•Semantic networks could be used to quantify convergence and divergence in design thinking.•Successful ideas exhibit divergence of semantic similarity and increased information content in ...time.•Client feedback enhances information content and divergence of successful ideas.•Information content and semantic similarity could be monitored for enhancement of user creativity.
Human creativity generates novel ideas to solve real-world problems. This thereby grants us the power to transform the surrounding world and extend our human attributes beyond what is currently possible. Creative ideas are not just new and unexpected, but are also successful in providing solutions that are useful, efficient and valuable. Thus, creativity optimizes the use of available resources and increases wealth. The origin of human creativity, however, is poorly understood, and semantic measures that could predict the success of generated ideas are currently unknown. Here, we analyze a dataset of design problem-solving conversations in real-world settings by using 49 semantic measures based on WordNet 3.1 and demonstrate that a divergence of semantic similarity, an increased information content, and a decreased polysemy predict the success of generated ideas. The first feedback from clients also enhances information content and leads to a divergence of successful ideas in creative problem solving. These results advance cognitive science by identifying real-world processes in human problem solving that are relevant to the success of produced solutions and provide tools for real-time monitoring of problem solving, student training and skill acquisition. A selected subset of information content (IC Sánchez–Batet) and semantic similarity (Lin/Sánchez–Batet) measures, which are both statistically powerful and computationally fast, could support the development of technologies for computer-assisted enhancements of human creativity or for the implementation of creativity in machines endowed with general artificial intelligence.
Our access to computer-generated worlds changes the way we feel, how we think, and how we solve problems. In this review, we explore the utility of different types of virtual reality, immersive or ...non-immersive, for providing controllable, safe environments that enable individual training, neurorehabilitation, or even replacement of lost functions. The neurobiological effects of virtual reality on neuronal plasticity have been shown to result in increased cortical gray matter volumes, higher concentration of electroencephalographic beta-waves, and enhanced cognitive performance. Clinical application of virtual reality is aided by innovative brain-computer interfaces, which allow direct tapping into the electric activity generated by different brain cortical areas for precise voluntary control of connected robotic devices. Virtual reality is also valuable to healthy individuals as a narrative medium for redesigning their individual stories in an integrative process of self-improvement and personal development. Future upgrades of virtual reality-based technologies promise to help humans transcend the limitations of their biological bodies and augment their capacity to mold physical reality to better meet the needs of a globalized world.
Flexural waves in beams and plates slow down if their thickness decreases. Such property was used in the past for establishing the theory of acoustic black holes (ABH). The aim of the present paper ...is to establish reliable numerical and experimental approaches for designing, modelling and manufacturing an effective passive vibration damper using the ABH effect. The effectiveness of such vibration absorbers increases with frequency. Initially, the dynamic behaviour of an Euler–Bernoulli beam is expressed using the Impedance Method, which in turn leads to a Riccati equation for the beam impedance. This equation is numerically integrated using an adaptive Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method, yielding the frequency- and spatially-dependent impedance matrix of the beam, from which the reflection matrix is obtained. Moreover, the mathematical model can be extended to incorporate an absorbing film that assists for reducing reflected waves from the truncated edge. Therefore, the influence of the geometrical and material characteristics of the absorbing film is then studied and an optimal configuration of these parameters is proposed. An experiment consisting of an elliptical plate with a pit of power-law profile placed in one of its foci is presented. The elliptical shape of the plate induces a complete focalisation of the waves towards ABH in case they are generated in the other focus. Consequently, the derived 1-D method for an Euler–Bernoulli beam can be used as a phenomenological model assisting for better understanding the complex processes in 2-D elliptical structure. Finally, both, numerical simulations and experimental measurements show significant reduction of vibration levels.
Intonation is the variation in pitch used in speech, which forms the premise of tonal and non-tonal languages. Interrogative words are words that introduce questions. Previous research lacks clarity ...regarding the specific cues used in the processing of word intonation. To address this gap, this study used the event-related potential electroencephalogram (EEG) research method to explore the intonation processing of tone two (mid-rising) interrogative words in Mandarin. For this, the word "shui," meaning "who," was selected as the experimental material. To avoid the influence of the environment, gender, and semantics, the Hum version, corresponding to the stimulus material, was also adopted for the experiment. This study used a passive oddball paradigm to examine the clues of intonation information processing in automatic cognitive processing through amplitude, latency, time window, and evoked location potential mismatch negativity. The standard stimulus was the declarative intonation with a high probability of occurrence (90%), and the deviant stimulus was the interrogative intonation with a low probability of occurrence (10%). In the time window of 370-450 ms, the mismatch negativity was found at the F3, F4, C3, Cz, and C4 channels. The findings show that, in the passive oddball paradigm, lexical semantics are essential for intonation processing at the pre-attentive level, which is dominated by the frontal and central areas of the brain. The results support the functional and comprehensive hypotheses that the processing of intonation is based on the function of language and that bilateral regions are involved in this processing. This study makes an important contribution by providing event-related potential evidence that lexical semantics plays a key role in the pre-attentive processing of intonation, as shown by the significant differences between semantic and non-semantic conditions.
This study is intended to provide in-depth insights into how design thinking and creativity issues are understood and possibly evolve in the course of design discussions in a company context. For ...that purpose, we use the seminar transcripts of the Design Thinking Research Symposium 12 (DTRS12) dataset “Tech-centred Design Thinking: Perspectives from a Rising Asia,” which are primarily concerned with how Korean companies implement design thinking and what role designers currently play. We employed a novel method of information processing based on constructed dynamic semantic networks to investigate the seminar discussions according to company representatives and company size. We compared the quantitative dynamics in two seminars: the first involved managerial representatives of four companies, and the second involved specialized designers and management of a design center of single company. On the basis of dynamic semantic networks, we quantified the changes in four semantic measures—abstraction, polysemy, information content, and pairwise word similarity—in chronologically reconstructed individual design-thinking processes. Statistical analyses show that design thinking in the seminar with four companies, exhibits significant differences in the dynamics of abstraction, polysemy, and information content, compared to the seminar with the design center of single company. Both the decrease in polysemy and abstraction and the increase in information content in the individual design-thinking processes in the seminar with four companies indicate that design managers are focused on more concrete design issues, with more information and less ambiguous content to the final design product. By contrast, specialized designers manifest more abstract thinking and appear to exhibit a slightly higher level of divergence in their design processes. The results suggest that design thinking and creativity issues are articulated differently depending on designer roles and the company size.
•Design conversations are analyzed with an information-processing method based on semantic networks.•Design thinking in Korean companies is understood based on temporal dynamics of semantic networks.•Dynamic changes in abstraction, polysemy, information content and semantic similarity are quantified.•Individual design thinking is articulated differently depending on the designer role and company size.•AI co-creative partner programs employing semantic networks could assist the work of human designers.
Fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) and makerspaces are used to transform ideas into tangible products. Used in a design–learning context, they can enhance cognitive and creative skills. Creativity is ...the pivotal ability to produce innovative outcomes in makerspaces, and several studies have attempted to understand the role of makerspaces and creativity in specific fields. However, a comprehensive study offering a holistic view of the contributions of the makerspaces as built environments that foster creativity is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review on FabLabs, makerspaces, and creativity to address this research gap. While the review was performed using five major databases, only peer reviewed journal articles were considered. The findings revealed that makerspaces help to develop person, product, physical, and social environments, as well as process aspects of creativity. Moreover, makerspaces induce problem solving, collaborative, and communication skills; they also offer appealing environments and technologies for developing creative solutions to real-life problems. We identified and analysed five major themes dealing with technical skills, technological and environmental elements, STEM learning, and skill development, and elaborated upon their importance for enhancing creativity in FabLab and makerspace environments.
Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent and lethal of the malaria parasites infecting humans, yet the origin and evolutionary history of this important pathogen remain controversial. Here we ...develop a single-genome amplification strategy to identify and characterize Plasmodium spp. DNA sequences in faecal samples from wild-living apes. Among nearly 3,000 specimens collected from field sites throughout central Africa, we found Plasmodium infection in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), but not in eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) or bonobos (Pan paniscus). Ape plasmodial infections were highly prevalent, widely distributed and almost always made up of mixed parasite species. Analysis of more than 1,100 mitochondrial, apicoplast and nuclear gene sequences from chimpanzees and gorillas revealed that 99% grouped within one of six host-specific lineages representing distinct Plasmodium species within the subgenus Laverania. One of these from western gorillas comprised parasites that were nearly identical to P. falciparum. In phylogenetic analyses of full-length mitochondrial sequences, human P. falciparum formed a monophyletic lineage within the gorilla parasite radiation. These findings indicate that P. falciparum is of gorilla origin and not of chimpanzee, bonobo or ancient human origin.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
As the silicon photonics field matures and a data-hungry future looms ahead, new technologies are required to keep up pace with the increase in capacity demand. In this paper, we review current ...developments in the near-IR and mid-IR group IV photonic modulators that show promising performance. We analyse recent trends in optical and electrical co-integration of modulators and drivers enabling modulation data rates of 112 GBaud in the near infrared. We then describe new developments in short wave infrared spectrum modulators such as employing more spectrally efficient PAM-4 coding schemes for modulations up to 40 GBaud. Finally, we review recent results at the mid infrared spectrum and application of the thermo-optic effect for modulation as well as the emergence of new platforms based on germanium to tackle the challenges of modulating light in the long wave infrared spectrum up to 10.7 μm with data rates of 225 MBaud.
The design concept of effective microwave absorbers and compact matched loads based on 3D-printable lossy nanocarbon-based composites with filler content above the percolation threshold is proposed. ...The DC-conductive (σDC = 0.39 S m−1) 3D-printable filament based on poly(lactic) acid filled with 12 wt.% of multiwalled carbon nanotubes was used. The electromagnetic properties of 3D-printed pyramidal regular structures were experimentally investigated and numerically simulated in 12-18 GHz (Ku-band) and 26-37 GHz (Ka-band) frequency ranges. Within the proposed model the structures under study were considered as graded refractive index material. The optimal geometrical parameters of designed microwave components were successfully evaluated using numerical modeling. Tested components demonstrate remarkable shielding efficiency (> 20 dB) within whole Ku- and Ka-bands and are suitable for practical application related to effective absorption of microwave radiation. The production of 3D-printable materials with controlled and predicted losses offers the possibility for miniaturization of 3D printed microwave components, such as absorbers and loads. The developed technique, estimating the geometrical parameters of the components vs dielectric properties of the conductive filament, could be used as a versatile platform for predesign of compact microwave devices taking into account constituent dielectric parameters of available printable materials and filaments.
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