes and others that experienced highly unfavourable outcomes. All twelve of the high performing acquisitions studied were found to exhibit the dual characteristics of friendliness during acquisition negotiations and resource complementarities between the two firms. Additionally, debt played an important role in the success (low to moderate debt) or lack of success (high or extraordinary debt) in 21 of the 24 acquisitions studied. Inadequate target evaluation was a factor in 11 of the 12 acquisitions with low performance. Importantly, the results of both sets of acquisitions suggested that a configuration of attributes affected post‐acquisition performance. Other findings both supported and contradicted commonly held beliefs about acquisitions, as well as highlighted variables not typically associated with acquisition strategies. The study provides directions for future theory development and empirical research on acquisitions.
What’s the Good of Ethical Theory?
Authors: Kaler John 
Published: March 2003

It is argued that presently prevailing ethical theories can be largely dispensed with. Such theories are of limited use in solving ethical problems. They fail because they are ‘reductionist’. They take an aspect of morality to be the whole of morality. Moreover, the very process of constructing, testing, and modifying them reveals that we already have that understanding of the nature of the ethical which they purport to provide us with. (This is labelled the ‘paradox of ethical theory’.) That prior understanding is the identification of morality with the common good. This, it is claimed, is all the understanding we need to approach problems within business ethics or any other branch of ‘applied ethics’.UNDERSHAFT. ...Well, come! Is there anything you know or care for?STEPHEN. I know the difference between right and wrong.UNDERSHAFT. ...Why man you’re a genius, a master of masters, a god! At twentyfour too!STEPHEN. ... I pretend to nothing more than any honourable English gentleman claims as his birthright.SHAW, Major Barbara, Act III
Thinking about the Past: Early Knowledge about Links between Prior Experience, Thinking, and Emotion
Authors: Lagattuta Kristin Hansen , Wellman Henry M. 
Published: March 2003

In two studies the authors investigated the situations where 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds and adults (N = 152) will connect a person's current feelings to the past, especially to thinking or being reminded about a prior experience. Study 1 presented stories featuring a target character who felt sad, mad, or happy after an event in the past and who many days later felt that same negative or positive emotion upon seeing a cue related to the prior incident. For some story endings, the character's emotion upon seeing the cue matched, or was congruent, with the current situation, whereas for others, the emotion mismatched the present circumstances. Participants were asked to explain the cause of each character's current feelings. As a further comparison, children and adults listened to behavior cuing stories and provided explanations for characters' present actions. Study 2 presented emotional scenarios that varied by emotion‐situation fit (whether the character's emotion matched the current situation), person‐person fit (whether the character's emotion matched another person's), and past history information (whether information about the character's past was known). Results showed that although there were several significant developments with increasing age, even most 3‐year‐olds demonstrated some knowledge about connections between past events and present emotions and between thinking and feeling. Indeed, children 5 years and younger revealed strikingly cogent understanding about historical‐mental influences in certain situations, especially where they had to explain why a person, who had experienced a negative event in the past, was currently feeling sad or mad in a positive situation. These findings help underwrite a more general account of the development of children's coherent understandings of life history, mind, and emotion.
Automatic Camera Placement for Image‐Based Modeling
Authors: Fleishman Shachar , Cohen‐Or Daniel , Lischinski Dani 
Published: March 2003

We present an automatic camera placement method for generating image‐based models from scenes with known geometry. Our method first approximately determines the set of surfaces visible from a given viewing area and then selects a small set of appropriate camera positions to sample the scene from. We define a quality measure for a surface as seen, or covered, from the given viewing area. Along with each camera position, we store the set of surfaces which are best covered by this camera. Next, one reference view is generated from each camera position by rendering the scene. Pixels in each reference view that do not belong to the selected set of polygons are masked out.The image‐based model generated by our method, covers every visible surface only once, associating it with a camera position from which it is covered with quality that exceeds a user‐specified quality threshold. The result is a compact non‐redundant image‐based model with controlled quality.The problem of covering every visible surface with a minimum number of cameras (guards) can be regarded as an extension to the well‐known Art Gallery Problem. However, since the 3D polygonal model is textured, the camera‐polygon visibility relation is not binary; instead, it has a weight — the quality of the polygon's coverage.
Morphing the BlobTree
Authors: Galin Eric , Leclercq Antoine , Akkouche Samir 
Published: March 2003

Implicit surfaces have proved to be a particularly well suited and efficient model for animating and morphing shapes of arbitrary topologies. The BlobTree model is characterized as a hierarchical combination of skeletal primitives organized in a tree. The nodes hold blending, boolean and warping operators, which allows the design of complex objects.In this paper, we address the metamorphosis of the BlobTree. This appears a difficult task as the tree data‐structures of the initial and final shapes are completely different in the general case, and consequently cannot be matched easily. We propose an original technique that solves the correspondence process and creates an intermediate generic BlobTree model whose instances interpolate the initial and final shapes.The animator may control the correspondence between features and can specify both the speed of transformation and the trajectory of the nodes and the leaves of the generic BlobTree model. This provides the end user with a tight control over the transformation so as to achieve good visual effects.
Recent Advances in Mesh Morphing
Authors: Alexa Marc 
Published: March 2003

Meshes have become a widespread and popular representation of models in computer graphics. Morphing techniques aim at transforming a given source shape into a target shape. Morphing techniques have various applications ranging from special effects in television and movies to medical imaging and scientific visualization. Not surprisingly, morphing techniques for meshes have received a lot of interest lately.This work sums up recent developments in the area of mesh morphing. It presents a consistent framework to classify and compare various techniques approaching the same underlying problems from different angles.
A New Approach for the Generation of Circles
Authors: Hsu S. Y. , Chow Louis R. , Liu H. C. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractTwo incremental algorithms for drawing circles using short line segments are proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithms can draw manypoints at one time. They use only addition, subtraction, and shift operations except in the initialization of the algorithm. Using this simplified approach we can greatly increase the speed of drawing circles, relative to other conventional algorithms.
Pictorial Editing by Shape Matching Techniques
Authors: Ventura A. Della , Ongaro P. , Schettini R. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractA number ofpainting and retouching packages operate much like the artist's traditional canvas andpalette, with electronic toolsfunctioning like their studio counterparts. These programs, while offering an ample set of tools for creating an image, suffer from an intrinsic limitation as regards its modification, which lies in the fact that changes to the shape of objects and those requiring some kind ofpattern recognition are generally difficult and cannot be accomplished automatically. This paper deals with an original methodfor providing a pictorial editor with the “search‐and‐replace” facility, that works rather like text substitution in a word processor. The user defines the search (model) and the replacement (target) patterns by example, i.e. by showing the system the patterns taken from the image or an existing catalogue. The editor then searchesfor objects that match the model's pattern and replaces them with the target one in an automatic or user‐controlled mode. The method is based on a model‐driven matching technique, capable of measuring the similarity of objects that are partially occluded or transformed by translation, rotation, or change of scale. Salient features of the method are its robustness and the limited number of parameters needed to adapt the search procedure to different application contexts. A search‐and‐replace function used for pattern‐editing in the field of textile design, is presented as a working example.
A Robust and Consistent Algorithm for Intersecting Convex Polyhedra
Authors: Sugihara Kokichi 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThis paper presents a numerically robust and topologically consistent algorithm for intersecting convex polyhedra. This algorithm is new in the sense that the consistency issue is completely separated from the numerical error issue. The intersection operation is combinatorially abstracted as the operation of changing the vertex‐edge graphs associated with the input polyhedra, and numerical computation is employed only for choosing the branch of processing which is most likely to lead to the correct solution of the problem. Hence, the resultant algorithm is completely free from topological inconsistency.
Variational Design and Fairing of Spline Surfaces
Authors: Greiner Günther 
Published: March 2003

AbstractVariational principles have become quite popular in the design of free form surfaces. Among others they are used for fairing purposes. The choice of the ‘right’ fairness functional is a crucial step. There is always a tradeoff between high quality and computational effort. In this paper we present fairness functionals that allow fairing efficiently, i.e., produce high quality surfaces in a reasonable amount of time. These functionals can be considered as simplified thin plate energy functionals for parametric surfaces or as simplified MVC functionals.
Efficient self‐collision detection on smoothly discretized surface animations using geometrical shape regularity
Authors: VOLINO Pascal , THALMANN Nadia Magnenat 
Published: March 2003

AbstractWe present a new algorithm for detecting self‐collisionson highly discretized moving polygonal surfaces. If is based on geometrical shape regularity properties that permit avoiding many useless collision tests. We use an improved hierarchical representation of our surface that, besides the optimizations inherent to hierarchisation, allows us to fake adjacency information to our advantage for applying efficiently our geometrical optimizations. We reduce the computation time between each frame by building automatically the hierarchical structure once as a preprocessing task. We describe the main principles of our algorithm, followed by some performance tests.
A Hand Control and Automatic Grasping System for Synthetic Actors
Authors: Sanso Ramon Mas , Thalmann Daniel 
Published: March 2003

AbstractIn the computer animation field, the interest for grasping has appeared with the development of synthetic actors. Based on a grasp taxonomy, we propose a completely automatic grasping system for synthetic actors. In particular, the system can decide to use a pinch when the object is too small to be grasped by more than two fingers or to use a two‐handed grasp when the object is too large. The system also offers both direct and inverse kinematics to control the articulations. In order to ensure realistic looking closing of the hand, several of the joints are constrained. A brief description of the system and results are also presented.
Magicsphere: an insight tool for 3D data visualization
Authors: Cignoni P. , Montani C. , Scopigno R. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractHow to render very complex datasets, and yet maintain interactive response times, is a hot topic in computer graphics. The MagicSphere idea originated as a solution to this problem, but its potential goes much further than this original scope. In fact, it has been designed as a very generical 3D widget: it defines a spherical volume of interest in the dataset modeling space. Then, several filters can be associated with the Magicsphere, which apply different visualization modalities to the data contained in the volume of interest. The visualization of multi‐resolution datasets is selected here as a case study and an ad hoc filter has been designed, the MultiRes filter. Some results of a prototipal implementation are presented and discussed.
Selective Visualization of Vector Fields
Authors: van Walsum Theo , Post Frits H. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractIn this paper, we present an approach to selective vector field visualization. This selective visualization approach consists of three stages: selectdon creation, selection processing and selective visualization mapping. It is described how selected regions, called selections, can be represented and created, how selections can be processed and how they can be used in the visualization mapping. Combination of these techniques with a standard visualization pipeline improves the visualization process and offers new facilities for visualization. Examples of selective visualization of fluid flow datasets are provided.
How to Render Frames and Influence People
Authors: Strothotte Thomas , Preim Bernhard , Raab Andreas , Schumann Jutta , Forsey David R. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractRendering systems generally treat the production of images as an objective process governed by the laws of physics. However, perception and understanding on the part of viewers are subjective processes influenced by a variety offactors. For example, in the presentation of architectural drawings, the apparent precision with which the drawings are made will affect whether the viewer considers the design as part of a preliminary design or as part of a final polished project, and to some extent the level of confidence the viewer has in the encoded information.In this paper we develop techniques for rendering images in a way that differs from the usual photorealistic or wire‐frame output of renderers. In particular, our techniques allow a user to adjust the rendering of a scene to produce images using primitives with variable degrees of precision, from approximations that resemble vague “five‐minute‐sketches” to more mature but still hand‐drawn images. We provide a theoretical framework for analysing the information flow from the computer to the user via such images. Finally, we describe the design and implementation of a prototypical renderer and show examples of its output.
Contextual Animation of Gestural Commands
Authors: Kurtenbach G. , Moran T. P. , Buxton W. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractDrawing a mark can be an efficient command input technique when using a pen‐based computer. However, marks are not intrinsically self‐explanatory as are other interactive techniques such as buttons and menus. We present design principles for interaction mechanisms which make marks self explanatory for novices but still allow experts to use efficient command marks. The key notion is that use of the explanation mechanism physically trains a novice to use the efficient command marks. Two novel interaction mechanisms we have developed using these principles are presented.
Efficient Parallel Gouraud Shading and Linear Interpolation over Triangles
Authors: Narayanaswami Chandrasekhar 
Published: March 2003

AbstractA parallel raster algorithm to draw Gouraud shaded triangles is presented. At the heart of the algorithm is a new constrained parallel edge‐traversal technique. This parallel traversal represents an increased level of parallelism compared to the existing solutions. Next, traditional algorithms take different amounts of time to advance from one horizontal span to another for the left edge and the right edge of the triangle when the slope of one of the edges is more than one and that of the other edge is less than one. This causes one processor to wait for another processor. The parallel constrained edge traversal technique removes this problem by directly jumping from one span to the next. It also ensures that adjacent triangles that share an edge do not share any pixels. Moreover, no cracks occur between adjacent polygons. Unlike some existing algorithms whose complexity depends on the size of the bounding box of the triangle, the complexity of our algorithm is solely dependenton the perimeter and area of the triangle.Due to the above features, the algorithm presented here exposes a greater degree of parallelism at considerably lesser cost and achieves better processor utilization, compared to existing algorithms for this problem1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The algorithm is well suited for hardware implementation.
3D Interaction with the Desktop Bat
Authors: Steed Anthony , Slater Mel 
Published: March 2003

AbstractMany applications now demand interaction with visualizations of 3D scenes and data sets. Current flat 2D displays are limited in their capacity to provide this not only by the display technology but the interaction metaphors and devices used. The Desktop Bat is a device that has 5 degrees of freedom whilst retaining the simplicity of use o fa mouse. To use it for general 3D interaction several metaphors were created for the tasks of navigation and cursor manipulation and a set of experiments were conducted to determine which metaphors were the most efficient in use. Of these metaphors, a velocity control metaphor was the best for navigation and a metaphor that applied rotations and translations relative to the eyepoint coordinate system was best for object control.
Head‐Tracked Stereo Viewing with Two‐Handed 3 D Interaction for Animated Character Construction
Authors: Turner Russell , Gobbetti Enrico , Soboroff Ian 
Published: March 2003

AbstractIn this paper, we demonstrate how a new interactive 3 D desktop metaphor based on two‐handed 3 D direct manipulation registered with head‐tracked stereo viewing can be applied to the task of constructing animated characters. In our configuration, a six degree‐of‐freedom head‐tracker and CrystalEyes shutter glasses are used to produce stereo images that dynamically follow the user head motion. 3 D virtual objects can be made to appear at a fixed location in physical space which the user may view from different angles by moving his head. To construct 3 D animated characters, the user interacts with the simulated environment using both hands simultaneously: the left hand, controlling a Spaceball, is used for 3 D navigation and object movement, while the right hand, holding a 3 D mouse, is used to manipulate through a virtual tool metaphor the objects appearing in front of the screen. In this way, both incremental and absolute interactive input techniques are provided by the system. Hand‐eye coordination is made possible by registering virtual space exactly to physical space, allowing a variety of complex 3 D tasks necessary for constructing 3 D animated characters to be performed more easily and more rapidly than is possible using traditional interactive techniques. The system has been tested using both Polhemus Fastrak and Logitech ultrasonic input devices for tracking the head and 3 D mouse.
The CEO in Law and in Practice: a study of categorisation and control
Authors: Kirkbride James , Letza Steve 
Published: March 2003

The purpose of this work is to draw upon empirical evidence supporting concerns over the perception and reality of the power and control exercised by chief executive officers (CEO). It provides a focus on the role of the CEO (the “clout” title) and provides an analysis of the legal framework within which that role is both recognised and controlled. It also tests the assertion that “the law has not fully come to terms with the variety of management structures and practices in modern companies – including terminology” (Farrar’s Company Law 1998).The paper begins by examining the existence in law of the position and power of the CEO. In doing so, the study draws upon the applied and developed principles of agency, attribution and alter ego theories, and the concept of controlling minds in an attempt to provide a category of definition, albeit one of negative recognition and the implications that that might have in developing effective legal controls.Control is then examined in the context of both theory and practice. Practice is based upon the study of 150 listed companies. It builds upon the earlier research undertaken by Franks et al. (1999) and looked to examine the relationship between CEO and executive board turnover and corporate performance, ownership and structure. It seeks to provide some information in terms of a relationship for both recognition and control of CEOs. It identifies categories of “controllers” and categories of “definition” in an attempt to present a contemporary legal framework for recognition and control.